The Three Customer Service Megatrends In 2023 Customer Service Takes Its Rightful Place At The CX Table oO O-—— Summary Coren rss) Csecce cas anaoinone. ») (sour Customer Service Won't Be Taking The Back Seat This Year ‘As the world emerges ram the challenges of te pandemie, many brand tnd themselves out of ‘he fying pan ane int there 2s they face the economic criss of 2023. Ths makes the ole of Ike these, customer service organizations ar often pressures te cut cots, which ca lead t agent ‘tfehorng or coubing down on autotion Both aetons ean ensly rin the eustamer exoerionce 1m 2023, we wit undoubtedly hea that familar tune, but we will ase notice a geste focus on CX and a reluctance to rade shorter cost savings for customer lysty. The next year wil bean ‘oppertnty for customer service leaders to prove thelr CX elevanee,rettame the emneannel delvery or 2 new era, nd experiment with generation-efning Al{see Figure ‘The Tree CustorerSenvce Megetendsin 2023 1s‘That contact centers ate more epertonal han other departments nas long been used a 2 bac word — you're net going to get lone of customers through the queue wth good vibes slone Dlggest vers of CX quay and @ major continue nciesced somes lnaly and even, Wile 2023's eeanomie pressures wil encourage a cost-uting focus, savy bands wil ensure that ‘any cuts ate nota the expense of ther customers’ experience This yeer customer service leaders + Seekpre-service insight, vealed bo‘are about the Importance of activating the “dark data 9 often tappee within the conte! center But while technology nas stved to ave brands a eher view of thet customers, hiss 2 compettive eee that mest are stil10 stoed tw enjoy. Aer al customer service journeys dont rly startin the cantaet center — insights reguding customers’ experiences with your aredues, matketing programs, anelacatons ae key to elvenng efectve service, Some vendor solstone offer an insights bridge between ‘Quotes andl Medalla ae bridging CX and custome sence. Wile we dont expect 2023 to bring widesprea sla destruction though one ean dream), orwaréstinking brands are {osterng new nteteepartnentlieneships inthe name of better custome’ understeneing — + Sinete evlceble cerend. For years, containment has been the name ofthe game fr reducing contact center demand Brands have simed t iden “aulomalabe” intents — eval those that are deemed fow value tothe business — and drive those trough sl service. But the contacs on’ eve vale forthe customer ether then why are they happening at a? Untortunatey i's aot easier for custome” service teams to make changes ‘tat ft squarely n their “urisceven” e.g, working to improve interactve voice response [VR] ‘wate ther than deve upstesm Inpravements. 5 2023, we villsee service teams len on thei new interdepartental alles and investin technology that aciclostes the customers neo to eve better outcomes for both partes ‘Acerowdenge fe fee ichotomy of costs. CX When the economy suters, customer service teams are put under intense pressure te co mare with less, Deep cost euting often happens atthe expense ofthe customer experience, providing short-term savings and long cestemely high concurrency mits in chat. Bu the choice between good customer service ‘experiences and cost savings es false one, 2023, ands will embrace ststogies tht sts both goals. Bish Gas offers a “Le” alan that proves energy cost savings to business customers whe are good with cigtalonly suppor jeppselservice and Wve chat in ceuchonge for forgoing inpetson ond phone supert [see Figure 2). Branes thet fie opportunities to cve mutual value fr their customers and hel botor line wil enjoy the ‘isn Ges Ofes Energy Cost Saves Are De}Chly Support 218,Service Gets A Resolution-Centered Reset Innovative brands continue tose end ese the baseline for wel goed engagement ees tke, leaving customers ceappointec vith anything less ther ques tows “omnichannel transformation’ mst brands fall short eering 2 grab bag of esi channels fe with ‘rutting fiction point 6uch as transfers between channels ahd people) and missing resolutions 1m 2023, he focus wil hit from channel easing to dentivng the ight peopl, teemnelngy, ane channels to sats customets neressingly complex needs across 2 muttude af hye touchpoins. Customer service leaders shoulé expect + Resoluion efeciveress to cre crarnel strategy, New ctl channels are easier than ever to deploy, and many brards have been working fo increase channel offerings with the goal of meeting customers in thet channel of choice. Channel strategies tend ott focus on channel resolton: 2 customer escalating from chatbot to chat agent often doesnt “eaunt saint rst-contat resolution. Customers dont want te pass though more gees; they went beter resolutions, fewer transfers, and more seamless management of her nteracons In 2023, customer sence leaders vill stop collecting channels. Irstea, they fcus on refining ther ehannel strategy