Why Digital-First Customer Service is a CX Must-Have
As we enter 2022, we must reflect on how the digital-first experiences of the last two years have redefined our future. Based on increased demand, businesses are meeting customers in the digital realm more than ever and seeking to offer a service experience that respects the individual behind the screen.
Consumers fundamentally haven’t changed—they want their service needs met as fast as possible. However, what has changed is the extent to which consumers have embraced the ease and convenience of engaging online. Doing business online can provide service at unprecedented speeds, which more and more consumers are expecting and demanding.
What drives customer satisfaction?
Customer satisfaction is naturally a top priority of businesses, and determining exactly what satisfies customers takes data. This data can be reliably obtained using the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) metric.
We surveyed over 4,500 businesses and analyzed 107 million customer interactions to understand the key drivers of customer satisfaction and found that speed of service had the highest impact on CSAT scores. Furthermore, 39% of the customers surveyed said they would rather use self-service options and felt that doing so provided faster solutions than any other channel. However, 61% of the customers said they admired companies that used a mix of self-service and rapid, empathetic human support.
The physical constraints introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, both in stores and at work, pushed most consumers to virtual life. This shift to digital channels led to customers expecting faster service as a given; according to our results, 80% of the customers surveyed said they demanded quicker responses from businesses. With an expected 160% increase in the frequency of digital purchases, it has become necessary for CX teams to embrace a digital-first mindset.
Customers know what they want, and they want it now.
Whether they are shopping online or in brick-and-mortar stores, customers today expect fast, proactive customer service.
Several factors have contributed to customers’ increasing need for immediate customer service gratification. Digital channels, such as websites, social media, phone apps, and live chat have allowed consumers easier access to their favorite brands. The use of instant messaging and agents equipped with AI-powered assistance bots empower customers to quickly obtain answers to their questions, eliminating the concept of hour-long wait times.
Consumers are much more public when it comes to holding brands accountable for any issues they may face, often turning to social media more so than email. With consumers turning to alternative channels for support, companies needed to build out their customer support services quickly, and across every channel their customers are likely to use.
Exceeding customer expectations through innovation.
Some of the world’s biggest brands are taking innovative approaches to meet this new standard of customer service.
Predicting the shift from brick-and-mortar stores to digital at the beginning of the pandemic, corner store convenience retailer 7-Eleven swiftly sprung into action. Making a few conscious decisions helped the brand evolve from a purely physical model to a hybrid physical-digital model that put customers first.
7-Eleven began this journey by hiring extensively to meet an increase in customer service demand. Before using Freshdesk, customer service was outsourced to an external vendor partner. To gain more control and visibility into customer support, the team began handling all of the support queries with an in-house team.
With Freshdesk, agents are auto-assigned tickets based on their skill and workload, helping newer agents to work at a pace more suited for learning. Freshdesk’s AI-integrated agent-assistance bots have minimized agent time spent on repetitive and particularly lengthy service requests. These bots can also help train new agents by providing them with answer suggestions to situational questions.
7-Eleven also effectively used social media as a support channel. In 2020 alone, 7-Eleven saw a 44% jump in Facebook interactions. This trend continued in 2021, with 60% of queries arriving through social media. Using automation, Freshdesk helped minimize a backlog of social media inquiries, including several messages 7-Eleven received during a promotional contest week.
“We had close to 20,000 inquiries and comments on our contest during 7/11 week, and our customer service platform received all these social media comments and converted them into tickets,” explains Allian, a 7-Eleven Business Process Innovations Consultant. “We made use of scenario automation to quickly address and resolve large volumes of tickets.”
7-Eleven tailored the deployment of Freshdesk’s AI bots on their customers’ preferred channels, allowing the retailer to slash resolution times and quickly resolve support backlogs.
BrewDog, a Scottish-born craft beer business, also benefited from Freshdesk’s customer service software. The brewery saw upwards of 2,000 daily tickets during the pandemic lockdown, a far cry from their pre-pandemic daily numbers of 150 to 200.
“It’s really key for us to have the right tech to deliver exceptional, world-class service and deal with contacts at speed while also focussing on quality,” says Emma DeSena, BrewDog’s UK Customer Services Manager.
BrewDog’s customer portal houses a series of knowledge base articles and Frequently Asked Questions to allow for self-service. Since the pandemic began, BrewDog saw a 10% jump in CSAT scores despite rising incoming customer support requests. BrewDog is continuously looking to expand its customer service reach by incorporating live chat to make it as easy as possible for customers to get the answers they’re looking for.
Unraveling the future of digital-first CX.
The savvy consumer of 2022 is now used to digital-first experiences and expects businesses to raise the bar on the speed and quality of service delivered. Freshworks’s Future of CX: 2022 trends report is a helpful guide to navigating this new normal and elaborates on five of the hottest trends that will define customer experience in 2022 and beyond. Read the report to architect an informed CX strategy for the year ahead.
Our next blog will explore the importance of providing seamless omnichannel experiences to your customers. Stay tuned!
