The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group

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The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
The Race for
Customer Loyalty:
2021 CX Trends

Create Connection. Value Conversation.
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
In This Report…

   1      A New CX Reality                         03

   2      Our Predictions for 2021                 06

   3      A Platform for Growth                    17

  4       About Sitel Group®                       18

02 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
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.

 1       A New CX Reality
For any organization, no matter how strong its                             However, thanks to the unprecedented events of
products, services or brand promise, a little customer                     this year – the impact and continuing reverberations
turnover is inevitable. But, imagine if three quarters                     of the COVID-19 pandemic – the pressure for
of your customer base were simply a single poor                            organizations to think differently and act digitally
customer experience away from severing ties with                           in order to maintain their customer base, address
your business and taking their patronage elsewhere?                        disruption and safeguard the future of their business
                                                                           has intensified.
As our research1 over the course of 2020 reveals, this
is the reality among both U.S. and U.K. consumers.                         Regardless of business vertical and addressable market,
What’s more, consumers are now basing their CX                             all organizations need to recognize how COVID-19 is
expectations - and rating the service they receive -                       rewriting the CX rulebook.
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,
personalized and, crucially, friction-free.                                  75% of customers are a
                                                                             single poor experience
The Pandemic Ups the Pressure
                                                                             away from severing ties
Even under normal circumstances, responding to
these changing expectations would be a challenge.
                                                                             with your business.
                                                                             Source: Sitel Group
For many organizations, it could mean embarking on
a long-term digital business transformation with a
clear roadmap for guidance.

1 COVID-19: the CX Impact (https://www.sitel.com/white-paper/covid-19-the-cx-impact/)

03 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
Customers Make Digital Demands

Our research shows that while 76% of consumers                           According to McKinsey2 , brands’ response to
were initially driven towards digital interactions with                  the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed forward the
brands because of COVID-19-related restrictions;                         digitization of customer and supply-chain interactions
57% of customers are going to maintain this behavior                     by as much as seven years. Organizations with a
because they appreciate the extra value. This extra                      mature digital presence had a head start, but it is
value is born out of greater speed and simplicity,                       the businesses that moved quickly to understand
plus immediate access to self-service or the choice                      where digital solutions could best be used to create
of synchronous and asynchronous communication                            innovative, contactless experiences that created the
- from chatbots and email to online chat - only                          strongest brand connections.
a digitally focused omnichannel CX approach can
deliver.

                                                                                                     Source: COVID-19: the CX Impact Study

2 How COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point—and transformed business forever (https://www.mckinsey.com/business-
functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-covid-19-has-pushed-companies-over-the-technology-tipping-point-and-transformed-
business-forever#:~:text=their%20companies%20have%20accelerated%20the,by%20a%20shocking%20seven%20years.)

04 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
An Invitation to Innovate                                                       And it wasn’t just people’s health. Online pet-product
                                                                                retailer Chewy introduced televet appointments6 so
A host of brands are demonstrating that with some                               pet owners could virtually check up on their furry
careful thought, just one innovative step could close                           friends’ health and get expert advice. As a company
the gap on digital leaders and bring them closer to                             new to this line of business, Chewy’s decision is a
their customers.                                                                case study in understanding customer needs and
                                                                                adding tangible value.
In retail, U.S. grocery chains have taken a leaf out of
their European counterparts’ book and quickly rolled
out buy online and pickup in store (BOPiS) as well as                           Thinking Like a Customer
curbside pickup services.
                                                                                As comparatively simple as these examples may seem
Even if fashion took a knock because people were                                on the surface, the reason why they have had such a
staying at home, brands found novel ways of                                     positive impact is because in each case, the idea was
maintaining a connection with and even entertaining                             born out of more than just thinking differently, it was
their customers. Ralph Lauren built Bitmojis hosted                             due to thinking like a customer.
on Snapchat that could be virtually dressed in any
of the brand’s clothing so that people could virtually                          Therefore, as we look toward a post-pandemic
try clothes on their cartoon selves before they buy                             world, organizations have a small window to see their
online.                                                                         business through their customers’ eyes and reshape
                                                                                their CX to put consumers at its center.
Across the U.K. and Europe, meal delivery3 service
Deliveroo introduced contactless delivery and then                              To help brands pinpoint where to start, we have compiled
went one step further by offering free care packages                            a list of four predictions we believe are the key CX drivers
for the elderly and vulnerable4 .                                               for this year.

