Customer experience management (CEM) has become more complex due to emerging technologies and perpetually shifting consumer expectations. Just when you think you have it all figured out, customer service chatbots become more advanced, or your customers suddenly want to reach you through WhatsApp.
But look on the bright side: these perpetual changes keep things interesting and ensure job security for CX professionals.
Amidst the constantly changing contact center landscape, there is one constant you can count on: your customers always value speed and convenience from customer service interactions. When it comes to getting questions answered and issues resolved, it's all about instant gratification.
Fortunately, all those emerging technologies enable contact centers to offer communication choices to their customers. For example, most people prefer handling their own issues rather than contacting a business for help. According to a Liferay article, it’s predicted that by 2022 85% of all customer service interactions will start with self-service.[i] AI-powered customer service chatbots are increasingly capable of helping fulfill multi-faceted customer needs—helping customers help themselves 24/7. Additionally, businesses can offer more proactive customer service by blending asynchronous channels with synchronous ones for a convenient, frictionless customer experience. (Don’t worry—we’ll cover this in detail a little later.)
Another best practice is to never forget the mobile customer experience. This article presents several creative ways to help mobile users receive quick and convenient customer support with expanded options through digital entry points.
Why the mobile customer experience matters
When discussing contact center CX, the topic of the mobile user experience is often overlooked. This is unfortunate because there are many enriched CX options that organizations can offer to mobile users. Enough people search for answers or contact customer service channels using mobile devices that it only makes sense to focus on mobile CX.
Let’s take a quick look at some statistics that illustrate the ubiquity of mobile use:
- According to one forecast, there will be 26 billion worldwide mobile users (phones and tablets) in 2022[ii]
- 85% of Americans currently own a smartphone[iii], compared to around 35% 10 years ago[iv]
- In the first quarter of 2021, a little over half of the global website traffic was generated by mobile devices (excluding tablets)[v]
- 90% of people seeking information on mobile websites reported problems with incorrect displays and difficulty navigating the site. 75% said search results were unhelpful[vi]
- According to Software Advice, “73% of consumers prefer to search for answers online, but only 27% are willing to call a customer service department if they cannot solve their problem independently.”[vii]
People use their smartphones for everything these days, including searching for answers and seeking assistance, so taking advantage of mobile will only extend your organization’s customer service reach. Make resolution journeys easier for your digital customers by implementing some of the following solutions.
Engage customers with expanded options through digital channels
The use of digital channels such as chat, SMS, and private social messaging continues to increase year over year. From 2018 to 2020, the use of online chat/live support and messenger apps saw double-digit growth.[viii] In addition, satisfaction scores for digital channels like email and online chat are respectably high.[ix]
Offering support to customers on digital channels engages customers on the channels they feel most comfortable with, increasing customer satisfaction while decreasing the cost to serve. When this support includes added self-service options, customers are increasingly satisfied and costs are further reduced.
These factors make it a best practice for organizations to include digital channel optimization in customer experience management initiatives. Here are some ways to do that:
- Optimize your Google business profile. When you search for a business in Google, you typically see results that include a phone number, website, address, and a Google map and/or image of the location. But did you know that you have some control over what users see in your online business profile? For example, in addition to the usual content, you can add a live chat link so users can quickly and conveniently receive the help they're searching for.
- Add a chat option to your interactive voice response (IVR) system. Nothing defeats the need for instant gratification quite like spending loads of time in a phone queue. If your contact center struggles with high volume and difficulty managing long queues, offer mobile users the option to chat with a virtual agent to resolve issues more quickly. If the issue turns out to be too complex for this type of self-service to solve, incorporate a blended system of channels for a seamless transition to a live agent.
- Add multiple support options to your website. Websites are a powerful digital entry point for engaging customers. To make the most of this opportunity, offer multiple support options. For example, instead of using a standardized static customer service chatbot in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, enrich the experience by offering messaging, virtual agent, live chat, and voice options for optimal convenience.
- Make it possible to authenticate digitally. One of the first steps of many customer service interactions involves verifying the customer's identity. Performing this task accurately is especially important for financial services, health care, government, and other industries that handle sensitive information. Businesses can provide convenience (and reduce handle times) by adding digital authentication, such as fingerprint or face recognition. The majority of consumers are already familiar with using these types of biometrics to access their smartphones and will appreciate the added security and saved time.
