How to build a compelling business case for omnichannel
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 4:47 am
You’re probably well aware of how crucial it is to deliver personalized, informed, seamless interactions to your customers. But the C-suite might not be quite as well informed and, as they hold the purse strings, it’s up to you to convince them the expenditure is worth it.
This can seem like an uphill battle at times, but perhaps it’s reassuring to know you’re not alone. The majority of marketers say a lack of resources and investment are their biggest barrier to successfully implementing omnichannel marketing.
So let’s take a look at how to secure the backing you need to drive better customer engagement that impacts the bottom line.
Not just why, but why now?
Getting leadership on board is like any other sales pitch. You need to know your audience and speak to their motivations.
It might be tempting to begin with the benefits of an omnichannel approach, but it’s more compelling to start by laying out the dangers of leaving things as they are. Otherwise it’s easy for the C-suite to deprioritize you against the long list of other business threats they need to deal with. Your pitch needs to communicate not just why to invest, but why now.
What are the imminent dangers of stalling on omnichannel?
1. Falling behind the competition
Companies that have an omnichannel communication strategy overseas chinese In australia data in place have significantly higher customer retention rates than those that don’t. Unicef, for instance, reduced donor churn over 33% by implementing a unified, omnichannel solution.
Unicef donor churn
We all know it’s far more expensive to keep winning new customers than it is to retain existing ones. Losing customers because you’re lagging behind on omnichannel means earning less lifelong customer revenue than your competitors, and spending more on customer acquisition than they do. In essence, the longer your organization drags its heels in taking up omnichannel, the further ahead your competition will get.
2. Becoming irrelevant to the customer
Our interaction habits have changed drastically over the last 20 years and most of us use multiple communications channels every day without really thinking about it. Today’s customers are no longer pleasantly surprised by omnichannel – they expect it.
If they can’t get a seamless omnichannel experience from your organization, they’ll find it elsewhere. And when it comes to customer service, people want to interact with businesses on the communication channels they prefer. Choice is essential to satisfying the modern consumer.
3. Omnichannel done poorly is no good
It may be you’ve already tried communicating with customers on the channels that suit them, but aren’t getting the results you were hoping for. This is usually because these channels aren’t managed cohesively and underpinned by uniform data. If channels such as email, SMS and voice are operated in siloes, with no centralized view of the customer and their interaction history, communication will be disjointed and frustrating. Adding more channels into this mix simply adds to the fragmentation.
You need to explain to the C-suite that installing an insufficiently informed and connected omnichannel system can be as costly as not having one at all. On the other hand, investing in a cloud communications platform can allow you to implement a holistic customer experience strategy that reaches across your organization and your customer journey.
This can seem like an uphill battle at times, but perhaps it’s reassuring to know you’re not alone. The majority of marketers say a lack of resources and investment are their biggest barrier to successfully implementing omnichannel marketing.
So let’s take a look at how to secure the backing you need to drive better customer engagement that impacts the bottom line.
Not just why, but why now?
Getting leadership on board is like any other sales pitch. You need to know your audience and speak to their motivations.
It might be tempting to begin with the benefits of an omnichannel approach, but it’s more compelling to start by laying out the dangers of leaving things as they are. Otherwise it’s easy for the C-suite to deprioritize you against the long list of other business threats they need to deal with. Your pitch needs to communicate not just why to invest, but why now.
What are the imminent dangers of stalling on omnichannel?
1. Falling behind the competition
Companies that have an omnichannel communication strategy overseas chinese In australia data in place have significantly higher customer retention rates than those that don’t. Unicef, for instance, reduced donor churn over 33% by implementing a unified, omnichannel solution.
Unicef donor churn
We all know it’s far more expensive to keep winning new customers than it is to retain existing ones. Losing customers because you’re lagging behind on omnichannel means earning less lifelong customer revenue than your competitors, and spending more on customer acquisition than they do. In essence, the longer your organization drags its heels in taking up omnichannel, the further ahead your competition will get.
2. Becoming irrelevant to the customer
Our interaction habits have changed drastically over the last 20 years and most of us use multiple communications channels every day without really thinking about it. Today’s customers are no longer pleasantly surprised by omnichannel – they expect it.
If they can’t get a seamless omnichannel experience from your organization, they’ll find it elsewhere. And when it comes to customer service, people want to interact with businesses on the communication channels they prefer. Choice is essential to satisfying the modern consumer.
3. Omnichannel done poorly is no good
It may be you’ve already tried communicating with customers on the channels that suit them, but aren’t getting the results you were hoping for. This is usually because these channels aren’t managed cohesively and underpinned by uniform data. If channels such as email, SMS and voice are operated in siloes, with no centralized view of the customer and their interaction history, communication will be disjointed and frustrating. Adding more channels into this mix simply adds to the fragmentation.
You need to explain to the C-suite that installing an insufficiently informed and connected omnichannel system can be as costly as not having one at all. On the other hand, investing in a cloud communications platform can allow you to implement a holistic customer experience strategy that reaches across your organization and your customer journey.