In 2020, tens of thousands of retail professionals descended as usual on the Javits Center in New York City for the National Retail Federation’s Big Show. Barely a year later, the annual conference was entirely virtual, your parents knew what “Zoom fatigue” was, and the Javits was a Covid-19 vaccination center.
It seems like everyone is talking about the customer these days, but it hasn’t always been a top priority. Long viewed as a cost center by many businesses, customer service has been thrust into the spotlight during the pandemic. With so much uncertainty in the air, we are reaching out to businesses for help more than ever before.
As the world adjusts to the “new reality” of the pandemic, industry leaders look back on what has worked well for them and share advice about what to expect in the future. In case you missed it, here are some highlights from recent interviews with industry leaders, as part of Zendesk’s CX Moments virtual events series.
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) originated with companies having to clean up after their mistakes. “It was born from when a company polluted a river, their corporate social responsibility program was how they offset that damage,” says Tiffany Apczynski, Zendesk’s former vice president of Public Policy and Social Impact. Today, companies are expected to take more proactive stances and resulting actions and to lead the way on important issues.
Even before the virus forced us all inside and online, messaging was taking over the world. It’s how many of us shared news, collaborated with colleagues, and — most importantly — kept in touch with friends and family. As with all things digital, the pandemic simply accelerated the inevitable. It also showed us that messaging was made for customer service. Customers are reaching out for help more than ever before, and messaging is their channel of choice.
