Expert IDs Pain Points for CS, CX

Businesses Trying to Ease Customer Service

Pain and friction points in the digital space are top of mind of businesses throughout the online space. Many are trying to match up physical store experiences with online, but with people shopping more and constantly demanding more in terms of service, many brands worry about falling short. 

“CX and CS teams are up against a lot of challenges. First and foremost, customers today have higher expectations and standards than ever before. They expect personalized, immediate and effortless resolutions across an increasing number of channels, day and night. This comes at a time when there is more ticket volume, which is expected to grow an additional 3X this year,” said Puneet Mehta, Founder & CEO, Netomi. LINK – http://www.netomi.com

Customer Service Departments Shrinking

A lack of employees within the customer service space is one of the main pain points. “For these teams, rising customer expectations and more tickets to close comes at a time when there is a stretched labor pool. It’s estimated there are 25% fewer agents now than before the pandemic, and for the companies that can fill their seats, there is constant turnover. Support agents have one of the highest attrition rates of any industry, around 45%,” said Mehta. 

Another pain point: the experience. The pandemic fundamentally changed how many consumers shop, and what they expect from brands at every point in their customer journey. Consumers today was immediate contact and support, making it difficult for many brands. 

“Most brands today are considered high-trust brands. These companies have to obsess over building and growing customer trust. It can be easily depleted following one bad interaction and the impact can last forever. To build, maintain and grow customer trust, they need to provide personalized, always-available 1:1 interactions at scale,” said Mehta. “In the pandemic era, customer preferences and expectations have changed, as so many aspects of our lives have shifted to the digital realm. If customer expectations for effortless and immediate support are not met, they are quick to abandon a brand and go to a competitor. Customer experience is now a key way that companies are competing, in line with cost and quality, and has a direct impact on revenue.”  

What can businesses do to retain and keep engaged their customer service staff? We’ll chat more with Mehta later this week and tackle that subject.