Customers don’t live in a single channel…and neither should your CX data analytics.
Mobile apps, text messaging, chat, virtual assistants, email, voice calls, social media—today’s consumers are embracing the breadth of tools available to connect with the world around them, including the brands they love. Customers are engaging with brands across multiple channels and touchpoints as they move through their day. Information is available on the go, at their fingertips. Businesses that can access data across these channels will gain the insight needed to ensure the customer experience is consistent, personal, effortless, and a brand differentiator.
Unfortunately, most businesses are still analyzing customer interactions one channel at a time using siloed data analytics tools leading to blind spots on where the customer experience is breaking down.
An Omnichannel data analytics strategy enables businesses to analyze data from all channels in a single platform. The result is a complete view of the customer journey making it possible to target improvements that will have the biggest positive impact on customer and the business. Let’s look at 3 steps CX leaders can take to embrace the omnichannel contact center strategy and the data available to ensure the experiences customers have align with the brand promise while boosting advisor productivity, ensuring seamless channel integration, and maintaining a pulse on changing market and customer needs.
Step 1: Break down CX channel data silos
One of the problems with traditional contact centers is that they are channel siloed. The omnichannel strategy coupled with journey analytics offers a unified data view of customer interaction across multiple channels for much greater customer understanding, which is the fuel for any CX transformation engine. Each point of the customer journey becomes clear, you can see the quality of those experiences and can measure the sentiment derived from unstructured data using AI as well as insights from structured data like time to resolution and survey results.
Omnichannel data coupled with journey analytics helps us to visualize at scale the end-to-end journey, which allows us to understand the most common customer friction points and uncover areas to focus improvement efforts. We can determine which channels are best for which scenarios and guide customers to the lowest effort experience. This takes ‘channel of choice’ to the next level by also providing the best channel based on the situation. In the end, customers are looking for a fast and seamless experience regardless of channel.
Step 2: Leverage Insights Across Channels to Accelerate Transformation
Accelerating CX transformation means focusing efforts on the areas that will have the most significant impacts quickly, balancing quick wins to build momentum with larger strategic differentiators. CX leaders often overlook the power and scope of omnichannel data and risk focusing on aspects of the customer journey that are not the most important or impactful.
One Concentrix client wanted to improve their IVR experience and was only looking at IVR data to identify improvement opportunities. They needed a whole new perspective.
We looked at data across channels, and saw that many customers were making a payment in the IVR and then hanging up, but immediately calling back to speak with an agent to confirm that the payment was processed. If we were looking at IVR data alone this would look like a successfully contained call. By taking an omnichannel data view, we significantly reduced customer effort and support costs by simply confirming payment in the IVR as part of the self-service flow. This change along with other critical insights drove $3M in savings within the first three months alone.
With so much data available it can be hard to determine what data to examine. Often, it is better to target efforts for early success and momentum. Identify the highest impact area and then dig deep to understand what is happening and the underlying root cause. Use these insights to design thoughtful experiences that influence brand loyalty, and ultimately, the customer experience.
Step 3: Create a Virtuous Cycle of CX Insights
Omnichannel contact center data should be a core pillar of the transformation model to understand the larger customer journey. It’s not a one-time event.
Data can keep a pulse on changing customer demands consistently. Even the best-designed customer experiences have room for improvement. Unpredictable behaviors can occur at any time, so it is critical to continuously look at the data to notice trends before they really take off. A data-driven approach will proactively uncover new insights and foster agility and adaptability.
Rather than following the latest trends in technology, organizations should strive to first understand what it is that customers need and want. With a repeatable process for designing effortless customer experiences, the technology becomes just an enabler.
Concentrix helps you connect the dots between customer journeys and business goals. We apply CX perspectives to interpret behaviors and intent, and provide the right mix of smart design, continuous support, and customized roadmaps that empower action and promote transformation. Learn more.
