Is your Omnichannel as good as Starbucks'?

Omnichannel is having multiple ways to service your customers how they want, when they want and where they want. Today’s customer requires 24x7x365 servicing via multiple options – physical store/office, digital via web/app, digital via chat/voice bots, screen share, video chat and the long reliable live agent. Add social media, 3rd party services, other services I’m sure I’ve missed and whatever new option comes out next week, and that’s a tall (or venti) order.

Your first goal should be to have these offerings and to make them as complete as possible so that your customers can resolve their issues within 1 channel without the need to jump or escalate to another. When they do move to another channel, that’s when things get more difficult. Your customer does not want to repeat what they have provided in the previous channel - why are you asking me that, I just provided it to “your” automated system? This makes callers jump right to an agent to not waste time. Bringing data the customer already provided forward, is essential, but difficult. The integration of systems begins to get very complex. Now add the need of personalization, where your customer expects you to know them and even why they are calling, and you truly have your work cut out for you.

Most organizations have multiple channels available to their customers. Few have them seamlessly connected so data follows to (or precedes) the next channel interaction and even fewer have personalization thrown into the mix (don’t you love it when a business knows your name, your account status, last interaction info, etc?)

Let’s take a consumer’s view of how Starbucks does Omnichannel for delivering their products. Starbucks’ delivery channels are: Walk-in, drive thru, order on the web / app for pick up, delivery, business services and they even sell you products to make yourself at home. What does this Omnichannel strategy allow? It allows their customers to be serviced as they choose, when they choose. It provides different segments of customers to have their comfortable channel. Often we see this by generational breakdown, we know which generation is more prone to use the app and which is not (I see those app users walk by me as I wait for my order and they pick up their prepared order and walk right out, no wait). To be fair, many in the service and retail/eTail industry offer similar Omnichannel solutions, but I think this example comes thru very clear.

As you reflect on your company’s future Omnichannel strategy and current model, keep in mind each and every way your customer’s want to interact with you, be it for product information, purchase or support. Are you offering a strong solution for all those channels? Do those channels seamlessly connect and guide your customer along their journey in a fast, efficient and satisfactory way? Does your customer feel known by you from the start of each interaction? This should be your Omnichannel goal, it’s not easy, and going about it alone or with many independent vendors does not simplify this.

Working with a Customer Experience company like Foundever that knows how to design, execute and manage this from a holistic view, using best of breed technologies, is a short cut and allows you to focus on your business not on being a tech company. Send me a message if you’d like to have a business discussion on how CX technology can assist you in achieving your business goals. It’s time to give your customers the same or better service than what they can get at Starbucks. ?