Activating the Future of Digital Customer Engagement

Tony Lorentzen of Nuance discuss the future of digital communication channels and how that will impact customer engagement.

In this time of a COVID-19 shelter-in-place lifestyle, the way consumers interact with businesses has quickly transformed from in-person to virtual, propelling organizations to rethink their customer engagement plans and install better security measures.

It is no surprise interactions between consumers and the organizations they engage with have become increasingly digital in the last few years. Today, however, we are seeing the focus on enabling these virtual interactions skyrocket.

The consumer preference for speed, ease of access, and convenience has turned into critical consumer demand for business as usual in times when things are all but usual.

While consumers shelter-in-place across the globe, they are increasingly looking for and expecting the ability to get necessary things done without having to leave their homes – from online shopping to telehealth-based doctor appointments.

Organizations have no choice but to look at how they can engage with customers virtually and at scale, for example asking retail employees to become virtual sales agents in an effort to manage the dramatic increase in the new digital-first world in which we now live.

This process is not without challenges.

The growing rate at which fraudsters are taking advantage of increased online activity, and consumer fear, to prey on unsuspecting victims, is alarming.

In fact, fraud related to the coronavirus has cost Americans $13 million+ so far in April. Many large financial institutions and retailers who run big contact centres to support customer service have had to move operations remote, which comes with new requirements.

Add this to the fact that organizations’ employees are themselves dealing with the personal challenges from COVID-19, all while facing some of the most substantial historical volumes of customer enquiries and requests.

The silver lining for those organizations working tirelessly to keep operations going and deliver what their customers need today is that those same companies are preparing for an even better tomorrow.

How they respond in the days and weeks ahead will form a critical impression with customers and lay the digital-first foundation they will need to be successful in the long term.