New Trends in Customer Service: Technology at the Heart of Customer Care
The rise of Internet-based technology has created a world where consumers expect more from brands, who need to keep up with new trends in customer service if they want to stand out. Fortunately, professionals have an ever-growing number of solutions at their disposal to ensure their customers’ satisfaction and to bring them experiences that contribute to higher conversion rates. Customer service anytime, anywhere, automated services, personalized browsing, personal shopping… Here are some of the hottest trends in customer service technology in 2022.
What Is Customer Service Technology?
The various systems, tools, and overall strategies that Internet-based businesses are utilizing to boost their sales and increase customer satisfaction fall under the umbrella of customer service technology. In other words, anything you do to add value to your online customer experience qualifies. The fact is that many web-based professionals are already integrating these solutions into their business models, creating new trends in customer service as they refine their approaches.
Of course, the point is not to take on board all the customer care trends that emerge, but rather to determine where innovation can be profitable to your brand and beneficial to your customers.
Personal Shoppers: A New Trend in Customer Service
Offering a personal shopper service is one of the top customer support trends that online businesses can implement. The idea is to be at your clients’ side in person during their decision-making process and to provide real-time attention and personalized advice.
Thanks to a live-video shopping platform, a sales representative can connect with customers in a completely unique way. As if speaking to them in person, they will provide information on your products and demo the items, explain what features make them special, or recommend another product that might be best suited to the user’s needs.
This approach is a great way to boost your conversion rate as it not only focuses on customer satisfaction, but also encourages impulse buying. By creating a unique shopping experience and bringing a human touch back into online shopping, a personal shopper will appeal to those who miss shopping in brick-and-mortar stores.
Also called “co-browsing” or “live video chat support”, this customer support trend seeks to resolve any queries and problems users may have instantaneously, making them feel more valued and at ease.
Omnichannel Support
Another emerging customer service trend is omnichannel support. Because it’s all nice and well to claim to be available to help your customers out at the drop of a hat, but it won’t feel true if they have to go out of their way to download an app just to be able to reach you. Similarly, if they want to speak to an agent but you don’t provide phone or voice-chat support, their experience will be unsatisfactory.
This new trend in customer service consists in offering an array of options to connect with you. Email, phone, SMS (or even iMessage), WhatsApp, live chat, video chat, social media… The possibilities are endless, and the fact is that the more of them you are willing to use, the more seamless your customer experience will be.
Of course, the idea is not to have your customer support representatives jump from one app to another in an attempt to keep up with questions wherever they might come from. With the right tools at your disposal, you can deliver consistent support across all your communication channels from a single interface.
Mobile First Services
Customer care trends aim to meet the customers right where they are. And it just so happens that online shopping has become a largely mobile endeavor. Because smartphones and tablets are portable, they are naturally more at home in the physical world where they can genuinely enhance everyday life.
Following the same logic as multichannel support, this new trend in customer service looks at people’s consuming habits and provides solutions designed to take full advantage of the available technology.
Support Automation
If, in addition to being right at your customers’ fingertips through mobile support, you provide instant, round the clock, self-service support via automated replies, then your customers are never left without answers. Some believe that this new trend in customer service can feel dehumanized to users who would rather know that their queries are being handled by an actual person.
While this can undoubtedly be true for certain categories of issues, a quick question is often better addressed by a chatbot with access to the right information. And people usually prefer to see these basic concerns answered immediately and accurately than having to wait for someone to be physically available.
This means that your representatives don’t have to “waste” time on simple matters and that their attention can be employed to provide in-depth support for customers who truly need it.
Machine Learning
AI chatbots rely on powerful machine learning algorithms to function. Yet, that isn’t the only area where artificial intelligence bots prove invaluable. For instance, this new trend in customer service allows customers to place, cancel, or update their orders automatically, without the need for human interaction at all.
Thanks to predictive analytics, you can also use your sales and customer data to improve your business strategy and your approach to customer service.
Support Via Social Media
There’s nothing like social media for overcoming barriers of all kinds. This means of communication allows brands to foster a much deeper connection with their customers by engaging with them on a personal level. If you are active on social media channels, they are probably used to leaving likes and comments on your publications, answering your polls, and reacting to your latest news. So, when they have a question regarding your product or service, it just makes sense for them to get a hold of you that way, too.
That’s what makes support via social media one of the hottest new trends in customer service. This amazing public relations tool works well because there is no learning curve for the user, nothing to figure out other than what they already do every single day.
Having a customer-centric strategy helps brands remain relevant in an environment where the competition can be fierce. By staying on top of the new trends in customer service, you can be proactive in how you manage your customers’ expectations and offer them an experience that aligns with how you want them to perceive your business.
