Research is clear: customer service is one of the biggest drivers of customer loyalty. In fact, 78 percent of U.S. consumers say customer service is important to loyalty, according to Netomi’s State of Customer Service 2020 report. Increasingly, customers expect support that is fast, personal, and effective. To deliver the experience that customers expect, companies are adopting AI to provide immediate resolutions that bring customer delight and business value.

Each day, we all communicate using a diverse range of methods to share our ideas, thoughts, emotions, and opinions. Communication is a beautiful thing that’s at the core of who we are. But it’s also very complex, and the threat of miscommunication is constantly looming. In fact, Dale Carnegie (the author of How to Make Friends and Influence People) stated that 90% of management problems are caused by miscommunication.

Customer expectations are higher than ever before, and your customers are scrutinizing your business more intensely than ever. They’re comparing their experience with your brand to the easy, fast, and personalized experiences they’re having with the best of the best. And it’s these customer-focused businesses that get to reap the benefits of renewed loyalty and competitive advantage.

Not long ago, handle time was the chief measure of customer support agent productivity. Managers optimized everything they could to lower costs (that is, time spent) by speeding up their teams’ calls. This, according to management consultants at Bain & Company, is what leaders do to make teams more efficient. Efficiency is producing the same with less. Productivity, by contrast, is producing more with the same.

Growing awareness of attraction centers around the world, faster and more reliable transport systems, and internet booking are some of the reasons for the booming Travel and Leisure Industry. Over the years, tour operators and travel companies have improved touring experiences for leisure tourists by breaking barriers of language, currency, and costs of tours.

In most organizations, the highest-performing sales reps are eventually promoted to management. But being a manager is a much different job than being a rep. You can be at the very top of your trade, but that doesn’t necessarily make you a good leader. I experienced this firsthand when I moved into management. I was good at sales, but I wasn’t really good at leading. You’re not taught that it’s a completely different job that operates in a gray area every single day.

Everyone in the business world has had an experience where it didn’t feel like they mattered to a vendor or business. It’s a difficult feeling knowing your voice isn’t being heard, or even worse ignored by someone you’re trusting to meet your business needs. However, these situations can be avoided with your own customers by hiring support team members who legitimately care about them AND know how to properly display this care in conversations.

A business can’t thrive without lead generation, however, the more leads you generate, the more selective you have to be in your pursuits. Sales rep don’t want to waste time chasing a large list of dead-end leads. That time could be spent nurturing more promising leads. Yet, when it comes to valuing leads, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Experience and gut instinct goes a long way, but they aren’t enough.

With the new year setting in, you might have already identified new leaves to turn, and set your customer service objectives accordingly. Along with the goals that you have already framed, here are five questions that can help you reflect on your current support setup, ensure that you are on the right track, and fine-tune your objectives for the year.