Digital customer experiences are critical for surviving in a connected world. According to a survey of C-suite executives, more than 70% of CIOs increased investments heading into 2021 to improve customer experience. At an increasing rate, restaurants have adopted app delivery services, fitness memberships pivoted to virtual exercise experiences, retail now rely heavily on e-commerce, and office work accelerated business services like Zoom, Slack, and DocuSign.

“Call centers have never been more important — or more strapped1.” Imagine having a 100-year old parent who has a panic button for emergency situations. When you try it out, it takes an agent five minutes to call to check in. Why the delay in what could have been a life-or-death situation? A shortage of agents. A problem brought about by the pandemic2. This medical alert company is not alone.

Contrary to what you might expect, potential clients are often receptive to cold calls. A study by Rain Group found that 82% of buyers are open to booking meetings when sales reps reach out. Nevertheless, cold-calling and discovery calls can be terrifying for many sales reps. You’re trying to sell a new prospect on a product they know little or nothing about.

The COVID-19 crisis has pushed us all out of our comfort zones – both merchants and consumers. What might have evolved over a decade happened within eight weeks in 2020, when retailers quickly launched e-commerce websites and figured their way through digital payment, order fulfillment, and warehouse management processes. Consumers got equally adventurous too.

Zendesk continues to strive to be an empathetic, active and responsible corporate citizen. As a company that builds software to improve customer relationships, we take a service-first approach when it comes to all our stakeholders: our customers, our employees, our partners and our communities. With that in mind, we are releasing our second Global Impact Report, and like a product release, we aim to do better every time.

Are you ready to elevate your CX? We have an easy way for you to experience the award-winning Vivantio platform with no obligation, no phone calls and no email. Discover the Vivantio difference at your own pace and get ready to elevate your customer experience.