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power2Cloud23/07/195 min

5 Zendesk customer experience trends for 2019

Keep up, discover the 5 Zendesk customer experience trends for 2019. Keep up to date on best practices to make your support more effective and your customers satisfied.

Zendesk's benchmark data includes 45 thousand companies worldwide, with customers in 140 countries, to this Zendesk added a survey by interviewing 570 Agents, 1,850 Customers and most importantly 170 Managers to understand how they approach the customer experience.

The industries that have embraced digital transformation the fastest by gaining the most benefits from the technology tools the market offers are Financial Services, Retail and Travel.

Your customers compare you to the best experiences they have had with other brands, don't forget that!

Not all companies from these industries meet customer expectations in the same way, but it is also true that customers continue to compare them to the best. Let's take a few examples: if we work in the Travel world, customers will expect Airbnb's customer journey that has built-in chat and solves problems instantly, in the shopping world instead Amazon's services that among many things also offers 30-day return and so on.

Customers' expectations are getting higher and higher, and we as companies have to respond appropriately.

Think about your business reality, how do you meet these key points to improve your customers' customer experience?

  • customer satisfaction
  • first reply time
  • resolution time
  • self-service experience

 

The 5 Zendesk customer experience trends for 2019


1. Customers expect integrated omnichannel support

"My company provides chat, email and phone." Be careful: if you have all of these channels they must be integrated with each other, it is not a multichannel approach that is important, but an omnichannel approach! This allows your customers to have smooth, seamless experiences and your support team to work easily.

It's important to manage everything from one platform like Zendesk instead of opening five different tools at once for a request or to a report, because you waste time and the customer is less satisfied. While older generations willingly resort to phone support, don't forget to focus on Search for younger generations proactive in seeking solutions instead of waiting for the helpdesk. Aim for FAQs and populate them with useful articles and information.

Some advice from successful companies using Zendesk:

    • implement an integrated omnichannel approach
    • add items to selfservice to decrease requests.Customer finds answers automatically
    • integrate live channels especially telephone support which is the most used channel
    • reinforces staff on the different channels
    • offer the right channel at the right time

This will enable you to give faster responses to your customers (10%) and resolve service requests just as quickly and effectively (17%).

 

2. The support platform must be open, flexible and integrated with customer data

Integrate customer support platform such as Zendesk's with your CRM, for example. Always choose open, flexible, and integrated solutions because each has its own uniqueness and allows you to help you in your work.

76% of customers worldwide expect the support team to work together so they don't repeat their requests.

Customers do not want to answer the same questions or repeat what they have already requested. Your team thanks integrating Zendesk's platform to your CRM can increase satisfaction and improve their workflow by tapping into each customer's history or personal data.

Some advice from successful companies using Zendesk:

  • Configure your CRM platform with your built-in data.The more context information an agent has the more they will solve the problem with a high customer satisfaton
  • simplify your work with apps and integrations (700 apps in a few clicks on Zendesk in the Marketplace)
  • offer your agents more context with APIs and custom apps.If you can't find the app you're looking for in the Marketplace, you can have it developed by our team
  • use low-cost agile software like Zendesk
  • integrate support across mobile and web apps

 

3. Customers demand a proactive approach, but companies are not yet ready

90 percent of customers look favorably on companies that reach out to them proactively or are neutral. This is energy- and time-consuming because it is often something that is done manually.

Thanks to Zendesk Connect you can track your customers' behavior and proactively contact them when they have a problem automatically. Let's take an example. For a shipment delay Zendesk Connect can anticipate a customer's message and alert them that the package will be late. This will limit the number of open reports and involve your team marginally. Then you can focus on a few issues.

Some advice from successful companies using Zendesk:

  • connect data sources to keep track of customers.
  • become proactive about your customers' common problems
  • enlarge your team to solve more tickets to distribute the workload
  • test your proactive A/B testing messages
  • optimize your messaging strategy over time

 

4. For the best teams, AI is already creating meaningful experiences

We think artificial intelligence is the future, but it is not, in minimum it is already present in our daily lives. Seventy percent of customers globally prefer to interact like a human agent, but AI is already active and represents a return for the company and customers that should not be underestimated. Let's take a closer look: Zendesk's answer boat has already solved 1.1M support requests, saved 225k support team hours, and saved 2,800 years of waiting time for customers. Not bad, right?

Some advice from successful companies using Zendesk:

  • build your own help center (if there are no items that the chat boat offers you cannot integrate, you lack the content to offer customers)
  • make sure you check the right metrics
  • enable employees to add content in the help center
  • start using AI bots
  • incorporate AI into multiple support channels

 

5. Appropriate culture, processes and tools are key ingredients for success

Your company can equip itself with the best tools to support its customers, but first a customer-facing culture punctuated by well-defined processes must coexist.

Some advice from successful companies using Zendesk:

  • create a support-oriented culture with your employees
  • use an out-of-the-box analytics solution. Zendesk Explore, for example, allows you to monitor API and even individual operator success.This allows you to identify the one most lacking that you can help with training or support
  • invest in the right tools for your agents to help the customer.Help your people, provide a single platform such as Zendesk. 
  • simplify agent workflows by automating them. Assigning a report to a qualified employee, for example those who speak English 
  • refine the way you use metrics to evaluate your team

Try to put the 5 Zendesk customer experience trends for 2019 into practice.

power2Cloud is a Zendesk partner. Take this opportunity and contact us by filling out the form below.

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