"2024 Customer Experience Trends: Insights from Zendesk"

More than two centuries ago, Benjamin Franklin observed that “ when you are finished changing you're finished.”

While Franklin could hardly have foreseen the modern world we live in today with artificial intelligence and how it’s changing customer experiences across industries. Maybe you’re wondering if the hype is legit and whether AI can really help your business. We get it - the technology seems complicated and it’s hard to know where to start. But implementing AI doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right strategy, AI can transform the way you engage with customers.

In this article, we’ll walk through the Zendesk CX Trends of 2024. We’ll demystify the

tech and show how with the help of these trends, companies can drive meaningful

improvements in areas like personalization, automation and analytics. The roadmap

we’re providing here will give you the tools to unlock the power of intelligent CX. In

their sixth CX Trends report, Zendesk has identified the key trends driving the era of

intelligent CX so your business can be at the vanguard of change.

Trend 1: AI and Intelligent Experiences

Empowering Personalized Interaction: The Role of Generative AI in Humanized

Journeys

Generative AI is poised to revolutionize user experiences by expediting the creation of

personalized and interactive journeys. Through its ability to mimic human-like interactions, it

promises to deliver engaging and personable encounters. This advancement holds the

potential to enhance. From software coding to audio transcriptions to improved chatbot

performance, generative AI proved to be a startlingly powerful technology.

Seventy percent of CX leaders say that generative AI has led their organizations to take a

step back and re-evaluate their entire customer experience. As well as every new technology

comes uncertainty and stress. Sixty-two percent of CX leaders attest to their teams feeling

pressure to use generative AI. generative AI help businesses provide the kind of warm,

human service that feels like interactions with local, family-owned businesses expectation of

increased agent efficiency is mirrored by what consumers told Zendesk: 59percent believe

that generative AI will completely change the way they interact with companies in the next

two years, and for those who have already experienced the technology first-hand, that

number jumps to 75 percent.

Trend 2: Evolution of Chatbots

Unveiling the Potential of Digital Agents for Enhanced Functionality

Ever since the dawn of the chatbot, customers have harbored rather dim views of what they

can offer. However, what was once seen as not ready for primetime has quietly been

undergoing a supercharged transformation, with the most advanced models.

Now, super chatbots have begun to feel increasingly like digital agents—able to convey

brand traits in a personable way while resolving a wider range of issues that would

otherwise be fielded by a human being.

72 percent believe that the bots they employ should be an extension of the brand’s

identity, reflecting its values and voice. Chatbots are doing a better job at surfacing

information quickly, and they’re also improving their ability to tailor responses to better fit

where customers are in their journey.

Yet there’s a gap to be acknowledged here—many CX leaders know all too well that

their current chatbots fall short of both their potential and customer expectations.

Zendesk's increased investments in AI (and other related technologies) will accelerate the

process, and 64 percent plan to do so within the next year.

The trend is clear: businesses that want to remain competitive must put resources into

chatbot enhancement, and the success of those efforts will hinge on how much thought goes

into the process.

TREND 3: Bridging the Gap

Navigating the Disconnection Between CX Leaders and Agents in AI Strategy,

Tools, and Impact

Anytime a new technology emerges, disruption— and the intense emotions and effects that

it spawns—follows. The problem is that many agents aren’t so sure. They look at the new

tools with a mix of wariness and deflation, fearing what AI will mean for their job security.

Sixty-five percent see AI not as a passing fad but as a strategic necessity and reality, one

that has effectively made previous CX operations obsolete and dated.

But here is where Zendesk sees a serious disconnect. Only a quarter of agents surveyed

think the AI tools they have actually help them provide better service.

Drilling down into the data reveals that the widely differing views extend to training: while 72

percent of CX leaders say they’ve provided adequate training in generative AI tools, more

than half of agents contend that they’ve received no training at all.. As CX leaders and their

teams grapple with the implications—and potential—of AI, they must first resolve gaps in

perception and implementation.

TREND 4: Embracing AI Transparency and Decision-Making as Standard Practice

With the rapid changes being brought on by AI, it’s no surprise that companies and

consumers have made transparency a key priority.

Going forward, being transparent about the data that drives AI models and decisioning will

be a defining element in building and maintaining trust with customers. need for trust through

transparency becomes especially important when dealing with sensitive information that

reveals a person’s identity, their health history, and their financial status. In other words,

transparency in AI is simply non-negotiable.

As 63 percent of consumers told Zendesk, they are concerned about potential bias and

discrimination in AI algorithms and decision- making. It enables companies to be clear about

what data is included and excluded in their AI models so customers feel safe.

