While adoption and the maturity of digital service platforms varies, investment in digital infrastructure and digital transformation will remain a key focus for many IT executives in the customer service space over the next two years.
Many contact centers have invested in the ability to support multi-channel services, but they aren’t prepared for the omnichannel experience – an elusive all-purpose communication connection – or the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the evolution of digital experience.
A 2021 online survey, Powering retail growth: The next generation of contact centers, by software provider TalkDesk Research, noted that while 30% of contact centers had deployed AI; few contact centers have deployed AI-enabled intelligent knowledge bases, virtual agents and chatbots to personalize and scale customer service.
That trend will have to change to deliver a true omni-channel experience, as will the framework of current tech stack alignments. Digital CX helps in deploying AI-enabled solutions with robust omnichannel experience for your contact centers.
Breaking Down the Silos with Digital CX
“…silos need to be allied to centralize data from each channel into one data hub that supports a cross-channel customer journey.”
Customers expect the brands they interact with to know who they are, what their intent is and provide an experience that flows easily and intuitively.
Personalization is not only about using a customer’s name; it’s about understanding their intent and interactions while offering solutions throughout the journey. Customers today are far more educated and informed than ever.
Oftentimes customers today start their journey long before interacting with a contact center.
Today’s educated customers are using search engines, social media channels, YouTube, support groups, etc. before even reaching out. In other words, they have high expectations from an organization.
For many organizations, an effective omnichannel experience will require a tech stack alignment and digital CX.
Siloed strategies across channels create problems for Customer Experience
For instance, on-line and social channels have typically been owned by marketing while the push toward mobile app development can fall into another area such as IT where voice and chat have typically aligned with the contact center.
To create a seamless view of the customer, these silos need to be allied to centralize data from each channel into one data hub that supports a cross-channel customer journey. While centralization of data into a meaningful format into one hub is no easy task, it allows for the introduction of meaningful AI-enabled actions into the customer and agent experience.
The benefits of an AI-enabled Digital CX transformation aren’t limited to the customer.
Contact center agents benefit as well from customer experience transformation. While the contact center automation benefits may drive more complex calls to the agent, with CX the agent now has the ability to understand the intent from interaction history and transaction flow.
Add in speech analytics from CX which can not only help the agent identify the next best action to take, but it can also help the agent engage with empathy via sentiment analysis with the customer.
With digital CX agents are more educated and efficient thus enabling them to be more empathetic with customers. Bottom line, the day-to-day agent experience is less stressful and more meaningful with CX.
Corporate Connections & Omnichannel Customer Experience
As your company moves forward on its omnichannel customer experience journey, don’t forget to align corporate strategy for brand, vision, and growth channels.
Having a stellar front-end website means nothing if the experience isn’t interconnected with the chat engine or call center.
For instance, driving an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) strategy that minimizes calls but misses an opportunity to resolve a concern that occurred from the mobile app is also not effective.
Operating areas in an organization need to break down silos and revise KPI’s to focus on customer experience versus operational effectiveness. Digitalization in the customer experience is here to stay. The new mantra in this age of the omnichannel customer experience is that every contact is an opportunity.
Adopting meaningful AI capabilities into your omnichannel strategy will bring long-term paybacks from increasingly savvy consumers who demand a seamless experience.
DecisivEdge is a digital technology and solutions company. We can help your organization with digital CX transformation & optimize your omnichannel experience.