The year 2025 presents a pivotal moment for customer experience (CX). Its future hinges on a delicate balance: leveraging technology to enhance efficiency while preserving the irreplaceable value of human connection.
As companies grapple with this reality, the role of call center outsourcing is evolving rapidly, demanding a new breed of solutions that prioritize both automation and empathy.
It’s time to make some projections on what will influence the state of CX and call center outsourcing.
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Increased Spending on CX and Call Center Outsourcing
As customer experience remains a competitive priority, companies worldwide are increasing their budgets to enhance CX efforts. Per Destination CRM, a Forrester report states that 91% of global tech decision-makers and 87% of global market experts are planning budget increases for 2025.
Among other things, the report recommends that companies invest in cross-functional efforts. In particular, brands must align their marketing, digital, and CX teams for faster revenue growth and customer retention.
As for the future of call center operations, a greater demand is being seen, with global spending increasing to $1,138 billion in 2025. This is because brands will continue to cut costs on other aspects of their business and renew their focus on their main strengths.
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Generative AI in CX: Good or Bad?
In its predictions for the future of customer experience, Forrester thinks 2025 is the best time for the most innovative brands to shine. When talking about customer support, the think tank predicts that generative AI will decrease demand for human agents.
However, this shift is only limited to low-complexity issues, and global outsourcing trends 2025 point to partnering with third parties that view technology as a complement—not a replacement—to human-based CX.
While automation improves the quantity of issues handled, innovative brands will focus on the quality of the customer experience. This means that complex issues requiring empathy, nuanced understanding, and personalized solutions still demand human intervention.
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Higher Impact from Social CX
Social media customer service will continue to play a role in rising consumer expectations. According to Prof. Anthony Miyazaki from Florida International University, “The continued onslaught of CX-related social media posting also is influencing buyer expectations, particularly for younger audiences.”
Miyazaki points to content creators as the key drivers in this rapid rise of expectations:
“Extreme complaining behavior has been normalized to some degree by content creators who, at times, fabricate customer service failures solely for the purpose of gaining views and engagement on social media.”
“This tends to train social media viewers in believing that high levels of service are the norm irrespective of the price point at which they’re paying for service quality,” he adds.
Nevertheless, brands would still be wise to invest in long-term solutions to relieve pressure on frontline personnel.
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Third-Party Sites as Additional Customer Service Channels
Customers are no longer confined to direct brand interactions for support. In 2025, third-party platforms such as review websites, forums, and ecommerce marketplaces will become critical channels for feedback, queries, and complaints.
Research from Gartner says 58% of Millennial and Gen Z customers trust third-party sources of information because they find that everything posted on such sites is easy to understand and is less biased. Senior Director Eric Keller says brands will find it hard to map the customer journey if consumers turn to sites like YouTube and Reddit for information.
So, how will this impact the call center’s future outlook for 2025? Gartner says outsourcing firms can still capitalize on third-party websites by using them as channels for delivering solutions. Additionally, agents can be updated on which sites are most commonly used to learn more about the type of service that customers expect.
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Higher Need for Mental Preparedness Among CX Agents
With automation and AI managing routine queries, human agents will be tasked with handling complex, emotionally sensitive issues. As we mentioned, customers facing unique challenges need empathetic communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities that AI cannot replicate.
Jeannie Walters of Experience Investigators predicts AI will still be seen as executors of mundane work. This means that human agents are expected to tackle scenarios that could take a toll on their mental health. “Empathy is a finite resource,” Walters says.
Preventing the hidden danger of burnout among human agents has become more difficult since the tasks that require little emotional energy have been taken away by AI. Hence, stress-free workplace designs and innovations in workflow are among the global outsourcing trends 2025 has in store.
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Personalization Based on Industry Expertise
In 2025, customers will still crave better connections with brands. This can be demonstrated by recommending products based on who customers are and what’s trending. According to Justin Racine of Perficient, advice and expertise will become the the main attractors of repeat business.
“Find other ways to help your customers see that you’re more than just a transaction vehicle and that your brand is an advisor to their life. If you do, you’ll be the first place customers turn to the next time they need something,” Racine says.
The call center’s future outlook in this context is that customer journey mapping will remain a strong suit in 2025. Industry expertise will become a baseline expectation as businesses compete for customer loyalty.
Final Thoughts
The future of customer experience is being shaped by technological advancements, rising customer expectations, and the growing need for human-centric interactions.
Outsourcing will continue to play an indispensable role in delivering personalized, efficient, and scalable support solutions.
Meanwhile, the future of call center operations will highlight the potential of generative AI, industry-specific expertise, and third-party platform management. These signal a greater reliance on outsourcing providers to bridge the gap between technology and human empathy.
The balance between human-based services and technology will be the defining force for CX in 2025, and it’s up to brands and call centers to determine how they will go about this.
Welcome the Future of Customer Experience with Open Access BPO
Is your brand ready to take on new challenges this 2025? It’s a good thing there are multiple ways to adapt to obstacles and trends throughout the year. One of those is outsourcing, which is where Open Access BPO’s global expertise comes in.
Now that you have seen what the year ahead could look like for your brand, leveraging Open Access BPO’s solutions should be your next move. Our expertise on CX connects your brand to your customers in different channels and in multiple languages, to boot.
Our solutions are hyper-customizable, so we have no problems being as adaptable as your brand in navigating different trends as 2025 progresses.
Start the year right by partnering with Open Access BPO.
Contact us today, and let’s start planning your brand’s CX journey to the top!