The last few years have been marked by change and the need to be prepared for unexpected circumstances in all business areas. As a result, new CX trends have emerged to meet consumer expectations and needs. Customer experience trends 2022
What did 2021 leave us in customer experience?
When 2021 began, expectations were very optimistic, in the sense of being close to exiting the ravages of the terrible Covid 19 pandemic.
However, as the weeks passed, we realized that the spiral continued its way down ; new variants of the virus, less public awareness of the seriousness of the issue, less (or rather, the same minimal) ability of Latin American governments to cope with the crisis and all this continued to undermine confidence that the economy could recover earlier than later.
Among the consequences of all this, it turned out that for some companies the state of crisis arose or was maintained, where at all costs it was necessary to seek savings, either in the crudest of senses, which is to cut jobs, or in that of cutting programs that appear to be expendable, in order to continue producing and selling products or services, in order to survive.
Such is the case of some marketing programs, or, as in the case that leads us as professionals, customer experience programs .
2021 began with great plans so that the trend of companies focusing on their customers, through strategies and structured programs, can finally lead to positive results in income and real growth of the same.
However, this was diminished, being only the recognized leading companies in this area that continued to take advantage of the permanent awareness that taking effective actions to enrich the experiences of their clients is what will make them remain in their minds and hearts. In other words, it will maintain a loyal customer base, who will hardly leave, even if they find an apparent better option. Customer experience trends 2022
However, it is also a reality that there were great advances in terms of CX during 2021. Most organizations have a real intention to fully enter this world and are taking actions to capitalize on the programs and strategies that are beginning. to implement.
7 trends in CX that you should implement
Some trends in customer experience that have been seen in recent years will continue to consolidate during 2022 and others will emerge as a complement. Some of the CX trends that we can observe are the following:
1. Decentralization of the CX area
We have seen that large organizations already have a “C” level manager spearheading Customer Experience efforts and strategies .
This same trend is making its way in smaller organizations or with a less developed CX level of maturity, ceasing to belong to the Marketing, Operations, Quality, or Customer Service areas, thus highlighting the importance of having independent objectives. and aligned with the strategic objectives of the organization, established by senior management.
2. Automation vs. Human contact
Artificial intelligence (AI) allows more and more means of contact with customers, which appear “more human”. We can observe this in the chatbots with which we interact on websites, social networks, or more direct means such as WhatsApp or SMS.
However, given the anxiety conditions that prevail in consumers, it is still essential that, at some point in their customer journey , they have the possibility of establishing contact with a real being, who also has the prior context of the reasons why is requesting such a relationship that makes it clear that one of the fundamental pillars of offering great experiences is the organization’s empathy towards its customers in difficult times.
3. Consolidation and analysis of customer information
Through advanced analysis tools it is possible that in a single scenario we can have consolidated information from customers, not only from CX programs , or from VoC , which allow us to obtain their direct feedback, but include all the information that we can get about them, be it their demographic data, their business transactions, their pre and post-sale support requests, and even their behavior on social media. Customer experience trends 2022
4. Hyper Personalization and Prediction
Having all the elements of information about clients will allow us to offer experiences specifically designed for each one of them , seeking to anticipate their own requirements and requests. Today technology allows modifying products and processes to meet specific needs of our customers.
5. Data protection, transparency
Digital media obtain enormous amounts of information about each of its users, so it is of great importance that organizations offer transparency about the use that will be given to the data that is shared and the protection that they offer to them, including policies that they have developed in this regard.
6. Less abuse in invasive advertising
It is imperative that brands stop the abuse of invasive ad insertion, caused by the indiscriminate use of tools such as “cookies”, which, far from complementing the search needs of a user, end up becoming annoyances and negative experiences, before even start an interaction.
7. Digital user experience (UX)
Currently, in many cases, the customer experience begins on the websites, so it is necessary to continue consolidating the ease of use and the speed of page loading , as well as the trust and security when generating a commercial transaction, without leave aside the contact and help options, to later maintain the standard of experience when the operation is transferred to a mobile application. Customer experience trends 2022
conclusion
These trends complement those customer experience trends that we have seen that emerged and continue to evolve as a result of the pandemic, such as the improvement in distribution and logistics processes, reduction in delivery times and costs.
These are added to those that will continue to be further consolidated, such as self-service digital media, omnichannel at the points of contact, the creation of digital communities (in which users with common interests and profiles can meet in the virtual world to share their experiences and request improvements or changes to products or services); and finally, the implementation of voice of the customer programs , which offer incredible opportunities to learn, first-hand, the needs and trends in consumer behavior and purchases.
