A report from Salesforce has found high expectations for customer service to contribute more revenue in 2024. With AI enabling greater personalised customer experiences, service teams are well-poised to maximise upselling, cross-selling and customer retention opportunities to drive revenue, the company said.
The company recently released the new State of Service report, sharing insights from over 5,500 service professionals across 30 countries — including 100 from Singapore. The report covers the priorities, challenges, and strategies shaping customer service. It includes how service teams tap AI and data to increase revenue, efficiency, and customer satisfaction amid rising customer expectations.
According to the Singapore Business Federation’s National Business Survey, revenue growth (76%) and reducing costs (62%) were among the top priorities for business leaders this year, amid rising economic pressures and uncertainties.
Insights for Singapore include:
Revenue generation
The trend of viewing service as a revenue driver instead of a cost centre is accelerating, and service teams are investing in scaling up. This year:
- Nearly eight in 10 (77%) service professionals expect more budget
- Seven in 10 (71%) service professionals expect more headcount
AI to boost efficiencies
To scale service without sacrificing quality, professionals are increasingly turning to AI.
- Nine in 10 service professionals are using or evaluating AI
- Nine in 10 service professionals plan to increase AI investments this year. The top three service use cases for AI: automated summaries and reports, customer-facing intelligent assistants, and service responses
- The majority of service professionals (97%) with AI say it saves them time
Escalating demands
As customer expectations rise, service agents are feeling the squeeze.
- Roughly two thirds (65%) of service professionals expect a higher case volume next year
- Eight in 10 service professionals (81%) say customers are more demanding than they used to be
Data capabilities boosted
Service professionals are stepping up their data integration efforts to fuel human agents and AI systems.
- More than seven in 10 (72%) service professionals say better access to data from other teams would improve support
- Nearly nine in 10 (87%) service professionals are increasing investment in data integration this year
“Service teams cannot afford to miss the moments in the overall customer journey to build stronger relationships and loyalty. Generative AI will allow agents to provide a smoother and more personalised customer service experience, freeing up time to focus on relationship building. At the same time, data and AI is enabling service teams to demonstrate their ability to drive revenue growth through greater efficiency and upsell activities,” said Gavin Barfield, CTO and VP of Solutions at Salesforce ASEAN.
“AI is helping customer service agents be more efficient by reducing administrative tasks, which frees up time for them to focus on delivering personalised customer experiences and revenue generation. This will fundamentally shift the role of service teams within businesses from cost centres to profit centres.”
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Download the State of the Service report
*Salesforce conducted a double-anonymous survey of over 5,500 service professionals between December 8, 2023, and January 22, 2024. Respondents were sourced from 30 countries and roles including service operations, service agents, mobile workers, service managers/directors, and service leadership/head of service. Additional methodology and survey demographic details can be found in the report.
