It’s no surprise that keeping customers happy pays off in the long run: 91 percent of customers surveyed by Salesforce said they are more likely to make a repeat purchase after a positive encounter. In today’s society, this means offering quality products and services and delivering positive customer experiences.

In the crowded retail industry, businesses aren’t always able to compete based on product or price, but they can always play to win with customer service. Whether a retailer is a brick-and-mortar building, an online storefront, or a combination of both, delivering an outstanding customer experience is the true battle. Responding to customer queries accurately and efficiently is paramount, and retailers must provide their teams with the right technology and tools to make this happen.

UCaaS Provides Fast, Informed, and Seamless Customer Interactions

Quality customer service starts with greeting customers when they enter your store (either online or in-person) and being readily available to answer questions about products and services. But customer service doesn’t stop there — it extends throughout the buying process and beyond to post-transaction support for product help and issues with billing, returns, and disputes.

Retail customers expect communications to be:

• Fast. Customers want answers quickly without waiting in a long call or text queue.
• Informed. Customers want connections to knowledgeable sources without having to restate or re-enter account information.
• Seamless. Customers want their concerns resolved in one interaction without being ushered from one queue to another.

Retailers can meet these expectations with a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) solution that integrates voice, text, video, collaboration, and more on one platform, giving customers multiple options for support:

• Interactive voice response (IVR). This technology allows shoppers to find answers to common questions through automated menus.
• Auto attendant and advanced call routing. When customers prefer talking to a person, an auto attendant can connect them to an employee. For systems with a built-in call center, advanced call routing can kick it up a notch, quickly routing calls to the right department and the right person.
• CRM integrations. Integrating a built-in call center with a customer relationship management platform (CRM) like Salesforce enables inbound record matching and screen pops with account information that can help call center representatives personalize and speed-up customer interactions.
• Business texting. An integrated business texting solution like Bubble by Broadvoice can automatically route texts to call center representatives and provides two-way texting options, which many customers — especially Millennials and Gen Z — prefer. Plus, you can broadcast product updates and notifications to your entire customer base with one text message.

UCaaS Offers Multi-Channel Customer Interactions

Retail customers have an accelerated sense of “instant gratification” that is fueled, in part, by the switch to digital-first shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Real-time customer assistance is not only preferred — it’s expected.

Since the forced switch to digital-first customer interactions, text messaging has become an increasingly popular way for retailers to interact with their customers, providing a great way to reach customers efficiently with high response rates. In fact, customers are beginning to expect the ability to text businesses and customer support teams to get assistance.

A messaging platform is an effective channel for customer interactions, but it shouldn’t be the only option. Not all customers prefer texting; sometimes customers just want to speak to a person, especially if their query is complex or requires a lengthy dialogue.

A UCaaS platform with an integrated call center and business texting platform gives customers their choice of communication channels so they can quickly get the help they need. Messaging is part of an overall communications strategy, not the sole offering. Unified communications (UC) solutions like Broadvoice b-hive deliver an entire suite of tools — voice, business text, contact centers, and more — on one platform, including optional integration with Salesforce for visibility into customer data to provide a faster and more effective response.

UCaaS Enables Retailers to Improve the Customer Experience

Technology can’t solve all customer service issues, but it shouldn’t be the source of your customer service problems. No matter how a customer reaches out, businesses can improve the effectiveness of their interactions by empowering their teams with the right suite of unified communications tools.

Contact us to learn more about improving the speed and accuracy of your customer interactions with the Broadvoice b-hive all-in-one communications platform.