Customer experience management has taken on a radically new outlook in the post-pandemic era. The new normal has stormed into our lives, uninvited, leaving its overwhelming presence in every sphere of business. In 2021, we’re seeing the norms of customer service change, as new customer experience insights, practices, and trends emerge from out of the blue.
The world has undergone a rapid transition and all things offline have transported online. The influx of digitalization and a rapid need for the internet as a prerequisite to operate in daily life has impacted customer expectations greatly. With health gaining the utmost priority and consequently contactless technology gaining momentum, doorstep or remote services have increased immensely. Companies are required to invest in items such as sanitizers, PPE kits, and masks to carry out their day to day tasks. These have become an essential part of customer experience management in 2021.
The definition of customer experience, too, has been evolving; even in the pre-pandemic era, the focus has always been on ‘instant convenience’. ‘Instant’ refers to customers’ desire to have their products delivered as promptly as possible. ‘Convenience’ indicates the need for cautious yet efficient execution. As digital picks up on the nuances of customer experience management, the concept of a physical market is slowly abating. This is especially true in sectors like automobile and retail where experience runs the show.
The onus lies in the hands of every company, to come up with an innovative yet viable solution to manage changing customer expectations. For instance, did you know that by 2021, 85% of customer service will be automated? Companies need to evaluate how these changes stand to impact their customer base and how they can keep customers engaged while differentiating their services from those of their competitors.
The pandemic has had an extreme impact on our social fabric. Human beings – the celebrated social beings that we are – are forced to diminish their networks and limit their interactions to digital platforms. This has been a tall order and the effects of isolation on us, as a society, have been obvious. Evidently, customers are going through a lot. Brands that resonate with their emotional makeup and improvise ways to keep them productively involved on the platforms of their choice are bound to win their solidarity. For example, how big is your company on social commerce – a breaking trend in the e-commerce world?
Companies have been trying to extend their outreach and broaden their horizons when it comes to what customers want in the new normal. They have been trying to become more proactive – inviting them to their podcasts or webinars, expanding their presence on social media platforms, inculcating altruism and social wellbeing into their messaging, and so on. The pandemic has also suddenly increased customer focus on certain industries, giving them their “big break”. One example is the heightened interest in autonomous vehicles, and a stronger push to bring them to practical reality. Read up on how customer experience trends have been influencing the automobile sector.
Most importantly, companies are also trying to fill the void caused by the loss of human interaction through greater personalization. The pandemic has made its mark in the hearts and minds of customers as a time of great struggle and strife. In such a time, the practice and advocacy of instant customer feedback to evaluate how a company is doing and see how customers are faring is most welcome.
The pandemic has forced companies to appreciate customers for their more “human” characteristics. These traits must be acknowledged and understood so that they can be used appropriately by companies to keep pace with the changing face of customer experience. The role of customer feedback surveys in accomplishing this cannot be overstated. Tools like Dropthought provide the hardware for gathering customer feedback through multiple touchpoints – kiosks, apps, e-mail, and more – and then analyzing the feedback for valuable insights.
If you’re interested in incorporating actionable insights into your daily operations, get in touch with Dropthought to request a demo today.