Traditionally, modern customer resource management (CRM) services in a public agency or government organizational environment focused on responding to constituent issues using a multichannel operating system. This approach offered customers various ways to reach a siloed agency or team. The communication channels revolved around the product or service.

However, changing customer preferences, evolving technologies, and an increased need for flexibility because of on-the-ground conditions have rendered multichannel customer support tools obsolete. These tools no longer meet the needs of service providers’ customers OR their employees.

Instead, world-class customer relations require a robust, omnichannel customer service tool that combines all entry points into a seamless experience. With this approach, teams work in tandem across communication channels regardless of the product or service. The communications focus on meeting your customer where they are.

To dramatically increase response velocity, resolution accuracy, and service quality, high-functioning public agencies must cultivate an integrated CRM approach that enables and tracks online and offline communications. Such an approach serves both an agency’s public and its professionals. This post will examine how this approach is designed to better service an agency’s clients, increasing their satisfaction.

Unifying Communication in an Increasingly Challenging Environment

The COVID pandemic has amplified the need for flexible, omnichannel customer service. A Harris Poll survey revealed that 51% of corporate respondents had embraced an integrated, on- and offline approach, exploring new channels for customer interaction. Omnichannel engagement makes it easy to manage complex customer relationships. Whereas multichannel communication offers different entry points for correspondence based on customer preference – e.g., text, web/live chat, email, social media, self-service platforms, or other messaging apps – omnichannel brings all entry points together into a unified communications experience. All data captured from each channel is available via all the other channels, including in-person, over the telephone with a live customer service representative (CSR), over the phone using Interactive Voice Response (IVR), or online/mobile interface applications. As a result, information is placed in a single, secured data repository that includes issue or request descriptions, status updates, and other pertinent information.

Agencies can track and visualize the operational health of the services for their clientele in real-time and offer self-service tools to reduce call volume. This approach helps drive continuous improvement in service commitments and pays dividends in customer feedback. Data capture enables the customer and CSR to access pertinent information simultaneously.  Simultaneous access enhances communication accuracy and service delivery.

With reduced in-person contact, government organizations are using structured customer service management processes and automated tools to help identify and proactively fix the root causes of issues before customers can even notice. Customers feel that their questions and needs are proactively anticipated and gratified when a CSR can refer to previous exchanges. Access to this vital information reinforces the message that the customer’s input and needs are important.

Providing a One-Stop Shop for Multiple Requests

To ease the process for the customer who may have more than one related request or problem, omnichannel customer service strives to be a one-stop shopping experience. This diminishes time wasted repeating information common to all related requests or problems. It also compresses the total overall wait-time of request/response.

A well-designed online service portal, for instance, should provide a confirmation list or menu showing all the problems and requests to assure the customer that nothing has been dropped. There also should be built-in flexibility for the customer to prioritize requests to allow them to highlight which requests are immediate, which have pending deadlines, and which are not as urgent.

This is helpful when an urgent request suddenly becomes a non-request. For example, a customer awarded back pay from a denied unemployment compensation claim may no longer qualify for food assistance but still need help paying the heating bill. Both online and offline tools should empower them to shift their request appropriately. When customer relations are integrated and unified, they can better meet additional customer needs, leading to greater customer satisfaction. 

Empowering Constituents Through Self-Service Tools

According to Statista, 89% of US consumers expect companies to have an online self-service support portal, and 79% have used such a resource for customer service as of 2022.

There are various reasons for the move toward automated self-service tools, including eliminating the need for the customer to repeat information previously given to yet another CSR, being able to see the information as opposed to hearing it, and being able to access the information from anywhere a mobile device can connect. Today’s culture has a low tolerance for holding while on the phone or standing in a line to talk to a CSR. Customers are now expecting to access information any time – day or night – with no wait times. The preferred method combines self-service and human-to-human interaction over pure human-to-human. This method is facilitated by entering identifying information in the web app, mobile app, or IVR system before the human-to-human interactions.

Equitable access is also a significant advantage of self-service. For customers who do not have a cell phone or computer, walk-up kiosks with video chat and voice calls can be a welcome alternative to waiting in a queue. For customers who live or work in a noisy environment that makes it difficult to use IVR, having access to a mobile app may be the only way to get customer service outside of taking time off work to interact in person.

When the customer initially chooses to use a self-service tool and then switches to a human-to-human contact, the self-service tool should allow for this request from the customer. This may be a link during a chat session to request a callback, an IVR prompt to be connected to a live CSR, or a request within an application for an email response.

Above all, the quality of the self-service tools will determine the extent to which the customers will use them. Good self-service tools possess the following characteristics:

• Easy to use
• Timely and accurate information
• Reasonable wait time between customer input and return of requested information
• As close to 24/7 availability as possible
• Negligible application or system downtime

To convince customers who are reluctant to try the self-service tools, organizations may consider posting statistics to show the expected wait times when using self-service tools vs. not using the self-service tools. Displaying this in plain view of customers waiting in a queue may motivate customers to access the tools while they are still waiting in line, leading to the realization that their needs can be met through self-service tools.

Ensuring the Customer Is in Control

Omni-channel communication naturally gives a sense that the customer is in control because the perception is that the customer has access to all information that the CSR has, and therefore, communication occurs on equal ground. Another sense of control within omnichannel is the ability to switch instantly between varying tools, such as chat to an email request, IVR to an email request, IVR to live representative, etc.

When it comes to customers’ sense of control, there should always be a way for the customer to gracefully back out of a request without a need to invest any more time in the customer service process.

The goal for all government employees is to provide a successful customer experience. Any agency customer service plan should incorporate training, tools, and procedures for adopting omnichannel communication and associated initiatives. Simultaneously, metrics must be developed to measure success [link to previous], but they should also be subject to review/updating as business trends change.

At Momentum, our consultants work with government and institutional clients to identify and implement client service and communications best practices, including omnichannel approaches.

This post was adapted from a Momentum white paper. To learn more about developing communication and customer service competency, contact us.