The New Year is here! This is the time when we should make new business resolutions, but also take a closer look at our previous achievements and what we have learned from them. Indeed, 2020 was a year of challenges, but it also brought new opportunities.

The customer support industry undertook major renovations last year. The year 2020 was a milestone for remote customer support management as well as the new generation support technology that enables it. Customer support software has become imperative to efficient and cost-effective support. Moreover, it has become a must-have tool to reach the highest satisfaction scores, including customer (CSAT) and employee (EST). Customers’ expectations have shifted toward modern communication channels and so should yours.

The year 2020 was the year of data laws too! We stepped into a data privacy and protection era that highlights the power of consumer rights. With General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and Brazil’s new data protection law (LGDP) in place, businesses are expected to establish data policies that regulate the collecting, sharing and selling of customer data in order to protect their privacy.

These policies are leading the privacy revolution and setting standards for new policies to follow, such as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), a novel data privacy legislation. These policies are here for a reason! Unfortunately, 2020 was the year with the highest number of data breaches as well! It’s not a surprise that while making people and business vulnerable, the pandemic also gave more space for malicious attacks online.

Many things changed over the last year; however, the goal stayed the same: to provide excellent customer service! To win in the saturated global market in 2021, this goal should be ranked highest on your list.

Let’s see what support standards 2020 set for 2021!

1. Why is Customer Support a Target for Hackers?

We are proud to say that this top blog of 2020 has certainly deserved its place on the list due to positive feedback from our readers. Thank you for being Helpy community members!

Business leaders are aware of cyber security's role in the protection of their assets. However, many haven’t recognized the cyber vulnerability of their customer support or the importance of its protection yet, which is why they are dealing with so many data breaches.

Customer support is at the forefront of your security challenges. It’s where the first and most significant data collection and processing steps are taken, yet this department is the largest and the hardest to maintain. The support rep turnover is high because we all know that everyday customer issues can get overwhelming.

As there are constantly new team members, the consistency of training and expertise is not always reliable, making it easier for hackers to reach your database through credential stuffing. Luckily, an efficient and security-focused customer support software can erase all these troubles and preserve the top-notch look of your customer support as well as your brand identity!

2. CCPA Update: The first wave of lawsuits are well underway in California

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was passed in 2018 with an aim to increase the safety of California resident’ data. It took effect on January 1st last year and the first lawsuits were filed by early February! The first allegation was filed against Salesforce and its customer Hana Andersson,, a children's clothing retailer. Due to malware found on Salesforce’s software, millions of consumers’ data fell into hackers’ hands and were widely compromised, leading to Hanna’s business failure as their customer. They faced a class-action lawsuit, which is the worst kind of lawsuit you can get. Multiply one $7,500 fine by 100 and there is not only a catastrophic data breach, but also major reputational damage!

Other CCPA cases include TikTok’s failure to protect minor’s data and Sunshine Behavioral Health Group’s guilty verdict for exposing about 3,500 patient records! It seems like none of these companies had an adequate, security-engineered customer support software!

3. How to Provide More Empathetic Customer Support in the COVID-19 Era

Empathetic customer support was the most popular strategy among the key industry players in 2020! Faced with tremendous life and business insecurities, customers usually weren’t looking for sales pitches. Instead, they were expecting a shoulder to cry on and a strong company that kept their promises even during the period of crisis!

This was your time to shine, to appear strong and build up your brand integrity by showing your customers that you care about them and their troubles. Zapata capitalized on this opportunity in the best way possible. They established a support line where their agents discussed life and did not even mention their offer for as long as 45 minutes. They truly brought support to another level! While it may be true that everyone was walking in the same metaphorical pair of shoes in 2020, it is still your obligation to take your customers’ point of view into consideration no matter the circumstances.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements article is incredibly important as we’ve boiled down this very complex and demanding policy for you. This Helpy blog from 2020 is your fantastic manual for GDPR compliance. The GDP like the CCPA, was put into force to give consumers more control over their data.

We discuss all the key principles in detail and provide guidance that will 100% help you avoid massive fines that cost thousands of euros, even as high as €20,000 or 4% of your global revenue. In the French Google’s case, the fine was $50 million! To avoid this risk, we advise you to read this comprehensive GDPR summary!

