The Crucial Role of Customer Support in Modern CX Strategies

This week we celebrated International Customer Support Day, a day dedicated to highlighting the critical role of customer support professionals globally. To mark the occasion, we’re using this month’s CX Newsletter to spotlight the often-overlooked value of customer support functions within CX strategies and consider how technology may reshape the future of the role.

The strategic importance of customer support

As a role which often involves troubleshooting and solving issues arising after a purchase, customer support agents have an especially difficult job of retaining customers when their experience may have fallen short. Personalised and empathetic customer support can therefore leave a lasting good impression, allowing brands to remain competitive, foster long-term loyalty and reduce churn.????

However, as purchases are increasingly being made quickly and easily online, customers often expect an equally fast and convenient customer support experience. Many companies have responded to these evolving customer preferences by reassessing their customer support strategies, relying less on human agents and more on AI technologies such as chatbots and virtual assistants which can respond instantly and cost-effectively to customer queries. In fact, Gartner have forecasted that 80% of customer service and support organisations will be using generative AI to enhance agent productivity and customer experience by 2025.

Customer support: an AI-powered future?

One way that companies are navigating the growing role of AI in customer support functions is to cut headcount. Gartner expects organisations will replace 20-30% of their customer service and support agents with generative AI by 2026, with new roles instead focusing on the implementation of AI solutions. This prediction is already starting to be seen in practice, with American clothing retailer L.L. Bean recently announcing that it will cut its call centre hours as customers increasingly turn to digital self-service options, affirming that there will be some staff layoffs.

However, replacing all customer support agents with generative AI is likely not a viable long-term strategy. While GenAI can increase efficiency by automating simple and routine tasks such as responding to FAQs, scheduling appointments and providing personalised recommendations, companies should be cautious about relying too heavily on technology and neglecting the value that human customer support agents can bring to customer interactions.

With the emergence of intuitive and empathetic AI models still a distant reality, current technologies are not able to grasp the nuances of human conversation and respond in an appropriate tone for the interaction. Human customer support agents are therefore still best placed to listen to customer queries and provide empathetic, appropriate and customer-centric support. Indeed, a recent CCW report demonstrated that customers still have a strong preference for interacting with human customer support agents, with only 20% of customers trusting self-service as a productive customer support option, and 95% still expecting access to agents for some or all issues.

Case studies: how are companies balancing technology and human touch in customer support?

Companies worldwide remain divided on the appropriate use of technology in customer support, balancing benefits like speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness against potential drawbacks for customer experience. For example, Walmart recently joined Target and Dollar Central in scaling back its use of instore technology by removing self-checkouts from some of its stores , stating that it hoped the move would improve the shopping experience and create more personalised and efficient customer service.

In contrast, other retailers are leveraging advanced AI to further automate the customer journey. For example, a 24/7 store at Stuttgart Airport is using Diebold Nixdorf's automatic age verification technology to eliminate the need for staff to manually verify a customer’s age for buying age-restricted products.

While businesses have yet to agree on an optimal level of AI integration in customer support, the future likely involves using AI for simple, repetitive tasks and for quick information retrieval. This would free up human agents to focus on complex, customer-centric issues. For example, technology can help with omnichannel orchestration, tracking a customer’s journey so that support agents are equipped with the correct information to efficiently help customers on a live call.?

What’s more, not only can the support of AI technology improve the customer experience by empowering customer support agents to provide faster, more effective service, but it can also benefit employee experience. According to a report by Deloitte Digital , 81% of companies not using GenAI are likely to report customer support agents feeling overwhelmed by the volume of information available to them during customer calls, compared to only 53% of companies leveraging generative AI.

Key takeaways for CX leaders

• Recognise strategic value of customer support: Don't overlook customer support in favour of seemingly more profitable departments like sales or marketing. Customer support is vital to CX strategies, essential for reducing churn and fostering long-term loyalty.
• Leverage AI for efficiency: Utilise AI-powered tools to handle simple and repetitive tasks, allowing customer support agents to focus on more complex issues, improving overall efficiency and response times.
• Prioritise empathy and personalisation: While AI can enhance efficiency, customer support agents are crucial for providing empathetic and personalised support. Invest in training your team to listen actively and respond appropriately to customer concerns, ensuring a customer-centric approach.

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Make sure to subscribe to our monthly CX Newsletter for more insights into the world of customer experience!

Don’t miss out on our upcoming CX Exchange Events:

CX BFSI USA West (21-22 May 2024 | The Westin Anaheim Resort, CA, USA) – North America’s Premier Invitation-Only Meeting for CX Leaders in Financial Services

CX Healthcare West (04-05 June 2024 | Westin Carlsbad, San Diego) – North America’s Premier Invitation-Only Event for Senior Experience Leaders in Healthcare

CX Retail UK (08-09 July 2024 | Hilton Syon Park, London, UK) – The UK’s Premier Invitation-Only Event for Retail’s Senior Customer & Experience Leaders

CX Travel and Hospitality (09-10 September 2024 | Hilton Syon Park, London, UK) – Europe’s Premier Invitation-Only Meeting for CX Leaders in Travel & Hospitality

CX Retail USA (24-25 September 2024 | Marriott Dallas Uptown, Texas) – North America’s Premier Invitation-Only Event for Senior Customer Experience Leaders in Retail

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