Trends refer to patterns that emerge, develop, and fade over time. Of course, no industry is spared from the power of trends — including customer support. Customer service is essential to any business, hence why it’s the backbone. Without customer support, people won’t be able to get the help they need.
With the ubiquity of AI and other advanced technologies, customer support has metamorphosed from a must-have into a pivotal element of any business strategy. Presently, customers have high expectations for a brand’s customer support. Most of them (73%) are ready to jump ship to another competitor if customers have repeatedly experienced low-quality customer support, as reported by Zendesk.
As customer needs evolve and new customer service trends emerge, businesses must keep up to ensure their delivery of customer support remains timely, responsive, and satisfactory. Below are the 10 latest customer service trends every entrepreneur must know.
1. Omnichannel Customer Support for Seamless Communication
Omnichannel customer service support provides a seamless, consistent, and integrated customer care experience through various communication channels. For example, if you talk to a customer service agent via phone and suddenly have an urgent meeting, you can continue the conversation through live chat without repeating your query.
Omnichannel customer support, though, is different from multichannel customer service. Although the latter offers multiple ways to contact customer service, it doesn’t provide the integrated experience that omnichannel support delivers.
This means you’ll have to repeat your query every time you contact customer support through any of its communication channels. In other words, you can’t continue where you left off. For many customers, it’s frustrating — and rightfully so.
That’s why omnichannel customer support is superior to multichannel support. Not only is the former more interconnected and personalized, but it’s also more customer-centric. Of course, with customer-centricity comes increased customer satisfaction and retention.
According to Invesp, 89% of a company’s customer base is retained due to omnichannel support. On the other hand, businesses without omnichannel support can cost them a 10% loss in revenue.
2. The Use of Messaging for Convenient Customer Service
Messaging is also a rising trend in customer support. While messaging has had a profound impact on customer service — especially with the surge of customers using WhatsApp — during the COVID-19 pandemic, it will not go away anytime soon. In fact, most customers (74%) who contacted companies via messaging in 2020 expressed their intent to use this medium of communication moving forward.
Besides the popularity of instant messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, they also help reduce the hassle of customers finding your business’s email address or enduring long wait times. Plus, the ability to send media files ensures ease of communication and resolution of issues for both the customer and the customer service support agent.
Because messaging is a form of asynchronous communication, customers can take their time crafting a response, and customer support agents can attend to other queries and maintain their productivity.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a More Personalized Support
Despite the criticisms surrounding the use of AI, there’s no denying its role in our daily lives and the workplace. For customer service agents, AI is a huge productivity boost designed to streamline operations and minimize manual tasks; for customers, AI is a tool that provides them with the much-needed convenience of instant customer support. One popular AI tool is AI agents.
Though AI agents and chatbots are powered by AI, it’s important to differentiate between the two. Chatbots involve decision trees and follow scripted responses. This means they’re designed for routine customer support tasks, such as answering simple FAQs or providing order updates. If you try to go off-script and converse with a chatbot like a human agent, it will not understand what you’re saying. Unfortunately, a chatbot can only be improved manually.
AI agents, on the other hand, are the more sophisticated versions of chatbots. Unlike the latter, AI agents are more capable of understanding the complexities and nuances of human conversations. They also utilize a combination of large language models (LLP), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning to deliver human-like conversations. Not to mention, AI agents improve and become smarter with every interaction.
As such, AI agents make a great addition to a business’s customer service. These AI-powered agents not only deliver instant, round-the-clock customer support, but they also leverage customer data to add a layer of personalization and provide data-driven insights to optimize agents’ workflow. Since AI agents are faster than human agents, it’s no surprise that the former is preferable to the latter (51%) for immediate services, according to Zendesk.
4. Video-Based Support for Clearer Communication
Calling a brand’s customer support team is easy as pie: dial the hotline, wait for an agent to attend your call, and you’re all set. For email, you can send videos and pictures related to your query. However, there are instances when you can’t describe an issue well without a real-time visual aid. That’s where video-based customer support comes in.
