In an era where good customer experience (CX) is key to attracting and retaining customers, businesses are turning to omnichannel solutions to ensure seamless engagements across all communications channels. However, with complex integrations, sound processes and customer journey mapping becoming more crucial, businesses should look to partner with a Managed Contact Centre Service provider that can walk the journey to enhanced CX with them.
With a managed contact centre service, businesses are not just given some software and then left alone to figure it all out. The right technology partner acts in the interest of the customer, and cares about how they can enable better quality conversations between organisations and their customers.
A further benefit of taking the managed service approach is that the provider will work with the business to slowly expose its customer-facing people to additional channels and work with them to service these channels in an effective and efficient manner, rather than taking a big bang approach – integrating multiple channels at once – and then walking away.
Moving to an omnichannel can become overwhelming for agents who are not used to the environment; beyond adding new communications channels, a managed service provider will partner with the customer to identify how best to engage over voice, video and chat. And, to understand what CX really means for their business. This ensures quality and reliability in the contact centre as it transitions away from primarily handling traditional channels, such as phone calls.
Detailed customer journey mapping
Enhancing CX requires that businesses understand what communication channels are available and which are the preferred channels for their individual customers when they engage with the brand. Here, the process of customer journey mapping – a detailed analysis of the customer’s interactions with the company, from initial contact through various touchpoints to the resolution of their inquiry or issue – has become a critical tool for contact centres aiming to elevate the customer experience.
By understanding these interactions, businesses can identify areas for improvement, streamline communication processes, and even revolutionise customer service within an organisation. Integrations play a critical part here by giving agents more context: people can send enquiries about the same issue across multiple channels, and this needs to be tracked and managed so that agents are not overloaded with duplicate requests. It also means that agents have full access to the customer’s history of previous engagements, enabling them to provide a more personalised level of service too.
Telviva’s emphasis on synchronising mobile and fixed voice, video, and chat within a single platform exemplifies this shift towards omnichannel solutions. This approach not only enables businesses to meet their customers where they are but also provides a cohesive experience that aligns with the customer’s expectations, regardless of the channel they choose to use.
Automating the right processes
While artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and chatbots have come to the forefront in enhancing CX, it is critical that businesses understand that not everything can be automated, and some interactions still require a human touch. Unpacking the customer journey with an experienced technology partner helps businesses understand what and when to automate, and to put in place efficient processes that enable great customer experiences. After all, an organisation can just as easily automate a bad process, which is not going to sit well with customers or customer-facing staff.
Working with a managed contact centre service provider makes it easier for the business to identify and then automate these repetitive processes, freeing up human agents to focus on high-value interactions, and to deal with more complex issues. This integration of technology into the customer service process not only improves efficiency but also ensures that customers receive timely and relevant assistance.
Future Proofing with Open APIs
Furthermore, the use of open standards and APIs facilitates the integration of additional cloud technologies, such as CRM systems, analytics and smart assistants. This allows businesses to leverage data-driven insights to tailor their communication strategies, ensuring that each customer interaction is informed and effective. For example, Telviva Omni features native integration with popular CRM Apps like Microsoft Dynamics 365, Freshsales, Salesforce, ServiceNow, SugarCRM, Vtiger, Zendesk and Zoho. It can also integrate with legacy CRM systems through API calls via triggers and scripts.
Using Open Standards also ensures that a business can stay on top of customer communications, no matter what the platform of choice is. Today, the instant messaging platform might be WhatsApp for Business, but tomorrow it might change. The last thing an organisation wants to do is to burden contact centre agents with having to learn how to use new tools on the side. With Open Standards, new channels can be integrated into the same tool that agents are familiar with: all the information in a single pane of glass. Taking this approach also lowers cost and time barrier for training on new systems or tools.
This places pressure on agents – who already have to transition from dealing with traditional calls to multiple channels – and can lead to disjointed communications – and ultimately poorer service.
Not just for contact centres
Ultimately though, working with a managed contact centre service provider is not just about improving the contact centre but about improving the overall customer experience. As such, it’s not just typical contact centres that are turning to omnichannel communications. At the end of the day, there are numerous employees across the organisation who are dealing with customers and each interaction can positively or negatively impact the customer experience.
All customer-facing employees can now extend seamless communications across multiple channels, and a trusted partner can help formalise, track and record engagements in a way that complies with the requirements of a specific industry, such as cloud-based regulatory call recording, which can be used for staff training, dispute resolution, compliance or security reasons.
One example is a Telviva client operating in the professional services industry, where traditionally only the contact centre team made use of an omnichannel solution. Following an overwhelmingly positive response, the organisation has expanded the use of omnichannel solutions to professionals within the business, so they can interact with clients across multiple channels as well.
Another example is in the financial services sector, where a business has expanded the use of omnichannel solutions to their internal IT Help Desk. Whereas the department previously serviced the rest of the organisation through phone calls, they now have introduced WhatsApp for Business to provide internal IT support, leading to a decline in call volumes while the contactability rate and resolution rate have increased.
Ultimately, it is clear that omnichannel communications is here to stay, and continue to grow in popularity in the future. This can be seen within Telviva’s own customer base, where many organisations that traditionally only used voice calls are now looking to embrace multiple communications channels, and transition their call centres to become efficient, effective and value-generating service centres. What has helped them in taking these steps is being able to work with a trusted partner who acts in their best interest, and walks the journey with them.
Whether you require a basic solution or a full-function omnichannel operation, our highly experienced professional service team will help you evaluate the best fit for your needs and your digital journey. Contact us today.
By Martie de Beer, Contact Centre Executive at Telviva.