Image for What was Trending in Customer Service in 2015. gateway-arch-980897_1280The website Customer  Think has put together its annual year-end review, looking at some customer service trends seen during 2015.

Just some of their findings include:

Self-serve is growing: In some restaurants, customers got to order their meals via tablet computers, while other companies adopted direct texts to their customers. Some 55 percent of people say they want more of customer service to be self-serve and automated.

Employee experiences lead to good customer experience. The vast majority of companies say they want their customer service to be THE point of differentiation they have over their competitors. A leading industry report says that the best way to do that is to improve the employee experience. Several major companies are now known for the way they treat their employees—Google and Zappos chief among them.

Companies offer more ways to be in touch. Many businesses are understanding they need to offer multiple ways for a customer to reach them—via email, text, social media, phone or what have you.

Mobile and video are in. Customers can pay with Apple Pay or an app at Starbucks; customers can be served via text message. Leading brands give customers a chance to video chat with them to get problems solved.

Web chat is growing. Over 70 percent of customer service departments will offer web chat by the end of 2016, up from just 33 percent in 2015. Ninety-one percent of customers are happy with web chat’s ability to solve customer support issues, and 62 percent of customers are more inclined to buy a product if live chat is available, Customer Think said.