Today, there are many ways to connect and communicate with an organisation. You can choose from more traditional channels, such as email support, phone, and social media, to more recent channels, such as Live Chat, Support Widgets, mobile apps, and AI-powered Chatbots.

However, omnichannel isn’t just about information availability!

It’s about providing a holistic support experience and maximising customer satisfaction.

Why Omnichannel Experience Matters

Omnichannel can be defined as integrating all physical and digital channels to offer a unified customer experience. It’s about creating quality and consistent customer service across all contact points that are easy for the customer to use.

Omnichannel allows customers to switch channels without losing context or repeating themselves, creating a more convenient and engaging experience. And we all know how important a great customer experience is for the service desk!

So, when implementing omnichannel solutions, strategies for both customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) should be considered.

This infographic explains the omnichannel and shares SDI’s recent survey findings.

How to Deliver Great Omnichannel Experiences

According to McKinsey research, most Gen Z consumers don’t think in terms of traditional channel boundaries. In fact, they evaluate companies based on the seamlessness of the experience they provide.

This means that omnichannel excellence requires value creation.

So, the big question is, how do you deliver that best experience across the board?

To deliver a delightful omnichannel experience, companies should focus on the following key factors:

• Integration: All channels need to be well integrated so that customer information is easily available and consistent across all channels. Think about using integration systems such as CRMs, e-commerce platforms, contact management software, and much more to allow you quick access to customer data. This will create a great experience and, at the same time, keep the users at the core of services.
• Personalisation: The consumer’s experience should be personalised and customised to meet each unique customer’s specific requirements and preferences.
• Convenience: The customer experience should be convenient and easy to use, with straightforward and understandable navigation and opportunities for self-service.
• Responsiveness: Companies should be able to reply swiftly and effectively to enquiries and requests made by customers, irrespective of the channel that the customers are utilising.
• Consistency: The customer’s experience should be the same across all channels, including the verbiage, branding, and tone of the communications.
• Empathy: Representatives of a company’s customer service department need to have a high level of empathy, as well as understanding, and the ability to connect with consumers on a human level.

By focusing on these key factors, companies can provide customers with a seamless and consistent experience across all channels.

Setting The Right Omnichannel Strategy

To have a successful omnichannel strategy, you need to combine planning, the right technology, and an approach centred on the customer. If you follow these pointers, you’ll be able to build a plan that satisfies your customers’ requirements and contributes to your business’s success.

Here are some tips to help you develop an effective omnichannel strategy:

#1 Understand your customers’ needs and preferences

The first step is to put yourself in the customers’ shoes! Think about how they prefer to connect and communicate with your business. This will give you a clear understanding of what parts of omnichannel to prioritise and the best way to personalise your strategy for each channel. Each channel may see different consumer behaviour, self-service efficacy, and agent efficiency. These can all help you plan resources and processes.

Using the right channel for the right contact can unlock improved user experience and client satisfaction.

-Paul Phillips, Senior Service Desk Operations Director, CGI

#2 Invest in the right technology and tools

Ensure that your omnichannel strategy is supported by the appropriate investments in technology and tools and that your employees have access to the right application. For example, using self-service, can help you save the valuable time of your support agents and allow them to focus on more value-adding activities.

Build automation into your Omnichannel strategy from the start.

-Prashant Arora, NTT Ltd

#3 Develop a consistent brand identity and clear messaging

By setting up a messaging strategy that can be used across all platforms, you will be able to deliver a more consistent experience. Moreover, your customers will be able to recognise your business easily regardless of the channel they interact with.

Deliver consistent experiences across all departments.

-Zephaniah B., ManageEngine

#4 Track and manage customer feedback

Gathering customer feedback across all channels will help you identify areas that may be improved. This will also help you adjust your strategy and approach as needed. Also, by managing customer feedback, you will be able to provide contextual responses and solve service requests with the right information without intervention from a human agent.

Measuring the experience in a tangible and accurate way is vital for the omnichannel service desk. You have to know if the service you are running is world-class and if you are delivering value to your customers.

-Patrycja Sobera, Unisys

#5 Identify employee training and development needs

Organisations succeed when they expand, modify, and improve employee experiences. Ensure you provide your employees with the necessary resources, training, and best practices to deliver an outstanding and consistent experience across all channels. This will guarantee that they are ready to deliver on your omnichannel strategy.

91 % of employees have a higher expectation for easy-to-use technology than they did a decade ago.

– Harvard Business Review Analytic Services

#6 Be flexible and adaptable

More flexibility, adaptability, and integration lead to better omnichannel capabilities.  Make sure you are ready to adjust your strategy when you notice the demands and preferences of your customers are changing.

Make changes human-centric and understand the people and personas.

-Scott Gamble, ServiceNow

Taking The Right Steps

So how to deliver a delightful omnichannel experience?

You need to get the omnichannel strategy right and then make sure that all channels are glued well together.

The most effective strategy for delivering an outstanding omnichannel experience and future-proof experience management is to use a consumer-centric mindset while designing the employee experience.

By delivering a low-effort, high-quality omnichannel service experience, you could help your IT teams to cope with the pressure of delivering a great customer experience.

So, make sure your omnichannel solution is intuitive and your agents and users can navigate their way around the tool. Empower the service desk with the right technology and tools, such as intelligent automation and AI-powered tools, to help you focus on the employee experience – and delightful digital experience!

If you’d like to learn how to position your service better & support omnichannel strategy for success – watch this virtual event on-demand delivered by ITSM & Service Desk industry professionals!