CX Pulse Podcast | Insights on Customer Experience, AI, WFM, Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction & Contact Centers

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Nate Brown, Senior Director of CX at Arise and Co-Founder of CX Accelerator. During this conversation, Nate and Amelia discuss:

- Nate’s accidental journey into customer support.

- The challenges faced by CX professionals today.

- The art and the science of CX work.

- The power of the voice-of-the-customer engine for driving customer experience.

- How CX leaders can remove friction in the workplace to improve results.

- The importance of a “team of one” mentality in leadership.

- The direct benefit to the customer after eliminating internal friction.

- Developing a mission-driven customer experience.

- Social media marketing and how it creates your company identity.

- What the future holds for CX professionals.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com.


 

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Jon Arnold, Principal at J Arnold and Associates, for his third appearance on the podcast. During this conversation, Rick and Amelia discuss:

- Jon’s experience in both contact center operations and unified communications. 

- The ease with which digital technology can be manipulated.

- The importance of proactively looking out for fraud at a contact center in order to identify it.

- Using AI to detect fraud by flagging callers using a script.

- How robocalls are used to commit fraud.

- The ways we can learn from fraud to prevent future attacks.

- How common sense training can prepare new agents to detect fraudulent calls.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com.

#CXO #CX #ContactCenter #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Colin Shaw, Founder & CEO at Beyond Philosophy LLC. During this conversation, Colin and Amelia discuss:

- The evolution of customer experience as it moves toward customer science.

- Understanding the importance of looking at the customer through the lens of human behavior.

- The current CX trend of merging the three spheres of data, AI and behavioral science.

- The ways companies are building their customer experience AI platforms on fundamentally flawed data.

- How a proactive experience is important to developing the right AI process.

- Using data showing what customers do as much or more than what they say in your AI tools.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com.



#CXO #CX #ContactCenter #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Irit Eizips, Chief Customer Officer and CEO at CSM Practice, a customer success consulting firm offering services to increase your net retention, improve your customer satisfaction, and grow your advocacy base. During this conversation, Irit and Amelia discuss:
 

- The differences between customer success and customer experience.

- The importance of customers getting their desired business outcomes through the CX process.

- Measuring customer success results with net retention rate.

- The evolution of CX from being churn fighters to adding value.

- The difference between a success plan and an account plan.

- Assessing your CX efforts against best practices for customer success.

- Mistakes CX leaders make with their frameworks and methodologies.

- Investing in technology in a scalable way.

- The three-year plan for shifting from customer experience to customer success.

Irit Eizips - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eizips/

CSM Practice - https://www.linkedin.com/company/csm-practice/

 

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to 

nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Sean Ilenrey, Vice President, Support at Dutchie, the leading technology partner for cannabis retailers of all sizes. Dutchie offers solutions covering point of sale, payments, e-commerce, insurance and more. He is also a Professional Speaker and Coach. During this conversation, Sean and Amelia discuss:

 

- Workforce management, skill optimization, forecasting and scheduling.

- Optimizing the contact center to do more with less while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.

- The need for omnichannel employees with multiple skills.

- The importance of coaching and leadership in teaching employees new skills.

- Improving information accuracy with technology.

- Ways in which giving agents flexibility over their schedules can empower them.

- Recognizing and praising top performers instead of weeding out bottom performers.

- The three keys to a successful work-from-home environment: transparency, visibility and ownership.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions.


 

#CXO #CX #ContactCenter #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Dave Michels, Lead Analyst at TalkingPointz and UC Expert at UCStrategies. During this conversation, Dave and Amelia discuss:

- The relevance of AI in the contact center.

- Increasing customer satisfaction with AI for self-service.

- Our rising trust level of AI.

- Good vs. exceptional AI and invisible technology.

- The problem with AI making too many wrong assumptions.

- The varying touchpoints of digital CX interactions.

- The importance of the “right to forget” as a customer.

- The problem with rushing to implement bad AI.

- The times when it is better to deal with a machine than a human.

- Making AI optional while allowing human interaction when necessary.

 

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com.

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Shawn Nason, CEO, Founder and Chief Experience Officer at MOFI, a human-obsessed boutique design firm passionate about reimagining experience ecosystems. During this conversation, Shawn and Amelia discuss:

- How Shawn’s background as a Disney imagineer and as a pastor turned him into an experience evangelist.

- Ways that technology caused CX to move away from the human aspect of customer experience.

- What Shawn means by an “experience ecosystem” approach to customer service.

- Ways in which departments working in their own silos can waste time and money.

- The importance of in-person collaboration to create the best experiences for customers.

- How AI is an enabler, not an answer for human interaction.

- The importance of empathy and the difference between empathy and sympathy.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Mark Slatin, Customer Experience Advisor and Consultant at Empowered CX. During this conversation, Mark and Amelia discuss:

- Mark’s background in sales and sales management and how it relates to customer experience.

- His approach to change management and creating value for the customer.

- How change management is a hidden role for CX leaders.

- The importance of being able to transform a culture for a superior CX experience.

- How the pandemic showed successful CX leaders that they need to be flexible and agile in the face of a crisis.

- The importance of building trust in senior leadership by listening to customers and team members.

- The importance of not leaving key stakeholders behind when changing a CX culture.

- Five steps to building your CX roadmap.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com


#CXO #CX #ContactCenter #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Joseph Michelli, Author and CEO at The Michelli Experience, a newsletter with tips and best practices to drive customer and employee loyalty. 

During the conversation, Joseph and Amelia discuss:

-Creating a joyful and productive workplace to focus on customer experience.

