The main pillars of effective customer support are a combination of tools, systems, and processes that convert strategies into customer satisfaction.
As technology evolves and consumer preferences shift every day, customer service trends are reshaping businesses, lifestyles, and the way companies interact with the world around them.
To remain competitive, businesses must keep up with the newest customer service industry trends to capture their audience’s attention and succeed in the marketplace.
Let’s see how businesses can stay ahead of their competitors by understanding the future of customer service trends.
The future of customer service relies on a mixture of technological advancements and new customer demands. Here are essential customer service trends to keep an eye on:
Before the intervention of technology, many tasks were performed manually. These traditional channels often led to long wait times and frustration for customers.
However, with the rise of automation tools as one of the customer service trends, the productivity and speed of support operations is transforming significantly.
According to a report by Cflow, 78% of business executives stated that automating tasks within the company boosts productivity for all parties involved.
With workflow automation, businesses can send SLA notifications, alerts, or reminders faster, automate repetitive tasks, route tickets, email replies, and update ticket statuses.
Why is automation an important trend?
Within the past decade, the rise AI in customer service across all industries has been amazing to witness, with every kind of business embracing it in their operations.
There was even a time when some people felt threatened by how fast AI was advancing and feared that AI could replace human roles entirely.
The customer service industry has not been left behind on this trend of AI tool. The good news is that this transformation to AI Copilot tool is creating a smarter, more responsive experience for customers everywhere.
The following are ways AI is changing the customer service industry
Through the combination of AI and human interaction in the future of customer service, companies can offer more comprehensive and effective support solutions.
Why is generative AI considered one of the key customer service trends?
Customers are no longer satisfied with reaching out to companies for support when issues get out of hand.
Instead, they anticipate that companies should actively engage with them to fulfill their unmet desires and needs.
Customer service used to be mostly reactive, with support teams answering customer issues and resolving problems as they come up.
However, with the era of proactive customer service, tables are now turning, enabling businesses to predict customer needs and give support before issues even occur.
Why is proactive customer service an important trend?
Customers enjoy it when they are in control of their experience. It’s like solving a Rubik’s Cube; they decide how and when to tackle the puzzle.
The integration of self-service options has become one of the most popular customer service trends, with many businesses making self-help resources readily available for both customers and employees.
Businesses are increasingly turning to self-service tools like FAQs, troubleshooting guides, customer self-service portals, community forums, and knowledge base articles that offer 24/7 customer service.
This means clients can now resolve issues on their own rather than relying on support teams. Employees, on the other hand, can easily find answers or solutions without consulting with their teammates.
Self-help resources are a win-win for both businesses and end-users; minimizing long waiting times for customers and saving agents time spent on researching solutions.
There are two types of knowledge base that business can use:
Consider including both types of knowledge base software for users to access at any time and anywhere.
Why are efficient self-service options important customer service trends?
Centralizing clients’ data is one of the customer service trends worth noting, where businesses now store all customer details in a unified database such as contact management.
This contact management feature helps support teams monitor all customer engagement to provide exceptional customer service.
With centralized data, support agents can easily manage all the contacts and contact groups, review a customer’s interaction and transaction history. Thus, providing a more personalized and informed experience.
Why data centralization is one of the important customer service trends
In the 50th century, support teams often withheld important information because of fear of competition among themselves.
However, in today’s world, employees now exchange information, insights, experiences, concepts, and expertise within the company.
When businesses foster a culture of knowledge sharing, teams can quickly access and apply best practices, reducing resolution times.
Collaboration tools enable efficient teamwork, allowing agents to work together seamlessly on complex issues.
Examples of the collaboration tools include:
Why is knowledge sharing and collaboration important customer service trends?
As most companies grow, they realize the significance of allowing customers to communicate in their own language across borders.
Businesses seeking to attract a large audience of global customers need to lay greater focus on multiple language support for effective communication.
Multilingual help desk support is one of the key trends in customer service. It enables businesses to bridge the language barrier, enhance communication, and delight customers around the world.
These tools make it easier to translate customer inquiries into multiple languages.
Additionally, it may allow customization of customer self-service portals to any language for easy use and navigation.
Another trend that is worth considering in the future of customer service within the global outreach efforts is the multilingual knowledge base. Support agents may also translate knowledge base articles into various languages, allowing customers to find support in their preferred language.
Why is multilingual support an important trend?
Back in the day, the only way companies were to communicate with their clients was through email.
However, over the years, the methods of communication have graduated from email to multichannel and now to omnichannel support.
Customers now expect to reach and engage with businesses through their preferred channels including phone messages, email, live chat, or social media.
The goal of a true omnichannel inbox experience is to manage all the customer interactions from various support channels from a single platform.
A report by Think with Google states that the omnichannel strategy has led to an 80% increase in additional company visits.
When a customer shifts from one communication method to another, such as from live chat to phone support, all the previously shared information remains available within a unified platform.
When offering omnichannel support, consider the following:
Why is omnichannel support important for the future of customer service?
