Customer Service Trends in 2024
Customer service trends for the year 2024 are emerging from the increasing need to deliver personalized customer experience (CX), ensure swift support, and foster relationships between customers and brands.
To meet these expectations, businesses are increasingly developing customer service based on an omnichannel approach and leveraging technological solutions that enable data analysis leading to personalized interactions. The use of artificial intelligence, particularly through the implementation of chatbots, voicebots, and other support systems, allows for the creation of seamless customer service while significantly reducing operational costs.
Let’s explore how these trends can impact customer interactions and processes in contact centers.
Table of Contents
Unified Omnichannel Support
Imagine a scenario where customers can seamlessly transition from social media to email or chat on a brand’s website, while their purchase history and preferences are retained. This is the power of omnichannel support – the smooth transition between communication channels without losing continuity and coherence.
Businesses are increasingly adopting this approach. According to the CX Trends Report by Zendesk, as many as 54% of CX leaders are interested in integrating voice and digital channels. This initiative aims to facilitate smooth customer transitions between different communication channels.
According to the Microsoft Global State of Customer Sophistication Report, phone remains the main communication channel, with 47% of customer service leaders managing customer service through call centers. Nevertheless, omnichannel is becoming a more common solution, with almost 40% of customer service leaders offering omnichannel support.
This requires not only highly skilled call center personnel but also the implementation of innovative AI-based solutions to perform routine tasks and improve the operations of customer service units.
Self-Service as Part of Omnichannel Customer Service
Customers expect self-service solutions that enable them to solve problems and obtain information independently, without the need for direct contact with a consultant.
Self-service solutions include various tools and platforms such as websites, mobile applications, knowledge bases, chatbots, or interactive IVR systems, allowing customers to quickly and efficiently find answers to their questions and solve problems.
Through self-service customer support, companies can:
- Streamline customer service
- Reduce operational costs
- Increase customer satisfaction by providing them with quick and convenient access to the information and services they need.
Gartner research shows that 64% of customer service leaders plan to develop self-service solutions in 2024. What are the reasons for this trend?
Younger customers want to solve problems independently, without the need for direct contact with the brand. 39% of “Gen Z” customers say they are most likely to give up trying to solve a product or service-related problem rather than seeking help from an agent if they cannot find a solution online.
A well-designed knowledge base is the foundation of an effective self-service strategy. But what is really needed to create one that truly serves the customer? It’s about well-organized content, clear language, and consistent formats that help users quickly find the information they need. Regular audits and a solid editorial process ensure that the knowledge base remains current, accurate, and of high quality. Knowledge bases are not static – they are a living, breathing resource that evolves with customer feedback.
By incorporating features such as advanced search capabilities and moderated Q&A communities, companies can enhance self-service, making it more intuitive and user-friendly. And when multimedia, especially video content, is added to the resources, self-service becomes much more functional and enjoyable.
AI-Based Solutions
AI-based support systems are strategic solutions. They can assist contact center specialists in managing large amounts of data, prioritizing customer queries, and providing quick responses that maximize efficiency.
Savings can be significant because AI helps automate routine tasks. This is a win-win situation, where companies save money, and customers enjoy seamless service with minimal waiting time.
Generative AI
Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) is increasingly being used in customer service.
Companies use it, among other things, to create intelligent chatbots that can engage in conversations with customers. Generative AI also enables the generation of personalized content and offers, allowing companies to tailor customer experience to their individual needs and preferences. In fact, 83% of customer service leaders claim that their companies have plans to invest in GenAI or have already done so.
According to Gartner:
- 48% predict that virtual customer assistant solutions will impact their organizations
- 36% predict that virtual agent assistant solutions will impact their organizations
- 28% predict that content generation will impact their organizations.
A report by Zendesk shows that CX leaders expect GenAI to impact in the near future:
- Chat-based customer service (57%)
- Email communication with customers (53%)
- Search functionality (45%)
- Voice-based interactions (42%).
Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that many customer service professionals feel uncertain due to unfamiliarity with generative artificial intelligence tools or do not fully understand how they would facilitate work in contact center environments.
Within this trend, one of the main directions of development includes Large Language Models (LLM) and Large Multimodal Models (LMM). LLMs are powerful artificial intelligence tools capable of generating naturally sounding texts, understanding context, and predicting subsequent words in sentences. On the other hand, LMMs integrate data from various modalities such as text, images, sounds, etc., allowing for the analysis and generation of content while considering diverse types of information.
These models are increasingly utilized across various fields, including customer service, to deliver more efficient and personalized customer experiences. For instance, they can be employed to generate real-time responses to customer queries, tailored to specific needs and preferences. As a result, companies can effectively serve their customers, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.
Chatbots and Voicebots
Chatbots and voicebots can play a supportive role in customer service. Equipped with advanced natural language processing features, they are the first point of contact effectively handling a wide range of common customer queries. These tools operate around the clock, seven days a week, and are capable of handling large volumes of inquiries in various languages. They are an excellent solution for companies providing global customer support.
According to Gartner’s Top Priorities of Customer Service Leaders in 2024, 69% of customer service sector leaders plan to invest in conversational AI solutions. Moreover, Zendesk research shows that 70% of CX leaders believe that bots are becoming tools to build highly personalized customer journeys.
The emerging trend in voice interactions involves leveraging more natural tones in voicebots, with elevenLabs playing a leading role in this domain by delivering various innovative solutions. Their innovative solutions enable the integration of better, more human-like voice tones into voice applications, significantly enhancing the authenticity of interactions with users.