In healthcare, doctors and therapists pivoted to
telemedicine so patients could still make their
appointments. One of the biggest such pivots was
made by Maven Health, which is a B2B healthcare                                    The COVID-19 pandemic
provider focused on women’s health issues. It usually
deals exclusively with companies’ HR departments.                                  drove forward the
Yet, in the face of COVID-19, Maven Health moved
to being a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business5
                                                                                   digitization of customer
specifically so that through video appointments,                                   and supply-chain
pregnant women continued getting the support they
needed.                                                                            interactions by as
                                                                                   much as seven years.
                                                                                   Source: McKinsey

3 Leave it on the doorstep: Deliveroo starts contactless delivery (https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-britain-deliveroo/leave-it-on-the-
doorstep-deliveroo-starts-contactless-delivery-idINL8N2B54HN)
4 Coronavirus: Takeaway firms JustEat and Deliveroo in talks with government on providing care packages to elderly (https://news.sky.com/story/
coronavirus-takeaway-firms-justeat-and-deliveroo-in-talks-with-government-on-providing-care-packages-to-elderly-11958494)
5 25 Of The Most Customer-Centric Companies From 2020 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/12/21/25-most-customer-centric-3
companies-2020/?sh=45d9994b884b)
6 Chewy launches virtual vet visits as pandemic fuels pet boom (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/28/chewy.html)

05 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
2       Our Predictions for 2021

Trend 1
The Bar for Digital CX Will Rise,
But So Will the Ability to Reach It

COVID-19 laid bare many organizations’ shortcomings.                          Moreover self-service offers organization a host of
According to Salesforce7 , 88% of service teams                               potential choices and applications, meaning they
admitted the pandemic had exposed gaps in their                               can begin slowly then build up a suite of solutions.
technology.                                                                   A well-maintained set of FAQs, customer forums,
                                                                              conversational or visual IVR system, or a dedicated
This is why brands need to intensify the efforts they                         chatbot trained to respond to the most common
have already made to close the gaps and meet their                            customer issues, can all quickly reduce live channel
customers in digital channels. For some organizations                         contact volumes, whether they exist in isolation or as
it will mean accelerating their existing digital business                     part of a dedicated customer portal. This in turn frees
transformation process. However, for others it means                          up agents to focus on the most important customer
understanding the existing customer journey and                               issues - issues that demand both knowledge and
carefully considering where a digital intervention or                         emotional intelligence in equal measure.
virtual touchpoint would make the biggest difference
and result in the greatest positive CX impact.

Self-Service Solutions

One area where value can be quickly added and
where return on investment easily recognized is self-
service. Gartner data puts the average cost of a self-
service customer resolution at $0.10 per interaction,
compared with the use of one or more live channels
on the path to resolution which can cost up to $8.01
per customer, per issue resolved.

7 State of Service: Learn how 7,000+ global service professionals are adapting during the pandemic. (https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-
reports/state-of-service/)
8 Gartner Says Only 9% of Customers Report Solving Their Issues Completely via Self-Service (https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-reports/
state-of-service/)

06 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
Source: Gartner

The Right Digital Direction

Self-service is a perfect initial move into digital for                  when they have a problem rather than picking up the
organizations who may have been more focused,                            phone10. As such, it’s an area of CX that is gaining in
until now, on other forms of customer interaction                        popularity and therefore importance, particularly for
and issue resolution – 86% of consumers, globally now                    brands that want to appeal to the next generation of
expect a brand to offer a self-service option9.                          consumers and convert them into loyal customers.

And, 35% of all consumers and 42% of millennials
and Gen Z now actively prefer helping themselves

9 Global State of Customer Service (https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-09-25-gartner-says-only-9--of-customers-report-
solving-thei)
10 COVID-19: the CX Impact (https://www.sitel.com/white-paper/covid-19-the-cx-impact/)

07 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
Source: COVID-19: the CX Impact, Sitel Group, 2020

Trend 2
Androids Will Dream of
a Better CX

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been on executives’                         came to the realization they needed to invest more
agendas for the past several years, but the pandemic                         in the fundamentals of AI and in proofs of concept.
has brought into sharp focus how this technology                             In fact, 42% of leaders admitted they were now
should be applied to delight customers and deliver                           reexamining use cases while 23% were in the process
brand differentiation. PwC data11 shows that in                              of running small pilots with a renewed focus on
2019, 20% of organizations said they were on track                           leveraging the technology for delivering on customer
for an enterprise-wide AI roll out. However, at the                          experience. When interviewed, 35% of executives
start of 2020, this figure had fallen to just 4%. Over                       said automating tasks and 31% said supporting
the course of those 12 months, many businesses                               employees to make faster, better decisions were
                                                                             their top AI priorities for the year ahead.

