6 Pro Tips to Create a Seamless Online to Offline Customer Experience

When it comes to enhancing the customer experience, the online tools you offer can make a big difference. However, there are times when talking to a real person is important. A successful call with a human touch can cement a sale, solve a problem, and make for a satisfied customer.

Call Commerce

More than half of all internet traffic now comes from mobile phones. With call-to-click on website and search listings for businesses, it’s so easy to make the phone call rather than spend the time trying to get the answers. It’s such a big deal there’s even a name for it: Call Commerce. 

BIA Kelsey says “calls are the news clicks” and online to offline calls influence more than $1 trillion in consumer spending in the U.S.

Consumers that search for something online and then click to call are “in the moment” customers. They are looking for specific information. What happens next will determine whether they have a good customer experience and become dissatisfied and go elsewhere. Lengthy wait times and poor service at this moment are a disaster.

Creating A Seamless Online To Offline Customer Experience

Consumers are more frequently using a variety of communication channels to connect with companies. When they move from one channel to another (such as from your website to calling), you need to make the experience seamless. 

It also has to be easy.

PRO TIP: Include your click-to-call phone number on every page of your website and landing pages

When they do call, you need to respond quickly and with instant access to information. That’s where you contact center software comes into the picture. Advanced call routing and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) can get callers to the right contact center agent and save time. 

When customers are in the moment and ready to convert, you want to put as little distance between them calling your contact center and getting to a real person. The longer it takes, the more likely they will disconnect.

Here’s how important this is: 78 percent of customers that start the search online will purchase within the next 24 hours.

PRO TIP: Prioritize “in the moment” calls from call-to-click customers

Contextual analysis can also help short-cut lengthy explanations from customers. Knowing what keyword someone searches or a specific landing page they were looking at before calling, you can identify the reason the customer is calling. 

If someone has something in their shopping cart and they make a call, it’s likely there’s a last-minute question or a problem with the completing the sale. Either way, that’s a high priority call. 

For example, imagine that you are shopping at Zappos online for new shoes for your family. You may have questions about how particular shoe brands fit to figure out the right size before checking out. Being able to field those phone calls and provide assistance during the purchase process has a huge impact on conversions. 

AI and Predictive analytics can detect why customers are calling and suggest possible options to agents for fast resolution.

PRO TIP: Analyzing context can help prioritize calls

Where a call originates is also an important thing to track. It can help you analyze which digital offerings are creating the most opportunities and conversions. 

Whether the call comes for a generic keyword search, a search for your business, from a paid or organic search listing, a directory, or some other place can help you determine the best way to spend your digital marketing dollars. You can read TokUpgrade reviews for better insight.

Using specific phone numbers for each advertising channel is one way to identify the message that’s resonating and how contact centers can best help the caller. 

PRO TIP: Implement source tracking to determine conversion rates

Consumers now expect digital experiences to be personalized for them. They get frustrated when they are searching for something and don’t get exactly what they want on the first attempt (even if they didn’t put in the right keywords to get the information). Why would you expect anything different when they call? 

Your contact center software needs to integrate with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to give your contact center agents instant access to personalized information to serve your customer. If they are a current customer, your agent should have displayed contact information, past purchases, prior interactions, pending tickets, and any other pertinent information. This can save time and better serve your customer.

PRO TIP: Integrate CRM with contact center software for better personalization

Team support functions allow multiple agents to collaborate on tickets or hand-off items in a seamless manner. This includes technology such as live call monitoring with call whisper and call barge. Call whisper allows supervisors to listen in on conversations and communicate only with the agent. Call barge lets supervisors join in the conversation with the customer if necessary.

Analytics such as call disposition to track the quality of customer interactions, call logs, and agent reports can help identify bottlenecks and areas where agents many need additional tools or coaching. Automated call recordings allow supervisors to drill down to individual interactions.

PRO TIP: Use Live call monitoring, call whisper, and call barge

A Seamless Online To Offline Customer Experience

The right contact center software is the foundation of building a robust customer experience when converting online to offline interactions. Providing tools that help your agents serve customers efficiently will significantly improve the overall customer experience.

• TAGS:
• Business
• ecommerce