Omnichannel customer service: How to deliver great support to customers on every channel

As technology continues to evolve, companies are beginning to realize the importance of providing an omnichannel customer support experience.

Omnichannel support refers to the ability to engage with customers across multiple channels, including social media, email, phone, and live chat. This approach helps businesses to offer a seamless and consistent experience, regardless of the platform customers choose to use.

The impact of omnichannel support on the market has been significant, with businesses seeing increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention rates.

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of omnichannel customer service solutions and how businesses can successfully implement this approach to the assistance they provide.

What is omnichannel customer service?

We define omnichannel as the strategy that offers consumers seamless support across multiple distinct channels. To provide omnichannel customer service is to treat all the different potential touchpoints across every channel as one continuous conversation and experience rather than separate and siloed points of contact. Omnichannel provides customer service teams with a single source of truth about a customer’s information that they can then reference whenever and wherever they need it.

One example is when a customer calls a company for help. With omnichannel, if a customer calls a customer service representative by phone, that conversation can easily carry over to an online messenger chat portal or new email thread without starting over with a new rep or restating their problem.

Other popular touchpoints that can be streamlined through an omnichannel approach include social media messaging, in-app or website notifications, SMS texting, and video calls. Companies still need to select the channels most relevant to their customers and products, but with an omnichannel strategy, different methods of communication can better work with each other.

Omnichannel vs multichannel support: what are the differences?

Omnichannel support

• Definition: A seamless, integrated customer experience across all touchpoints. Individuals can switch between channels while maintaining continuity.

• Integration: Channels are interconnected, and data is shared across all touchpoints. A unified customer view is maintained.

• Consistency: Offers a consistent and cohesive customer experience regardless of the channel used.

• Customer journey: Focuses on the entire customer journey, recognizing that people may use different channels at different stages.

• Data sharing: Data is shared in real-time across all channels, allowing support reps to have a comprehensive understanding of the customer's history.

• Flexibility: Provides flexibility for customers to use any channel seamlessly without affecting the service quality.

• Communication: Enables a more personalized and context-aware communication with customers.

• Examples: Integrated online and offline experiences, unified customer profiles, consistent messaging across channels.

Multichannel support

• Definition: Involves offering customer service through multiple independent channels without necessarily integrating them.

• Integration: Channels operate independently, and there is less or no integration between them. Each channel may have its own set of data and interactions.

• Consistency: Consistency may vary between channels, leading to potential disparities in information and service.

• Customer journey: Each channel operates as a separate entity, addressing specific touchpoints in the customer journey.

• Data sharing: Data may not be shared between channels, leading to potential gaps in information when customers switch channels.

• Flexibility: Customers can choose from available channels, but the experience may not be as seamless when switching between them.

• Communication: Communication may lack context, as each channel operates independently.

• Examples: Separate customer service phone line, email support, and social media responses without a centralized view.

Why is omnichannel customer support important?

1. Smooth customer journeys

Think of the customer journey as the series of connections someone makes with your brand, starting from the first encounter and leading all the way to the point where they decide to make a purchase. It's like a roadmap of their experience with your business. Wouldn't it be nice if that path was as smooth as possible?

By providing customers with various options to connect with a company, businesses can ensure that they are meeting the needs of their customers in the most effective way. This not only helps to improve customer satisfaction, but it also increases loyalty and retention rates.

2. Contextual assistance across multiple touchpoints

In general, customers choose channels to communicate with a company based on the complexity of their query and the level of urgency of the resolution. It's not surprising, for example, that people expect almost instantaneous answers from a messenger or live chat, but are willing to wait a little longer for a response via email.

With the help of omnichannel customer support software, companies can create a history of these requests across different channels and generate a record associated with that specific person. This way, if it is necessary to change the interface, the context of the situation and the details about the issue won't be lost.

This may seem simple, but it’s revolutionary for the customer experience. In practice, this means that individuals don’t need to repeat themselves each time they are transferred to a new representative, something that could generate frustration and waste of time.

Are you willing to solve your customers’ problems when and where they have them? Then read our guide and get ready for it: In-context or out of touch: The future of online customer service.

