Multichannel customer service is challenging because once more than one channel for customer communication is added, there is opportunity for confusion. And not only is there opportunity for confusion, the confusion can originate from the customers, the customer service representatives, or both. But why does multichannel customer service provide opportunity for confusion and what can be done to mitigate it? The answer lies in the accumulated complexity of the channels and the inevitable decision on how best to deal with that complexity. Because customer service is a many layered issue, the discussion that follows is focused at the front end - the communication channel between customer and representative.

The inner workings of a customer service department are mostly a black box to the customers. However dysfunction within the department can bubble up as an ugly wart to customers in the form of a negative customer service experience. An important strategy to achieve positive experiences is to ensure that customers receive a consistent service experience across channels. Multiple customer communication channels can make it difficult for companies to achieve consistency in a number of ways. Each communication channel may have its own account structure and/or dedicated service staff. For example if a company uses live support chat on its website, staff need to be trained on how to use live support chat, live support chat needs to be integrated into the larger customer service strategy, and live support chat might also require a new account and/or service for which the company must maintain. Now consider other popular channels such as phone, e-mail, SMS chat, instant messaging, and social networks. Each channel will bring its own unique challenges, but in general a company must always consider training, inclusion of a channel into the overall strategy, and maintenance of the channel. If the channels are not handled in a consistent and complimentary way, customers will notice as soon as they switch from one channel to another. And each channel, from the customer's point of view, should be equally capable of resolving the issue at hand.

A risk factor for confusion in multichannel customer service is the coordination of channels primarily through a staffing strategy. That is, devote a portion of each representative's time to coordination overhead and logistics. However this is less than ideal for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is that the primary purpose of the representatives is to serve the customers and any other task given to them only detracts from that purpose. Because the number of online customer service channels seems to be steadily increasing, companies need to look seriously into solutions that tie channels together in a flexible, extensible way to achieve efficiency and consistency without stealing time and energy from the human-human interaction going on between representative and customer. Ideally, the solution should consolidate the various channels into a centralized service and provides a "value added" layer above the raw channels that enables consistency in the customer experience. An example of such a "value added" layer would be a uniform interface above each of the channels making each look the same to the representative; the benefit of this value layer would be the reduced need for training across channels as well as an increased focus on the customer conversation rather than the technology enabling the conversation.

When staffing multiple customer communication channels, a company must ensure that the customer is provided with a consistent customer experience across channels. The right solution to minimize disruption and confusion across channels is critical to ensuing good customer conversation.