Channels

Determining a channel strategy for ensuring seamless omnichannel experience and im-proving lead generation and nurturing is the fourth phase of the action plan. Key focus areas are defining the most potential channels that could be leveraged for lead generation, setting lead generation targets for these digital channels, identifying key channels for

providing an omnichannel experience, ensuring consistency of channels and determining channel development principles as well as responsibilities.

Omnichannel experience is most strongly associated with existing customers that already have installed base because a complete omnichannel experience is a combination of seam-less experience between digital and physical channels and without having any installed base the physical component is nonexistent. The main channels for omnichannel experi-ence should be customer portal and industrial internet platform. Supportive channels are website, eServices, social media channels that are currently in use (YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) and customer events. Figure 19 depicts the channels through which omnichannel experience should be created for customers during the customer journey.

Figure 19. Channel portfolio for omnichannel experience for the target organization.

The two main channels, customer portal and industrial internet platform are utilized throughout the customer journey and they have a decisive role in creating the 360-view of customers as well as ensuring the seamlessness and unity of the experience across the journey. The supportive channels should be harnessed mostly in lead generation during the early stages of customer journey. Customer events and e-mails can be utilized also in post-sales stage when promoting e.g. relevant training sessions and other onboarding con-tent as well as promoting new solutions for future. eServices is a more comprehensive channel as it can be harnessed throughout the customer journey. During pre-purchase stage, eServices can be leveraged in new lead generation by building awareness and in-terest towards potential (spare part) solutions. During purchase phase, the aim of eServ-ices is to make purchases as effortless as possible. During post-purchase stage, together with customer portal and industrial internet platform, the aim of eServices is to make targeted offers to customer based on data and thus have a positive impact on the total customer experience. eServices could also be leveraged in other business than merely

spare parts, which makes it even a more significant channel for later phases of the cus-tomer journey in the future.

Figure 19 depicts also the relation between omnichannel experience and lead manage-ment. The two main channels have a significant role also in lead generation and nurturing activities, since they are the most immediate channels for contacting and interacting with the target organization. eServices also have a comprehensive role in lead generation as well as data-driven nurturing, as it was disclosed above. Based on empirical findings and backed up by theoretical findings, other relevant channels for lead generation purposes are website, e-mail and social media channels. E-mail as well as customer events are also harnessed in nurturing customers to generate additional sales by providing personalized offers and other experiences to customers.

All supportive channels should be integrated with the two main channels to ensure timely information during different phases of the customer journey. Therefore, channel manage-ment should be unified to ensure seamless experience across them. Practically it means that all customer data should be gathered from each channel, store that data on a same platform so that it is easily accessible for analysis, analyzing customer behavior by chan-nel and developing chanchan-nels based on customer preferences. Chanchan-nel managers need to have an open communication culture to enable sufficient information sharing and uniform development actions. Only by analyzing data from all touchpoints across all channels, both offline and online, valid customer journeys can be mapped for different customers and customer personas. As one business target was to identify key decision makers from customer organizations, analyzing their channel preferences is a major part of understand-ing their behavior and beunderstand-ing able to nurture them accordunderstand-ing to their preferences.

For entirely new suspects, the feeling of omnichannel experience is created by unifying the experience between all digital channels available, that are practically all supportive channels mentioned above. Gathering and analyzing data across these channels is as cru-cial as it is among existing customers and to gather data from every channel. Therefore, when new suspects begin their journey, their channel behavior is constantly monitored and analyzed, they are being assigned to different care models based on their behavior and they are nurtured as effectively as possible by providing relevant and personalized content according to the care models. All this supposedly has a positive impact on cus-tomers’ experiences during their journeys. As the scores of the potential leads increase and they become sales ready, the sales people already know the preferences of the certain customers and can ensure the seamless customer experience also throughout the purchase stage of the customer journey.

The principle for omnichannel experience from channel perspective is to be always pre-sent by integrating all channels. This ensures that there are no undesirable gaps in the experience environment. Interaction channel of choice should feel right for the moment

at all times for the customer and that can be achieved by systematically leveraging chan-nel behaviour data in developing customer care models.