Customer experience is increasingly crucial to business success and the most successful companies are adopting new technology at record speed, the global Zendesk Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report 2021 shows.
The latest annual report covers results from 8,000 consumers, customer service agents and managers, and technology buyers, in 15 markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Mexico, India, Singapore, Korea, Italy, the Nordics, and the Benelux countries.
Results show that more than half (53%) of organisations in Asia Pacific are planning to invest more in CX software in 2021.
Since the start of the pandemic, Singapore saw a 22% increase in average weekly support requests and nearly half (49%) of customers in Singapore say that experience is more important to them now compared to a year ago.
Meanwhile, 77% of Singapore companies — the second highest in the region — say their organisation prioritises CX more than they did a year ago.
“Customer experience has never been more important, and we think this accelerated adoption of technology is likely to continue in 2021,” said Wendy Johnstone, Zendesk COO in APAC.
Findings show that companies are adopting technology with an attitude of “adapt or get left behind.” Firms identified as “high-performing” in APAC are more likely to have adopted omnichannel solutions, with over half (54%) offering self-service in addition to other key channels including phone, email or messaging, compared to just 20% of low performers.
Also, the soaring popularity of messaging apps opens the door for more streamlined, conversational experiences. In APAC, 69% of customers have tried a new way to get in touch with customer service in the past year. In Singapore, half of customers also prefer to use embedded messaging when they engage with businesses, such as on websites or mobile apps.
Further, 41% of managers in APAC say they don’t have the right analytics tools to measure success for remote teams, and 49% of agents don’t have the right tools to work successfully from home. Singapore is slightly ahead in the region, as only one out of five (21%) managers and one out of four (27%) of agents feel the same way.
Additionally, CX leaders cited the ability to quickly adapt to the evolving needs of customers as their biggest challenge in 2020 and the highest priority going forward.
Finally, 81% of Singaporeans — the highest in the region — are willing to spend more with a company that offers a good customer experience.
