Apart from innovative products, clever business strategies, and competitive prices, if there is something else that determines the lifespan of any business, it is none other than the presence of good customer service. 

Time is money! What people utterly dislike is waiting out for stuff and repeating the steps over and over again. This also applies to your customers. A common observation that you might have come across is that even after building active customer support, your customers are not really happy with the service. Well, this is not an anomaly and definitely not the fault of your employees. It only indicates that you need to blend in modern technology with your existing manpower to get some extra firepower. 

To achieve this, you need an omnichannel customer service platform, and companies like Wolken Software can help you with this. So, what exactly is this omnichannel customer service platform, and how is it going to help you? In this blog, we will discuss all aspects of the omnichannel customer service platform. So, let’s start!

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What is Omnichannel Customer Service?

When your customer encounters some issues with your products, he/she is in distress and will try to reach you as soon as possible at his/her convenience. They might start out with your chatbot, but given the nature of their problem, they might have to talk with an executive. Now, while talking with the executive, if your customer has to repeat the problem all over again, it would be annoying. So, is there a way by which your executive already knows about the problem and simply takes the call to give the solution? That will definitely save a lot of time at both ends! Well, the answer is the omnichannel customer service platform. 

It is an integrated approach that unites different channels (like company chatbot, WhatsApp, mail, call, etc.) under a single source of truth. This allows your customer service team to access the individual customer's error information across different channels. Thus, they don’t need to ask for the same information over and over again and can focus on providing the solution after confirming some basic information.

Benefits of Omnichannel Customer Service

Now that we know what omnichannel support is let’s explore some of the benefits of omnichannel customer service:

Meeting Customers Where They Are

Omnichannel support allows your customers to contact your company anytime they want from anywhere on Earth. This eliminates their need to visit the service centre for every small problem and saves them a lot of time. All they need to do, is to float an email or call your tech support and get the necessary advice. Omnichannel combined with on-site service will truly enable you to meet your customers where they are without giving them much trouble. This will increase the reliability of your brand.

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Increased Customer Engagement with Multi-Touchpoint Communication

Omnichannel gives your customers multiple options to interact with your customer support. This makes it easier for them to handle any sort of issue while reporting it. This ensures they engage with your company at their convenience, thereby making you easily available in times of need. Also, with easy modes of communication, your customers will contact your company instead of looking out for outside help from unskilled people. Such people can end up further damaging your product and, with that, your reputation.

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Improved customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty

A great advantage of an omnichannel customer service platform is that it takes less time to address customer queries. This allows for quick problem resolution and relief to customers. A customer happy with your service is bound to come back to your store once they feel the need for products related to your portfolio. Such customers not only avail themselves of your products but also spread the word about your good products and customer support in the market. These ‘loyal customers’ will help you grow your business. Wolken Software helps you collect essential data about customer experience with the help of its customer satisfaction module, which will further help you improve your products and strategies.

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Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings

An omnichannel system helps reduce redundancy in operations and allows you to resolve issues efficiently. This lowers the time invested per customer problem. Thus, your team can achieve stellar outputs within a few hours. Integrating multiple channels under the same umbrella lowers the need for manpower. Some of the queries could be solved by the chatbot, while others require human assistance. Blending AI and ML in all these lowers the need for human involvement and thus saves you a lot of money.

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Scalability and Flexibility

Omnichannel integrates different channels into a single source of truth. This means that if tomorrow a new channel gains rapid popularity (say, a new social media platform), it can be easily incorporated into your omnichannel, meaning that your customers could contact you with that platform with the same efficiency as the existing ones. This increases the scalability of your business and makes the path to reach you more flexible.

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Building Stronger Customer Relationships

Since your customers can reach you in the way they want, they feel more valued. Why? Well, they don’t need to walk up to the service centre miles away from their residence and then stand in a long queue for every simple problem. Having multiple ways to reach you at their convenience makes them feel valued. Your customer gets the impression that their time is being valued and will have a positive impression of your company.

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Reducing Customer Churn

Customer churn is a metric that determines the percentage of customers who stopped buying your brand after a certain point in time. To create a successful business, you must have this metric as low as possible. If you are currently experiencing this, a way out could be by implementing an omnichannel customer service platform. Once this is implemented, your customers can easily reach you and get their issues resolved as quickly as possible this will help build faith in your brand. 

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‍A Competitive Advantage in the Modern Marketplace

The modern market is flooded with multiple brands selling the same product, creating brutal competition. With omnichannel support, you can gain an edge over your contemporaries, who haven’t given much importance to it. Your customers will benefit from efficient product issues resolution. Flawless customer service will build your brand value and expand your business in the market.

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‍Obtaining a Holistic View of Customer Interactions Across All Channels

A good part of omnichannel is that your customers don’t have to start all over again when they switch channels. This enables them to get their queries addressed in a far shorter time as all the prior information input by them is accessible across all the channels.

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Maximizing Return on Investment (ROI)

Return on investment is a parameter that measures the financial benefit of implementing a new technology. It extends beyond the calculation of profit and loss margin. Implementing omnichannel helps you acquire a larger base of loyal customers, which increases your sales and lowers your operation and maintenance costs. Thus, looking at the big picture, omnichannel is a must if you want to maximise your revenues.

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Conclusion

Implementing omnichannel could be the game changer in your business considering its numerous benefits in the long term. By now you are well aware of the several benefits of omnichannel customer service. If you are not confident about setting all by yourself starting from scratch, then third-party experts like Wolken Software can help you. The omnichannel customer experience is already proven to be fruitful in several business models therefore you can expect a generous ROI on its application. If you dream big, then the omnichannel customer service platform could be the bridge in between you and your goals. 

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Benefits of Omnichannel Customer Service FAQs

1. What is omnichannel customer service?

Ans. An omnichannel customer service is a holistic technology that integrates different popular mediums of communication (channels) into an integrative whole. It is where the information entered in one channel can be retrieved in another channel. 

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2. What is the difference between omnichannel and multichannel customer service?

Ans. In multichannel you need to re-input all the information when you switch channels while in omnichannel there is no such requirement. Thus the issues are solved way faster in omnichannel. This is one of the major benefits of omnichannel customer service over multichannel.

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3. How does omnichannel improve customer experience?

Ans. While using an omnichannel customer service platform, the customers can efficiently switch between channels without passing the same information again and again. This saves them a lot of time and improves their experience.

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4. How can I implement an omnichannel customer service strategy for my business?

Ans. There are two ways. One is to build everything from scratch, which requires advanced coding and in-depth IT knowledge. It is as complicated as it sounds! The other is to enlist the help of third-party sources committed to providing the best customer service experience to your customers, such as Wolken software.

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