With businesses integrating video-based communication into their customer service arsenal, video support has become the new face of customer care. In fact, between phone, email, and live chat, video-based customer support trumps them all.
Although video-based support retains the personal touch of customer service, it offers more visual and verbal clarity for both the agent and customer — thus eliminating the struggle of explaining certain details orally or in written form.
Through video customer support, agents can initiate a live tutorial on how to perform a certain action or troubleshoot an issue, making it easy for the customer to follow instructions. On the customer’s side, they can also share their screen to show what the issue is and how it’s triggered, so the agent can understand how to help them better.
Besides live demonstrations, video-based customer service includes sharing short pre-made video tutorials on common FAQs and customer concerns. Not only can customers pause and watch the tutorials at their own pace, but they also free up customer agents’ time to resolve more pressing inquiries.
5. Augmented Reality (AR) As A Transformative Customer Service Tool
AR is a technology that adds virtual elements to the real world. One popular example of this technology is Pokémon Go, a game where players can find and catch digital Pokémon creatures that appear in their immediate surroundings. Brick-and-mortar salon Amazon Salon also utilizes AR to give customers a real-time virtual preview of their preferred hairstyle or color.
Outside of gaming and beauty, AR has seeped its way into customer service. According to a survey by CGS, 39% of operational business executives who employed AR in customer service saw a reduction in repeat customer visits and an increase in first-time fix rates (FTFR). 32% said there were fewer errors, while 25% reported higher customer satisfaction rates.
Because our brains are wired for processing visual information, integrating AR in customer support can help customers troubleshoot, repair, or assemble a product in real-time without the hassle of frequent store visits or interactions with a customer service team. This meets customer expectations, thus leading to higher FTFR rates and better customer experience.
While there are cases when field visits are necessary, the accessibility and transformative power of AR in customer service is something to behold.
6. Social Media As A Public Customer Service Channel
Social media may be a hub for posting status updates, photos, and videos, but it has now evolved into a customer support channel. This makes sense as 5.24 billion people are active on social networking platforms, and what better way to provide excellent customer service while establishing fruitful customer relations than to take advantage of the convenience of social media?
It’s a space where customers can ask questions and receive answers from the brand itself. Since customer queries are made publicly — either through a comment or a separate post tagging the brand — your brand’s quality of customer support is for all the world to see, potentially affecting your customers’ perception for better or worse.
As such, it’s easier to call out and hold brands accountable for faux pas or inappropriate content. If acknowledged, it shows how much you care for your customers and reputation. Conversely, failing to acknowledge and apologize for such mishaps can erode customer loyalty and trust.
Other ways to leverage social media for customer support are requesting customer feedback, uploading video tutorials and other customer-relevant content, and holding livestreams and webinars.
7. Self-Service Customer Support for 24/7 Accessibility
Did you know that FAQs, community forums, and help portals are examples of self-service customer support? As the name implies, self-service customer service means the customer is responsible for finding the answers to their questions.
With self-service customer service, customers can explore a brand’s FAQ page and read help articles before contacting a customer service support agent. Think of self-service options as the first line of assistance and human agents as the second.
However, unlike customer service agents, self-service options are available 24/7. No hold times or waiting until the next business day. Because customers are preoccupied with their own research, agents can dedicate time to more complex and urgent queries.
Overall — while the idea of implementing self-service customer support options is promising — businesses must ensure that their FAQs and knowledge base portals are regularly updated to reflect the current and emerging needs of customers.
8. Customer Inquiries Benefit From Tiered Customer Service
From routine customer inquiries to highly technical ones, customer concerns have varying degrees of complexity — and with the right support team — these issues can be resolved faster and more efficiently. That’s why a tiered customer service model is essential in modern-day customer support.
This model is composed of multiple tiers, each with their own scope of responsibilities:
- Tier 0: Consists of chatbots and other self-service customer support functions.
