Why do some brands thrive actively while others do not? 

What’s the secret to winning customer loyalty in a digital-first world? 

The answer could lie in their handling of the omnichannel customer experience.

According to Salesforce, 71% of customers prefer different channels depending on the context. While business buyers engage with companies across ten channels, consumers typically use eight.

Therefore, mastering the strategies to an omnichannel customer experience has become the key to having a competitive edge in the market. 

If you are looking to do the same, this blog will break down the strategies you need to understand and execute a winning omnichannel customer experience.

What is an omnichannel customer experience?

An omnichannel customer experience refers to a fully integrated approach that covers multiple touchpoints. Executed properly, it enables customers to initiate their journey on one platform and continue on any other platform of their choice. 

An omnichannel customer service platform provides a comprehensive overview of the entire customer journey on one platform, ensuring that support quality remains consistent and top-notch even as customers switch from one channel to another. 

The omnichannel customer experience is often confused with multichannel strategies. While both involve engaging with customers on multiple channels, the two are extremely distinct in outcome and implementation. 

The multichannel customer experience refers to the availability of multiple channels for customer interactions, with each channel operating independently of the other. However, with an omnichannel customer experience, there is a definite integration of all channels such that customers and agents can pick up where they last left off. 

In this context, an omnichannel strategy brings a consistent and personalized experience, enhancing customer satisfaction and fostering trust. 

Why is the omnichannel customer experience important? 

Consider a customer who orders a laptop online and needs help setting it up later. They initiate a support request on live chat. On completion, they receive a follow-up email with the setup details, warranty information, and a feedback survey. 

In this situation, the customer receives support across different channels without any hassles. Omnichannel customer experiences establish a sense of trust that customers will be assisted at every phase of their support journey. 

By integrating all the channels together, you can reduce friction, increase satisfaction, and build long-lasting relationships. Consistent custom service significantly boosts customer retention by building connections rooted in trust and loyalty. 

Benefits of an omnichannel customer experience 

When done right, the omnichannel customer experience comes with a huge ROI for your business. A cohesive and seamless experience across different customer channels opens up multiple advantages that contribute to business growth and profitability. 

Here’s how:

Frictionless customer journeys

From pre-purchase to post-purchase, the omnichannel approach ensures that customers can quickly navigate the different stages. The focus is on simplifying the customer journey and removing any operational hiccups that come in the way of issue resolution. 

As a result, customers can connect with your business on their preferred channel without having to repeat themselves, re-enter information, or face inconsistencies in service. This brings an ease of interaction that holds great value for every customer.  

Personalized customer experiences

A huge advantage of the omnichannel strategy is access to customer data from every channel customers interact on. By integrating this data, businesses gain a more precise, comprehensive understanding of customer needs. 

This allows for a more personalized and consistent experience regardless of where and when customers connect. 

In addition to ensuring continuity in the experience, the omnichannel customer experience also includes personalized support, tailored recommendations, and special offers and discounts—all of which go a long way toward building a loyal customer community.    

Customer retention

What inspires customers to stick around for a long time? 

Forrester suggests that customers are 2.4 times more likely to stick with a brand when their problems are solved quickly. 

With an omnichannel contact center, customers can easily switch from chat to phone to email without revisiting their queries. The agent has all the necessary information to provide customers with a swift and seamless resolution without disruptions. 

When customers see that their time is valued and their needs are accounted for properly, it establishes a sense of trust and a layer of familiarity that encourages a long-term engagement with the brand.

Consistent experience across channels

The omnichannel customer experience promises end-to-end consistency. Irrespective of the devices that customers use to contact customer support, the experience remains unified and seamless. Each touchpoint reflects the same quality of experience, brand values, and service standards. 

One of the best omnichannel customer experience examples that demonstrate this is how tech companies provide support through various channels. Here, a customer may initiate a query about troubleshooting on your chatbot and finish the issue over a call without repeating the entire issue. 

Such examples highlight the powerful impact of building fantastic customer service experiences using an omnichannel strategy. 

Agile channel activation

Businesses with established omnichannel systems can quickly introduce new channels without starting from scratch. A robust omnichannel customer support platform enables you to integrate new channels and touchpoints into your existing ecosystem, such as new messaging apps, emerging social media platforms, and so on. 

This not only saves time and resources but also ensures that new channels are immediately aligned with the brand’s support quality and overall strategy. This way, you meet your customers where they are while maintaining a unified customer experience. 

Customer data

Your customer data contains a treasure trove of insights that can help you build exceptional customer experiences. Omnichannel experiences facilitate collecting and integrating customer data from every point of contact. 

For instance, a financial services provider can derive data from customer interactions across the banking app, live chat, email, and voice calls to deliver customized financial advice, promotions, and offers. 

Leveraging these insights can help you deliver more responsive and effective support, resulting in an overall higher customer satisfaction rate and loyalty. 

