3 Customer Experience Trends That Will Make Their Mark in 2023

Stay ahead of the customer experience curve with these predictions

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3 Customer Experience Trends That Will Make Their Mark in 2023
Contact CentreInsights

Published: December 7, 2022

Charlie Mitchell

“Mobile phones will absolutely never replace the wired telephone.”

In 1981, Marty Cooper, inventor of the mobile phone, made this statement without an inkling of the immense potential of his innovation.

Such an example highlights just how tricky the art of prediction can be. Certainly, in the customer experience (CX) industry, this rings true when casting an eye over predictions of the past.

Remember Google Glass? At one point, Virgin Atlantic bet on the technology to change the “customer service experience.”

Yet, change is rarely disruptive. Ordinarily, it involves the evolution of existing trends.

Consider AI. Companies experimented with these solutions in the 1990s. Only now are businesses turning to AI-driven technologies – including speech analytics, automation, and bots – in droves.

As such, predictions are perhaps best devised with a pinch of caution, like the following three examples, which build upon burgeoning trends starting to gain significant momentum.

1. CX Conservatism Becomes the Enemy

During the pandemic, digital transformation accelerated from a snail’s pace to lightning speed.

According to McKinsey & Company: “Responses to COVID-19 have speeded the adoption of digital technologies by several years… many of these changes could be here for the long haul.”

In accelerating transformation, many businesses kickstarted CX initiatives to meet consumers where they were. As such, consumers now expect to have all the experience options – whether that is digital, in-person, or some combination – readily available to them.

Taking a step backwards will clash with these new expectations and irritate customers immensely.

Moreover, businesses must remember that innovation offered a lifeline during the pandemic. Pushing the envelope of what is possible paid off. Preparing for the future must come first.

Building on this point, Eric Williamson, CMO of CallMiner, said:

“In 2023, customers will remain loyal and even increase their spending with the companies who continue to offer the products and services, as well as deliver the experiences they’ve come to expect during the pandemic.

“Companies who take their foot off the CX gas will find themselves falling behind.”

Indeed, customers are becoming increasingly impatient with lousy customer service. A PWC study – surveying 15,000 customers – found that one in three customers quit brands they love after one bad experience. 92 percent will leave after two or three.

As such, businesses should safeguard efforts to test, learn from, and optimise customer journeys. These initiatives must not fade into the background.

2. CX Vendors Strive to Showcase Their Value

Technology giants are straying from their specialties, attempting to utilise their significant presence within businesses to take over other elements of the CX stack.

Consider CCaaS. Many large enterprises have made a play in the space during the last 12 months alone – enjoying some success.

For instance, Zoom noted that its contact centre platform is achieving sales results it had not expected for another “18 to 24 months.”

In the face of such competition, specialist vendors must demonstrate their value, both in terms of their technology and the expert support services they offer. Otherwise, the large-scale vendors may start stealing food from their plates.

After all, the idea of working with fewer vendors, reducing complexity, and contacting a single number for support is alluring.

Moreover, as cost-cutting initiatives come to the fore – in light of the looming recession – best-of-breed CX vendors must roll up their sleeves and offer insight into the ROI they generate.

Making this point, Williamson stated:

“Potential and current customers are scrutinising their tech investments and looking for places to trim budgets, and suppliers that can’t prove their ROI will be on the chopping block.”

In addition, to retain and build upon their customer base, these providers must set realistic expectations and meet them, delivering ROI at the fastest possible pace.

3. Increasing Data Supplies and Transcription Accuracy Delivers New Insight

Converging technology and simplifying the CX stack is more than a cost-cutting initiative. Indeed, many strive to overcome pesky siloes to pave the way for a flow of data that reimagines experiences and enables AI.

After all, even the most advanced AI-powered technologies are only as good as their data supply. As the saying goes: “Garbage in = garbage out.”

Many businesses realised this after making significant inroads in their CX transformation initiatives, only for data shortcomings to stilt their ambitions.

Thankfully, high-quality conversational data is becoming much simpler to harness, whether from contact centre conversations or various forms of customer feedback.

Why? Because NLP-powered transcription models have become much more advanced, supporting hundreds of languages and many more dialects without training or customisation.

Of course, some models are more accurate than others. Yet, there are flexible platforms – including CallMiner’s Open Voice Transcription Standard (OVTS)  – which offers a framework for businesses to work with their preferred provider and extract insight.

By harnessing such a platform, companies can train the systems for specific use cases, product names, and industry jargon, to ensure greater transcription accuracy.

“In 2023, transcription accuracy of omnichannel customer/brand interactions will transition from “nice-to-have” to a critical capability,” added Williamson.

“The most successful organisations in the coming year will be the ones who understand the direct connection between transcription accuracy and the quality of customer insights, and that by gaining better intelligence, they can drive even greater CX value.”

Such an approach paves the way for more tactful innovation that maximises resources and optimises the customer experience.

2023: The Year of Incremental CX Gains

The temptation to ditch innovation and focus on the here and now is compelling as economic uncertainty looms.

Yet, fail to prepare and prepare to fail.

Businesses must keep their finger on the pulse and make incremental customer experience gains while ensuring their post-pandemic digital transformation gains don’t slip through the cracks.

Thankfully, analytics engines – which harness the best speech-to-text transcription capabilities – allow businesses to focus their innovation in the right places.

Download the brand new 2023 Customer Experience Predictions Report to learn what they mean for your organisation and how to plan for them accordingly.

 

 

CCaaSDigital Transformation

Brands mentioned in this article.

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