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One of the main characteristics of the customer service sector is the constant and dynamic change. This is due, first of all, to the fact that it focuses on people, that is, on serving and understanding customers. So, it is influenced by the changes experienced by those customers, both at the social and lifestyle levels.

Secondly, because customer service is an activity in which technology plays a fundamental role, both in how the different processes are structured and operations are carried out. And if there is something that undoubtedly characterizes this century, it is that technology advances at breakneck speed.

In what concerns customer service, there’s been a change in the last few years: the user is in the center of the pro-cess. Customers have a proactive role now. We are facing customers who what they want and wo demand it from companies. They´re always active, from anywhere and connecting from a multitude of devices, in both profes-sional and personal environments. So, they choose com-panies with flexible management models that make their

daily lives easier and allow them to be ‘always on’.With our sights set on 2020, I believe there are several factors that will guide the evolution of customer service. We can classify these emerging trends into three catego-ries or areas: technological changes, changes in compa-nies in general, and changes in businesses in the Custom-er Service sector.

Technology trends

In the technological field, three trends, closely interre-lated, will take center stage, creating synergies that will allow organizations to offer the flexible, adapted service demanded by the new user profiles.

Cloud. The wide adoption of the Cloud will lead to the democratization and universalization of technology by bringing the latest advances to more companies, re-gardless of their resources. This is the perfect environ-ment for developing and executing a wide range of ap-plications that bring the flexibility and scalability that both companies and people need.

Alfredo RedondoCEO of Altitude Software

PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY, TOGETHER, WILL SET THE COURSE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN 2020

#tendenciasAEERC2020

PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY, TOGETHER, WILL SET THE COURSE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN 2020

Artificial Intelligence. Along with the development of analytical technologies, AI will give companies the opportunity to manage interactions more efficiently and profitably. Automation and the development of AI-based solutions will make daily operations at Call Centers faster and need less human involvement. At the same time, analytical tools will provide insight on the company’s target users, making valuable data (like preferences, history of interactions, recurring ques-tions, past issues, etc.) available to agents enabling them to deliver high quality customer service that is truly useful for customers.Digital Society. The online environment offers infinite possibilities in what concerns company-customer re-lationships. On one hand, the Internet provides multi-ple communication options between the two parties, fostering a more direct, accessible and flexible flow of information. Companies are adding new channels, including instant messaging like Facebook Messenger, Slack, Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, among others. These options are on the rise because people are used to them and they provide quick and usually high-qual-ity answers. To make sure these expectations are met, companies need to implement innovative solutions that optimize operations at their Contact Centers. Im-plementing omnichannel management platforms can be really useful, as well as bots and RPAs that auto-mate simple and routine processes. Likewise, the digi-tal society also provides access to massive amounts of data on users which, when used with the right analyt-ical tools, can provide companies with valuable infor-mation that can be used to offer personalized service to each customer.

Trends in companies’ Customer Service

If we turn our focus to companies and the way they inter-act with their customers, we find a digital transformation process that aims to respond to their emerging needs.

Companies are increasingly aware of the importance of offering ‘always on’ customer service, that is, always be-ing available to the customer. Technology once again plays a crucial role. The automation of processes and addition of bots in Contact Centers enables companies to provide service 24X7. At the same time, organizations must be sure that the communication channels they offer meet the highest us-ability criteria. In today’s world, we communicate from a wide variety of devices, sometimes using them inter-changeably. So, we have to be technologically capable of ensuring simplicity, efficiency and resolution in all chan-nels.

Trends in the Customer Service Sector

Finally, the Contact Center sector itself is revealing the trends for this year. They are:

Dissolution of the boundary between Inbound and Outbound. The concept of both environments as sep-arate kinds of communication is vanishing and being replaced by a concept of barrier-free communication that is more fluid and bidirectional, which can lead to the development of mutually beneficial relationships between companies and customers.

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PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY, TOGETHER, WILL SET THE COURSE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN 2020

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Changes in the expert profile. There is going to be a shift in the concept of professional customer ser-vice expert. Agents will focus on solving customers’ problems. They will offer decisive, quick and satis-factory solutions, regardless of the customer’s in-quiry. Again, the new technology is the perfect ally in this quest, by allowing an easy and quick access to knowledge sources.The role of Contact Center professionals is changing. The traditional Contact Center ecosystem is changing and the differences in the specialization of the profes-sionals that are part of the work teams is fading. Any employee can deal with customers, it is no longer an exclusive job for Contact Center agents. Virtual com-munication channels have become more important than face-to-face channels, simplifying this role shift. For example, the banking sector has closed many phys-ical branches and transformed them into virtual ones. Communication with customers happens remotely, and the branch manager becomes a key agent in the Contact Center. Another good example is the health-care sector, where physicians and nurses care for pa-tients remotely, becoming Contact Center agents.Universalisation of technology. As I mentioned above, we are living in a time where technology is available to everyone and accessible to all kinds of organizations. For this reason, companies cannot base their compet-itive differentiation on the infrastructure, but on how they use it to offer their customers the best service.

In the current environment, characterized by high competitive levels, companies have to offer an added value to help them gain customer loyalty. Being at the forefront of the new trends is more necessary than ever to be the customers’ first choice.

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PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY, TOGETHER, WILL SET THE COURSE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN 2020

#tendenciasAEERC2020