New Research: 78% Of Support Leaders To Adopt A More Proactive Approach To Customer Service In 2021

Published: November 11, 2020

According to a new report from conversational relationship platform Intercom, 73% of customer support leaders believe customers have higher expectations for customer service due to Covid-19. To meet the expectation of quality customer service, 78% of support leaders said they plan to adopt a more proactive approach to customer support in the new year.

The “2021 Customer Support Trends Report” highlights how customer support leaders are managing their business operations, budget and expenses, customer expectations and internal team challenges as they prepare for 2021. It also explores trends in customer support, such as the various tools and technology being used and how teams are measuring their success.

The report cites challenges with increased workflow efficiency, management of customer conversation volume and meeting customer expectations. This has led to many support leaders shifting their focus on better agent training and the use of conversational tools such as chatbots to enhance customer experiences.

Other key takeaways from the report include:

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  • 57% measure their success based on ROI, but plan to measure based on customer retention (30%), customer satisfaction (25%) and net promoter scores (15%) in 2021;
  • 73% of support leaders are seeing increased conversation resolution when using automation and chatbot tools for greater workflow efficiency, with 50% planning to invest in those tools in 2021;
  • Only 26% have the tools and knowledge to adopt a more proactive strategy; and
  • 41% of support teams are slowed down by daily or weekly siloed tools.

“Even during turbulent times like the COVID-19 pandemic, conversational support is helping support teams enhance their customer relationships, increase their efficiency and boost their CSAT scores,” said Kaitlin Pettersen, Global Director, Customer Support at Intercom, in a statement. “The five transformative trends point toward a new era of fast and personal customer support and it’s no surprise that conversational support capabilities are a key area of strategic investment for support leaders in 2021.”

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