5 innovations from 2020 that will shape 2021

What I learned while leading a CX company during a global pandemic and what will happen next.

As we transition to a new year, it’s time to reflect and be grateful for everything Talkdesk achieved in 2020: launching 20 products in the first 20 weeks of 2020, announcing the successful closing of our Series C funding of $143 million, and being recognized again as a Leader by Gartner. Even though it was one of the most challenging years of our lives, we have much to thank 2020 for because it forced us to think creatively and move quickly. I think we’re all more than ready for 2021, and if we apply the spirit of innovation sparked by 2020, it’ll be a very good year.

1. Aim for the cloud

For the past five years, we’ve seen the widespread acceptance of the cloud as the most viable option for contact center operations. From this acceptance, we have seen a steady shift away from on-premises solutions to cloud adoption, but confinement measures caused a massive acceleration of investment in technology, transforming the contact center landscape at a faster pace than any chief digital transformation officer ever could. The pandemic cemented the cloud’s importance, and, as a company that moves contact centers to the cloud, we were proud to be at the forefront of this change. The bottom line is that it’s no longer a choice to move to the cloud, it’s a necessity.

2. In-office work is optional, remote work is the norm

Much like our contact center solutions, which thrive on the agility and flexibility of cloud-native architecture, Talkdesk was well-positioned to adapt quickly to the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the severity of COVID-19 became clear, we knew we had the responsibility to keep our employees safe. We also recognized an opportunity to maintain high productivity levels by using our own tools, systems and processes in place for business continuity. Just as Talkdesk cloud technology makes it easy for our customers to move their contact center agents to work remotely, we were able to internally apply that same technology with ease. We put two of our corporate values into action—move fast and do whatever it takes—and transitioned all 1,000 employees to work-from-home, virtually overnight. All our employees now and forever will have the technical capability to work from anywhere.

3. Stay bold, adapt and evolve

At Talkdesk we have a bold mission: to help organizations around the world build brand trust and loyalty by delivering exceptional customer experiences. We’re taking a new approach to an old problem by revolutionizing the customer service market with the industry’s first and only modern, global end-to-end CX solution, Talkdesk CX Cloud™. By combining enterprise performance at scale with consumer simplicity, CX Cloud allows you to easily adapt your contact center operations to the evolving needs of your customers and your teams, resulting in increased productivity, customer satisfaction (CSAT) and cost saving.

4. Don’t settle for less than exceptional CX every day

CX is critical to retaining and driving business and the mandate to improve it in 2021 will continue. But moving forward, what are the new pillars of great CX in the current remote working context?

Earlier this year, Talkdesk developed and produced the ebook The CX Transformation Roadmap which addressed this very question; 5 stages to go from “survive” to “thrive” and build resilient cloud contact centers:

1. Tackle. Determine what needs to change.
2. Transition. How to change it?
3. Transform. Make the change.
4. Transcend. Leverage the benefits of change.
5. Thrive. Deliver seamless, exceptional customer experience every day.

Take your position as a CX leader by setting the standard for what exceptional CX should look and feel like in your industry every day.

5. The best products will continue to rise above

There’s been a saying floating around for many years that “we are in the era of the customer” with “new era of the customer” updates coming every two to three years.  I believe these all link back to the age-old saying, “the customer is always right” and are simply clever updates to a tried-and-true approach. However, I see successful companies over the next few years differentiating themselves through innovations in craftsmanship and CX. Brands can always compete on price, and sometimes the price will win the battle. But, the best made and most innovative products will always rise above. Craftsmanship combined with a best-in-class CX; this powerful combination of tangible and intangible will always win the war.

In 2021, Talkdesk will celebrate its 10th anniversary. As much as things have changed for everyone throughout 2020, one thing will remain constant: our mission to help organizations around the world find a better way through exceptional customer experiences. Cheers to a much better year ahead!