Businesses worldwide agree that customer service is an essential contributor to business growth. As the market evolves, your client’s expectations change, with most customers expecting better services from businesses. This is because more than 56% of customers stopped buying from brands or switched to competitors due to a single poor experience.
In addition to hiring people with excellent customer service skills, businesses should adapt to the changing customer service realm to meet and surpass customer expectations. Outlined below are emerging trends in customer service to note.
1. Omnichannel customer support
Currently, it takes a few clicks for customers to order products online. However, to ensure that customers keep shopping from your business, you should ensure that they can easily reach out anytime through their preferred channels. Businesses should evolve from the tradition of relying on one channel for customer engagement. Modern customers expect to connect with your business through various channels, ranging from phone calls, live chat, emails, social media channels, SMS, and more.
Taking advantage of omnichannel customer support allows businesses to deliver a seamless customer experience that maximizes customer satisfaction. Leveraging an omnichannel approach will enable you to:
- Improve customer service performance by providing instant support
- Customers will enjoy real-time support through live chats
- You will benefit from in-depth insights on customer profiles
- Availability across various channels
However, this doesn’t mean ignoring old telephone calls. Talking to anxious or uncertain customers through calls makes a big difference.
2. Adoption of intelligent technologies
Currently, technology and customer service are interconnected in various ways. Making use of intelligent technologies enables businesses to reduce customer service costs without sacrificing quality.
Intelligent technologies such as the Internet of Things and machine learning help businesses automate repetitive service tasks, such as ticket categorization. This allows agents to focus on value-adding customer interactions.
Automated recommendations enable service representatives to find answers and solutions to common problems, shortening the resolution time. Predictive maintenance and remote services are also possible with the IoT. With increasing interest in these technologies and others, such as augmented realities, businesses should expect more changes in customer service.
3. Personalization
Offering personalized customer service can entice prospects and clients to purchase and enhance loyalty. As such, encourage your team to engage clients with a personal touch, understand customer requirements, and call customers by their name (if it’s appropriate).
4. Customer service as part of company culture
A Deloitte study found that 28% of employees believe that they understand company culture, while 19% think they have the right company culture. Businesses should focus on making customer support a part of company culture. Good customer service is an essential component that impacts business growth, increases market share, and boosts revenue.
Endnote
These days, customers demand better services and are willing to pay extra for exemplary services. As you work on identifying common customer service problems and solutions, ensure that you take note of these customer service trends for business growth and increased revenue.
