Transformation Industry Report 2018 by Engage Business Media

INTERVIEW

FOCUS ON

FEATURE

Are you giving customers what they need?

Get the experience right by design

Engaging audiences through happiness

Customer engagement can mean different things to different people but everyone has “needs”

Bupa has recently undertaken a new study to help improve their customers’ health journey

Julia Barbosa on how a trip around the world changed Save the Children’s comms

TRANSFORMATION C U S T O M E R

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EngageCustomer.com

TRANSFORMING TO THRIVE THE BRAVE NEW CUSTOMER WORLD

16 & 18

VIEW FROM THE CHAIRS

10 MINS WITH

Martin Hill-Wilson

Nick Brice

Richard Spencer

Gives his take on some of the highlights from the Conference

Chair of Hall 2 provides us with some of the day’s highlights

Director of Promederation, is in the hot chair

Published by

TRANSFORMATION

EDITORIAL Frank Tennyson Editor frank.tennyson@ebm.media 01932 506 300 Steve Hurst Editorial Director steve.hurst@ebm.media 01932 506 304

MARKETING Katie Donaldson Marketing Manager katie.donaldson@ebm.media 01932 506 302 Hannah Mulea Marketing Executive hannah.mulea@ebm.media 01932 302 112

SPONSORSHIP James Cottee Sponsorship Sales Manager james.cottee@ebm.media 01932 506 309 James Major Sponsorship Sales james.major@ebm.media 01932 302 110 Kimberly Bishop Sponsorship Sales kim.bishop@ebm.media 01932 506 308

ADVERTISING Dan Skinner Advertising Sales dan.skinner@ebm.media 01932 506 307 Jamie Ross Advertising Sales Jamie.ross@ebm.media 01932 506 306

FINANCE Sabrina Clarke Finance Manager finance@ebm.media 01932 500 103

Welcome A very warm welcome to Transformation, our customer engagement transformation report. We hope you enjoy what you find inside. ublishing this edition has been a real treat as we have had the opportunity to speak to some real experts in the customer experience field. John Upton asks the simple but enduring question: “Are you giving customers what they need?” Leaning on 20 years of experience, including senior operating roles at McDonalds and Leon, he gives his take on what is needed for sustained customer engagement. We were also fortunate to pick the brains of Save the Children’s Julia Barbosa, who states the case for engaging audiences through the notion of happiness. These were informed by an around the world trip, in which she met many inspiring characters. Bupa’s Anna Wilcox shares some of the fascinating work she and her colleagues undertook to understand who there members actually are and how to best meet their requirements. Thanks also to News UK’s Peter Evia Rhodes, who took us through the amazing journey The Times’ online offering has undergone since it went behind a paywall in 2010. This July saw a record number of delegates attend our Customer Engagement Transformation

conference at London’s Victoria Park Plaza Hotel. We were privileged to host 40 superb speakers sharing their compelling stories, insights and experiences. Representatives from some real blue chip brands such as John Lewis, Google, Metro Bank, Dow Jones, LV, Secret Escapes, Bupa and News UK and so many more, supported this event. The conference focused firmly on the key issues, challenges and opportunities around engaging our customers. Inside this report, we take a whistle-top tour of the conference thanks to chairs Martin HillWilson and Nick Brice. In these challenging times it is encouraging to see such innovative and exciting work going on in and around the customer engagement space. The customer is indeed king, perhaps more so now than ever before. With that in mind, we hope you will find this post Customer Engagement Transformation Conference manual interesting, helpful and informative. Happy reading! Frank Tennyson, Editor

Jenna Pollard Accounts Executive accounts@ebm.media 01932 428 542

MANAGING DIRECTOR Nick Rust nick.rust@ebm.media 01932 506 301

EngageCustomer.com Engage Business Media Ltd, Nicholson House, 41 Thames Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8JG. Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in the compilation of this publication, the Publishers cannot be held liable for errors and omissions. ©COPYRIGHT: Engage Business Media Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior consent in writing to the publisher.

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AUGUST 2018

TRANSFORMATION NEWS

Customers want flexibility and simplicity over chatbots and automation

Amazing Amazon delivers record profits as the likes of Twitter and Facebook Falter Amazon has reported record quarterly profits helped by a rise in online sales and demand for its cloud services. Profits hit a record $2.53bn (£1.9bn) in the three months to the end of June – about 12 times more than it made during the same period last year. Sales rose by 39% to $52.89bn, slightly less than analysts had been forecasting. "It was a strong quarter," said chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky. "What I attribute it to is continued strength in some of our most profitable areas." At the firm's lucrative cloud services division, Amazon Web Services, sales were up nearly 50% year-on-year to $6.1bn. Amazon is also starting to attract more money from advertising. Revenue from the firm's "other" category, which includes advertising, more than doubled to about $2.2bn. Retail sales in North America were healthy

Love Island fans spent more time on the TV show’s app than on Facebook Whatsapp or Twitter For the past seven weeks, Love Island has captivated the nation, dominating social media and monopolising the 9-10pm TV slot six days a week – and now, new data from leading mobile data company Ogury, shows that the official Love Island app has more active users (76.2%) than the likes of Uber (60.5%), Deliveroo (61.7%), BBC News (71.1%), ASOS (76%), Amex (74.4%) and British Airways (61.2%). With ITV recently reporting total Love Island app downloads of 2 million, as well as an 8% increase in turnover (£1.6bn) during the first half of 2018, the Love Island fad shows no signs of slowing down. A timeline of season four, developed via Ogury’s Active Insights app intelligence platform, highlights clear spikes in activity around public votes (cast via the app), key events, “recouplings” and break-ups, during the popular TV show. The timeline also shows how football pride captivated the nation – one of the lowest periods of activity on the Love Island app (4.9%) coincided with England’s quarter-final win against Sweden on 7th July. For some fans, six hours of Love Island a week isn’t enough. The average user has opened the app more than 12 times over the course of season four, with an average time per session of 8 minutes, 9 seconds – that’s higher than Facebook (6 mins, 24 secs), Twitter (4 mins, 1 sec) or Whatsapp (7 mins). As the hit show continues to grow a cult following, drawing in an average of 2.7 million viewers a night, it’s turning into a wider cultural phenomenon. From driving viewers back to the TV screen, inspiring fashion and even plastic surgery trends, Love Island’s app is an indication of how fans engage with and consume content on mobile today. These insights clearly illustrate the evolving behaviour of consumers and in-app activity around trending topics, which can help to inform key mobile and online marketing decisions.

as well, rising about 44% to almost $32.2bn. Recruitment slowed in the quarter. Amazon is also starting to reap the benefits of previous infrastructure investments, allowing for less rapid spending growth, Mr Olsavsky said. Amazon is expected to account for roughly half of online sales in the US this year, according to research firm eMarketer. The company told investors that it expects third quarter sales in the range of $54bn- $57.5bn, growth of 23% to 31%. The big tech stocks have been in the spotlight recently. While Amazon reported record results in the second quarter, Facebook warned of slowing revenue growth, which led to a record near-20% fall in its share price. Twitter reported record profits but fewer users. Google's parent company, Alphabet, reported stronger-than-expected advertising sales.

New ofcom research reveals that video streaming services now have more subscribers than payTV Video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime now have more subscribers than traditional pay TV services in the UK, new data from Ofcom has revealed. The media regulator says British TV will have to change the way it operates if it wants to compete with the internet giants. Sharon White, Ofcom's chief executive, says: "We'd love to see broadcasters such as the BBC work collaboratively with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 so that they have got that scale to compete globally, making shows together, coproducing great shows that all of us can watch. "I think it would be great to see a British Netflix." The BBC, ITV and Channel Four have already held preliminary talks looking at the idea of creating a joint streaming service to compete with Netflix and Amazon. The BBC said in its recent annual report that it is facing rapidly rising costs in producing drama and comedy because of the financial power of its new internet rivals. Nearly 40% of UK households now subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime or Now TV. The 15.4 million subscriptions have now passed the 15.1 million who pay for Sky, BT, Virgin and other satellite/cable providers. Ofcom has also revealed that spending on TV by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 has dropped by nearly £1 billion over the last 20 years. The decrease from £3.4 billion to £2.5 billion represents a 28% drop in spending. The new data shows that the long growth of traditional pay TV services stopped last year with a revenue decline of 2.4%. Advertising revenue was also down by 7%. However, Sky and other similar pay TV services made much more money than their new online rivals, with revenues of £6.4 billion versus £895 million for subscription video on demand services.

