Salesforce Research surveyed 12,000 consumers and 3,600 business buyers worldwide. Spurred by a global pandemic the likes of which society has not experienced in over a century, every facet of our personal and professional lives has changed. The customer-brand relationship is not immune from this tidal wave of change. Whether buying for themselves or on behalf of their businesses, customers’ seemingly overnight shift to digital-first lifestyles has implications that reach far beyond our current crises. Despite the change that has swept businesses and customers with unprecedented speed and scale, customer experience still reigns supreme as a key competitive differentiator. Four-fifths of customers place the same emphasis on flawless engagement as they do on product quality. Expanded methods of engagement including through digital channels are popular in a socially distant world, especially with younger generations.
Digital Channels Enhance the Customer Experience
Business who invest in hosted VoIP phone solutions can economically add omni channel capabilities to users who engage their clients. You may need 30 phones to run your business and lets say 5 of those engage clients on a regular basis. Our software Integration solutions allow you to give omni channel tools to a specified number of users to engage with your clients on your website, over text or via email. Those premium licenses can be added for less than $100 each giving your company the ability to connect with your clients anywhere they are. Business Wave surveyed over 1,000 global contact center decision-makers and found a trend among businesses moving towards self-service vs. agent-assisted channels — now 43 percent of businesses prefer to offer self-service channels, a 15 percentage point increase from 2019 with a corresponding decrease in those preferring agent-assisted channels for service. Many of your clients just want to pay their bill or some other interaction and they want to have the ability to do it online without interacting with an agent. Some customers just want learn more about your product or how to solve an issue without any pressure, chatting online gives them that ability.
Take a look at the findings from the Salesforce study. Notice that 73% of business buyers and 53% of consumers expect connected experiences. Those same groups agreed that the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services. 85% of business and 79% of consumers expect a great customer experience.
Like all relationships, those between customer and company need to be nurtured to reach their full potential. Great customer service doesn’t just benefit trust and engagement — it benefits the bottom line and can even restore lost trust.
