Trends That Will Transform Customer Experience in 2021

2020 has been a chaotic year; it has changed the customers' expectations around the world. While many companies are progressing, some are still trying to offer the best possible customer experience (CX) constantly.

There has been a wide range of advancements in CX practices. Many organizations have a unified view of the customer, smooth integration among all departments, and an understanding of CX initiatives' ROI. However, many others still struggle to align with these transformations.

Many companies focus on the channel contrasting the customer needs. Others have to combine all their data or restructuring their organization to offer an enhanced experience to end uses.

Customer Experience Trends in 2021

Brands need to assess and enhance their CX strategies with the changing customer outlooks. According to a survey, digital customer service interactions will rise by 40% in 2021. It's going to be crucial for brands to address customer requirements and acquire their desired results genuinely.

Let's dive deep into three trends that'll transform customer expectations in 2021.

1: Proactive guidance to customer service issues

With the domination of e-commerce, customers are looking to get their issues resolved online. It means organizations may need to redirect the frequency of contacts to reduce human customer service stress, especially for L1 support.  

Providing customers with the tools needed to settle their issues can streamline the overall experience. It also provides vital information to customers whenever required, without interacting with a human or a bot.

Proactive guidance provides the correct information to the customers at the right time. Organizations can solve these questions way before they become service issues for customers. Anticipating the potential problems in the customer journey can help boost the CX without any human intervention.

2: Support for chatbots

Often, companies rely on chatbots to resolve customer problems. Many of us are under the impression that it's a successful way of resolving customer issues. But the truth is that current chatbots can handle a little customer support, primarily resulting in customer frustration and affect the customer experience that can reduce customer loyalty.

As per a survey, only 22% of users have a positive experience with chatbots, while 60% feel that chatbots don't understand their issues effectively. Even with the lower satisfaction numbers, many companies still rely on chatbots.

With more enterprises acclimating to the expanded demand of e-commerce, businesses should consider offering up snippets of information to help customers make informed decisions. They can note customers' repetitive inquiries and address those before a customer has even reached out. It will save chatbots for less frequent interactions where self-service is needed.

3: AI to encourage self-service

Customers have better expectations from the companies. To fulfill those expectations, organizations need to use advanced AI to increase the customer insights required to understand issues and offer proactive solution recommendations fully.

AI can help companies gather customer experience data in feedback, queries, complaints, and appreciation. When the information is generalized across millions of contact center engagements, it can let companies constantly improve the online CX by classifying and solving similar pain points and achievements.

Parting Notes,

Customer experience is a combining force and will be the foundation of successful businesses to continue, primarily as digital strategies align with the increasing e-commerce demand. By keeping up with the trends, directing customers through their journey, and adapting to their needs, organizations can grow customer satisfaction and loyalty while making valuable customer support bandwidth available to resolve higher-level issues.