Customer service is changing as quickly as the world around us — new inventions, ideas, and behaviour all affect how we expect businesses to handle customer interactions.
So, it’s only natural that as we step into a brand-new decade, the year 2020 will bring along some major new customer service trends that any business should keep an eye on, or even adopt.
Why Should You Care?
Bad customer service is bad business. It’s as simple as that.
The average American tells 15 people about a bad customer service experience. That’s a lot of bad publicity and many lost potential clients from just one unfortunate encounter!
And even more concerning: a whopping 91% of people who leave a business because of a bad customer service do so without placing a complaint first. That means poor service in your company can lead to lost business without you even noticing a correlation.
So, to make sure you’re on top of your game, it’s important to work hard every day to perfect your customer service.
A great place to start is to make sure your staff learns the basics, for example through the fun, interactive, and efficient Canity video lessons. And secondly, make sure to read on to learn which new things to focus on in 2020.
1) Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence and chat bots have three major advantages over human agents: cost, availability, and speed.
It’s estimated that in 2020, 85% of customer experience interactions will be automated. That means only 15% of client encounters are between two actual human beings.
That said, only 63% of consumers are happy with automated chatbot service, which leaves 37% who still prefer service from a real-life person.
Hence, a focus for 2020 won’t just be to use and optimise automated intelligence and chat-bots, but also to find a balance between that and human interaction.
2) Omnichannel Optimisation
One in three people use their mobile device to contact a business. In addition, more and more people make purchases or get in touch with a company via multiple channels and devices.
But it doesn’t end there; companies are increasingly combining their online presence with real-life services. Researching a product or making a purchase is becoming more fluid as we combine the digital and physical world — allowing for a new type of marketing: omnichannel marketing.
Omnichannel companies make their services or products function — and function well — across channels and mediums. Customers of the new decade don’t just expect great service — they expect great service wherever they go, and via whichever channel they choose to use, digital or not.
Bridging any gaps between social media, website, in-store, email, and other aspects of your business will bring you a large step ahead of your competitors in the roaring 20s.
3) Social Media
Social media has been an integral part of our everyday lives for quite some time, so naturally, more and more people contact businesses via these channels.
Already, 33% of people aged 18 to 34 claim to have contacted a business via social media. On top of that, 28% of people expect that a message sent to a company via social media is replied to within just one hour.
This highlights the ‘need for speed’ that already characterises good customer service, and along with a growing use of social media, service is only going to get quicker and quicker.
4) Work from Home
The upcoming decade is sure to be characterised by a change in work structure. Specifically, more and more jobs will be performed from home. This trend follows the increase in online-based work, which includes customer service.
Freelance and home-based employees have more freedom in their day-to-day lives. Along with that, saving time and money on the daily commute will boost work motivation and happiness, which improves the level of service your customers receive.
Plus, this shift in business structure will save companies money on office space and amenities, while profits grow thanks to the improved service level.
Having employees or freelancers working flexibly from home also makes it easier to provide service outside the standard 9 to 5 workday. It’s a win for everyone involved!
5) Personalisation
Every person is unique. So why not make your customer service unique, too?
33% of customers who abandoned a business relationship report doing so because of too little personalisation! Plus, 48% of people expect some sort of VIP or special treatment for being a loyal customer.
In addition, 52% of people believe that companies don’t take enough action on customer feedback. In other words? They don’t feel listened to.
That means that in 2020, customer service will become more tailored and targeted toward the individual. Businesses will emphasise taking on board feedback and using it not just to improve overall performance, but to improve each and every customer interaction, too.
You’ve probably already noticed it when using online retail stores and streaming services: after just a short browse, your device is overflowing with tailored recommendations that match your style and taste. And this is just the beginning — 2020 will see much more where that came from.
The Takeaway
The roaring 20s are around the corner, and so are a wealth of new customer service trends.
After perfecting your service — for example through effective Canity video lessons — the next step is to look at what’s ahead.
2020 will likely see more automated interactions than ever before, whilst human service will improve as a result of a growing home-based workforce. Platforms and services will work increasingly better across platforms and mediums and will get better and better at personalising for each and every interacting consumer.
Although estimating about the future always includes at least some level of speculation, one thing is for sure: we have an exciting decade ahead and look forward to seeing what’s coming up.
