[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/12\/08\/customer-experience-in-2021\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/12\/08\/customer-experience-in-2021\/","headline":"Power Up: Expert Tips to Supercharge Your CX in 2021","name":"Power Up: Expert Tips to Supercharge Your CX in 2021","description":"What does customer experience in 2021 look like? Industry experts detail the trends and requirements they expect to be most important. ","datePublished":"2020-12-08","dateModified":"2021-12-06","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/stephanie-thum\/#Person","name":"Stephanie Thum","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/stephanie-thum\/","identifier":334,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05bbc9017e3f89b9d6d4846c0cf0828093f534181adceca83e1773c2378f6385?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05bbc9017e3f89b9d6d4846c0cf0828093f534181adceca83e1773c2378f6385?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/FCEE069_Recharge_HB.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/FCEE069_Recharge_HB.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/12\/08\/customer-experience-in-2021\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]}],"wordCount":1125,"keywords":["2021 Trends","Customer Experience | CX","Retail Trends"],"articleBody":"Show of hands, who\u2019s ready for a CX recharge? (Really, though. As this year comes to a close, who doesn\u2019t need a recharge?) What will customer experience in 2021 look like? What are the priorities that make sense for your business?There are more options than ever for companies that want to kick it up a notch in 2021. What could that look like?Customer experience in 2021: What the experts have to sayI asked some of my trusted CX colleagues around the world, “What is the one tool, tip, or technology that customer experience leaders should take with them into 2021?”Their answers give some great insights into what comes next.Digital still reigns supreme when it comes to customer experience in 2021\u201cWith the rise in digital usage due to the pandemic, customers have irrevocably changed their expectations of us, even while the customer experience we deliver is often still lagging. To adapt, private and public sector leaders should focus on the digital customer experience\u2014from gathering insights from all customer touchpoints including social and search listening, to improving content discovery via SEO, to optimizing digital usability for all target ages and demographics. Great digital CX is no longer tomorrow\u2019s innovation; it\u2019s a current imperative.\u201d\u2014Michele Bartram\u2013Customer Experience Officer, U.S. Census Bureau\u201cInvest in streamlining to achieve fully digital processes. The pandemic has highlighted big gaps in processes everywhere, across all sectors. Shoring up customer service with extra call center staff isn\u2019t the answer long-term. If customers have to call you, they\u2019ve encountered a problem they can\u2019t resolve themselves, which means your digital processes aren\u2019t good enough. Digital will save you time and money and make customers happy.\u201d\u2014Kathleen O\u2019Brien\u2014Global Industry Expert, Public Sector, Customer Experience, SAPMove into continuous messaging\u201cIn 2021, businesses will need to build a messaging presence on digital channels, allowing customers to interact on their terms, when they are available, without having to repeat themselves. Don\u2019t confuse this with live chat. Messaging means having a real-time, persistent, asynchronous, sessionless exchange. Messaging must be enabled via SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or any other app, providing a modern, personalized, and convenient conversational experience.\u201d\u2014Lu\u00eds Melo, CCXP\u2014Senior Manager, Solutions Architect EMEA, ZendeskDig into the data\u201cFocus on data to drive your business decisions. No matter where you are along your CX maturity path, or which industry\/sector you are in, recruit a couple of smart data analytics folks to dig into your customer feedback and behavior data, develop, or improve your prediction models. Then, start sharing data-driven customer stories with leadership and all employees, so that better decisions can be made.\u201d\u2014Michelle Batt, CCXP\u2014 Customer Experience Leader, Speaker & Workshop Facilitator, Lead with CXFocus on employees is a must for customer experience in 2021\u201cEngaging employees should be a priority. 2020 has been an incredible challenge for employees who have dealt with new work environments, new assignments, new anxieties, and even unexpected searches for new work. Business leaders can make a big difference for their employees and their organization through new levels of attention, listening, authenticity, integrity, and care.\u201d\u2014Patrick Gibbons, CCXP\u2014Principal and SVP of Marketing, Walker Information\u201c2020 caused employee fatigue on a variety of fronts. Some employees are working while educating, entertaining and\/or worrying about their kids catching COVID. Other employees are handling the pandemic alone or adjusting to moving in with family. In 2021, leaders should focus on enhancing the employee experience by identifying and streamlining cumbersome processes, empowering employees to identify and implement process improvements, and emphasize collaboration, as working virtually can hinder innovation.\u201d\u2014Brian Whittaker\u2014Director of Design and Development, Consumer Financial Protection BureauYou can't have a successful business without happy employees.The employee experience is crucial to every aspect of organizational success. Discover our content dedicated to employee engagement, mental health, well-being, and trends. From dealing with professional stress to HR to posts that will make you laugh, we\u2019ve got it all HERE.\u201cThink about change management and how work gets inside your organization. Build your customer understanding efforts to include a broad cross-functional team who can make the changes to improve the customer experience. For example, when designing a future state customer experience vision, involve the departments that will enable the future state \u2013 so they can own the initiatives.\u201d\u2014Nicole Newton, CCXP\u2014B2B Practice Leader, Heart of the CustomerUnderstand cybersecurity, or risk it all\u201c2020 changed the way we work and how we manage our customer, employee, citizen, student, and patient experiences. Many of us had to pivot to running businesses online, including expanding IT systems to accommodate staff working from home. New risks have opened up. Those risks include threats to customer trust, churn, and business reputation. It\u2019s never been more important to expand your peripheral vision as a CX leader and understand cybersecurity.\u201d\u2014Anita Siassios, CCXP\u2014Founder and Managing Director, Managing CXLeadership lessons: Identify true CX professionals\u201cFor those organizations savvy enough to focus on customer experience as a key driver of their business success, it is critical to identify true CX professionals to lead these efforts. The CCXP (Certified Customer Experience Professional) designation is a key indicator of experience and competence in the field and can help identify those who will work as cross-functional catalysts to achieve goals. Organizations must also invest wisely in their technology and tools, but the top priority should be ensuring the right person is leading the charge and guiding these decisions.\u201d\u2014Gabe Smith, CCXP\u2014Content Leader, Customer Experience Professionals AssociationPurpose, politics, and preference: Customers will expect businesses to align with their values\u201cThis year we\u2019ve experienced significant cultural, political, economic, and public health changes, and we\u2019re already seeing the effects of those changes in nearly every element of society. In 2021, successful businesses and governments will be those that anticipate, study, understand, and respond to these changes.\u201d\u2014Catherine Jeppsen, Ph.D., CCXP \u2014Customer Experience Principal Consultant, QualtricsJust do it!\u201cI regularly see leaders struggle with \u2018where to start\u2019 in improving their digital or customer experience. The perfect plan is less important than the momentum of beginning the journey. Pick the tool or service that is most used\/most broken\/most expensive to support\/most critical for your users \u2013 just start small, learn, and focus on impact.\u201d\u2014Marcy Jacobs, Associate Partner, McKinsey and Company.Cheers to the new year, friendsIn the new year, the needs of customers will undoubtedly continue to evolve. Doing the same things as last year means businesses will fall behind. The new year is a great time to reflect, recharge, adjust, and make decisions about how you\u2019re going to level-up your customer experience in 2021.Ready for 2021?Join our experts and find out!\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"08","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/12\/\/08\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Power Up: Expert Tips to Supercharge Your CX in 2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/12\/08\/customer-experience-in-2021\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]