As the digital customer experience continues to evolve, it’s important for businesses to establish a strong foundation with the help of virtual call center software to provide care in which their customers can seamlessly engage.
To give you a heads up, according to Salesforce, over 80% of customers now consider the experience that a company provides to be just as important as the products and services it sells
In addition, 66% of customers expect companies to already have a clear understanding of their needs and actions.
With advances in technology and the growing complexity of customer-facing processes, the shift from reactive care to proactive and predictive experiences will become the standard in 2023.
Evolution of CX in Virtual Call Center Software
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the customer experience (CX) industry over the past few years. The industry has grown rapidly, but so has the competition. There’s more to do than ever before and it’s not getting any easier
Companies have realised that focusing on their customers isn’t just good business, it’s essential to survival in today’s competitive landscape.
As a result, most companies have made significant investments to improve their CX strategies, processes and technologies in an effort to win over customers and keep them for life. This trend will continue as it’s here to stay.
What Future of CX Entails?
CX is an evolving discipline. It’s a combination of science and art, where the customer’s experience is studied, analysed and improved upon.
As digitalization continues to disrupt traditional business models, customer expectations are changing and so are the CX trends that companies need to embrace in order to stay ahead of the curve.
Here are five CX trends that will dominate in 2023 and beyond:
- Digital experiences will become more human
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already making a difference in CX by helping businesses understand their customers’ needs better via virtual call center software and providing them with more personalised experiences. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it will become possible for brands to create experiences that are even more personal and responsive than before.
Previous year Gartner predicted that by 2022, 50% of customer interactions will be through digital channels only — no human interaction necessary! The trend is set to continue with the rapid evolution of automation.
However, in order to be truly successful in 2023 and beyond, companies must strike a balance between automation and humanity.
- Hyperpersonalisation
By 2023, it’s predicted that 80% of major retailers will be using hyper-personalised marketing techniques. – Gartner
The exponential growth of data collection and analytics technology (such as social media) gives businesses more information on customers than ever before. It allows them to understand their consumers’ wants and needs more accurately than before. As a result, customers expect their journey to be tailored to their specific needs.
In the next five years, we’ll see an increase in digital channels and an increase in touchpoints to the physical world. Automations such as virtual call center software and cloud solutions will be crucial to bringing personalization to the forefront of customer interactions.
- Evolutions in Self-Service
Increasingly, consumers have come to prefer self-service options when it comes to their time and convenience.
As of today’s date, about 67% of customers prefer self-service options to speaking with a brand representative.
Given that consumer expectations will continue to evolve over the coming years due to these technological advancements and other trends such as on-demand services, it’s important to keep pace with customer preferences so your customers can continue to use your company’s services and products
- Rising Focus on Privacy and Security in CX
The way customers interact with brands has changed dramatically over the past few decades. All thanks to the saviour – virtual call center software and cloud telephony facilities. In addition to their expectations of CX personalisation being higher than ever before, they also expect it to be more consistent and secure across channels and devices
To stay competitive in the future, companies will need to do more than just store data; they’ll have to prove they are doing it effectively, securely, and with total transparency.
- The Rise of Proactive and Predictive Care
According to Gartner, by 2025, proactive customer outreach and service solutions will surpass reactive strategies.
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s no longer enough to simply provide products and services — today’s customers expect companies to predict what they need before they even know it themselves.
As we move into 2023, companies must continue to embrace AI tools and technologies as they become increasingly embedded in the fabric of their business.
Takeaway: Staying ahead of customer experience trends is critical to stay relevant in the marketplace.
When it comes to improving customer experience, there’s no such thing as doing too much. Big data is only gaining momentum and will likely be used to hyper-personalise the experiences that customers receive in the future. It will be interesting to see how companies implement these trends in their businesses and if they’ll be able to overcome any obstacles that come with them.
That being said, take some time to gain an understanding of what the future may hold for your business and your industry so that you can be better prepared for the opportunities and challenges ahead