- Use your IVR to make customers aware of other service channels. Customers who call your contact center may not even be aware they have other support options. Bring visibility to self-service channels by announcing them during upfront messages or while customers wait in the queue.
Interested in learning more? Watch our three on-demand webinars from Digital CX Week to find out more about the power of providing instant gratification, a broad range of digital channels, and effective self-service tools.
Offer blended channels to create a seamless customer experience
It's easy to think of all your support channels as distinct entities with their own individual capabilities, i.e., "Our voice channel can do a, b, c, while our online chat does x, y, z." Though this is an understandable mentality, it won't help you optimize the digital customer experience.
Certain functionalities don’t have to belong to just one channel. Think of ways you can extend capabilities to provide proactive cross-channel customer service for increased positive customer sentiment. Here are some tips:
- Rich media such as audio and video are powerful tools you can utilize beyond just your website. Add "how-to" videos to customer service chatbots to provide customers with the information they need to resolve their own issues.
- Extend digital authentication capabilities as widely as possible to ensure customers have a quick and convenient way of verifying their identity in multiple channels.
- Make it easy for mobile customers to purchase products and services by offering payment options such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay.
- Use secure chat channels so that data can be safely shared and transferred.
Well, blended channels with enhanced capabilities reduce friction and allow customers seamless, enriched, and satisfying experiences. Let’s run through a scenario to put this concept into perspective:
Sydney opens a retail finance company’s mobile app, which authenticates her through facial recognition. She then starts an in-app chat about car loans. The chatbot instantly returns an interactive set of car loan options. Sydney scrolls to find the relevant car loan and clicks for more information. Through an automated process, the bank documents are sent to Sydney, and she signs them electronically. The chatbot then prompts Sydney to upload a photo of her driver’s license or passport for proof of identity. The ID is promptly validated, and pre-loaded forms are delivered to Sydney who then completes and signs the documents electronically.
It's easy to see this is a fast and convenient way to apply for a car loan. When channel capabilities are blended and chatbots for customer service are secure and integrated with backend business systems, customers receive automated instant gratification. And for businesses, this not only improves the digital customer experience, but it's also a much cheaper way to provide service.
Synchronous/asynchronous conversations
Support channels are typically either synchronous or asynchronous, meaning conversations either happen in real-time (i.e., voice and chat) or with a time lag between responses (i.e., email and social media).
Synchronous channels provide faster issue resolutions. However, they can lose their convenience if conversations are interrupted, and customers have to start from scratch the next time they seek help.
Businesses can restore convenience to customer interactions by making a channel both synchronous and asynchronous. For example, traditional chatbots in customer service usually time out after several minutes of inactivity. So, if a mobile user is chatting while waiting to see the doctor, the session will time out if the doctor suddenly becomes available and the user has to stop chatting.
To continue the conversation in an asynchronous fashion, organizations can email the customer a transcript of the chat with an offer to continue the session and links to other channels, such as phone and email. Any channel the customer chooses should have complete context, so the transition is smooth.
Can these capabilities be created in the average DIY chatbot builder? Probably not, but NICE CXone has chatbot solutions that can help you out.
How else can NICE CXone help your business enrich the customer experience?
In addition to creating award-winning cloud contact center software, NICE CXone publishes thought-leading materials designed to help organizations streamline operations and optimize CX.
To learn more about how you can enhance your customer experience options, view our Digital CX Week webinar series OnDemand now.
[i] Liferay: Why Self-Service is Essential for Customer Web Portals: Guide and Strategies for Customer Self-Service (2021)
[ii] Statista: Forecast number of mobile users worldwide from 2020 to 2025 (2021)
[iii] Pew Research Center: Mobile Fact Sheet (2021)
[iv] Statista: Percentage of U.S. adults who own a smartphone from 2011 to 2021 (2021)
[v] Statista: Percentage of mobile device website traffic worldwide from 1st quarter 2015 to 4th quarter 2021 (2021)
[vi] Software Advice: Improve the Customer Experience Through Better Mobile Support (2016)
[vii] CMS Wire: 5 Ways to Improve Customer Experiences for Consumers of All Ages (2019)
[viii] Salesforce: State of the Connected Customer (2020)
[ix] NICE CXone: 2020 Customer Experience (CX) Benchmark, Consumer Wave (2020)