Does CX Really Matter in the Metaverse?

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The Metaverse—the next evolution of the web and social media platforms—is poised to dominate the way the world interacts. There is transformational potential to change how people communicate, connect and engage with media, brands and each other, akin to the impact of the smartphone. While still an emerging technology, the Metaverse is beginning to have real-world impact, particularly in the areas of training, gaming, and eCommerce. Although the Metaverse’s influence—and its potential growth—remains unknown for now, savvy brands are beginning to explore what it means to their customers.

The Metaverse is a new realm for brands to interact with customers; and with it, a new way for customers to be supported by the companies they’ve come to count on in the real world. The rules of engagement may be more dynamic, but the need for outstanding customer experiences (CX) remains constant. Brands face both the opportunity and the challenge to design and build experiences in a new medium, which remove the constraints of traditional service models.

The interest of specialized digital CX services is expanding, as brands find themselves increasingly needing more sophisticated digital solutions, trained CX professionals and multilingual support. Focusing on use cases that bridge the constraints of today’s service models to the boundaryless augmented and virtual realities is an opportunity for leadership. As the flywheel of content creation, hardware adoption and consumer adoption grow, having a flexible workforce at scale, ready to be deployed to meet customer expectations in a new dimension is critical.

Winning in the Brave New (Virtual) World

Alorica, a Gartner Magic Quadrant leader among customer service BPOs, has been at the forefront of the digital CX transformation, helping global brands engage customers—over 2 billion interactions a year—for the past 20+ years. We’ve developed a few best practices for brands contemplating their place in the Metaverse, based on decades of digital CX leadership and automation technology expertise, including online gaming and streaming service support.

Don’t call it a trend. The Metaverse is already generating billions of dollars in revenue, according to JP Morgan, and continues to grow. Most people realize why after the first time they experience virtual reality (VR). While the adoption curve can be debated, the utility and opportunity cannot. Early use cases in training, gaming, travel and media are taking hold. Companies should think more about when, not if their customers will seek out experiences in the Metaverse.

Meet consumers where they (virtually) are. Build anchor content and experiences that are tailored to early adopters; they expect digital solutions, immediacy, personalization and reward brands that deliver. Like any new technology, we can’t forget the human backstop – offer agent support, live chat, content moderation, expert reviews that are authentic and digital-first CX, which are critical to driving adoption and repeat users.

Invest in the right technologies—and technology partners. With many transactions still virtual only—mainly within contained online gaming platforms—familiarity with massive multiplayer online (MMO) games, as well as Trust & Safety best practices, including fraud prevention and content moderation, is important. AI and machine learning are also key in this sphere, empowering automations to enhance the customer experience at multiple touchpoints. Investing in AI and machine learning are foundational to both real-world and virtual transactions, but few CX providers can offer this type of learning expertise alongside seasoned customer care support.

Acquaint agents fully with the Metaverse customer journey. Customers are already transacting in the Multiverse and expect agents to know how to help them. To provide stellar support, agents need more than just routine training. They need to be immersed in the current incarnation of the Metaverse—including VR and online gaming, using digital currencies, buying, and selling NFTs and virtual-to-physical transactions—to ensure Metaverse-based CX is consistently…insanely great.

As the Metaverse expands, companies can find their footing and establish themselves effectively and sustainably. It’s all about having the right approach and the right digital CX partnerships to move them forward, one virtual—or virtual-to-physical—transaction at a time.

And Alorica’s at the forefront of it all, tailoring new Outcomes as a Service (OaaS) paradigms to power insanely great CX online and offline, maximizing opportunities for brands and the customers who love them anywhere and everywhere.

Colson Hillier
Colson Hillier is the Chief Marketing Officer at Alorica. He has more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale transformations in complex industries, including data services, ad tech and fintech. As CMO at Alorica, Colson leads strategic planning, product development and execution of its global marketing and communication initiatives.

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