Contact Center Technology Customer Experience3 minutes

2021’s Biggest Tech Trend for Customer Experience – AI

One of the biggest trends this year is reducing what is spent on technology while improving Customer Experience. This is achieved by taking a closer look on spending, what is necessary vs. what can be eliminated, and how it all impacts your teams, your customers, and your bottom line.

Illustration of technological circuts and the letters AI

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Illustration of a tablet on a desk, with a virtual assistant emerging from the tablet

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2021’s Biggest Tech Trend for Customer Experience – AI Share on X

As a result of the 2020’s pandemic, companies had the time to look at what was working and what was not. This generated opportunities for brands to try new things, and to find creative ways to build trust with new brand adoptees.

To keep businesses up and running during lockdowns, tech systems had to be modified to support remote workers. A flexible work environment where employees can either work from anywhere or utilize a hybrid of working from both home/offices has now become the norm as regions reopen.

Many businesses initiated a consolidation and/or elimination of tech stacks, allowing for smarter spending on the most necessary areas, resulting in a more strategic, holistic approach for tech needs.

Hand holding a phone depicting a voice virtual assistant interface

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More brands incorporated chatbots and virtual assistants as pathways to customer engagement. AI and automation will only increase as a vital tool in the customer journey. A recent Forrester survey states “…more than one-third of B2B technology buyers say digital engagement channels (such as vendor websites) have become more important in their buying journeys, while around four in ten indicate that human/analog engagement with sellers has become less important.”

Going forward, sales tools with embedded AI and automation functionality will become key indicators for invaluable insights on customer research and buyer interaction, identifying patterns, channels and allowing for significant opportunities for building essential relationships.

So, what can you do to address this trend within your own team? Is it time to investigate consolidating or is now the time to move to AI? Consider what you may need in 5 years and what you can put into place right now that will set you up for success farther down the road. Think strategically about how you want your business to grow, and how you want your customer experience to adapt and change.