11 2020 AI Predictions: Five ways to go from reality check to real-world payoff (https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/artificial-
intelligence-predictions-2020.html)

08 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
of executives report
                                                                            automating tasks as
                                      35%                                   a top AI priority
                                                                            for the year ahead.
                                                                            Source: PwC

The Intelligent Application of AI

COVID-19 brought even greater clarity around                                The pandemic has been potentially the biggest
the use and application of technologies. It is                              proof of concept for AI solutions in recent history.
helping organizations guide their AI spending and                           Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the
development, and in particular around the design                            number of U.S. organizations planning to invest over
and deployment of intelligent virtual agents to                             $5 million on AI development12 over the next financial
serve customer needs and on chatbots and other                              year has doubled since the start of 2020.
intelligent automation services to provide consumer-
facing employees with extra support.

                                                                           The number of
                                                                           organizations set to
                                                                           invest over $5 million
                                                                           on AI development over
                                                                           the next financial year
                                                                           has doubled since the
                                                                           start of 2020.
                                                                           Source: Appen

12 The 2020 State of AI and Machine Learning Report (https://appen.com/whitepapers/the-state-of-ai-and-machine-learning-report/)

09 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends - Sitel Group
With AI being deployed as a means of CX
    innovation and differentiation, we predict
    that in 2021:

    Accelerated access: Thanks to the ability to intelligently                      AI agent assistance: AI will not only be used as a
    route customers based on immediate need and                                     customer-facing tool. We will see contact center
    complexity of interaction, AI will help drive customers                         staff increasingly being supported by AI to deliver a
    along the fastest and simplest path to resolution. Self-                        more accurate and more efficient experience. BCG
    service will take over simple scenarios such as order                           research15 reveals that 45% of call time is taken up by
    updates, status tracking, physical store information                            the agent searching for information while the caller is
    or appointment scheduling. The MIT Technology                                   on hold, or while a caller waits to be transferred. In
    Review “Humans + bots: Tension and opportunity,”13                              2021, AI, including real-time speech and text analytics,
    shows that 90% of organizations that have used AI                               will be key to solving this problem. It will support
    for CX operational improvement have improved their                              agents, prompting them with the relevant information,
    speed of complaint resolution and 80% have achieved                             suggesting the next best action and automating
    enhanced call volume processing.                                                customer record updates. Consumers will benefit
                                                                                    from a more engaging and streamlined experience,
    Due to the progress many organizations made over                                while agents have fewer tasks to complete enabling
    the course of 2020 to automate services to remove                               them to focus on truly understanding and meeting the
    pressure from their employees, these features are                               customer’s need.
    going to be table stakes in 2021 and brands that don’t
    start developing these solutions now are going to be                            Automatic for your people: Robotic Process
    left behind.                                                                    Automation (RPA) will become the go-to solution for
                                                                                    optimizing back office processes.
    Customers are ready to converse with chatbots:
    Digital agents have proved their worth and can only                             McKinsey data16 compiled at the end of 2019 shows
    continue to grow in popularity for consumer-facing                              RPA is already the most commonly deployed form
    brands as more business leaders realize their ability                           of AI technology within enterprises. One third of hi-
    to deliver a personalized customer service. Business                            tech companies, 30% of telecoms, 33% of travel and
    Insider data14 forecasts the chatbot market will be                             transport, 36% of financial services and 21% of retailer
    worth $9.4 billion by 2024 (up from $2.6 billion only                           organizations are currently leveraging RPA.
    a year ago). Consumers will increasingly anticipate the
    ability to interact with digital assistants that deliver a                      The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the business
    unique brand-led experience and seamlessly handle                               continuity risk associated with having to rely on
    requests using natural language. To have the greatest                           large operations teams to run processes. With social
    impact on CX, digital agents will need to be carefully                          distancing in place, organizations needed to think
    integrated into a wider omnichannel experience so                               differently and automate repeatable tasks, such as
    that live agents can still seamlessly take over and                             data entry. Now organizations have experienced the
    resolve a customer issue when necessary.                                        benefits, which include speed, accuracy and scalability
                                                                                    there will be a continued push to continue on this

