Customer service trends and strategies are not stagnant rather they are ever-changing as per the needs and expectations of the customers. Over the past few years, customer care services have become readily available on various online platforms rather than just through a telephone call. The thing is that customers are getting more anxious and have less patience for delays. Gone are the days when your user would have the patience to wait in a queue over the telephone call or send an email and wait for a reply the other day. For attracting new customers and retaining the old ones, you need quick and real-time customer support service and effective strategies. You can study the prime examples of companies who excel in offering high-quality customer support like RCN customer service and see what works to satisfy customers nowadays. You must adopt effective strategies to have a competitive edge in order to outgrow the market. Having said that, here is a look at the top 5 trends that are going to be the real game-changer for the way customer support services are delivered by 2022. So, if you want to strengthen this department, you must be fully aware of these evolving trends to deliver a better customer experience.
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Automation
Automation and AI are all set to take over the customer support sector by storm. These technologies are more likely to get a human touch, which means that users should not expect merely robocalls or automated menus that do not impress them. Moreover, properly administered customer management software can be a great help to reduce human effort and save it for better use elsewhere. Moderately used automation and personalized AI when combined with the human staff can be a big leap to offer more efficient customer care solutions. The customers should be able to switch between text, video, screen sharing, and audio calls. Personalized AI would offer more simple measures to ease customers and make them more satisfied.
Inclusive Customer Service Training
Customer service training will not only be limited to the representatives rather it will extend to engineers, marketers, etc. who are not directly in contact with the customers but they must also acquire a certain amount of such a skill so that all employees of an organization are well aware of the customer needs and expectations. It is becoming more important that every employee must have a clear understanding of a brand, product, or service to be able to answer any relevant question by a customer.
Social Media will be a Default Channel
Social media is among the top customer service trends that will continue to grow. Studies have shown that as many as 13% of the customers over the age of 55 while 55% including those in the age bracket of 18 to 34 make use of social media for customer support purposes. Social media platforms are likely to take as much as half of a company’s customer service operations and requests. Permanent staff would be hired to control the social media accounts. The use of chatbots will further free time for any frequently asked questions and spare human staff members for any complicated requests.
Availability of Customer Reps Online
More and more customer service officials will be available online. Let’s admit it, more than half of the users quit a website if they cannot find what they are searching for. Co-browsing tools will further assist customer service reps to be able to share the screen with the user in real-time. Video chats will further enable the agents to better understand and pacify the customers.
Focus on Customer Success
The scope of customer support will outgrow from merely providing canned answers to questions. It will be more goal-orientated and intended to provide a positive customer experience to maximize customer retention. Customer service will aim to achieve success for every user. Customer success will be ensured by using every available platform to make customers happy and contented. There will be a bigger focus on customer success that will ultimately result in maximum customer retention.
Real-Time Support
There has been a paradigm shift when it comes to customer expectations. Now, buyers look for real-time support with the advent of AI and IoT technology. The use of chatbots and instant messaging apps will continue to rise. Real-time support, in turn, has a great impact on increasing conversions and lowering the response time by providing quick solutions.
Wrapping Up
The aforementioned customer support trends until 2022 will boost customer experience, leading to greater conversion rates and more success for businesses. More focus on automation, use of social media as a default channel for accessing customer care services by users, inclusive customer support training for all employees, availability of agents online, real-time support, and greater emphasis on customer success will allow businesses to be more customer-centric. Business owners will be willing to put more effort, energy, time, and investment in the customer care sector in years to come.
