What does the future of customer service look like? And how will digital technologies impact the way customer service is delivered? These are two among many other questions that we at Thinque addressed when we analysed the future for a client of ours within the customer service industry. In this blog post, we will share some of that research, insight and foresight.
Good customer service is not just important for businesses, it's vital if you want to build long lasting and prosperous relationships with your customers. If you deliver great customer service, people are likely to assume that you also deliver great products or services, and in today's digitised business landscape it has become increasingly important for brands to be responsive and react fast to any questions or issues that customers may have. According to a study conducted by Forrester, more than 50% of U.S. online consumers will cancel their purchase if they cannot find a quick answer to their question.
Digital technologies have enabled brands to automate and streamline the customer service process, and an increasing number of consumers have started to prioritise self-service channels over live-assist channels. In 2015, web and mobile self-service interactions exceeded interactions over live-assist channels, according to Forrester.
Self-service is becoming an important way for consumers to find answers to their questions. A study from HubSpot & Zendesk shows that 67% of consumers prefer to find answers through self-service channels over contacting customer support.
Another interesting trend that is shaping the future of customer service is The Internet of Things. In the next couple of years more objects, places, process and systems will be connected and thus have the ability to communicate with each other, monitor operations and even initiate customer service cases. Research firm Gartner predicts that 5% of all customer service cases will be initiated by smart devices in 2018, up from 0.02% in 2014. Furthermore, they argue that the added connectivity and intelligence of devices will make them agents for services that now are initiated and provided through people.
Gartner also predicts that more than 100 of the 500 largest global companies will launch video-based chat by 2018 for customer-facing interactions. The research firm argues that this trend is driven by the rapid growth of mobile devices and companies' sense of urgency to turn exceptional customer experience into a competitive differentiator.
While today's customer expect brands to deliver customer service quickly and seamlessly, they are also to an increasing extent willing to proactively help other consumers on the brands and products they like. A study from global management consultancy agency McKinsey shows that 38-48% of survey respondents agreed with the statement: “I want to help other customers with problems or questions about the brands I love and use”.
From these six insights we can conclude digital technologies, new consumer behaviours and attitudes are reshaping customer service and putting pressure on organisations to become even more responsive and efficient when helping their customers. However, new technologies are also enabling companies to amplify their customer service and provide virtual assistance via video and more refined self-service solutions across all digital platforms. At Thinque we believe that customer service is a vital part of the whole customer experience and should be considered as an important touchpoint that enables opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
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