Add that to the further complexity of large number of mergers and acquisitions currently taking place in many sectors, and it is little wonder that companies struggle to deliver a consistent level of service.

The following reflects what typically happens as a result. Example one: if you look at a company’s website for a particular product and then ring the call centre with a related query, you will almost certainly have to start the conversation from scratch, as there will be no link between the two parts of the seller’s operation. By contrast, in a true multi-channel environment the call centre agent would be able to see the stage which the customer had reached on the web and pick up the interaction from that point.

The issue is one of visibility. Until now, different customer communications have been managed by separate parts of the business in a typically siloed way, with no transparency between say, the phone, website, email, SMS, text or individual retail outlet.

Example two: historically, standard customers have been serviced by a pool of agents providing a generalised service. Here, top clients have received a much more personalised service, with individual wealth managers providing a dedicated contact.

Over time however, as banks and other call centre operators have looked to cut costs, the benefit of this higher level service has become marginalised and the tiered approach to service stripped out. The resulting problem however is that it is almost impossible for a pool of agents – in, say, managing a number of car marques and insurance providers - to acquire the skills and knowledge to operate a multiple service proposition strategy.

In a best-practice, truly integrated multi-channel response, there must be full visibility of data gathered across all channels, to ensure that the end-to-end customer interaction is as seamless and as easy as possible and with the same SLA turn rounds - regardless of how the process is started or concluded.

Enter intelligent, process-centric CRM. By implementing an automated 3D layer of product and service propositions to be handled by the agent, the software recognises and manages the process of determining the relevant proposition in real-time and instantly displays to the agent only that process and data which is relevant in each case.

The result is that, for the first time, a single resource pool can effectively manage multiple service and multi-channel propositions. That’s good news for the vendor in driving down costs and good news for each customer in getting the level of service they deserve.

Though few businesses have as yet got anywhere near this level of integration, the technology to achieve it is available today. Further, by adopting a ‘wrap and renew’ approach to technology development, existing IT investment is maximised.

And, at a time of economic downturn when companies are under unprecedented pressure to contain any expenditure, delivering unrivalled customer service in this way will not break the bank.