Giving brands a second chance is the exception rather than the rule for most consumers today. With Americans’ pervasive “on to the next one” mentality, organizations can’t afford to have unnecessary hiccups in the customer care experience, particularly when competitors are investing in technology that helps deliver seamless service and intelligent interactions.
What is an intelligent interaction? It’s an exchange that’s tailored to a customer’s unique profile and needs. It makes consumers feel valued and special, rather than like one of many.
In simpler times, customer loyalty was earned by organizations that came to know their customers and offered them products and services that met their individual needs. But things have changed; a technology-driven world requires a technology-based solution for knowing customers and personalizing the brand experience.
Consumers no longer rely solely on letters and their landline to contact customer service; they’re using mobile, email, Web chat, social media and more. While they’re paying bills online, they’re calling customer care to help with questions and following up by chatting with a representative. Brands have to advance beyond traditional methods and offer customer service in a way that matches cross-platform consumer behavior — the new norm in everyday life.
Through predictive analytics and dynamic decisioning — a company-wide system that recognizes customer interactions across all channels — organizations can anticipate what customers want and make the context of interactions available no matter what device the customer chooses to use. If someone calls customer care, that person doesn’t want to have to rehash what was said on the phone when following up via Web chat the next day. So what’s the goal? Utilize advanced technology to require the least amount of effort possible from patrons to resolve customer service issues.
Too many organizations still treat the various interaction channels as separate silos, creating a fractured customer care experience. Brands need to have a comprehensive picture of customer touchpoints in order to create a seamless experience for patrons. Data analytics for predicting patron needs and an enterprise-wide policy management solution that unites interaction channels is the no-longer-secret recipe for happy, loyal customers.
The bottom line is that loyal customers open their wallets more often to consume products and services. If companies meet consumers where they are and deliver service on their terms, satisfied customers will become loyal customers that significantly boost sales.
Consumers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get issues resolved. Predictive analytics coupled with omnichannel can vastly improve the customer experience by optimizing and adapting to changing customer dynamics in real time in order to deliver intelligent interactions. Technology makes it easy to bend over backwards for your customers.
Michael Boukadakis is the founder and chief executive officer of Enacomm, a leading provider of voice processing infrastructure, applications and services that optimize customer call interactions. With decades of experience driving national Interactive Voice Response (IVR) solutions organizations, he is considered an expert in voice processing and call center technologies.