Breaking free from the first generation omni-channel trap

Traditional on premise platforms can leave you at a disadvantage when it comes to building true end-to-end customer engagement strategies

I was recently asked how omni-channel contact centre technology can evolve to support today’s evolving customer engagement preferences – particularly as more and more interactions are conducted on mobiles.

Certainly when it comes to shifting customer buying and contact requirements, traditional omni-channel contact centre technology can be at a disadvantage. And if you’re relying on an on premise platform that was purchased and being run on the basis of predictable volumes across traditional channels, then you’re probably going to suffer from a lack of agility and increasing operating costs.

That’s probably because omni-channel contact centres are now well-established, having been around for between 15-20 years. Designed to support channels such as email and SMS, many older platforms are being swamped by digital innovations such as virtual assistants, chatbots and robotic processes. And with the Generation Z demographic having grown up with a digital-first approach to their lives, organisations are having to come to terms with the need to support on-demand engagement, instant availability and active social media integration.

So supporting Generation Z will need to feature in your customer engagement approach, however truly integrated customer journeys will need to be much smarter. It’s this requirement for much greater complexity that is leading some to question the use of the omni-channel approach, with retailers particularly suggesting that great customer experiences have never been about being across all channels and being everything to everybody.

Instead, what matters is being available in the most appropriate way at each stage of the customer journey. For example, if you’re a utility company and you’ve recently sent out a bill or an update digitally then it’s reasonable to assume that when a customer calls up within an hour then it’s likely to be related to that event. Offering this kind of contextual awareness will matter for all customers, not just Generation Z.

Today’s leaders know that if they get their CX right, there will be an impact not just on revenues but also customer retention and renewals. However, they also know that, whether it’s omni-channel or other aspects of CX, there aren’t any magic bullets. Each organisation has their own distinct propositions and customer demographic and getting CX right takes both investment and ongoing effort to make it work.

However, evolving towards a more flexible approach such as the Sabio CX Cloud Platform can give your organisation the agility you need to focus on delivering the kind of consistent and frictionless service your customers are looking for. The goal is to achieve the right mix of solutions, digital capabilities and customer insight so that you can work continuously to optimise service delivery.

By maintaining a focus on customer feedback, you’ll achieve the right blend between digital and traditional channels. And by introducing new self-service capabilities, you’ll also find that you can optimise the total number of cloud user licences required for your CX platform. That can make a significant difference as self-service increasingly removes some of the engagement load from the contact centre.

At Sabio we’re focused on providing a core CX platform that enables you to intelligently manage any contact type, any time. We’re ready to help you provide the kind of consistent, contextual and frictionless experience that your customers are increasingly demanding. And when you’re looking to add capabilities such as speech recognition, virtual assistants or solutions that help you to bridge the gap between digital and voice engagement, our platform will be ready to support your business.

Feel free to get in touch with me directly to find out more about creating your next generation platform for customer experience excellence at [email protected]