Engine, the service design consultancy, has revealed that customers want their customer service and experiences with brands to be open and honest rather than technologically advanced. The latest findings from the Customer Experience Report 2018, uncovers that, when asked what businesses should prioritise, 62% of customers said the focus should be on launching “simpler, flexible, and more affordable customer service options”. Furthermore, 58% of those surveyed also suggested that businesses should provide better “training and performance incentives for customer-facing staff”. Conversely, only 15% of consumers wanted brands to focus on innovations such as voice assistants, and under a fifth of respondents (17%) wanted businesses to use their data to create personalised recommendations. Just 22% of customers would suggest businesses automate elements of the customer experience through tools such as chatbots. In the five years that the annual survey has taken place, the ranking of what is most important remains unchanged. Its “openness and honesty” (50%), followed by “efficiency” (48%) and “reliability” (43%) according to those surveyed. At the bottom-end in importance is “personalisation” and “proactivity” which ranked eighth and tenth, respectively. Additionally, Engine found that consumers are more likely to recommend a service to a friend based on the “quality of service” (68%), over “price” (28%) and “convenience” (3%). Once again, Amazon is getting the balance of technology and engagement right to be named the best brand for its customer service. The retail giant beat traditional high street retailers such as department store, John Lewis, who ranked joint second with Lloyds Bank. It also ranked higher than UK supermarkets Tesco (3rd), Marks & Spencer (4th), and Sainsbury’s (6th).

Top 10 Best Brands for Customer Service and Experience 2018 2018 Ranking Company 1 =2 =2 3 4 5 6 =7 =7 =7 =8 =8 9 =10 =10 =10 =10

Amazon Lloyds Bank (New Entry) John Lewis Tesco Marks & Spencer British Airways (New Entry) Sainsbury’s Santander (New Entry) Barclays Nationwide Premier Inn Apple Sky Virgin Media Halifax (New Entry) Vodafone (New Entry) Asda (New Entry)

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TRANSFORMATION NEWS

Three in four consumers would abandon a slow running website and go to a competitor Over 80% of consumers are more frustrated by consistently slow websites than those that are temporarily down. That’s according to a global online study from Eggplant, the customer experience optimisation specialists. Eggplant polled a combined total of 3,200 UK and US adults on attitudes to website speed and performance and found that a business with a slow or underperforming website is likely to lose 73% of its customers to a competitor. While outages are a problem for businesses around the world, the survey reveals that a slow website is much more damaging than one that is temporarily down. To stay competitive and retain customers, retailers must focus on website speed alongside website availability. 81% of Brits find a slow website more frustrating to use than one that is down or not working. In fact, 7 in 10 (70%) of UK adults rate

website speed as important when it comes to online activity. Of this 81%, a third (33%) said website speed was very important, while only 17% said speed was not important at all. The online research also found that three quarters (75%) of Brits would be likely to use a competitor website if the one they were using was slow. This is especially important for brands who commoditize based entirely on price such as tickets, hotel and travel sites. When it comes to UK consumers, site speed is so important that almost 3 in 5 (60%) feel much more negative to a brand if its site is consistently slow to load. This is in contrast to less than a quarter (23%) who feel the same way if a site is down or not working. However, nearly half (49%) of consumers feel slightly negative towards a brand if its website is not working.

Tesco planning mystery new format for future stores Tesco is planning to open a number of stores in a mystery new format. The store chain, the country's biggest food retailer, would not comment, but there are strong hints the new-look stores will be aimed at challenging discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl. A whole range of jobs are on offer at newformat stores in Wandsworth, London, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire and Immingham, Lincolnshire. Reports suggest it could be called Jack's, after Tesco founder Jack Cohen. The job adverts, which are headed "Tesco – New Store Format" all contain a line saying: "The new retail format will be operated separately from the core Tesco business and as such benefits offered will be different from those offered at Tesco." Tesco's move comes as retailers face an increasingly competitive environment. Since their entry into the United Kingdom, discount chains Aldi and Lidl have steadily increased their share of

the market and now account for a woping 14% of grocery sales. On top of that, internet behemoth Amazon has edged slowly but steadily into food retailing. Last year, Amazon bought upmarket grocer Whole Foods. In the UK, Amazon offers food sales through its Amazon Fresh service, although currently that is still focused on Greater London and parts of the South East. Earlier this month, Tesco announced it was planning a buying partnership with France's Carrefour – a "strategic alliance" whereby the two will try to use their joint buying power to cut costs and offer lower prices to customers. This came after Tesco took over the wholesale giant, Booker. In April, Sainsbury's said that it was in advanced talks to buy Asda from US retail giant Walmart. Some analysts warned any move by Tesco to take on the discounters would need sensitive handling.

Online sales to drive half of retail growth over next five years Over the next five years, online sales will drive almost half of retail growth in Western Europe. Italy and Spain will see the fastest online sales growth. By 2023, 21% of non-grocery retail sales will be online, up from 13% in 2017. Grocery will be one of the fastest-growing online retail categories. This promising outlook emerges from a new forecast released by Forrester. The analysis details growth for 22 product categories across 17 countries in Western Europe, with historical online category sales going back to 2002. “We are seeing an increasing consumer confidence that is driving retail sales growth,” says Principal Analyst Michael O’Grady. “In 2017, the European Union economy grew at its fastest pace in a decade. Western European retail sales will grow by 2.8% in 2018. In addition to the consumer confidence, employment rates haven’t been seen so high since the 2008 banking crisis. As expected, online is playing an ever-increasing role in the mix.” Forrester expects that more and more retailers will partner with and sell through marketplaces in the future as the boundaries between physical retail stores and marketplaces start to blur. Meanwhile, many brick-and-mortar retailers, notably in the UK, saw online sales grow and offline sales contract. One-third of UK non-grocery retailing will be online by 2023.

Marketers aware of the importance of voice search but failing to address strategically Digital marketers are aware voice search will impact the way they market products and services, but almost a third (29%) aren’t actively doing anything to address the changing landscape, according to research released today from Greenlight Digital. Widespread adoption of voice search shows no sign of slowing with Canalys forecasting 70% yearon-year growth of smart speaker sales with shipments to reach over 56m units this year. Marketers understand this is going to impact the way consumers interact with brands with over a third (36%) acknowledging it’s fundamentally going

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to change the way customers search for items over the next 18 months. Yet, what marketers recognise as a trend isn’t necessarily reflected in the action they are taking. Although a quarter (25%) feel they can incorporate voice search into their marketing strategy in order to maximise the impact Amazon has on the industry, 29% admit they are currently not doing anything to address it. When it comes to putting hands in pockets, although 43% of marketers admit they will be investing marketing budget into advertising with

Amazon to reach customers through voice search, a quarter still remain unsure. It seems they don’t know whether they will be investing despite many recognising it will change the way retail businesses market to consumers. The most predominant tactic marketers are adopting to address the change is reassessing product names to reflect how users speak – true for 32% of digital marketers surveyed. This will enable voice-search users to find a brand’s products more easily and make those brands more readily visible.