3. No siloed data

One of the most outstanding characteristics of omnichannel customer support solutions is their ability to integrate data previously dispersed across different tools or platforms.

By eliminating informational silos, you’re able to obtain a more holistic view of each of your customers, including their needs, preferences, and struggles. With these valuable insights in hand, you can optimize their experience at every touchpoint and enhance their engagement with your company through tailored interactions.

However, it’s important to be transparent about what kind of data you collect and how you plan to use it. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing customers’ trust. According to a KPMG survey with 2,000 U.S. respondents, 86% say data privacy is a growing concern for them and 40% don’t trust companies to ethically use their data.¹

If you also believe that trust is at the core of any relationship, check out this article: How we ensure the highest standards of data privacy and compliance within Intercom.

4. It prevents churn

As customers become more tech-savvy, they expect seamless and personalized experiences across all channels. However, a frustrating interaction with digital channels can easily lead to churn.

In fact, according to a recent study, 44% of people have stopped shopping with a retailer because of a poor digital experience. That's where omnichannel customer support comes in – it allows customers to choose the channel that best suits their needs and preferences, while ensuring consistency and continuity of service.²

How to create an effective omnichannel customer service strategy

1. Map out your customers journey

To create an effective omnichannel support strategy, you need to map out your customer's journey from the initial awareness of your products or services to post-purchase support. Identify key touchpoints where customers interact with your business, including social media platforms, email, phone, and your website.

2. Assess your existing channels

In order to enhance the overall customer service experience, it’s imperative to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the existing communication channels utilized for providing assistance.

By scrutinizing each channel individually, businesses can gain insights into their respective strengths, weaknesses, and areas for potential improvement. For instance, the efficiency and responsiveness of email communication might be lauded, but the real-time interaction facilitated by chat could be an area to bolster.

3. Enable cross-channel communication

Implement tools that allow customers to switch channels without losing context. For instance, if a customer starts a conversation via chat but later switches to email, the support agent should have access to their chat history.

4. Train support agents

Provide training to support agents on omnichannel best practices. Emphasize the importance of consistent messaging and understanding the entire customer journey. Encourage agents to use a unified voice across all channels.

5. Integrate automation and AI features

Leverage the power of chatbots, like Intercom’s AI Agent, Fin, to handle initial customer queries efficiently, while routing more complex issues to human representatives. By implementing this dynamic duo approach, you're not just streamlining basic interactions; you're also ensuring that the human touch is available where it matters most.

6. Create a solid knowledge base

Develop a comprehensive knowledge base for customers to find answers independently. Ensure the knowledge base is accessible across all channels. This can reduce the workload on support agents and improve customer satisfaction.

7. Gather customer feedback

Use customer feedback to make data-driven improvements to the omnichannel strategy. Solicit feedback through surveys, social media, and other channels. Use the information gathered to improve the customer experience and drive business growth.

Omnichannel customer service examples

Just as omnichannel encourages flexibility and creativity, various real-life practices of omnichannel can be just what you need to solve a problem you didn’t even know you had. Here are some omnichannel customer service examples.

Trumpet: Leverage omnichannel messaging to proactively support customers and drive product adoption

Trumpet is a sales platform that empowers teams to create personalized and interactive microsites to close deals quicker. Russell Mitchell, Head of Customer Success, credits the London-based company’s recent success – a 35% increase in open rates for onboarding emails and a saving of up to 25% of onboarding time every week – to its omnichannel approach.

Before embracing an omnichannel strategy, Trumpet managed its customer communications through siloed email lists and CRMs and a single support email, which made it difficult to seamlessly gain insights within the platform, know which customer service tickets were open, closed, or high priority, or provide users at different stages of product adoption with relevant and automated onboarding guidance.

Trumpet was able to use Intercom to drive results across support, user onboarding, and activation channels – now connected through omnichannel software. Sometimes it can be as simple as a clean interface that hosts a helpful knowledge base, different options for messaging service agents, and an easy center to receive and find notifications and product updates.

Omnichannel is the key to turning customer support from just a reactionary step to a proactive bridge that reaches your customers.

