Today’s consumer has plenty of options, and customer loyalty has become a rare commodity. Nearly 33% of American consumers say that a single instance of poor service is all they need to switch vendors. Yet the same consumers are willing to spend 17% more on companies that deliver excellent customer service.
In this context, keeping an eye on trends in this space is crucial for business organisations. Here are our picks of the key ones to watch out for:
Personalised service
Gone are the days of broadly messaging a targeted group with deals and offers. Today, each customer seeks individual attention from their brands, and expects vendors to cater to their specific needs. In an era where customer experience is a major differentiator, companies don’t see this as a big-ask. Rather, it’s an opportunity to leverage growth. There are various ways to collect and utilise information about customers. The key here, though, is how organisations use it to create meaningful experiences for different customers.
Channel-less experience
The growth of channels for customer interaction has come with a baggage—more silos. Companies overlook the gold mine that lies at the intersections of these siloed channels and, as a result, customer experience and personalisation gets fragmented. Organisations are slowly waking up to this and are moving towards the creation of channel-less experiences. This is an idea that’s already been put to practice by quite a few organisations to significant success, and it’s just about time to spread elsewhere.
Maturity of AI
The glitz and glamour that accompanied AI’s early adoption is subsiding—the focus has now shifted towards the delivery of actual business functions. By 2020, 85% of customers will deal with enterprises via nonhumans. As AI becomes a primary channel for customer-service, bots will increasingly gain authority to take action and resolve issues. It might not be long before we’re seeing AI agents counted as actual members of support teams.
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