Understanding How to Enhance Customer ServiceUnderstanding How to Enhance Customer Service

In this sponsored post, IR discusses the emergence of frictionless customer experience as a key business differentiator.

Companies focusing on end-to-end customer journeys across multiple channels and touchpoints are building significant competitive advantage, achieving measurable business benefits, and realizing reduced customer attrition.

Customer experience, or CX, today simply means that customers expect the same "journey" as they would if they marched into the brick-and-mortar store where they bought an item. The rush to eContact center technologies often overlooks this face-to-face people factor. When done properly, good CX can lead to reduced costs and increased profit, and is therefore one of the most valuable performance measurements organizations can implement.

The people factor may involve recruitment and training of a different type of customer service agent. In turn, companies must outfit and equip these agents with tools they can use for quick resolution of all issues regardless of channel. Businesses must move from being product-focused to being customer-focused.

The result is that contact centers must change from "fixing things'" to enhancing CX at all stages in the sales process -- including pre- and post-sales.

It is an understatement to say that a customer can choose from a huge range of channels, so most companies start out offering limited channels and add more as customers demand it.

The recent "U.S. State of Multichannel Customer Service Report" published by Parature, a cloud-based customer service firm, highlights the communications channels customers prefer when speaking to a brand or organization:

For additional guidance on optimizing customer experience, download the ebook, "4 keys to eContact Center Success," and read more.