Customers are the life of your business, and their satisfaction is a priority. However, to deliver excellent customer service, you can't forget about those behind the scenes – your employees. Staff members are key to crafting great customer relationships.
This blog looks at the tie between employees and a unified customer experience.
Table of Contents
- What is a Unified Customer Experience?
- Benefits of a Unified Approach for Agents
- Benefits of a Unified Approach for Customers
- An Approach Makes For Happy Customers And Agents
What is a Unified Customer Experience?
A unified customer experience promotes a recognizable, consistent experience across each channel customers use to engage with a business, from websites and emails to chatbots and social media. The approach considers the needs of both customers and employees. It provides cohesion for both parties, connecting all relevant touch points throughout the customer journey.
Channels
At the core of a unified customer experience are the communication channels. These can include SMS, email, video chat, social media, and more. Customers should have the same experience regardless of which channel they choose to reach out through.
Routing
Once a customer contacts the customer service team, skill-based routing plays a large part in the unified customer experience. Routing ensures that customers reach the right person for their query and are provided with timely support.
Contextual Information
Customer information via profiles or another shared knowledge system ensures that customers don’t have to repeat themselves every time they connect with an agent. Agents will already have an understanding of their history, product or service usage, understanding of their issues, and what has been done to resolve them.
Benefits of a Unified Approach for Agents
Agents are the face of customer service, and unifying their work keeps them consistent and knowledgeable. Here are some of the potential benefits for agents:
Simplify Multi-Channel, Multi-Conversation Interactions
A unified platform simplifies multi-channel interactions and lets agents handle multiple conversations in one place. They can easily switch from one channel to another without juggling different screens.
Become Multilingual With Ease
With translation capabilities, agents can help customers from all over the world and never learn another language. This eliminates language barriers and provides all your customers with high-quality service.
Utilize The Best Form of Communication
Agents can easily initiate video calls, switch to SMS, send an email, etc., depending on the needs of the conversation. Because everything happens from one interface, finding the best way to communicate with customers is much easier.
Customize Which Customers Come To You
Agents can customize which customers they assist based on the nature of the query. Customized routing lets agents focus on their areas of expertise and provide more practical support. Customers won't bounce between agents who are searching for the correct department.
Benefits of a Unified Approach for Customers
A unified customer experience eliminates many common customer frustrations. Here are some of the most helpful benefits:
Don't Put Customers on Repeat
When you adopt a unified customer view, agents gain access to all previous conversations and interactions, so they don’t have to badger customers for information they've already provided. Nobody wants to answer the same question over and over again. Instead, agents can immediately get to the point and start solving the issue.
Let Them Choose Their Preferred Communication Method
Has your agent sent an SMS to customers who just said they hate typing? No problem. A unified agent desktop can switch between different channels without starting over or losing connection. Navigating to a video call instead of an SMS chat can be done in seconds.
Customers can choose the communication method they prefer, whether that’s chatting on the phone or sending a text message.
Get Connected With The Right Support From the Start
Most customers hate waiting in long phone lines and transferring to different departments. Giving agents a unified customer profile takes care of this problem. Customers are routed to the agent who can best handle their needs, giving them the proper support as soon as they reach out.
You might route customers based on their query topics, such as product concerns or refunds. You may also want to route high-value customers to a specific group of agents.
A Unified Customer Experience Approach Makes For Happy Customers AND Agents
By adopting a unified customer experience, agents and customers benefit from improved communication and faster resolution times. This boosts customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as agent satisfaction. Everyone wins!
For customers, the unified view means an effortless customer experience with no department switching, no repeat questions, and swift resolutions. Combining multiple communication channels on one page gives agents more control over conversations and increases efficiency.
Acquire offers customers a unified agent view solution that empowers agents with the tools they need to provide customers with a truly unified experience. With Acquire, customers get dedicated support, and agents can deliver more personalized help. Our solution meets the needs of your business and creates a seamless, frictionless customer experience. With Acquire, you can make sure your customers and agents are happy.
