Coming out of a pandemic that rocked the retail world, this year’s NRF Converge event focused on dealing with change. The world’s largest retail trade association brought together industry experts who shared their stories and advice for meeting consumers where they are in the new normal. From embracing the role of ecommerce to finding new ways to connect with shoppers on a human level, retail leadership is focused on delivering great customer experiences.

Here are the newest integrations from Zendesk to help your team provide great experiences.

These are painful customer experiences we can all relate to and top indicators of poor customer service according to Zendesk’s 2021 Customer Experience Trends Report. With 75% of people willing to spend more money on a brand that provides a great customer experience, companies now know that customer loyalty depends on delivering exceptional customer service. However, brands often go about trying to improve customer experience in the wrong way, despite their best intentions.

Boston, MA, 27 July 2021 – Vivantio, a leading provider of customer service management solutions, is a finalist in the 2021 SaaS Awards Program in the category Best SaaS Product for Customer Services / CRM.

When a customer contacts a support team, two things are top of mind—how quickly they can solve their problem and how fast a company responds to them when they need help. In recent Zendesk research, 73 percent of customers say their number one priority is a fast resolution, while 59 percent say it’s a fast response that matters most. Either way, it’s reason enough for companies to pay attention.

AI is transforming customer service, making it more convenient and personal by automating high-quality resolutions on consumers’ terms and empowering human agents to work smarter. The use cases for automated customer service seem endless, so we’ve pulled together the best opportunities for leveraging the power of artificial intelligence in customer service that we see today. How are our customers using automated support to rethink retail customer service?

At a time when many businesses have moved online, building strong and trusting relationships has never been more important. Customers don’t just want to be sold to; they want to be valued. This is where the power of relationship marketing comes in.

In fact, according to Gartner, by 2022 70% of all customer interactions will involve emerging tools like chatbots, machine learning, and mobile messaging, up from 15% from 2018. Customer service automation has proven to reduce agent frustration and turnover, increase customer satisfaction and improve customer loyalty. Automation does not come without any challenges, however.

Today’s digital world is littered with companies providing omnichannel experience scenarios for their customers. Here’s a real-life example of an omnichannel experience: While looking through photos, you see an ad on Instagram for an all-inclusive tropical getaway from an online travel agency. You click on the ad and start researching the property. You open your laptop to read reviews before you complete your booking.

In SaaS companies, retention of customers requires more effort than onboarding a customer. These are the customers who were your active subscribers for a time and then resubscribed for the next period expecting quality services from your company. SaaS companies usually consume their quality time, money in working with the sales team and in creating new marketing strategies giving the least importance to the existing customers.

It’s no secret that the workplace has changed quite a bit over the past year. And the reality is that the future of how teams collaborate, communicate, and connect is still very much in flux. As companies navigate the uncertainty around reopening and tackle big questions when it comes to how and where they want to work, there’s a lot on the table: The answers, likely still forming, will look different for every company.

If you're using one of the big "standard-issue" service management platforms. You might be forced into some very costly Customer Service practices. For B2B companies, in particular, it is critical to be able to segment the allocation of your firm’s time and attention to your most valuable customers. The issues might include being able to address each customer with individual rules and to accommodate dynamic re-prioritization.

The COVID pandemic has been many things to many people. This unprecedented crisis has affected every corner of the globe and every sector and industry. We have witnessed the tireless bravery of our healthcare staff and the tragedy of so many lost lives. But we have also seen businesses around the world rise to the challenge of coping with this crisis and getting things done.

Messaging apps have the highest customer satisfaction rating of any support channel and their usage has skyrocketed. In fact, the volume of support tickets over WhatsApp alone jumped 101 percent in 2020, according to our 2021 Customer Experience Trends Report. Customers want to interact with companies over the same channels they use with friends and family. And businesses are following suit: 53 percent of companies that launched a new channel in 2020 added messaging.

According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2021, ecommerce rose by 30 percent during the global pandemic, and 64 percent of customers said they used a new digital customer support channel in 2020. Clearly, the pandemic pushed more customers online, ramping up their engagement with companies over dozens of touchpoints.

Doing business with a company that misses the mark on providing a high-quality customer service experience goes a step further than leaving a bad impression; it can keep the customer from ever giving your business a second chance. According to recent research, roughly 73 percent of customers will stop patronizing a company after only three (or fewer) bad customer service experiences. What’s worse is that companies are losing revenue without a chance to find out why.

If you are not sure that your team is able to give an unbeatable experience to your customers, then you probably need to think about high-quality training for your customer service team. The six customer service training software we will be discussing in this post could be a great place to begin. Although advances in chatbots and live chat technology have greatly helped companies improve their customer service game, there is still a need for more!

In the early 2000s, the thought of companies connecting with customers over instant messaging would have seemed ludicrous. But in 2021? That’s the norm. According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2021, messaging channels like WhatsApp and Facebook are becoming new consumer favorites. Nearly a third of customers said they messaged companies over communication apps for the first time in 2020.

Earlier this year, Vivantio's CEO Greg Rich spoke with TEC Analyst PJ Jakovljevc about customer service, technology and the "next normal" in CX (Customer Experience). Here's an excerpt from that interview that originally appeared here from Technology Evaluation Centers.

Let's start with two surprising statistics: Determining where you are, today, and developing a strategy for advancement can be greatly assisted with the help of an experienced partner. Especially one who can share—and amplify—your vision. If you're ready to accelerate your self-service efforts, speak to one of Vivantio's experts today to discover what's possible with a short timeframe and a reasonable investment.