Best customer service brands 2023: A bear market shows its teeth
The brands with the best customer service in 2023 are great examples – but a down economy may lead to service cuts.
Across industries, businesses have made customer experience a priority. At the same time, they’re struggling with ongoing inflation, market volatility, and global unrest. How do you deliver the best CX amid so many business challenges?
The CX trends in 2023 revolve around elevating the role of customer service for deeper connections with customers:
- Customer service is baked into corporate culture
- Self-service goes mainstream
- Personalized experiences
- Service is the new sales
CX trend 2023: Service is everyone’s job
There was a time when customer service and customer experience used to be separate. That’s no longer the case, especially after the pandemic. Service is now an integral part of CX.
Leading organizations understand that customer service isn’t a department. It’s a philosophy to be embraced by everyone in the organization, from the CEO to the most recently hired.
That means customer service touches many other areas – not just what has traditionally been referred to as the customer service department. Smart companies recognize that service (taking care of both internal and external customers) and CX are found in virtually all areas of business. It’s baked into the organization’s culture.
Customer service trends 2023: From ashes of uncertainty, service rises
In 2023, customer service will remain a corporate priority as organizations incorporate new tech and approaches to improve service and keep customers happy.
Help customers help themselves
Our CX research indicates that 70% of customers are willing to use digital or self-service tools, making it a top CX trend in 2023.
The success criteria is based on two things:
- The automated experience must be easy and intuitive.
- It must work. If the automation fails, there must be a seamless and easy way to transition to human support.
The phone is still the customer’s preferred communication channel, but if you “teach” them there’s an option that can give them the answers they need quickly and easily, you’ll see more customers going digital first.
Great customer service results in best in suite CX, full stop.
Why self-service is critical to the future of CX
Convenience and time are the most important commodities in the experience economy. That's why self-service is critical to the future of customer experience.
CX in 2023: All about personalization
Customers today not only want personalized experiences, they expect them. Simply put, customers expect you to know them. This goes beyond when they call for customer support, although that’s an excellent place to personalize CX.
Agents must be equipped with knowledge of the customer, their buying patterns, what they’ve needed help with in the past, and more. That’s highly individualized personalization.
In marketing, we personalize based on personas, where we group our customers into buckets and send marketing messages and information that are appropriate for a larger group. Many companies have five or ten different personas.
Finally, there’s personalization in sales. The more information you have on your customers, the more likely you’ll deliver exactly what they want based on their history with your company. While salespeople should still ask questions and practice traditional selling techniques, the ability to personalize the experience with more than just a name is powerful.
Imagine if salespeople, the marketing team, and customer support agents had access to all this information (and more) to help them create a better customer experience. The results would be amazing.
Oh, the humanity… and AI: The best in the biz dish on the top customer service practices + trends HERE.
From cost center to revenue generator
Customer service has often been viewed as a cost center. But the customer support center should be renamed the revenue generation center, at least internally.
When customers need help, and we take care of them, they start to trust the company. That could get them to come back next time. When we know who they are, they feel they are known, understood, and appreciated. And when there is trust and an emotional connection, customers are wiling to take suggestions from the agent, opening the door to renewals, cross-selling and even upsells.
That means that with the proper training, our traditional customer support people can become an extension of the sales team.
Consider the revenue-generating and growth possibilities. Your business could be unstoppable.