       The chatbot                                                                  automation journey.

       market will be worth
       $9.4 billion by 2024.
       Source: Business Insider

13 MIT Technology Review: Humans + Bots: Tension and Opportunity (https://www.genesys.com/en-gb/resources/mit-global-research-humans-bots-
tension-and-opportunity)
14 The latest market research, trends, and landscape in the growing AI chatbot industry (https://www.businessinsider.com/
chatbot-market-stats-trends?IR=T)
15 Redefining Customer Service for the Future (bcg.com/publications/2020/redefining-customer-service-for-the-future)
16 Global AI Survey: AI proves its worth, but few scale impact (https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/global-ai-survey-ai-
proves-its-worth-but-few-scale-impact)

10 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
Source: McKinsey

Trend 3
Consistent and Personalized                                                   Converse in Any Channel

Omnichannel Experiences                                                       A greater use of online chat is key to delivering on
                                                                              these expectations. Its application among large
Will Delight Customers                                                        organizations globally is increasing by 32% year over
                                                                              year according to the latest Salesforce data17 and it’s
                                                                              easy to understand why.
As the use of automation, chatbots and self-service
alongside traditional voice channels clearly illustrated                      Online chat can be used as a customer engagement
in 2020, having an omnichannel approach to customer                           tool in any digital channel. As well as on a website
experience is now a must. As well as providing                                page, chat can be embedded in a confirmation email,
customers with a selection of communication means,                            an SMS notification, a mobile app or self-service
organizations must now go a step further and ensure                           portal. Likewise, organizations that are leveraging
those channels are uniform in quality and speed of                            visual IVR technology can integrate an online chat
service.                                                                      option to reduce call volumes.

17 State of Service: Learn how 7,000+ global service professionals are adapting during the pandemic. (https://www.salesforce.com/resources/research-
reports/state-of-service/)

11 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
Omnichannel is No Longer Optional

The importance of an omnichannel customer                            Effective use of data can make customers feel truly
experience cannot be overstated. While some                          understood and create the personalized experiences
consumers do opt to shop solely instore or online,                   that consumers value most. Get this right and
the vast majority – 73% according to Harvard                         the resulting 360° customer view will help forge
Business Review18 – choose to use multiple channels                  stronger relationships that will lead to personalized
during their shopping journey. More importantly,                     experiences that increase loyalty and lifetime value
omnichannel customers spend on average 13% more                      while minimizing customer turnover. This is why 2021
than single channel customers.                                       will be the year of analytics as organizations work to
                                                                     break customer data out of silos and unlock the real-
However, uniformity of quality and a wider choice of                 time insights that will drive interactions and create
channels is only a first step if organizations want a                stronger, long-term customer connections.
larger wallet share from their customer base. For an
omnichannel platform to function, there also needs
to be a uniformity of customer recognition and
information.
                                                                       Omnichannel customers
Understanding History to Know the Future                               spend on average 13%
Three in four consumers expect to be able to pick                      more than single channel
up where they left off as they move from channel
to channel19. Microsoft data20 shows that for 32%
                                                                       customers.
                                                                       Source: Appen
of consumers, globally, the most frustrating aspect
of CX is having to repeat the same information a
number of times. As customers move from channel
to channel, it’s crucial that their data and history also               32% of consumers find
moves from channel to channel; so that whether an
agent is virtual or physical the issue can be resolved
                                                                        most frustrating aspect
swiftly and with a minimum of customer effort.                          of CX is having
Indeed, 75% of customers now expect a live agent
to not only know who they are but also be aware of                      to repeat information.
their complete purchase history.                                        Source: Microsoft

18 A Study of 46,000 Shoppers Shows That Omnichannel Retailing Works (https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-
omnichannel-retailing-works)
19 Create Continuous Customer Experiences (https://www.accenture.com/cn-en/_acnmedia/PDF-59/Accenture-The-Big-Read-Full-Report.pdf)
20 Global State of Customer Service (https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-global-state-of-customer-service.html)

12 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
Data to Deflect Contact Drivers                                                Delving Deeper

One of the most innovative and effective applications                          But this is just the tip of the iceberg. With access to
of speech analytics in the face of the pandemic has                            information across an organization, data analytics can
been quickly understanding and triaging different                              unlock a treasure trove of value. For example, four in
contact drivers so that organizations can quickly                              five complaints customers make when engaging with
segment and steer customers to the appropriate                                 a contact center agent are about interacting with
channel and appropriate resolution and in doing so                             other elements or touch points within the enterprise,
optimize how live agents are deployed.                                         rather than about a product or service21.

