Do you remember how chaotic it was when the COVID-19 pandemic shocked the world? How depressing it must have been for a lot of people to stay at home and limit their mobility?
All sectoral operations in the society turned upside down as we got confronted by these massive changes. All industries, businesses, and customer support teams have been greatly impacted by COVID-19.
But now that we’ve overcome the challenges this far, how can businesses and organizations reload and adapt to these newly transitioned needs of consumers as we live the new normal?
The customer service post-pandemic
Market competition has gotten so much tougher as the world transitioned to a new normal. Companies are working harder to create a stronger support team and business foundation as they boost customer retention.
The recent years prove that changes in customers’ needs and desires continue to occur at an increasing speed. The pandemic has left us no choice but to refashion our way of delivering an effective customer service experience.
A recent study shows 27% of consumers today expect proactive service from the brands they do business with. Given the drastic changes in the lifestyle of the people, consumers appreciate proactive customer support now more than ever.
How can companies keep up with these changes, and what resources are they going to need to provide the best customer service? Read on to find out what will be the trendsetting aspects of business for the coming year.
Customer service trends
To learn more about these changes, this informative article will explore the freshest trends in the realm of customer service you need to watch out for the year 2022:
Messaging apps for improved omnichannel service
Due to quarantine restrictions, customers are forced to stay at home and as they turn to their comforts of laying in bed all day, they have their phones, and laptop with them 24/7.
Even all the transactions they do are online and familiar apps such as email, Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber arouse. These messaging apps are supported by live agents, making the interactions fast and easy.
The utilization of messaging apps rose faster in 2020, particularly among millennials or younger generations. As a result, 53% of companies decided to roll out new messaging channels for their business.
With support that’s convenient, and secure, it’s no surprise that customers and businesses are choosing messaging apps to reach a wider audience and to improve customer experience.
Automation
Often the quality of customer support offered by a business determines the product and the company’s image. With automation, companies can maximize the efficiency and accuracy of your support team, while shortening its response time.
Automation, such as chatbot features, offers a self-help customer service trend that can not only give customer service experience but also get extra time to focus on other support requests that need an escalation.
According to Inference Solutions, 71% of companies agreed that self-service automation helped their business during the pandemic. With the advancements in AI and machine learning, businesses are taking advantage of chatbots to become even better at providing timely and accurate customer support.
Remote support technology
Even though vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed, there won’t be any decisions of returning to the office for customer support agents. The remote arrangement would still be the most manageable work setting for 2022.
With this scenario, companies have started outsourcing and enlisting the services of freelancers as many customer service jobs can be performed virtually anywhere.
Prioritizing the health and safety of remote employees also gives employers a great deal of savings as a business.
But to support this remote work influx, organizations will need to invest in reliable remote support technologies so that their customer service team can fully function as they provide quality support.
Remote technologies are also beneficial to managers as they can monitor their agents’ performance and productivity even as they work from home.
Omnichannel support
Consumers make cashless purchases and other transactions using different devices and communication channels like email, social media apps, and instant messaging.
When you’re just relying on a single channel, your support system may be inadequate and not as effective as it can be. It can cause a major bottleneck of customers’ requests and it will limit your ability to cater to the platform your customers prefer.
Only by offering omnichannel support, you can bring and track your customers’ buying journey and history of interactions across different channels. It will allow your team to provide support that’s convenient and personalized.
Invention and adaptation: The new normal
If you want your operations to boom even in the middle of a pandemic, you need to adapt to the situation. Examine these trends and utilize them as it deems fit to your needs.
It might be challenging at first, but this transition has made us think what are the more pressing issues that need to be prioritized.
From sending your employees at home to keep them safe and productive, to opening an omnichannel marketing strategy—these changes will surely open a lot of doors for you and your clients.