TRANSFORMATION INTERVIEW

DO YOU REALLY KNOW THAT YOU’RE GIVING CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY NEED? In a time when people have more choice and more platforms on which to share their experiences, it’s more important than ever to listen to your customers Customer engagement can mean different thing to different people. But for John Upton it can be distilled into a very simple question: “How do I deliver what my customer needs from me?”

ith 20 years business experience, including being Senior Director at McDonalds and Managing Director at Leon, John really does believe that everything starts and ends with client needs He explains: “I see this in a pretty binary way. Do you have a customer purpose, are you meeting their needs? Yes or no. And if it’s no, how can you expect to be a success? “What need are you meeting in consumers? Entrepreneurs flourish by doing exactly that, whereas a lot of big or mid-sized corporates can get lost in internal gazing. “That was a big change for McDonalds in the early 2000s changing from inward looking to outward looking, putting the voice of the customer at the heart. “It sounds so obvious, but it wasn’t done at that time. But then things changed – customer analytics and various engagement data came in, smart decision making was used and it really helped.” John’s dozen or so years at McDonalds provide many examples of how establishing genuine customer needs and then addressing them can bear real fruits. He shares with us here, just one. “A visual example was the look and feel of the restaurants. In the late 90s early 2000s they were very red, very yellow, very plastic, quite austere. And customers’ needs were changing. They needed somewhere to sit comfortably to enjoy their food and have somewhere to actually enjoy spending time. “So we listened to those

requirements, we changed the colours, we introduced softer seating, and created an environment which, to be honest, wasn’t like a McDonalds people new – but this was what the customer needed. “The previous restaurants weren’t really geared for their needs. But now, with wi-fi, table service and a nice

environment they are entirely geared up to be somewhere enjoyable to be.” John also has a simple, pared down mantra when it comes to customer philosophy. He calls them “The Three Rs – Realistic, Relevant and Relentless” and they are a maxim that has guided him for much of his professional life.

I see this in a pretty binary way. Do you have a customer purpose, are you meeting their needs? Yes or no. And if it’s no, how can you expect to be a success?

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He says: “This is really simple and really straight forward offering which is something I like. It’s easy to communicate and to refer back to when reviewing how you are dealing with customers. “Realistic is about looking in the mirror and see what is really going on. You have to be critically and brutally honest about what customers truly think about your business, good or bad. “Being relevant is staying in touch with those customer needs I always talk about. Changing how McDonalds restaurants looked and felt, is a great example. “And being relentless is incredibly important. You need a constant focus on consistently delivering basic needs, day in day out, no matter what.” Unsurprisingly for a man who likes to talk and think straight, John believes insight and data driven decisions are vital for customer engagement. Using preformed assumptions or gut decisions just isn’t the way to go. He advocates a forensic approach, using data in all major decisions and in all senior meetings. “Data allows you to hear what customers are really saying about you and what do they need from you,” he explains. “Bringing the voice of the customer

directly into the boardroom or on to the operations table is incredibly powerful it allows you to act quickly and with authority, “And again that data again can work around need. What do your customers need and how can you deliver it, every time. Data can help you make smarter decisions and make sure you are not losing customers.” So how can teams ensure they have to right culture to ensure they put the customer at the heart of everything they do? What should these management teams look like? Should they always be on the same page, for example? “Not all,” says John. “I call it embracing cohesive and diversive leadership. By that I mean that regardless of creed, colour, gender or sexuality people have different perspectives and enable us to think about things differently. I welcome that. “The football analogy works for me. You don’t want the same type of player, you can’t have all defenders or all strikers. You need a blend of skills, experiences and perspectives to make the collective stronger. “A strong team with varying experiences and differing approaches will make it easier for you to satisfy your customers’ needs. And this will translate into a healthier business.”

Bringing the voice of the customer directly into the boardroom or on to the operations table is incredibly powerful and allows you to act quickly and with authority

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TRANSFORMATION FOCUS ON

GET THE EXPERIENCE RIGHT BY DESIGN

Bupa has recently worked with over 150 customers and employees to map out the target experience for the treatment and renewals journey Bupa is a company with the self-declared vision of being “the most admired healthcare company” with a purpose of helping its customers enjoy “longer, healthier, happier lives.”

ith the Bupa UK operation employing over 32,000 employees and supporting four million customers across a range of activities – including health services, funding projects, care services and dental clinics – it’s clear that Bupa UK is meeting its targets rather well. However, in February 2017 the company invested in creating an inhouse team that would dig deeper into the customer experience. What did the organisation do well? What could it do better? What opportunities could it identify? And of course, most important of all, how could Bupa UK ensure its customer engagement is informed, targeted and allow members to feel that healthcare is a genuine partnership. Anna Wilcox, Head of Customer Experience at Bupa UK, alongside Customer Experience Manager

Machaela Shepherd co-created this project. Anna says that Bupa has always listened to its members’ needs but perhaps there was more the company could do to deepen the relationship. She explains: “When you are working in an industry such as healthcare, it is obviously hugely important that we get things right for our customers. “Because of this and the high expectation of what we would deliver – they expect the best quality in the market – I think within the business we saw a need to continually push ourselves to achieve exactly that. “It’s not a case of saying that we are necessarily doing anything wrong today, it’s more a piece about how we can push our service and relationships forward. “To be truly honest with ourselves, we do lots of continual improvement.

People are given autonomy on a dayto-day basis to drive change in their area. But we probably hadn’t looked at the big, big picture and how to deliver big, big change. We hadn’t done a transformation piece in recent years.”

A matter of research Anna and her colleagues set out on a mission to identify what customers’ treatment and renewal journeys currently looked like. This undertook lots of immersive research, which revealed 23 areas of customer frustrations and opportunities, including “too many surprises,” “sense of control wanted” and “supporting me with my problems rather than supporting me with my health.” In addition to this piece on what the customer experience could and should be like in the future, Bupa sought to understand who its customers actually were. It sounds fundamental but Anna says it was some of the most valuable work they did in the process. “We saw that our customers are not all the same. Within the business there seemed to be a bit of a feeling that we always think about the customer as the end user – the member who claims on their health insurance and has the treatment. “Don’t get me wrong, these people are ultimately very, very important because they are using our services to get well. But if we are going to serve our customers, we need to appreciate these people are not the only individuals interacting with our organisation. There is a diverse group of members who include members, corporate decision makers, web consumers and providers of healthcare. “We had to ask ourselves, were we really serving each and every one of our customers and reaching their particular needs?

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“It was really important to map out those customers. It was interesting to engage with people around the business about this piece of work. It was also like a penny dropped. ‘Oh yes, we have kind of forgot about those customers.’ We do a great job but we can do even better.”

Deliberate design All of this work on identifying customers’ experiences, who they actually were and how Bupa UK could best serve them in the future, was delivered in easily digestible, visual documents which can be shared around the departments. These include a set of 13 customer promises that exist within a fiveprinciple framework, namely “supporting customer’s well-being,” “a smooth and speedy experience,” “making the value clear,” “a sense of control,” “personal and relevant.” All of these are presented in accessible, user-friendly infographics. “If we want to improve or excel in our customer engagement, how do we distinctly show the business where we are headed? These designs shows the core things that we deliver upon so that the customers get want they

want,” says Anna. “Wherever someone worked in the business, we wanted something would allow them to check back in with these key principles.”

older so they are not necessarily reliant on digital technology. We need again to make sure we give them the support applicable to those individuals. “The advantages are that the digital servicing pieces take away the basic administrative functions which you don’t need to speak to an advisor about. “We currently get many calls from our customers asking for reminders of what their preauthorisation code for treatment is, or names and addresses of consultants. These obviously can be found online. “It then frees up our people to spend their time to be true healthcare professionals, helping and listening to what the customer says and wants. It helps us answer calls quicker too! “At the same time we will always give our customer the option to talk to us or write to us about anything they want to discuss. “This whole project, including the digital aspect, is about getting closer to our customers, so they feel we are on the treatment journey with them, every step of the way.”

