Top Customer Care Trends to Consider as You Plan for the New Year

by Blue Ocean in Blog, Customer Service Trends

Keep your finger on the pulse of the industry. From AI and VoC to EX and TX, here are some resources to inspire for the new year.

 

As customer care teams start planning for 2024, we’ve seen how easy it can be to get stuck in a rut. The quickest way to get re-inspired is by getting a finger on the pulse of current news and customer service trends in the industry.

How are other customer experience leaders delivering? What new trends and technologies are on their mind? How are they overcoming new challenges? What trends are more than buzzwords and can actually make a real impact on your work?

With these questions in mind, we present a quick round-up of some trending outsourcing and customer service-related articles, podcasts, and webinars from across the industry. Enjoy!

 

Here’s how customer service teams are actually using AI

If you’re getting sick of the AI conversation—it’s all anyone talks about these days—we don’t blame you. But it doesn’t mean you can let it fall off the radar. Zendesk recently published an excellent collection of examples of how real-world customer care teams are using various AI tools.

“The modern customer journey is complex and constantly evolving. And many businesses feel pressure to predict the where, when, and how of their customer interactions. Meanwhile, the conversations are piling up.” This, Zendesk asserts, is where AI can help.

Take a read if you’re looking for tangible use cases of AI that don’t suck.

 

Voice of Customer analytics: Everything you need to know

Customer experience is, we believe, the core of excellent customer care. And voice of the customer (VoC) analytics is one valuable piece of the CX puzzle. CallMiner presents a straightforward, and deeply insightful, overview of what VoC analytics can look like and how that insight plays a role in your business strategy.

“Most customers are willing to pay more for great customer service and an overall convenient, positive experience with a brand. Enter VoC analytics, which can be used to build positive experiences between your company and your customers while enhancing your brand.” Wise words from CallMiner.

Check the article out here if you’re looking to expand and innovate within your CX strategy.

 

Here’s How Supply Chain and Shipping Visibility Improve Customer Experience

In some circumstances, we know that contact center can feel like an island, siloed off from other functional business practices. But if that’s really the case, you’re in for trouble. The supply chain may be a little ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for customer care leaders, but cross-functional collaboration in this area may be the missing key to truly wowing your customers.

Inc. says it well: “When a customer gets to the point of having to reach out to ask where their package is, you’ve already lost points. While there is an opportunity to win back their favor with excellent customer service, it’s better to prevent this interaction altogether.”

If you’re curious about zooming out of the customer care weeds to better understand the big picture, click here to read the article.

 

Top of the Pods: Shep Hyken On Creating a Destination Employment Experience

Shep Hyken is one of our favorite thought leaders in the customer service and experience field. One of his recent podcasts with the CEO from Avaya digs into the role of employee experience—a topic we believe should always be top of mind as the contact center evolves. After all, happy employees create happy customers.

“Brands have to differentiate themselves based on customer experience,” but that’s only possible through differentiated employee experience. “How crazy would it be if we’re out there selling software to deliver a great customer experience if we weren’t, in turn, an incredible customer service company?” says Alan Masarek, Avaya CEO.

If nurturing the employee experience is on your mind as you enter 2024, listen to this podcast today.

 

The Total Experience Strategy for Better Retail Digital Interactions

Not in retail? Don’t worry, this is for you anyway. Total experience (TX) is an increasingly popular concept that combines customer experience, employee experience, user experience, and multi experience into one cohesive strategy. We’ve written extensively about the intersection of CX and EX, but there’s more to the story here. The multi experience is the evolution of omnichannel experience—the integrated experience that weaves together every channel instead of hopping between them. And UX, of course, is the glue that holds it all together.

“By 2024, organizations providing a total experience will outperform competitors by 25% in satisfaction metrics for both CX and EX,” says Gartner. This free webinar looks at real-world use cases and success stories that are sure to inspire.

Piqued your interest? View the complimentary webinar from Gartner here.

 

 

There’s nothing we love more than chatting about customer care trends and how they impact your current contact center needs and goals. Book an appointment here to explore how Blue Ocean can help.

 

 

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