Because speech analytics automatically captures and                            Yet, with the right application of analytics,
analyses every conversation - whether by phone,                                organizations can identify and remedy these friction
chat, email, SMS or social messaging - an organization                         points along the customer journey. Likewise, they can
has with a customer – businesses can extract real-                             uncover the behaviors and signals of intent that lead
time, actionable customer insights.                                            to customer churn and actively counteract them.
                                                                               While in terms of security and risk management,
This enabled businesses to rapidly build out self-                             analytics is capable of automatically flagging potential
service portals and FAQs directly addressing the                               fraud or attempts at social engineering.
most common COVID-19-related contact drivers and
reduce live channel contact volumes. At the same
time, the insights were applied to supplement agent
training and scripts to improve customer experience
and issue resolution.

21 Build your Case for a Proactive Contact Center: Leverage Analytics as an Early Warning System (https://www.niceincontact.com/call-center-resource-
finder/see-how-analytics-make-it-possible-in-this-new-ebook)

13 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
of organizations
                                          Only                            report their data is
                                      27%                                 fit for purpose.
                                                                          Source: Accenture

Applying Analytics                                                        and recommendations25. Without free flowing,
                                                                          operationalized data, everything from business
It’s little wonder that CX practitioners rate data                        intelligence and customer insights to intelligent
analytics as the most important CX trend of 202122,                       contact routing and developing intelligent chatbots
or that according to Gartner, that by the end of 2020,                    will be out of reach. According to Gartner26, these
40% of all data analytics projects will relate to some                    data issues can cost businesses anywhere between
aspect of customer experience23.                                          $9.7 million and $14.2 million annually. All of which
                                                                          is why data cleansing and standardization will be a
                                                                          vital component of any data analytics or customer
Disparate Data Diminishing Development                                    insights initiative undertaken in 2021.

However, due to siloed or in incompatibly formatted
data, on average as much as 73% of data within an
enterprise cannot be used for analytics24, while only
27% of organizations say their data is fit for purpose
and analytics is delivering truly actionable insights

22 The Global State of Customer Experience 2020 (cxnetwork.com/cx-experience/reports/customer-experience-2020)
23 Gartner Says 25 Percent of Customer Service Operations Will Use Virtual Customer Assistants by 2020 (https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/
press-releases/2018-02-19-gartner-says-25-percent-of-customer-service-operations-will-use-virtual-customer-assistants-by-2020)
24 Hadoop is Data’s Darling For a Reason (https://go.forrester.com/blogs/hadoop-is-datas-darling-for-a-reason/)
25 Closing the Data-Value Gap: How to become data-driven and pivot to the new (https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/pdf-108/accenture-closing-
data-value-gap-fixed.pdf)
26 Why Bad Data Could Cost Entrepreneurs Millions (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/332238)

14 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
Trend 4
Trust Will Be King
Throughout 2020, customer service was increasingly       the benefits of a more engaged workforce and
being delivered remotely by agents working from          brands are reaping the benefits as more engaged
their own home “bubble.” Even brands in industries       agents deliver a better customer experience. Our own
that had previously shied away from remote work          data reveals 32% lower absenteeism and 27% lower
were forced to reconsider the possibilities, or accept   attrition amongst work at home agents compared
that the work would not be done.                         to counterparts working in a traditional brick-and
                                                         mortar environment.
Agents have overwhelmingly enjoyed the home working
experience. Outsourcing providers have recognized

                                                                    Work at home
                                                            solutions deliver 32%
                                                              lower absenteeism
                                                                   and 27% lower
                                                                        attrition.
                                                                                              Source: Sitel Group

