5 findings about the customer experience landscape in the GenAI era

Amid rising customer expectations and pressure to reduce costs, consistently delivering exceptional experiences across every touch point while improving the bottom line can be challenging. To gain an advantage over the competition, providing stellar customer service is more important than avoiding poor experience delivery.

In fact, 69% of respondents to a global ServiceNow survey on the customer experience landscape said they’d switch brands based on poor customer service, whereas 84% said they’d recommend a brand based on great customer service.

What makes a great experience?

According to the survey, great CX comes down to three things: speed, efficiency, and empathy. One respondent summed it up as “a live agent who was able to quickly understand the problem, see my history on his screen, and immediately resolve the issue for me...I didn’t have to switch to multiple people or answer a lot of questions repeatedly.

Achieving fast, efficient responses through live agents can be fraught with frustrations and challenges. This presents an opportunity for savvy CX leaders to tap into fresh approaches and innovations in their journey to deliver great CX while reducing costs. In our exploration of CX trends, five findings became evident.

1. A better service experience is within reach

Despite investments in self-service, omnichannel service, and chatbots, customers still prefer to pick up the phone and connect with a human to swiftly resolve their issues. Nearly half (44%) of survey respondents said their biggest obstacle is the inability to reach a live customer service agent quickly and efficiently. One-third (35%) find chatbots frustrating due to their inability to understand customer problems.

Organizations are faced with a dilemma: improve self-service and automation or empower agents with the tools to manage higher case volumes and provide the empathetic and informed human connection customers seek. With the right processes and technology, the answer can be both.

2. Automation and AI can help

Agents universally expressed angst over high customer expectations, increased case workloads, and challenges with internal communications. Collectively, these challenges strain agents and negatively affect service quality. Nearly half (44%) of agents said their biggest struggle is difficulty communicating with other departments.

Assigning more resources to these issues is not a long-term solution given staffing challenges and cost. Instead, organizations should take steps to optimize proactive and self-service capabilities to reduce case volumes. This includes considering automation options to streamline internal workflows and communication.

AI-assisted tools can supercharge agents to deliver more relevant solutions and simplify case management and resolution. And workforce optimization solutions can improve work distribution, scheduling, and productivity.

3. Workforce optimization is a priority

CX leaders grapple with the demands to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and adapt to rapidly evolving technologies while meeting customer expectations for fast resolution. “Customer satisfaction is essential to the sustainability of our business,” shared a CX leader from France. “The need for immediate response has become the rule.”

While customer needs seem infinite, the resources to meet them are not. A lack of resources/capacity is the biggest challenge for 23% of leaders in their struggle to address increased case volume, according to the survey.

Workforce optimization may enhance scheduling and capacity planning to better meet customer needs. CX leaders may want to lean into the transformative power of AI and generative AI (GenAI) to unlock untapped productivity within their workforce to improve customer and agent experiences.

4. A strategic approach to AI is needed

AI-powered chatbots, predictive analytics, and GenAI are making a significant impact on customer service. Collectively, these solutions can enhance customer interactions and streamline processes for both customers and agents. In fact, 27% of leaders say AI provides the greatest reduction in customer effort.

While one-third (33%) of leaders feel they’re ahead of the competition regarding AI adoption, nearly half (47%) say their organization is implementing AI tools ad hoc. This presents a clear opportunity for those who take a strategic approach to extend the distance from their competition.

5. Rising demands require innovative technologies

Two things stood out about the future of CX based on the survey results. First is a universal belief that customer expectations for great experiences will continue to rise. Customers will demand faster resolutions, increased service quality across channels, and first-contact resolution.

Second, workforce optimization will be the top priority for CX development over the next three years. CX leaders will also prioritize integration with systems of record, process automation, and AI. One leader predicted “the future of assistance lies in automating the service by using AI.”

AI and GenAI will play a significant role in unleashing new capabilities and value to improve customer engagement, empower agents, and increase efficiency on the journey toward delivering great CX.

Gain more insights in our Customer experience trends report.