When two of the world’s most recognized fine watch brands, Citizen and Bulova, merged in 2018, they faced more than just the challenge of maintaining their distinctive identities, unique designs, and technologies. With one support organization having to serve customers for both brands, it became clear that streamlining the way the customer service team operated needed to be a priority—or else the customer experience would suffer. At issue?

Customers are engaging with more connected devices than ever before—they’re getting around on smart electric scooters, slyly reading text messages on Apple Watches during meetings, and telling Amazon Alexa which Cardi B song to play next—all of which is part of a phenomenon known as the Internet of Things (IoT). And, this is only the tip of the hyper-connected iceberg. The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that there will be 41.6 billion connected devices in 2025.

‘Tis the season to be flying. This year, the TSA expects a “record breaking holiday season.” Between Thanksgiving and New Years, tens of millions of people will be traveling across the United States, with over 41 million travelers crossing state lines in the Christmas season alone. With all the waiting, spending, and flying, traveling can be stressful.

Customization is one of the biggest challenges with help centers, whether it’s for a startup or a global enterprise. While they may have a help center and are already reaping business benefits from it, important details can fall through the cracks when customizing it, specifically when it comes to user experience (UX).

Gone are the days of the clichéd three-martini sales lunch. While a boozy meal and a handshake were once the highwater mark for salesmanship in decades past, modern companies must navigate complex sales cycles spanning multiple channels with engagement from cross-functional teams. The stakes are high for companies that want to give customers a seamless and satisfying experience across the channels that are most important to them.

We just wrapped up our 14 city “Closing Time” tour, where we’ve been gathering local sales leaders for a face-to-face discussion about how customer expectations about the purchasing process are rapidly evolving, and how the sales profession is changing to keep up. Last month in Austin, we recorded a quick discussion with one of our guests, Zendesk customer ClearCorrect, a leading manufacturer of clear orthodontic aligners.

Think about the last time you had a positive customer service experience. What was it about that interaction that left a good impression? The service itself? The convenience? The quick resolution time? Maybe you googled a question about a product you were using and found the information right away. Maybe the contact info was easy to find, or you were able to send them a message from their website, then carry the conversation over to your preferred messaging app on your phone.

We’re closing out November with some great new apps.

Holidays have become the holy grail for many businesses, and Black Friday is the mother of them all. In 2018, Adobe reported that Black Friday’s online sales alone totaled $6.22 billion. More than 165 million people shopped over the course of last year’s Thanksgiving weekend and spent an average of $413 each. Black Friday—and its partner Cyber Monday—has become a global phenomenon that’s inspired a three-week frenzy of retail activity.

The rise of the AI bots may sound like a sci-fi horror scenario, but in reality, the growing industry of bots isn’t scary at all—it’s a technology that brings real, tangible benefits to businesses and customers alike. Bots are already a big part of the customer service landscape. In 2018, the bot market was worth $1.274 billion and predictions anticipate it reaching $7.5 billion by 2024.