Building a fail-proof omnichannel customer experience from pre to post-purchase

While there is no thumb rule to build a solid omnichannel customer experience, some proven strategies and practices can guide you on this journey. Here’s how you can craft an effective omnichannel experience that keeps customers coming back: 

Build clear customer personas

Knowing your customers' needs and preferences is the most important step toward creating an omnichannel customer experience strategy. Clearly define your ideal customer personas (ICP) based on their behaviors, motivations, pain points, and use cases so that you can anticipate their needs at every stage of the journey. 

In practice, this could involve building the right messaging for the right customer segments. Some customers may clearly prefer in-depth product information and regular product updates, while others may demand more personalized attention. 

By aligning your omnichannel strategy with these personas, you can more effectively meet their expectations and foster a stronger connection with them. 

Create customer journey maps 

A customer journey map represents the different stages a customer goes through, from initial awareness to post-purchase engagement. By mapping out these phases, you will clearly understand each stage of a customer’s journey.

In doing so, you can spot friction points where customers are likely to experience frustration, allowing you to address these issues proactively. 

For instance, if most of your customers typically research products online but prefer to purchase in-store, you should take the necessary steps to ensure that your online and offline experiences align with each other through consistent messaging and integrated data. This is the best way to ensure your customer feels recognized and valued at every step. 

Tap into customer feedback

Feedback provides direct insight into how your customer experience is faring and, more importantly, what your customers value, where they encounter challenges, and where there is room for improvement. 

Proactively collect feedback from different channels to comprehensively understand your customer experience. These insights are crucial for identifying gaps in your strategy and taking your service quality to the next level. 

Let’s say your customers frequently complain about difficulties navigating your voice bot menu. By incorporating this suggestion and taking the necessary steps to address their concerns, you will demonstrate your commitment to meeting customer needs and expectations throughout the omnichannel journey.

Deploy the right technology 

The key to a successful strategy is using the right omnichannel tools and technologies. The tool should support the integration of all the customer experience channels where your customers proactively interact with your brand. 

To deliver uniform experiences, the ideal omnichannel platform incorporates real-time data sharing, consistent messaging, and personalized interactions. Additionally, it should use innovative technologies like voice bots and AI-driven support. 

Recognize key players in the process

For an omnichannel customer experience to work effectively, you must ensure that all key stakeholders and employees are in sync. This includes the customer-facing teams like sales and support staff and other teams like back-end, tech support, marketing, supply chain, and so on. 

Clear communication and collaboration among these teams are essential for properly aligning with business goals and meeting customer needs. You must equip these key players with the right skills, practices, and tools to help them put their best foot forward. 

Your support staff, in particular, will probably need rigorous, hands-on training to be ready to deliver superior quality experiences. 

Frame a strong post-purchase strategy

The real test of a strong customer experience lies in the post-purchase phase. How you continue to engage with your customers after they purchase can significantly impact their perception of your brand and how long they will stick around. 

A well-planned post-purchase strategy is essential for customer retention. It should focus on nurturing the customers with the right kind of engagement. This includes timely follow-ups, product updates, personalized recommendations, and proactive support.  

Promote customer loyalty with Plivo CX’s omnichannel customer service platform

Customer loyalty is built on delivering a unified and responsive service. As an AI-driven omnichannel customer service platform, Plivo CX offers small and mid-sized businesses a single window pane for managing all customer interactions across LiveChat, SMS/MMS, WhatsApp, and more. 

For those looking to harness the full potential of omnichannel support, Plivo provides various features and tools to ensure a cohesive experience, such as: 

• Omnichannel communication via a unified agent desktop: Handle customer conversations seamlessly across various channels like email, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat from a single platform.  Provide your agents with a single interface to manage all customer interactions, regardless of the channel.
• Smart chatbots: Train and deploy OpenAI-powered self-service chatbots to automatically handle routine customer inquiries, freeing up your agents for complex issues.
• Visual workflow builder: Create custom workflows and automations using a drag-and-drop interface, even without coding knowledge.

• Wide-ranging integrations: Seamlessly integrate Plivo CX with your existing tech stack, including homegrown systems, ERP, CRM, Order, Payment systems, and helpdesk tools 
• Real-time analytics: Track and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to gain insights into customer interactions and agent performance.
• Call recording and monitoring: Record calls for quality assurance and agent training purposes.
• Customizable reports: Generate reports tailored to your specific needs and requirements.

• Internal notes and collaboration: Enable agents to share information and collaborate seamlessly on customer issues.
• Skills-based routing: Automatically route calls to the most qualified agent based on their skills and expertise.

• IVR: Create automated phone menus to guide callers and route them to the right department or agent.
• Multi-language support: Cater to a global audience with support for multiple languages.
• Security and compliance: Ensure data security and compliance with industry regulations.

Book a demo or contact us to learn more.