How has technology changed customer service? The global pandemic has accelerated many trends, but perhaps none more so than 24/7 digital-first customer engagement. With so many people doing almost everything online from home, 2020 customer support teams faced massive, ongoing challenges around scaling up and optimizing a secure, flexible infrastructure of remote support.

Early in the pandemic, quickly deployed solutions helped meet some of the increased digital demands for customer support. As the pandemic (and post-pandemic) world evolves, companies will need solid, long-term solutions to address heightened customer expectations.

3 New Customer Support Expectations

There’s no going back to some pre-pandemic “old normal.” Too much has changed since the pandemic began, and customer expectations and behaviors have shifted in profound ways that can’t be reversed. For all of us, the pandemic spurred more “digital-first experiences” in multiple realms of life, including shopping, banking, videoconferencing, streaming, and more.

Customers of all ages and geographies are now both willing and able to use technology to achieve the outcomes they seek, placing more pressure on customer support teams to up their game in terms of deploying the right remote support tools and approaches.

What do customers expect from customer service post-pandemic? Digital customer support was the only available support during the pandemic. Customers have seen what’s out there and raised their expectations accordingly., so you’d better get things right.

What are three customer expectations for quality service moving forward?

1. Customers are now more willing and able to use their mobile device to allow a customer support agent to help them fix issues remotely. Customers are much more comfortable interacting with the various remote support tools agents deploy. After all, these improved tools resolve customer issues faster, enhancing the trust and accessibility between customers and support agents.
2. Speed and accuracy count now more than ever. Customers are tired of being told that waiting queues are longer than usual. When they experience technical issues, they want immediate service without having to call again and again, so companies better have the right tools in their toolbox to solve all manner of problems on the first call.
3. Customers now fully expect all interactions with customer support agents to be personalized, data-driven, and tech-empowered. Customer-facing teams are the face of your business, sometimes the only touchpoint a customer has with a brand. Having a frictionless experience brings the digital customer experience to life and can differentiate your business.

Customer Support Tools to Address Heightened Customer Expectations

How customer support impacts the business is clear. If you get customer support wrong, your brand pays a heavy reputational price. Building a superior CX that differentiates your brand takes blending the right digital tools with relevant customer data and trained customer support professionals.

To succeed, you’ll need two types of support tools:

1. Visual engagement tools: Co-browsing and video sharing help replicate in-person experiences with one-on-one guidance either on digital properties or in physical spaces. Rescue Live Guide provides a powerful way to enhance digital customer experiences on any web page by guiding customers through sticking points and teaching them how to complete tasks on their own in the future. Camera sharing with Rescue Live Lens can close the physical distance gap, enabling a support person to visually enter a customer’s environment to solve issues with physical equipment. No wonder that 89% of CX professionals plan to invest in visual engagement tools in the next year, according to Forrester.

2. Robust remote support: Rescue Remote Control enables your team to deliver in-depth support experiences to solve even the most complex technical issues on your customer’s Mac, PC, iOS or Android device. By safely and efficiently removing technical obstacles, your business empowers the memorable customer experiences that drive CX.

Together, these two types of support tools give you the right solution for the right situation. When you need a lighter touch, visual engagement tools do the job effectively and without the need for full access and control of a customer’s computer. When you need a deeper level of remote support, Rescue can be deployed to access and control a customer’s computer or mobile device and quickly resolve any technical issues. With the right tool for the job, you can address any support situation and satisfy your increasingly demanding customers with a great CX.

Learn more about how Rescue’s remote support and visual engagement solutions can help your customer support team meet evolving, digital-first customer expectations.