Think Twice Before Removing Your Company’s Phone Number

At this point, it is understood that we will look back on this time as a transitionary period for CX. With the abundance of technology available for so many contact center functions, organizations large and small are scrambling to assemble the perfect tech stack. One of the primary drivers of this transformation is the evidence that digital experiences are the future, with 97% of organizations offering digital as part of their service mix. Given that this is a significant increase from even a few years ago, the natural progression of this evolution may eventually lead to a true digital-first approach, one in which customers can get in contact with an agent through a seamless chat window and never need to get on the phone and make a call. While CX leaders may be eager to bring their companies into the future, they should be warned against preemptively removing phone as a channel for service.

Phone service pales in comparison to digital

Maintaining a phone channel is costly and complicated, as it depends on staffing agents and managers to answer and escalate calls. Outsourcing your contact center may be one way to reduce costs, but this presents the complications of international business and cross-cultural training. Digital channels are far more adaptable with consistency; rather than rolling out a new script and language for agents to learn, practice, and perfect, digital managers can simply update the chat script or IVR options. This consistency also allows managers to assess the language and prompts that are working for customers and identify the most efficient path to resolving customer queries far faster than the diverse array of communications that human agents provide. 

Phone is still the standard

With so many benefits to digital, those of us enmeshed in the industry are quick to forget that many of these tools and systems are completely foreign to customers. After all, the majority of customers say their number one pain point in customer service is the challenge of getting in touch with a live agent. For the time being, phone is the only channel that satisfies this customer need. Phone is still the gold standard for service, as the number one trusted channel to successfully resolve a concern. In fact, almost 70% of customers believie it is “not ok” to fail to offer phone as an option.

Further, 65% of leaders say their top-performing “digital agents” have different skills, backgrounds, or personas than their top-performing phone agents. In the not-so-distant future in which digital messaging and chatbots are able to more successfully address simple customer concerns, they will do so in a way that is foreign to the traditional phone call. This may end up being foreign to the many customers who are reluctant to use any digital channels.

Omnichannel is not yet a reality

In this future, when customers can seamlessly navigate between channels without having to repeat their question or re-authenticate their account access, customers will likely be more amenable to being “wow-ed” by digital channels. What some CX leaders fail to realize is that customers have no incentive to try new things- especially when new things, like navigating unfamiliar digital channels- are likely to leave them frustrated and confused. Many customers will probably not use digital channels until they’re proven and promoted to be far more efficient and valuable than phone channels. 

Ultimately, there are multiple roadblocks in the way of widespread use of omnichannel experiences. There are a great deal of technologies and tools that support digital experiences, but many organizations implement a custom patch job in place of real integration. To go beyond multi-channel and become truly omnichannel, organizations must focus on the seamlessness of switching between channels. Until this process is simpler and easier than picking up a phone and dialing a number, it won’t be attractive to most customers. 

Keep the phone number…for now

Although customers are not yet ready to say goodbye to phone as the preferred channel, that doesn’t mean that day will never come. 34% of customers want to solve simple issues on their own using self-service channels, which is already a significant change in sentiment compared to previous eras. As self-service channels improve their capabilities for efficiency and personalization, more customers are likely to see the phone call as the more arduous option. That said, customers hate to have unwelcome changes made without their input, and as it stands only 6% of CX leaders believe it’s unnecessary to transparently list all available contact channels.

Offering an omnichannel approach will give customers the confidence to begin their digital journey. With a seamless experience and simple escalations, customers will be empowered to adopt digital channels, knowing they will be met with exceptional support at every turn.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.