{"id":3593,"date":"2016-06-28T18:13:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T18:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/forget-about-omnichannel-hype-when-your-basic-customer-service-sucks\/"},"modified":"2016-06-28T18:13:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T18:13:00","slug":"forget-about-omnichannel-hype-when-your-basic-customer-service-sucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/forget-about-omnichannel-hype-when-your-basic-customer-service-sucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget about Omnichannel hype when your Basic Customer Service Sucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone is talking about how to get to the right strategy for omnichannel customer communications, yet no one really knows what it means. First of all, let\u2019s just get it out there that omnichannel is one of those terms everyone loves to hate.\u00a0 It\u2019s ubiquitous, it\u2019s vague, and it\u2019s a misnomer&#8211; \u201comni\u201d is impossible and customers don\u2019t think in terms of channels.\u00a0 That said, omnichannel is an aspirational goal pointing many service providers and enterprises in the right direction toward really getting customer experience right.\u00a0 So with that in mind, it has become my mission to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hfsresearch.com\/pov\/omnichannel-customer-experience-moving-beyond-hype\">dissect the subject<\/a>, get past the hype, and figure out where the opportunities lie for the services industry.\u00a0\u00a0<!-- pagebreak --><\/p>\n<p>The keys to creating an omnichannel experience are the following:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Non-creepy Individualization: <\/strong>\u201cWe know the name of your cat because we stalk your Facebook updates\u201d (we\u2019ve seen these creepy mistakes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kashmirhill\/2012\/02\/16\/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did\/#67a6870034c6\">backfire bigtime<\/a>). And please stop talking about customer \u201cintimacy.\u201d\u00a0 Customers don\u2019t want you to be intimate with them, they just want to be acknowledged as individuals (especially those self-centered millennials), and for you to know their buying patterns and preferences.\u00a0 This is part of the Amazonization of the consumer experience that just isn\u2019t going away anytime soon &#8211; and striking the right balance is essential.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Simplicity: <\/strong>Making it easy for the customer to do business with you is at the heart of customer satisfaction.\u00a0 More than anything, customers want want to be able to get information, interact, and buy products and services easily, without jumping through hoops.\u00a0 Our \u201cone-click\u201d ordering culture has raised the bar for the way we expect to get things done.\u00a0 Look at reservation systems for example\u2014why should I have to call, sit on hold, and speak to a person when I could simply use an online scheduling system?\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Consistency: <\/strong>Whether it\u2019s about product pricing and discounting, visual design or cultural feel, it\u2019s crucial to the omnichannel experience to have consistency across devices, physical experiences and interactions.\u00a0 Making a brand one that customers relate to and develop an affinity with goes a long way toward generating loyalty.\u00a0 Apple for example, has done this well with creating an in-store and online consistent experience as well as developed a culture that people want to be a part of. \u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Executing on these concepts is no easy task, involving many facets of the organization, and most companies are coming nowhere near these ideals. One of the biggest opportunities, and yet most troubling elements of this omnichannel notion is where contact center fits into the paradigm.\u00a0 The conversations consumers have with businesses are at the heart of creating a differentiated experience, but let\u2019s face it, right now contact centers are not pivoting to be strategic differentiators.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of us deal with this pain regularly in our personal lives.\u00a0 Just last week I called my bank with a simple question (which could have likely been answered via self-service), was transferred and repeated information 3 times before I even reached the right department.\u00a0 As much promise as there is for a utopian omnichannel world, most are struggling with the basics.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Bottom-line: work on fixing broken customer service (keeping the goal of omnichannel in mind)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Contact center service providers are acutely aware of these opportunities and desperately trying to carve out an omnichannel story and capabilities.\u00a0 As we noted in our recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hfsresearch.com\/blueprint\/hfs-blueprint-contact-center-operations-2016\">Contact Center Operations Blueprint,<\/a> while many of the pilots and messages are spot on, client adoption is low and stories of omnichannel success are few and far between.\u00a0 Many buyers are just grappling with implementing digital channels, and a total redesign of customer experience is far too daunting.\u00a0 Service providers need to help their clients (with the goals of personalization, consistency and simplicity in mind), to start making some real changes in bite sized pieces to improve customer experience. Instead of trying to \u201cdelight and surprise\u201d the customer at every turn, just taking some basic steps to make customers\u2019 lives easier could go a long way.\u00a0 Omnichannel is the future of customer experience (or whatever the next buzzword that encapsulates a seamless customer journey may be), and one of the biggest steps toward that is a clear and focused contact center strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone is talking about how to get to the right strategy for omnichannel customer communications, yet no one really knows&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"organization":[],"ppma_author":[34],"class_list":["post-3593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - 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