The pandemic and economic headwinds changed the course of our world and transformed the entire digital CX ecosystem in the past three years. Now with talks of recession, the need of the hour is to take personalization to the next level and engage with customers across their preferred channels. Moving away from legacy systems and adopting next-gen technologies are table stakes in today's landscape. Those who are doing so quickly fall by the wayside.
Around 59% of customers mentioned that they care about customer experience in the New Normal, according to a report published by PWC. Looking at 2023 and beyond, the organization will continue to focus on enhancing customer experience through customer journey mapping, the voice of customers, and intuitive automation capabilities. As enterprises contend with low market demand and margin pressures, they will want to optimize their operational efficiencies and do away with initiatives that only reap a little value.
Looking at the current interplay of market forces, will the year 2023 be the year of reckoning for CX? Given the five trends we're seeing evolve, it may well be.
CONVERSATIONAL-AI TO DRIVE CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS
According to Gartner, interaction with conversational platforms by workers stands at 70%. At Movate, we expect this figure to increase in 2023 as enterprises embrace conversational-AI solutions to bridge the divide between agent-driven and chatbot-based interactions and enable agents and customers to be involved in more complex interactions with digital assistants or cognitive bots.
To propel higher CSAT levels and make every experience phenomenal, the service provider will invest in creating AI-based personas for conversational-AI solutions. This trend ensures that services are relevant and transparent to customers. Moreover, we will witness enterprises leveraging a plethora of data points to streamline chatbots' features, ease navigation, and ensure memorable CX.
As 2023 unfolds, we will witness further disruptions in the conversational AI sphere. By the end of 2024, Gartner predicts that 40% of enterprise applications will have some built-in or more of conversational AI. To further support these expectations, Juniper Research indicates that by 2023, chatbots will save a staggering $11 billion in costs.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH EMPATHETIC CX
Despite the many advantages that conversational AI adoption delivers, chatbots still have a long way to go to prove that they can deliver memorable CX. According to a Zendesk CX Trends 2022 report, sixty percent of the customers said that they were unhappy with chatbots as they fell short on the empathy factor. So, what's the answer? The answer is having more empathetic AI and bring in more of the conversational element.
What is clear is that today's customers desire genuine, personalized and individualized conversations. 2023 will be the year of rethinking such connections and delivering on the empathy factor.
Empathy-based CX across all types of engagements is the key. According to Forrester Research, more than 70% of customers desire a more individualized online buying experience. To meet this goal, service providers will deliver elevated, intimate experiences that are unique for every customer. This is possible at every touchpoint via integrated CX solutions, data-driven insights, persona-based conversational AI.
Most companies will glean more insights across the entire CX ecosystem. They will empower teams to create customer-relevant products and services via NLP, ML, AI, and build intuitive product recommendations and chat engagements.
Leading technology companies can elevate CX by making use of their passionate product users and brand advocates as gig workers to offer relevant and empathetic support.
SCALE NEW FRONTIERS THROUGH THE METAVERSE
Everybody is talking about the Metaverse and it looks like become an extended channel. But up until now, the concept of Metaverse seems complicated to translate into the CX reality. Nevertheless, many business leaders have acknowledged its power to radically change CX.
In the last 2 years, we have seen many top brands launching their metaverses. The metaverse will continue to attract enterprises and they would not want to fall behind. At the same time, because of the looming economic volatility, enterprises will be cautious while investing in the metaverse and focus on the use cases that can deliver assured ROI. In 2023, businesses will gradually move from the exploratory phase toward more real-world use case implementations and start creating valuable and integrated immersive experiences for their customers.
In the world of CX and support, metaverse as a new, extended channel can add tangible business value and would be one of the leading use cases in 2023. Consider this: Gartner predicts by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for work, shopping, education, social, and entertainment.
There are immense possibilities for brands to leverage the metaverse in the context of CX — virtual guides, immersive shopping, virtual learning, avatar-based support, and so on. It will not only transform the interaction in the real and digital worlds, but also provide strategic opportunities and innovative business models. It is just a matter of time before the metaverse becomes an integral part of the overall customer experience.
THE RIGHT TIME TO INCREASE CX OUTSOURCING
According to a KPMG survey, 91% of U.S. CEOs anticipate a recession in 2023. Therefore, enterprises are looking for ways to reduce costs, de-risk, and sustain business growth. One of the ways is with CX outsourcing. This year, enterprises will move to new-age CX providers to deliver a superlative experience and to lower overall costs.
As per a NelsonHall report, by 2026, the total CX services market will be around $116 billion and grow at 5.2% CAGR. With the rising economic turbulence and meeting ever-changing customer expectations, this is the right time to leverage CX outsourcing services across the customer experience value chain. It will enable companies to fill the gap during unexpected demand spikes and optimize and automate CX cycles and shortages of skilled talent.
With cloud-based contact centers and exciting advances in CX technology, service providers can drive hyper-efficiency and growth for enterprises. Additionally, CX outsourcing will reduce the cost of talent onboarding, enterprise spending on infrastructure and utilities, and building a maximally adaptive, resilient, flexible, and agile workforce to scale as per the demand.
RISE OF GIG-ENABLED SUPPORT MODELS
Gig models have gained momentum recently with the growth of internet-backed digital platforms that facilitate easy access to gig work. Today, with technology-enabled gig work, platforms are flourishing. It is estimated that there are as many as 1.1 billion gig workers worldwide, with over 55 million in the U.S. alone. A research study from TSIA partner Kantata found that more than 50% of Millennial and Gen-Z workers have considered becoming freelancers or contractors.
The upward trend of gig work will also reflect in the CX industry. Enterprises will find that they will have to pay increased attention to Gen Z's expectations of work — it must be flexible and rewarding.
In 2023, more brands will leverage gig-based support models to provide world-class customer support 24/7, while managing demand fluctuations. As new waves of the pandemic threaten to hit us, early adopters of gig-based support will prove to be more resilient against its impact.
A flexible, fluid workforce will be vital for businesses to scale and downsize as required. Frontline gig workers will work with advanced technologies and the existing workforce, resulting in an enhanced CX.
CRAFTING MEMORABLE CX IS A MUST
Experience is everything today, and great customer experience is key to building trust, loyalty, and a strong connection with a brand. Customer-centric enterprises know that designing great CX is not a "nice-to-have" anymore, but a "must-have."
From AI to machine learning (ML) to hyper-personalization to the metaverse, enterprises will leave nothing unturned. As per recent Salesforce research, 89% of customers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience. We live in the era of digitally savvy customers who are empowered and willing to make choices based on their interactions on different channels. Brands will be listening to their voice more closely than ever. In 2023, it will be the year of rediscovering CX and placing the customer back as the focus of all business.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sid Victor heads the sales and solutions division across Customer Experience Management & Enterprise Support Services at Movate (formerly CSS Corp). He has 19+ years of experience in the IT industry, all of which have been with Movate. He is responsible for hunting new logos, providing consultative expertise for clients and internal stakeholders, pipeline generation, business and services transformation, identifying and creating forward-looking solutions, and developing innovative differentiators in support.
