All customers are different, apart from just one thing. Every customer hates getting stuck during the product ‘search and buy’ process. But still, for most customers, the product search and purchase journey is jittery at best. There’s a reason for this.
Customers have no reason to stick to a linear process. For instance, here’s a very realistic scenario:
- Shopper sees Facebook ads on their smartphone
- They visit the retailer’s website and browse products
- They get a sign-up discount code on their email
- They head back to the website and initiate a live chat with an agent to ask for info not listed on the product page
- They get their answers but vow to visit the retailer’s physical store the next day to see the product before they buy
- They go to the store and speak with the sales rep on the floor
- The sales rep informs them that the product is out of stock but promises to call back the next day with an update on when it’ll be back in stock
Now, in this journey, every stage is rife with the risk of the sale being vanquished, for reasons beyond the control of the retailer. The only way the retailer can stay in control is with an omnichannel CRM that can push the lead to the for the next stage of the sale, irrespective of the several channels involved in the process.
It’s easy to appreciate the value of an omnichannel CRM. But it’s harder to explain why even the world’s best companies have failed to enjoy the benefits of one. Even the best of CRM has promised ‘omnichannel’ and failed miserably at it. For so many companies – startups, SMBs, and enterprises – it’s the same challenge: how to offer customers a truly omnichannel product search and purchase journey? This immediately poses some related questions:
- What exactly is omnichannel sales
- Why do so many CRMs fail at delivering it
- How can you overcome this problem?
Let’s tackle these, one by one.
What exactly is omnichannel sales?
Let’s take a closer look at what true omnichannel sales involve. Imagine a customer, Alex.
- Alex wants to buy a new coffee table and sees a great one on a furniture retailer’s website, but he has questions about dimensions and materials. He starts a live chat on the move to get quick answers.
- Later, when Alex visits the furniture retailer’s physical store to see the piece in person, the staff already knows about the live chat conversation. Staff knows that the item in question is not stocked in the store But they can easily persuade Alex to consider something very similar. Alex finds the perfect coffee table and buys it in-store.
- Soon after Alex gets home, he gets an email (with details of delivery time for the coffee table).
- The next day, Alex knows he can’t be at home during the scheduled delivery slot, so he goes to the live chat and requests the delivery to be rescheduled 4 hours later. The sales team continues the conversation without missing a beat. The delivery happens successfully.
- Later, Alex receives a link on his WhatsApp, to leave a public review for the retailer (because the CRM knows from past interactions that Alex has ignored ‘requests for review’ on email and acted when asked on WhatsApp). Alex leaves a 5-star review.
This seamless integration across websites, live chat, in-store, email, and WhatsApp, where every interaction builds on the last without any repetition or delay, exemplifies omnichannel sales. The idea is that the customer journey continues uninterrupted across multiple platforms. The result is obvious – the customer will stay on track to complete the sale, in spite of countless cracks in the track. Technically speaking, a CRM has to be the backbone of omnichannel. It gathers all customer interactions into one central place.
But here’s the problem: many CRMs simply record your email, phone call, maybe a chat transcript…and that’s it. That’s multichannel, not truly omnichannel. While multichannel is better than nothing, it still leaves gaps. When the customer is open to considering alternatives to your products, you can’t afford these gaps. The customer has no motivation or drive to complete the sale; it’s the job of the sales rep, but multichannel means they will only have a hazy version of truth to act on.
This leaves us guessing: what’s the problem?
Why do so many CRMs fail at omnichannel sales?
So, why can’t most CRMs support omnichannel sales? Honestly, it’s often because businesses fall into a trap.
- They see what everyone else is doing.
- They buy a popular CRM.
- They try to cram their processes into it.
This is backwards! Many decision-makers lack the time or tech expertise to define their exact needs. This is the first point of failure, which eventually leads to half-baked solutions that leave customers frustrated and staff tied in knots.
Forget the rat race. True omnichannel success means ditching this mindset and demanding the right tools… tools that can shape your customer journey. So, a CTO shouldn’t bother about the features of a CRM. Instead, they must think of first principles. They must enlist some sharp, non-negotiable asks for CRM vendors to fulfill (or, to forget about the sale). Here are some first-principle questions to get you started:
- Can a customer seamlessly switch channels without losing progress?
- Can sales reps instantly access the full customer interaction history?
- Does the CRM integrate with all our key communication tools (email, SMS, social, etc.) now, and will it evolve with how customer preferences evolve?
The CRM you choose will determine whether you can capture leads from all possible channels, and then keep on nudging them onto the next steps in the sales process until they complete the sale. So, being 100% sure of what you want is crucial. Remember, each change you make to streamline your process has a snowball effect. A small digital tweak today can save countless hours in the future.
So, the question isn’t whether your CRM can be omnichannel, but rather does it let you build it around your business, not the other way around? Is there a way to have this flexibility without needing an army of programmers? Turns out, the answer is yes – and it lies in the power of Low-Code.
What is low code and how does it help?
Low-code is a development approach that includes several key components: configurability, visual interfaces, drag-and-drop functionality, reusable components, and rapid testing and deployment capabilities.
What does this mean for you? Firstly, anyone in your team can configure a low-code CRM to build workflows that reflect real-world operations—no coding expertise is needed. This cuts down the need for a large IT team and shifts the focus from coding everything from scratch to simply connecting what’s necessary.
With Low-Code, you’re free to think about what you want your sales process to look like. Where do customers reach out to you? What kind of flow do you want to create across all touchpoints? You can set up your CRM to handle all this with ease. Adding a feature that might typically take 20 days and a budget of $1000 with traditional development or customisation can now be accomplished in just 2 days for much less cost.
The essence of omnichannel is that the customer decides when, where, and how they interact with your business, and these preferences will evolve. Your CRM should adapt at the same pace. It should have the power to initiate contact, using the most relevant channel, when the customer needs constant nudging to progress through the sales funnel. Low-code CRMs are built to be as dynamic as your customer interactions. That’s the power of Low-Code: It lets you focus on lead acquisition and sales, not wrestling with technology. Need to add a new communication channel? A few tweaks, and it’s done. This means your CRM can change as fast as your customers do, which is absolutely crucial for true omnichannel sales.
Sounds great, right? But which low-code CRM is right for building this kind of journey? That’s where Amoga enters the picture…
Why is Amoga the right CRM for you?
Amoga Sales CRM is built for the needs of today’s businesses. With true low-code, Amoga lets your team engage with leads across email, social media, phone, and even WhatsApp. With its omnichannel focus, no conversation gets lost in the shuffle. Need specific workflows or new features? Amoga’s visual interface lets anyone on your team configure workflows without a line of code. This means you can adapt to customer needs at lightning speed. Plus, pre-built templates for common sales workflows get you started instantly.
Imagine reducing your time to launch new features by 90% and cutting development costs by 75%. That’s the power of Amoga. It puts business needs first and automates the mundane, so your team can focus on what deserves their energies.
Ready to transform your sales? Explore Amoga today and discover the future of business-friendly digital.
