If you look beyond current developments in customer and employee experience, you’ll see these horizon trends shimmering in the distance.
Change is already happening, hinting at where organisations should focus their energies to deliver remarkable customer experiences and outperform the competition.
Technology is evolving at breakneck speed, with cloud-based CX platforms releasing a trove of new functionalities weekly. Artificial intelligence has exploded onto the scene, with the potential to disrupt nearly every aspect of the customer and employee experience. And insatiable customers are continually expecting more personalised service and better outcomes.
Much of that change can be so overwhelming it obstructs your view of the horizon.
Personalised experiences will make customers and employees feel understood and valued. Interactions will be proactive relationship-building opportunities – not just problems to be solved. And contact centres will use data and AI to provide a unique breadth of insight to the rest of the organisation to drive business value.
“In the future… instead of waiting for the customer to call you, you’ll make the proactive right action to address something the customer might not be aware of,” said Olivier Jouve, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Genesys.
The report examines five CX and EX horizon trends and explores ways to harness them now.
1. On the horizon: “Richly contextualised experiences will create mutual value for customers and brands”
Organisations will provide more value and secure customer loyalty by using data to intelligently contextualise nearly every interaction. This will create a “stickiness” because customers won’t want to switch to a brand that doesn’t know them enough to personalise their experiences and optimise their journeys.
Right now: Be your customers’ BFF by uniquely personalising experiences
There are better ways to personalise interactions than by adding ‘Dear [NAME]’ to a marketing email.
Consumers globally say their preferred form of personalisation is receiving the service they need at any time in their channel of choice. Using AI and journey management in real-time to provide contextually relevant interactions will make the customer experience feel more personalised.
Consumers globally say their preferred form of personalisation is receiving the service they need at any time in their channel of choice.
Start now to get ahead of the competition. About 40% of CX leaders say their top CX strategic priorities over the next two years include using data and AI for real-time insights and to improve customer understanding and personalisation.
2. On the horizon: “Brands will view every touchpoint as a relationship-building opportunity”
A mindset shift from containment and deflection to engagement and intention will enable organisations to learn more about their customers. Those organisations that act on the insight they’ve gathered will increase retention and revenue.
Right now: View customer interactions as relationship goldmines
Move beyond the mindset of just fixing problems. Instead, share knowledge and act as a trusted advisor to deepen relationships and boost lifetime value.
Encourage care and support specialists to spend time with customers to learn more about their needs and preferences, which will increase engagement, loyalty, and sales.
3. On the horizon: “AI will create a predictive ‘world without questions'”
Rather than asking for information they already have, organisations will use customers’ data and AI to serve them proactively and with greater relevance – streamlining processes and reducing customer frustration.
Right now: Use data to be “clairvoyant”
Apply the data you have across your systems – including behavioural, CRM, and transactional insights – to preemptively meet customer needs, proactively address issues, and optimise journeys in real-time.
Savvy organisations are already developing AI roadmaps that enable this. Nearly 70% of business leaders say using AI for identifying customers and predicting and driving outcomes is the most important strategic CX priority.
4. On the horizon: “Work becomes personalised”
Employees have the same desire to feel understood and valued as consumers do. Organisations will provide a more engaging and empowering work experience that increases employee satisfaction and retention.
Right now: Acknowledge that employees are your VIPs
Individualised employee experiences are as integral to CX as personalising customer experiences.
Individualised employee experiences are as integral to CX as personalising customer experiences.
Leading organisations are ensuring employees feel supported and valued by taking actions like providing them with more control over their schedules, using predictive routing to send interactions they’re best suited to handle, and personalising learning and development paths.
Taking action now can deliver a competitive advantage. Only one-third of organisations are using interaction routing and next-best-action recommendations, with 40% planning to launch those tools in the next year.
5. On the horizon: “The contact centre will be a hub for customer advocacy and engagement”
With its deep, rich troves of data from within and beyond customer service, the contact centre will serve as the lifeblood of CX – creating a virtuous cycle of insight with other functions and teams.
Right now: Be your customers’ hero
Advocate for your customers by sharing issues, opportunities, and trends that service data uncovers to enable other teams to improve the entire experience.
Positioning the contact centre as a data hub is imperative. More than 70% of CX leaders say implementing a customer experience platform that integrates systems is on their roadmap over the next two years. Half say the same about connecting data and technology to deliver an omnichannel experience.
The advancements we’ve seen in the contact centre over the past few years are remarkable, but we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.
With customers consistently pushing for more – with new CX technologies and AI advancements making it possible to meet those expectations – there’s an experience renaissance coming. It’s crucial to take action now on those seemingly distant CX horizon trends to deliver an unparalleled and lasting competitive advantage.
