13 Latest Customer Service Software Trends & Forecasts for 2024

Strong customer connections have always been a common denominator among successful companies. To maintain those connections means staying on top of the latest customer service software trends and checking how your organization’s customer service team is performing. 

Fortunately, technologies like customer support software are rapidly evolving to include modern features needed to level up a company’s support capabilities, especially in times of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This article will discuss these innovative technologies and tools and how they are being used in real-world customer service. Other important trends will also be covered, such as personalization, data transparency, and customer service as part of overall branding. 

Customer service is never easy, especially when you know that 55% of customers expect better service year over year and that another 58% will sever their ties to a business because of poor customer service. On the bright side, though, there are more customers (63%) who believe that customer service is improving (Microsoft, 2020).

Statistics and trends indicate that customers want fast resolution of their issues. Because of this goal, many prefer brands that can be contacted via popular channels like messaging, live chat, and social media platforms instead of emails. Self-service portals like FAQs and knowledgebases are also great ways to provide answers to standard inquiries without needing to contact live agents.

However, the human touch will always be a necessary part of excellent customer service as there are still many customers who prefer live video chat and phone calls when solving urgent concerns. Meeting customer expectations and other challenges are possible through the right implementation of technologies, continuous training, and the support of business leaders who have a direct hand in customer service operations.

1. Mobile-Optimized Customer Service

People worldwide are spending more time doing more things online on their mobile phones. In 2021, there are 5.22 billion or 66.6% of the global population who are mobile users, and 4.66 billion or 59.5% are active internet users (Datareportal. 2021). Of this, 4.32 billion or 92.6% accessed the internet on their mobile devices (Statista, 2021).

Moreover, when it comes to preferred customer service channels, 50% of customers across all age groups go to their phones when they need to contact customer support (Zendesk, 2020), making mobile devices the most-used channel for providing customer service.

With these numbers, it’s clear where businesses can find and reach their customers; thus optimizing customer service for mobile devices should be included in any sensible customer service strategy. One example of mobile optimization is having a responsive company website that will display and run smoothly on smaller screens for mobile users. This will make it easy and pain-free for customers when they contact your business online.

2. Omnichannel as the New Standard

The importance of excellent customer service cannot be overstated. A positive customer service experience convinced 71% of customers to make a purchase and 91% said they are more likely to make another purchase if the service is good. Additionally, 78% said they will forgive a company for a mistake after receiving excellent service (Salesforce, n.d.).

So how do you provide excellent customer service? Be there when your customers contact you through your integrated, real-time omnichannel system. It’s not enough for businesses to have multiple, disconnected customer touchpoints to reply to customer support requests; they have to integrate and streamline multiple channels (i.e. phone, email, messaging, etc.) to improve response rates and overall customer experience. 

Immediate response is crucial to elevate the quality of customer service according to 90% of consumers, and 60% define “immediate” as 10 minutes or less (Hubspot, 2020). The consequences of not being able to provide excellent service can ultimately lead to loss of business. Poor service can result in 50% of customers switching to your competitor after one bad experience and another 80% leaving after more than one bad experience (Zendesk, 2020).

3. More Demand for Self-Service

Customer service software trends during COVID seem to indicate that customers have changed their behavior—45% of customers are more likely to use self-service today than before the pandemic (Destination CRM, 2021). With lockdowns and limited in-store visits, customers expected companies to provide more options to reach them other than the traditional means like phones and email.

However, one survey revealed that less than 30% of companies offered self-service portals like knowledge bases, FAQs, AI-powered chat, and community forums. This is despite numbers indicating that among high performers, 76% are more likely to offer self-service support channels (Zendesk, 2020). There are still many challenges facing self-service channels, but with technologies evolving and customers already very comfortable with digital communication, it’s just a matter of time before we see self-service as a preferred method for customer support.

4. Increased Social Media Interactions

Providing customer support via social media channels will continue to be a popular method in 2022. That’s because, with billions of people on their mobile devices using social apps, it’s not intuitive anymore to exit those apps when you want to contact a business. In fact, 70% of people expect to message businesses more in the future for customer service questions  (Hootsuite, 2021).