Support teams are a clear reflection of your company’s performance. Equipping them with the necessary customer service skills, such as problem-solving, empathetic support, and technology knowledge, ensures they remain skillful and can effectively address difficult customer issues.
Many companies are now outsourcing their support to help them handle minor tasks, allowing their internal support teams to concentrate on more complex issues.
Before the recent pandemic in 2020, support teams primarily operated from the office. However, during and post-pandemic, most companies have been embracing the work-from-home (WFH) or remote work trend.
This means team members can assist clients from the comfort of their homes, allowing for more flexible work schedules, cost savings, and easier accessibility to agents.
Furthermore, to address challenges such as employee separation and communication breaches, companies implement online training and engagement programs.
These companies also encourage the use of cross-team collaboration and communication tools to secure the future of customer service.
Businesses can empower employees through:
Why is empowering support teams an important trend?
Mobile devices like smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets are now everywhere. These portable, user-friendly, and affordable devices make it easier for businesses to effectively interact with customers.
With internet connectivity, customers can efficiently access everything on the company website from anywhere.
When it comes to flexibility, one of the customer service trends is the implementation of a mobile help desk. It has made it easy for the support agents to use their mobile phones to offer support to their customers from anywhere anytime.
Businesses may also integrate a mobile app on their website that includes a compatible messaging feature, live chat support, and social media for easy use.
Why is mobile support an important trend?
The way businesses handle and address their clients matters a lot. Many customers seek a personalized customer experience because it focuses on delivering tailored interactions that meet their individual customer needs.
According to Digital Trend by Grace Nasri reported that 73% of consumers said they would rather do business with companies that utilize their individual information to personalize their online experiences.
This allows companies to customized products or services based on client’s preferences and sentiments helping to build a strong emotional connection between customers and the company.
Why is personalization in customer experience an important trend?
Another fast-rising customer service industry trends is the growth in video support. It entails both video calls, tutorials, and face-to-face communication.
According to a Wyzowl survey, 86% of respondents have been convinced to purchase a product or service after seeing a descriptive video.
This clearly indicates the importance of including how-to videos on business websites as it makes it easier for customers to understand and influence their actions.
During video call interactions, businesses can easily feel or see the non-verbal cues of the clients before solving the issues.
Businesses can foresee to the future of customer service by integrating video calls, which add a personal touch to meet customer expectations.
For instance, BoldDesk support integrates with Microsoft Teams to facilitate video chats, enabling support agents to provide live demonstrations.
From live video chat to screen sharing and better reality, video-based support is one of the best customer service trends, known to brings end-users a more engaging and interactive experience.
Why is video support an important trend?
Nowadays, everyone is seeking customer-first businesses that can connect with them on an emotional level.
Being more empathetic and constantly responsive to consumer problems is becoming a cornerstone of effective customer service.
One of the notable customer service trends under emotional intelligence is utilizing the sentiment analysis tools that help analyze customer conversations and feedback to reveal or easily understand emotional thoughts and intent.
In addition, using AI in customer service is the most effective approach to ensure the best future of customer service within the business.
Why emotional intelligence is an important trend?
Formerly, businesses were only focused on making profits instead of concentrating on customer satisfaction.
Nowadays, seeking clients’ opinions and suggestions is one of the main customer service trends, allowing companies to better meet customers’ requirements and preferences.
Businesses can now receive and collect customer feedback through automated support emails, sending CSAT surveys, or feedback reports after customers interact with the support teams.
Creating strong customer feedback loops and conducting post-purchase follow-ups on customers enables businesses to tailor the product and make necessary improvements.
Actively seeking and implementing customer suggestions promotes a culture of customer responsiveness and adaptability.
Why customer feedback is important for the future of customer service?
Customers always want to know how companies make sure their information is used and kept safe. Investing in robust security and compliance measures along with clearly communicated privacy policies is essential as a fundamental building block of trust.
As the use of digital platforms is promising in the future of customer service, the client’s personal information and privacy must be strictly kept in a safe place.
In fact, according to a Cisco report, 94% of companies state that if data is not adequately safeguarded, their clients will not do business with them.
Businesses now prioritize data privacy and are attentive to regulatory requirements and consumer concerns regarding data protection. They can cultivate credibility by allowing access to only authorized persons.
Businesses can utilize the following securities measures to protect customer data:
Why are data privacy and security important in customer service trends?
Insights from different businesses show that customer service trends are evolving quickly in response to changing customer customer expectations.
With the evolution of technology and changes in market demands, companies are increasingly moving towards customer service trends like personalized, AI-powered, omnichannel experiences.
In addition, there is a growing emphasis on self-service options, proactive customer support, and 24/7 customer service.
Businesses that can predict their customers’ needs and provide real-time, timely, tailored solutions will be better positioned to thrive in the competitive landscape.
Consider using a help desk platform like BoldDesk to enhance your clients’ experience and keep up with the latest customer service industry trends.
Try a live demo of the product or give it a spin for a 15-day free trial today to explore all the features it offers for your company. For additional information contact the BoldDesk support team if you have any questions. Please leave a comment below on any suggestions on customer service trends.
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