Consumers have higher expectations of customer service standards this year as compared to 2020. In today’s Tech News Tuesday episode, we’re talking about some top customer service trends you want to know about for 2021. Online chat, video, chatbots, and social media, among other trends— need to be a part of your customer service team this year.
Links in this episode: Top 10 Customer Service Trends You Need to Know for 2021
Transcript
Welcome to the Get Digital Marketing Results podcast where we give you information and actionable tips to grow your organization.
Bob: Hi, I’m Bob Clark.
Donna: And I’m Donna Botti. We’re with Delos Inc and we make the web work for you.
In today’s Tech News Tuesday episode we’re talking about an article from Jeff Bullas with some top customer service trends you want to know about for 2021.
Studies show that most consumers have higher expectations of customer service standards as compared to the previous year and this is largely driven because of the pandemic.
Bob: That’s right Donna. The article has ten trends, but we’re just going to highlight just a few of them.
First, real-time customer support has been important to consumers, who are worried about their deliveries, logistics, transportation, and of course, the quality of services.
So if you can offer a Live Chat option on your website, it’s a powerful tool to deliver exceptional support and service to your customers.
Donna: True, and live chat accompanied by AI or artificial intelligence powered chatbots, has become a powerful duo that can revamp your customer service standards and help you deliver exceptional support whether you’re open or not.
For example, you can set customer expectations by letting people choose frequently asked questions such as what are your current hours and automatically get the answer.
Chatbots can also assign the chat to a person who can answer the question.
AI-powered chatbots encourage self-help, lower ticket volume, automate the mundane and basic questions, allowing you to boost your productivity.
Bob: Social media is not going away any time soon, and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s one of the most powerful trends in customer service this year. These days, consumers are spending a lot more time on social media, browsing and shopping.
Use your social channels to respond to mentions of your business, answer customer questions, conduct polls and run contests, or thank your customers.
Customers have a more favorable view of brands that respond to customer complaints on social media too. Nearly one-third of shoppers have said they’ve used Facebook for customer service.
Donna: Another trend is video and streaming, while these have been very powerful choices in marketing, they’re also a great tool for customer service.
Video is preferred by many people for learning information. We’ve talked plenty about this in the past. Video helps you offer complex information in an accessible and easy manner, which translates to great customer service.
Use video, live streaming and Zoom type meetings for how-to’s, product unboxings, reviews, trouble-shooting tips, behind the scenes of your business, ask us anything sessions, and much more.
Bob: That’s it for today’s episode. You can find a link to the Jeff Bullas article with the other trends and a transcript of today’s podcast, at DelosInc.com/174.
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