5. Top 12 KPIs Customer Service Managers Need To Track

We at Helpy believe that no single effort should be taken for granted. Efficacy should be a priority of every company that doesn’t accept anything less than success. In order to gauge whether you are doing something correctly and assess if your ship will sink, you need to track customer support KPIs.

These metrics help to make sure your reps are presenting your business in the best light! For instance, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) shows how satisfied your customer is with your service and how willing they are to recommend your business to their family and friends. First Response Time (FRT) reveals how productive your team was and how quick your customers received their desired solutions, which can greatly affect Customer Satisfaction Score (CSS) too!

6. Tips For Managing a Great Remote Customer Service Team

2020 marked a huge shift toward remote work that greatly impacted the customer support industry. Most global giants had already established their remote support departments a couple years ago, which is why they were already prepared for the pandemic. Companies that didn’t embrace this opportunity for cheaper labor or better support recruiting time zone-wise didn’t adjust as well and needed to react fast. The first step in establishing a winning remote support team is purchasing a high-quality and secure customer support software. Next, treating remote work as an essential skill when adding new team members is an absolute must.

Your remote support rockstars need to master software. It is just as important as having advanced communication skills these days. You may think it is really hard to manage a large remote support department. However, it is even easier than the traditional way. With the software, you are in possession of a completely streamlined work process in a real-time environment. On an easy-to-use interface you can track the progress of a customer request and make changes in task assignments at any time!

It’s also important to keep in mind that remote workers are 13% more productive than office employees and work as much as 9.5 hours according to a Stanford study! It seems like the absence of a troubling work commute pays off!

If you have or are planning to have business operations in California and the EU, then you have to check this top Helpy blog post of 2020! Both GDPR and CCPA are policies that mandate companies to implement the highest data privacy and protection measures and procedures. However, while their goals are the same and their consumer rights are similar, they have certain relevant distinctions and you need to comply with both!

For example, the territories where they apply are different. The GDPR regulates data processing within the EU countries while CCPA takes care of Californians and their data rights. Their rules also vary in terms of business sizes that fall under the regulations, penalty structures, and definitions of data subjects.

8. Data Security Lessons: The Biggest Recent Hacking Incidents 2020

The first quarter of 2020 recorded a 236% uptick in data breaches compared to the same period in 2019. Sounds terrifying, right? Well, it only gets worse. Antheus Tecnologia, a Brazilian biometric solution provider, lost 76,000 patient fingerprints due to a poor password protection practice! Marriott Hotel chain hacking incidents are a true tragedy as they’ve happened twice in the past three years and exposed a whopping 5.2 million guests’ personal records. The worst part is that it looks like they are not learning from their mistakes. Don’t be like them! You are in the position to learn from their misfortune. It certainly will cost you less.

9. Customer Support Tips For Financial Organizations

You may be aware of how saturated today’s financial markets are. Financial institutions are competing in everything from prices to providing completely digital customer experiences. There are so many market players and the only thing left is to differentiate yourself by providing superb customer support. This will create great value and memorable customer experiences. Therefore, make sure that you have a secure customer support software that is compliant with data policies, nurtures feedback practices, and serves with empathy to build customer trust, which is an essential business driver in the financial sector.

10. The Best Customer Support Software Features and CX Techniques for the Privacy Era

There is no doubt now that data privacy and protection regulations are crucial for the legitimacy of your data practices. By incorporating customer support software, you can make sure you follow the rules and safeguard your customer data in the best way possible. A security responsible customer support software will be guaranteed to comply with all the relevant policies. It will provide you with a strong password wall that disables easy entry to your customer database.

To make that wall even stronger, you can add a multi-factor authentication that only allows access to authorized users. Additional security features include task assignments and roles for certain support reps to limit the use of data within a database. SSL policy makes it easier for users and IT data controllers to operate wiring the database. Now they only need one password for surveillance and for entry to the multiple support portals they need everyday. There are never enough security features, the more the merrier!

Top Blog Posts of 2020