Alternative Networks : The Future of Contact Centre & Omni-Channel Customer Engagement in Retail

While information from websites, knowledge bases and online consumer communities provides web-savvy customers with most of the pre and post-sales content needed to shape a buying decision, support retention and create advocacy without human contact, there is often a moment where the limit of text, images and video is reached. At this stage of the journey, expectation (and potentially agitation) is potentially at its highest - if something has gone wrong with a customer's product or they urgently need a confirmed delivery slot for a different day they want the most positively reinforced and effective route possible.

Contrary to the view that contact centres will face decline due to self-service and customer moderation initiatives, research continues to show that even with rapid growth in online customer service tools, 79% of consumers would still prefer to contact customer services by telephone. This is changing of course, with new channels of direct contact such as e-mail, IRC and social media rising fast as preferred communication methods, but the principle of having a human at the other end of the link to converse with is unlikely to change.

A combination of these new channels and the fact that the nature of contact type is changing, the contact centre increasingly serving as the last resort for customers when they have been unable to find what they need via automated channels, presents a serious challenge. Keeping track of inbound and outbound communications across 5-10 channels, dealing with the increased complexity and diversity of contact (likely to have much longer handling times) and the added pressure of needing to do everything possible to ensure customer satisfaction at such a critical phase needs a fresh, omni-channel approach.

To add fuel to the fire, changes in contact channel and engagement type come with some additional overheads. The added cost and time needed to deliver the required level of service, offset against the fact that retailers are rightly looking towards the realisation of operational efficiencies, means that the contact centre will be even more prone to financial scrutiny. Already labelled 'large cost centre that delivers tough-to-measure indirect returns' (the days of telephone ordering it seems are largely over), the contact centre essential to delivering the required level of customer engagement must be run super efficiently, the primary objectives being:

- The realisation of effective and efficient streamlined processes

- The right number of customer service advisors available at the right time

- Advisors who are better equipped to resolve customer enquiries across multiple communication channels

No mean feat! Unfortunately trying to discourage contact and move customers to less costly (but also less effective) channels, resulting in poor customer experience and engagement with the brand has been shown not to work in the UK retail space. How the contact centre is perceived within the business and the role it plays in engaging customers and providing a service also varies significantly so there is much to do in creating solutions with an easily demonstrable ROI. Adapting to, and unifying the range of channels customers want to use is no easy task, but is set to become so deeply engrained in the customer psyche that those who deliver anything else will quickly experience a rude awakening. Managing the delivery of a common experience across this increased 'contact-surface' requires an approach that unifies people, process and technology to deliver the desired end-game.