Salesforce Basecamp for Service: Top 5 Trends to Watch Out For

Last week we attended the Salesforce Basecamp for Service at the Hilton Miami Downtown and boy was it an incredible experience! The event showcased how Service Cloud can help companies empower their service teams with automation, embrace digital channels, and elevate their workforce. It featured Service in Action, delivered demos and included two theater sessions focused on Digital Engagement, Einstein Bots & AI Analytics, with keynote speakers including–

Michael Maoz, Senior VP of Innovation Strategy @Salesforce
Dave Gearhart, VP of Service Cloud – East Region @Salesforce
Ben Irvine, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Service Cloud @Salesforce

  • Michael Maoz, Senior VP of Innovation Strategy @Salesforce
  • Dave Gearhart, VP of Service Cloud – East Region @Salesforce
  • Ben Irvine, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Service Cloud @Salesforce

who spoke to the importance of leveraging service as a key differentiator in business. The event also included a panel of local customer service Trailblazers who shared firsthand tips about driving customer success with Salesforce.

The future of customer service is evolving. With technology such as Business Intelligence (BI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), there are so many ways you can enhance the service experience for your customers. Here are the top 5 #CustomerService trends to watch out for in the next couple of years:

1) Unified Customer Experience

Service impacts every moment of customer interaction, that’s why it’s important to deliver a unified customer experience. Every moment is an opportunity for service. Businesses must evolve and become customer companies, making service their foundation. They need to reinvent themselves and their ecosystems to create new forms of customer value. It’s not about focusing on what other businesses are doing, it’s about focusing on what other businesses are doing well to serve their customers.

“First focus on the needs of the customer, not on the competition.” 

Michael Maoz

A customer uses an average of 10 channels for service; one way companies can elevate the customer experience is by automating routine customer interactions and enhancing every digital channel with service bots. They should also leverage technology to optimize existing operating model and business processes.

2) AI Everywhere

AI has a growing role in service, particularly for use cases such as chatbots, text & voice analytics, and more. Customers are already using AI everyday, case in point, Amazon’s Alexa. AI analyzes massive amounts of data to give evidence-based suggestions. For example, with Einstein Analytics for Service Cloud, you can automate processes, enable personalization, and gain key insight about your customers. More and more, you’ll see companies adopt AI for their service and support teams. In fact, AI adoption is expected to surge by 143% over the next 18 months.

3) Contextually Precise Personalization

Personalization is key to great customer service. It’s your company’s responsibility to anticipate what your customers need before they reach out, and assist them right away. With each generation, connection means something different to everyone, but BI and AI help businesses tailor messages in order to establish that special connection with their customers regardless of age, profession, or interests.

“Your customers expect you to know why they’re contacting you.”

Ben Irvine

Not only do we need to personalize agent services, but we also need to offer personalized self service so customers can help each other as well. Humans are highly influenced by recommendations from what to watch on Netflix to where to travel to by Airbnb. With AI, recommendation algorithms will deliver precise personalization that will assist in service and sales.

4) Evolving Workforce

The workforce is changing. In fact, 80% of the global workforce, (2.7 billion people!) today does not sit at a desk. And with technology coming into play, the role of agents is becoming more strategic now than ever, resulting in the upskilling of the workforce. AI, for instance, is empowering agents to transition into elevated roles. The agent’s job now is focused on understanding the customer and delivering an exceptional experience while also building and maintaining long-term customer relationships. Companies need to adopt a unified agent workspace so that their agents are situationally aware and can respond fast to unplanned events.

Engaged employees are the key to customer experience excellence. That’s why we need to automate routine customer interactions, and assist and educate agents so that they’re well prepared to tackle each customer interaction on a personalized basis and treat it in the unique manner the customer demands.

5) New Age of Service

The future of service is here and there are so many more exciting changes to come. Don’t believe us? Just check out these 7 fascinating predictions by Salesforce:

By 2022…

  • 75% of service/support interactions will not involve a case.
  • the majority of customer service/support engagements will involve mobile messaging, WhatsApp and WeChat, driven by machine learning bots.

By 2023…

  • Up to 50% of support interaction will be carried out by customers using a speech-driven, AI-based application.
  • Over 75% of customer engagement resolutions will come from recommendations curated based on advanced CBR (case-based reasoning) AI inside of a knowledge management system.

By 2024…

  • Customers will expect the business to understand their reasons for contacting you before a customer support request is initiated.
  • Data visualization of real time information will be a standard tool for Customer Service supervisors and managers.

And over the next 5 years…

  • Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) systems will support ‘multi-business’ processes.

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