Looking for the most important customer service trends? Cooking up an exceptional customer service experience starts with the perfect recipe. And Chris Bryant, the director of strategic growth at Nextiva, knows all the right ingredients:
“Customers expect to get real-time responses. However, they also still expect quality, accuracy, and a human touch.”
To meet and exceed customer expectations, it’s important to analyze and follow customer service trends. The trends we collected can provide you with valuable insights to help keep up with constantly evolving technologies and customer needs.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these 10 customer service trends.
- Leverage Artificial intelligence to Enhance CX
- Build an Omnichannel Customer Experience
- Personalize Customer Interactions
- Prioritize Self-service Resources
- Embrace Remote and Virtual Customer Support Teams
- Streamline Quality Assurance Workflows
- Amplify the Voice of the Customer
- Increase Agent Training, Development, and Upskilling
- Leverage Real-time Data for Actionable Insights
- Create Customer Loyalty Through Company Values
1. Leverage Artificial Intelligence to Enhance CX
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already transformed customer service, but we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. AI chatbots and intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) leverage Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to understand language and provide personalized, conversational support in real time.
Along with AI bot and automation capabilities, generative AI advancements enable AI agents to have more natural conversations, understand context, and solve problems quickly, enhancing the customer experience (CX).
2. Build an Omnichannel Customer Experience
Omnichannel platforms create a seamless and unified customer journey across all touchpoints, including social media, live chat, messaging, email, and more. This creates an effortless and convenient customer experience and builds stronger customer relationships. As technology advances and more communication channels become available, it’s important to have flexible software that can quickly adapt to changing customer needs.
For example, Nextiva’s omnichannel customer service software empowers agents to connect with customers on their preferred channels to resolve issues efficiently. It uses past interaction data for personalized experiences and ensuring seamless transitions between channels while preserving interaction history.
| Interactions via social media channels make up 25% of support requests. ~Nextiva Contact Center Statistics Survey |
3. Personalize Customer Interactions
Personalized customer interactions significantly enhance customer satisfaction, loyalty, and sales by leveraging customer data such as purchase history, past interactions, and preferences to create tailored communication and recommendations. Providing a consistent experience across all channels, whether by phone, email, chat, or social media, ensures that customers feel valued and understood.
Companies achieve personalization by using customer data from various sources, deploying AI-powered chatbots, offering dynamic content on websites and apps, and sending targeted email marketing. These strategies improve customer satisfaction and boost customer lifetime value by fostering repeat business and brand loyalty.
| 20% of businesses say empathetic customer service agents drive personalized customer experiences. ~Nextiva State of CX Survey |
4. Prioritize Self-Service Resources
Self-service support allows customers to find answers and resolve issues independently using resources like knowledge bases or chatbots. This provides quick and convenient 24/7 customer support, catering to the high customer demand for self-service options due to their convenience and speed.
Self-service support is scalable for businesses and offers continuous availability without additional staffing costs. To get started, companies can evaluate past support tickets to identify common questions suitable for a self-service knowledge base. Implementing these systems should be integral to the overall customer service strategy.
5. Embrace Remote and Virtual Customer Support Teams
There’s no such thing as “after hours,” as customers expect around-the-clock support. Absolve time zones by implementing an AI-powered customer service solution with AI agents and a remote workforce of human customer service reps at a virtual contact center.
Your remote teams will need to see what your local teams see. They’ll need technology that keeps them in the loop. Then top-tier support is always available and doesn’t strain your team. Of all the customer service trends, being available to your customers is timeless.
Beyond lower operational costs, you also insulate your company from common business threats that impair your ability to serve customers.
| Less than 10% of contact center operators have no remote call center employees. ~Nextiva Contact Center Statistics Survey |
6. Streamline Quality Assurance Workflows
AI-powered call center quality assurance (QA) software is revolutionizing customer service by providing a more automated, objective, and data-driven approach to QA. Unlike traditional QA, which is time-consuming, subjective, and hard to scale, AI-powered QA software can efficiently analyze large volumes of data, ensuring consistent and unbiased evaluations.
This technology helps customer service teams identify areas for improvement, coach agents more effectively, and enhance the overall customer experience. Benefits include increased efficiency and scalability, objective and accurate assessments, automated coaching, sentiment analysis, and proactive issue identification.
7. Amplify the Voice of the Customer
Amplifying the voice of the customer (VOC) is a growing trend that helps businesses gain insights, improve customer experience, and build stronger relationships by actively listening and acting on feedback. Customers now expect businesses to be customer-centric, and companies prioritizing VOC demonstrate their commitment to addressing customer needs, which enhances loyalty and satisfaction.
By leveraging modern technology for real-time customer feedback collection, companies can develop better products, enhance customer experience, and make data-driven decisions. However, it’s essential to listen and take action on feedback, address negative comments constructively, and manage large volumes of data effectively to ensure a comprehensive understanding of customer needs.
8. Increase Agent Training, Development, and Upskilling
Increasing agent training, development, and upskilling is a growing trend in customer service due to evolving customer needs and the rise of automation. Customers now expect support agents to handle complex products and services, navigate omnichannel interactions, and provide fast, personalized service. As automation takes over repetitive tasks, human agents must focus on complex issues and collaborate effectively with AI technologies.
Upskilling benefits include improved customer satisfaction, increased agent retention, enhanced problem-solving skills, and a stronger brand reputation. However, challenges include the cost and time investment required for training programs and the need to keep up with the constantly evolving customer service landscape.
9. Leverage Real-time Data for Actionable Insights
Leveraging real-time data for actionable insights empowers customer service teams to be more proactive, efficient, and personalized. Traditional customer service relied on post-interaction feedback, limiting its effectiveness, whereas omnichannel analytics surfaces real-time data to capture valuable insights immediately.
Benefits include improved resolution rates by quickly identifying patterns, proactive support by flagging issues early, and predictive support by anticipating future needs based on data. Additionally, real-time data enables personalized interactions, enhances the customer experience, and informs data-driven strategic decisions. Examples include proactive chat pop-ups offering assistance and predictive maintenance to prevent device issues before they begin.
| 25% of CX leaders say they use reputation monitoring and analytics tools to handle customer interactions on online review sites. ~Nextiva Contact Center Statistics Survey |
10. Create Customer Loyalty Through Company Values
Creating customer loyalty through company values is a potent trend that enables businesses to forge deeper connections with their customers. Companies cultivate a loyal customer base beyond mere transactions by aligning with customer priorities and fostering trust through shared values. Today’s consumers seek purpose-driven brands, preferring to support those that stand for more than just profit.
Companies build trust and emotional connections with customers by communicating and demonstrating values like trust, transparency, sustainability, and social responsibility. When a company’s values are integrated into its culture, employees are more engaged, increasing customer engagement, positive experiences, and customer retention.
Examples include offering eco-friendly options, supporting charitable causes, and actively engaging in community initiatives, all of which can be highlighted in customer service interactions to reinforce shared values.
Keep Up With Customer Service Trends with Nextiva
Providing standard customer support isn’t enough. Following customer service trends can help you keep up with changing customer expectations and give you a competitive advantage. The right customer experience software empowers you to deliver exceptional experiences at every touchpoint and build stronger customer relationships.
Customers base their decisions on the entire experience you provide, from initial interaction to purchase and beyond. CX software helps you identify areas for improvement and ensure a consistently high-quality experience for every user.
Consider Nextiva’s CX solution. More than just following the latest customer service trends, it offers omnichannel support, cloud-based communication tools, customer-centric features, and scalable pricing to fit your needs. 👇
