Customers’ experiences have an impact on how they perceive your business and your brand. Service is the core point of your business’s success. Everyone knows the importance of a happy customer that will not only return to you but always give positive feedback and bring new customers along.

Let’s see what’s new in Customer Service Technology & Trends for the 2021s.

Each year customer service and support leaders identify their strategic priorities and investments for the year ahead, but due to covid-19 and its lasting ramifications, things are changing rapidly and it’s important to move along with the new requirements of Customers. Service and support face increased pressure from competitors on the role of the service function in improving operational excellence and growing the business. The main support for effective customer service is a combination of tools, systems, and processes to convert policies into customer satisfaction.

It starts with equipping your agents with all tools that they need to provide a top-notch customer experience, including:

• Up to date software
• Enhanced training 
• More accessible customer data
• Specific feedback
• Clear process documentation and flexible guidelines

In 2020 the Customer Service department had to readjust their employees to remote work. This transition had a huge impact on customer service trends in 2021. Remote work will most likely become a more permanent strategy due to the current situation worldwide and the new opportunity of cost savings due to the remote workforce for business owners. 

In fact, 89% of UK contact center leaders say that the COVID-19 crisis has changed the industry forever. A recent industry survey supports this view of a long-term work-from-home transition.  35% of contact center leaders now think that their contact centers will become mainly homeworking. And a higher percentage, 58%, think homeworking will be partly optional and partly compulsory. 

Either way, the busy on-premise contact center of the past is set to give way to a more flexible and remote work culture.

As for trends, Service became a sales tool in 2021.

Omnichannel communication with customers is a top priority today. Customers want to reach you immediately with great convenience, meaning being able to choose a convenient contact form like live-chat on a business website or have multiple choices of mobile messengers depending on the preferences of the consumer and get an immediate reply independent of the device type.  A true omnichannel approach includes the ability to deliver a seamless and consistent experience across a variety of communication channels. So if your company is not operating with omnichannel communication, now is the time to adapt.

Since not all customer service departments work 24-7, developers took it one step further by inventing chat-bots. But this option lost its popularity within a short period of time.  Custer’s enjoy interacting with actual human beings since chatbots lack intelligence and are able to solve only the basic requirements of customers, so they are revealed with ease.  So creating a chatbot for your customers today should only be to generalize the question of your customer and lead the conversation to a responsible employee or department. It’s also good to have a chatbot to answer the most common questions or to gather contact information to get back to the customer during working hours. They are a necessary asset today as well, but nothing in comparison to actual human interaction. 

Let’s not forget about social media. Its popularity increased among some of the largest companies in the world as a way to foster customer communication and share the latest products with its potential customers. Social media is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ channel, it’s an essential tool. Companies that spread their brand on social media are archiving greater value of new customers and benefits as well as customer satisfaction and increased retention. In 2021, social media will only become more and more important as a tool to share information, communicate with customers, and retain users.

Today the market is growing rapidly, and as customers have more options, service becomes part of the product experience. Companies are focused on customer’s desire for a better customer experience. The E-commerce market was already growing before Covid, but that growth was accelerated by the pandemic to deal with increased demand. More businesses needed more help services from B2B companies.

The world stands right in front of a new era, and we need to make sure to be up to date with all the new features and services to keep our existing customers happy and have new customers join. The world stands right in front of a new era, and we need to make sure to be up to date with all the new features and services to keep our existing customers happy and have new customers join. 

Unlike years prior, this new type of conversational commerce is much bigger than just offering live chat. That’s part of it, but consumers now want to be able to connect with your brand immediately on their preferred platform — whether it’s Facebook, WhatsApp, email, etc. The right tools will allow you to deliver a unified customer experience and treat all channels as equal — prioritizing queries based on importance. 

As always, customer reviews play a massive role in success

• Quick resolutions
• Helpful and empathetic agents
• 24/7 support
• Being able to use preferred channels
• Proactive support

Summary of trends 2021:

1.  Building teams with support agents who can work remotely

3.  Providing personalized customer experiences

4.  Delivering real-time support through live chat and chatbots

5.  Customer-centric success strategies 

6.  Mastering social media as a support channel

As previously mentioned, we stand right in front of a new era, and there are more changes to come within the near future. For some industries, this means having to change up the whole business plan and readjust or in the worst-case scenario close their business completely. 

For them, it means a second chance, and if they play their cards right, a bright future.

The outsourcing model has drastically changed during the past few years for good, evolving to providing the best service in every possible way and channel.  

Outsourcing, of course, can be a great way to drive your business forward in a more effective and faster environment by allowing you to use your company resources for more profitable ventures.

Every business has different requirements and reasons for outsourcing, but commonly businesses get the most value and productivity out of their outsourcing operations with a well-structured plan and experienced partner.

To help you get started, we worked hard on coming up with these 7 actions to develop an outsourcing plan that moves you forward to success.

Define Clear Goals

Always start with the big picture and deeply understand both strategic and tactical points with all your stakeholders. Defining the level of requirements, clear work descriptions, and internal and external processes are where you should start. 

Considering all details around your company goals will help you to prepare your business for better results. 

Identify Your Needs

When you’re outsourcing your business, your business needs have to be crystal clear that you create a list of what you are expecting to get from outsourcing your business processes. You should also identify what processes you need to outsource and what your reasons are for doing so.

Evaluate The Risks

Businesses should look to maximize value while minimizing risk when engaging with an outsourcing model, by considering the risk and value associated with the people, process, and systems involved. Prioritizing your needs and evaluating the risks around is always give you the peace of mind you deserve, better safe than sorry.

Create a business plan

Outlining effective responsive communication plans

Set your business budget

Assess the geographical risks

Choose The Right Partner

Most outsourcing companies talk of vast expertise and top-notch talent, but is there any credibility to their words? Choosing the right partner can make boost your business to the greatest success or it can cause management, cultural, and other unseen issues. Here is a short checklist to be done without any further ado.

Communication & collaboration

Business reputation

Cost efficiency

Case Studies

Technical Expertise

Workforce evaluation

Check Infrastructure and technologies

Set Routine Checks

Routine checks do not only make your business trackable but also help you to understand pain points, success stories, and sets the ground to become responsible for all your important business decisions consistently. Especially for outsourced workforces, creating routine control methodologies and reports will increase efficiency.

Ongoing Training And Employee Development

Providing training and development to employees allows employers to pinpoint the knowledge and skills they want their employees to have. Training and development programs can educate employees about new skills or provide updates on existing skills to enhance productivity. When you outsource your workforce, the employees will still be representing your company. Your outsourcing partner should understand this sensitive aspect of your and continuously provide required training to all employees. 

Outsourcing offers companies the ability to focus on their main competencies and delegate essential tasks to others. This can move companies toward growth by investing more time for leadership to innovate. Outsourcing is a viable solution for all business models at any stage that are looking to scale their businesses and save money in the process.

You might feel overwhelmed by all the information, outsourcing is easy to manage and success-oriented model by choosing the right partner and can be a boost for your business mid-long term strategical plans.

If you are seeking an ideal outsourcing partner? Have more questions before ensuring your decision? Let our team guide and help you with your business success by contacting us.