Companies across all industries are well aware that, in today’s market, customer experience stands as their primary differentiator. Let’s face it, we are coming out of an era where bad customer service could simply be swept under the carpet – but today, when customers are making buying decisions they expect the brand to deliver value from the first interaction, to the purchase decision and beyond.
This undoubtedly means that the customer experience will continue to be front and center in 2014. What will change in 2014 is that organizations will have a much deeper understanding of what customer experience means. This deeper understanding will drive companies to have a higher level of precision and dependency on the trends generated from Big Data, multi-channel interactions and mobility. Companies that harness the knowledge assets of their organization will have the upper hand in 2014.
- Multi-channel: Let’s take a look at the multi-channel experience. Traditional and social channels are now considered one channel in terms of the collection and delivery of content. There’s no longer a debate about which one is better than the other; it’s about how to utilize all channels to ensure the customer is getting what they need. And what customers need is contextually relevant content delivered to them when and where they need it, regardless of the source.
- Mobility: Mobility will play a big role in 2014 and beyond, as customers are no longer tied to a single platform. Everything from BYOD to major advancements in cloud solutions has given them a level of flexibility well beyond the traditional platforms. While physical mobility is a major leap forward, the bigger aspect that mobility brings into 2014 is information on demand. Consumers want their answers now! They expect instant interactions, whether it is a relevant offer or an answer to a customer service query.
- Big Data: Big Data is now recognized as just…well, data. We can now more easily handle larger volumes of data, and it can be collected faster. But data is still data. In 2014, leveraging all of Big Data’s physical advancements will allow organizations to complete quicker trend analysis, see a broader range of content, and most importantly, make all of this content relevant to what the customer is asking. End users don’t care how technology makes this process easier, they just care that relevant information was delivered when needed.
When it comes to customer service in 2014, what tool and/or strategy is at the top of your mind?