Data and trustworthy experience.

TREND 5: Real-Time Data Leveraging

Meeting the Demand for Instant User Experience Modifications in Business

And with the advent of AI, customers keep expecting more: lightning-fast responses coupled

with tailored information that give a sense of being known and seen. An even more

challenging expectation has arisen—that companies anticipate and ameliorate problems

before customers experience them.

CX leaders told Zendesk: while they feel like they’re behind in providing more instant

experiences, they have plans to remedy that gap by leveraging AI tools. Companies must

focus on boosting their bot capabilities via AI, specifically using its power to capture and

analyze sentiment and intent. Just 30 percent of CX leaders indicate that they automate

identification of customer’s intent through AI or machine learning.

Fortunately, CX leaders see that change coming and welcome it. They see clear benefits to

delivering more instant personalized experiences: better customer service and experiences.

TREND 6: Empowering CX Leaders

Steering Data Privacy Amidst AI and Personalization Advancements

Customers have been urging companies for years to mine the mountains of data they have

to provide more personalized experiences, as long as those businesses are transparent

about how they use that information and put robust security measures in place.

As 77 percent of CX leaders told Zendesk, they realize the responsibility to safeguard

customer data has landed on their plates (interestingly, of those leaders, the ones who see

positive ROI on CX tech are even more likely to embrace this).

As a result, CX leaders are working more closely with their IT counterparts to ensure a

holistic approach to data security, and they’re taking steps to gain the expertise in both data

management and regulatory requirements to make sound decisions for their companies and

customers.

Seventy- five percent of CX leaders tell Zendesk that external partners and vendors play a

crucial role in helping them gain knowledge and implement solutions.

28 percent of CX leaders report that their teams have advanced knowledge about data

privacy best practices. Although team leader to have a clear understanding of data privacy

best practices but ultimately it’s the front line agents who must fiercely guard consumer data

Trend 7: Integrated Security

Safeguarding the Entire Customer Journey Without Compromise

Every year, consumers lose billions of dollars due to fraud. Whether it’s breached accounts,

stolen identities, or scams, most consumers have been victimized at least once in their life.

integrating stronger security measures into the customer experience, businesses are

beginning to tighten their defenses without compromising the fluidity customers demand.

83 percent of CX leaders think their customers trust their data security efforts, six in ten

consumers believe companies are falling short. challenges give CX leaders little choice but to

revamp and strengthen their CX security strategies, with the understanding that those efforts

must be seamlessly integrated into the customer journey.

CX leaders have options for seamlessly integrating security measures into customer

experiences, most of which aren’t new: multi-factor authentication, encryption of service

interactions, and being transparent with customers about security and data privacy practices.

With some forethought and dedication, you can implement security measures in ways that

boost the quality of the experience and build trust.

Trend 8: Shaping the Future of Online Shopping

The Impact of Live and Immersive Experiences

Years after the advent of e-commerce, customers take convenience as a given.

Almost anything can be ordered online and delivered to your doorstep in a matter of days (if

not hours).

80 percent of consumers expect chat agents and support representatives to assist them with

everything they need. The line between support and sales has begun to blur.

While companies see the potential here, they’re lagging behind in terms of implementation.

Investments are being made, but as it stands, just 33 percent of businesses have

implemented conversational commerce.

Advantage of this development, businesses need to strategize. While setting up

live-streaming capabilities will require financial commitments, 74 percent of CX leaders see

those expenditures as justified. CX leaders told Zendesk that they expect a need for updating

or modifying data privacy policies, as well as new training programs for customer service

teams.

Trend 9: Elevating Voice Technology

Managing Complex and Escalated Issues with Advanced Capabilities

For many years, customer support teams worked in what were deemed “call centers,” a

nod to the primary way customers contacted companies for help with products or services

despite digital-first becoming the new standard in customer service, customers expect

voice to remain a viable channel, one that serves as a source of nuanced and tailored

support. As CX leaders attempt to balance their digital-first strategies with consumers’

demand for voice options. Forty-one percent of CX leaders say they plan to increase their

budgets for phone support in 2024.

When companies create a seamless transition from digital to voice channels for handling

complex issues, consumer confidence in the former rises.

CX leaders seeking an edge should adopt a dual approach: implementing advanced

technologies to boost their digital channels while upleveling their agents’ soft skills, which will

pay off with higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

These trends will bring intelligent CX to life in new and vivid ways, marking the next step in the evolution of customer experience.