How To Be Smart With Multi-Channel Communications
A good multi-channel communications strategy takes a customer view of your business’ communication.
It gives them the choice over how they wish to interact with you and aims to deliver the best possible experience through each communication channel.
Customer demand for multiple channels of communication is growing and firms that fail to provide options will inevitably be left behind. Customer-centric companies build their customer contact strategy from the outside-in, asking:
- How do our customers prefer to be contacted?
- How do they respond and purchase?
Of course, technology makes it easier and more convenient to keep in touch at work, at home and on the move. Many people now choose to make purchases, book appointments, check order progress and more through their smart phones.
That doesn’t mean however, that companies should neglect other ways of interacting with customers. In fact, 84% of adults don’t like it when companies take away their right to choose how they’re communicated with.
If that wasn’t reason enough for multi-channel communication, 56% of customers don’t return if a company doesn’t provide it.
An investment in channel communications pays off. Think print, email, online and mobile. When companies take a cross-media approach to a campaign, they see on average a 33% higher return on investment.
At Neopost, we are working with Corcentric to help these returns a reality for our clients. Together, we’re enabling their own end-user customers to choose the communications channel that suits them the most.
But the benefits of multi-channel communications are more far-reaching than good customer service; there are cost and efficiency savings to be had too. Consider that:
- Customers who like to use email save you printing and postage costs
- Integrating digital communications with your business systems reduces manual processes, increasing staff efficiency
- Digital methods are fast, so you’ll be able to respond to your customers more quickly