Welcome to the March edition, of our "More Human" CX industry newsletter. As in our previous editions, we are highlighting key developments and trends impacting the CX industry to provide inspiration and strategic guidance to CX leaders and contact center professionals.
In this edition, we will focus on (i) Celebrating B Corp month, (ii) Emerging CX and workplace Trends, (iii) The return of major in-person industry events, (iv) Initial findings of our CX Delight implementations, and (v) an economic outlook for Q2.
A continuous drive to sustainability - Celebrating B Corp month
Two years ago, VIPdesk has decided to join the B Corp community - a family of brands with a common mission of using business as a force for good! To join this group, companies need to pass a rigorous certification process and score above 80% in a catalog of 100 criteria. This month more than 4,500 B Corp businesses around the world are celebrating what it means to be a Certified B Corporation and why they are better for employees, community, customers, and the environment — the stakeholders that influence their everyday operations. Throughout the month, B The Change will share examples and lessons from businesses that are finding ways to do better by shaping a more inclusive and regenerative economy. VIPdesk is proud to be part of this amazing group of companies and has also joined the pledge of becoming a carbon neutral company by 2030 - VIPdesk's Net Zero 2030 pledge.
The change continues - CX trends for 2023
2020 was the year of the COVID-19 outbreak that forever shifted the way contact center operations are performed and forced agents to pack up their bags and work remotely. 2021 was the year customer experience teams began to adjust, innovate and even thrive in a new world of remote working, automation, and AI. How will 2022 be remembered in the customer experience industry? At VIPdesk we believe 2022 will be the year companies become even more resilient as they build upon the lessons they learned during the pandemic and continue to innovate and improve customer experience through empowered and dedicated customer support teams, innovative and flexible technology, and more holistic approaches to providing proactive and personalized customer support. An increased focus on team-member wellness within a strong company culture will be critical! Below are VIPdesk Top 10 Trends of 2022
Remote and Hybrid Customer Service Deployments and Agents will Remain Central to the Call Center strategy
CX Becomes an Increasingly Sought-after Career Field
Increased Focus on Well-being of Team-members
Voice is Here to Stay But Digital’s Role Will Continue to Increase
Holistic CX Approaches Replacing Silos
Smart Automation Will Become the New Normal
Insights from Voice and Text Analytics Will Create a Foundation for CX Centric Organizations
New technologies Will Enable a More Personalized and Proactive CX Approach
Customers will Expect Personalization But Not at the Cost of Privacy
Increased Customer Expectations are Here to Stay
Conferences are coming back strong - Key trade shows for Q2
CX executives know that our industry conferences are special and function as a critical exchange for new ideas and as a forum for brand executives and vendors alike. With a few exceptions conferences have been reduced to virtual events for almost two years now with limited success. When CCW brought together almost 1,000 attendees for its postponed signature conference in Las Vegas right before Christmas, the atmosphere was special as all attendees enjoyed getting back together in person even more than before. Below we have summarized the main upcoming events for Q2 which present a very interesting lineup of in-person and virtual conferences for everyone.
A new work order is settling in - Remote work trends for 2022
If 2021 was the Year of the Great Resignation, then 2022 is the Year of the Employee. As the pandemic impact continues, employee desires have started to shift. 2021 was a job seekers market and that still seems to be the case in 2022. In fact, employees’ voices are getting stronger and what was considered a short-term approach during the pandemic has turned into a new work order. Because of this shift in the labor market, this year companies must shift to new and creative recruiting strategies and team member retention in order to compete. Please read our blog post explaining some of the trends that we have seen in the labor market this year.
Continuous focus on Customer Delight - Implementing results of our research
VIPdesk Connect sponsored a 2021 study spearheaded by John Goodman and produced by CCMC to determine the value of certain Customer Delighters like having agents show empathy or enthusiasm. The study proved that delighting customers - a step above offering just great customer service - led to improved customer satisfaction and an increase in overall spend with the company. To evaluate the effectiveness of empathy and enthusiasm as Customer Delighters, VIPdesk performed a proof of concept with one of its largest Beauty brands. Here are the initial results:
VIPdesk Connect trained eight Brand Ambassadors on one team holding another team as a control group. For two weeks VIPdesk measured the CSAT and NPS of the two groups. VIPdesk also evaluated the qualifying impact of top box ratings and any costs associated with a longer wrap-up time on phone calls. Here are the specifics and results:
Surveyed intensively using a five-point scale of stars (~20% response rate)
Received 447 surveys for experimental and 340 surveys for the control group
Small training investment in Delight focus produced 4-point lift in top box rating
Moving forward VIPdesk plans to weave specific delighters into every interaction possible and migrate to a wider range of delight actions and channels which will most definitely further increase CSAT and top box scores
VIPdesk plans to shift training, evaluation, incentives, and develop specific training examples / best practices to make Delight easier
Experiment, measure and evaluate on an ongoing basis and provide honest feedback to client design / marketing function
A calm before the storm? - What to expect for the coming months
While the impacts of Omicron are quickly fading we see a general normalization of lighter CX volume patterns. Organizations will slowly shift out of panic mode and begin to refine their Internet-powered customer service strategy. Employee well-being and a healthy work / life balance will continue to be crucial to increase each companies ability to recruit and retain top talent. While customers will continue to build tighter relationships with brands able to delight their customers, efficiencies will be crucial to balance the inflation driven cost structure and the rapid innovation of AI powered tools cannot come at a better time. While the industry can finally breath again - it might just be the calm before the next storm.
