The pandemic has been the driving force behind new consumer trends that are already reshaping the way customers expect to interact with brands. As we move into 2021 and look forward to the prospect of a post-COVID-19 world, your business must rethink its customer experience (CX) in order to be ready for this new normal.
A New CX Reality
For any organisation, no matter how strong its products, services or brand promise, a little customer turnover is inevitable. But, imagine if three quarters of your customer base were simply a single poor customer experience away from severing ties with your business and taking their patronage elsewhere?
As our research over the course of 2020 reveals, this is the reality among both U.S. and U.K. consumers. What’s more, consumers are now basing their CX expectations – and rating the service they receive – on the best experience they have ever had with any brand – whether it operates in your vertical or not.
Furthermore, the type of CX against which all others are benchmarked is increasingly digital, omnichannel, personalised and, crucially, friction-free.
The Pandemic Ups the Pressure
Even under normal circumstances, responding to these changing expectations would be a challenge. For many organisations, it could mean embarking on a long-term digital business transformation with a clear roadmap for guidance.
However, thanks to the unprecedented events of this year – the impact and continuing reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic – the pressure for organisations to think differently and act digitally in order to maintain their customer base, address disruption and safeguard the future of their business has intensified.
Regardless of business vertical and addressable market, all organisations need to recognize how COVID-19 is rewriting the CX rulebook.
As we look toward a post-pandemic world, organisations have a small window to see their business through their customers’ eyes and reshape their CX to put consumers at its center. To help brands pinpoint where to start, we have compiled the predictions we believe are the key CX Trends for 2021.