Resetting CX Roadmap In 2020 Was No Panacea
For a lot of Asia Pacific companies, 2020 marked the start of their digital transformation journey. With employees working from home and customers going online, it presented a perfect opportunity to digitize CX processes and touchpoints.
Or so they thought. Infobip’s report titled “A Year of Disruption: Managing Increasing Complexities in Customer Service” shows that restarting or starting their digital transformation journey does not mean the challenges have gone away. Instead, they are on the increase.
The report, which surveyed 2,760 professionals across nine markets — Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines — showed three significant points of contention:
- More queries amid uncertainty: 54% of respondents cited the increase in support inquiries as a top challenge in customer support last year. The sentiment was further pronounced in Singapore, with 63% of respondents finding an uptick in support queries to be challenging, followed by travel restrictions (52%) and manpower (44%)
- Bridging the skills gap: 60% of APAC respondents said employee training was a top consideration when adopting a digital customer support system.
- Evolving preferences: Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, as a primary channel for customer support.
Half of the respondents reported that customer service support (CSS) digitalization should be made permanent. They noted the long-term benefits that come with intelligent automation and a digital omnichannel hub.
“Adapting to an ever-evolving customer engagement landscape has been an ongoing struggle for many businesses across Singapore and Asia,” said Vivien Ang, regional manager APAC at Infobip.
“Our study has highlighted how the disruptions brought on by the pandemic had added to these challenges. The good news is that organizations are recognizing the need for a significant shift in their CSS approach. As digital transformation continues to infiltrate business operations, organizations must focus their efforts on future-proofing their CSS and CX strategies to ensure they are not caught on the back foot,” she added.
Like all things in digital, digitizing CX is facing a skills gap. In all the markets, respondents listed employee training as the top consideration for adopting a digital customer support system.
Respondents in all the markets said their customer support teams were ready for remote working. The data showed that the increase in the support channel, management of new support channels, and unfamiliarity with new channels offer digital technology challenges.
Despite the challenges, the report highlighted that the CX landscape is evolving. It is also slowly moving away from traditional channels for good.
Image credit: iStockphoto/erikreis
