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Viewpoint: Evaluating omnichannel efforts

By Ebrahim Dinat
Johannesburg, 06 May 2016
As with all elements of the contact centre, the purpose of the omnichannel is to satisfy your customers' requirements, says Ocular technologies' Ebrahim Dinat.
As with all elements of the contact centre, the purpose of the omnichannel is to satisfy your customers' requirements, says Ocular technologies' Ebrahim Dinat.

Blogging, tweeting, live-streaming - in the past few years there has been a cloudburst of channels we use to communicate data, news, our brand, work and lives.

The idea that the omnichannel is complex can certainly create inner anxiety for any business - big and small - especially as it is often emphasised that we have to be on this or other social platform - or go home.

However, with the right support and a strong omnichannel strategy, it can run smoothly and achieve its desired results for your business.

As with all elements of the contact centre, the purpose of the omnichannel is to satisfy your customers' requirements.

According to Chris O'Brien, digital content manager at Ocular Technologies' partner company Aspect Software: "Customers aren't just demanding more ways to interact, they're demanding a seamless experience from one channel to the next."

Aspect highlights the following five reasons why your omnichannel efforts "might be missing the mark and what you can do to set things right".

1. You are disconnected. Are you locking each self-service channel into a separate silo and preventing a seamless customer experience?

2. You're not engaging your customers where they are. Are you failing to deliver the two-way engagement customers are demanding on social networks?

3. You don't know your customers. Historically, self-service applications were designed with a company's cost savings in mind, not the customer experience. But all that is changing.

4. You're creating obstacles. Patience with "waiting in line" and resolving issues keeps getting shorter - meanwhile customer expectations continue to rise.

5. Your customers don't have "anytime access" to service. If customers can't reach your business when they need help, it doesn't really matter how many different channels you offer.

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