The digital question A challenge for businesses looking to enhance that engagement with their clients is the digital juggernaut. Part the project’s stated goal is for Bupa to evolve to an “effortless, guided and seamless omnichannel experience.” With that in mind, and with healthcare very much a personal and sensitive interaction, how can the company ensure that customers do not feel at arm’s length? “With the digital agenda, Bupa probably needs to step up and really own the opportunity within the industry – to drive a digital servicing experience for our customers. None of our competitors are currently doing this within healthcare. “But it’s really important that human touch remains. People are poorly and they want to engage with a real human being who can give them reassurance that they are doing the right thing, that they are honestly being listened to. “Many of our customers are slightly

If we want to improve or excel in our customer engagement, how do we distinctly show the business where we are headed?

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THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION BUS:

Every company should hop on board “But don’t forget the human touch” say CXB Hub Founders Claire Bonniol and Alexis Grabar, whose company helps set up international customer excellence programs for large companies & emerging markets.

f you’ve ever experienced the digital demise by murderous commentary of one of your products or services, you know how in this day and age businesses have to evolve and become customercentric. A mammoth task, to say the least, considering the logistics of dealing with Data, the rapid pace of technological progress & the inconsistency of Human 3.0. We always implement a back-to-basics approach. First, take the temperature. Listen to your customers and employees’ voices, but also to the market and your competition. Big data is no longer a visionary ideal, it is crucial to building a holistic and seamless customer interaction. Once you’ve analysed your findings, start collaborating with employees and customers on a series of innovations adapted to your company size and identified target market. We believe that design thinking is key:

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solution-focused brainstorming edged by a reasonable deadline and quickly followed by a testing phase of your ideas allows for fast & direct results. Lots of consultants will say “if you look after your employees, they’ll look after your customers”. Today, we strive to go beyond that. To us, it’s not just about making sure that your employees are happy. It’s about going the extra mile to include them in the company’s philosophy, to empower them by training them while letting them explore who they can be within their team and their workplace. Only then will the term “excellence” become appropriate. The customers will become “their” customers, just as the company will be “their” company. International companies run the risk of losing their identity in the process of empowering employees. Work on your

brand identity and your cultural traits. Moreover, internationalise your customer experience: it has to be global and consistent in all the markets your company operates in. We deliver projects crosssector for well-known organisations such as Auchan, Decathlon, South Western Railways and Eurostar. Europe, Russia, China: we’ve seen first-hand the benefits of thinking globally. Finally, defining KPIs early on in the process will help addressing shortcomings in the organisational culture and structure. Transformational change can happen, but not when you are constantly fire-fighting. It requires visionary leadership and the right employee mindset, which CXB HUB support through coaching and strategic solutions. For more information on our programs please visit https://www.cxbhub.com/

CXB Hub Lunch Debates Alexis & Claire organise regular lunch debates with up to 15 like-minded CX-leaders to talk trends, innovations and successful CX stories. The latest was about making a product or a service into a life experience. The renaissance of cinema is a good example of this trend: it has become the destination for an evening out, a viewing experience you can’t create at home. ODEON’s The Lounge has gone even further with its programme of FINE FOOD AND FILM. Care to join the next lunch? Contact us on alexis.grabar@cxbhub.com

TRANSFORMATION FEATURE

ENGAGING AUDIENCES THROUGH HAPPINESS Inspiration for change can come from the unlikeliest of places. Just ask Julia Barbosa, Special Project Lead at Save the Children

“That made me think that there is actually something about happiness at work, where ever it is, which is important and powerful. “And then as I travelled around the world I found more examples of people making their customer’s happy through their own unique and engaging ways.”

Overcoming Adversity Next up was a trip to Robben Island in South Africa, a notorious prison that was the “home” of Nelson Mandela for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. Julia was escorted around the jail by a cheerful and good-humoured individual. Inappropriate, considering the surroundings? Not so, as the tour guide was actually a former prisoner on the Island.

Last year Save the Children’s Julia took a six-month sabbatical from her day-today role in order to travel the world. Ostensibly this sojourn was to forget about work and have a well-earned rest.

owever several encounters with people from all over the globe meant that she returned to the UK with a new strategy for Save the Children’s engagement with supporters. Julia explains: “Businesses are always trying to find new ways to engage their customers, be it through more effective marketing campaigns or innovative products. But I actually found that engagement is present in the most unusual places. “There were three main characters that struck a real chord with me and informed the notion you can engage audiences through happiness. “The very first place I visited was Bangalore in India and that is where I came across a tuk-tuk driver who took such incredible pride in his vehicle. He had decorated it beautifully; there was water for passengers, and a screen if you wanted to have a private conversation in the back. Just generally he was committed to making his customers as happy as possible.

The very first place I visited was Bangalore in India and that is where I came across a tuk-tuk driver who took such incredible pride in his vehicle

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“That was really fascinating because I didn’t realise that the tour guides were actually ex-prisoners,” recalls Julia. “Now, this is a place where pretty grim things happened and the prisoners experienced a lot of pain and suffering. But the guides were so happy, joking and in such great form. Their happiness again really engaged with me. It made my time there special.” The final experience that helped Julia feel certain in her own mind that happiness can be a powerful tool for customer engagement occurred in Kyoto, Japan. “I was at a Buddhist temple to take part in some meditation and came across a monk who had an incredible way of communicating with people,” says Julia. “Obviously he was interested in the things he liked and knew, but he was also keen to speak to us about things that we liked. He was chatting to us about data and artificial intelligence, things like that. He had teenagers, American high school kids in the audience and he really spoke to us in a powerful and happy way.”

differently or outside the box. All these various experiences I’ve spoken about have had an influence on our communications strategy. “We work with children who are often in very difficult situations. We are an emergency response organisation so by definition the circumstances we sometimes encounter are traumatic. “But we also do a lot of work around helping children reach their potential. That’s a very positive message about happiness. We also unite families, which is again a happy story. Our reason for being is to solve the problem, not just to highlight it. What we can do is focus much more on the great impact of what we do. “For example - a child known to us had many surgical operations over several years but now he is recovered and living a great life thanks to the work we do. That’s a happy and powerful message.” Expressing these happy stories also gets round the barrier to many charitable activities – that fear that giving to charity doesn’t really change anything. By hearing these stories people feel they are part of helping to alter, for the better, children’s lives.

Learning The Lessons So with those encounters under her belt, Julia returned to the UK planning to devise a new communications strategy for Save the Children. With “happiness” at the core, she helped the charity undergo a shift in how it engaged with its supporters. She explains: “I work in innovation and am always interested in thinking

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I was at a Buddhist temple to do some meditation and came across a monk who had an incredible way of communicating with people

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How To Do It So what are the key messages that Julia can share when speaking to an audience? “First of all, tell a good story. Storytelling is at the heart of human connection, and people are more likely to remember a story than just a fact. Use real life examples and share your experience. “Secondly ask questions. People want to share their own experiences. Give space for people to tell their stories to deepen that connection. “Next, create special moments. You can create magic anywhere. It’s not about creating huge moments; what matters most is creating a little sparkle in someone’s day. “And finally be curious. Learn about your audience and understand their interests. This way you can increase your relevance.”

Tangible Results The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Has there been quantifiable improvements in customer engagement since these changes were introduced? Julia says, it’s a resounding, “yes”. “There has definitely been a shift. Our supporters are responding to the new strategy. Our telemarketing, for example is more successful, our campaigns are cutting through more. It’s good for business!” she adds. “We focus more and more on our supporters, really getting a handle on what they want to talk about. Our communications are very tailored to the audience. We make sure we are telling the very best stories and they are hearing about things they care about – not just what we want to get across. “I guess the message is, happiness is efficient and infectious and undoubtedly is a powerful way to engage audiences.”

TRANSFORMATION COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Can Customer Experience Drive Transformational Change? We’re overwhelmed with stories of big businesses that failed to transform to meet changing market expectations and disappeared almost overnight.

o one wants to be the next cautionary tale and increasingly, customer experience (CX) is being viewed as an answer. CX is now well established as a critical battleground, providing a highly effective catalyst and measurement for change. There’s a problem, though. Many reports suggest that CX is failing to live up to the hype. Too few companies can link CX with financial results. This makes it harder to gain support from the C-suite, set the right goals and secure the desired improvements and culture change.

