Omnichannel customer service improves customer satisfaction

Multichannel customer service gives users choices — knowledge base, chat, email, text, live agent — but the options aren’t connected. Users have to keep restating their problem and providing the same customer information as they move through FAQs, chat bots, other self-service options, and customer service teams.

Think about all the information you enter when navigating automated phone systems. When you finally get to an agent, they ask you for the same information and if you get disconnected, you have to start all over again.

Omnichannel customer service connects customer service options for a seamless experience. This means every channel has access to real-time customer context and customer data, as well as consistent answers to common questions.

For example, a customer searches the FAQs for “refund policy.” An AI-powered chatbot pops up and asks if there’s a problem with their purchase. The customer describes the problem and asks to speak with an agent. A connected system “sees'' what the chat was about and directs their call to the most appropriate agent (avoiding the dreaded phone tree). The agent has access to the chat transcript and customer data so they can pick up the conversation where the chat left off. Meanwhile, the system pauses automated communications until the problem is resolved so a frustrated customer isn’t asked to complete a satisfaction survey, or buy a product accessory.

Now that we’ve established how connecting self-service channels, chatbots, contact centers, and automated systems transforms multichannel customer service into a seamless customer experience, let’s look at why that matters.

Consider these omnichannel customer service stats from recent Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Reports

• 80% of customers expect chat agents and customer service reps to be able to assist them with everything they need.

• 70% of customers expect anyone they interact with to have full context.

• 60% of consumers have purchased something from one brand over another based on the service they expect to receive.

Let customers engage through their preferred channels. Break down silos and connect all the different channels on the back end so customer support issues can be handed smoothly from channel to channel. Agents should be able to help customers with consistent information whether they reach out on SMS, live chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, LINE, or another channel.

Connect data to get a 360-degree view of each customer. Connected data enables personalized experiences that are consistent across channels. This is critical in customer support where customers expect to continue the same conversation as they move from self-service tools, to online support, to a customer service representative.

Empower customer service agents. Give agents access to real-time data so they can pick up the conversation where online channels left off. Build a centralized knowledge base where agents can quickly find the right answer and add new answers to help other agents and provide content for chatbots and AI-powered customer service options.

Use AI-driven tools to increase efficiency. For example, one integration from Contentful’s Marketplace lets you connect an AI agent with your existing support and knowledge base content so you can resolve more than 70% of customer service inquiries using existing content.

TELUS combines self-service knowledge base with live agents

When TELUS, Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company, decided to redefine customer care, they prioritized self-service content, but built it to connect with their customer service team. If a customer provides negative feedback on a dialog step, they are automatically transferred to an agent. What’s more, TELUS uses feedback loops to continuously improve self-service content based on customer feedback.

The results:

• 9.2% decrease in visitors entering the website at the Contact Us page.
• 100% increase in visits from the Contact Us page to the TELUS support experience.
• 9% reduction in overall support costs.

Hubtype customers use Contentful to power multimedia conversational apps

Hubtype helps brands build conversational apps that operate within messaging channels like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram. Conversational apps help companies build branded multimedia experiences inside the messaging apps their customers already use. These apps connect to customer data — purchase history, preferences, etc. — enabling brands to deliver personalized, omnichannel support.

Behind the scenes, Hubtype customers ensure consistent experiences by using a Contentful plugin to serve content from the Contentful content platform to the conversational apps.

The results:

• Conversational apps can automate 80% of customer interactions.
• This accelerates time to resolution and reduces cost per contact.

Up next: Omnichannel content management

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