Multi Channel CRM must rely on automated workflows

In order to be truly effective, multi-channel CRM must rely on an automated business workflow, according to Peter Tanner, CEO of Boomerang.

Of course, modern businesses cannot assume that customers want to reach them by phone only, and nor do they. But why give a customer the option of texting or emailing the business when they have a query, if they then have to wait for a call from someone at a call centre?

It is all well and good saying, “give customers lots of choice about communication” but why don’t we also improve the method of how we manage those communications?

Why not, for example, use your CRM system as part of an optimised business workflow to allow an SMS response to the text enquiry?

Businesses should absolutely be giving customers the choice as to what medium they wish to use to communicate.  However, in order to make that choice truly effective, the last line of communication must be dealt with by automating workflow. This ensures a positive experience for the customer by providing choice of communication method, plus allowing the business to capture the response with the CRM system to maintain that single customer view.

And, the key to this automated workflow is the use of multi-threaded SMS, email and voice that matches inbound and outbound communications across all channels. Multi-threaded communications allow each outbound communication generated by the workflow within a business system, such as CRM, to be automatically matched with the inbound response – irrespective of the number or order of communications with that individual.

This is the key to effective and truly optimised multi-channel CRM – where the channel is no longer the critical bit, but the communication is.

18 February 2014