Too many companies today are delivering siloed service. Customers, however, see one company—and expect a consistent experience across channels. Unfortunately, silos prevent companies from delivering that. In fact, according to 1to1 Media's 2009 Multichannel Service survey, which surveyed nearly 130 senior customer strategy executives, only 14 percent of respondents think their firm delivers a consistent experience across channels; 68 percent think their service experience is somewhat consistent across channels, and 18 percent said their service is not at all consistent across channels.

What's more, according to a study conducted by eGain Communications, consistent multichannel service is, at best, a work in progress for most companies. Nearly 64 percent of respondent companies have deployed integrated case management technology to handle inquiries via multiple channels, but 44 percent of businesses surveyed have not established service levels for every customer communication channel their company provides. Worse, about only one quarter of respondents have a single view of all customer interactions; and nearly one third have no channel integration whatsoever.

Companies not offering consistent service across channels are missing an opportunity to improve customer satisfaction. Additionally, multichannel customer service can deliver positive ROI by reducing operational costs and moving traffic to lower-cost channels. This is especially effective when managing relationships with high- or low-value customers. For example, companies can offer high-value customers a unique multichannel experience that includes an exclusive toll-free number, access to a dedicated agent, and a personal URL that includes account and customer-specific information for self-service; those same firms might encourage low-value customers to use online and IVR self-service or an online forum to handle service issues, deflecting calls to live agents in the process.

According to Johan Jacobs, a research director at Gartner, however, few companies are doing multichannel well. That's hardly surprising, given that multichannel includes such elements as a knowledgebase for self-service, Web chat, collaborative browsing, email response management, virtual assistants, an IVR for self-service, measurement, and recording, according to Gartner's published eServices framework. "Very few [companies are] addressing all those channels," Jacobs says. In fact, he argues, for most companies the definition of multichannel means two channels—voice and one other—and adding a new channel often means adding a new vendor. Often a company's so-called "multichannel" approach, then, is really multiple, siloed channels that lack the ability to share data in an integrated manner.

That situation may be changing: According to Gartner's 2009 Magic Quadrant for E-Service Suites report, "During the past 12 months, 82 percent of multichannel product buyers preferred an e-service suite solution as opposed to a stand-alone, single-channel, or point-based product."           

Most companies that select an e-service suite do so to avoid the cost of integrating multiple vendor solutions. But, increasingly, companies are realizing that the cost of multichannel solutions is simply the cost of doing business today.

Still, investing in technology is just one piece of the multichannel puzzle, says Adele Sage, customer experience analyst at Forrester Research. "Software alone isn't enough to create a great customer experience," she says. "[Companies] also need elements like senior executives who believe in the value of customer experience, a company culture that promotes and rewards providing good experiences, and technology infrastructure and processes that support delivering those experiences."

The reality is that multichannel is being driven from a competitive perspective and a customer demand perspective, says Gartner's Jacobs. Companies whose competitors are offering these channels need to offer them, too—or find themselves victims of increasing defection or missed opportunities. And those businesses not meeting their customers' multichannel and cross-channel expectations may also pay a big price, says Anand Subramaniam, vice president of marketing for eGain: "Unhappy customers may leave, and the business may fail to reach significant market segments."