Multichannel vs. Omnichannel Customer Service: Which Is Right for You?
MHC Team 
October 31st, 2019
You know that there are some serious gaps in your current customer service strategy — and you’ve seen how those gaps have affected your business.
Every year, companies lose over $60 billion thanks to poor customer service. What’s more, customers are much more likely to tell other people about a poor customer service experience than a positive one.
In thinking about how to improve your customer service strategy, you’re looking into both omnichannel customer service solutions and multichannel ones.
But if you’re honest with yourself, you’re not entirely sure what the difference between the two is, let alone which one you ought to consider.
This post is here to help.
Read on to learn more about the difference between multichannel and omnichannel approaches to customer service.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is Multichannel Customer Service?
Multi-channel support is about giving your customers support over more than two different channels. These channels light include phone support, email and chat support, social media support, or even text support.
In other words, if your customers need assistance, they can reach out to you in many different ways.
Sounds great, right?
It is, but here’s its main problem.
When a customer uses multichannel support, they may be able to access help anywhere they’d like, but they won’t be able to pick up where they left off.
Let’s say a customer calls in about a delayed shipment. They speak to a rep, the rep takes down their information, hears their story, confirms the order number, and says they’ll call back later with details.
The customer calls in again, speaks to another representative who has no previous knowledge of their solution. The journey towards a solution must begin again — leading to frustration for everyone.
What Is Omnichannel Customer Service?
Now, let’s take a look at omnichannel customer service.
Like multichannel support, in omnichannel CS, the customer can still select how they’d like to reach out to your brand for assistance. They can DM you on social media, email you, call into the office…the list goes on.
But if the issue isn’t able to be solved in one interaction, all the data is saved across every channel.
This means when your customer goes to Facebook to continue the conversation about a lost order that began over email, they can pick up right where they left off.
Why Omnichannel Customer Service Is The Way to Go
Now that you know more about omnichannel vs multichannel customer communication, it’s time for you to make a decision about which one is a better fit for your company.
We strongly suggest that you opt for omnichannel services — read on to find out why.
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COMMUNICATION IS CONSISTENT
So, what’s the biggest advantage of omnichannel customer support?
Consistent communication regardless of the platform.
Your customer does not want to have to call in and explain their issue from scratch multiple times to multiple agents. Instead, they want to be able to pick up right where they left off.
It doesn’t matter whether your customer is accessing customer support on their laptop, mobile device, on social media, or through email. No matter where they are in the resolution process, they’ll be able to avoid “starting from the beginning” every time they sign on.
Your customer service representatives will be able to see all the previous transactions and support history, meaning a streamlined experience for all.
FASTER SOLUTIONS
When a customer and a customer service representative can make or respond to an inquiry on any device, everyone gets their needs met sooner.
This means more time for your employees to focus on growth, happier customers who will remember that they had a positive customer service experience with your brand, and the ability to take advantage of 24/7 automated solutions — without having to be tied to your desk.
With omnichannel support, you’ll see the benefits of shorter overall sales cycles and improved customer service journeys.
INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
Your employees want to have the time to reach out to new customers and follow-up with promising leads.
But when most of their day is spent down tracking orders, fielding customer calls, and answering the same questions over and over again, it’s nearly impossible to be as productive as they’d like to be.
Not only does this eat into your potential profits — it also leads to employee dissatisfaction and higher turnover rates. Given the costs of hiring new employees, this is something you need to take seriously.
Of course, that boost in productivity will also help you to improve your overall profit margin.
Plus, because you’re now able to dramatically lower the number of support calls you must make and receive — as well as the number of returns customers make due to poor communication — you’ll enjoy serious operating cost savings.
DEEPER CONSUMER INSIGHTS
The more buying and behavioral data you have on your customers, the more tailored your future offerings and content can be to their needs.
This means more sales, higher profits, and increased recognition as an authority within your field.
The data that you collect through omnichannel marketing and customer communication can provide invaluable insights into customer behavior.
You can identify potential roadblocks within your marketing strategy. You can determine exactly where you should offer customer service within the customer journey. You’ll be able to see common questions, popular products and services, and high-traffic pages.
All of this means a more efficient business in the future.
63 Essential Customer Service Statistics
Looking for Omnichannel Customer Service Solutions?
Now that you have a deeper understanding of why omnichannel customer service solutions are so vital to your business, it’s time for you to find the best possible software to implement these strategies.
That’s where we come in.
We believe in the power of personalized omnichannel customer service, and we also offer interactive documents, document automation, and improved customer communications management strategies for a wide variety of industries.
Isn’t it time you ran your business more efficiently?
Request a demo and receive a personal tour of our software solutions. We can’t wait to help you streamline every aspect of your business operations, and keep your customers happy in the process.
