{"id":46069,"date":"2021-04-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=46069"},"modified":"2021-10-19T09:27:47","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T16:27:47","slug":"customer-service-prepare-post-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/customer-service-prepare-post-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"92% of Consumers Expect Pandemic-Era Customer Contact Levels to Remain or Grow: How Can Customer Service Prepare?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quick Take:<\/strong> As consumers return to shopping, travel, and entertainment habits, customer services teams must be prepared for a continued deluge of inquiries over the digital channels that people have embraced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A recent string of promising developments, including universal vaccine eligibility, is giving Americans hope for a return to normalcy. This is no doubt a delight for the many businesses whose operations and revenue have been constrained for over a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it also begs the question of just how soon people will return to their previous routines, the questions they\u2019ll have along the way, and how companies \u2014 especially their customer service teams \u2014 will operate in this new dynamic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We conducted a survey of U.S. consumers to better understand post-pandemic outlooks and how behavior has changed over the course of a tumultuous year. We also mined recent data from our State of Service<\/a> and State of the Connected Customer<\/a> reports to provide context around what these findings mean for customer service organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Society is on the cusp of a grand reopening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Deprived for over a year of their ability to shop, travel, or dine without precautions and anxiety \u2014 to name a few examples \u2014 Americans are increasingly ready to get back to their favorite activities and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case in point: two-thirds (67%) of consumers anticipate that they\u2019ll have eaten in a restaurant just three months from now, a figure that rises to 89% by the end of the year. Travel is anticipated to ramp up, as well, with nearly half (45%) expecting that they\u2019ll have stayed in a hotel or short-term rental by mid-summer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Data suggests that consumers\u2019 timelines for resuming certain activities accelerates as they become vaccinated. For example, 59% of those who are already vaccinated expect they\u2019ll take a flight by the end of the year, compared to 50% of those who have yet to be vaccinated. Of course, time will tell whether individuals will become bolder in their plans as more shots go in arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service organizations must prepare for high case volume and complexity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reopenings will introduce a slew of new questions around updated policies, protocols, and safety measures. This adds a new level of challenge for agents who are already contending with increased workloads and more demanding customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

54% of customer service professionals report their organizations experienced increased case volume during the pandemic. At the same time, 55% of consumers noted that their standards for customer service had risen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our most recent survey shows that 82% of consumers expect to continue contacting customer service at pandemic-level rates, and an additional 10% say their contact rates will rise even higher. Yet just 36% of service professionals feel fully prepared to handle a surge in service and support cases, and just 39% feel fully prepared to handle increased case complexity. This sets the stage for potential challenges as increased vaccination rates prompt a deluge of inquiries. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Still, there\u2019s reason to be optimistic that teams are laying the groundwork for this longer term dynamic by ramping up investments in key technologies that help absorb demand. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n