Multi-channel Integration: The key to superior customer service

By Robert Fleming, Senior Director of CRM Marketing, Europe Middle East and Africa, Oracle Corporation



THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Gone are the days where all customer service requirements could be met with a walk-in operation or the era when call centres alone reigned supreme. The proliferation of the Web has correspondingly heightened customer expectations, as information requests now need to be fulfilled in Internet time.

As a result, local enterprises need to consider enhancing their customer service operations with Web-based self-service solutions that empower customers with access to the same information previously only available through face-to-face or telephone interactions. Up until now much of the focus on the web has been around selling. Yet there are compelling reasons why the web should be considered as an important channel for service and support, as part of an overarching Customer Relationship Management strategy.

A key reason for considering web-based self-service applications is cost-efficiency. According to studies, web enabled self-service applications, as compared to more traditional ones, can cut the cost of customer service by up to 80 percent. More specifically, where outbound calls carry overhead costs of up to US$5.00, and inbound calls over US$4.00, a self-service transaction can cost less than US$1.00.

Self-service cannot be ignored by companies in the current environment where budgets are scarce and customer loyalty and customer retention are business imperatives.


MULTIPLE SILOS REPRESENT MULTIPLE OBSTACLES

Before self-service applications emerged, companies typically viewed each customer service delivery channel as a separate entity. However, with each delivery channel operating as an island of automation, each with its own information, leveraging information across the myriad of customer contact channels was not possible. Neither was it possible to provide a consistent customer service experience. Many of us have had the experience of calling a call centre to enquire about a transaction carried out through the website only to be told to 'call the internet department'.

As self-service applications are added to walk-in and call center applications, this automation scenario simply becomes untenable. The whole purpose of self-service is to empower customers with the comprehensive and accurate information they need to completely fulfill their immediate need. If such a resource is unavailable for agents, how can it be for customers? To resolve this issue, multi-channel integration is imperative.

INTEGRATION OPTIONS
Lacking a single information repository, companies have traditionally spent large amounts of time and money writing integration programs to communicate between disparate systems. There are several problems with this approach.

First, this complexity causes delay. Systems will rarely operate in real time resulting in delays in synchronizing information. This can cause embarrassment to companies and aggravation to customers when updates to one channel are not reflected immediately in the others.

The second issue is that it adds overhead. The integration must be implemented, administered, and maintained independently of the actual customer service applications for each delivery channel. The problem, complexity and costs are magnified each time a change is made to a channel application.
AN ENTERPRISE APPROACH

Only by implementing a solution that relies on a single information repository utilized by all customer service delivery channels can true seamless multi-channel integration be achieved. With this approach, information sharing is 'out-of-the-box' with no add-ons required. As a result, implementation, administration, and maintenance are all streamlined and optimized.

With an enterprise-wide multi-channel customer service solution, multiple information silos, multiple distinct applications, and multiple information transfer programs are things of the past.

Instead, these new solutions present the enterprise with a comprehensive resolution of customer service issues over any and all channels. All applications rely on the same centralized, comprehensive information repository that supports a single customer view across the entire enterprise containing all information about the customer, their transactions and the data they are likely to require during those transactions.

In the current competitive economy customer optimisation and growth must be a key mantra as time is no longer a luxury companies can afford.