In a world where the only constant is change, providing more personalized and efficient support for both your customers and employees is vital. But many companies are still learning how to leverage their data and draw insights for creating those kinds of next-generation experiences.

The impacts of COVID-19 changed customer service for good. What started as a global health crisis became the accelerant in our transition to a truly digital-first world. Customers are online more than ever, with customer service taking center stage. Half of customers say customer experience is more important to them now compared to a year ago, according to our research, and 77 percent report being more loyal to a company that offers a positive customer experience if they have an issue.

For busy customer service teams, every minute counts. So being able to save over 240 hours a month would count for a lot. And that’s exactly how much time customer service teams handling 20,000 support requests a month can save by using chatbots, according to Zendesk’s user data.

Last year, meeting up with friends looked a lot different. With everyone stuck at home during the pandemic, people were looking for a way to connect safely to do things together, and Discord’s popularity exploded. Originally built for people who wanted to communicate with friends around the world while they played video games, Discord has gained traction with a much wider community.

Companies have put customer service at the top of their priority lists for 2021, and with good reason. 77% of customers say they're more loyal to businesses that offer top-notch service. But what does great customer service look like these days? Have customer expectations changed?

After a year of uncertainty caused by a global pandemic, people are craving the comforting embrace of familiarity—and they’re looking for it in all sorts of places. A 2020 study showed that customers only wanted to buy from the companies that knew them best. Seventy percent said they would do their holiday shopping exclusively with brands that personally understand them. Clearly, there’s a big reward to be had in personalizing customer experiences.

Let’s start with a brief reminder on what mass email marketing is and what it aims to achieve. Also known as bulk email marketing, mass email marketing is a promotion technique where advertisers send out a single email to a large audience in hopes to convert prospects into closed sales.

Self-service options aren’t just nice-to-haves for customers. They’re critical for creating the smooth, fast support experience today’s customers expect. Our Customer Experience Trends Report 2020 found that high-performing businesses were 76 percent more likely to provide self-service options—but only one-third of companies were offering any sort of self-service. That disconnect represented a missed opportunity for a majority of businesses.

Customer experience (CX) has always been integral to a company’s success, but its significance has grown considerably in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2021, half of all customers say that CX is more important to them now than it was a year ago.

The world is changing and so is the way we shop. A few years ago, consumers made it clear that it’s no longer just about which tee is the softest. They wanted to know if the tee was made in a sustainable way, without using forced or underpaid labor. Now, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and social uprisings of 2020, shoppers also want—and expect—brands to speak up for social justice.