A billion people’s lives and way of life have undergone a profound transformation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s sudden and devastating emergence. This scale of disruption, which threatens the very foundations of our institutions and systems, has never before occurred in history. Nevertheless, even though the impact on businesses and industries will undoubtedly have long-term effects, it has already forced some to reconsider how they conduct business. The pandemic’s difficulties have sparked fresh inventions and prompted modifications to business models. Even laggards are now accelerating their adoption of digital transformation to improve customer experience, unlock new revenue streams, and optimize business processes. Digital transformation has only recently become an enterprise priority, but its implementation is now crucial.
Customer Service/Experience with Digital Driving
Organizations have discovered a bright spot in cutting-edge technology during these difficult times as a means of maintaining normalcy amid lockdowns and remote work. There is no question that the “new normal” has arrived and is being driven by digital innovations. Organizations further along their path of digital transformation have discovered that they are better equipped to endure, and even thrive, during these trying times. However, the onset of the epidemic has altered conventional beliefs. Businesses in the pre-COVID era either took a gradual approach or were still in the planning stages of their roadmap for digital transformation. But now that they are aware they have no other option, they are frantically looking for new tools to support the launch of fresh digital opportunities. Making sure that customers have an enjoyable experience has become a top emphasis in particular. In order to increase consumer engagement, track customer behavior, and provide better customer support service, organizations are now implementing digital advances.
Actually, according to reports from the industry, hold times rose, first-call resolution rates fell, average handling times doubled, and abandonment rates multiplied by five. Quality of customer service suffered as a result of all this. According to a 2019 study by Gartner, 52% of organizations plan to continue increasing investments in customer experience (CX)-specific technologies over the coming year, with 75% of organizations already increasing their investments in these technologies. For organizations, accelerating and committing to these goals is now essential in light of the pandemic. It can be a make-or-break proposition in the more competitive markets of the new normal as customer behavior increasingly serves as a key differentiator for many businesses. Thankfully, forward-thinking business leaders are aware of the need to update their CX procedures with cutting-edge technological solutions to improve the customer journey.
Creating Next-Gen Customer Service
Businesses must rethink their strategies, reorder their priorities, and re energize their methods of operation if they want to survive in the post-COVID world. While change is undoubtedly necessary at this time, it must be motivated by a stronger focus on the customer journey. This focus is evident in the best practices that businesses can use to guarantee they get the right results and provide cutting-edge customer service in a post-COVID world. According to a recent Gartner report, by 2022, 70% of all customer interactions will rely on mobile messaging, chatbots, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. In contrast, only 15% of customer communications in 2018 included these innovations. There is no question that recent disruptions have only accelerated this shift.
The following significant adjustments can help businesses deliver next-generation customer engagement and make sure they’re setting the standard for the new normal in their sector:
A Remote Workforce
The best way to maintain a stable, secure, and sustainable customer experience during turbulent times is to have a remote workforce. In order to implement this strategy, businesses must upgrade their workforce’s skills, deploy next-generation IT infrastructure, and improve operational procedures. Organizations can maximize the diversification of their worker’s resources and skills to ensure consistent and excellent customer service by empowering workers with a hybrid model of physical and remote working.
Robotics first
Organizations must embrace completely digitalized workflows and pipelines that take advantage of automation in the face of increasing contact volumes. To put this in perspective, a report by Gartner estimates that 30% of all customer interactions will be automated with the use of AI and ML advancements. Internal and external processes can be transformed by AI technology to open up new possibilities. Automation not only relieves labor job demands but also frees them to provide more individualized client encounters. Contact centers can use large amounts of consumer data to give quicker and more effective service using AI-enabled learning and analytics.
Utilize self-service
The strength of cognitive solutions, including intelligent IVRs, Ai chatbot services assistants, and readily available knowledge bases, is another aspect of AI that has the potential to revolutionize customer service. With the aid of these resources, clients can quickly and easily get the responses they require. These innovations also guarantee that customers can conveniently self-serve for the majority of their needs when combined with an intuitive and simple to use interface. In general, the self-service approach aids in increasing service capacity while decreasing live contact volumes and their handling times.
Reevaluate security
The digital danger landscape expands as activities grow more dispersed. As a result, a major problem for every contact center is to provide secure systems. Due to the demands of a contemporary, distributed workforce, firms must update their security policies. They must implement security measures that allow for a safe and secure remote working environment utilizing products like cutting-edge VPNs, private cloud networks, privileged access management, identity management, and many more.
Change employee education and experience
A change in the way the workforce acquires and applies its skills is necessary to produce desired results during a transition period. In order to adapt to the new norm, contact centers must create remote digital training programs that use cutting-edge strategies like gasified learning, AI-powered practice settings, and instantaneous personalized feedback. Digital training methods can help employees’ learning experiences be tailored to their learning preferences, allowing them to build on their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Additionally, businesses can enhance the overall employee experience by utilizing digital channels. This can inspire and equip the remote workforce to represent the company’s brand and provide exceptional customer service.
Establish Immersive Approaches
Using digital innovations can lead to increased productivity, better customer service, and lower costs, but it might not be enough. In the new normal, businesses must be proactive and constantly create new strategies for engaging their clients. This entails reimagining how virtual communications will function in the future to investigate new delivery platforms and channels. Adopting immersive marketing tactics across conventional and digital channels is a crucial component of this. Examples include the rapidly gaining widespread acceptance of technologies like augmented and virtual reality, as well as video-based customer support, which will be at the forefront of new innovations in call center service.
The only viable option for contact centers worldwide in the post-COVID era is digital acceleration, it is becoming increasingly obvious. Organizations would need to thoughtfully incorporate new technologies, partnerships, and trained resources as part of their support ecosystem if they wanted to become next-generation support providers.
Go4customer has been at the forefront of CX technology in the twenty-first century, and our CX transformation strategy will assist businesses in understanding their customers’ journeys, identifying the appropriate digital channels, monitoring pertinent metrics, and creating a digital roadmap that will help them make the most of their investments.
