Why Advertisers Need a Scalable Multichannel Call Center Experience Platform

There was a really interesting article in the Harvard Business Review the other day around how companies are able to create deeper loyalty with customers through a more connected purchasing experience.

The article is essentially a sellers take on the McKinsey buying journey.  Even though the buyer might recognize they have a need, which prompts an active evaluation and a moment of purchase, the seller needs to respond differently and understand what is driving the need.  If the seller can do this successfully, they have the ability to create more personalized/connected solutions and ultimately create deeper loyalty. 

To add to this article, I believe that isn’t just about understanding the need behind the buying “trigger."  The seller has to meet the customer or the buyer where they are.  With so much choice out there the seller cannot take a Field of Dreams approach to creating revenue.

So how are we able to do this?  How do we meet the customer where they are… all the time? 

Generally speaking, I believe there are three key ways you can reach your customer where they are today. 
 

1.  Activating your advertising collateral:  I’m not talking QR Codes. J  But I am suggesting that you make your advertising easier for a customer/prospect to contact you.  Add email addresses, 1800 numbers, and social media links.  Yes, you might get some spam, but what is worse – spam or a missed opportunity
    
2. Integrate your communication channel.  You need to have an omni-channel customer/sales center solution.  At Five9 we offer an omni-channel platform that can solve for this.  We can integrate all your inbound and outbound channels so your customer care teams have a holistic view of the user – regardless of the communication platform.   
    
3. Create a customer care culture: Five9 recently sat down with Gonzaba Medical Group to talk about their approach to customer care.  They have a very interesting approach in how they work with customers and train agents to support their customer needs.  Overall their culture is based on family.

So why is all this important and what is driving marketers to need to think through these types of connected communications? 
 

1. Customer Service Matters:  In a recent customer study, Five9 found that 76 percent of respondents said they are very unlikely (45 percent) or somewhat unlikely (31 percent) to do business with a company after a poor customer service experience. 
    
2. The proliferation of devices is wide spread.  According to various reports there will be roughly four connected devices for every person in the world by 2020. Furthermore, people are spending over 10% of the day within social media and messaging apps.
    
3. Marketing budgets continue to grow.  Across the board various leading advertising holding companies see budgets increasing around 4-5% for 2020, but it could grow as high as 8% due to the political annoyance that will soon be upon us. 
    
4. The impact ad spending can have on customer service:  There are numerous studies that show the impact an advertising program can have on customer care and customer support operations.  In 2017 study by Universities from Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands the researches showed that advertising program can actually lead to system overloads, which will impact call abandonment rates and ultimately create a negative customer experience. 

There is no doubt that the changes in customer communication has impacted how we do business today.  It is changing the channels we market on and the channels that customers communicate with us on.  But this impact doesn’t have to be negative.  It depends on how, when, and where we as brands, marketers and sales leaders show up. 

We at Five9 are focused on finding solutions to these types problems.  Our omni-channel customer service platform is designed to scale with your business, support cross channel engagements and to help you reach your contact center KPIs.

If you have any questions on how to get started, feel free to reach out and speak to one of our sales leaders today!