Customer Service Channels: Your Quick Guide To the Top 6

How much effort do you have to spend contacting customer support to get a problem solved? More than you think is necessary, right? Just like you, customers are busy people who want their issues resolved quickly. It helps to offer multiple ways to reach your team – so people can contact your business when they have the time, on the customer service channel that’s most convenient for them.

But which channels should you offer? Most teams can’t go wrong by offering digital. In fact, we found that 57% of today’s customers prefer to engage companies through digital customer service channels. 

We’ve gathered insights on the most popular channels today from service leaders. Here’s what you need to know to make sure you have the right ones for your customer service operations.

The top digital customer service channels you need now

Consider these digital customer service channels for your business.

1. Self-service channels work for quick fixes

Our research found that 61% of customers would rather use self-service for simple issues. Self-service also solves an estimated 54% of customer issues, on average, at organizations that use it.

Self-service includes your help center (also known as a knowledge base), customer portal, and customer community. Customers visit your help center to find answers to common questions. With portals, they log in to access their information, such as past purchases, and initiate easy step-by-step processes, like requesting a return. They can get and share tips about products in your customer community. 

To keep your self-service channels up-to-date, regularly review your case information. Ask questions based on what you see. For example, what are customers routinely asking? Are new trends emerging? Use these insights to create content, like knowledge base articles, that addresses common requests.

You can even have generative AI create the first draft of a new knowledge base article. Remember: have a human review and edit to ensure accuracy. Be sure to include target keywords so that your content is easily accessible on your site and through search engines. We recommend at least six instances of your keyword in your article: two in your introduction, one in a header, and then the rest where they make sense. 

2. Chatbots provide personalized digital support

Chatbots are an extension of your self-service channels powered by AI. They can answer frequently asked questions and recommend relevant knowledge base articles. They can also act as a digital assistant for your service agents, collecting key information before transferring to a person. Because they solve some simple issues, chatbots help with case deflection, allowing your agents to focus on more strategic work. 

Chatbots can even help you offer a personal touch to your digital customer service channels. Program your chatbots with natural language processing, enabling them to introduce themselves to customers and use the customer’s name. 

Keep in mind that customers have little tolerance for bots that don’t work smoothly. Our research shows that 68% of customers wouldn’t use a company’s chatbot again if they had a bad experience.

3. Mobile keeps the conversation going

Mobile service takes place on a customer’s mobile device – typically through a mobile app, messenger app, or text/SMS. It’s a convenient, asynchronous service option that keeps the conversation going with an agent for more involved issues or a chatbot for simple questions. Mobile also provides a record of past interactions. 

And mobile is on the rise, with more service organizations using mobile apps (up 14%), text/SMS (up 9%), and messenger apps (up 6%) in 2022 compared with two years before. To make mobile service possible, give your customers the option to add a preferred mobile number to their account before they complete a transaction.

4. Video for face-to-face connection

Our research found that service organizations have increased their use of video by 43%. It makes sense: Video is the next best thing to in-person support.

For example, visual remote assistance delivers one-on-one support for routine requests – anything from how to reset your home TV to a system reboot for equipment at an industrial site. 

Plus, video support is very easy to use. When a customer reaches out, they have the option to connect with an agent through video. If they opt in, the customer receives a link to join a video call. The agent is then able to walk them through steps to resolve their issue face to face. This provides an efficient way to solve problems face to face, virtually.

5. Voice capabilities create a connected service experience

Voice still holds the top spot as the most-used channel for customer service, especially for complex issues. When you combine your CRM with cloud telephony, voice becomes a digital channel. The technology puts all call information on the agent’s screen and transcribes the interaction so that agents don’t have to take notes. 

Digital voice can also use AI to surface relevant knowledge base articles and next steps to help the agent reach a resolution faster. This helps agents be more productive and stay focused on the customer.

6. Solving customer service problems with social

Our research showed that 82% of service organizations use social media channels, and for good reason. Some customers may express their frustrations with your service on your social media pages or as a comment on your posts. It’s best to get in front of these issues before they snowball — especially if they could damage your company’s reputation.

Connect your marketing and service teams with social customer service to give you a complete view of the customer before responding to a social media request. Social media channels also help you monitor keywords and language – and create, manage, and monitor cases from your social feeds. This helps you build a better social plan for service that is founded on previous customer data.

The path to all-digital customer service channels

It’s not enough to just be available for customers. Your service organization must have all of your service channels connected with customer data. For example, if a customer reaches out by web chat about a simple order status, help the customer get service faster by directing the relevant data to the chatbot. Or, if a customer reports a lost credit card, provide the right knowledge base article with guidance on how to resolve the issue. 

Make sure your contact center is connected to handle requests across channels. Give your teams a complete view of data with the ability to manage cases across channels without having to toggle between different systems. With one single platform, your agents can manage phone calls and ongoing cases on chat, SMS, and other digital customer service channels. That way, agents can help multiple customers at once, which saves on cost all around.

Take a step further by connecting service to your broader organization. Companies that connect service with their CRM platform are better equipped to deliver a personalized customer experience. Connection is important: 81% of agents said they have a complete and accessible view of customer sales/ecommerce transactions and customer marketing interactions. 

Once you have the right technology in place, you can reimagine your digital customer service strategy to prioritize digital customer service. Try automating these tasks:

• Embed case management workflows to ensure cases are assigned to the next available agent with the best skill set to resolve the issue.
• Give customers and agents greater flexibility with asynchronous service options like text/SMS or messenger apps.
• Rethink how you measure success, by using the right metrics like a customer effort score. 

Last thoughts on digital customer service

Regularly review customer service analytics to ensure your teams always meet expectations for fast, flexible, and quality service. Your channel selection depends entirely on the services you offer; what works well for a retailer may not work for a manufacturer. Test out different channels to see what resonates with your customers. And above all, keep an eye on customer service trends, so you can stay ahead of the game.