The Connected Customer Conversation – Manifesto

The proliferation of digital technology has expanded the channels through which businesses can reach out to their customers. Though this has provided customers with flexibility, the overall impact on CX has been varied. Businesses are finding it difficult to keep a tab on the conversations happening across multiple platforms. This has resulted in an inconsistent brand experience.

Connected Customer Conversations are thus the need of the hour to move from a fragmented approach to a unified one. Such an approach will allow customers to communicate using the channel they want and shift whenever needed. Traditionally, customers use the IVR facility but are put on hold for several minutes before being assigned an agent. As part of the connected conversation platform, this can be avoided by allowing customers to shift to a messaging platform or chatbot instead of waiting.

This article will explore how Exotel helps to improve connected customer experience and allows customers to move seamlessly between channels. But first, let’s discuss the current scenario of customer interactions.

Disjointed Conversations: A Barrier to Achieving an Effective Customer Experience

Say, a customer wants to register a complaint. He starts by using the in-app bot but feels dissatisfied. He is given the option to shift to a different channel, like a voice call or message from a live agent. But, due to a lack of integration between the different channels, he has to explain his query from scratch. Frustrating, right? 

Disjointed interactions thus hamper the quality of customer experience. The following factors further pose challenges:

1. Fragmented Data:

Customer conversations generate a lot of data that can help uncover important insights about customer preferences and behaviors. But the use of multiple channels makes it difficult to store and analyze this data in a centralized way. There is a lack of collaboration between customer service agents who handle different functions, thus creating departmental silos. The front and back offices are not integrated, which leads to a slow response rate.

2. Inconsistent Experiences:

There are multiple touchpoints in a customer journey- phone, email, social media, customer self-service, etc. It is crucial to provide consistent experiences through all these channels. Most businesses fail to do so. Customers need to repeat information or context each time they switch channels or engage with a different representative. Every interaction is mapped to a different ticket. As a result, businesses are not able to create a cohesive brand experience. This hampers the confidence customers have in their brands and decreases loyalty.

3. Lack of Personalization:

Without a holistic view of customer interactions, businesses struggle to tailor their messages, recommendations, and offers to align with individual preferences and behaviors. Personalization requires understanding a customer’s journey across different channels and using that information to deliver relevant, timely, and customized communication. Disjointed conversations prevent agents from having the full context of the customer journey, which leads to generic and impersonal interactions that may not resonate with customers.

Exotel- To the Rescue

Exotel offers a connected customer conversation platform that integrates various communication channels- voice telephony/SMS + contact center + bots. Exotel’s platform leverages CCaaS, CPaaS, and CAIP to connect buyers with businesses in different stages of their journey and facilitate synergy between teams.

Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)

CCaaS solution enables businesses to manage their customer service operations in the cloud. By eliminating the need for on-premises infrastructure, Exotel’s CCaaS features reduce costs and increase scalability, making it an ideal choice for enterprises of all sizes.

Key CCaaS Features in Exotel’s Platform

a) Intelligent Call Routing: Automatically route calls to the most appropriate agent based on customer needs and preferences.

b) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system: Set up automated menus and responses to efficiently handle customer inquiries.

c) Real-time Analytics and Reporting: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to optimize your customer engagement strategies.

Exotel recently launched Ameyo XTRM, a cloud-based and regulatory-compliant contact center solution that can handle large operations without any need for on-premises infrastructure, making it easy to set up without any headaches. The solution is powered by AI, which means that businesses can automate many processes, such as chatbots, WhatsApp to agent handover, and deflecting incoming IVR calls to bots instead of human agents, making it a true one-stop-shop for everything related to contact centers. The solution can handle up to 20,000 agents, and it is easily scalable both up and down.

Most contact center solution in certain geographies are point solutions that handle only one function, such as a simple incoming call or basic outbound dialing, but XTRM handles both incoming and outbound calls, as well as extensive supervision, reporting, tight integration with CRMs, and workflows.

The product has a structured database that enables voice recordings to be used for text-to-speech transcription, voice analytics, and more. India’s customer experience space is trending towards cloud-based contact centers with AI, automation, personalization, agent performance optimization, advanced analytics, and reporting features.

Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS)

Exotel’s platform also serves as a CPaaS, providing a suite of APIs that allow businesses to integrate voice, SMS, email, and social media messaging into their existing applications and services. This integration capability enables companies to engage with customers on their preferred channels and create more personalized and convenient interactions.

Key CPaaS Features in Exotel’s Platform

i) Omnichannel Communication: Engage with customers across multiple channels for seamless and convenient interactions with omnichannel contact center.

ii) Seamless CRM integration: Connect Exotel’s platform with your existing CRM, helpdesk, and other business applications to streamline workflows and manage customer interactions from a single platform.

iii) Scalability: Exotel’s APIs are designed to accommodate your business’s growth, ensuring you can handle increasing communication needs without compromising quality or performance.

Conversational AI Platform (CAIP)

Conversational AI platforms use artificial intelligence and natural language processing to enable businesses to create more engaging and efficient customer interactions. Exotel’s platform integrates with third-party conversational AI solutions, enhancing the overall connected customer experiences.

Key Benefits of Integrating CAIP with Exotel’s Platform

a) Automated Customer Support: Use AI-powered chatbots to handle routine customer queries, reducing the workload on your customer service team.

b) Personalized Conversations: Leverage AI-driven insights to tailor your communication with customers based on their preferences and behavior.

c) Improved Efficiency: Conversational AI can process large volumes of customer data quickly, enabling your team to make well-informed decisions and respond to customer inquiries more efficiently.

Exotel helps in revolutionizing the customer experience by embracing the power of connected customer conversation with their cutting-edge solutions.