Imagine a consumer who must choose between two brands that provide the same service or product. Almost always, the business that wins is the one that offers a more substantial customer experience (CX). Central to enabling customer-centric experiences is omnichannel, which can create consistent interactions across multiple touchpoints. And by establishing an omnichannel customer experience (OCX), companies can deliver streamlined, flexible, and unified communications regardless of channel.
Why is an omnichannel customer experience so important?
Businesses should not delay implementing OCX, considering that 9 in ten consumers see online reviews as meaningful as a personal recommendation, indicating how much value they place in good CX. (Invesp, 2022) Pair these findings with a recent report, which projects that 74.7 million U.S. households will be omnichannel shoppers by 2025, each additional 1 million households will add another $8.4 billion in sales. (Nielson, 2020)
Moreover, consumers have become more demanding, expecting high levels of customer service. During the pandemic, shoppers experienced remarkable convenience and speed – and they aren’t too keen on giving those up. People’s expectations are considerably higher, with 64% of marketers believing that customers will be more demanding throughout 2022. (KoMarketing, 2022) With these considerations in mind, it is pertinent that brands adopt an omnichannel customer experience strategy.
Additional reasons to utilize an omnichannel strategy
Businesses with robust omnichannel customer experience strategies have a retention average of 89%, compared to those without one, which have 33%. (1 World Sync, 2018) Businesses with OCX in place also boost customer lifetime value as people are more engaged by fluid and seamless interactions. Plus, it allows for data sharing between channels, enabling an effective hand-off of mission-critical information between agents as a client progresses through the customer journey.
From significantly more loyal customers to higher ROI, a holistic approach gives the modern brand the means to succeed. Nevertheless, organizations will need an effective communications platform as a service (CPaaS) solution to actualize such a strategy.
Enhance omnichannel experiences with CPaaS
With a CPaaS platform, you can maximize OCX, primarily by ensuring no customer question goes unanswered. People have busy schedules, and sometimes they want to call after hours when they get off work. Through CPaaS, companies can provide self-service options via conversational AI and chatbots, giving consumers the freedom to call whenever it is most convenient.
People love when businesses tailor experiences and touchpoints to their liking. For example, Gen Z and Millennials prefer SMS while other generations use voice more. CPaaS empowers brands like yours with the flexibility to build customized routing based on data analytics and customer behavior to make such personalization possible. Additionally, innovative CPaaS tools let you streamline inbound call management across departments and locations, making their omnichannel even more customer centric.
Customization is worth the effort. The financial opportunity of omnichannel strategy is too great to ignore. And customer expectations are only rising. Tailoring interactions and communicating clearly with your customers will help improve your CX and bring your brand to the top.
Do you want to learn more about modernizing your contact center and accelerating customer engagement with generative AI and automation? Schedule an AI and automation Customer Interaction Intent Study with IntelePeer now.