Previously customers expected to receive service from an organization on the channel of their choice. Thus companies employed multi-channel customer service technique which made use of voice, email, SMS/text, web, mobile or social media. Omnichannel customer service takes the multi-channel customer service to the next level as it integrates channels to provide a consistent experience.

Omnichannel customer service is a solution to high-end expectations of the customers. It empowers customers to initiate an action in one channel, and transition to another. Let’s take a look at some of the best practices for leveraging omnichannel customer service:

Make your website mobile friendly:

These days people search on mobile and buy on mobile. Hence, it is obvious that they’re also seeking customer service support on their mobiles. But businesses aren’t keeping up with customer expectations of their mobile engagement. According to a study, 90% of customers say their customer service experience on mobile was negative and 52% of customers say that a poor mobile experience makes them less inclined to do business with a company. Moreover, the most common reason for their bad experience with the customer service on mobile was complex navigation. Slow loading time is yet another reason for customers’ dissatisfaction. Therefore, you need to make sure, that your website design is mobile friendly.

Reduce response time on social media:

In today’s era, social media is not just meant for entertainment purposes. It can be a great customer service tool, resulting in high customer satisfaction rates. All you need to do is keep in touch with clients through social media and most importantly, reduce the response time. Increasing speed results in a positive experience for the customer. Moreover, reducing response times on social media and training employees to provide quick and effective solutions can help make your customer service exceptional.

Use SMS facility as a part of omnichannel customer service:

Many industries leverage SMS facility and it has been a popular platform for a long time now. Also, the banks have found text messaging to be a perfect channel for sending alerts to clients about possible account fraud. The immediacy of SMS makes it ideal for reaching out to your customers in urgent situations like the one mentioned above.

Inculcate live chat on your website:

Inculcating live chat on your website is one of the best practices for omnichannel customer service. According to a research, 63% of visitors are more likely to revisit a site that offers live chat and 44% of consumers report that being able to get answers to their questions during a purchase resolves their queries instantly and clarifies the purchasing decision. Moreover, the ability to access help quickly and conveniently alleviates customer frustration. In addition to this live chat can also help improve sales besides being an effective channel for customer support.

In order to make the most out of a live chat software, professional customer service agents need to have an extensive knowledge of the brand’s products and services such that they can walk clients through a particular issue. Hence the customers may be able to identify products or services that would be useful to them. So, live chat not only helps reduce bounce rates, it also helps customer service reps upsell to clients.

Make the most out of emails:

Researchers prove that email is the most effective digital marketing strategy for customer retention with 56% effectiveness, compared to 37% retention effectiveness with social media marketing and 8% effectiveness from mobile advertising. An email also gives businesses the opportunity to offer branded messages and is a secure platform that customers trust.

Be it whatever form of the communication channel, all businesses need to be aware that the expectation of a fast reply applies to every channel being employed to communicate with the clients. According to a research, 32% of companies do not respond to customer service emails when they contact them. This can lead to customer frustration. Therefore make it a point to respond to each and every mail. In case you cannot answer the question right away, at least inform the customer that you are working on it. Also, tell them the expected query resolution time.

Try these strategies yourself and see what an omnichannel customer service can actually do for your business!