{"id":58071,"date":"2022-09-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=58071"},"modified":"2023-02-08T06:52:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T14:52:32","slug":"salesforce-customer-service-research-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/salesforce-customer-service-research-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"78% of Customer Service Agents Struggle with Speed vs. Quality: Salesforce Research Shows Rise in Automation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Customer service is in the midst of a historic transformation. The fifth edition of Salesforce\u2019s State of Service report<\/a> reveals the priorities, challenges, and initiatives customer service organizations across industries and geographies face as they adapt to a shifting customer and technology landscape.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rising customer expectations, a shift to digital engagement, and an uncertain economic landscape are fundamentally shifting the role of customer service, and thus its strategies and tactics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To take a closer look at why \u2014 and how \u2014 Salesforce conducted a double-blind survey of over 8,000 customer service professionals across 36 countries for the fifth edition of its State of Service report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are just a few highlights from the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation and efficiency are prioritized amid economic uncertainty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rising customer expectations<\/a> for quick issue resolution continues to drive demand for efficiency within service organizations. In fact, 78% of service agents surveyed say it\u2019s difficult to balance speed and quality \u2014 a jump from the 63% that agreed in 2020 and a reflection of the long waiting times that grew worse during the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the urgency for efficiency is also being driven by economic headwinds and fears of a recession, prompting service teams \u2014 and their peers in other departments \u2014 to consider how they can do more with less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following suit, 58% of service organizations now report using at least one instance of process or workflow automation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users cite time savings as the greatest benefit of automation, followed by connection with other departments, error reduction, and better focus on customers. Sixty-five percent of high performing service organizations \u2014 those with self-identified \u201cexcellent\u201d customer satisfaction levels \u2014 use automation, compared to 41% of underperforming organizations \u2014 those with fair or poor customer satisfaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-five percent of service organizations use artificial intelligence (AI) \u2014 a related technology that often powers automation \u2014 an increase of 88% since 2020, when 24% of organizations used AI.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In addition to empowering service agents with tools to improve their own productivity, service organizations are scaling efforts to help customers solve their own issues. A separate study<\/a> found that 59% of customers prefer self-service tools for simple questions and issues, and customer service KPIs are evolving in response. In fact, 67% of customer service organizations now track case deflection \u2014 a dramatic increase from 56% in 2020 and 36% in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shift to digital service channels accelerates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dramatic increases in the adoption of digital channels for customer service seen early in the pandemic have proven to be a long-term trend, rather than a temporary fad. Although phone and email remain the most common channels, other options like social media, knowledge bases, and live chat are close to reaching parity while the precipitous decline of in-person service seen in 2020 has yet to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video support saw the biggest jump in popularity among all channels, with 43% more organizations offering it in 2022 versus in 2020. The use of online communities and discussion forums \u2014 in which customers can interact with their peers for advice \u2014 also saw a particularly large expansion over the past two years, as did mobile app adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Employee experience initiatives help tackle retention challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Call it the ‘Great Resignation,’ the ‘Great Reshuffle,’ or any other term that\u2019s defined the labor market\u2019s recent upheaval \u2014 service organizations have not been immune. Survey respondents estimate on average that nearly one-fifth (19%) of their employees have left over the past year, with particularly high attrition rates in the media and entertainment and energy and utilities industries.<\/p>\n\n\n

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To stem losses of employees in a job market that, at least until recently, has been favorable to job seekers, many service organizations have added employee perks since the onset of the pandemic. Like in many other lines of work, flexible schedules have been particularly common (offered by 47% of service organizations), followed by wellness benefits (45%), and improved career development opportunities (44%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps uncoincidentally, the share of service agents who say they have a clear path for career growth has increased dramatically to 85%, compared to 67% in 2020 and 59% in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n