What is multichannel support?

Why it matters

Multichannel is often the honest and correct choice. Unifying identity across channels is expensive, and for many businesses the customer rarely switches. The problem is buying multichannel while believing you bought omnichannel, and discovering the difference when a customer complains about repeating themselves.

What to know

• Each channel needs its own staffing model, response target, and quality standard.
• Channel cost per contact varies widely, with phone typically the most expensive by a large margin.
• Unstaffed channels are worse than absent ones, because customers assume anything visible is monitored.
• The right channel mix follows your customers, not your competitors marketing pages.
• Consolidating to fewer, better-staffed channels usually improves satisfaction and lowers cost together.

An example

Example: a company offers phone, email, chat, and three social channels with four agents. Every channel is slow. Cutting to email and chat, both properly staffed, raises satisfaction while reducing the total contact surface.

Common mistakes

• Opening channels because competitors have them
• Leaving a visible channel effectively unmonitored
• Applying one response target across all channels
• Assuming multichannel gives customers a continuous experience

Questions