We would like to wish all our readers a successful Spring season!
This whitepaper outlines the top 10 ways to delight your customers today based on the survey findings from the 2021 CCMC Customer Delight Study with John Goodman.
Key Findings:
Inexpensive delighters such as enthusiasm and empathy, are as effective as monetary ones
Honesty and transparency are powerful delighters regardless of the news
Digital channels (email and chat) can create as much delight as in person and phone channels
Affluent customers will pay more for the same product to businesses that delight
Higher-income, delighted men produce more positive WOM than other customer groups
Delight can be a very powerful Marketing strategy since the data shows at least one new customer is won for each delighted customer
And much more!
VIPdesk has demonstrated that a 4 hour training on just a small subset of Delight actions can result in a 4% lift on top-box scores.
VIPdesk’s Pick Of The Top 10 Contact Center and Customer Experience Trends for 2022
How will 2022 be remembered in the customer experience industry? Trends create opportunities and risks for all players in the CX industry. Understanding the driving forces and adapting your organization to such trends is critical to capitalize on those changes.
If 2021 was the Year of the Great Resignation, then 2022 is the Year of the Employee. In this blog we outline the main trends we see in the current labor market.
Jen, Sally, and Maggie discuss trends they’re seeing for 2022 from the perspectives of Human Resources, Recruiting, and CEO. Remote and hybrid work, employee mental health, and the continuing impacts of COVID will all be factors. They outline what you should look out for and consider as you prepare for a successful year.
Jen, Maggie, and TIffany from our People and Culture team attend the Society for Human Resources Management Conference. They discuss some of the great things they learned including a renewed focus on team member mental health, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and the importance of having empathy at a time when many team members are experiencing burnout.
Sally and Jen speak with customer service guru John Goodman. In this podcast they discuss the newly released Customer Delight study, a first-of-its-kind scientific, large-scale study on customer delight. The study, sponsored by VIPdesk, examines the value of creating delight, what causes customer delight, and how businesses that fail to do this are likely missing out on their most powerful marketing strategy.
After almost 2 years of mostly virtual conferences, the CX industry will have plenty of opportunities to participate in major conferences across the country. Although PACE's signature event ACX 22 is postponed to fall, Q2 will offer a very good mix of in-person and digital events, presenting great options for any purpose and budget.
2022 Customer Response Summit - Execs In The Know, Clearwater, FL, March 28-30
As a global community of CX executives from various industry verticals, EITK has a tradition to bring together high-caliber executives to learn, share, network, and engage to innovate. Since 2010 this conference is designed for corporate brand leaders responsible for the customer experience strategy and operations within their organizations. Its format allows participants to easily learn, share, network, and engage with corporate peers in an inviting environment.
With their in-person conference series, Frost & Sullivan aims to create a truly unique conference atmosphere by fostering interactive discussions that are incredibly open and honest and present real-world examples and insights from speakers on the leading edge of customer experience innovation. Purposely atypical!
ICMI has again decided to hold it Contact Center Expo as a virtual event. Currently Registration is complimentary. As ICMI has announced a live conference in October, this hopefully could be the last virtual conference of this series. ICMI always offers an incredible lineup of speakers and access to the most leading edge solution providers.
2022 SOCAP Spring Symposium - Discovering New Pathways, Phoenix, AZ, May 1-3
SOCAP is back with their eagerly anticipated Spring Symposium, again structured as a learning experience. Everyone who has joined SOCAP conferences before can attest the unique environment those conferences create for any customer service professional. If you are looking for new contacts, helpful advise, or simply a worm and fun atmosphere to discuss the latest developments in our industry, this is the conference not to miss.
2022 CCW - Customer Contact Week, Challenges & Innovations, Las Vegas, NV, June 20-23
CCW is the leading customer contact event series for solution providers who are looking to meet prospects, grow their brand awareness, and become a thought leader in the customer contact space. If you are looking for the largest gathering of professionals in our industry, this is the event to attend. CCW currently offers a two for one registration special.
VIPdesk, a premium provider of outsourced customer experience solutions, utilizes a select team of remote work-at-home Brand Ambassadors (customer service professionals), located throughout the U.S., to provide elevated customer experience for luxury and premium brands. As a certified B-Corp, Women-Owned-Corporation, and Best Workplace winner, VIPdesk is on a fast mission to elevate the human experience with its team members and its partners. Talented team members of VIPdesk not only excel in delivering superior customer service but are passionate ambassadors of the brands they serve. VIPdesk's suite of services include Omni-Channel Customer service handling including all traditional and digital contact channels, full AI and assisted AI solutions, social media management, back office support, and customer experience consulting.