15 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
Home Working Becomes Habitual                                                 malware attacks, more recently their focus has
                                                                              shifted. In the first half of 2020, Microsoft26 reported
Home working is not new in the contact center                                 that up to 70% of cybercriminal activity consisted
industry, but home working on the levels seen in                              of phishing attacks designed to obtain people’s
2020 were unprecedented. As COVID-19’s impact is                              credentials.
mitigated through the rollout of effective vaccines,
some contact center staff will move back into office                          The combination of increased home working and
environments. However, significant home working in                            increased activity from cybercriminals places
the contact center industry is here to stay because it                        additional emphasis on the need to protect customer
is a win-win for agents, operators and brands alike.                          data. This is why 2021 will see a renewed emphasis
Our own data suggests that up to 70% of agents                                from organizations to secure their customers’
around the globe will remain working from their                               personal information. Indeed, expect data protection
own homes at least some of the time. Home working                             to become a new element of CX differentiation.
delivers many benefits particularly around business                           Those brands that apply data security to build trust
continuity planning and resilience, but it can also                           will be repaid with an even stronger brand status and
bring new data security risks that must be mitigated.                         even greater customer loyalty.

                                                                              For this reason, data needs to be at the top of the
Keeping Cybercrime Under Control                                              agenda when organizations are selecting partners
                                                                              for achieving their CX goals.
As the pandemic hit, it created fear and panic,
exposing emotional pressure points that criminals
could exploit through social engineering. In response,
opportunistic cybercriminals ramped up their efforts
to misappropriate customer data. While in the past                              In 2020, 70% of
cybercriminals have largely focused on orchestrating                            cybercriminal
                                                                                activity consisted of
                                                                                phishing attacks.
                                                                                Source: Accenture

26 Microsoft Digital Defense Report (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/security-intelligence-report)

16 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
3      A Platform for Growth
While 2020 will be remembered as one of the most              extra resilience to incorporate into existing business
disruptive years in history, the past 12 months have          continuity planning. Expect 2021 to be another year
demonstrated how by putting themselves in their               of rapid change. But thanks to the foundations they
customers’ shoes, brands can innovate to continue             have put down over 2020, brands can build for the
meeting CX expectations. Further, organizations               future with greater confidence and greater agility.
have discovered how the work-at-home model can
increase employee engagement while providing

2021 CX Trends

                      The Bar for Digital CX Will Rise, But So Will
                      the Ability to Reach It
                      Now is the time to get ahead of customer expectations since COVID-19
                      highlighted many brands’ CX weaknesses but it also accelerated
                      their digital adoption. It’s time to maintain that momentum.

                      Androids Will Dream of a Better CX
                      AI has arrived. It’s time to embrace it for customer
                      and agent support and to make for faster, better
                      real-time decisions.

                      Consistent and Personalized Omnichannel
                      Experiences Will Delight Customers
                      Customers want (and expect) the same level of friction-free service
                      from brands no matter how or where they reach out for support.

                      Trust Will Be King
                      As home working becomes part of the norm across industries, so
                      should working with a partner you can trust when it comes to working
                      with and managing you customers’ data.

17 The Race for Customer Loyalty: 2021 CX Trends
About Sitel Group®
 As a global leader in end-to-end customer experience                                services, while boosting efficiency, effectiveness
 (CX) products and solutions, Sitel Group® partners                                  and customer satisfaction. EXP+ creates a robust
 with the world’s best-loved brands, from Fortune                                    ecosystem by harnessing the power of four
 500 companies to local startups, to design, build                                   connected product families: Empower, Engage,
 and deliver a competitive edge across all customer                                  Explore and Evolve.
 touchpoints.                                                                        With our award-winning culture built on 35+ years
                                                                                     of industry-leading experience and commitment to
 With 90,000 people working across the globe – at                                    improving the employee experience, we improve
 home, in contact centers and within MAXhubs – we                                    business results by pairing innovative design
 securely connect brands with their customers over                                   thinking and digital solutions – including self-service,
 4.5 million times every day in 50+ languages, driving                               artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data-
 our clients’ digital CX strategies forward. Powered by                              driven analytics – with the expertise, emotion and
 our global strength, local expertise and proprietary                                empathy of our people to Create Connection. Value
 technologies, we deliver tailored solutions to fit                                  Conversation.
 clients’ needs through a consultative, customer-
 centric approach.

 EXP+™, Sitel Group’s Enterprise Experience Platform,
 is a flexible solution with complete cloud capability,
 designed to simplify the delivery of end-to-end CX

 Learn more at www.sitel.com and connect with us
 on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

Sitel Group, Sitel and the Sitel mark are registered trademarks of the Sitel Group
Companies. EXP+ is a trademark of the Sitel Group Companies.
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