How is omnichannel raising customer service expectations?
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
Adding a myriad of devices and resources to their unique shopping experiences, omnichannel consumers are expecting more out of service experiences — from initial engagement with a brand or retailer to post-purchase interactions.
"Customers are, as a rule, better informed than they have ever been, and are tending not to settle for the ‘warm body on the phone’ methods used by many businesses that haven’t put time, effort and investment into good customer service," said Roy Atkinson, a Principal with Clifton Butterfield, LLC, a consulting the training firm.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages and educational YouTube videos, can add a level of self-service that empowers consumers to answer questions on their own.
Live chat and video chat have also gained popularity as efficient ways for service representatives to engage with consumers in a more personal, one-to-one fashion. Supporting this point, 40 percent of consumers say that being able to connect with a brand representative via chat or video chat to have questions answered would help them have a better online shopping experience, according to research from Moxie.
Once consumers make the initial engagement with a chat representative, they expect a quick response: In less than three minutes to be exact, according to Tyler Walton, marketing manager of Clutch. Said Mr. Walton, "In this texting/emailing culture, many consumers prefer to solve problems through the written word rather than spoken word."
While promising to help retailers address issues faster than ever before, digital channels still have to address consumers’ top complaint: having to repeat information as they hop from channel to channel. Team members need to have detailed summaries of past purchases, browsing history, as well as past customer service inquiries and interactions — across the call center, the store, e-mail and even live chat and social media.
David VanAmburg, managing director of American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) said internet-based customer service mechanisms, such as email and online chat features, consistently trump call centers in retail and a host of other service industries for ease-of-use and overall satisfaction.
As internet penetration in the U.S. approaches 90 percent of households, Mr. VanAmburg argued that "it is all the more incumbent on retailers to steer traffic to online channels that are more efficient for customers to shop, and communicate and far less costly for retailers to build and maintain."
"Customers will use the web or another electronic means to address simpler issues or questions, but when things get difficult, they want to talk to a live person," Mr. Atkinson explained.
In what ways has omnichannel retailing and social media raised expectations around customer service? Can live chats and e-mail correspondence resolve customer issues more effectively than call centers and in-store customer service?
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12 Comments on "How is omnichannel raising customer service expectations?"
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Today’s consumer follows a soon-to-be the “new normal” mantra: “IWWIWWIWI” (I want what I what when I want it). That’s the true definition of a seamless, always-on, omni-channel experience. Perhaps the Backstreet Boys had it right when they recorded, “I Want It That Way.”
Retailers are now facing an inflection point in the industry wherein the overall experience—assortment, customer service, value for money, accessibility and rewards—have become prerequisites to loyalty. Live chats, email and perhaps even FaceTime conversations will be omnipresent.
Those retailers that are already looking around the corner to the next great innovation will become the leaders.
Customers expect their issues and questions to be addressed promptly and completely, whether by phone, live chat or email. Brands and retailers have empowered consumers and now they must live up to their expectations. From “Have it your way” to “You’re the one,” consumers have set their expectations and a rote response from someone in India just doesn’t cut it. Customer service is more important than ever, since every issue has the potential to win a brand high praise or verbal damnation, either of which could go viral with the click of a mouse.
We all know that the 21st century consumer is in push button mode with no sign of relief. Offering 1990s solution techniques for product and service issues will remove the consumer from the customer list out loud, as in derogatory remarks aimed at retailers over social media venues. E-mail, voice mail and chat are a nice way to remove the tensions that appear when consumers detect, usually from an apparent foreign voice accent, overseas and possibly third-party assistance. A true omni-channel experience will have built within its own system an even faster, direct and fully empowered live solution center. To provide anything else is unacceptable from the consumer perspective. And the consumer perspective is all that counts in terms of business and a long term relationship.
There is a new normal. And the pace of change escalates. If you were to fast forward to the near future you’ll probably need Siri-like routers to a network of experts that include folks in the back office, available product experts in your stores, access to customers-experts who offer their services for free or at a nominal price, access to vendors, access to service companies. Perhaps you’ll be able to choose the expert based on their availability and rating. This is already happening in other verticals to a degree (health care.) So…what can you do? Well, I am not an expert, and this is free advice, so for what it’s worth:
I still find a lot of online retailers and service companies haven’t integrated voice, chat, e-mail, and social media interaction to the point where it is benefitting consumers. One hand very often doesn’t know what the other is doing. Just today I saw a consumer try to engage with @fedexhelp over a period of several hours, only to get stonewalled by the company. It also surprised me that their Twitter help service is only open during business hours. I have found chat help to be close to useless, as lower ability employees are handling this, or it is outsourced to a third party, who is almost never able to help.
Social Media Analytics (SMA) capabilities are critical for retail and CPG brands to leverage in the omnichannel experience. Omnichannel retailing requires omnichannel customer service. We have case study examples where a brand completely revised their global marketing strategy based upon findings from SMA.
To me it’s about the burden of fulfillment. In that, due to the simplicity of online purchasing, whether it’s “one click” or customer reviews, price comping or anything, anywhere, anytime, it’s all about fulfilling the order. Something stores suck at it because they’re so one dimensional, but could learn a lot from their online relatives.
Ex: We found out in our own studies that online reviews were more important than touch and feel to younger consumers. But where are they in stores? Bringing those expectations to store level will be the go/no-go for brands in the future—tying the best of omni back into physical.
If consumers are able to shop using any medium they choose, it only makes sense to also have customer service also fit whatever preferences they might have. No matter what medium a customer uses, if their issue is resolved then it has been successful. While live-chat and email are newer, they aren’t necessarily better. There must be a high bar set for all modes of correspondence to achieve a uniform quality of customer service.