Customer interactions are becoming increasingly omnichannel. However, many businesses fail to achieve seamless integration across communication channels, especially if those channels are managed in silos. Customers expect high-quality experiences across all touchpoints. Whether it's an email, a phone call, or an app notification or social media, every touchpoint matters in the customer journey. Every contact should serve a purpose. How, how often, and the quality of your communications ultimately affect customer satisfaction and their perception of your business.
In a recent webinar, Su Doyle, Senior Analyst, Forrester discusses how companies are improving customer engagement in this highly digital world by striking a balance between print and digital communications.
Customer journeys are complex
Imagine you receive your utility bill via email. Because it's set to autopay, you may not bother to check if the transaction goes through as intended. Later, you receive a physical statement that your autopay failed. This triggers you to call customer service, possibly more than once, to understand the issue and provide payment with your credit card. Once the issue has been resolved, you receive a confirmation through your mobile app. That's a lot of steps to ensure your payment was processed correctly.
In the same sense, sending too many notifications, which may indeed conflict, can overwhelm customers and lead to frustration and confusion.
Certain industries are more digitally forward than others
According to Forrester, over 70% of healthcare providers still rely on faxes and postal mail to exchange patient information. Regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and the slower adoption of digital tools among certain customer segment drives how companies in this industry communicate. Healthcare providers need to pay more attention to the unique needs of these customers and tailor communications to what works best.
Financial services firms face similar challenges, with efforts to personalize experiences often not resonating with customers. Adding more digital touchpoints may leave many behind, creating more underserved communities.
Customer interaction shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. Despite the fast-paced digital business transformation many customers, especially older demographics, are still catching up. As Sue Doyle, states "It's like being caught in a technological whirlwind, with companies introducing 'new and improved' digital tools that don't always hit the mark." Companies need to rethink their communication strategies and not just aim to digitize, but to simplify and demystify.
Meet customers where they are
Here is a classic example of the digital divide: Consider the case of an elderly person who receives a hearing aid in a nondescript brown box. Inside is a note to visit YouTube for instructions. It is likely that not every senior citizen is YouTube-savvy and without the hearing aid may not be able to hear or understand the instructions.
Enable physical delivery channels to help cut through the clutter
The saturation of digital communication channels, particularly email, makes it increasingly hard to grab the attention of buyers. Companies are exploring other options to break through the digital noise across all stages of the customer life cycle, from product discovery to customer service.
They're optimizing their physical channels. In-person and hybrid events are making a comeback, and so are promotional mailers. QR codes are also gaining popularity again across various stages of the customer journey.
What strategy should you employ in this intricate omnichannel delivery world?
Consider the unique needs and capabilities of your customers to ensure an inclusive and comprehensive approach to customer experience.
- Respect customer needs and boundaries: If they're not comfortable going digital, don't force it. This may mean providing non-digital options for those uncomfortable with digital interfaces. There's a fine line between personalization and intrusion. It’s one thing to use data to understand your customer’s behavior it's another to inundate them with messaging.
- Realize the value in every customer communication: Understanding which channels yield the best results translates to cost savings for your business. While you could say that digital communications cost less than print, it still requires human labor to manage. If those communications are being ignored, it could cost you more than print channels. A 2022 study from the Direct Mail Association DMA found the response rate for print is 9X higher than that of digital channels – (9% vs.1%).
- Ensure privacy and compliance: Collecting data to better understand your customer is key to delivering the best omnichannel experience. But protocols need to be put in place to manage and secure customer data to stay with regulatory constraints. Keep in mind with global opt-in and privacy requirements, reaching new contacts has become a more significant challenge.
Navigating the path of customer experience technology
Automating customer communications enables you to gain valuable insights and provides endless opportunities to engage with your customer on future documents in a meaningful way. Understanding your customers' behavior, transaction history, and preferred means of communication goes a long way in building repeat business and loyalty. Digital transformation should be a gradual and methodical process. When organizations change their interface too much or too quickly, it can make it more difficult for customers to keep pace. Once you’ve turned somebody off, you risk losing that customer and making them less likely to want to interact with your brand. Watch the webinar replay for additional insights and examples of how companies are implementing a multi-channel approach to keep customer satisfaction scores high.
