Providing optimal customer experiences should be high on the agenda for every business in 2020. Indeed, the importance of offering good customer experiences has never been greater, with 73% of consumers believing customer experience is an important factor, but only 49% actually receiving good customer experiences.
As a customer experience technology provider that works with many of the leading global financial services and telco providers, we pride ourselves on helping enterprises improve their CX tech and, in turn, provide better customer experiences.
Here, our CEO, Bill Safran, shares his top 5 CX trends for 2020 and beyond:
Let Your Customers Transact in Their Preferred Channel
It is important to allow your customers to complete their customer journey in their preferred channel. If they want to purchase something, or inquire about a service or product online, then you need to make sure the customer experience you provide is as convenient and effortless to use as possible, regardless of whether desktop or mobile, with customer service assistance or on their own.
Offer Self-service When Needed
In an increasingly self-sufficient, autonomous world, enterprises need to ensure they offer their customers the option of well-designed self-service channels, when it counts. Being able to upload and download documents and fill out application forms at the customers’ discretion, whenever and wherever they like will therefore become paramount in 2020. Indeed, according to a recently conducted survey, customers prefer self-service as opposed to speaking to a company representative in 67% of cases.
However, enterprises should also be aware of the limitations, risks and potential repercussions of leaving customers on their own, without human assistance - in pure self-service digital journeys. To safeguard against churn, therefore, you need to provide a contingency plan, and while 136% more enterprises will be using AI chatbots in 2020, abandoning the human component, to rely on a totally digital safety net is unlikely to bode well.
Technology to Improve, Not Replace
While digital self-service journeys work remarkably well for simple journeys, like checking an account balance, or making a straightforward transaction, when the process is more high stake or a query more complicated, customers will invariably still want to revert to a human agent. As such, rather than completely replacing customer contact agents, technology should be used to supercharge and equip them with the digital tools to offer better, more visual, interactive and engaging experiences.
Screen sharing, for example, allows advisors to show screens and share information with the customer remotely, elevating a one-dimensional interaction into a multi-faceted visual experience. Solutions can also be deployed to provide easily customisable scripts to ensure agents are all reading from the same page and able to provide a consistent ‘on-brand’ experience.
Little wonder therefore that 88% of companies are now prioritising customer experience in their contact centres.
Truly Understanding the Customer Journey
Another CX trend for 2020 is customer-centric solutions, which will undoubtedly become the norm this year. Customer journeys that have been designed around existing legacy software and business need, rather than to meet evolving customer expectations will no longer be acceptable. Enterprises therefore need to take steps to truly understand the user, their needs and emotions. By truly understanding the customer journey, companies can increase the pace of sales cycles by 18x, and increase cross-sell and up-sell revenue by 56%. Companies that can empathise with how their customers may be feeling at certain customer touchpoints, and therefore understand how they may want to complete the journey, whether through self-service or with human assistance, are much more likely to keep their customers.
Customer Experience to Remain Business Differentiator
Rather than viewing third party CX tech and fintech companies as competitors, banks and telcos will need to adopt a less adversarial approach and collaborate to meet evolving customer expectations, and not lose their customers to new challengers. Top reasons cited for customers turning to non-traditional players are Low Costs; Ease of Use; and Faster service. By collaborating with a third party CX tech and fintech company, enterprises will benefit from their ability to build and move much faster than incumbent institutions.
Vizolution is an award-winning CX tech company. In order for us to be able to offer truly customer-centric solutions, it is important for us to be aware not only of CX trends for 2020, but also the sectors in which we operate, including financial services, telecoms and insurance.
Regardless of the industry in which you operate, if your business requires an interface between customer and agent, improving your CX should be your top priority for 2020. Read more about our award-winning solutions and how they can help transform your operations
