We know fairly little about COVID-19 and its long term implications. But what’s evident, is that consumer expectations after COVID have drastically changed. Nowhere is this clearer than in the retail sector, where face coverings, closures and empty shelves are now an everyday occurrence for shoppers. Buyer expectations and behaviour shifted considerably during the crisis, with consumers favouring a back-to-basics approach from businesses. Research conducted by KPMG revealed an increased focus on transparency, online channels and reliability of delivery. At the same time, the report found that shoppers are less concerned about the quality of goods/ services and have lower expectations around corporate social responsibility than they had pre-pandemic. With the world teetering on the edge of another recession, the sentiment seems to be one of ‘needs must.’
But will it last? The challenge for businesses is to identify which trends will endure and adapt accordingly. Those that are able to do so are expected to recover faster from an economic downturn and be better positioned for long-term survival than their competitors.
Invest in digital but maintain human connections
The vote is in and it’s unanimous: to thrive in a post COVID world, digital needs to be top of the agenda. McKinsey & Gartner both recommend refocusing digital efforts to match current consumer behaviour as the FIRST step in a post COVID recovery plan. Similarly, KPMG found that 80% of us believe business models need to be digitized to remain economically viable.
As we adjust to our new realities, businesses need to be prepared to upscale, grow and flex their digital customer service capabilities to meet increased consumer demand. After all, customers are doing more online than ever before and for some segments, it's brand new territory. Take over 60's for instance. As one of the most ‘vulnerable’ social segments, they've remained in lock-down for longer than most of us. Unable to leave the house, many are shopping online for the first time and as with any new process, naturally, there's a lot of questions! Combined with the delays and issues facing frequent online shoppers, the result is an unprecedented dependence on customer service teams, who are experiencing exceptionally high spikes in demand.
85% of marketers report an increased openness among customers to their digital offerings, and 84% believe customers place more value on digital experiences than before the pandemic.
To prevent issues arising from an increased CX load, McKinsey's advice is to focus on adjusting IT cost structures to new demand levels and then reinvesting any freed-up resources into digital solutions that make customer service more efficient. One simple way to do this, is to switch to a communications platform that combines traditional methods of CX, such as a call centre, with modern alternatives, like Live Chat. Live Chat plugins like 3CX’s Live Chat & Talk can be added to websites and social media pages to enable instant, seamless interaction with visitors. Diversifying your customer service offering in this way supports CX teams by relieving the pressure on the phones and boosting productivity levels. Using Live Chat, customer service representatives can handle more enquiries in less time- a double win!
Social Media channels are another area that should be considered as a core consumer care channel. But the key, according to KMPG, lies in integrating data with CRM Software to add richness and create a source of customer information that senior leaders can leverage to uncover specific pain points and continuously improve the customer experience as the pandemic draws on.
Maintain Seamless Communications
Customers quickly became more reliant on telecommunications services during COVID-19. This can largely be attributed to the virtualization of our professional, social and family lives which are currently conducted, by and large, over calling and conferencing tech. Communication has turned into an ‘essential service’ and customers are demanding more from their platforms. Interactions need to be seamless, disruptions minor and issues resolved quickly. Complaints to service providers have tended to be focused more on platform issues than on data and internet speeds during the lock-down period, emphasizing the importance of clear comms when managing the normal.
Despite growing consumer demand for seamless communications, both KPMG and McKinsey have found that customers' ability to access support through customer service platforms, particularly through digital channels, decreased during the COVID peak. This naturally created further frustration for shoppers. However, it’s an issue that can easily be rectified, providing the correct tools are in place. In order to deliver exceptional customer service, retailers need to consider the uptime and scalability of each proposed system, to ensure that adjustments can be made according to fluctuations in demand. Other factors that need to be considered include:
- Call Queue Management: Does the system offer multiple queue strategies that can be altered according to need and demand?
- Call Flow Design: Can elements of the system be automated to save agents time?
- Callbacks: Can you schedule callbacks to reduce consumer frustration?
Takeaways
It’s clear from both McKinsey’s and KPMG's findings that digital customer service is a trend that's set to last. Consumers are anxious and they want brands to provide up to date information and maintain clear channels of communication in spite of other issues. Retailers and service providers now have an opportunity to demonstrate that they are in tune with customer needs even when those needs are changing in an unprecedented era. By adopting long-term CX strategies centered on digital and by choosing flexible communications platforms, brands can prove they do what they’ve always claimed to: put customer needs first.
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