. 63.3% of respondents said customers migrating naturally to new channels
. But over half said their contact centre technology is not prepared for
future channels – up from just 32% in 2012
. And companies not using customer information to inform future
conversations
Frimley, UK – 15 October, 2013 – Results from the 2013 Multichannel survey
conducted by Genesys, in association with ProtoCall One, has revealed that
consumers are increasingly in the driving seat when it comes to channel
migration. 63.3% of respondents said that their customers are migrating
naturally and as a result, they want to offer channels that their customers
want to use. Customers like to choose their preferred methods of contacting
a company, and this often depends on things such as whether they work from
home, how much time they have available, and whether they need an immediate
response.
As a result, the number of channels available for customers to make contact
with a company are growing. The research shows that the use of newer
channels such as web chat and apps was rated very highly – 36% of
respondents indicated that they would be introducing web chat in the next
year, compared to 30% who plan to use mobile apps and just 20% who plan to
use SMS as a communications channel.
Given the increase in newer channels, it’s imperative that contact centre
technology is able to support customer migration. Yet 51.3% of respondents
said that their contact centre technology is not prepared for future
channels, which is an increase from just 32% in 2012.
Richard McCrossan, Strategic Business Director at Genesys, commented on the
research: “Perhaps companies’ technology is not up to date because they
don’t have the budget to invest in the technology? Recent Forrester research
showed that only 37% of companies have dedicated budget for customer
experience initiatives. It’s therefore imperative that companies examine
very closely which channels will be most efficient for their customer base
before embracing them, as well as focusing on improving customer service
across those dedicated channels, minimising unnecessary, additional cost.”
By ignoring customer history, are companies missing a trick?
Almost 80% of respondents stated that they felt their ability to handle
multichannel customer service was good or excellent – a distinct improvement
from just 50% in last year’s survey – but customer history information is
not being retained effectively or being used to understand customer
behaviour and buying habits.
Just less than 80% said that they do record the contact type, but under half
of those do not make that history visible to the agent to inform future
conversations with the customer.
And the future is bright for social media
This year, the research showed Twitter use is at 69.3%, up from 48% in 2012,
with Facebook up to 63.3%, from just 44% in 2012.
But while the research shows that more people are offering social media as a
communication channel, a large proportion state that these channels are
still handled by PR (41.2%).
However there may be light on the horizon for integrating social media into
customer service – social media tools came up top for future investment in
communication channels, with 40.7% of respondents stating that they will
introduce social media in the future.
About Genesys:
Genesys is a leading provider of customer service and contact centre
solutions. With more than 2,000 customers in 80 countries, Genesys
orchestrates more than 100 million customer interactions every day across
the contact centre and back office, helping companies deliver fast and
optimal levels of customer service with a highly personalised cross-channel
customer experience. Genesys also prioritises the flow of work to back
office personnel resulting from any customer interaction, internal workflow
or business application, optimising the performance and satisfaction of
customer-facing employees across the enterprise.
www.genesyslab.com
