Hey there,

The customer service industry is transforming before our eyes. Things we took for granted mere months ago are now up in the air – and customer service teams across every industry are re-evaluating the way they work.

At Intercom, we work to make customer service teams’ jobs easier, more enjoyable, and more worthwhile – and we think the recent strides in AI will help us to do it. But we wanted to hear directly from those on the front lines; so we teamed up with Klaus, Aircall, and Support Driven to survey 4,000 customer service professionals across 98 countries to find out where they’re placing their bets in 2023.

The result is the Customer Service Quality Benchmark Report 2023. Here are the three top takeaways:

Optimize automated workflows while implementing new AI tools: AI has the power to take support teams’ performance to unprecedented levels, but don’t ignore the power of effective automation flows when it comes to triaging customer requests, reducing wait times, and collecting important information to resolve queries more quickly.
Invest in proactive and self-serve support to get ahead of questions before they’re asked: Make sure your help content is thorough, up-to-date, and easy to understand. Not only will it make it easier for your customers to self-serve, it’s the best way you can prepare to adopt new AI tools like Intercom’s Fin.
Reinforce team talent with internal QA and coaching: With AI set to take on simple, repetitive queries, managers should focus on equipping their teams to offer the high-quality, personalized assistance that customers will value more than ever when facing thorny problems.

It's going to be a big year,

What we’ve been doing

Nadine mansour

Workload management could solve your support team’s trickiest problems

The term “workload management” covers planning, strategizing, automation, and organization – all the crucial work that goes into running an effective, efficient support team. With customer service teams being asked to do more with less, ensuring teammates’ workloads are manageable and fulfilling becomes more important.

We’ve released new workload management features that will help solve some of your most pressing workload management problems, including:

Unwieldy systems
Inefficient conversation assignment
Unpersonalized assignment limits
Underutilized support reps

Liam Geraghty

The great differentiator: How fintech companies are prioritizing great customer service

Fintech is one of the most disruptive industries to emerge over the last decade, and the finance industry has been transformed by it. In such a fast-paced sector, how can its customer service match the standards set by its products?

We speak with a number of CS leaders from innovative fintech firms to find out how they’re thinking about next-gen customer service.

Here are some quick takeaways:

For great customer service, combine traditional finance’s thoroughness and focus on support, with fintech’s more cost-effective approach of leveraging tech.
The role of support is not just to fix issues but also to restore customer loyalty after a moment of friction.
To meet customer expectations, companies should provide 24/7 support through a mix of automation, self-service, and human agents.

liam geraghty

Customer support just got smarter: A closer look into our new ChatGPT-powered bot

Every technological leap prompts curiosity about what sort of changes it will bring – and our new AI bot Fin, powered by GPT-4 and Intercom’s proprietary technology, is no exception. We hosted a webinar to answer all of your burning questions: Does it really work? Will it replace customer service reps? And how should support teams prepare to incorporate this new technology?

You’ll hear from Intercom’s Des Traynor, Fergal Reid, and Emmet Connolly; all working closely on Fin, and all with big hopes for the future of AI in customer service.

Customer service quality benchmark report

Mark iafrate

3 takeaways from the Customer Service Quality Benchmark Report 2023

We worked with Klaus, Support Driven, and Aircall to find out what’s most important to customer service teams in 2023. What are the top metrics, how are they maintaining quality, and, most importantly, how are they preparing for the changes AI will bring to every industry?

Check out the top three takeaways from the Customer Service Quality Benchmark Report 2023.

Response Time: Vol. 4

This week, we caught up with another support leader for our Response Time series, where we chat with customer service leaders to find out what they think about support, book recommendations, and whether or not a burger is a sandwich (yes, really!)

Read on to find out the strangest thing a customer has ever asked Ethan Rylett, Haad of Customer Service and Support at RotaCloud...

What's going on in customer service?

ChatGPT will make customer service even more human: Uniquely human strengths like content creation and meaningful interactions will be appreciated more than ever as AI joins the customer service team, argues SupportLogic's Krishna Raj Raja at Forbes.
Fintechs face reckoning over customer service: Last week's podcast focused on the art of customer service in fintech. But not every company gets it right, and customers are no longer tolerating poor service, according to The Financial Times.
The unsung heroes of great customer service: Everybody loves a positive customer service story. Here are a few from The Guardian to help you through hump day.

A huge thanks to all our customers

Intercom recently received 104 badges in G2's Spring 2023 reports! Thanks to all of our incredible customers for the honor – we're excited to continue working with you through one of the most exciting years yet for customer service.

Check out our acceptance video for the true awards season experience.