In the last two years, COVID-19 has affected our life in all fields of work. Some fields faced more damage than others. This damage has changed how demand and supply used to work. Thus changes also happened with customer service and trends too.
So if you still haven’t adapted to these new changes, it is time to do now. But from where should you begin? A new normal has already started with some businesses. They are accepting the remote work culture.
AI chatbots and automation are some of those services that got popular during this time.
Before COVID, AI chatbots were the first preference of any business. After COVID, things started changing, and businesses added automation as another layer of flexibility to their structure.
But just investing in an automation solution is not enough. Businesses need to make sure that they are getting a good amount in return from it. All the decisions and changes made now must be future proof too.
Today in this article, we will focus on 3 major trends that a business must adapt to for fast and drastic changes.
This article will focus on the total online migration.
Total Online Migration:
Total online migration is undoubtedly the first customer service trend that a business should adopt. We all have entered 2022 already, and if your team is still not operating manually, you are wasting your team’s potential. Being flexible and remote is not that new for any industry, but COVID proved that it is a necessary part of today’s world.
Nowadays, almost all businesses have some service that is online. And we believe that it is going to be the same for a long time. It did not happen in some rush, but businesses have shifted their focus toward migration now.
Adopting or changing your habit is a difficult task. So we can say the habit customers have adopted in this period is going to stick for a long time. According to McKinsey, in the US, they noticed an increase of 40% in online shopping. According to them, online shopping will be here even after COVID.
According to another study, for non-food items, nearly half (45%) of consumers have increased their mobile shopping. As per another statistic, 77% of online shoppers say that direct connection enables them to feel a direct connection with the brand.
So what are the trends that you can follow during and after the migration:
The Preparation For Migration:
We all think that moving to an online environment is easy. Make a few accounts, install applications, and you are done. But there is so much more than you think. You need a big to-do list before completing your migration process.
There are three things that you must check during the migration process:
Is your customer service team ready to make the new shift?
Do you have a vast digital presence?
Inform your customers about your migration so they can contact you.
Now, if you have checked all the above points, it is time to tell you about some platforms that can come in handy to make the migration process easy.
As the migration begins, let’s talk about all the steps involved:
Adopting Remote Working:
Before COVID, your teams were at the office, doing their tasks and getting things done. Nowadays, working from home is the first preference of so many employees. So if you are thinking of making your business a hybrid workplace or complete WFH, then here is the checklist that you can follow.
Fill The Digital Gaps:
Every person is built differently. They have different interests and skills that they use to do their work. But if you are moving your employees to the digital world, you need to make sure that they possess the right digital skills.
If not, provide them with the right training to make sure that they are comfortable with this new change. Bringing your team on the same page is necessary. That is one of the best ways to fill these cracks using digital skills of people.
Integrate with Omnichannel Solution:
Once your team is set to go digital, it is time to make the customer flow better. Now the thing at this step is to identify where your customers are engaging with your brand. This contact point will be the door where opportunities knock.
Usually, there is more than one contact point. According to Microsoft, a customer uses 3-5 channels of communication to resolve their issues.
Some common channels can be:
Privacy, Personalization, and Protection:
Create a perfect balance between personalization, privacy, and protection for your users. When you are migrating, you are also migrating your customer data with you. Bigger data create higher chances of personalization.
But, only customization is not the only thing you need to do here.
You need to protect every single bit of that data. Make sure that you are using tools that have a secure and stable data storage facility. Try to be transparent about this collection and storage of data. And finally, allow your users to opt out of this collection anytime with their data.
So these are the steps you can follow to achieve Total Online Migration. Making your business available 24*7 to all your customers is not an easy task, especially with underperforming tools and services. Remember to make the right choice while doing so. Or it is best to contact some experts before making a move.