Make the case There are three ways in which CX can have a transformational impact on an organisation: 1. Revenue increase 2. Cost reduction 3. Culture change The first two undisputable. You need to help people understand that adapting their behaviour will enable them to hit their targets and achieve longer-term success. It is only through the change of behaviour at an individual level and on a daily basis that you can deliver long term, company-wide culture change.

Make it happen To deliver business value you need to bring people and processes together. There are four areas to consider that will enable you to build a programme that drives the right type of change, impacting the bottom line and changing the culture of your company. 1) Vision Most CX programmes have a vision. The problem is that they’re often too fluffy so very little actually happens. An effective vision needs to be tangible and should be based on a solid plan. One leading bank conducted research that proved being number one for NPS in their industry, within their specific geography, would provide significant financial benefit. They did it. 2) Design Listen to the right people – customers, employees, the market and stakeholders

– using the right channels and the right touchpoints. Once these ‘voices’ are integrated with other business data, you begin to understand the action you need to take. This sounds simple, but it is an area where many programmes struggle, usually for one of two reasons: 1) Too much listening, not enough action: Finding out your NPS score because you’re interested, is NOT enough. There has to be a process to deal with the feedback that you receive. Watching the needle on that dial won’t move it, action will. 2) Not learning lessons from the past: This is the biggest mistake. Start small, make the necessary tweaks, then roll out to additional touchpoints when you know your closed-loop activity is working. Develop a framework on which you can build your programme. For example, a library of questions enables you ensure consistency across all touchpoints, so you can prioritise actions and deliver immediate results. 3) Engagement Engaging employees with your CX programme is critical. You need to find simple ways to show peoplehow to do the right thing - and make it rewarding. The less prescriptive you are on what the “right thing” is, the better. For example, a motor manufacturer replaced its huge customer manual with a simple approach of treating customers as guests in employees’ homes. It worked. 4) Action What prevents action? 1) Analysis paralysis. Too much data. It’s vital to use concise, tailored reports that put insights at stakeholders’ fingertips. 2) Failure to share. You can’t keep a CX programme within your team. Effective CX puts insight into the hands of individuals, providing the power to drive change. 3) Loss of focus. This is common in long-standing programmes. Keep going back to that financial data, proving the value and success of the programme time and time again.

CX has the power to transform businesses, as long as leaders do not become a bottleneck. Their role is to put in place the right insights and measurement framework and get out of the way - allowing teams to get on and do the right thing. Change may start small and build incrementally. If this is true change, it will stick and deliver significant business advantage to your organisation. This will give you an engaged team that will be able to continue the transformational journey.

To deliver business value you need to bring people and processes together

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About Claire Sporton Claire Sporton is Senior Vice President, CX Innovation at Confirmit. Claire has a passion for building truly customer-centric cultures that inspire change and deliver measurable business improvement. In her role, she focuses on driving forward the discipline of CX Management and ensuring that Confirmit provides the technology and expertise that organisations need to empower and inspire everyone across the organisation to do the right thing. With a background in Psychology and Systemic Management, Claire has over 20 years’ experience as a consultant and CX practitioner, leading companies to empower everyone to be accountable for improvement, motivate individuals to work differently and predict and monitor real business impact.

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TRANSFORMATION FOCUS ON

INCREASING RETENTION TO RECORD RATES News UK’s Peter Evia-Rhodes explains how using customer behavior and data science in marketing helped turn around The Times’ fortunes Cast your mind back to 2010 when The Times announced that it would put its online “paper” behind a paywall. The general reaction to this news was, shall, we say lukewarm.

ecause much of web content is free, and consumers have that expectation, many commentators said it couldn’t and wouldn’t work. Co-founder of Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales reportedly called it "a foolish experiment.” Eight years on, The Times and the Sunday Times have reached 500,000 subscribers (June 2018), with digitalonly subscriptions overtaking print for the first time, up 20% from the previous year to 255,000. It also boasts a product that is the envy of rival publishers. But proving the nay-sayers wrong hasn’t been all plain sailing. Initially, numbers weren’t good as Peter Evia-Rhodes, Head of Engagement, Operations and Retention explains. “The thoughts across the industry were that a paywall were ludicrous, they simply won’t work,” recalls Peter. But Chris Duncan (currently managing director of The Times and The Sunday

Times) drove the change in News UK and across the industry. He stuck to his guns and went for it. “In all honesty, the first six months were nowhere near what they had expected or hoped. The retention rates were chunky and there were a lot of oneoff visits. There was then a recognition in the business that there was some serious work to be done.”

Science works That work involved the use of data science to find out how consumers consume. With News UK investment in this area, customer’s habits, wants and needs were logged through tagging. The Times could now start “peering out of the darkness” as Peter puts it. “A good example of a group of consumers we identified were what we called ‘morning briefers,’ the people who just want to get up to speed first thing in the morning. They need content that is

readily available for them and very, very relevant. We call it ‘Personalised OnBoarding.’ – tailoring the reading experience to the individual’s needs and wants,” he says. “For example, if we know a customer comes in on a football article, we then know what they read and then their welcome can be personalised to them. They can receive tragetted bulletins and be offered engaging content relevant to them. “But while we give you content that we think you will like, we are not an echo chamber. We are very good at saying: ‘People like you also like reading this. Why not try it? Broaden your horizons with these different articles and journalists.’ “Two big stats that go through my mind. To create a new habit takes 21 days and the reward of a new habit has to be seven times that of your current habit. The goal is to on-board people by adding that wow factor initially and starting to help them on the right path. “If you entice and engage. The battle isn’t won but you’ve given yourself the opportunity to keep that customer.”

Readers as advocates Clearly the goal with using data science as part of the marketing function is to retain sales and reduce churn. However, it also helps provide a much more satisfying experience for users who have no intention of leaving News UK’s subscription base. Peter explains: “We are the third most expensive news provider in the world. We are in a market where the BBC is obviously free of charge and is a world leader in factual news. Our main competitors have various premium models so we know we had to differentiate ourselves with product, capability and service. “One of the things I always say is that we want to provide world class service. If you do that, you create advocates and loyalists. If you get a conversation that goes with someone saying: ‘Look, have

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TRANSFORMATION

you seen The Times?’ ‘Yes, but it’s just news.’ ‘No, it’s much more than that! It cuts through the noise, it keeps you well informed, it gives you exactly what I need every single day.’ That kind of interaction is incredibly powerful.” Of course, tailoring content to a consumer’s habits is a fabulous tool but you have to have the content to back it up. Fortunately The Times is lucky to have some of the biggest names in modern journalism on board. Caitlin Moran, Henry Winter, Matthew Parris and Rachel Sylvester are just a few of the names that give Times subscribers the very best and authoritative editorial on which to rely.

Riches in rewards Another “differentiator” to its rivals is the use of rewards. Times+ will celebrate its tenth birthday in September and subscribers over the years have received exclusive tickets to events up an down the country (An Evening With Michael Caine, being just one example), special offers, free ebooks and the like. All as a reward to being part of this exclusive club. Peter says: “I come from a world where you can chase sales but if you don’t have a home for them to live in, then you are just in this hamster wheel. Over the last four years trying to change that cycle and I think we’ve done that.

“We reward tenure, longevity, payment with access to Times+ events. The Michael Caine event was a great example as we just cherry picked the subscribers that showed all the great behaviours. This also points to other subscribers that these events are accessible to you too, if you engage more with us.” The Times is currently working with the Belgian company twine who are pioneers in Europe for having personalised engagement journeys to give curated content. A concept called James the Butler – a journey automated machine for higher engagement through self-learning – is currently in the process of testing with subscribers. So Peter and his team are never standing still and The Times’ future seems rosy. “We have the best retention rate we have ever had and the best growth rate since 2010,” says Peter. “We are profitable which is fantastic in the industry in which we sit. And we are rowing internationally. “Corporates are also seeing the Times has being a right fit for their rewards programmes. We are working with some FTSE 100 companies and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are on board. “All in all we are heading in the right direction and we are working on new projects right now which should make the next few years very exciting indeed.”

