The Future of the Contact Center:
Key Predictions for 2019
Key Predictions for 2019
The Future of the Contact Center:
Key Predictions for 2019
Key Predictions for 2019
IN 2019,
technologies will continue to evolve and companies will become wiser to growing and changing customer demands. Here are four key predictions for the year ahead.
Prediction #1
The Fragmented Customer Experience Will Come to a Breaking Point
Kris McKenzie, Senior Vice President & General Manager for EMEA, Calabrio
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the entire business landscape. Gartner predicted that in 2018, AI would create more jobs than it eliminates, and in 2020 it will become a positive net job motivator, creating half a million new jobs. The link between digital transformation and the customer experience is an imperative—and 2019 will be the breaking point.
As companies implement new AI-driven technologies such as chatbots and voice search, they neglect to think about the impact on the customer experience. Customers will become increasingly frustrated with the lack of human interaction and a fractured customer journey as businesses struggle to tie together channels. Customers expect to seamlessly switch from self-service options on web and mobile to chat, email or phone.
Businesses should take a step back, plan customer-centric technology implementations and consider how it ties into the whole customer journey. To win, they must offer customers the right mix of new technology and traditional service. This includes maintaining the human touch by making it easy to access the best person for more complex issues.
Calabrio Customer Quote
“Artificial intelligence will take on a bigger role in the contact center. Advanced data analytics that reveal powerful voice-of-the-customer insights will create huge possibilities for personalizing the customer journey.”
Gerben Van Eekeler
Senior IT Architect, Rabobank
Key Findings from “Are You Listening? The Truth About What Customers Want in a Digital World”
48% of consumers said they are more loyal when they can get a hold of a company quickly and easily.
58% of consumers believe that picking up the phone and talking to a representative is the way to get the best and most efficient service, they prefer different methods depending on what they’re trying to accomplish:
Prediction #2
Better Reporting Solutions Will Close the Analytics Gap
Tom Goodmanson, President & CEO, Calabrio
“Companies know they must adapt to change in order to grow and stay relevant, but they aren’t relying on enough data to inform change. In 2018, we discovered a discrepancy between the value executives place on analytics and the extent to which data is actually analyzed.
We surveyed 1,000 executives and found that while nearly all agree that data and analytics are integral to informing sales and marketing changes, more than half of them currently rely on only one data point—such as revenue figures or social media interactions—to inform decisions. They aren’t getting to voice-of-the-customer data to understand what their customers want.
In 2019 this will change. IDC estimates enterprises will spend in excess of $2 trillion on digital transformations in 2019. Companies who lead successful change initiatives will do so by implementing omnichannel analytics from the contact center to get to the root of what customers want. Improvement of data integration and reporting across the business will give the C-suite easier access to the data and knowledge needed to fully optimize customer experiences.”
Key Findings from “Business Transformation and Analytics Report: Driving Change in a Customer-Centric World”
85% of executives agree data and analytics are important to informing sales and marketing changes.
39% said they rely too heavily on one data point to inform decisions. Broken down further we found 63 percent of CMOs and 65 percent of CIOs rely on one data point.
In Addition, a Recent Calabrio Customer Survey Found
Nearly 33% said internal data and analytics will drive change in 2019.
43% said they’ll use contact center data to get an accurate view of their customers.
Calabrio Customer Quote
“We have to evolve the definition of “voice of the customer.” We work on assumptions a lot of the time which creates wasted time and effort. Without diving into analytics and getting in front of the customer we’re missing out on golden opportunities to grow our business as customer needs evolve.”
Christine Kolbeson
Senior IT Manager, Rackspace
Prediction #3
Companies Will Learn the Art of Listening
Rebecca Martin, Chief Marketing Officer, Calabrio
“In the midst of what many call the fourth industrial revolution in which digital, physical and biological worlds are colliding, companies must consider the impact technology has on the customer experience.
While consumers expect a quality product for a reasonable price, they also want an emotional tie to a brand, and that comes through a human connection.
2019 will see companies finally learn the art of listening by developing a strategy that engages customers in the right way, at the right time and on the right channel. Leveraging analytics, smart companies will monitor the entire customer journey across channels to ensure a consistent experience that drives loyalty.”
Key Findings from “Are You Listening? The Truth About What Customers Want in a Digital World”
What drives customers to be loyal to a company?
Recent Calabrio Survey Pointed to the Human Connect:
79% think interacting with a human versus a chatbot or digital self-service channel (e.g. email, Twitter) is an important part of good customer service/the customer experience.
71% of respondents confirmed emotion will be a more important part of the customer experience in 2019.
Calabrio Customer Quote
“In order to meet the needs for the modern-day customer, businesses will need to show more empathy and connect on a human level with their customers.”
Juliet Robinson
Operations Analyst, Credit Union of Colorado
Prediction #4
Companies Will Undo the Channel Chaos They Created
Matt Matsui, Chief Product Officer, Calabrio
Every year we hear a new statistic about the growing number of customer touchpoints, whether customers are communicating with companies using instant messenger, the latest smart home device or one of the ever-expanding self-service options. When it comes to customer experience technology, companies often think more must be better. But there’s a catch.
In our recent report, The Danger of Digital, we found that 58 percent of companies have a set process to follow to add a new communication channel. It’s so easy to add new options that, in the rush to adopt, companies are failing to understand how they will affect the entire customer experience. While many have channel-specific implementation strategies, they often lack a coordinated strategy across channels—and the result is a fragmented customer journey.
To mitigate channel chaos in 2019, companies will take a step back and finally lay the right groundwork for omnichannel success. Not only will they audit existing channels to understand which options customers prefer, they’ll apply analytics to determine which channels are most effective. Additionally, companies will enact quality assurance metrics across all channels—not just on the phone. With these cross-channel insights, organizations will gain a firm understanding of customer preferences and create a complete view of the customer journey, making it easier for customers to move between channels or be transferred to a live representative.
From there, they can use analytics to extract critical insights that will help them adapt hiring and training strategies to ensure a consistent customer experience. With this integrated approach, companies will finally deliver on customers’ expectations and drive key insights across the organization.”
Key Findings From “The Danger of Digital”
93% of companies think it’s important to provide a seamless, quality experience across all channels, yet only 45 percent believe they are effective at delivering that experience.
Calabrio Customer Quote
“Ensuring that your customers receive a consistent experience whether they visit in person, reach you via phone or a digital self-service channel will be a key differentiator for contact centers in 2019.”
Kate Gosewich
Technical Support Supervisor, Vantage West Credit Union
IN 2019,
technology will continue to drive customer expectations. Consumers expect a seamless experience at every interaction point and companies will be expected to deliver on it. That means businesses must work smarter to understand what customers want. By analyzing customer insights to drive business decisions, and developing the right mix of digital and personal connections, companies can deliver on their brand promise.
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