Four CX trends to watch this Customer Service Week

Marking Customer Service Week 2022, CX Network looks at four trends for CX practitioners to watch

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Emily Fowler
10/05/2022

Customer Service Week and CX Day both take place in the first few days of October – a time when budgets are refreshed and consumers are looking for festive fun and new deals.

As leaders and practitioners reflect on their commitment to service excellence and team achievements, CX Network reflects on the major trends shared by our network members this year.

Digitally enabled personalization is king

Identified as a top 10 trend by respondents in our Global State of CX 2022 survey, personalization is vital for engaging customers and delivering the best possible experience. The most effective way to achieve personalization? Digitally.

First-party data collected digitally gives organizations a 360-degree view of their customers with context and relevance, making it easier to personalize the customer experience. And as demand for hyper-personalization grows, those businesses that can offer it will stand out from their competition.

The bedrock of any personalization strategy is data, something that organizations are rich in when it comes to their customers. Yet not all are successful when it comes to harnessing it in the right way. Deciding what results you’re looking for before determining what data to utilize will be most valuable.

Carruthers and Jackson CEO Caroline Carruthers says: “Work out how you want to personalize CX before you start using first-party data.”

Don't underestimate self-service

According to our Global State of CX report, 52 percent of customers want a self-service option when interacting with a brand. And aside from fulfilling customer needs, there are plenty of benefits to the businesses that offer self-service — things like customer acquisition, for example. Many self-service tools are designed to educate new customers on how your product or service will make their lives easier.

It’s not just new customers, either. Self-service means your customers won’t have to wait for the right person to deal with their problems, so they’re more likely to stick around. Delivering a positive customer experience with powerful, innovative self-service portals gives customers more incentive to stay loyal and refer you to others. And while self-service functionality comes with an initial outlay, it reduces the cost of ongoing support.

Engage emotionally

Focusing solely on the rationalities of customer experience means you’ll be leaving something on the table. Yes, the technical aspect is important, but you must include the emotional aspects to deliver the most well-rounded customer experience. Combining customer feelings and emotions with a more analytical approach gives the best opportunity to deliver great CX.

When it comes to customer journey mapping, CX tech provider Quadient states: “The process of capturing what the customer is doing, thinking and feeling as they complete an interaction or transaction while attempting to achieve some goal or outcome. It is a visualization of the steps that the customer takes on the journey, from the moment they had a need until it is fulfilled.”

Connect at every opportunity

The fifth edition of Salesforce’s State of Service report shares that while 73 percent of customers expect the businesses they deal with to understand their unique needs, 56 percent find most businesses treat them as numbers. Building a connection that lets them know they’re not just a number is crucial in delivering excellent customer experience.

Organizations need to offer personalization and empathy at every point of the customer journey, connecting in such a way that they feel valued and not making them explain their needs to multiple different departments. The more you connect with them, and the higher quality those connections are, the more information you’ll gather to help you offer the best customer experience, and the more satisfied they’ll be with your business.