Are Your Ready for the New Multi--Channel World?

The recent explosion of communications technologies have unwittingly conditioned consumers to become increasingly less comfortable with reaching or being reached via a single contact channel. The significant evolution in how we communicate is requiring companies to re assess their customer interaction strategies and adopt a multi-channel approach allowing customer a true “channel of choice.” Unfortunately, very few companies have made the investments necessary to redefine their customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Instead, they continue to silo their operations into neat channels designed to serve a customer that has been literally forced to use the phone.

The problem with the current CRM status quo is that consumers are not forced into a single communications channel for any other part of their lives. Instead, the new consumer uses an array of technologies to meet their needs. From text messaging to tweets, the new consumer is living in a multi-channel world and is becoming increasing frustrated with companies only offering the single channel past. A recent study by The Nielson Company demonstrated the speed at which alternate communications are growing. According to Nielson, people are spending three times the amount of time (17%) on social media sites just since last year.

While this growth obviously requires that advertisers sit up and take notice, it should also serve as a clear warning to those tasked with servicing these customers. The fact is the current one channel models are not sufficient in meeting customers’ expectations. If the future consumer is using Facebook , Skype and E-mail to interact with friends and family, they are going to expect the same channels to exist when calling about their credit card balance or high speed internet connection. By failing to offer these choices, companies are risking alienating and therefore losing the opportunity to sell the customer on new services or products. Simply put, a customer who prefers e-mail is less likely to respond in a positive manner to any up selling that occurs after they have been forced to sit in your call queue. By meeting their demands from the start, the multi-channel agent will have a much greater opportunity to sell and convert the customer.

To meet the demands of the new consumer, it is critical that the new contact center strategy be based on the simply idea that the consumer should be able to reach you via the channel that is most convenient and comfortable. A fully integrated approach would provide company CRM agents the ability to leverage multiple integrated channels such as live web chat, text messaging, e-mail, inbound phone, outbound phone and social media. The transition for the traditional contact center model to the new world of the multi-channel agent will require corporation to redefine the role and skill set of the contact center agent. Gone will be the days of the tightly scripted environment where the agent makes few decisions, replaced with a multi-channel specialist with power to engage a customer using an array of communication methods.

Building the infrastructure required and investing in the new multi-channel agent will separate the leading marketers from those living in the past. Unfortunately, for those companies nostalgic for a simpler time of clear contact silos, the consumer is impatient and the opportunity to reach them is closing fast.