They say that customers should be at the heart of everything we do. So, how much effort should companies put towards creating the best customer experience?

According to the statistics provided by CGS, small businesses are doing better than large corporations in terms of providing great customer service. 48% of global consumers claimed that small businesses have gotten better at their customer service, meanwhile, 71% of consumers claimed that large companies’ customer service has either remained the same or has gotten worse.

Maintaining and creating an ideal customer service experience is important as 80% of consumers feel more emotionally connected to brands that can help address and solve their problems. Not to mention 30% of consumers, which is a 6% increase from 2019, are willing to go as far as to pay businesses more in return for exceptional services.

Numbers do not lie. And as a small business owner, here’s what you should know about customer experience trends if you want to scale and grow your business in 2022.

Customer experience trends to look out for in 2022

1. Automation and humanity

Marketing automation has been proven to reduce the costs of customer service while speeding up response time for inquiries. However, when communicating with a brand, customers prefer to receive responses from a real person because many are still reluctant to trust responses that come from chatbots. What this means is that, in this digital transformation era, customers still yearn for the human touch in customer service.

2. Multi-channel services

Some people prefer engaging with customer service via social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook while others prefer to either call, email, or send a live chat. Businesses should realise that different people have different preferences when it comes to asking questions or leaving comments. And to ensure that customers are able to get in touch via different platforms is to provide multi-channel services.

3. Mobile apps and websites

Businesses should think of more ways to stay connected with their customers. Since customers don’t bring their laptops everywhere they go, businesses need to have a platform that is mobile-friendly. To gain more engagement, small businesses should not only develop a responsive website but also a mobile app because mobile is the leading source of internet traffic.

4. Customer centre operations

Customer centricity is all about focusing on what customers need and determining how they can interact with your business. To create a customer-centric business model, you must think from the customer’s perspective. The best tools to help increase customer engagement and interaction are live chat, social media, and contact centres.

Most customers prefer to contact a business or company via live chat to get an immediate response. If the contact centre is not prepared to answer customer questions, it will affect how customers perceive the business because contact centres are placed at the forefront of the brand. With the information collected via contact centre, businesses can apply data analytics in other areas of their business.

5. Customer frustrations

About 72% of customers are more likely to share their positive customer experience with six other people. However, dissatisfied customers are more likely to share their bad experiences with 15 other potential customers. Customers who are frustrated with a business’s service tend to share their frustrations with other people instead of the business itself. Therefore, no negative feedback is not a measure of satisfaction.

Businesses should improve their Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSAT) score because a report by PwC claimed that ⅓ of customers will leave a brand that they are loyal to after only one bad experience. And that one bad experience can either be a late response or failure to follow up after an enquiry.

A positive customer experience is extremely important, especially for small businesses, as it encourages brand loyalty, increases brand awareness, and improves brand advocacy. The happier your customers are, the more likely they are to share those experiences with others-and this may bring in even more potential customers to your business.  

As an award-winning Fintech solutions provider, TranSwap puts customer experience at the forefront of our business approach because delivering amazing products alone is not enough. To ensure a positive customer experience, our customer support team, powered by real humans, is ever ready to respond to queries. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions, or you can visit our website at transwap.com for casual browsing. Our team is always happy to hear from you.

‍

Have a specific topic you would like us to cover next? Just let us know!

“Use at Your Own Risk” Disclaimer. The information and publications provided are not intended to be and do not constitute any financial advice. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection with the use of information.