Another reason is that social media customer support lends itself well to the promptness and convenience customers now expect when contacting businesses. Customers expect response time to be faster when they message brands on social media with 32% expecting a reply within 30 minutes, 42% expecting a response within 60 minutes, and 57% expecting the same quick response time at night and weekends as weekday business hours.

5. Chatbots are More Advanced

To improve customer service, companies would need to leverage emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning. One way to do so is through AI-powered chatbots.

Equipped with natural language processing (NLP), intelligent chatbots can provide 24/7 service and immediate response to almost 80% of all standard questions. They allow businesses to scale their customer support operations and free up their live agents to handle cases that really need human attention.

Major industries such as banking and finance, healthcare, and retail all implement chatbots. Among customers, 40% used chatbots to contact retail businesses while 22% used bots for healthcare services (Statista, 2020).

6. Customer Service Aligned With Branding

While product quality and affordability are still two of the most important considerations for customers, customer service quality has also joined the ranks. For instance, 90% of consumers in the U.S. use customer service as a factor in deciding whether or not to support a business or company (Microsoft, 2020).

Another reason why customer service is strongly associated with a brand is the fact that there are now 2.14 billion people who shop online. Without visiting physical stores and talking directly with salespeople, customers now form their impressions of a brand through their initial encounters with customer service personnel. Customers are more likely to remain loyal to brands that are customer-focused, know their pain points, and are able to continuously provide value and solutions beyond their first purchase.

7. Emphasis on Data Transparency

Companies collect data from customers to provide more personalized shopping experiences, make more accurate purchase suggestions, and make improvements in products or services. Though this sounds like a valid reason to keep customer information, companies must be transparent in how they collect, use, and share personal data.

Transparency can strengthen trust between customers and the brand; thus it can also produce more satisfied and loyal customers. However, with many incidents of data breaches and misuse, fewer and fewer customers want to disclose their data to companies. In one study, 71% of customers said that they would leave a company if it shared their data without permission (McKinsey, 2020). Additionally, 86% of consumers want more transparency over how their personal information is used (Salesforce, n.d.).

8. Personalized Customer Experience

Big data analytics makes it possible for companies to have a better understanding of their customers and design a more personalized customer experience. This can range from simply using the first name of a customer in email marketing messages to unifying customer data from multiple sources like social media, browsing habits, purchase history, etc. to make better product recommendations or engage in more meaningful conversations with clients.

Personalization is a strong trend in customer service not just because companies have the technology and data, but also because customers do find value in personalized service. A good example can be found in the ecommerce industry. Seventy-five percent of consumers said they like it when brands personalize their messaging and offerings.

On the other hand, 74% said they become frustrated when content is not relevant to them. Overall, investing time, effort, and funds into creating personalized customer journeys can improve conversions by almost 8% (Trustpilot, 2020).

9. Data-Driven Approach to Customer Service

The data available today is not just for creating more personalized and meaningful customer interactions. Data is also for businesses to use in improving their operations. Companies often utilize full-featured customer support software to organize important data they collect on a daily basis.

Through collecting data such as satisfaction ratings and using data visualization and reports to compare individual team members’ performance, managers can gain insights on how quickly their team is responding to requests and the average time it takes to resolve an issue. These are important metrics when you consider that 60% of customers rate customer support as “good” based on how quickly they can resolve their problem.

10. Messaging

Consumers have turned to messaging to interact with their preferred brands not only because it’s intuitive and convenient, but also for the immediate replies they receive using this communication channel. Customers expect to receive a reply via messaging in less than 5 minutes. Messaging is also one of the top channels used across all age groups when resolving issues with a company and Millennials/Gen Zs (40%) use this method the most (Zendesk, 2020).

Businesses, meanwhile, also have a positive impression of messaging used for customer support. Several benefits include faster time resolution (30%), 24/7 support (27%), and more personal interactions (25%) (Zendesk, 2020). With more than 20 billion messages exchanged between businesses and customers on Facebook Messenger (Techjury, 2021), for example, we can expect messaging to continue as a popular way of delivering customer service.

11. Remote Customer Support Team

The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually end, but distributed teams will likely be the new normal as employees and businesses alike realize the benefits of remote work or work-from-home setups. Already, 70% of companies surveyed said they are planning to adopt a hybrid model of working (HR Dive, 2021), while 66% of workers around the globe are redesigning their work environments to fit hybrid arrangements (Microsoft, 2021).

