5 Customer Service Technology Trends for SMEs to Follow in 2021

There is a lot of buzz around new technology in customer service, support, and success. The advancement of video, real-time messaging, chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrency, self-service, and even customer success itself all have the potential to significantly alter the day-to-day operations of customer success professionals.

The key, as with so many things in life, is to keep an open mind and to persevere. You probably don’t have the luxury of a tech team to keep you up to date on all the cutting-edge advances in your field as a small business. The good news is that you do not require a technical crew. You may stay up to date on major breakthroughs in the industry by reading industry magazines, which will keep you informed about what is vital to your firm. You also don’t have to be on the cutting edge (though you certainly can if you want to); all you need to do is keep up with the big trends so you don’t fall behind.

Companies all over the world will agree that customer service is the most important factor in their company’s growth. Businesses are expected to stay up-to-date on customer service trends. The fundamental pillars of efficient customer service are a collection of tools, methods, and processes that enable you to translate your strategies into customer happiness.

The three primary customer service technology developments proposed for businesses to rethink their company matters in 2021 are as follows:

Customer service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a variety of methods.
Automation to unify multiple support channels on a single platform.
Customer service performed by automation should not be difficult to diagnose and repair.

Main Ways Customer Service Technology Changes the Future of Customer Service

Face-to-face video communication is gaining momentumCustomers will increasingly regard non-video, real-time spoken conversation as a thing of the past though eye contact is powerful. Companies that use video, whether asynchronously as ‘video voicemail’ (e.g., Loom ) or synchronously as ‘video conference’ (e.g., Zoom with video), are a generation ahead.The massive popularity of online video websites like YouTube is driving the use of video content to support customer service operations – whether through dedicated ‘how to’ videos that extend the power of self-service channels, the incorporation of QR codes into websites, or direct agent-to-customer video interactions to help streamline problem resolution.We know that making eye contact improves connections and promotes transparency (whether in company or in your personal life), so video is more than just a growing consumer expectation; it’s also a realistic business-improving tool for vendors. You should start using video voicemails right away, and if possible, scheduled appointments with consumers should include a face-to-face meeting.

Omni-channel service experience becomes customers’ expectationCustomers interact with your company in locations other than your physical storefronts. Customers can interact with your organisation via a variety of digital means, including social media, ecommerce, and third-party review sites.Because of this enhanced accessibility, there will be a greater demand for omni-channel experiences. Omni-channel support differs from multichannel support in that it syncs your communication channels so that your staff and customers may operate smoothly between them.

For example, rather than making clients to leave your social media page, your service team can answer to them wherever they are engaged with your company. If the issue cannot be resolved on one communication channel, your representatives can effortlessly switch the case to another medium where they can better help the consumer. This eliminates friction in the service experience because consumers do not have to log out of one interface merely to log back in to work on the same problem.
To accomplish this, link a help desk as a central inbox for all incoming client inquiries. As a result, regardless of where an inquiry gets online, your agents will use the same interface to speak with your customer base.

Advantages:

High business performance combined with on-the-spot customer service
Providing support in real time via voice and video chat
Obtain detailed information on the customer profile
Make yourself available through numerous channels

Real-time messaging is outpacing emailDoes it look like email as a customer communication tool has died, and live chat is thriving?In a nutshell, yes and no. Customers, like with a video, want you to be available at all times – and the majority of them prefer to communicate via chat rather than phone or email. Facebook Messenger as a support channel has propelled us forwards by light years! You may now communicate with businesses in real time, and Facebook will even show you their average response time (and if that responsiveness is poor, forget even engaging at all).This expectation of real-time message and response pervades other forms of media as well. Not only is it anticipated on Facebook Messenger or Slack (internally or with vendors), but all on-site chats and chat are expected to be real-time, 1:1, and authentic. That is a significant shift from the realm of asynchronous snail mail and subsequently email.
Because the world now runs in synchronous time, it might be worth to upgrade your communication technology and tactics while continuing to use email to send key documents and communications that your consumers will want to return to again and again.

Mobile channels are on the riseThe mobile channel is critical to customer success and the effectiveness of your customer service team. The resolution of difficulties over the phone is a good measure of customer satisfaction. It fosters consumer loyalty and a positive relationship with customers.Because of their usage of developing customer service trends, it is possible to conclude that customer service via mobile phones benefits your company.

Bots (and AI) help professionals, not substitute themMost ‘bots’ nowadays aren’t powered by artificial intelligence. They are branched, piecemeal logic displayed in a conversational user interface (similar to iMessage or Facebook Messenger) (UI). Bots are simply a different engagement mode for existing information, and they provide another option to engage with clients. Conversational UI is a terrific method for firms to appear to be on the cutting edge of innovation.Chatbots, when combined with automated workflows and AI, power round-the-clock self-service action. Quick and simple chatbots are a cost-effective way to address typical client queries. According to a CNBC article, the rise of chatbots is expected to save business expenditures by $8 billion by 2022. Over the next 10 to 25 years, this technology will continue to progress dramatically, and it will be capable of doing much more of what humans do today. It will be prudent for customer-facing teams to keep up with bot advancements and remain on the cutting edge in this area in order to give progressively better experiences at increasingly reduced prices.Bots and AI will revolutionise customer service, where reps spend nearly 90% of their time on the job repeating answers to the same inquiries and assisting clients with the same concerns.
What about the judgment-based issues that humans need to answer on the job? Machines can also learn, train, and teach. Reps will only have to deal with edge scenarios in the future where bots are unable to answer inquiries using a Knowledge Base or a previous history of consumer questions. When you make support content public in a Knowledge Base, a bot may learn and offer it to clients when they ask for it.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, the above-mentioned customer service trends have convinced you. A company with a customer-centric vision will undoubtedly help it stay in the game for a long time. The tools and customer service trends outlined above can help your company become more customer-focused, and your customer service can become a true differentiator for you.