The speaker discusses how providing omnichannel customer service can increase sales. Technology has changed shopping behaviors, with consumers using multiple channels throughout their journey. To meet evolving expectations, customer service must be available across all channels like phone, chat, social media, email and in-person. This requires integrating support systems, hiring well-rounded agents, and empowering customers with self-service options and community support. Tracking metrics helps optimize performance during busy periods like holidays. Omnichannel support improves the customer experience and increases retention, revenue and lifetime value.

2. Speaker NameJulie Fosselius
Solutions Consultant, Zendesk
Follow me @juliefosselius

3. The sale doesn’t end at checkout
How Omnichannel Customer Service Increases Your Sales

4. Chubbies
That’s Chubbies. They do shorts. Fun ones. And sell them online.

5. Technology has changed the way people shop
Cloud
Average weekly
spending online in the
UK so far in 2016 is
£870.8 million; this is a
12.3% increase
compared with 2015.
Mobile
In 2015, one third of
the purchases were
made on a mobile
device.
Social
In 2014, the top 500
retailers earned $3.3
billion from social
shopping, up 26% from
2013 which far
exceeded ecommerce
growth.

6. Shopping journeys are more complex than they have ever been
Consumers rarely start and finish
their journey on the same channel.
Retailers need to be prepared to
meet customers’ need at any point of
their journey regardless of what
channel they are on.

7. Support on every channel is crucial
Of smartphone users say they consult their phones
on purchases they’re about to make in a store.81%
Of consumers said they use their phones while
shopping in-store, performing such tasks as price
comparisons, looking up product information, and
checking reviews.
90%

8. Why do you need omnichannel
customer service?

9. Why you need omnichannel customer service
Customer expectations have changed.
It’s more important than ever for your brand to have a
presence and to be available to shoppers in multiple channels,
especially to bridge the in-store, web and mobile experience.

10. The Holiday season can be particularly difficult for retailers
Meeting expectations is harder
during the Holiday season. Make
sure you can adapt fast enough.

11. Why you need omnichannel customer service
Customer service agents must be ready to answer questions whether they come via
phone, live chat, tweet, Facebook messenger, email or in-person.
To be successful and win the loyalty of the omnichannel customer, each experience
must be smooth and easy, from product discovery to post-purchase support.
Support on
every channel
Quick responses
anywhere, anytime
Expert
agents

12. The boiling point
Knowing this type of support is required by customers
and delivering on it are two entirely different things.
Most brands haven’t integrated their communication
across support channels, which leads to a disjointed,
fragmented experience for the customer.
As a result, customers become frustrated with the
level of service they’re receiving from retailers.

13. The boiling point
Of customers expect to receive real-time
assistance regardless of the customer
service channel they use.64%
Of customers think brands need to put
more effort into providing a seamless
customer experience.87%
Of customers get frustrated when they
have to repeat information to multiple
service representatives.89%

14. Why you need omnichannel customer service
What’s needed to ensure that your customers
are satisfied with the service they receive?
The process starts by assessing the people, processes, and
systems you currently have in place for customer service.

15. Understand your connected customers
You need to understand your connected customers.
It requires putting your customers at the center of your business, and thinking of
them before any decision is made.
Your success relies on more than just offering great service—it relies on offering a
great experience throughout the purchase journey, and thinking about the customer
from discovery through purchase and post-purchase.

16. Hire great people for a great customer service
Hire for attitude
To effectively serve your customers, a person needs to have a service mindset. This
means always being ready to serve others, and a willingness to go the extra mile to
create truly memorable customer experiences.
Seek out excellent communicators
Customer service is a people-focused job. It’s all about creating personal, positive
connections in daily interactions with customers. Effective communication creates better
relationships and builds trust.
Look for listeners
Being a great listener is key to understanding customers’ needs, wants, and concerns. A
good listener is better able to ask the right questions and figure out the real issue
behind a customer’s frustration, thus helping to find the best solution.
Follow the leader
Leadership skills are critical for customer support staff, who are often asked to deal with
complicated situations and to provide quick and efficient solutions.

17. Develop a set of processes for your customer service team
Customer service policies to implement within your organization
• Never ask a customer for the same information twice.
• Service the customer in the channel they choose.
• Make a single person responsible for each customer service inquiry. Don’t bounce
customers from one department to another.
• Empower your support staff to make their own decisions based on what they feel is
in the best interest of the customer.

18. Help shoppers help themselves
Online community
Cultivate customer
conversations to
crowdsource support and
generate feedback.
Knowledge base
Create a resource of helpful
articles that answer
customer’ (and agent’s)
most popular questions
Customer service portal
Did you know customers actually
prefer self-service? Give your
customers a single destination for
everything they need.

19. — Joel Ivey, Head of Customer Experience at Chubbies
“With Zendesk we were able to create an amazing help
center that provides powerful answers to our customers
without the need of support agent assistance. We’ve
seen a decrease in the overall number of tickets
alongside a massive increase in revenue. We’re able to
help customers help themselves and that alone boosts
customer satisfaction.”

20. Prepare for a boost in your activity
Identify your busiest
times and staff
accordingly.
Train agents
in advance.
Get the whole
company
involved.
Set up tools to
automate any
repetitive task.

21. — Joel Ivey, Head of Customer Experience at Chubbies
“At peak times, our product and design teams work on
tickets. This allows them to hear customer feedback
directly and think about changes to improve the overall
Chubbies experience. The Zendesk reporting gives the
team great insights as well.”

22. Track, measure and adjust
Gain visibility into your
customers interaction
Gather data with the
customer experience with
your company. Know their
needs and how to better
serve them.
Measure your team’s
performance
Drill into your support
team’s performance.
Identify opportunities to
improve your support
operations.
See the business impacts
of great service
Share your analyses with
the whole organization.
Work together to improve
the entire customer journey.

23. Why omnichannel customer support matters
• Customers that purchase in multiple channels have a 30% higher lifetime value
than those who purchase in only one channel.
• Companies with extremely strong omnichannel customer engagement retain, on
average, 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak
omnichannel customer engagement.
• Companies with extremely strong omnichannel customer engagement see a 9.5%
year-over-year increase in annual revenue, compared to 3.4% for weak omnichannel
companies.

24. Conclusion
With gains in technology and the growing adoption of smartphones, today’s
digitally-savvy, 24/7-connected consumers are outpacing businesses.
Align your businesses for this new reality—including customer service—or be left
behind.

25. Questions

26. — Chris Wilson, director of technical support at Shopify
“Zendesk’s product is great, the company is fantastic,
but it’s really the relationship between Shopify and
Zendesk, and between Shopify and other Zendesk
users, that has been tremendously valuable.”

27. Thanks!

28. About the Zendesk integration with Shopify...
“Our support agents love this integration because it majorly
decreases the time needed to solve a customer’s issue or
answer a customer’s question. For example, if someone
complains about an issue with their most recent order, we
don’t have to go to Shopify to search their information
anymore; the integration has already pulled up their orders
details. We can see which orders are most recent, and
exactly what the customer is talking about, all within the
Zendesk dashboard. Gone are the days of having 20+ tabs
open while trying to solve one problem.”
— Joel Ivey, Head of Customer Experience at Chubbies

29. DEMO