The global Zendesk Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report 2021 shows that customer experience is increasingly crucial to business success. The most successful businesses are adopting new technology at record speed.
New data released indicates that half (53 per cent) of APAC organisations plan to invest more in CX software in 2021. Simultaneously, two out of five (44 per cent) customers in the region say that they now have more experience than a year ago, and 67 per cent of businesses say their organisation prioritises CX more than a year ago.
In addition to highlighting technology acceleration, a Gartner survey conducted in 2020 found that 91 per cent of organisations said CX was one of their digital business transformation efforts or the primary objective.
“We’ve seen companies in APAC embrace digitalisation at an incredible speed this year in response to the dramatic shifts in the operating landscape they’ve had to navigate. Customer experience has never been more important, and we think this accelerated adoption of technology is likely to continue in 2021. Organisations need to ensure they have the right strategies, processes and technology in place to empower customer support teams and drive business success,” said Wendy Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer, APAC, Zendesk.
The Zendesk CX Trends Report 2021 provides businesses with a roadmap to navigate this new CX landscape so that they can champion good customer service at every turn, from navigating changing behaviours to adopting new channels to reimagining the workforce.
Stay Ahead Of The Digital Curve
Companies adopt light-speed technology, and it adapts or gets left behind. Organisations recognised as ‘high-performing’ in APAC based on customer service metrics such as CSAT and response speed are more likely to have adopted omnichannel solutions, with more than half (54%) offering self-service compared to just 20% of low performance in addition to other vital channels such as phone, email or messaging.
Be Part Of A More Conversational World
The increasing popularity of messaging apps opens the door for more streamlined, conversational experiences as clients adopt new behaviours. Sixty-nine per cent of APAC consumers have tried a new way to get in touch with customer service in the last year. For many, that involves messaging over apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for support requests, which have significantly increased 117 per cent in APAC since February 2020 during the social messaging pandemic.
Realise The Power Of Employee Experience
In an increasingly distributed world, companies must rethink how they work smarter across teams. Many employees still don’t feel like they have the right tools to succeed in this new and often distributed environment, whether it’s keeping track of their performance indicators, staying connected with their colleagues, or feeling supported by their companies. Forty-one per cent of APAC managers say they don’t have the right analytics tools to measure success for remote teams, and 49% of agents don’t have the right tools to work successfully from home.
Set teams up for success by emphasising agility
Facing continued volatility, service and support organisations must find ways to keep up with their customers. Customer experience leaders cited the ability to quickly adapt to customers’ evolving needs as their biggest challenge in 2020 and the highest priority going forward.
Make it easier for customers with a focus on CX
Unprecedented in speed and scale, the recent surge in online channels puts pressure on companies to meet rising expectations as customer experience takes centre stage. The vast majority (74%) of APAC customers say they are willing to spend more with a company that offers good customer experience. In comparison, 75% will still take their business elsewhere following bad experiences.
