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Omnichannel Customer Engagement – Lots to Love But How to Choose?

The adoption of omnichannel customer engagement platforms has become critical in achieving customer experience (CX) excellence. 

According to research by McKinsey, “most Gen Z consumers don’t even think in terms of traditional channel boundaries… and they increasingly evaluate brands and retailers on the seamlessness of their experience.” To provide this experience, brands must adopt omnichannel customer service that connects every key channel and the conversations and data within them. 

However, with many omnichannel customer engagement platforms to choose from, and many features and capabilities to research, picking a solution can be a challenge if you don’t know what to look for. In this article, we’ll break down the three key pillars that are critical to every omnichannel customer engagement software and the success of your CX initiatives. 

1. Security and compliance 

For the sake of your organization and your customers, always begin your omnichannel customer engagement software search by evaluating security and compliance. Holding customer data places expectations on organizations, and customer trust is not a given. In fact, research has shown that only 21% of consumers said they believed that established global brands would keep their personal information safe. By proving that you take their security seriously, you can win their trust, and their business. 

Look for enterprise-grade security that meets international security and privacy benchmarks, particularly focusing on: 

  • ISO 27001 
  • SOC 2 Type II 
  • PCI DSS 
  • WCAG 2.0 

Platforms that meet these compliances demonstrate a commitment to data security by adhering to rigorous guidelines and policies. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II are both recognized worldwide, and organizations meeting these standards must pass external audits from accredited certification bodies. Depending on your industry and location, you may also need to look for other security compliances such as HIPAA for healthcare, GDPR for Europe, and PIPEDA for Canada. 

To ensure the security and reliability of your data, you should also always look for security features that follow industry best practices. These features will help to mitigate risks to your organization and your customers: 

  • LDAP authentication (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) 
  • Visitor SSO (Single Sign-On) 
  • IP restriction 
  • Password policies 
  • CAPTCHA verification 
  • Audit logging 

Read more: Digital Transformation in Customer Service – Navigating Security Threats 

2. Personalization  

Omnichannel customer engagement platforms are uniquely positioned to provide customers with a personalized experience. This is one of their key USPs and has been shown to be an essential in delivering excellent CX – 66% of customers said they would switch brands if they felt they were being “treated like a number, not an individual.” So, when you’re choosing your provider, make sure the vendor prioritizes personalization and provides agent tools that empower them to provide customized support. 

To provide personalized support, your agents will need to be able to easily view customer information from within the agent console. They must also be able to update it so that customer information is as up-to-update as possible. Better still, look for an omnichannel platform that offers various CRM integrations so your agents have access to even more information, empowering them to offer even more helpful support. 

Personalization should even happen before the conversation begins. With visitor segmentation, you can label your visitors based on pre-defined rules. When they then initiate a live chat, for example, they can be automatically routed to the appropriate agent or department. This could mean a VIP support team for your most valuable customers, or international teams responding to segmented geographic regions. 

Read more: How to Provide Personalized Customer Service on Various Channels To Boost Customer Satisfaction 

3. AI-powered automation 

One of the key benefits that omnichannel customer engagement software provides is driving efficiencies while improving CX, and nothing achieves this better than AI-powered automation. While you may think you aren’t ready for chatbots now, it’s wise to plan ahead and find a platform that offers chatbots. Although you can often integrate 3rd party chatbots to your omnichannel customer engagement software, this can cause a lot of complications so it’s far better to find an omnichannel platform that offers its own chatbot. 

Look for platforms that offer a range of chatbots (basic bots as well as more advanced AI chatbots so you can upgrade your bot when you’re ready. Better still, find a bot that can work across channels so you can offer automation across live chat, social media and SMS. 

Read more: Top 4 Steps to Integrate Chatbots into Customer Service 

Wrap up 

When you’re introducing an omnichannel customer engagement platform, it’s important to choose a solution that covers not only your current needs, but your future needs too. As you strive towards digital CX excellence, you may start with just implementing live chat, but soon find you need a chatbot, social media support, and intelligent routing. 

To find out if Comm100 Omnichannel Customer Engagement is the right platform for you, book a personalized demo with us

Kate Rogerson

About Kate Rogerson

Kate is the Content Marketing Manager at Comm100. She has extensive experience in content creation for technology companies across the world, including the UK, Australia and Canada. She specializes in B2B messaging, branding and soccer trivia.