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.