Customer Support’s Evolution in 2016

Customer support is continuously evolving to better suit the needs of consumers and foster a more positive connection between brands and their customers. While a variety of trends have taken root as best practice influencers, here are a few of 2016’s best for remaining competitive in today’s marketplace.

Personalization

Giving your customers a personalized experience has transitioned from a welcomed practice to an expected one.

For customer support guru and influencer Shep Hyken, personalizing your customer support is what ensures customers want to come back and conduct business with your brand. Centric Digital reports that currently, 73% of customers want their conversations with customer service professionals to be personalized (Centricdigital).

For global brands, catering to your customer’s native language or the language they’re most comfortable speaking, can offer a significant advantage over competitors, while offering your customers a superior experience.

Omni channel support

Today’s consumer is active on multiple platforms. A study conducted by MasterCard found that 8 out of 10 consumers now use a smartphone, tablet, or some form of in store technology while shopping (mycustomer.com). Customers expect brand customer support to meet their requests, regardless of platform. For many customers, seeking support through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is a convenient solution. An omni channel customer support approach requires brands to meet customers and offer a seamless support experience across all channels (Zendesk). Integrating an omni channel solution ensures that brands offer customers the same experience on both mobile and desktop channels.

Adopting an omni-channel approach, and meeting consumers at their desired communication platform not only has the ability to increase CSAT scores, but increases revenue as well. A Global Consumer Pulse Research report conducted by Accenture Strategy found that channel hopping or “experimental” customers tend to be the most profitable (AccentureStrategy). For this group of consumers, an experience that results in combinations of digital and traditional channels is most satisfying.

Technology Consolidation

Looking at the top customer service trends for 2016, Forrester research concluded that more and more customer support teams are demanding a consolidated technology ecosystem (Zendesk).

Adopting an integrated ecosystem approach to customer support, organizations are opting for a “democratization” of customer service technologies, allowing users to combine all components and communication from their customers. Aligned with the convenience of this trend, integrating translation apps with customer support software allows brands to consolidate global communication efforts. Utilizing these types of apps creates a simple, one stop solution for translation. Customer support agents are able to translate customer messages without switching browsers or tabs.

Examining the direction customer support has moved in 2016 can allow your team to evaluate your current offerings and whether they’re meeting the needs of global customers. By personalizing your support efforts to meet your customers in their preferred language or communication platform, will give you an advantage over competing brands. Leveraging advancements in customer support software can alleviate growing pains and provide your customers with a seamless support experience.