1. Almost half of customers would pay more for great service: ACA Study

The 2023 ACA Study: Achieving Customer Amazement report surveyed 1,000 US residents from Gen Z to Millennials and found 47 per cent saying they would pay more if they knew they were going to receive great service. The report also found 41 per cent of respondents said that most companies fail to meet their customer service expectations.

2. Generative AI won’t replace human customer service, but it will transform it

The role of human customer service professionals will continue even as AI and large language models (LLMs) are applied to the field. An article in Harvard Business Review says some tasks, including “the arrangement of customer-facing environments and directing organizational operations, activities, and procedures”, will remain wholly human led, while some – such as processing payments – are likely to be wholly automated, and yet others will be augmented by AI.

3. ‘Connected rep’ strategy will improve contact centre efficiency by 30%
Contact centres can improve efficiency by 30 per cent by 2026 by enabling their customer service reps to make better use of technology to handle complex interactions, Gartner predicts. The so-called ‘connected rep’ strategy increases the value of interactions at scale while also helping to reduce talent recruitment challenges – contact centres currently report a median attrition rate of 25 per cent for customer service reps. “A dollar invested in rep technology is a dollar that stays when the rep leaves,” says Kathy Ross, senior director analyst in Gartner’s customer service and support practice.

4. Priorities for CX-focused companies in 2023

Over three-quarters (76 per cent) of executive leaders view CX as a priority, according to the latest Gartner research. The analyst recommends four areas for brands to prioritise in 2023: voice-of-the-customer programmes, end-to-end customer journeys, investment in CX tech and adopting a joined-up approach for building better experiences.

5. How AI is raising the bar for contact-centre-as-a-service

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been on the tech agenda for some time, but only recently has it become accessible for non-enterprises. In the latest Forrester Wave contact-centre-as-a-service (CCaaS) report, AI is cited as one of the game-changing technologies driving innovation in CCaaS solutions. AI can now perform better ‘conversations’ with customers, assist human agents and perform qualitative analytics on support interactions.

6. Focus on customer experience as prices rise and recession risk looms

The 2023 Consumer Trends Index makes essential reading for CX evangelists. The survey of 7,000 UK and European consumers found that, as the cost of living soars and recession looms, customers will increasingly focus on both the best prices and the best experiences. Above all, consumers value consistent, omnichannel experiences, responsible data processing, rewards for loyalty and personalised messaging.

7. 20% of customer service calls will soon be made by robots

By 2026, Gartner predicts that one-fifth of inbound customer service interactions will be made by machine customers – non-human actors that obtain goods and services on behalf of owners. Machine customers will be able to report issues and gather product information for their human owners. Gartner also predicts there will be 100 million customer service requests from smart products by 2024.

8. Customer service-related rage risks billions in future revenue: Survey

The latest National Customer Rage Survey found that, although US consumers’ anger with poor service from businesses is holding steady at 63 per cent, businesses are “risking $887 billion in future revenue due to mediocre complaint handling (up from $494 billion in 2020)”. “Defusing customer rage is not rocket science,” says Thomas Hollmann, executive director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. “Although many customers are looking for repairs or refunds, they’re also hoping for a sincere apology and acknowledgment of their complaints. These no-cost actions show that the company cares, is listening to the customer, and values them. It’s up to brands to communicate as humans with their customers. A sincere, ‘I’m sorry this happened,’ can turn a potential blowup into a lifelong customer.”

9. Organisations are shifting to emphasisis on customer lifetime value

Analyst house IDC reveals that, by 2024, 50 per cent of Asia-based companies with more than 1,000 employees will adopt customer data platforms (CDPs) as the enterprise customer data service for real-time customer interactions. These organisations are shifting from an emphasis on customer acquisition to building customer lifetime value and improving customer resilience.

10. Too many companies put the technology cart before the customer horse

Too many companies are implementing technology to improve customer experience before understanding what customers value, says a Harvard Business Review article written by two Gartner analysts. The authors make the case for considering customers before tech, emphasising that big data is no substitute for good data.