There are several benefits of multi channel customer service
The most important ones are-
Multi channel support, especially on social media, is directly tied to customer engagement
When people interact with a brand on these channels, they expect to see an empathetic friend, sharing updates, thoughts, and even experiences
With an established online presence, a business owner opens up conversations about customer problems, the solutions you offer, and the issues your existing customers may have

So brand awareness and multi channel customer service go hand-in-hand
With an established online presence and subsequent brand awareness, people find it easier to connect with your brand on a human level and reach out with their problems
This brings us to the second benefit:
I’ll admit that I'm an Instagram addict
I spend a couple of hours scrolling through it, and I can vouch that Instagram ads have single handedly halved my savings!  Since I use this one platform, being able to find the stores that suit my preferences is a big win
And I’m sure it’s the same for businesses who are able to reach their target audience through these platforms
Opening up to multiple channels also allows you to tap into a new pool of potential customers

Convenience is one of the most apparent results of multichannel presence
Customers find themselves spending their time online on various platforms
To be able to use these platforms to communicate their concerns is a big check in terms of customer satisfaction

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Challenges of Multi channel Customer Service:

Multi channel support isn’t all roses
Setting up a multi channel customer service comes with its own set of challenges

Multi channel support can be difficult to configure and even more difficult to keep pace with
Even channel prioritization can be a little tricky
A 2001 research study by Forrester showed that 62% of leaders think self-service is the most important channel of customer service
There are two plain reasons for this-

• Customers love to have control and find quick answers to their queries
• One of the most cost-effective ways to offer customer service
• However, most businesses fail to utilize this channel to their advantage
  Consider an eCommerce business that sells pet products- food, hygiene products, and accessories
  A website visitor is piqued by the slashed prices and contacts the store to see which food would be best for their dog, who is allergic to lamb

There’s no filter on the site, so they shoot a message on the chat, and the AI Bot replies “This pack is the best choice for dogs aged 6-10 months”
It’s not the response you want to hear

The struggle with AI/chatbots that do not offer the answers customers want
In other instances, there is an overwhelming number of FAQs leading you down a “link spiral”
What’s worse? 20 tabs later you realize it doesn’t offer you the information you are looking for

In fact, research by BT in 2006 pointed out that more channels will increase the number of interactions a customer has with your customer service reps

Not only does this frustrate your customers, but it also leads to increased interactions
If the aim was to find an efficient and cost-effective solution- multi-channel support ends up being neither

It also affects the business in the long run
When a customer has a bad experience and ends up switching channels to get the point across- they either want to change businesses or look for your competitors
If you have a more substantial presence and more loyal customers- your problem doesn’t end there either

When customers have a terrible experience with one channel, they tend to revert to their old or preferred ways of communication like the phone support
This means all the time and money you’ve spent on utilizing other media are going to waste

Are you keeping toe-to-toe with your competitors, who can provide support on the other communication channels?
Inefficient multichannel support harms your overall customer satisfaction and their perception of your brand

In this way, the value of your customer service is measured by the weakest link in the chain
To strengthen your customer support, you need to streamline the channels and make sure that the quality of service (in terms of speed and effectiveness) is translated through all the communication channels

Omni channel customer service helps achieve just that:

Multi-channel vs. Omnichannel Customer Service

Multichannel and omnichannel customer service are terms used very interchangeably
However, there is a big difference between the two-
Omnichannel customer service is a customer, experience-centric model
It creates an umbrella for all customer communication channels like live chat, phone support, and social media platforms
It is a cohesive model that helps unify all customer communication and streamline the customer experience

Omnichannel customer service strategy has an edge over multichannel because of the increased first call resolution
With the right integration and complete customer context provided by omnichannel customer service, the agents can significantly reduce their handle time

It also empowers agents with more customer history and deeper context, allowing them to avoid redundancy and have meaningful interactions with customers
It reduces their workload and helps them concentrate on revenue-generating opportunities, which impacts their performance as well as work satisfaction
Having well-planned omnichannel customer service improves agent retention due to these reasons

Another benefit of omnichannel customer service is that it helps centralize data and acts as a CRM as well
It allows you to better understand your customers and improve customer service through more targeted selling and data-driven offers
Omnichannel support helps build a better customer profile