Customers won’t let you know that they’ve had bad experiences with your business, but they will tell other people. For example, a customer waited for more than 20 minutes on the phone to have a simple question answered, but they were passed from agent to agent until they became frustrated and hang up. They tell their friends and will even go as far as to share their reviews on online review sites. Your business loses one customer and prospective customers may stay away.

Many consumers have experienced that scenario at least once. Customer experience is the key to increasing new and delighting returning customers, improving loyalty and, in turn, revenue. In order to meet—and exceed—customer expectations and keep them satisfied, businesses have to consistently adapt to how the market moves and reacts.

Successful customer experience teams put the consumer at the center of their strategies and implement all kinds of communication methods and best practices in different channels, such as social media and email, to either reach out to them or give them an avenue to reach back to the company for inquiries, complaints, and even praises. This leads to brand trust, and according to a Blackhawk Network survey, 91% of consumers they questioned will only buy from brands they trust. Furthermore, consumers are willing to spend more due to great customer experience.

Keep your customers engaged and satisfied with these 3 CX trends to look out for in 2020.

1. Artificial Intelligence Takes Centerstage

According to Sprout Social, 53% of people are more likely to engage with businesses they can message instantly, and a Gartner study claimed that around 85% of all customer interactions will occur via chatbots by 2020. This is good news for businesses as it saves them time and money instead of spending a budget on recruiting and training an in-house team of customer service representatives. Consumers remain happy because they can go to any of the brand’s digital channels where a chatbot is available and get the answers they need in a pinch. 

Several companies, particularly those with apps and active social media channels, have adopted AI and chatbots with a support team working to create a better user experience. An entertainment brand recently launched a streaming app in Asia and began expanding as more users downloaded and streamed content via the app. Because of the influx of users, they had a hard time responding to queries and complaints. 

With Infinit-O, they were able to build a team of Email and Chat Support Representatives who respond to customer inquiries in those two channels, as well as the app’s review section on the App Store and Google Play. The team carefully personalizes answers that answer the user’s query or leads them to a live chat to better identify the root cause of their problem and solve it within the SLAs. There is no canned, scripted response, and the team brings the user back to a seamless streaming experience.

2. Hyper-Personalized Experiences is a Must-Do

Consumers enjoy having a sizable amount of options from brands in order to fit their lifestyles. Some 44% of consumers would actually go back to a brand if they employ a personalized experience. Companies have taken this into consideration and in 2020, will focus on hyper-personalization, a technique that uses AI to create tailor-made offerings and content backed by behavioral data.

This helps brands understand their consumers more to better serve their audience with targeted content and special offers. Some companies have apps that target certain types of content on a specific demographic or will offer customized rewards for those who similar kinds of pastries at a coffee store. Hyper-personalization aids in increasing return customers and loyal brand followers, as well as increasing revenue.

3. Self-Servicing is Gaining Traction 

According to Gartner, consumers are more likely to engage with a business without human interaction. Instead of going to the phone and asking for help, these individuals, specifically the Millennial and Gen Z markets, will simply go to your website and check your FAQs, blogs, and even social media channels to help themselves if they encounter problems with your product or service.

This is helpful for your business as you can target your best-selling products or services first and learn how your customers think and understand their buying behavior. You save time and resources by allowing a self-servicing device or software to answer your customer’s simple questions.

Strike the Balance with Digital and Human Customer Experience

A truly digital customer experience strategy may sound innovative, but it would also be good to give your customers a choice to interact with a human. According to the Invoca Research by Harris Poll, 52% of their respondents are frustrated because they cannot connect with a live human for customer support; they are directed immediately to a chatbot. 

Customer service representatives will always be relevant as they can handle trickier issues that Artificial Intelligence cannot solve. Many contact centers use live chat so that consumers who feel the need to speak to a CSR may do so. Older market groups may still prefer phone calls to ask for assistance on a product or service.

Technology can only do so much. Complement your customer experience strategy with a CX solutions partner and continue to delight your consumers across different channels 24/7, reduce costs as your brand scales, and increase your revenue.

Infinit-O is the trusted customer-centric and sustainable leader in Business Process Optimization to Small and Medium businesses in the Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology sectors by delivering continuous improvement through technology, data and people.

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