We reward tenure, longevity, payment with access to Times+ events. The Michael Caine event was a great example as we just cherry picked the subscribers that showed all the great behaviours

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COMMERCIAL FEATURE

The pace of change has exceeded the rate of human capability to absorb, enterprises are struggling Although all embracing, the term digital has expanded to include, block chain, artificial intelligence and machine learning amongst others including the increasingly pervasive adoption of the Internet of things (IoT). Automation, and voice-enabled technology are becoming the new norm, consumers are increasingly expecting this when engaging with businesses.

e, here at Synergy Organisational Solutions, believe that innovation in technology is setting the pace and dictating consumer behaviour and expectations. Innovation brings opportunities, but to Customer care professionals already dealing with increasing levels of complexity, this presents a real challenge. Building a digital technology infrastructure centred around the customer is relatively easy. The challenge is operationalizing data-driven decision-making that impacts business health and creating an infrastructure that simplifies customer access, rather than delivering a “bolt on” of solutions with “sticking plasters”, hoping this will satisfy the digital Customer agenda. With the increasing focus on using advances in

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technology to deliver smart cars, smart cities, smart homes, the question is, what’s next? We would like to introduce smart Customer care. We have seen many companies struggling to achieve the goal of “smart Customer care” in its true sense, omni channel, automated solutions using cutting edge technology. Companies are struggling to rebuild their digital Customer care capabilities without the needed clarity, talent and impeded by dated legacy systems. This year, enterprises are expected to invest $1.3 trillion (USD) in digital transformation initiatives to apply digital capabilities, improve efficiencies and increase customer value. Research tells us that 70% of these initiatives will fail. In a highly competitive market and consumers with low tolerance thresholds for poor service. Is this a risk that Customer care leaders want to take?

About Synergy Organisational Solutions Synergy Organisational Solutions are a specialist Digital Customer Care outsource provider as well as contact centre management consultants. With insight and innovation, we are focused on helping companies make change and evolution as easy and painless as possible. We specialise in Customer Care solutions, from advice to strategy through to training and delivery of managed services, using smart working practices and partnerships with leading technology providers. Synergy are an owner managed business providing a very personal and flexible service to our clients and their customers. Olu Orugboh is the CEO and Founder of Synergy Organisational Solutions Ltd T: 01733 345 900 E: o.asikhia@synergyorganisation.com www.synergyorganisation.com

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TRANSFORMATION VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

Customer Engagement Transformation Conference – report from the plenary chair Martin Hill-Wilson, founder of Brainfood Consulting, and chair of the morning plenary session and presentations in Hall I at our case-study driven Customer Engagement Transformation Conference gives his take on some of the highlights

nother conference in the bag. The topic was the transformation of customer engagement. This one seemed to not only satisfy but also delight. Clearly organisations are starting to do a great job. As usual, it was my pleasure to co-chair the event. I focussed on the plenary sessions and Hall 1. This is what went down.

Andy Bryan from Henley Business School offered us a handy definition of the conference topic in his opening keynote to get things started.

Customer Engagement is an interaction between an individual and an organisation or brand. Experience can be passive but engagement is active and bi-lateral

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He went on to focus on our inherent aversion to making decisions as consumers (‘cognitive misers’) with retail studies showing fewer choices can drive greater revenues. This often quoted insight does make me wonder though why Amazon then manages to do so well with the largest online inventory of all! Next up was the wonderful Jyllene Miller, SVP of Marketing and Client Engagement Strategy at Concentrix. She had a simple tale to tell. If you don’t listen to what your customers are saying, you have a short future in today’s world. Her featured client was in high street fashion. The engagement channel was social. The complaints were legion across many categories. Concentrix helped them listen, act and improve. And guess what? Negative sentiment was halved, customer service responsiveness improved massively. Lesson? Even the laggards are learning!

The power of analytics The Wall Street Journal began in 1935. Since then they have grown at around 30%, plus or minus the occasional plateau. However, growth since 2017 has a different trajectory. Positively turbo charged in fact. The secret according to Steve Grycuk Chief Experience Officer and Nick Varney VP Customer Value and Engagement. lies in their growing competency in personalised campaigns and content and the killer combination of offers that generates effective engagement. It’s all down to getting their data in shape and learning the power of predictive analytics. This is a lesson the rest of us need to learn fast or risk being left behind. Rounding off the plenary session was Gerry Brown, Chief Customer Rescue Officer from Customer Lifeguard and he is fierce. That is, he is more than willing to call out brands that refuse to do the right thing for their customers. Lots of brands were rightly roasted in the 20 minutes Gerry had. I’m guessing he could easily fill a day. He also shared the path to recovery based on sound principles. Anyone looking for a lifeguard to save the day now knows who to ring.

Betting the bank Next up was Andrew Richards from Metro Bank which on reflection is clear testament to being brave. The brand describes itself as “capitalised as a full service retail and commercial bank”. In other words, against the rising tide of digital only financial services, Metro is literally betting the bank on the enduring appeal of face to face engagement. They trounce the competition with an NPS of 82 so they seem to be hitting home. But to be clear they are building that success on choice and availability. Face to face, contact centre, mobile app, mobile banking. They have high ambitions. Fans not customer is their motto. They act differently from the rest. They see themselves as retailers not bankers. They go against the grain – it’s free pens rather than those famously chained pens

of old. They nurture genuinely empowered staff who can easily call out and get changed any of the ‘dumb stuff’. Steve Kato-Spyrou is a UX Manager from John Lewis. He has an excellent, subversive manner while delivering leading edge service design gems. The topic was gifting and whether JL customers would appreciate ready-made solutions for their busy lives. Some of the conclusions were rightly shielded for commercial sensitivity. But the process was clearly explained. I loved it and can’t imagine how an organisation can afford to not have such skills at hand. If you desire innovation and ‘better than average’ CX, then this is the route to take. Keep a look out for Steve’s next assignment. I’m already hooked.

Force of nature Sally Earnshaw, managing director at Blue Sky Performance Improvement is a force of nature and runs Blue Sky. She breathes her brand. We were treated to a precise pep talk about how to max human talent. It’s tough selling the people message when the big cheeses only want to hear that technology makes the difference. Of course they have all boarded the digital disruption train and think success just needs some smart APIs and nerds who know neural nets. But when things go wrong, it’s always a story about people and the decisions they made. I do hope when female CEOs arrive in force, the mindset shifts. We shall see. Until then, Sally remains a very accomplished advocate of people power. I’ll round things up by saying that I took a turn on stage and wondered what type of person we will need in customer engagement once all the AI driven self service has kicked in. The day was then brought to a close with the perceptive insights of Sarah Metcalfe who has brought to life an excellent culture over at Sure Petcare. She really gets the employee-customer engagement connection and proved it is perfectly achievable when the leadership team is tuned into the right things. That’s it. Thanks for reading. See you in November at the flagship Customer Engagement Summit

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People Power Is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tangibility biasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; blinding your CEO? Imagine this... Your CEO is being pitched a new piece of enterprisewide software. According to your Operations Director, this software is responsible for the service and sales results of every one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bestin-class companies, from Waitrose to Zappos. The technology is copyright-free and open source; the more you use it, the better it works. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not only guaranteed to skyrocket your customer VDWLVIDFWLRQ DQG VDOHV Č´JXUHV LWČ&#x2021;V SURYHQ WR KDYH D SURIRXQG HÎ?HFW RQ LQWHUQDO UHWHQWLRQ OR\DOW\ DQG HÉ?FLHQF\ WRR

This tangibility bias is a phenomenon n weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen crop up time and again in organisatio ons of all sizes and sectors over the years. Whe en you look at organisational strategy today, 90% off it seems to be based on getting technology to do th he work â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AI, Big Data, all of those brilliant things that in the future are going to help with channel shift and personalisation. But we need to be wary of leaving be ehind the people element. Fundamentally, we are still going to require people to deliver customer service; Ittâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not all about tech.

