What’s In Store for Customer Service in 2014?

Serving customers is a great way to win new ones and keep the current patrons happy. If you’ve been following our blogs for the past couple of years, you’ll probably know by now how much we’ve pounded this into almost every piece we produce. Because whether you like it or not, we’re just echoing a fact that nearly experts will likewise emphasize themselves.

Yet just like anything else in life, we all have to move forward. And believe it or not, customer care also goes with the times. While the core concept of making clients happy will remain, the year ahead—2014—seems to have quite a bit of exciting trends for businesses like yours regarding keeping clients happy.

One very salient trend that we can’t seem to get past is that customer service will continue to go social. Sure, this may be nothing new, as many firms have been going the Twitter route for the past few years. However, the move looks more toward how well your biz utilizes that Facebook page rather than simply being on the site to be seen.

Speaking of social media, we’re all aware that all this happens on that phenomenon known as the Internet. Well, it looks like this wonder is now fast becoming a staple. Cisco system predicts that its usage will grow to a staggering 50 billion net—connected devices by 2020 (from an already eye-watering 10 billion as of 2013). Translation: If your company isn’t on the Net, you could be missing out on visibility—even on seemingly “small” devices like smartphones (which everyone seems to tote around lately).

Of course, all this technology won’t mean a thing without one crucial ingredient of customer care—the human touch. According to Tricia Morris of CustomerThink, “With all the technology available on both the agent and the customer side, sometimes it’s the simplest human touch–a polite demeanor, some words of empathy, a handwritten note, or exceptional service effort–that is the thing that resonates with a customer and keeps them loyal to a brand.” Again, there’s an emphasis on taking care of your patrons. They are, after all, the lifeblood of your business.

So why not start the year right—and succeed in 2014 and beyond? You’ve got a 24/7 customer service contact center to help you. Good luck!