There’s no escaping AI in 2022 – here are the biggest CX trends explained

It’s time to rethink your products and strategy: are you being authentic with your customers? Do you understand their feedback and incorporate it into your plans? In 2022, people expect even more from companies, but there are great tools to help you stay on top of the competition.

The era of one-size-fits-all communication and products is over: in 2022, customers expect honesty and authenticity from the vendors they engage with. We have compiled our specialists’ experience from last year, and we can tell you that from marketing to solving problems with orders, customers want to feel that the company respects the individual in them and puts effort into replying to their complaints, as well as reacting to their feedback.

As Michel Henss, our Head of Client Services put it:

“This is the only way to build trust with your customers – otherwise, they won’t share their valuable data with you anymore, and will look for solutions elsewhere.”

Customers understand that sometimes things don’t go as planned (for example when speed overrides quality), however their experience can be improved even in such cases. When they tell us of a problem or question they have, they expect swift and simple solutions. Therefore, customer service must be impeccable.

In most sectors, competition is intense, and one of the most important differentiating factors is a great customer experience. Both in B2C and B2B, retaining customers is based on consciously creating great experiences. We’ve collected 3+1 tips to show you how.

1. 1. Build a meaningful connection throughout the customer journey

Online communication with customers must be quick and feel personal. Proactivity is key to avoiding a negative customer experience, which might directly lead to churn. It’s not enough to collect feedback, you must also learn from it and incorporate it. Change your services and products based on what your customers need.

Also, don’t be afraid of negative feedback – it’s totally normal to receive criticism, and the only thing you can do is draw the conclusions and get better. Remember: when your communication is conscious and proactive, even difficult situations and crises can be managed effectively.

1. 2. Automation with AI is not a luxury: it’s becoming the norm

Customer services gain huge amounts of insight from applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) solutions. One example is analyzing and improving conversations with chatbots, but of course, sentiment analytics takes center stage in countless other areas from gathering unsolicited feedback from social media to understanding answers collected with various CX surveys.

Utilizing a great CX platform for these purposes will give you great benefits – and you can be sure that your competition is also using these tools. No matter what kind of data your customer service team is working with, from emails to instant messaging to customer voice recordings, NLP solutions will be able to speed up the process for you and give you deeper insight. This way, your company can make sure that no part of customer feedback gets lost, while clients can immediately feel that their opinion is being taken seriously.

1. 3. Digital comes first

We’re living in an age of digitalization, being available 24/7 has become the norm. The pandemic has sped up this process: apps and digital-only products are expected, online orders and digital channels have also become more prominent, and the basic expectation is that all offline elements must be available online as well. Movement between channels needs to be smooth, especially while using mobile devices: users want to be able to take care of contracts, payments, and orders, in a simple and clear manner.

3+1: Be resourceful and environmentally friendly

Being creative in the way you provide your services certainly pays off: in 2022, we’ll be seeing more and more companies experimenting with immersive experiences, such as augmented and virtual realities.

In-person shopping is expected to decrease further, so you can save some of your physical resources and focus elsewhere. Customers expect environmentally friendly solutions anyway, from ingredients to packaging to shipping.

All in all, in the long run, it is great CX that wins, not cheap prices and yet another freebie in customers’ packages.

Look for the tools and solutions that can help you connect better with your audience and provide a great experience for them. Try Zurvey.io today!