If the OD had the data to back up her claims, your CEO would be insane not to invest. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exactly what happens in boardrooms across the UK every day, because the technology weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking about here isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t computer code, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human conversation. However, because this approach concerns people rather than ones and zeros, the art and science of good conversation is falling further and further down leadersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; priority lists.

People have conversations; conversa ations create climate; climate is what determines the t success of your custo omer experience. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;magic technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that world d-class service organisations use to stay ahead d of their competitors, year after year. Change co omes from having hundreds of human conversations, at every level of the organisation, every day,, one at a time.

Why? In November 2016, the recruitment and consultancy giant Korn FerryÂš interviewed 800 CEOs of multimillion and multibillion-dollar global organisations on their views concerning the future RI ZRUN FODLPHG WKDW LQ Č´YH \HDUV WHFKQRORJ\ ZRXOG EH WKHLU Č´UPČ&#x2021;V JUHDWHVW VRXUFH RI FRPSHWLWLYH advantage. 67% said that technology would create greater value in the future than people. 44% said that the prevalence of robotics, automation and DUWLČ´FLDO LQWHOOLJHQFH ZRXOG PDNH SHRSOH Č&#x160;ODUJHO\ irrelevantâ&#x20AC;? over the coming decade.

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TRANSFORMATION VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

Customer Engagement Transformation Conference – chair’s report from Hall 2 Nick Brice, Team Brighton Lead at AMEX Community Stadium, and chair of proceedings in Hall 2 at our case-study driven Customer Engagement Transformation Conference gives his take on some of the highlights

all 2 was a really great place to be at the Customer Engagement Transformation Conference. After some sparkling keynotes in the plenum session, we explored some of the innovative things happening in Financial Services and B2B and how people are enabling experience creators Holly Devonold from Liverpool Victoria shared how LV puts people at the heart of what they do. A keen focus on simplifying things and helping people focus on key priorities and aiming to “being the best loved – our people, our customers, our business.” Strategies for creating “an even better place to work” such as homeworking, have seen the company drive down sickness rates and increase both engagement scores and Voice of the Customer scores Martin Taylor from Content Guru showed us just how the contact centre platform storm® can play a role in delivering outstanding experiences – on both the good days, and the bad days! With modern businesses now needing to engage customers 24/7/365 the right platform is essential to create and sustain a vibrant CX driven business.

Metaphor of a bicycle Rounding off the morning was Claire Sporton of Confirmit. Using a simple and effective metaphor of a bicycle, racing across the ground, through puddles with ease at speed with wind in your hair…just a moment, I’m there now. Now I’m back. What a truely beautiful image for how we want our CX programme to run. After a break we explored some key challenges and solutions around Technology and Customer Engagement. Starting with Mark Harrison, ex-General Manager of Shell, he talked the task of developing business-winning CX in a situation where less than 2% of customer facing staff worked for Shell. Mark highlights the need to consider and engage all key stakeholders and take both the “inside out” approach as well as “outside in” – designing both the customer and company experiences.

The empowered customer Next, we heard from Mark Grainger of

Engage Hub with his take on how the empowered customer will seek out and pay for premium experiences (Amazon, You Tube, Netflix etc). He told the story of how Netflix reinvented their business through the CX, in particular in the use of video streaming technology as it emerged. Orinta Gaucyte from tails.com demonstrated the power of meeting a gap in the market – in this case tailored nutrition for dogs. tails.com are delivering over 4 million meals a month, with online nutritional consultations online to launch a customer journey backed up by customer service organisation high on empowerment for people to change things. This strategy, coupled with powerful data and feedback, drives an NPS score of 71. Orinta’s bottom-line: “Customer Loyalty” is dead, long live “Customer Preference”. As we moved into the issues concerning Retail and Logistics, one of my favourite eateries came next. Leon, with former MD John Upton speaking about what’s worked for him over 20 years in Customer Engagement Transformation with the likes of Mother Clucker, Naked Deli, McDonald’s and dishq amongst others? The core for John is a clear customer purpose i.e. “to make it easier for…”, “to be the best in the world at helping people…” backed up by a clear philosophy that is a) Realistic – honest about what people think, b) Relevant – fully in tune with what people want and c) Relentlessly - delivered in the day to day.

The startling cx gap Arkin Salah of NKD started with a startling statistic – 80% of CEO’s believe their organisation delivers a superior CX – but, only 8% of their customers agree. He shared with us the DHL Global Forwarding strategy to get their people feeling personally responsible for the customer experience, for nurturing the relationship and identifying opportunities for new and better services. Arkin showed us how their CX programme “The Great Expedition” focused on transformation across 150 countries and 850 branches. Sarah Davies, from Oliver Bonas, got

us thinking about real accountability for service with the question – “How would you feel if your customer agent was saying that to your granny?” Remembering that we are people serving people after all, in all the digital noise in which we live, Sarah reminded us of the level we need to achieve in CX – in sharing a Bain survey that revealed that 60-80% of customers who say they are satisfied nevertheless, do not then go back to the same company. Toby Poulsom, former Digitalisation Manager at Hager gave two of our delegates a live demonstration of how to uncover valuable insights about what customers value by examining the language they use and the choices they make about what they say they value. Ross Lane and Depesh Nathwani of DOTS spoke about the need to create workplaces where people want to contribute and the need for ensuring relevant content is delivered to customers. Richard Spencer of Promoderation explained how trust in charities is generally going on a downward curve – primarily because of newspaper reporting. He spoke of the need to develop one, single, clear measure, the right measure – simple to understand, with a robust method behind it to inform CX priorities.

Data science and machine learning After more coffee and networking, Peter Evia-Rhodes of News UK shared some thoughts about how he has been using data science and machine learning to study customer behaviour and drive better customer retention and loyalty. Wil Lynch of consultancy Thunderhead introduced us to the notion of engaging customers in “fruitful dialogue” – by really connecting with the customer’s context and intent to have the “right” conversation and make it effortless. Rounding off an excellent day we heard from Liam Page of Whirlpool, showing us how many of the innovative approaches that we have shared in the day that work in retail, financial services etc can also work in a manufacturing business where Liam and his team have achieved some massive gains in operational efficiency by mining and using data, developing many more first-time fixes when things go wrong, as well as driving up customer loyalty and commercial value.

AUGUST 2018

TRANSFORMATION COMMERCIAL FEATURE

The New Rules of Customer Experience Most organisations are facing the same familiar challenges of how to respond quickly and to advance their Customer Experience (CX) strategies. It is apparent that there is a gap growing between those organisations that are committing to developing their CX capabilities and those that are not.

n inability to properly integrate and connect customer journeys is often leading to disjointed experiences. Unfortunately for the contact centre, the phone interactions that are left behind are becoming increasingly susceptible to a new phenomenon where conversational context and issue ownership have much greater prominence for consumers. It is also evident that the pioneers in CX are re-imagining business models, simplifying through re-architecting processes and are changing consumer behaviour forever through the pursuit of personalisation. Over the last year we have seen five CX themes begin to emerge across our client portfolio. • Learning through data and understanding - there is and has often been a conflict between traditional contact centre, data warehousing and analytics systems. These applications are frequently silo-based with hidden boundaries that inhibit the organisation from expanding the view of the consumer. We see trends emerging in new and richer sources of learning like voice biometrics and customer identification. We are also beginning to see tangible insights provided by machine learning that are focused on high-friction dataintensive customer journeys against which we can then make predictions to improve the customer outcome. • Effectively connecting channels - allowing customers to begin, pause and resume their journey is relatively straightforward in a single or dual channel environment and the contact centre has evolved over the past decade to meet this demand. We are now seeing the need to move away from multi-channel services where customers typically engage in a single channel to one where they engage in multiple channels simultaneously. This new concept has been described

