Customer Experience Trends in 2018

It’s now common knowledge that Customer experience (CX) is pivotal for the success of any business. The need to keep up with the latest CX trends in the industry to retain and acquire customers can feel like an overwhelming challenge. As technology continues to change the face of how we engage with customers, questions remain about what the future of customer engagement will look like. Will A.I. take over the jobs of customer service agents? Are chatbots really ready for prime-time? Can one really trust chat bots to know exactly what they want? Do these advanced technologies enhance the customer experience? Let’s look at some the trends that I believe will impact CX strategies this year.

Customer Service is Gone

Well, at least what we define and understand it today. As we move into 2018, we are going to see brands realize the importance of Customer Experience, and its impact. Pioneering brands, deliver exceptional experiences to their customers, and earning customer loyalty – a model that helps lead to long-term profitability. Through personalized customer service, businesses can have an edge over the competition, and distinguish themselves - helping them grow over time by generating higher customer value and building stronger customer relationships.

There will be More Ways to Engage, Not Less

The market is rife with talks of complete elimination of engagement channels such as the Contact centers and e-mails but their elimination is not in the offing…. at least not yet. Overall, the level of engagements are on the rise as customers choose channels based on what is most convenient to them. One can only expect more channels of engagement in 2018, for e.g. messaging.

Integration of Automation Technologies

As Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Technologies continue to gain attention, companies are still trying to answer lot of questions including - How hard are these technologies to implement with legacy systems. Are the benefits real? How long until we see value? Unequivocally, there is going to a surge in investment on these technologies in 2018, as almost 70% of Indian firms are expected to deploy AI by 2020[1]. As more and more use cases come to light and pilot programs start delivering ROI, there will be increased adoption of these technologies as they mature. With the change being from reactive automation to proactive, we will see an increase in sales conversion from a service interaction. While a significant number of AI deployments in 2017 were isolated the bar has now been raised, and the onus is on companies to ensure frictionless transitions between AI and human agents. Research also reveals that AI could add $957 billion, to the Indian economy by changing the nature of work to create better outcomes for businesses and society.

A.I. Will Not Replace Humans

We’ve been hearing a lot about the impact that A.I. is going to have on the human job market, with the predominant fear being that it could take jobs away from human agents. While the role of human agents will change, they are not by any means going to be replaced. The approach will change from “Human enabled, Technology assisted” to “Technology assisted, Human enabled” fundamentally changing the way AI will impact the customer experience. While bots will be able to offload lower-value, repetitive queries, brands will need humans to focus on providing higher value customer interactions. Newer skill sets and training will be needed to take up these roles, as they will become more challenging, with a commensurate increase in the value addition on offer.

A.I. solutions will help simplify work processes for overburdened agents, and companies that have implemented A.I. solutions quickly have realized the potential of this. However, the hybrid approach – where A.I. is used to support the agent - will be the most successful one. A.I. technology empowers the customer by giving them the tools to self-serve, as and when they require, and the agent benefits from customer insights that A.I. can provide to offer a more personalized experience. Various Indian brands have already begun rolling out chatbots in a bid to improve customer relations as companies see higher conversion to sales. The learning bots are providing companies with useful insights to help drive more business. Many companies in India for e.g. Haptik, ICICI Bank, SBI have already deployed A.I.-based chatbots and more companies will soon follow suit. Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR) Technology Could Move Beyond the Hype

The potential for AR and VR to be “the next big thing” in customer engagement is there, but for it to be truly valuable it needs to be viewed as a fully functioning channel and not a separate experience. For example, if a retailer is using the technology to show a potential customer how they can set up furniture in a room, but don’t have a seamless way to buy the furniture or ask questions about it, it becomes much less valuable for the customer. While the technology is undeniably cool, and we expect it to become more mainstream, improper integration into the customer experience journey, will result in it becoming a fad, rather than a valuable investment that will drive new customer value and incremental revenue for the company. Its impact on CX however, remains to be seen.

As technology continues to change the way we interact with each other, how brands engage with their customers will gain more significance in purchase and brand loyalty decisions. Now, more than ever, brands must look to technology to help them deliver the types of personalized and meaningful customer experiences that drive customer advocacy and long-term growth.

Rahul Sharma
Managing Director, LogMeIn India