The Ultimate Guide to Launching Omnichannel Support

Regardless of all promising CX benefits, only 15% of organizations have truly seamless omnichannel strategies. Companies admit they’re failing to offer customers a unified brand experience. Of those that are trying, nearly half say they’re not moving fast enough. Balancing the channels is a huge task. 

The SupportYourApp team remembers the times when omnichannel was just the mail and the calls. Our 12-year journey let us see how the needs of business changed and new channels of support appeared. More channels, more challenges, more expertise and growth of our customers as a reward. With all the experience received, the steps to a perfect omnichannel support became clear and logical:

Steps to Launching Omnichannel Support

Conduct a Research 

45% of failed omnichannel launching efforts are related to poor data quality. Current approaches are stuck in the past, as the majority of marketers continue to treat digital and physical experiences as two distinct, disparate journeys. At SupportYourApp, research is the first “brick” to a solid omnichannel construction. In the process of transition from multichannel to omnichannel support, it’s necessary to understand how the system is currently used and how other business processes are related to support functions. Diving deep into research, we can advise some improvements that come from our experience, and implement them. 

Create a Buyer Persona

All omnichannel support efforts are directed to create a personalized experience. Lack of customer analytics across channels causes 67% of failed marketing efforts. Staying on top of the omnichannel marketing strategy can help a business find its persona — its perfect customer. A customer relationship management (CRM) tool can allow creating a lexicon of customer data to build the philosophy of the omnichannel.

Wear Customers’ Shoes 

Go through the entire flow. Take someone who doesn’t know the product and see at what point they get stuck. Give them the opportunity to find a solution themselves, offer a knowledge base. 

63% of customers are influenced by personalized homepage recommendations. Therefore, it’s important to keep the knowledge base indexed and optimized by search engines.

If the customers prefer speed and flexibility, build an omnichannel communication system that is streamlined and effective at every touchpoint. If your segmented demographic values a personal, human connection, place an emphasis on care and interaction when building your journeys.

Remember, what your customer wants may be completely different from the customer of another brand.

Team Up With the Right Technology Partners

Data privacy is becoming a more mainstream concern. Although it hasn’t shifted customer habits to any significant degree yet (75% of customers continue to accept the default cookie settings on websites), SupportYourApp experience shows that using best safety and security practices is crucial for omnichannel support. It guarantees smooth and safe transition between channels. 

Mind the Size of Your Business

SupportYourApp figures show that depending on the size of an organization, the tasks and approaches vary. Transition period to complete omnichannel support takes from 3 weeks to 3 months, depending on whether it is a startup or a unicorn, with lots of channels and existing integrations among them. Exceptions may be enterprises with lots of bureaucracy, where each channel approval process may take about a year. These need all the organization silo to be removed. 

Remove Organizational Silo

At key stages of the customer journey, most brands are leveraging online or in-person tactics in isolation — never in coordination. The process is stifled further by various technology and reporting deployments, failing to connect with one another. Businesses are held back by lack of internal organization (39%) and siloed organization (48%). Removing the silo requires a lot of patience, in order not to damage existing parts of the system that work and help business move.

Balance Live and Non-Live Channels

Nearly 70% of organizations currently have none or very few channels connected, though 80% aim to have all or most channels connected within two years.

Incorporate what you’ve learned from customers as you roll out live channels. For example, in some peak hours, it makes sense to add a live channel. At other times and on weekends, leave emails only.

Take an Agile Approach to Self-Service for the Best Results 

Never stop removing the silo and improving your omnichannel support. Make changes, analyze the results and improve what you have. This will keep you flexible, up-to-date, forward-thinking and truly seamless.

Regular Customer Care Agents Training

Conduct regular training of customer care agents to acquire an omnichannel support culture, as an organizational habit. Of those companies, identified by Aberdeen Group, as being top-performers in omnichannel strategy, 85% conduct regular training of customer care agents in the handling of omnichannel communications. 

Conclusion

Conceptually, omnichannel support is rather simple  — the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It involves integrating each touchpoint to offer the customers exactly what they need, the moment they need it, anywhere they are, and on any device. With the right approach, secure technical help, latest data analytics and deep research it becomes a modern concept of synergy in customer support.

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