Blog

Every year, things get more interesting between customers and companies because of all the new ways they can interact.

We have moved past the days when companies and customers could only interact through the use of one channel. Today, a customer can contact a customer using more than one channel and still experience high-quality service thanks in large part to a multi-channel help desk.

Marketers can now reach a much larger audience due to the significant number of mobile users. On the other hand, the growing number of mobile users creates a variety of difficulties that will need a greater level of support. A typical customer will believe that a company and its support team is always available, regardless of the time of day.

Customers can always send an email or leave a message on social media, and they will expect to receive a response in a reasonable amount of time. To the customer, it will not matter where they asked the question or what time they asked the question. If there is an option to contact a company on a website or on social media, the customer will expect to receive an answer.

On the other hand, the perspective of a company may not be the same. Your management team may view their support channels as more than one entity. Some companies have channel phones that can only be accessible during certain hours, and there will generally be an option to leave a message during the night hours. The other channels like social media and help desk will collect questions 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, but the questions will only be addressed by the customer agents when they are in the office.

From the company’s point of view, customer service is being made available on different channels at different times. When there are different perspectives on either side, the customers can receive a poor experience. The customer will eventually check his or her Facebook account to find out if there is a response from the company. Unfortunately, the customer will not receive a message from the company until the next day because no one has been assigned to the social media channel.

Even if the company provides some form of support channel, like a live chat option, the customer may not be aware of it because the customer likely prefers to use Facebook. In order to avoid this type of experience, companies should make the necessary changes that will allow them to reorganize their support so it can fit into the customer’s perspective. A company can achieve this by taking the multi-channel help desk support.

Multi-Channel Customer Support

Having a multi-channel help desk is so important because it opens the door for numerous choices. A multi-channel help desk will allow your customers to make a choice. Customers will choose which channel they want to receive their support. The choice will matter a great deal because a customer can send a message through email, follow up the email on social media and send another message using the chat option, the customer should have all of those options.

A customer will always contact a company. The customer will not know that you will have more than one team working on the live chat, the social media channel, and the email. It is important to make sure each team knows that the customer used more than one channel so everyone can be equipped with the necessary information to help the customer. One of the things you will want to avoid is eliminating those choices and force the customer to use a channel he or she does not want to use.

Providing Customers With The Channels They Want

With all the channels that are available, how will you know which channels you should choose? You should choose the channels your customers actually want to use. While you may not receive a definitive answer, you can get a better understanding if you use customer surveys or if you remember what customers have said they prefer in your previous contacts. Today, customers expect companies to have the phone, email, and social media contact option.

Here are some of the channels you can cover in multi-channel customer support:

• Phone
• Help desk
• Live chat
• Email
• Social media (Facebook / Twitter / WhatsApp)

If you are able to offer a high-quality level of support on these channels, your customers will be able to choose their preferred channel when they reach out to you.

Share Information Throughout The Channels

It will not matter how many channels you support, will it be worth it to have these channels without the ability to exchange information? If a customer sends a message on Facebook and eventually accesses your live chat option to check the status of the inquiry, the majority of the time the customer will have to explain everything all over again. Why does this happen?

• Customer information is not exchanged between multiple channels
• Agents do not take the time to view previous contacts
• Multiple teams are working on different channels and there is a lack of communication

No customer likes having to explain their situation every time they speak or chat with an agent. If the information from customers is not being stored between the channels, what is the point in offering a multi-channel support option? If you want to store customer information so it will be easier to exchange information, we recommend using a CRM system.

When it comes to customer service, a multi-channel help desk will bring your support to a higher level. You can gradually make the change and you can integrate additional channels into your support system. While having multiple channels is great, you will need to make sure you are offering effective and high-quality support on each channel.

You will eventually want to reach a point when all of your customers will receive a response regardless of the option they choose. Your customers should also feel comfortable using more than one channel without the need to provide the same information each time. Your customers should also be able to receive a response to their questions without having to ask for it multiple times on different channels.

A multi-channel help desk is all about providing options. Are you ready to provide your customers with multiple options? Read how to handle customer support in multiple channels