Not so long ago, the phone system was the heart of the contact center. When customers wanted access to quick insights, empathetic support, and detailed guidance, the easiest option was to make a call. While many consumers still rely on phone calls to connect with businesses today, voice is no longer the only option for straightforward service.
Customers increasingly opt for other contact forms, searching for greater convenience, speed, and simplicity. This is particularly true among younger generations, with 73% of millennials saying they avoid phone calls entirely and many Gen Z customers following in their footsteps. For companies to deliver the excellent experiences customers expect, they need to be willing to explore new digital channels, from IM to social media.
Why Add Digital Channels to the Contact Center?
The age of digital transformation has had a significant impact on customer expectations. Consumers want faster, more personalized service, and they expect the companies they work with to communicate with them on the channels they feel most comfortable and familiar with.
Adding digital channels to the contact center is how business leaders ensure they can connect with customers within the environments they use every day. Rather than having to research a company online and then switch to a phone call for communication, customers can reach out on the platforms of their choice. Not only does the freedom of choice here immediately boost customer experience, but digital channels also give customers more control over the service experience.
Digital channels allow customers to reach out at a time that suits them, in a convenient format, without having to deal with call queues and long waiting times. Popular solutions for asynchronous messaging are particularly valuable, allowing companies to:
- Empower employees: Implementing digital channels into the contact center with a flexible, integration-friendly platform ensures companies can unify the inbox employees work with daily, giving them access to more context and guidance to drive personalized experiences.
- Differentiate their brand: Adding digital channels to the contact center can be an excellent way for businesses to differentiate themselves from competing companies. They showcase a brand’s commitment to understanding its audience and serving customers on the channels they feel most comfortable with.
- Access useful insights: Data collected from digital channels like messaging tools and social media can be extremely useful for mapping and orchestrating the customer journey. Companies can use insights from recorded conversations to learn more about customer preferences, track crucial metrics, and make intelligent business decisions.
- Improve customer experience: Digital channels can enhance the customer experience by providing useful support wherever they are, reducing customer effort scores, and boosting resolution times. Companies can even offer customers access to solutions like automated callbacks, so they can avoid waiting in frustrating queues.
- Higher customer retention: Since digital channels enhance the customer experience, they improve a company’s chances of retaining customers for longer and increasing customer lifetime value, paving the way for increased revenue.
How to Add Digital Channels to the Contact Center
In the past, implementing digital channels into a contact center strategy would have been a complex process requiring in-house developers or complex tech workarounds. Fortunately, innovative, flexible, and scalable solutions for the CX landscape have begun to emerge.
Companies can access solutions from Geomant to instantly integrate several channels, from telephony from Avaya and Cisco to video conferencing tools, asynchronous messaging platforms, and social media solutions.
This means all companies must do is implement their solution is choose the channels they want to integrate. There are options available for popular messaging tools like Viber and WhatsApp, SMS and RCS messaging, web chat platforms, and even social media solutions like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook DM.
Plus, with Geomant’s flexible tools, companies can easily implement their custom channels into the same ecosystem for a complete end-to-end omnichannel experience. Reach out to Geomant today to discover how easy it can be to include digital channels in your CX strategy.