COVID-19 hasn’t changed the future of customer experience. Here’s why.

Abigail Sims

February 1, 2021

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Nearly a year into a global pandemic, we’ve all endured a lot of change. Some changes are difficult, like compliance in the era of remote work. Others are challenging but not unwelcome, like an investment in better contact center tools. There’s one part of the world that COVID-19 hasn’t changed, however… and that’s the future of customer experience (CX). 

“But wait,” you might say, “Didn’t CX leaders have to navigate completely uncharted waters in 2020, just like everyone else?”

While most CX experts can’t predict the future—we can’t speak for all, so if you’re out there, let us know—we were well-positioned to handle the types of change we saw in the past year. Why? Because we believe that COVID-19 did not create new CX trends, or change the future of customer experience. Instead, it took existing trends and "accelerated them through a tunnel of time," according to our Chief Product & Research Officer, Matt Dixon. 

Let’s take a look at how the CX landscape has remained unchanged—but accelerated—over the last year: 

The new world of self-service digital tools 

As more customers reached out for help in 2020, we saw self-service tools and the omnichannel model grow in popularity, as successful companies weathered the storm by investing in digital transformations. The fact of the matter is this: In a world where 67% of customers prefer self-service over speaking to a company representative, and 90% of users have communicated with brands on social media, if you’re not using digital channels to augment your CX… you’re behind. This was true before the pandemic, and it’s only more true now. 

Goodbye, post-call surveys

The post-call survey has been on its way out for years. As we get busier and busier, we have less time to fill out surveys, and definitely less patience for it. With COVID-19, that little bit of remaining patience just ran out. Who has time to check boxes when your livelihood may be on the line? With an average survey response rate under 10% and dropping, it’s time to find a better way to listen. COVID-19 didn’t kill the survey… It just put the final nail in the coffin. 

Unstructured data holds the key to progress 

Over the last year, Tethr has analyzed over a million calls across 20 companies to see how COVID-19 has impacted their business. We’ve traced pain points, measured effort, and identified how to better help customers right now, all through analyzing unstructured data that was previously siloed and inaccessible. This tactic isn’t just for pandemics: Call centers worldwide are sitting on treasure troves of unstructured data, just waiting to be unlocked and utilized to create meaningful change. 

Where we’re headed...

We’ll leave you with a prediction about the future of customer experience: Progressive contact center leaders are about to become the foremost revenue drivers in their organizations. This, right now, is a moment in time that will never happen again. 

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Progressive contact center leaders are about to become the foremost revenue drivers in their organizations.

With so much data already in-house, and tools like Tethr now available to help you access and action on that data, you have the power to spearhead a digital transformation in this time of upheaval and change. 

Want to learn more about how Tethr delivers actionable business intelligence based on your call, chat, and case data? Request a demo and we’ll walk you through it.

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