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Technology continues to level the playing field across businesses, making customer experience the distinguishing feature that consumers look for before choosing a business. It stands to reason that nearly 76% of boardrooms recognize customer experience as their most important strategic performance measure, according to the 2016 Dimensions Data Global Contact Center Benchmarking Report. So, in a world where differentiating your business is increasingly difficult, you’ve got to find an angle.
What are some tricks of the trade to improve your customer experience and make it your competitive differentiator? Here are five technology trends to consider when trying to stand out in a crowded field during your 2018 digital transformation.
1. Multimodal
Seventy-three percent of adults online in the US list valuing their time as the most important action a company can take to provide them with good service, according to “Trends 2016: The Future of Customer Service,” from Forrester Research. To stand out in customer service, you need to embrace a multimodal mindset. Keep customer interactions focused and targeted, so you solve customer problems faster. This shows them that you value their time and will help maintain efficiency in your business.
The internet of things (IoT) is growing. Gartner estimates that more than 25 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. And each of these devices is a “thing,” a touchpoint and connector for consumers. These things mark the next big channel of communication; and as their numbers proliferate, so do consumer expectations. You need to be able to detect issues and engage proactively to deliver fast, consistent and differentiated results across all devices.
3. Data Science
Big data (the term used to describe the massive scale of information we have today) is here for the long haul. In fact, “Ovum conservatively estimates that the big data market will…grow to more than $9 [billion] by 2020.” To improve your customer experience, you’ve got to look at what the data is saying.
4. Bots
Using bots to automate business processes is expected to become a large opportunity for nearly every enterprise. Historically, bots have been used for repetitive or mundane tasks, but as artificial intelligence (AI) advances, so does blended AI. Blended AI is a combination of human and automation, which helps employees do their jobs better and more efficiently.
The idea behind microservices is simple, and it speaks to several current customer demands. Consumers want always-on communication and reliable services. They won’t tolerate failure from the companies with which they do business. Technologies built using microservice based architecture add reliability to your software platforms, so system failures don’t extend to the customer. Microservices are a set of small, independently deployed services that operate independently of one another to provide scalability and, more important to your customers, reliability.
Keeping pace with technology trends is one of the best ways to ensure your business will stand out from the competition. And being on the forefront of new ideas and tools can help you keep your customers happy and engaged. While the future is never certain, knowing and preparing for ever-evolving trends is a good first step.
To get the full details, and learn how these trends can help you improve customer satisfaction, check out our eBook, “Five Tech Trends That Redefine the Customer Experience.”