Customer support teams are not excluded from transitioning to remote work. Though there were major challenges on how to provide remote customer service without the infrastructure and peer support many agents have been used to in the office, companies are steadily addressing these issues and investing in new technologies to reach customers and connect distributed service teams.

12. Continued Use of Live Agents

Most of the customer service software trends in 2022 discussed so far have revolved around technologies designed to provide excellent customer support. But that doesn’t mean that live agents will no longer have a major role to play in helping customers. Technologies like chatbots, messaging, and call center software are there to get some of the work off the shoulders of live agents and enable them to attend to urgent and more complex service requests.

Take the situation during COVID-19, for example. The emotional state of consumers presented opportunities for brands to provide compassionate customer service through their human live agents that machines could not do. It was found that 58% of customers still prefer live agents when resolving urgent concerns rather than using other channels (Accenture, 2020). Real-time support via live chat is also necessary to make sure customers can get the help they need and in return, help boost brand reputation and trustworthiness.

13. Video for Live Customer Service

Video is not just for marketing strategies, it’s now one of the ways you can provide a higher level and personalized customer service. Live video chat support has many benefits including bringing the in-store experience to your customers online and providing better quality remote support. In fact, live chat video has 73% satisfaction rate among customers, compared to 61% for email and 44% for phone communication (Revchat, 2021).

Furthermore, live video chat can also be helpful for purposes other than providing direct customer support. For instance, video recordings can be used for auditing and training purposes. It also allows companies to cut down on service costs with fewer customer touchpoints to maintain, faster problem resolution, and fewer communication issues.

Should You Follow These Trends for Your Business?

Digital technologies and the ongoing pandemic have undoubtedly changed customer behavior and expectations, which directly influence customer service trends. The proof is that 88% of customers expect companies to accelerate digital initiatives due to COVID-19 (Salesforce, n.d.).

The digital-first lifestyle of customers practically compels businesses to become more agile, invest in new technologies, and find solutions that are scalable, affordable, and can easily be implemented to meet both customer demands and support agent needs in times of crisis.

These trends can serve as guides on how you can approach your own customer service strategies. Each business will be different, and, therefore, will have different needs when it comes to providing great online customer service. Solutions can be found through software and digital platforms, but the trick is to choose customer service solutions based on the nature of your service or product and the insights you gain from your customer data.

References: 

1. Accenture (2020). COVID-19: Responsive Customer Service in Change. Accenture.com
2. Datareportal (2021). Digital 2021: Global Overview Report. Datareportal.com
3. Destination CRM (2021). The Top Customer Service Trends: Digital Channels Overtake Service Options. Destination CRM
4. Hootsuite (2021). Social Media Customer Service: Tips and Tools to Do it Right. Hootsuite
5. HR Dive (2021). Most US employers with flexible work plans choose hybrid work, Mercer says. hrdive.com
6. McKinsey (2020). The consumer-data opportunity and the privacy imperative. McKinsey.com
7. Microsoft (2020). Global State of Customer Service. Microsoft
8. Microsoft (2021). The Work Trend Index. Microsoft.com
9. Revchat (2021).  The Essential Guide to Use Video Chat for Customer Service. Revchat.com
10. Salesforce ( n.d.). State of the Connected Customer. Salesforce
11. Statista (2021). Global digital population as of January 2021. Statista.com
12. Statista (2020). Share of consumers who have used chatbots. Statista
13. Techjury (2021). 30 of The Most Incredible Facebook Messenger Statistics for 2021. Techjury
14. Trustpilot (2020). Why personalized experiences can boost conversions. Trustpilot
15. Zendesk (2020). Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2020. Zendesk

By Nestor Gilbert

Nestor Gilbert is a senior B2B and SaaS analyst and a core contributor at FinancesOnline for over 5 years. With his experience in software development and extensive knowledge of SaaS management, he writes mostly about emerging B2B technologies and their impact on the current business landscape. However, he also provides in-depth reviews on a wide range of software solutions to help businesses find suitable options for them. Through his work, he aims to help companies develop a more tech-forward approach to their operations and overcome their SaaS-related challenges.