This new approach to voicebot creation opens doors to more natural and enjoyable user experiences, which can greatly enhance customer engagement and satisfaction. By incorporating natural voices, companies can create more personal and effective interactions with customers, ultimately contributing to increased customer loyalty and brand reputation improvement.
AI Solutions Developed by Outsourcing Service Providers
According to Gartner’s report on the Top Priorities of Customer Service Leaders in 2024, 69% of customer service leaders plan to invest in conversational AI solutions. Additionally, research from Zendesk shows that 70% of CX leaders are convinced that bots are becoming tools for building highly personalized customer paths.
It is worth noting that contact center outsourcing companies with their own customer service technologies have a competitive advantage in the market. Primarily, having in-house developed AI solutions allows for tailoring solutions such as chatbots and voicebots to specific business needs.
One advantage of using the services of an outsourcing company is the ability to quickly and easily implement new tools and scale offered services without the need for implementing entirely new solutions. This eliminates the need for market research, seeking new business contacts, or hiring new employees.
In other words, implementing and managing AI solutions in a contact center can be challenging for many businesses. However, outsourcing companies rarely face these challenges because they have the necessary human resources and their own technology, enabling smooth implementation and scaling of solutions.
Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are utilized for various purposes, including product and service presentations, training, and customer support.
In the realm of product and service presentations, VR and AR enable customers to have interactive experiences that can significantly enhance product representation compared to traditional presentation methods. With these technologies, customers can view products in three dimensions, zoom in on them, rotate them, and even test their features in a virtual environment.
In the field of training, VR and AR offer realistic simulations that allow consultants to gain practical experience with different scenarios without the risk of real consequences. For example, a consultant can utilize virtual customer service training, practice simulated conversations, or learn how to operate new equipment.
In customer support, VR and AR have the potential to revolutionize how businesses communicate with their customers. With these technologies, companies can provide more interactive and personalized experiences to consumers, such as virtual store tours, product visualizations in real-world settings, or technical support in the form of a virtual assistant.
Intelligent Knowledge Bases
The creation of sophisticated intelligent knowledge bases is becoming an increasingly popular trend in the field of artificial intelligence in customer service. These advanced systems leverage machine learning and natural language processing technologies to gather, organize, and analyze vast amounts of data. Consequently, they can generate accurate and relevant responses to customer inquiries, even those of a more complex nature, thereby enhancing the efficiency of customer service.
Moreover, intelligent knowledge bases have the capability to continually evolve and update based on new information and experiences. This allows organizations to dynamically adapt to changing customer needs and business environments. As a result, the development of sophisticated intelligent knowledge bases contributes to improving customer experiences and enhancing the efficiency of customer service processes.
Better Understanding of the Customer Journey Through Data Analysis
The customer journey encompasses all moments of interaction and engagement between a customer and a company, from the initial encounter to the finalization of a transaction and ongoing support after a purchase. It essentially represents the path a customer takes, starting from interest in a product or service, through stages of research, comparison, purchase, and potentially post-sales support and brand loyalty.
Understanding customer needs poses a challenge for many businesses. However, with technological advancements, customer service professionals can leverage various artificial intelligence-based tools to gain a better understanding of the customer journey.
According to a Gartner report, 45% of customer service leaders plan investments to enhance customer journey analysis, with 50% already investing in appropriate solutions. By collecting and analyzing data from interactions at all touchpoints, companies can understand and improve the customer journey in ways that seemed unattainable before.
This trend in customer service not only addresses fulfilling needs but predicting them. Through predictive analysis, companies can identify early signs of customer dissatisfaction and take proactive actions to retain them.
What exactly is predictive analysis? It is a process that utilizes advanced data analysis techniques and artificial intelligence to predict customer behaviors and needs, optimizing customer service actions and increasing operational efficiency.
Through the analysis of historical data as well as current customer interactions, predictive analysis systems can forecast events such as call volumes in specific time frames, customer preferences, technical issues, or the likelihood of specific service situations.
Emotion Analysis
New possibilities in data analysis include the dynamic development of emotion recognition in voice. This means that voicebots are capable not only of understanding and reacting to natural speech but also of identifying emotions expressed by customers in their voices.
This creates new perspectives in customer service, where systems can analyze emotions and tailor responses to better meet the needs and preferences of the target audience.
The Potential of Diversity
In addition to technological trends, it’s worth mentioning trends in the human resources (HR) domain.
Diversity is a key source of creativity and innovation, making it one of the top values prioritised by organizations. It represents both a competitive advantage and a challenge because generational and cultural differences do not automatically blur. Contact center companies create diverse teams that can effectively collaborate with different generations and nationalities. To achieve this, training in generational management in the workplace and workshops are needed to show staff how to deal with diversity and harness its potential in customer service.
For example, individuals belonging to the Silver Generation, those aged 50 and older, bring valuable experience, strong communication skills, and a customer-focused approach. However, they may face challenges adapting to technology and the pace of work in a dynamic contact center environment. Companies can support them through targeted training programs, flexible employment arrangements, and available technologies.
Generation Z has specific expectations regarding employment, including remote or hybrid work, development opportunities, and flexibility. They are highly technology-oriented and value companies that prioritize innovation and social responsibility.
Summary
Customer service is undergoing a transformation towards personalized experiences and rapid support, driven by the integration of omnichannel approaches and artificial intelligence. Chatbots and voicebots have emerged as key tools, streamlining customer interactions seamlessly. The significance of self-service options is increasing, enabling customers to access information more efficiently. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) enables the generation of tailored content. However, the challenge lies in adapting to these evolving technologies and comprehending their complete capabilities, necessitating additional investments in training and workforce enhancement.
Author: Krzysztof Banaś, Operations and Client Director, OEX VCC.