Adopting an omni-channel marketing strategy has many potential benefits but is a big challenge from the outset.
It requires different foundational capabilities depending on the omni-channel business model we wish to aspire to, according to the consulting firm McKinsey.
Focusing on the customer experience so that it is personalized and consistent across all sales channels involves significant changes and considerations that are costly to implement and can be a drain on the organization.
Omni-channel excellence is very technology and labor intensive and therefore requires a strong focus on value creation.
Below, we outline the steps to use this competitive advantage to your benefit:
Step 1: Determine which channels your customers use most often
The first step for an organization embarking on an omni-channel effort to improve the customer experience is to select the multi-channel journeys to focus on.
Here, web analytics and data analysis play a decisive role.
It must be able to provide a deep understanding of the customer and facilitate the range of multi-channel experiences relevant to the business. Often, organizations find that what matters most to their customers is very different from what they expected.
In classifying this data, the company must consider two fundamental dimensions of each type of customer experience:
- Customers’ propensity to use multiple channels
- The importance for the customer of the different routes that have led to the contact.
In other words, we must be aware of which channels are preferred by the customer and cross-reference them with the motivations that have provoked them.
Step 2: Consolidate sales channels to work with
Once we have determined the importance of the channels for the customer, it is essential to select the most used and most profitable channels in order to work them first.
It’s key to start with this because it avoids burnout and reinforces the customer experience where it really makes an impact.
In the short term, this will allow us to obtain quick wins that will justify the launch of the project, new investments and reduce internal resistance.
A common mistake is to try to cover all sales channels and touchpoints with the customer equally.
Step 3: Mapping your customer’s journey
Closely related to the first step.
As we build our omni-channel campaign, it is important to be clear about the customer journey from one platform to another to avoid gaps and awkward encounters.
And also, to know the importance for the customer of each of these routes.
It is not the same to manage the expectations of a new customer who is going to subscribe or buy a new product as it is to manage the expectations of a customer or subscriber who contacts us with a complaint about a service.
While the former is still a potential customer (it is still an expense and only a potential gain), the latter is an asset of the company that can be lost (revenue) affecting the profitability or lifetime value of the customer.
Do you now understand the importance of this step?
Step 4: Provide a service desk that supports all channels
One third of people say that a single bad experience is enough to make them consider changing companies.
This demonstrates the importance of customer care and how it helps to build a successful customer journey.
Making sure your brand can manage customer support across multiple channels is therefore critical. Working on staff training and responses that help anticipate scenarios and circumstances is a good investment from the outset.
Step 5: Anchoring the experience on a unified platform
Without the right omni-channel marketing platform, it is not possible to develop a good omni-channel strategy.
Customer experience management requires clean, fast and efficient processes that allow us to respond to customer needs from a perfectly organized and clean back office.
Our experience shows that if we are not able to rely on the right platform your customer service will suffer, your customers will suffer and your bottom line will suffer.
It is therefore very important to get this decision right and to migrate quickly if we have chosen the wrong service.
Step 6: Adopt a customer-centric mindset
Internal limitations – such as legacy technology platforms or lack of back office automation – should not determine what kind of omni-channel experience you create in your business.
Instead, everyone in your organization should focus entirely on understanding what customers want and need for each of the segments defined by the marketing department.
And adopt an omni-channel approach that puts customer needs at the heart of the organization.
For an organization to deliver a truly individualized service and maintain a superior omni- channel experience, a customer-centric, journey-centric vision must permeate the entire organization.
From top management down to the level of customer service agents.