Read our full conversation with Russell on Trumpet’s recent success.

Coda: Provide more communication opportunities for customers

Coda is an all-in-one document software that combines the most used functions of well-known services like Microsoft Office – word-processing, spreadsheet, and database functions – and puts them all in one place.

The San Francisco-based company now has over 95% in its customer satisfaction score (CSAT) and a 34% increase in its inbound support volume year-over-year rate (YoY), while maintaining response time, and a 57% decrease in median reply counts for specific queries.

Part of this success, according to Brian Lederman, Chief Revenue Officer, came from Coda adapting its communication methods to meet customers where they already were – and making sure no customer journey was left behind when switching between service channels. Embracing an omnichannel approach allowed the company to deliver the same level of customer experience at scale as they found new ways to reach different segments of their users.

Rapid growth requires a company’s support to be nimble and agile, which is possible through the flexibility and connectedness of an omnichannel mindset.

Read more about Brian’s story and all the changes happening at Coda.

Choosing an omnichannel customer service platform

So the benefits are clear and practical out in the real world, but how do you get started? And what should you be looking for when choosing an omnichannel customer support platform?

Whatever solution you end up choosing, it should at least enable all of the following:

• An effortless switch between channels. You should house all your communication channels in a single inbox. Intercom’s complete customer service platform allows your customer service agents to resolve issues across channels with little friction.

• Simplified team collaboration. Solutions like Intercom include a future-forward interface that streamlines workflows with smart automation. Enable your agents to connect with customers and teammates from one place.

• Seamless flow of context. Omnichannel cannot exist if the context of a customer’s conversation cannot be transferred from one channel to another. Out-of-sync teams are the blockers of satisfaction. Make sure your solution offers a consistent experience and flow of information.

• Don’t forget email. It might be tempting to add several new channels after connecting everything using the omnichannel model. However, just because email is a familiar and long-existing channel doesn’t mean that it has lost any of its efficiency or usefulness. Intercom also has powerful email features to complement your customer support strategy.

Omnichannel customer support solutions

1. Intercom

Intercom is the only omnichannel customer service solution that combines an AI Agent (Fin), help desk, and proactive support features — so you can keep costs low, support teams happy, and audience satisfied.

Our shared inbox is AI-enhanced and designed for speed and efficiency, which means your team can work smarter and collaborate faster. And if you’re all about data, don’t worry: you can view, segment, and filter all your customer data, and model it however works best for your business.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk is a traditional support platform. It allows businesses to handle their customer tickets and manage agents’ workload. It provides basic personalization possibilities, as well as some AI and automation features.

Zendesk’s approach is centered around ticketing and email support, paradigms from an earlier stage of online customer service, and that shows in some of the ways it integrates omnichannel and AI features.

3. Help Scout

Help Scout aims to drive omnichannel customer support through shared inbox, apps integration, and AI-powered features.

While Help Scout is easy to use, it may fall short for larger enterprises requiring extensive customization. The platform offers numerous integrations but lacks certain advanced features like email scheduling. Its knowledge base options are also somewhat limited compared to more comprehensive solutions like Intercom.

Next step: making the move to omnichannel

In the end, most of the benefits of an omnichannel mindset focus on delivering seamless and conversational support that works best for all your customers, no matter where they are or how they prefer to communicate in the digital or physical world.

With omnichannel, you don’t have to limit the ways you communicate what you do best, or how you stand by your customers in need. Email, SMS, social, or whatever comes next – omnichannel sets you up for success today and tomorrow.

Read on about all the ways we define omnichannel support, and learn more about Intercom’s own approach towards omnichannel customer service.

Start your free trial today and enjoy the benefits of partnering with Intercom.

Sources

1 KPMG, Corporate data responsibility: Bridging the consumer trust gap. They’ve surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults and 250 business leaders over 18 years old.

2 Kim+Carta, The State of Omnichannel. They’ve surveyed over 4,000 consumers across the UK and U.S.

3 Intercom, The State of AI in Customer Service. We commissioned an independent market research firm to survey a random sample of 1,013 global support leaders and practitioners. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3.7% at the 95% confidence level.