Gartner: Top trends vital for customer service in 2021

By Janet Brice
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Free webinar from Gartner focuses on industry trends aimed at helping leaders benchmark their strategy for the year ahead...

What are the top trends vital for customer service and support leaders to focus on this year? This hot topic will be discussed during a free live webinar from Gartner to be held at 4pm (GMT) on January 26, 2021.  

Discussion topics will include strategic priorities for the coming year, key strategies and investments and challenges that service leaders need to anticipate in 2021.

Each year, Gartner surveys hundreds of customer service and support leaders worldwide to identify their strategic priorities and investments for the year ahead in a bid to help other leaders benchmark their own strategic planning decisions.

The results provide a comprehensive snapshot of which customer service trends and anticipated challenges that the service and support leaders should focus on in 2021.

The webinar will be hosted by Allegra Ubbes, Senior Specialist, Advisory and Andrew Schumacher, Senior Principal, Advisory.

“Customer service and support leaders face increased pressure from leadership on the role of the service function in improving operational excellence and growing the business,” said Ubbes.

“Given this environment, it’s unsurprising that customer service and support leaders’ priorities are rooted in customer experience (CX), managing talent and data.” 

The top four priorities identified from Gartner’s survey includes:

  • Digital channel and capabilities
  • Driving value through a proactive service model
  • VoC and customer experience across channels
  • Managing talent in the digital era

All the above topics can be accessed from the link below and are presented via guides, research documents, videos and a business roadmap produced by Gartner.

One of the biggest shifts last year was remote working caused by the global pandemic which is explored by Gartner. According to recent statistics, 71% of service leaders said a total of 90% of their staff are now working from home compared to before COVID-19.

Managing talent in the digital era is one of the key priorities due to be discussed. 

“Due to the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, remote work is suddenly an overnight requirement for many and may become more common for most post-pandemic,” comment Gartner.

“Customer service and support leaders who are considering establishing a work-from-home program as part of a business continuity plan, for rewards and recognition, to contain costs or offer support can use our roadmap to help speed up the process.”

The top priority identified by Gartner in their report, 2021 Customer Service Trends and Priorities, is the importance of digital channels.

“Customer service leaders feel a distinct pressure to meet customers’ expectations for digital service channels and keep pace with competitors’ service offerings. As a result, service leaders spend a disproportionate amount of time adding or integrating channels,” said Gartner. 

“However, our research finds that this creates a costlier, more complex network of channels to manage without improving the customer experience and insufficient reduction in live volume.”

To join the webinar by Gartner, click on the link below.

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For more information on business topics in the United States and Canada, please take a look at the latest edition of Business Chief North America.

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