AUGUST 2018

as ‘multi-modal’ service and is where the experience is no longer defined by the experience provided in one channel but in creating a combination of channels which are most appropriate to delivering the best customer outcome in a given context. • Managing the migration to bots and messaging - the most common types of automation projects are replacing basic administrative processes using robotic process automation (RPA). The primary objective of these projects is to

that they have the right tools and accessible technologies. We are also seeing early deployments of conversational artificial intelligence where a chat-bot can propose scenarios to the agent to support the customer outcome. • The development of visual services - with greater levels of consumer connectivity and improved usability of Home Assistants and Internet of Things we are seeing increasing interest in the use of ‘visual services’. This interest whilst not large scale could see more rapid adoption as the quality of

As consumer interactions begin to expand across a growing spread of channels we are seeing the rise in the requirement for multichannel and multi-skilled frontline support

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improve CX and not to reduce costs as most organisations have already moved these task-based activities to the lowest cost locations. Alongside these projects we are also seeing an increase in the engagement of consumers through natural language processing primarily through chatbots and virtual agents which are becoming more readily accepted. We believe that bots and messaging can augment the consumer and agent experience through the design and configuration of customer journeys. • The rise of the knowledge worker - as consumer interactions begin to expand across a growing spread of channels we are seeing the rise in the requirement for multi-channel and multi-skilled frontline support. Whether handling an assisted service like e-mail or chat alongside voice or handling different transaction types like sales, service or technical or a combination of both. A multidimensional frontline agent needs to be supported with the right reward and oversight together with ensuring

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connectivity improves. Amongst some of the early pilot initiatives are augmentation where consumers can test make-up, hair colouring and clothing to support sales; visual content moderation in social channels; and operating sales, service and technical support from a virtual store. We also see the benefits that could be developed from using visual bots to aid search and service support. gobeyond are a practioner led Digital and Transformation solutions service provider. We advise, design, test and deliver end-toend services across all elements of Customer Experience Management. We support clients with CX Strategy, Journey Design, Service Improvement, Multi-channel Operations, Digital Solutions, and Artificial Intelligence. We have a unique and differentiated capability to explore all aspects of change through our Model Office and Lab environments. We are always keen to be able to share experiences and to take-on additional perspectives. For further information www.gobeyond.uk.com

TRANSFORMATION 10 MINS WITH

10 QUICK QUESTIONS! THIS TIME: Richard Spencer, Director of Promoderation, is in the hot chair What is your industry and how long have you been involved?

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I’ve been in the charity sector for around 15 years and probably became really interested into looking into customer experience about ten years ago. I worked at the RSPB during a period when the organisation really needed to get to know its supporters better and for them to know the RSPB better. My time there really fired me up to step out and help other charities to do more with less. I’ve been the Director of Promoderation doing exactly that for the last four years.

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry? The erosion of public trust and confidence. You always see stories in the media framing charities as money-grabbing and manipulative. In fact, what they do is jawdroppingly humbling.

How much has the industry changed? As I say, the media have sold this story that charities are not to be trusted. Sometimes charities will make a slip and it is always seized upon, and then all charities are considered disreputable.

What are you working on at the moment? It’s something called The Chase Index which gives a really simple benchmark of customer loyalty. I believe this will help charities engage more effectively with their supporters.

How do you hope the future will pan out?

How have customers changed?

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They are much less trustful of charities. Reading stories in the press have reinforced that notion. For example, in May 2015 it was reported that a pensioner called Olive Cook tragically took her own life because she was being pestered by charities. Her family said that wasn’t true but the public still believed it could’ve happened. That became the narrative.

What has been your biggest success? Launching the Chase Index and taking the first steps to helping charities deliver amazing experiences for their supporters!

What has been your biggest disappointment? That the good work that charities do is frustratingly overshadowed by a few isolated slips one or two have made. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we heard more about the amazing stories that charities are responsible for?

What gets you up and out of bed in the morning? My dogs – figuratively and literally!

Any advice on how to increase engagement? Yes. Have a look at the Chase Index! Measuring loyalty, and acting on that insight is incredibly important for charities.

My mission is for all charities measure loyalty and take actions to improve it.

Richard Spencer, Director, Promederation

AUGUST 2018

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EBM Live Events INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE

ENGAGE FOCUS GROUPS

20 SEPTEMBER 2018 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

28 NOVEMBER 2018 I HILTON LONDON HEATHROW

This Conference will take an in depth look at the fast changing world of internal communications and how it is increasingly taking on the critical employee engagement role that has too often been neglected by those in HR.

Our exclusive Engage Focus groups allow senior individuals working in customer and employee engagement to come together and voice their thoughts and share experiences across a wide range of topics.

EVOLUTION OF WORK CONFERENCE

FUTURE OF THE CONTACT CENTRE CONFERENCE

20 SEPTEMBER 2018 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

13 FEBRUARY 2019 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

Technology is having a profound impact on the way we work and also our expectations of what work has to offer – and new technologies impacting on our working environment, such as Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, are constantly evolving.

With the contact centre space providing a significant, growing opportunity for customer experience, it is these touch points that provide a powerful tool to transform the success of a brand in today’s digital world where customers expect responses 24x7x365.

FUTURE OF MARKETING CONFERENCE

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SUMMIT 2019

01 OCTOBER 2018 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

10 MAY 2019 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

The role of marketing within the organisation is evolving rapidly, with the relentless advance of new technologies presenting fresh opportunities as well as fresh challenges. As marketers grapple with these changes and the opportunities presented to them by the digital economy to reach new audiences, their market and brand strategies must adjust accordingly.

The Summit is the premier event of its kind in Europe and is back and bigger than ever for 2019, being held on 10th May in Central London. With research showing that organisations are facing a radically shifting context for the workforce, the workplace, and the world of work, the employee engagement team are faced with a number of converging issues.

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT SUMMIT 2018

CX MARKETING SUMMIT 2019

12 & 13 NOV 2018 I WESTMINSTER PARK PLAZA, LONDON

13 JUNE 2019 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

Our seventh flagship Customer Engagement Summit is back, and the big news this year is that the Summit is now a two day event for the first time ever, meaning that you get to enjoy more world-class content than ever before. The overarching theme of this year’s case-study led CPD accredited Summit relates to our people, and how coupling the potential of our workforce with new technology can lead to competitive gain. Delegates will hear from 90+ speakers during the course of the two days, and we’ll be covering the latest, hottest topics in the industry.

Our case study and high level networking driven CX Marketing Summit will examine in detail the key issues, challenges and opportunities facing the marketing community against a background of rapid advances in technologies – from Advanced Analytics and Biometrics through to Virtual and Augmented Reality, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. These constantly evolving technologies are allowing organisations to take an increasingly holistic view of their customers across the enterprise while at the same time facilitating the delivery personalised offerings and cocreation opportunities to further enhance the CX.

ENGAGE AWARDS 2018

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT TRANSFORMATION CONFERENCE

12 NOV 2018 I WESTMINSTER PARK PLAZA, LONDON

11 JULY 2019 I VICTORIA PARK PLAZA, LONDON

The 2018 Engage Awards provide more opportunities than ever for organisations and individuals to showcase their achievements. The addition of exclusive new categories comes as we continue to shine a light on organisational excellence and also recognise individuals who have accomplished significant achievements.

With the digital revolution in full swing, it’s imperative that organisations start to consider their customers’ needs in order to meet changing expectations. Customer demands are increasing rapidly, and the technology available to improve customer experience is advancing in front of our eyes.

For more information please contact us at: tickets@ebm.media or 01932 EngageCustomer.com

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