Rapid technological innovation coupled with rising affordability has put customers in the driving seat—they expect brands to meet their demands across every channel and device, 24/7. But providing the level of service customers desire can become hard for traditional contact centers that still rely on fragmented channels, data silos, and overworked agents struggling to deliver on key metrics.
With 81% of organizations citing CX as a key differentiating factor, according to a report by Dimension Data, contact centers need to evolve into omnichannel customer engagement centers that do more than just solve queries. They must provide consumers with a 360° integrated experience across multiple channels by leveraging disruptive technologies like AI, ML, and NLP to upgrade customer interactions.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the advantages proffered by an omnichannel contact center and the role of AI in delivering a rich omnichannel experience for consumers.
| Also Read: Take Your Customer Engagement To The Next Level With An Omnichannel Customer Engagement Platform |
What are the Advantages of Omnichannel Contact Center Solutions?
⦾ Better Customer Retention with Cross-selling and Upselling Opportunities
Omnichannel customer engagement can help companies retain 89% of their customers as opposed to just 33% for companies with little to no omnichannel integration. An AI-powered omnichannel approach empowers customers with the freedom to choose their preferred channel, lowering communication barriers.
Additionally, omnichannel engagement also unlocks unique cross-selling and upselling opportunities leading to higher sales conversions and better customer lifetime value. A survey by Omnisend showed that omnichannel strategies result in a 250% higher purchase frequency and 13% larger order value.
⦾ Faster Call Resolution Times for Better FCR and AHT Rates
First Call Resolution (FCR) and Average Handling Time (AHT) are two key KPIs that contact centers track to measure agent as well as overall department performance. But with agents toggling between different screens and channels constantly, without any contextual information, agents spend longer periods on calls.
In a multi-channel setting, without AI integration, much of the call is spent repeating previously shared information. And when 33% of customers hate repeating themselves while talking to multiple agents, customer service gets hampered. But with omnichannel contact center software, conversations on multiple channels can be displayed on a single platform, making it easier for agents to serve their customers.
⦾ Higher Degrees of CX Personalization and Contextual Conversations
In the Future of CX report, PwC stated that 1 in 3 customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience. On the other hand, a personalized, cohesive experience can convince customers to splurge up to 13% more!
The difference here lies in recognizing the enormous impact of delivering a personalized customer experience rooted in the proper context. Omnichannel customer experience software leverages AI to build detailed customer profiles and put all the relevant information at the fingertips of the agents.
| Also Read: 6 Benefits Of Omnichannel Customer Engagement |
What is the role of AI in an omnichannel contact center?
⦾ Single Window for All Customer Information
While agents talk to the customers, AI can take over much of the background work and scrape databases to collect all the information required to handle the query effectively. Data points such as past tickets, open tickets, customer journeys and touchpoints, relevant articles from the knowledge base, and all previous conversations can be displayed on a single window.
⦾ Smart Omnichannel Call Routing and Case Management
According to Zendesk, over 35% of customers expect to reach the same customer contact representative on any channel. But making this possible today has become more challenging because customers use an average of six touchpoints, with 50% regularly using more than four. AI-powered omnichannel call routing enables customers to immediately reach the right agent based on their behavior and requirements.
AI takes this a step further by enabling intelligent case management by intuitively recognizing when to escalate a call.
⦾ Conversational Chatbots and Voice Bots Powered by NLP
80% of customers want immediate responses to their queries. Providing them with intelligent self-service options can help them resolve their queries much faster without adding to the agents’ workloads. Conversational chatbots and voice bots use NLP to recognize words and sentiments and respond in a human-like manner. They guide the customers to the right resources and easily handle level-1 queries. When the call goes beyond their capabilities, the bots can escalate the case to a human agent.
⦾ Personalized Customer Experience on Each Channel
According to 55% of retailers, personalization in the omnichannel customer experience is the biggest factor influencing customer relationships.
AI-powered omnichannel solutions simplify personalization by incorporating it into automated texts, emails, and calls. It also collects relevant customer information to build detailed personas to guide sales and marketing campaigns. Better product recommendations, smoother journeys, and robust after-sales services ensure that customers have a great experience.
⦾ New Pathways to Communicate with Your Customers
75% of customers prefer face-to-face conversations and human interaction. But how can agents in a contact center provide high levels of human interaction? This is where video chats come in. Omnichannel customer experience centers can leverage AI to identify idle sessions and have bots automatically recommend video chats with relevant agents. What’s more, AI can also help agents understand when to escalate live chats to video calls to co-browsing sessions to close leads faster.
Agents can use these features to provide live demos, quick guidance, and immediate doubt resolution, ensuring no leads are lost midway through the sales funnel. AI can also place relevant sections from the knowledge base on their desktops to aid them in answering customer questions.
⦾ Improving Agent Performance in Real-time
Agent performance tools such as dynamic agent scripting, real-time monitoring, supervisor barge-in, and knowledge base pinups use AI to identify when an agent needs help and how best to provide it. With AI-powered reporting, contact center decision-makers can get a bird’s eye view of historical as well as real-time agent performance.
AI can use these reports to identify gaps and suggest iterative solutions to not just improve performance but also motivate agents to push their KPIs. Training new agents and upskilling current ones to effectively handle customer queries across multiple channels can become a tedious, lengthy process without the assistance of AI in formulating quality, customized material.
| Also Read: 6 Reasons Why To Switch Over To Omnichannel Customer Engagement |
Wrapping up
Contact centers can evolve into omnichannel customer experience platforms with the help of NovelVox, a bespoke omnichannel contact center solution that enables companies to turn first-time buyers into lifelong customers with its turnkey AI-driven technology. NovelVox allows organizations to seamlessly manage customer conversations, glean relevant context, capture more leads, personalize interactions, improve agent performance, and provide interactive self-service options. Contact us today to learn how NovelVox can help you craft better customer experiences.
