Ted Smith, Zendesk Believes That Technology and Empathy Are Allies In Times Of Crisis

The recent disruption transforming our lives, perception, and the way we all work. I am sure there will be a change in customer expectations and demand. According to you, How will the year 2020 be for the overall customer experience?

COVID-19 has transformed the way businesses and customers interact and have shown how important customer experience is. We are currently seeing an overall drive toward digital across industries as companies realize the importance of being agile, flexible, and scalable in the quickest way possible. Since early February, businesses have witnessed volatile fluctuations in customer inquiries that were closely related with increases in outbreak numbers or major government announcements. This has resulted in greater pressure on support teams across sectors. People are also flocking to more real-time, immediate channels for customer support. In fact, WhatsApp usage increased by 101 percent. Live chat and texting also recorded spikes of 34 percent and 30 percent respectively. 

At the same time, customers want to help themselves, with visits to online help centers rising by 65 percent. While consumer behavior has shifted dramatically over the past few months, many of these changes we are witnessing had already been taking place. Our Customer Experience Trends Report 2020, released just before the pandemic, noted that channels such as messaging and chat were on the rise. What this pandemic has done is accelerated the pace of change and when we emerge from this, we can expect customers will continue to look for engagement on convenient and real-time channels.

How complex is the market right now? 

Businesses have been facing disruptions since late January as the virus started spreading across borders rapidly. As the lasting impact of the pandemic begins to take shape, they are looking for ways to adapt their businesses to the new reality, while staying true to their original vision. While it is no easy feat figuring out how to marry values from a pre-COVID era with the ever-changing trends and demands of a post-COVID era, one thing is clear - businesses need to stay agile and adapt quickly to emerge from this global pandemic. Customers are also facing massive disruptions in their daily routine, and as a result, their expectations from the brands they buy from are also evolving. While it can be overwhelming to grasp the impact of COVID-19, what businesses need to do is simple - keep customers and their needs at the core of everything they do.

As a leader, how difficult has this been to tackle such unconventional disruption? What is your way forward? 

I don’t believe any leader will say that dealing with a global pandemic doesn’t come with its challenges. But it is often during these times of crisis that we find clarity in our purpose. For us, that meant zeroing in on what truly matters to us as an organization - our customers’ needs and the well being of our employees.

How are you redefining the New Abnormal? People are still feeling somewhat grey; how are you managing to keep that warmth alive during this contactless world?

Among many other things, this pandemic has proven how important it is to have a people-first approach. It is the key way to recover from a crisis and emerge stronger, and it is important to retain the human connection. Even though our products are built to facilitate self-service, we have found that it works wonders to personify self-service, as it is preferred today by most customers. Sending an email, keeping in touch, and making sure that things are conversational are now table stakes. Although seemingly simple, it helps to humanize customer insights with data and qualitative feedback by putting a face to the customer.

How is Zendesk evolving with the changing consumer behavior since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown? 

As the scope and scale of COVID-19 began to unfold, we moved quickly to give our customers the tools that would help them during the crisis. Specifically, we developed and launched our Remote Support Bundle in a matter of days to help organizations work remotely. Available for free for the first six months, the bundle features Explore analytics as well as our collaboration add-on, training credits, and workforce management tracking provided by our partner, Tymeshift. Additionally, we are also providing free software along with access to experts to provide hands-on support with onboarding and implementation of Zendesk solutions for startups specifically addressing COVID-19 responses. Because customer expectations will continue to evolve as new trends emerge in the CRM space, we are doubling down on our core values of agility, flexibility, and scalability to emphasize the time-to-value our company provides, both internally and externally. Our priority has always been to keep our customers at the center of everything we do and keep things as simple as possible for them. This remains our highest priority in light of the drastically different world we are now in.

What is that one advice you want to give to the people officers that can help them to sail through the crisis?

If I could give just one piece of advice, it would be that technology and empathy are allies in times of crisis. On one hand, leveraging technology such as Artificial Intelligence as well as productivity and collaboration tools can help streamline processes, create efficiencies, and foster a greater sense of community in teams. Data analytics can also shed insight on where and what kind of help is needed. Equally important is the need to have empathy, both within your organization and with customers. Human connection is especially important in times of social isolation and change as society adapts to a new and possibly permanent normal in the way we live and work.