Leveraging Omnichannel Strategy For Efficient Service Delivery

Governments world over are known to be slower to adopt and implement modern methods (technologies) of engaging citizens and other users.

Fortunately, public sector organizations today have the opportunity to smash those perceptions and increase engagement. The technology is there but it requires getting serious about an omnichannel strategy. Omnichannel means having the ability to meet users’ needs on whatever device and through whichever channel they prefer. Just as they do with private sector services, members of the public find it limiting when they cannot access government services and complete transactions via their smartphones, tablets, etc.

Speaking at the inaugural Africa eGov Summit hosted by CIO Africa, the Chief Commercial Officer at StepWise, Laura Chite noted that African governments have remained overly bureaucratic and not particularly able to deliver prompt, and efficient services to citizens. She added, however, that this inaction has enabled citizens to become more aware of alternatives.

“Omnichannel technologies offer governments simple interfaces with more personalized and consistent experiences for effectively long-term memory and an actionable command of citizen’s information,” she said. “For government agencies looking to improve their level of service provision and keep pace with advances in the private sector, omnichannel practices offer the public a glimpse into what those agencies are truly capable of.”

StepWise offers omnichannel strategies that offer cross-agency technologies that in turn offer contact logging and fast access to user information and a history of past interactions. In this way, a service representative treats every user as a familiar identity as opposed to being a new entry every time a user needs a service.

The dividends of a successful omnichannel strategy Laura noted, include increased citizen satisfaction, employee efficiency, and a quicker and effectively resolve requests from the public. This happens naturally when omnichannel-accustomed citizens are able to communicate via the method that best suits them and don’t need to repeat themselves.

The goal of an omnichannel marketing strategy is to create a convenient, seamless user experience for consumers that offer many opportunities for fulfillment. To such, results of simplified interfaces and offer more personalised, consistent experiences and are the quest.

“Offering customers a comprehensive and centralised database, accessible through any channel, means increasing the visibility of your products and promotions and making all the information they may need available,” she added in conclusion.

The Africa eGov Summit hosted technology experts from across the continent, together with government officials who unanimously agreed that its time Africa government underwent digital transformation in order to deliver services and programs more efficiently, transparently, and cost-effectively.