As businesses shift into preparing for 2024, management teams need to prioritize one key aspect of their brand: the customer experience (CX).
The realm of customer experience continues to undergo transformative shifts driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and the pursuit of more personalized interactions.
To better help businesses prepare, our customer experience company chatted with a few experts in the field to get their opinions on what customer experience trends they predict will take over 2024 across many industries. Here’s what we discussed.
1. Integration of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence continues to be a hot topic in customer experience, especially as businesses see tangible results of how AI can improve the agent, admin, and customer experience.
CX leaders are taking a variety of approaches to generative AI. Some are still skeptical of its potential, while others are already experimenting with it or are ready to deploy it at scale.
With 64% of businesses planning to use AI to develop customer relationships, it will be hard to ignore these tools going forward.
Example AI tools to consider include:
- Personalization tools used to improve business offerings
- AI tools that predict customer complaints before they occur in real-time
- Using augmented reality (AR) tools, allowing customers to interact with products before purchasing
Advanced bots powered by AI can be transformational from both a customer experience (less effort, efficient, and relevant self-serve) and the employee experience (automation of repetitive tasks, which will free the agent up for higher-valued engagements.
Going one step further, the digitization powered by purpose-built AI technology should be leveraged across the entire customer journey – not just inbound service.
By implementing these AI processes throughout the whole buyer's journey, brands can feel secure that customers are taken care of.
Quote provided by Teresa Anania – SVP, Global Customer Experience at Zendesk
2. Customer Surveys as a Proactive Tool
Customer surveys will evolve from being mere post-purchase feedback mechanisms to proactive tools employed throughout the customer lifecycle.
In 2024, businesses will prioritize real-time and interactive surveys that capture customer sentiments at various touchpoints. These surveys will not only seek feedback on specific interactions but also gauge overall satisfaction and emotional responses.
Advanced analytics and artificial intelligence will be utilized by customer satisfaction survey companies to analyze survey data swiftly, providing actionable insights that enable companies to make data-driven improvements in real-time.
This iterative feedback loop fosters a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring that businesses remain agile and responsive to changing customer expectations.
Recommended Reading: Conducting Customer Surveys Ultimate Guide
3. Blockchain for Trust and Transparency
In the face of evolving data privacy concerns, the adoption of blockchain technology represents a proactive approach by businesses to ensure trust and transparency in customer interactions.
In practical terms, blockchain applications as a customer experience trend can range from secure identity verification and authentication to transparent supply chain management.
For example, businesses can use blockchain to create a decentralized identity platform, allowing customers to control access to their personal information without relying on a central authority.
By leveraging the decentralized and secure nature of blockchain, companies can not only enhance data security but also empower customers with greater control over their information, fostering a more trustworthy and resilient customer experience.
4. Advanced Customer Segmentation for Personalization
Customer segmentation, a longstanding practice, will undergo a technological transformation in 2024.
With the integration of advanced analytics and machine learning, businesses will move beyond traditional demographic-based segmentation to create dynamic and behavior-driven segments.
By leveraging AI-driven segmentation, businesses can anticipate customer needs, deliver targeted communications, and optimize product or service offerings.
This shift towards more granular and responsive segmentation aligns with the broader trend of hyper-personalization, ensuring that customer experiences are not only personalized but also contextually relevant.
Take, for example, this customer segmentation study conducted by our market research company with grocery store shoppers.
This nuanced understanding of customer behavior allows for hyper-personalized experiences tailored to the unique needs and preferences of each segment.
5. Measuring Customers’ Unsolicited Feedback
Another reason AI will become an even bigger customer experience trend is its ability to navigate poor customer experiences and help companies monitor or spot problems before it’s too late.
Most customer-oriented firms today rely heavily on survey-based customer satisfaction metrics. An added layer will be using AI to scan through text-based data on social media and other platforms to interpret customers’ actual, unsolicited comments.
For example, Alterna CX has already developed this sort of technology and is actively marketing its Observational Customer Experience, or “oCX” to clients around the world.
Quote provided by Don Peppers – Founder of Peppers and Rogers Group
6. Emphasis on Emotional Intelligence
The emphasis on emotional intelligence is set to redefine the way businesses connect with their clientele in 2024.
Recognizing that customer interactions go beyond mere transactions, companies are increasingly investing in AI-driven tools to delve into the realm of human emotions.
By employing advanced algorithms, these tools can detect and analyze customer emotions at various touchpoints, providing businesses with valuable insights into the emotional states of their customers.
This nuanced understanding allows for the tailoring of responses and interactions in a way that goes beyond traditional customer service, fostering a more empathetic and personalized approach.
7. Competitive Benchmarking
Whether it be AI, online tools, or competitive market research, use some type of resource to observe the quality of competitors and others' CX as well.
Doing so will provide an improved benchmark by which to gauge your real-time competitive position and relative progress.
By continuously measuring the progress of rival companies, brands can...
- Learn where competitors are excelling/failing
- Use related data to improve their own strategies
- Implement better planning for long-term success
In doing this, brands are more likely to see a boost in customer retention and loyalty.
Quote provided by Don Peppers – Founder of Peppers and Rogers Group
Recommended Reading: Conducting a Competitor Analysis Ultimate Guide
Contact Our Customer Experience Company
Curious about how to navigate your customer experience strategy in 2024? We'll work with you to determine what works best for your brand.
Drive Research is a market research company based in New York. Our team is well-versed in current customer experience trends across multiple industries.
With years of combined experience, we have the knowledge and tools to design a robust market research study, should it be the right fit for your business.
Want to learn more about our market research services? Let's talk!
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Lark Allen
As a Content Marketing Specialist, Lark has a strong background and passion for creative, professional, and journalistic writing. She is also a self-proclaimed music freak and 90s enthusiast.
Learn more about Lark, here.
