Why connected customer experiences are key to loyalty in 2025

Customer experience is getting harder, not easier. Even with record spending on AI, Forrester's 2025 CX indexfound that one in four U.S. brands saw their customer experience quality decline this year. The problem isn't a lack of technology; after all, technology and AI innovationare evolving daily. It's that many journeys are still broken: customers get frustrated having to repeat themselves, agents scramble for context, and leaders are buried in data that doesn't tell them what to do next.

At Zoomtopia 2025, our annual customer conference, CX leaders, customers, and experts reiterated the same point: connection is the missing link that drives customer loyalty. Technology and AI in customer experienceonly make a difference when they help people feel understood and supported at every touchpoint. Whether it's self-service, live agents, or analytics, the goal is the same: make every part of the experience feel easy and inviting.

1. AI is the enabler, connection is the differentiator

AI has gone from new and exciting to table stakes in a few short years. Most companies are using it, but too often it's implemented in silos. A virtual agent here, an analytics tool there. The real impact comes when AI is built into the whole journey, guiding self-service, assisting agents in real time, and surfacing insights leaders can take action on. Connected systems mean connected customer experiences, and that's how loyalty grows.

Zoom CXis built on the much-loved Zoom Workplaceplatform, which connects all the systems you rely on, such as CRM, workforce tools, and even Microsoft Teams, with our native AIat its core. This means your front office, contact center, and back office are all aligned instead of siloed. And AI is always there at each touchpoint, supporting and sharing insights, seamlessly moving each customer to resolution.

Amy Roberge, head of global CX solutions and engineering, Zoom

2. Self-service can build or break trust

As a CX leader, you may be familiar with the challenges that come with implementing an effective chat or voice virtual agent as part of your CX strategy. You're not alone. The problem is that self-service virtual agentsare often the first touchpoint your customers have with your brand post-purchase. If customers hit what feels like a dead end when using your virtual agent, it erodes customer loyalty. This is backed up by a recent Morning Consult research report, commissioned by Zoom, which found that 82% of consumers would leave a brand after an inaccurate or unsatisfactory resolution.

However, when a virtual agent understands intent, takes real action, and passes context to a human if needed, it can become a loyalty driver. Done right, self-service can be faster for customers and free agents for the conversations that matter most.

That's where Zoom Virtual Agentcan help. Using Zoom's agentic AI framework, Zoom Virtual Agent can reason through complex problems, take action, and adapt in real time - all while maintaining brand voice and context awareness. That means customers don't have to repeat themselves and can resolve their issues fast, without having to speak to a live agent. And with workflows that are easy to build and customize in Zoom AI Studio, with no complex coding required, your business can start enjoying the benefits faster.

Kaushik Tilve, manager of systems and technology, Cricut

Zoom Virtual Agent set up demo: How to add a personal touch

3. Agents are still the heart of CX

AI in customer experience isn't about replacing agents; it's about reshaping their role. Tools like Zoom AI Expert Assist can give agents confidence by recommending the next best action in the moment. It does so by reasoning through the context of the conversation and pulling relevant policies and resources that support its suggestions.

AI can also be put to work in quality management and customer engagement analysis. Products like Zoom Quality Management show where agents need support, even in real time. This can save hours of trawling through call recordings and transcripts to identify where to best allocate support and resources. When agents feel capable and prepared, customers notice. And it's no surprise that happier agents mean happier customers, which inevitably results in better business outcomes.

Neil Boland, CISO, SVP of technology and security, Major League Baseball™ (speaking at Zoomtopia 2025)

4. Less dashboards, more answers

CX leaders are drowning in dashboards. They need clearer answers to questions like "Why are escalations spiking?" or "Why is CSAT dropping in this queue?" When insights explain the "why" in plain language, leaders can coach smarter, fix problems at the root, and keep improving the journey over time.

Zoom CX's new analytics tool, CX Insights, provides answers in natural language, surfacing trends across live and virtual agent interactions that would otherwise stay buried. It can also estimate staffing impact with workforce management data, making it easier to plan hand-offs and peak periods.

Picture asking quality management to analyze each virtual agent interaction, asking specific questions as you go, so it can pinpoint your top concerns, such as "Is the team staffed to support these escalations?" CX Insights can turn data into action by giving leaders more clarity to improve not just operations, but loyalty for the long term.

Jonathan Shipes, director of information technology, The Shield Companies (speaking at Zoomtopia 2025)

5. Connection creates loyalty

At the end of the day, loyalty comes from a connected experience. Customers want every interaction to feel consistent, effortless, and informed. That's not just about speed or efficiency, and it's not about adding more AI features in isolation. It's about making sure every part of the journey works together. This is connection-first CX.

Whether it's Major League Baseball™ giving fans a seamless live experience, The Shield Companies leading with empathy, or Cricutcutting wait times by 89%, the message is the same: loyalty grows when every touchpoint feels connected. That means fewer dropped calls, less repetition, and more conversations that feel personal.

Neil Boland, CISO, SVP of technology and security, Major League Baseball™ (speaking at Zoomtopia 2025)

Watch the Zoomtopia replay for more expert insights and tips from CX leaders.

What this means for CX leaders and your CX strategy

Here are some practical ways you can start putting these learnings into action and build a connected customer experience in your contact center:

1. Start by repairing self-service. Aim for resolution and clean handoffs, not deflection. Measure first contact resolution (FCR), abandonment rate, and average handle time (AHT).

Jake Finch, global head of CX, SharkNinja (speaking at Zoomtopia 2025)

2. Connect the journey, then add AI. Tie self-service, the agent desktop, and operations together so context doesn't drop. Avoid siloed add-ons. Bring your communications and contact center together on a unified platform, like Zoom, with AI natively built in. Then, integrate the supported third-party tools your team uses every day.

3. Coach with evidence. Let quality management and analytics surface the moments and themes that matter, using tools like Zoom CX Insights. Coach agents, both virtual and live, on the same data.

4. Clean your knowledge before you scale. Good data makes expert assist tools and virtual agents, like Zoom AI Expert Assist and Zoom Virtual Agent, invaluable. Bad data could provide incorrect answers and can end up leaving a negative perception

5. Keep the setup simple and move forward. Adopt familiar, easy-to-use tools that help you build virtual agents quickly, like Zoom AI Studio, which is built into Zoom Virtual Agent. Keep the launches small so you can learn fast. Don't aim for perfection; progress is the name of the game.

Jake Finch, global head of CX, SharkNinja (speaking at Zoomtopia 2025)

The bottom line

Moving forward, the winners in CX won't be the ones with the flashiest virtual agents or the fanciest dashboards. They'll be the ones who use technology to connect the dots - between channels, between teams, and, most importantly, between people.

Connected customer experiences aren't just about solving problems faster; they build trust, reduce effort, and give customers a reason to stick with a brand. And that's the real measure of progress in CX: not how advanced the tools are, but how connected the experience feels.

Get more CX insights

To dive deeper into the topic of connected customer experiences and get more tips, insights, and hands-on demos from CX experts, customers, and leaders, join a live Zoomtopia on the Road sessionin a city near you or catch the Zoomtopia replay.

Reach out to us today, we'd love to chat with you about how Zoom CX can help your business create connected customer experiences.