Customer Services & Experiences; What’s in-store For 2022?

Customer services and user experiences are a combination of two factors that need to be considered and improved greatly in 2022. Over the next year, businesses will need to use their failures or new learnings of these factors from the past two years to help build their successes. How can they do this? By optimising technology experienced challenges and begin building deeper and meaningful relationships with customers and potential customers to improve customer services and experiences.

In regards to customer services, how have things changed since before the pandemic?  

Empathy and support have been one of the top changes since pre pandemic times, employers and brans are highlighting how supportive they can be in these challenging times. The other huge factor shared by those in the industry is that guest perceptions have definitely changed. Business owners, managers, supervisors and general employees need to take the time to understand the needs and wants of their customers. Expectations have changed since before the pandemic, they are much higher than before and outings are treated more like experiences now, which is why it is important to get your customer services up to scratch.

The number one ongoing issue right now is the labour shortage. The labour shortage hugely impacts guest experience; how they are treated, longer check in lines, delays in drinks orders etc..

People aren’t getting the same service they used to receive which is going to have an impact further down the line on the business brand, business reviews, employee retention, income revenue. However, people are excited about returning to hospitality businesses, which is why you need to review your business strategy and get it right so you can thrive in 2022!

Have staff attitudes changed?

Employees today are definitely getting more picky about where they want to work. They want to go into a job where they know it is secure, that they will be respected within the business and have a leader who cares about their personal well being. Employees want more flexibility within their job, the opportunity to avail of more flexible and hybrid working. 

In a survey completed by Quantam Workplace, it was reported that 81% of those who did hybrid working, reported higher engagement. The survey also revealed that when staff are provided with the right technology and equipment, productivity and engagement is highest among remote and hybrid employees—77 percent of remote employees report increased productivity.

How can technology help improve customer and user experiences? 

Technology can be used in multiple ways in many different businesses in different industries. 

For example; Workforce Management Software will give power to frontline staff to get them out onto the floor to influence those customer experiences. 

Customer experiences are important for your business brand. A bad experience whether product or service orientated will construct a negative attitude towards the business. However, this bad experience can be reverted through good employee training and the right attitude. It all comes down to the individual staff members ability, attitude and leadership to help in creating positive experiences for customers and knowing how to effectively handle a situation when it gets awkward. 

Through a Workforce Management Software like Bizimply, you can create those better customer experiences. The software enables the frontline to manage their employees effectively through various different features. To ensure staff have the right training, our Training Cards feature will notify you when a member of staff’s training is due so their skills can continually be maintained and developed. 

People who know how to use technology to free up their time from administrative or mechanical tasks, want to spend that time to make the experience better for customers and staff. As we said above, consumers are going out less – so going out or buying a product is a treat. These incentives were restricted from us for two years so the experience is sensitive and has to be a good time. Using technology to manage the day to day operations of your business will allow you to identify where business performance is at its peak and see areas where it can be improved to keep up with business standards. 

From a staff perspective: recently we saw stats from ONS  that vacancies within accommodation and food service industries were 168,000 for the quarter ending December, compared to 151,000 in previous quarter – an 11 % increase in vacancies. It highlights that long term staff is better for customer experience and now is the time to invest properly into your staff; these two factors are inextricably bound together. Express the right attitude towards your staff, treat them well and you’ll see benefits ranging from finance to improved engagement.

Want to learn more about how Bizimply can help you improve productivity of your employees, which in return, improves the service your customers experience. Contact one of our business solution advisors today, just book in here!