80% of Singapore service professionals expect customer service to contribute more revenue in 2024

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.”

Explore

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.

Salesforce uncovers where Singapore stands on national net zero targets

Salesforce, the customer relationship management (CRM) provider, has released research which found that 85% of managers in Singapore recognise the importance of technology in achieving a net zero target by 2050, with 43% noting that the role of technology would be ‘very important’.

The Trail to Net Zero for Singapore report, which surveyed over 1,000 managers from small, medium and large businesses in Singapore, reveals business sentiments towards the country’s net zero targets, and highlights how cloud technology can help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Key findings include:

Cloud migration enables businesses to deliver energy savings and cost efficiencies

With Singapore’s data centre capacity estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8% between 2022 and 2030, businesses can significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by taking steps such as moving to the cloud. 

A recent study* found that cloud migration will enable businesses to achieve energy savings of 79%. If cloud operators rely on 100% renewable power, Singapore businesses will likely be able to reduce carbon emissions by 19.3 million metric tonnes between 2022-2030, equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from 4 million passenger cars in Singapore. This in turn results in US$4 billion (approximately S$5.6 billion) in cost savings.

Businesses show strong support for Singapore’s net zero target

Eight in ten (81%) respondents say they support Singapore’s net zero target by 2050. The level of support is even higher (88%) among larger businesses with more than 100 employees. According to the Salesforce report, 83% of managers also support the government’s initiative to provide subsidies and incentives to businesses for the development of renewable energy technologies.

Transition to net zero creates jobs

Managers are three times more likely to think that achieving a net zero economy by 2050 in Singapore will result in more jobs than less jobs (39% compared to 13%).

Businesses are more conscious of emissions across their value chain

Six in 10 (61%) managers surveyed said they are more likely to purchase products or services from supplying businesses with a net zero target.

Addressing climate change requires multi-stakeholder collaboration

Respondents agree that both the government (54%) and businesses in their industry (66%) can continue to do more to tackle climate change.

The report provides a number of policy recommendations to help accelerate Singapore’s trail to net zero. They include:

Source: Salesforce infographic. Recommendations on how to accelerate Singapore’s trail to net zero.

- Developing cutting-edge climate technology

- Increasing investment in cloud

- Addressing the sustainability skills gap

- Using environmental artificial intelligence (AI)

- Enhance international collaboration

- Adopting a shared digital platform to track emissions

Sujith Abraham, Senior VP and GM, Salesforce ASEAN said: “Technology can play a transformative role in climate action. This includes digital platforms and dashboards to help businesses drive better accountability, cloud computing adoption to drive lower carbon emissions, use of environmental AI and other cutting-edge climate innovations.”

Jared Ragland, Senior Director, Policy — APAC at BSA | The Software Alliance said: “BSA and our members are fully committed to contributing to the fight against climate change and are attuned to the responsibility that global companies have to advance sustainability while supporting communities in their efforts to do the same.

"Digital transformation is enabling businesses in all sectors to do everything from reducing energy and water use to reducing the climate impact of the buildings they fill. This Salesforce report shows how important digital tools are toward achieving sustainability goals, in Singapore and around the world.”

Lim Boon Pin, Co-Chair of SGTech's Sustainability Committee said: “The increasing migration to cloud is a major contributing factor to Singapore being home to the highest digital traffic in the Asia Pacific. 

"SGTech supports the shift to cloud and is active in championing dialogue between local data centre players and the government to strive towards decarbonisation of data centres within our shores. As we transit into a greener economy, we need our businesses to embrace the challenges, identify opportunities that come with them and create products and services that solve them.”

Explore

- Read the Trail to Net Zero for Singapore report (PDF)

- View the Trail to Net Zero for Singapore infographic

- Browse the Trail to Net Zero for Singapore YouGov survey (PDF)

*S&P Global Market Intelligence (2021): The Carbon Reduction Opportunity of Moving to the Cloud for APAC (PDF)

Salesforce webinar on connecting with customers through social media

Salesforce is hosting a webinar on July 16 about the 'Internet of Customers' and how to better utilise social media to connect with customers in a whole new way.  Eddie Cliff, Principal Solutions Consultant from Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud, will conduct the live webinar. 

Title: Live Webinar - Dreaming Big with Social 
Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 
Time: 11 am to 12 pm Singapore time

PC-based attendees should have Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac-based attendees should have Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Mobile attendees can use the iPhone, iPad, Android phones or Android tablets.

Space is limited. Reserve a space here.