In a recent 2021 study that surveyed close to 2,000 working professionals on top business priorities, customer experience was the highest. The study also defined customer experience as “your customers’ perception of how your company treats them. These perceptions affect their behaviors and build memories and feelings to drive their loyalty.”
Beating product and pricing as the top business priority, customer experience ranked first because more brands and businesses acknowledge the power of customer experience. In addition, the study highlights that customers stay loyal to companies due to the treatment they receive. In other words, customers don’t commit to a brand or business simply on price or product alone. 2022 will continue to reflect these findings. In fact, top customer experience trends in 2022 show that customer experience continues to be a key success factor to winning potential customers and keeping repeat buyers happy. We’ve listed down the top CX trends of 2022 below.
1. Omnichannel support
Customers have a preference when it comes to connecting with support agents (phone, email, live chat, SMS, social media, etc.). Businesses that rely heavily on Customer Service (CSR) for ongoing product support should strive to maintain customer service consistency across a wide range of channels.
2. Hyper-individualisation
Brands are expected to understand and respond to the customers’ individual needs. This is where hyper-individualisation as a top customer experience trend in 2022 comes in handy. A hyper-individualised customer experience goes beyond personalisation; a hyper-individualised customer experience considers the customer’s data privacy preferences and tailors marketing messages, from product or service offers to content, specific to that customer and their customer journey.
3. Real-time assistance with co-browsing
Businesses can provide customers with accurate information via real-time support. When customers contact customer service for help with a particular problem, co-browsing tools and software allow customers and support agents to collaborate and view a website, web application, or mobile app together simultaneously.
4. Video chat as a product or service support tool
Video has the power to improve customer engagement online. When the pandemic hit, video chats became a lifeline for many brands and businesses. For example, since repair technicians of a Canada-based home furnishings retailer couldn’t do in-person visits, they adapted to the new normal by doing inspections remotely via video chat. The business saw 1,000 sales conversations per day in the first two weeks, a 50% reduction in on-site repair appointments, and a 100% increase in virtual sales.
5 AI-based chatbots continue to become more popular
Chatbots automate routine questions, support lead generation, and triage customer requests and questions. They’ll continue to become valuable to companies that automate business processes such as customer service.
6. Self-service automation
Consumers don’t have to be placed on hold; they can solve minor product or service problems independently and on their own time with self-service automation. Like AI-based chatbots, self-service automation uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) and helps customers find answers to their questions quickly and efficiently. This process streamlines and improves the customer experience.
7. Remote customer service teams are on the rise
With the help of technology, customer support agents can have every tool they need at their fingertips, at home. Besides significant cost savings, outsourcing enables organisations and their customer service teams to use effective and efficient cloud-based customer service software applications that enhance customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.
8. Empower customer support agents with better software tools and training
An empowered customer support agent tends to perform at a higher level. Empowerment and high performance usually occur when an agent receives constructive feedback from the business owner. Continuous training, better software tools, and autonomy to make decisions are other things that a business owner should consider. More often than not, customers don’t like it when agents escalate their inquiries to a supervisor or manager. Everything, from feedback to training, gives agents greater freedom to make informed customer service decisions on the company’s behalf.
Hopefully, these top 2022 CX trends will convince more brands and businesses to make customer experience their top priority. Moreover, the customer service trends mentioned above can also guide organisations when tweaking their vision and making it more customer-centric. A customer-obsessed company, especially one that adapts well to the uncertainties brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, should then be able to proudly proclaim that exceptional customer experience is their most significant competitive advantage in 2022 and beyond.
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