te orchestate sEmited set base on customer preference process complexe, and Inchannel eseuton Brands should audt what channels theyre arent offering for planning to offer ane cross-reference wth ease ofesolttion. One US Investment im offers callbacks for customers whe have questions about opening ust accounts, 3s chathas proven toe onerous for this type of nquiy. + Dita to become syrerymaus with asyrchrorous, As digital contact center vencors ‘modernize thei pltforms, mary are sbandoning thelr synchronous Ive ena reat ane pushing elents (ead or net to toke the asynetveneus messaging plunge: Many brends heve rotben ready andhave struggled to a¢apt thelr ve chat bes: aractces to this new pace of engegement is major ope jonl departure, as the best asynchronous experiences theyre good to require that orang follow the customers lead And customers are reaey aluth brands just aot anyshe-s assuming thay need help) 2023 wll see more brands ting to he asynchronous occaslon. But rans should approach this space wth a testand lear atuce, Best practices — though is litle to early to eather that —are sill too dependent on things lke vendor aletfom and channelte be considered entvely“set™ + Service to get troacer defritcr. Customer neces sre fen complex ane vie, reguing & range of expertise and ski across severalhybri touchaeints. Asa result customer services‘ust ake are to shel customers Frm internal complex ane ensure seamless transitions betoen parelpants. ile service representatives with eccess to CRM ota en understand customer preferences and history to delver more personalized sevice, and remote elagnostic facing ommunieatons ~ apps ike UberEsts have tained us to expectbeter han & Al Deployments Balance Risks And Rewards Wile we don't expect that change in 2023, ts ab diferent hs tme. Why? Large language ‘models LLM) have ignited the enters imagination forcing leaders across al enterprise ‘unctons to conscer how generative Alli nto ther adniaos, Many customer secvice teams wile seduced by the containment potenti! of generative bats and wil spon s'gnieant me, ‘energy, ene resources tobe rst to this party, ssi the many sks this technology held or ‘consumer acing use cases. However, cooler heads wil prevalfr some brands whose ‘exoerimentalions wih generative Al willbe focused an diving employee-acing value. These ‘companies wil ivest in sslable soktions hat orve employee consistency eficency. ang + LLMs wl not make el chats betes. n the past decade, some brands have leaned the hard ‘way that conversatonal Alls magie Good design and thought deployment practices are reauired fo success with conversational sel sevice solutions. Ne mater how much buzzit ‘tnoughiless deployment of generetve Aare mich highe:. Generative models bring ther own success wth generative Al see below wil net ben consumer-facing use cases (spite vendor chin Unfortunately, 2028 wil bring 8 refocus on catbot-as-costsavior. bu ike 50 mary times before tis isa misguided effort at east in seller. We're nol pleased to have to sayitagan, but stoa ning to tealace your agents wth chats! Cost savings wll care fom aucrranteibers Brands that nave aFeady spent significant ime snd resoures optimising their entbots and natural Innguage IVRs might find themselves {acing an automation plstesu somewhere around 40% to SOX contalnment. Could you dive ‘that number higher? Maybe. But further investments may yell dminshing returns. In 2023, brands wilinsteadlook to solitons that augment contact center enployees to eve atonal cost savings, Brands will deploy augmented quality rentarng (AGH) solutions to Imgrove perormance visibility and reduce the human efor of manually scoring cll. They ill ofthis new technology than consumer fecing chalets. Many venders, fr example, ae fering generative summaries of agent after-calnotes to drve significant cost savings va reduced average handle tine ane imaroved llzaion. + Koewlecge enagerent will uncerin success for auteration ns Al. Mos! brands today dea! th bot cutter muttple sted chatbot implementations slvng fr discrete use eases. Beyond he clatter theless obvious downside ofthis esign isthe sloee, fragmented knowledge repositories to which thete chatbots are connected, These repositories are creating knowledge cuter. Ths unittngly creates the neee fr manvalintevention to rsintain knowledge ane information Integy. That mueh human lager puts any ROI rom a8‘rouledge management and investin creating & single source oftuth THis wil neice the design and deployment of comprehensive mnowledge bese or both hutnan and automated support channels. Diferentiationwilleome from the ability transform longer knewlecge sills into contex-appropriste formats, Sxpecthighmaturty vendors to leverage generate ‘Alto stgntsnty reduce the manus efor of clestng ane malntaiing kneslegge bases and te leverage summarization techniques to repurpose exiting knowleege for mulpl purposes