Investing in omnichannel customer communication strategies is becoming a higher priority for business decision makers looking to deliver increased ROI on their customer service IT investments.
A report by Aberdeen Group, found that companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement retain on average 89 percent of their customers, compared to 33 percent for companies with weak omnichannel customer engagement. In addition, 87 percent of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing a seamless user experience, according to a report by Zendesk.
Decision makers are investing in tools to improve overall user experience by moving omnichannel customer communication strategies to the edge.
Moving omnichannel to “the edge” means giving end users the ability to communicate with company employees through every phase of the customer experience. This includes creating ways for potential customers to directly call or text a business when searching the web, reading an email or viewing the business in a third-party app (i.e., Expedia to view hotels, Grubhub to view restaurants).
In order to create a seamless user experience, decision makers – including chief marketing officers, chief revenue officers and/or chief product officers – are investing in cloud-based communications tools that facilitate interactions between customers and their businesses, while also tracking the context of these interactions. Having background or context on customers’ previous interactions with the business provides service representatives’ visibility into the customer’s journey (removing the need to reiterate past interactions and questions), which results in a streamlined experience for customers.
In hospitality settings there is an opportunity for omnichannel improvements through contextual interactions. For example, if a guest reserves a hotel room via Expedia or another third-party reservation app, they expect the front desk attendant at the hotel to have access to the reservation, room rate and any other interactions in real-time. If there are gaps in the communication between the end user and the hotel, the result can be detrimental for both parties. The customer will be frustrated when the rate they were promised online is not available and the hotel could run the risk of losing a customer to a competing hotel.
Messaging tools such as Message Hopper, are helping business leaders avoid these mishaps and move omnichannel customer communication strategies to the edge by letting customers communicate with businesses directly via text – which continues to be a leading communication channel among end users.
For Message Hopper and other third-party apps and platforms to facilitate contextual communications, they require the backend support of telecom APIs. As a result, APIs have become a key element in enabling businesses to bring their omnichannel communication strategies to the edge.
The ease of use of APIs also allows business and IT leaders to scale their applications with little hassle and cost. This includes adding calling or messaging features, the ability to send media, or video chat capabilities.
APIs have also served to increase the democratization of telecom, opening doors for developers and non-technical business users to create new services and businesses using telecom. Companies like Uber, Rover.com and Airbnb, have taken advantage of telecom APIs by adding calling and messaging functionality directly to their apps, making the customer experience more streamlined and customized than ever before.
Flowroute’s extensive offering of APIs helps power tools such as Message Hopper and, as a result, enables decision makers to bring omnichannel to the edge. These functions include supporting number management, messaging, CDR exports and porting. Additional services include phone number masking, two-factor authentication, E911 data conversion and appointment reminders. Each of these services permits businesses to drive omnichannel to the edge and enhance overall customer experience, satisfaction and retention.
As businesses look to strengthen their digital touchpoints, leveraging the power of telecom APIs will help decision makers create a strong omnichannel presence directly impacting their bottom line.
