Taking an omnichannel approach to customer feedback [Guide]

Customer service has changed dramatically over the years. A decade ago, the only way customers could get in touch with support was over the phone. Today, customers have more options than ever before.

With text, social media, email, and live chat now available, customers want to communicate in whatever channel is most convenient to them. They also don’t want to repeat any information if they have to switch channels – which 32% of consumers reported as the biggest pain point of the support process. This expectation for uninterrupted interaction across channels led to the rise of omnichannel customer service.

Omnichannel customer service goes beyond just communicating with customers on every channel (which is multichannel). It takes your support a step further by providing a cohesive and consistent customer experience across all of your support channels.

In this post, we’ll explore why taking an omnichannel approach to both customer service and customer feedback is a must for support teams.

Why is omnichannel customer service important?

Omnichannel has become a major priority for businesses. In fact, the number of companies investing in the omnichannel experience has increased from 20% to 80% since 2012. Why? Because customers expect omnichannel customer service in 2022.

According to Microsoft, 75% of consumers want an agent to know who they are and their purchase history. That means if they first contact you via chat and then by phone, they assume the context of their previous conversation will carry over seamlessly.

Customers expect to receive support wherever they’re buying from. And with ecommerce transactions happening on more and more platforms in 2022, it’s essential that you meet customers where they are.

The benefits of omnichannel CSAT feedback

When you introduce more channels, you also introduce more customer touchpoints. It’s important that customers can rate their support experience in any channel, so you can make informed business decisions and consistently provide better customer experiences. What’s more, 75% of consumers say they expect companies to provide a consistent experience across channels.

Here are some ways omnichannel feedback can help your team provide better customer service.

Collect data from all customer channels and interactions

If your team currently receives customer support requests via phone, social media, SMS, email, live chat, or any other channel, odds are at least one channel is missing a customer feedback element. By putting your CSAT score in the hands of one built-in CSAT tool across all channels, there are no excuses for missing feedback data.

According to Qualtrics, an average ecommerce transaction includes an average of 5.5 customer touchpoints, with some reaching up to 20 interactions as the customer compares, considers, and explores the factors relating to a purchase decision.

Deploying an omnichannel approach to CSAT eliminates gaps in tracking customer satisfaction, giving a clear picture of how customers engage with your brand and how your support organization is performing.

Gain a full view of customer satisfaction

By taking a holistic look at every touchpoint in the customer journey in one view, you can form a full analysis of how to improve customer satisfaction on a macro level and by support channel. With all of your customer feedback data in a single-tab reporting interface, you can gain a deeper understanding of the people who are most invested in your business.

In fact, customers who interacted with three or more channels purchased 250% more frequently on average. That means the people experiencing your omnichannel support efforts are likely your most loyal customers.

An omnichannel approach to CSAT gives you visibility into your customers’ sentiment at all points of their journey, enabling your support organization to act faster and smarter.

Increase customer feedback transparency across your support organization

With all of your customer feedback in one place, it becomes nearly effortless to report on and share data across all levels of your support organization. Here’s how this can make your team stronger at the agent, manager, and executive level:

• Agent: Help agents learn with instant survey feedback shared in the conversation timeline. Make sure unsatisfied customers don’t walk away unhappy by addressing negative feedback in real-time.

• Manager: Gain visibility on top-performing agents and on those who need to improve. Compare overall scores among channels, sites, and teams and make informed workflow adjustments.

• Executive: Use aggregated CSAT data to find weak spots easily and make improvements. Compare data over time and filter by country, queue, or site to help you proactively enhance customer loyalty and business growth.

Improve your CSAT score in real-time with Spotter

Improving your CSAT score starts with Spotter, a smart operational system constantly working behind the scenes to make every interaction easier for your agents and customers. Here are some of the ways Spotter can help you improve your omnichannel CSAT in real-time:

• Address negative feedback in real-time. When a ticket gets a negative satisfaction rating, a relevant team member can immediately address the issue.

• Improve response time. Get notified when a ticket or call has been left unanswered for too long or if an agent is taking too long to find a resolution.

• Don't let complicated cases fall through the cracks. Ease customer frustrations by automatically changing a ticket status with issues stuck in "investigating."

Your customer service feedback is out there. It’s up to you to invest in the tools that will bring it all into one place, analyze it on cohesive metrics, and equip you with actionable data to improve your satisfaction score. Hone in on an omnichannel approach to start seeing happier customers today.