“The next stage is going to be computers as agents… In other words, it will be as if there's a little person inside that box who starts to anticipate what you want. Rather than help you, it will start to guide you through large amounts of information. It will almost be like you have a little friend inside that box," (Steve Jobs, 1984) in Newsweek's Access Magazine published by The Daily Beast. Just a few years after Apple was founded, Jobs predicted the rise of AI automation (specifically bots like chat or voice assistants) in the contact center that would use personal data to individualize consumer targeting.
Keep in mind, Jobs predicted AI automation and data driven customer service bots in an era when Billy Joel was commonly played on the radio, Cheers was the new show on television, and your house phone was used to dial operators and call centers through a phone book. Although cultural classics are important, outdated customer service practices are not. We’ve said it before, but the term “back to the basics” could not reflect how we feel about the future of the contact center any less.
Read More: Why Experience Design Will Be Your Biggest Marketing Differentiator in 2025
Solving a consumer’s pain point will always be the focus of meaningful customer service. However, the question is, where will technology make its biggest impact to help organizations solve these pain points? What will the next Steve-Jobs-like prediction be?
What are customer experience experts and business analysts saying on the future of the contact industry in 2025?
Digital marketing and customer service departments are collaborating to deliver world-class consumer experiences and capitalize on differentiation. Will CX design become a make-or-break point in customer service differentiation?
The consensus seems to be “yes.” Striving to have a purpose for their customer experience initiatives and technology purchases, “experience design” was rated the #1 customer contact focus according to a recent CCW market study
And it makes sense. As organizations navigate the balance of highly personal and highly efficient experiences, design-thinking will help them make the right choices at every phase of the journey.
Read More: Market Study: Trends In Customer Experience Design & Strategy
Granted, design-thinking is fairly new for the contact center; it will take buy-in from the front line all the way to the boardroom. How can you achieve this support?
Tune in to our live event, The Contact Center of 2025, on December 3rd and 4th to get ahead of competitors and introduce yourself to analysts’ predictions and upcoming cutting-edge technology trends at our complimentary online summit. Everyone knows the right questions to ask, but fewer analysts know the answers than CCW’s world-class experts and contributors.