Salesforce, the leading CRM firm, has released its Second Annual State of Service research report, uncovering insights from more than 2,500 customer service professionals. The latest Salesforce report highlights the impact of smart technologies on service protocols and marketing response towards meeting inflated customer requirements.

According to Salesforce’s Second Annual State of Service Report, it requires a unified platform to deliver smart customer experience across the enterprise. Executives wielding the right tools, backed by suitable training on the customer experience platform can help in elevating the customer-brand interaction. The Salesforce report also highlights the role of artificial intelligence in delivering smart customer experience in future.

Customers across the world are super-connected and hyper-informed than ever before. The digitally-enabled consumers are far more enabled and engaged. Over 82% of them acknowledge that technology makes business easier and seamless. Customer experience – a direct indicator of brand loyalty, provides a stable platform to rise above the competition once technology comes into the picture. Once a costly and reactionary aspect, customer experience is now a key business differentiator powering critical industry transformation.

Why customer experience matters?

Collaborative customer experience boosts omnichannel and upselling opportunities, delivering consistent and efficient interaction.

According to the latest study, 78% of the customer service teams attribute an employee as an agent of customer service. 63% of the service teams rely on a formal methodology to collaborate with their sales counterparts, and almost the same percentage of service teams proactively contribute with sales intelligence. 59% of the service agents feel empowered to create add-ons and orders utilizing CRM with cross-team collaboration.

Overall, service has the highest impact on how customers actually perceive their brand.

Customer experience from agents POV

Top service teams driving high-quality customer service are empowered with the right tool and technology. With adequate training, they gain a single view of the customer life cycle. 360-degree perspective on the customer enhances agent productivity. 79% of the service agents agree about the consistency and continuity in customer interaction. Service teams are adapting to the real-time demands of consumers and business buyers. Service agents are themselves confident about continuing in the same company one year from now, reaping the long-term benefit of consistent customer experience.

Analytics are the magic wands for customer service agents. In 2015-2016, the use of service analytics has spiked up by 166 percent. According to Adam Blitzer, EVP and GM of Sales and Service Clouds, Salesforce, customer experience is the critical differentiator for business growth.

Companies that don’t prioritize customer experience run the risk of falling behind the growth curve. After all, customer experience empowers service agents to offer personalized intelligent and conversational service seamlessly across the entire organization.