Over the last several years, there has been a significant shift in how interactions between client and organization are handled, as other interaction channels have become more popular and strategic for customers to use when communicating with a contact center. Customers now find themselves using and adopting channels such as email, live webchat, messaging apps, mobile apps, chatbots, social media, text and SMS, self-service, video, voicebot and virtual home assistants. While voice is still the preferred method, we have seen a decline in its usage.

In a 2021 Genesys study, when customers were asked which interaction channel they used in the prior 12 months, voice was down 18%, while other channels showed growth over the same survey period when measured against 2017. Messaging apps showed the largest increase for the same period with a 260% growth rate.

Customers now expect to be able to find an answer seamlessly through the interaction channel of their choice. In return, per Aberdeen Strategy & Research, organizations that offer their customers varied channels in which to interact with them, saw a 91% higher year-over-year increase in customer retention rates compared to those without omnichannel solutions. And though this research was conducted back in 2014, study after study shows that this remains even more relevant today.

The customer is king

What’s driving this shift? Simply put, it’s convenience. Customers are now stating that they wish to communicate with organizations on their terms – meaning when, where and using their channel of choice.

Let’s look at email as an example. Customers use email because of:

• ease of use
• available 24/7
• doesn’t require an immediate answer

Think about it, some customers (depending on the situation) are willing to wait for a response to their email, forego a human-to-human phone call with an agent or long waits in queue.

For a contact center, this means reduced call volumes for non-urgent customer resolutions and creates a less expensive channel due to customers not requiring an immediate response. Responses can be scripted thus reducing overall treatment time. Contact center organizations can even have an agent multitasking and responding to voice and email interactions simultaneously. Chatbots can also answer repetitive, high-volume inquiries and eliminate the need for human interaction.

Omnichannel experiences in the contact center

Time and again, the vast majority of people expect omnichannel experiences. Contact centers require an integrated technology suite that includes email. When an organization includes email management as part of a suite, it enables omnichannel routing and handling of email built on business requirements that contact center leadership establishes.

And let us not forget that email, is just one of the many channels in an omnichannel platform. As technology continues to advance, customer demand based on their channel of choice used to reach your contact center quickly and conveniently will also increase.

Are you ready?