Enabled by technology, customers use multiple channels to interact with you, depending on their needs. The pace at which new channels are added is staggering; it can leave many IT and customer service organizations struggling to keep pace. To thrive, you need to be on the same channels as your customers. But with dozens of new channels emerging, how do you prioritize for today and the future?

The June 2017 Gartner report, “Alternative Channels for Engaging Customers of the Future,” outlines 15 ways organizations can—and will—engage with customers over the next 20 years. While it’s fascinating to consider how different customer engagement will be 10 to 20 years from now, let’s focus on the immediate future—the next two to five years.

The following key findings from the Gartner report are particularly noteworthy:

  • By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed those made through traditional social media.
  • While existing customer engagement channels rarely go away, the volume of engagements per channel will change over time.
  • Each channel will best serve certain use cases, industries and geographies. Therefore, each organization will have a unique channel mix.
  • IT application leaders must deliver on requests with a thinly developed business value proposition. Otherwise, they risk being replaced by a digital marketing agency or business-managed, ad-hoc cloud projects.

The Gartner report not only outlines how customer engagement will change over time, but also why—to help you prepare for the future, improve customer engagement and, ultimately, boost revenue. The complimentary report also offers the following:

  • An overview of 15 alternative channels that application leaders can suggest their business counterparts use to engage customers. These channels are listed as relevant by business case—not just hype.
  • A timeline and heat map that show the urgency around each channel, based on the number of client calls that Gartner received on each topic throughout 2017.
  • Key considerations for prioritizing alternative channels within your organization.

Modernize to Keep Pace with the Future

As the number of customer engagement channels continues to grow and the usage mix changes, the need to provide a seamless, unified customer experience remains paramount. Organizations with legacy, voice-centric platforms will struggle to support the future of customer engagement. Explore the benefits of moving to a modern customer experience platform that’s built to provide next-generation customer engagement.

To get started, develop a plan that fits your unique business needs and priorities—now and in the future. The Genesys PureBridge program can help, offering an array of migration strategies, hands-on support and team training to modernize your contact center.

Get the Gartner report, “Alternative Channels for Engaging Customers of the Future,” to discover the 15 ways organizations will engage with customers over the next 20 years.