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What Is Omnichannel for Customer Service and Is It Right for Your Organization?

Customers are the lifeblood of your business. To build a successful company, the needs of your customers should be at the center of every move you make. From your first interaction and beyond, it is essential that you not only understand your customers, but are also able to act on their problems, expectations and opinions.

Microsoft's Omnichannel for Customer Service can help.

Like choosing any software, it can be daunting to evaluate whether a particular piece of technology is right for you. However, in order to examine the strengths of Omnichannel for Customer Service, it’s important to first understand what current trends in customer service need to be adopted, then we can explore how to use Omnichannel for Customer Service to benefit your business.

Trends in Customer Service

In modern business, successful brands must adapt customer support strategies to charm their customers across multiple touchpoints. Here are some of the latest trends in customer service:

Real-time support

Everyone loves instant gratification, and your customers are no exception. The time that a customer is willing to wait for a response to a question, issue or complaint is quickly shrinking. To keep up, businesses must use real-time support channels such as live chat and AI chatbots to answer common questions and even handle complex requests.

Omni-channel customer support

There have never been so many options for customers to engage with your business, and everyone has their own preference of communication venue. However, one thing is consistent: regardless of the channel they use, customers demand a personalized experience. To respond to this need, businesses are now taking an omnichannel approach to customer support, which is tied to higher customer retention.

Personalization

With the proliferation of interconnected devices, customers expect and desire a personalized experience. 77% of customers today are more than willing to buy from, recommend, and pay more for a brand that offers a personalized experience.

Organizational Challenges Around CX and Customer Service

As Jim Davies, Gartner’s VP analyst, puts it, there is no silver bullet for offering exceptional customer experience. It takes nearly relentless tweaking to meet the constantly evolving needs and demands of your customer.

Some of the key CX challenges businesses must meet are:

  • Rigid existing processes and systems that can’t be adjusted to a more customer-centric approach.
  • Antiquated data organization.
  • Unique KPIs and metrics across departments and organizations, making it difficult to measure CX outcomes.
  • Confusion about how to allocate budget and HR resources.

What Is Omnichannel for Customer Service?

Omnichannel for Customer Service is a paid add-on, designed to extend the capability of Dynamics 365 Customer Service. The app enables service-focused organizations to connect and engage with their customers across multiple digital messaging channels.

To do so, Omnichannel for Customer Service offers a comprehensive set of features, like a full customer interaction panel, a direct applications tab, detailed session management, customer summary details, quick access to Dynamics 365 tools, and real-time notification.

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What Problems Does Omnichannel for Customer Service Solve?

Today, customers want to initiate support requests when and how they feel most comfortable, but regardless of the channel they use, they expect a seamless and equally satisfying experience every time. Omnichannel for Customer Service helps you meet these expectations.

First, the app supports real-time, multi-channel support through Live Chat, SMS, videos, and social channels. It preserves context across each channel, allowing agents to handle customer issues with speed and consistency. This saves time and contributes to agents’ productivity and success.

Second, the session management and unified interface panel keep all interactions and related data in one area. This removes siloed engagements and empowers agents to offer consistent, multi-channel support. For example, if a customer sends an SMS, they can continue that conversation later within a live chat without skipping a beat. Even if a different agent handles their case, Omnichannel for Customer Service ensures that the customer can expect a frictionless experience.

Moreover, Omnichannel for Customer Service keeps agents on their toes with real-time notifications. When you distribute conversation requests from customers, Omnichannel for Customer Service displays an alert dialog box with accept or reject options. Once your agent accepts the notification, they get details about who the customer is, and the challenge that they’re facing. Whether it is a new case or a recurring problem, the agent can deliver personalized experience without the customer repeating their questions.

Perhaps most importantly, Omnichannel for Customer Service allows you to create internal Knowledge Bases. With these resources, agents can access vital information and quickly respond to issues while demonstrating their expertise on the subject. Moreover, agent scripts can guide agents on the best possible process for handling each customer issue.

How Avtex Can Help

Omnichannel for Customer Service can help you get the best out of the Dynamics 365 Customer Service suite; but before you commit the resources and time needed to implement this technology, consider the following:

  • What Dynamics 365 Customer Service features do I need to enhance?
  • Will Omnichannel for Customer Service help me achieve this goal?
  • If it does, how will it integrate with my CX strategy, and how will it improve customer experiences?
  • Can I afford the budget, time and resources this solution requires?

At Avtex, we have a reputation for helping brands find the best customer service solutions for them. We evaluate your business needs, and those of your customers, to determine how software like Omnichannel for Customer Service can be of help — ensuring you’re getting the best possible value. We are standing by, ready to help you assess whether Omnichannel for Customer Service is the right solution for you.

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