- Tier 1: Handles simple and routine customer queries.
- Tier 2: Involves experienced agents who take care of technical support.
- Tier 3: Addresses urgent and complex technical issues, also collaborates with engineers and technical staff.
- Tier 4: Consists of outsourced customer service agents who handle complex queries with Tier 3 agents.
Tiers 1 to 4 have dedicated teams with agents who exhibit the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to handle queries appropriate to their respective tiers. This way, agents can promptly address customers’ issues and, if necessary, escalate them to the next tier, optimizing customer service for operational efficiency while ensuring an effective distribution of manpower.
By implementing a tiered customer support system, customers can receive immediate assistance and enjoy tailored support for complex inquiries, thus improving satisfaction rates. If there’s a surge in ticket volume, this system can help teams across all tiers maintain high productivity levels.
9. The Preference for Emotionally Intelligent Customer Support Agents
Customer service is a stressful and mentally exhausting job. Every day, a customer support team becomes the receiving end of profanities and anger from customers. Despite all that, agents are expected to remain calm, collected, and professional — no swearing or screamfests. This is where emotional intelligence takes the spotlight.
Emotional intelligence refers to how well an individual understands and manages their own emotions in various situations — especially high-stress ones. In interpersonal relationships, individuals with high emotional intelligence are compassionate and aware of other people’s feelings.
While customer service comes with inherent stress, it doesn’t excuse agents from acting inappropriately. Unprofessional behavior wards off customers and cements a bad image of your company. Emotionally intelligent agents know how to de-escalate tension and regulate their emotions in stressful customer interactions. They are also active, compassionate listeners, thus making the customer feel heard and understood.
Good customer support is not just about resolving customer queries, but also about managing customer relationships to retain customers and enhance brand image and reputation. Providing training programs on emotional intelligence and mental health support equips agents with the fortitude and people skills to handle all types of customer behavior.
10. Data Privacy Still Reigns Supreme
Data is a resource — one that companies must protect. Most customer experience (CX) leaders (83%) said their priorities include data protection and cybersecurity. With the accessibility of data and the rise in cybersecurity threats, customers are paying more attention to how businesses handle and store sensitive data.
After all, poor data security and privacy can be detrimental to your brand, with the repercussions ranging from loss of revenue and identity theft to lawsuits and penalties. If these happen, customers will lose trust in your brand, and negative media coverage will further tarnish your company’s reputation in the years to come.
Bolstering data privacy and security starts with education. By educating your customer service team on data protection measures, they become more capable of handling and processing customers’ personal information.
Beyond education, investing in firewalls, anti-virus software, and data encryption and authentication solutions can add layers of protection to customer data. Reviewing and revising your company’s privacy policy is also a must, so customers are aware of how their data is used, shared, and stored.
As companies become reliant on technology, this customer service trend will remain relevant now and in the future.
Outsource Digital Customer Support to KDCI Outsourcing Today
Customers deserve top-notch customer support. With a plethora of digital technologies at our fingertips, customer service leaders have no excuse to upgrade their customer service operations. Hopefully, our round-up of customer service trends has helped you determine which ones to improve or implement into your business’s customer service.
Whether you’re forming your dream customer service team, optimizing digital customer service channels, or finding a scalable, human-centered CX, KDCI Outsourcing has got you covered. We are a Philippine-based BPO with over a decade of experience in outsourcing. Since 2011, we have provided clients with offshore outsourcing services ranging from administrative support to accounting and finance.
Choose KDCI
When you outsource customer service to KDCI, you’re getting high-caliber talent possessing all the soft and hard skills of an experienced customer service agent. With our company’s onboarding process, our agents are more than equipped to adapt to your business’s workflow and provide the best possible customer care at a lower cost.
Start your outsourcing journey with KDCI today! Contact us for inquiries, and we’ll help you reach the pinnacle of success in customer service.
