By Taru Mäkitalo
Customer service is a lifeblood of any successful business. In today´s fast-paced and high competitive market, staying ahead of the curve in delivering exceptional customer service is essential for retaining existing customers and attracting new ones. To accompish this, businesses must keep a close eye on emerging customer service trends.
In this paper, I`ll explore some of the latest customer service trends that are shaping the industry. I chose this material, because I think it is one of the biggest questions of our profession.
Trend 1 Customer retention is priority number one
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to remote work, including customer service. This trend is likely to continue as businesses recognize the benefits of a geographically diverce and flexible workforce. Recession is just behind the corner to retention is the key word. 5% increse in customer retention can produce more than 25% increase in profits.
- listen
- understand customer behaviour
- cut costs, where the customers don´t see
Trend 2 From cost center to value driver
Instead of merely reacting to customer issues, companies are proactively identifying and addressing potentional problems. This approach prevents customer frustration and shows a commitment to service excellence.
- reduce silos between sales and supports
- shift into proactive gear
- invest on skills and tech, not short term wins
Trend 3 A growing appetite for async
Customers today expect seamless service across various channels, including phone, email, chat, sosial media and more. The omnichannel approach ensures that customers can interact with your business though their preferred platform while maintaining a consistent and unified experience. Integrating customer data across these channels allows for a more personalized and efficient service.
- before pandemic, messaging was ranked 5th in CS, now it is 2nd.
- start small, grow slowly to not overwhelm your staff
Trend 4 In AI we trust
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots are transforming customer service by handling routine inquiries and tasks. They are available 24/7, improvinig responce times and reducing workload on human agents. AI-driven analytics help in understanding customer behaviour and preferences, enabling more targeted assistance.
- 67% of customers prefer to self-serv over speaking with a company representive
- train your customers to go digital
- bild resilience
Trend 5 Automation use causen are evolving
Customers expect personalized interactions. Leveraging customer data and AI, businesses can tailor their communications, product recomendations and services match individual preferences, thereby building stronger relationships and increasing customer loyalty. Many customers prefer solving issues on their own. Providing comprehensive self-service options, such as FAQs, tutorials and troubleshooting guides, empowers customers to find solutions independenly, reducing the need for contacting support.
- bild the best solution for your company
- ask references
- check your CS-team what they need the most
Trend 6 CX powers more rewarding careers
Harnessing customer data is becoming increasingly vital for providing tailored services. Unitializing data analytics can help businesses identify patterns, predict customer needs and make data-driven decisions. This not only enchaces the customer experience but also improves operational efficiency. Emphaty and emotional intelligence are increasingly important in customer service. Customers appreciate agents who understand their emotions and can respond with enphaty, making interactions more pleasant and satisfying
- CS jobs are becoming more “hot”
- we will see new roles and jobs like; conversation designer
- we still need people to understand emotions
Trend 7 Work smart, not hard
Automation is streamlining internal processes, enabling faster responce times and reducing human error. It also allows for better resource allocation, ensuring that human agents can focus on more complex customer issues. Customers are increasingly conserned about company´s sosial and enviromental impact. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and social responcibility in your customer service practices can enchance your brand reputation.
- 75% of customers expect support wihtin 5 minutes of requesting help
- start measuring your key metrics
- minimize manual labour with automation and save it to the comlpex cases
- intergrade your support tech to your system, so all the agents have all the data all the time
Conclusion
The customer service landscape is envolving rapidly, driven by technology, changing customer expectations and global events. Staying competitive in today´s market requires embracing these customer service trends and continually adapting to meet the envolving needs of your customer. By doing so, business can build stronger customer relationships, drive loyalty and ultimately achieve long-term succes in an ingreasingly customer-centric wolrd. I realyse that how important this is, not only to save money, but to have loyal customers to my bisness. Recognizing the link between employee ens customer service quality is crusial. Happy and motivated customer service representatives are more likely to provide exceptional service.
References
Kainulainen R. GUIDE , Ultimate, 2023: Customer Service Trends 2023
I used AI to make a base to my reaction paper ( I asked: How to make a reaction paper?)