Businesses increasingly rely on digital messaging channels to interact with their customers, namely instant messaging, email, live chat, and social media. However, maintaining continuity in these conversations can be challenging, especially as customers expect a seamless experience across multiple channels. Failure to provide this continuity can lead to frustration and poor customer experience, which in turn can harm a business's reputation. In this blog post, we outline the top six conversation continuity mistakes that businesses make and how to fix them.

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1. Limiting digital messaging channel coverage

Limiting digital messaging channel coverage means missing customer inquiries. Customers want the ability to interact with businesses through a variety of channels, including social media, live chat, email, and SMS text. By limiting the channels available, businesses risk losing customers who prefer to communicate through a different channel. To fix this, businesses should consider expanding their messaging channel coverage to include more options that are relevant to their customer base.

2. Preventing agents from changing channels

Over time, preventing agents from changing channels easily during a conversation limits the customer experience. If a customer initiates a conversation via chat only to discover bandwidth or media constraints are a challenge, agents should be able to accommodate that request without interrupting the flow of the conversation. To fix this, businesses should ensure that agents have access to all available channels and can switch between them seamlessly.

3. Providing limited or inconvenient access to customer history logs

When customers reach out to a business, they expect agents to have access to know who they are and remember previous interactions. However, many businesses make the mistake of providing limited or inconvenient access to customer history logs, which can lead to frustration and a poor customer experience. To fix this, businesses should invest in a centralized customer database that is easily accessible by agents and provides a comprehensive view of the customer's history with the company.

4. Not measuring chatbot-driven First Contact Resolution

Chatbots have become a popular tool for businesses to handle customer inquiries. However, if chatbots are not properly configured, they can result in a poor customer experience. One key metric to measure is chatbot-driven First Contact Resolution (FCR), which measures the percentage of inquiries that are resolved on the first contact with the chatbot. To fix this, businesses should ensure that their chatbots are properly calibrated and measure FCR as a key metric.

5. Ignoring the rise of chatbot-assisted conversation management:

Chatbots have become a popular tool for businesses to handle customer inquiries. However, if chatbots are not properly configured, they can result in a poor customer experience. One key metric to measure is chatbot-driven First Contact Resolution (FCR), which measures the percentage of inquiries that are resolved on the first contact with the chatbot. To fix this, businesses should ensure that their chatbots are properly calibrated and measure FCR as a key metric.

6. Not planning for fluctuation in Internet connectivity

Businesses often overlook the importance of planning for fluctuation in Internet connectivity. Poor Internet connectivity can disrupt conversations and lead to a poor customer experience. To fix this, businesses should have a plan in place to ensure that agents have access to reliable Internet connectivity, and should also have a backup plan in place in case of an Internet outage. This will help ensure that conversations with customers can continue without interruption.

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In conclusion, businesses need to prioritize conversation continuity across all messaging channels, human agents, and chatbots. By avoiding the six conversation continuity mistakes outlined in this article, businesses can enhance the customer experience to deliver increased customer retention and improved brand reputation. This means expanding digital messaging channel coverage and implementing chatbot-assisted conversation management, to deliver conversation continuity across the entire customer journey.

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Discover how conversation continuity can work for with Glassix!

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