Customer Experience is an important topic today as it becomes a key differentiator. Research shows that customers are less willing to give companies a second chance if expectations are not met. Here are my 5 learnings from the Zendesk CX trends 2022:

1. What do customers want? Speed and convenience remain top priorities, along with 24/7 support.

But they are not enough. Customers are also looking for helpful and empathetic agents, always-on support, and streamlined conversational experiences—no matter who they’re talking to, be it human or bot.

2. 54% of customers say their biggest frustration with chatbots is the number of questions they must answer before being transferred to a human agent.

Despite the fact that chatbots are very useful for gathering information from the customer before being assigned to an agent, it can turn into a major turn-off. Especially if the customer has to wait for an answer after being assigned.

3. Ticket volume increased across all channels, Whatsapp even increased by 370%.

With the overall increase in tickets (12%) on the line, customer service teams face increased pressure to deliver, both from customers and leadership. The much-needed changes in tools, processes and mindset, however difficult, must begin now. Why? Inefficient workflows and burned-out agents are just some of the issues that can undermine long-term success.

4. High performers view customer service primarily as a revenue driver.

A company's revenue increasingly depends on the success of its agents. But many agents feel they don't have the tools to thrive in this new business reality. High performers are characterised by: amount of training, the ability to act on customer feedback to improve products and services and comprehensive measurement of customer service performance.

5. Future success depends on Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation and conversational customer service.

Without a smart strategy for implementing AI, many companies are falling short. As with any new technology that has had a major impact on customer service (as happened with the Internet, live chat, mobile and AI), companies need to significantly rethink their thinking and approach. Fail to do so and you risk frustrating your customers, or worse, undermining your ability to deliver the quality experiences that keep your customers coming back.

Try to automate (see figure below):

• Providing links and info that can help solve problems.
• Faster, simple answers for simple problems.
• Answers and responses outside normal business hours

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