The Interactive Advertising Bureau reports that U.S. mobile advertising last year tripled to $7.1 billion. This stands to reason, since well over half (58 percent) of Americans own a smartphone. And according to data compiled by Google, 90 percent of people move between devices—including smartphones, tablets and PCs—to achieve a goal. That includes making a purchase.
Consumers are moving from device to device and relying on mobile more than ever, as they interact with your brand in a variety of ways: checking online reviews of your products, visiting your website, calling your customer support center and so on. These consumers have come to expect omni-channel consistency: a high level of quality across the board. So if, for example, your mobile app is clunky or your website isn’t optimized for mobile, they are apt to be unpleasantly surprised and maybe go elsewhere.
This level of consistency across channels is necessary, but it takes planning. Organizations need significant executive buy-in, technology investment, organizational change and frontline training. Most organizations feel overwhelmed when considering where to start transforming their business. Fortunately, the same demographic and technology trends pushing your company towards omni-channel can be harnessed to help you unlock which initial steps are the most important to your customers.
Your customers and prospects are used to microwaves, drive-throughs, two-second downloads – in short, instant gratification. This includes providing feedback about their customer experience the second it occurs. And they are used to having choices; they want to respond in the manner that suits them best, be it social media, feedback surveys, live chat or telephone support.
As you listen and watch your customers at the various places they interact with you online, they will tell you what experiences are most important to them and therefore are most important for you to change. This is called an Omni-channel Listening Strategy and it gives you a strategic roadmap for where you should apply your investment to make the highest returns. Your customers are desperately seeking ways to tell you the hot points that are causing them the most frustration.
At a practical level, how can you achieve this? As an example, some telecoms send short SMS surveys in real time to subscribers immediately after activating a plan, asking about user friendliness of their online customer portal or the quality of support delivered by the field or contact center. Customer feedback is gathered in real time and immediately routed to the frontline to take corrective action. Dashboards also conclusively highlight key pain points.
The financial services industry provides another example of an Omni-channel Listening Strategy. Banks are using VOC listening to identify process changes to in-branch service and online banking, and to reduce frustration from account opening and loan application processes. There is no guesswork in this process since the customers are specifically highlighting the areas for immediate improvement in the omni-channel customer experience.
The Omni-channel Listening concept is critical, but it brings with it certain requirements. Today’s consumers are happy to provide feedback, and it is easier than ever for them to do so efficiently through their mobile devices. However, your company must be operationally ready to absorb and process tremendous volumes of inbound data, garner actionable insight and then disseminate it to the frontline where they are empowered to take corrective action with the affected customer. With today’s socially connected consumer, the backlash is significant from being perceived as paying lip service to customer feedback. Avoid this risk by partnering with a reputable CEM platform provider with deep experience set in your industry.
Even if you agree about the necessity of this whole concept of creating a consistent omni-channel strategy, that doesn’t prevent you from possibly feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand. Remember that the journey of any distance begins with a single step and that you already have certain assets in place to build upon. Those you are seeking to serve, your customers, will provide you with exactly the information you need about where to start; you just have to listen. Offering a number of ways for them to interact with you in real time via mobile methods will ensure more and more accurate data to work from. Finally, make sure to have a platform in place to help you handle all that data gold.