The Gist
Customers still want to speak to a human. AI efficiencies aside, phone and email remain the preferred methods of contacting customer service.
Rapid response is necessary, but so is a resolution. Businesses need to unify efficiency and satisfactory outcomes to please their customers.
People and technology in unison. Automation can compact workloads, yet over-reliance should be avoided in favor of a supplementary approach.
Customer service will always be a critical part of the customer experience. It impacts customer loyalty, trust and brand reputation. However, contact centers, the mainstays of customer-to-company interaction, are now facing profound questions about their future. These questions are driven by expanding customer expectations, rapid technological change and economy-wide transformations.
Observing these changes has reinforced my belief that the core of customer service is creating a positive and memorable experience for the customer. Taking some of today’s customer service trends as an example, let’s consider what today’s customer wants and look at how businesses can adapt.
Table of Contents
Customer Service Trends Reveal What Customers Expect and What Frustrates Them
What’s being asked of the contemporary call center is no longer simply quick answers and ready resolutions. It’s the delivery of the whole service, from the first response and the way it’s delivered to the final outcome that satisfies the customer. A failure in one area can bring the whole house down in terms of customer perception.
There are many potential points of failure. According to PissedConsumer’s 2025 Customer Service Trends report, 58% of surveyed consumers said that they’ve received no response from a business after reaching out to their customer service team. This is a striking example of the company dropping the ball in the first instance. At the other end of the customer service interaction, respondents report that as few as 26% of issues get resolved. Where does this leave the three-quarters of customers who don’t get their problem sorted out?
Both scenarios illustrated by these insights can have a severe impact on the customer experience.
Another CX Trends report found that 63% would take their business to a rival company after only one poor customer service experience, a sharp 9% increase over the previous year. The loss potential of even a small slip-up can be significant.
Related Article: What Causes Customer Rage Today?
Why Phone Support Still Leads Customer Choice
Despite great leaps in recent years, many consumers have yet to warm to AI customer service, and the majority still gravitate to the traditional contact methods like phone calls in pursuit of a human representative. According to Statista, 65% of consumers choose to contact customer service by phone as their preferred option.
Why is phone-based customer service still so popular? While self-service methods can get the job done quickly in many cases, it’s understandable that consumers want someone to help them find a solution. They may see self-service as hoops to jump through to find the answers they need.
What is seen as good customer service? People place a high value on the personalized component of human connections. The nuance and active cooperation that is exclusive to person-to-person communication is a relief to many customers who may be struggling or frustrated. It’s essential when dealing with sensitive or emotionally charged complications.
To improve this problem, it’s not enough to just make a representative available. Strategies don’t solely revolve around availability. Many consumers still feel unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with the contact center representative handling their issue. This highlights that the agent’s skills and expertise are essential for delivering a positive experience.
Using AI Without Losing the Human Touch
2025’s contact center trends clearly reflect the widespread shift toward AI integration in all aspects of business, including customer service. Chatbots, behavioral analysis and other AI embellishments have expanded the ability of a customer service operation to tackle support issues. They’ve particularly helped streamline routine tasks and anticipate customer behavior, while also raising customer expectations.
As more customer service tasks are handed over to AI, it seems that the most important party, the customer, has not been given enough consideration. In fact, a Gartner survey of over 5,000 consumers found that 64% would rather that companies didn’t use AI at all to try to improve customer service.
Triage, Test, Entrust: A Balanced Customer Service Strategy
This blended model uses AI and human agents together to match the right channel to the right task — improving both efficiency and customer experience.
StepPrimary FunctionBest Used ForWhy It MattersTriageAutomatically handle simple, routine tasksFAQs, refund status, order tracking, password resetsFrees up human agents by resolving high-volume, low-complexity requests quicklyTestUse AI to assess tone, complexity and urgencyAmbiguous questions, emotional callers, unclear intentEnsures sensitive or complex cases are flagged early and routed correctlyEntrustRoute to human agents for nuanced problem-solvingEscalations, VIP concerns, multi-step resolutionsLets agents focus on high-value interactions where empathy and judgment are critical
Related Article: Reinventing Digital Experience Design: Core Skills for the Human AI Era
What Emerging Customer Service Trends Mean for Businesses
Customer service trends highlight a clear need for an exceptional customer service experience. Customer feedback tells us that this can be achieved through a shift away from a reactive or dismissive approach to customer service. Instead, the goal should be to provide holistic support that focuses on the customer experience, and this should help build a lasting relationship and encourage positive word of mouth.
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Integrating technology in a way that gives contact center agents the freedom and the ability to deliver strong experiences will benefit everyone involved. It can also improve the quality of customer service and strengthen your brand’s reputation.
Success comes from refining the fundamentals while staying alert to emerging trends and technologies. That means using your customer service data, listening to your customers and responding to their wishes.
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