2019 was a great year for TTEC in EMEA. Having revitalised their European GTM strategy and plan for the Customer Experience industry in late 2017, and following several acquisitions and a subsequent rebrand in January 2018 as part of this ‘brand evolution’, 2019 was a year that saw over two years of investment and effort repaid with significant award wins across Europe for delivering outstanding CX solutions, and some significant new client wins.
It was also a year of new partnerships and opportunities as TTEC continued to expand its influence and market share within the CX space, teaming up with CISCO to release a new enterprise cloud offering for digital transformation, and with LivePerson to disrupt the legacy contact centre ecosystem with their digital engagement, messaging and AI solutions.
With so much going on we asked Neil Russell-Smith, Head of Marketing for EMEA at TTEC, for his predictions for 2020.
2019 - A year of change
Industries reinvented themselves, technology connected us and politics swept the country. But more importantly we aimed to learn and grow with the world around us. Even the most stubborn, change-proof industries felt the winds of change last decade. As omnichannel and other digital capabilities proved to be an incredible force, we still saw the market’s need for human experiences stay as strong as ever.
As 2019 was a year of change, 2020 is going to be an even greater one and from retail to automotive here are some of the biggest trends we will see continued in 2020.
Retail:
- Winning the last mile: As e-commerce giants are making deliveries shorter, users want real-time support on any channel to match the speed of service.
- AR and VR are the new reality: Augmented and virtual reality tools are becoming cheaper, and companies are looking to use them to expand their storytelling and replicate in store experiences.
- Commit to a bigger purpose: Brands are recognising the value of taking a stand on social, political and environmental issues to resonate with consumer’s values.
Financial services:
- Rebuilding trust: Fraud, data leaks and digital theft were a big concern this year (and decade). More banks are upgrading their tech and fraud prevention techniques to regain trust. Others are providing educational content for safe financial practices.
- Emotional analytics: To build on the need for empathy, institutions are using emotional analytics to understand how customers are feeling to treat them as individuals, serving both their emotional needs as well as product needs.
- Adaptation: As regulations and new laws shaped Europe, banks are finding new opportunities to educate their customers through these changes to prevent unnecessary friction.
Travel & Hospitality:
- Experiential travel: Social media had introduced us to the most unique corners of the globe and is driving solo travel. Travel agencies are capitalising on this by creating genuine and interactive moments that immerses travellers with new experiences.
- Awareness on the rise: Travellers are becoming more aware of how their tourism is impacting the environment, animals and cultures. People are looking for experiences that positively affect the communities they visit.
- Tech made it easier: Organisations are automating simple queries with self-service tools to make booking and confirmations easier, freeing human agents up to help with the more meaningful and stressful aspects that come with travelling.
Automotive:
- Rise of electric vehicles: Increased government restrictions, environmental protection, and emissions and noise levels regulations have led to a rising demand for electronic vehicles. This has reduced the attractiveness of car ownership, creating a need for new vehicle launches to show their positive impact on the world.
- Dividing technologies: In part to the shifting dynamics of car ownership and regulations, the impact of self-driving technologies is further driving the divide of what automobiles mean to people. Whereas ride services are making urban transportation even more appealing in urban settings.
- Experiences across all channels: Automakers are looking to get a piece of the omnichannel pie as well. Many organisations are integrating apps that interact both with the vehicles and customer service more efficiently.
Summary
2020 will be a wild ride and the secret will be in understanding the balance between humans and technology.
We predict that the future will hold a special space for technologies as 5G lays the way for more powerful CX, RPA and conversational AI connects us together, bringing in the need for more skillful associates to use these tools in the best way possible.
There will be a deeper demand for personalisation as more organisations format their offerings based on using data in a responsible way. And we will need to identify more friction points at various steps of the customer journey to make it as frictionless as possible.
Staying ahead of these trends mean not only embracing innovation but finding better ways to use the technology, data and operations at our disposal.
Every year comes with our new resolutions, but nothing is quite as promising as a new decade. As we go into 2020 let’s learn from the past and be ready for the change of the future. One CX at a time.
Happy New Year!