-Joseph’s thoughts on post-pandemic leadership and how to deal with uncertainty in the world.

-How the pandemic expedited technological advances and digital roadmaps.

-The role of AI when it comes to customer experience.

-Collecting data on customers and using that information in a way to aid human interactions.

-The optimal execution path to start using AI today.

-How most people want to make a difference and have a purposeful impact on the world.

-Creating a brand experience where people are emotionally moved and want to tell their friends.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

We explore the digital transformation of CX, where analog processes are being digitized, as well as how AI takes the guesswork out of customer service and is as much about the agent's happiness as it is about the customer.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Zhecho Dobrev, Principal Consultant at Beyond Philosophy, Zhecho is a customer experience and behavior science consultant and trainer.

Zhecho and Amelia discuss:

- How studies show that emotions drive results in business.

- The science behind why emotions are so important in business.

- The importance of memories and how memories are closely tied to emotions.

- How science and research show that customers often don’t know what they really want.

- Organizational strategies, customer emotions and using emotions to drive results.

- Developing deeper relationships and emotional attachments with customers.  

- The importance of what is measured when looking at analytics.

- Creating a fusion between data using machine learning and AI, and the science of customer behavior.

- Survival of the fittest when it comes to successful CX.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode Amelia welcomes Peter Dorrington, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Anthrolytics, a company that combines behavioral and data science to determine what a customer will do next.

Topics discussed include:

- Digital empathy and Peter’s professional journey with data science and analytics.

- The differences between cognitive empathy, emotional empathy and compassion.

- The importance of CX feeling human to establish rapport with the customer.

- Why it is important to pay attention to the emotional language people use talking about your company.

- The moment of truth, which is based on the point at which someone decides to act and the moment at which they do act.

- The most overlooked and neglected group of customers and why they’re important.

- How making offers, without thinking about how it makes customers feel, can backfire when it comes to customer satisfaction.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com



#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Jay Baer, Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker and Emcee on Marketing and CX and founder of Convince & Convert Consulting. Jay is also the author of six books.

In this conversation, Jay discusses:

- Technology changes, but customer expectations still lead the way for businesses.

- Speed may be the most important component of the customer experience.

- The pandemic puts more of a premium on the way people look at their time.

- Speed in customer experience never goes backward.

- There is a correlation between quick responsiveness and customer satisfaction.

- AI keeps getting better, and it makes customers more likely to choose that option.

- The best AI is the kind where a customer has no idea it’s AI.

- There are situations where your customer service can be too fast. There is a perfect speed that Jay calls the “right now,” which is just faster than the customer expects.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com



#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Beth Schultz, VP of Research & Principal Analyst at Metrigy, a research firm that specializes in customer experience. During this conversation, Beth and Amelia discuss:

- The intelligence behind powering intelligent virtual assistants (IVA).

- The rise of a self-service customer experience where the customer doesn’t need a live agent.

- The five components of automated self-service.

- The number of companies that have adopted IVA self-service or have it on their radar.

- The challenges companies face in achieving a frictionless experience.

- The various ways customers use conversational AI in customer service.

- The importance of AI and machine learning to keep your system up to date.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Colin Shaw, Founder & CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC.

Colin discusses:

- The seven books he has authored on customer experience.

- The fact that customer satisfaction is the lowest it’s been in 17 years.

- How customer experience is going to become business as usual.

- How customer science will be the next wave.

- How what customers say and what they do can be completely different.

- Why extreme aversion is a natural human behavior.

- How most customers don’t clearly grasp their customer emotional data.

- How embracing behavioral science can lead to a higher net promoter score (NPS).
 

Colin Shaw - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinrjshaw/

Beyond Philosophy LLC - https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyond-philosophy/

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com


 

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Oru Mohiuddin, Senior Research Manager, Enterprise Communications and Collaboration at IDC, where she performs ambitious research projects resulting in leading-edge market intelligence reports.

Amelia and Oru discuss:

- Today’s customers are not as accepting of poor service as they were in the past.

- Customers expect service to be smart, flexible and convenient.

- Agents and customers interact in a personal way, creating a dynamic space.

- Tracking performance across all the emerging digital channels used today.

- The power of self-service, where customers can solve their problems on their own with AI tools.

- The role of bots in maintaining customer identity and history when a call gets elevated to a human agent.

- The powerful business value achieved by empowering agents to make informed decisions.

- The customers’ need to be able to use a variety of different devices.


This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Matt Dixon, Founding Partner of DCM Insights and Chief Research and Innovation Officer for the Austin-based AI venture at Tethr. 

Matt discusses:

- His background as a customer experience researcher which spans 25 years.

- The ways organizations can deliver experiences that increase customer loyalty.

- His surprising findings that customers whose expectations were exceeded were no more loyal than those whose expectations were simply met.

- How companies can mitigate disloyalty by reducing the number of sources of customer effort.

- How a simple, intuitive, streamlined customer experience creates a low-effort company.

- Empowering agents with control and authority to solve problems.

- The importance of investments in the latest technology for a low-effort customer experience.

- The amount of low-hanging fruit that can be improved upon by updating policies and procedures.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia is joined by Juanita Coley, CEO and Founder at Solid Rock Consulting, a contact center consulting company that focuses on the future of the industry with the increasing use of AI and machine learning.

Amelia and Juanita talk about:

- Omni-channel skills and cross training is the future of call center agent training.

- Forecasting the future through running training scenarios using AI tools.

- How AI and machine learning will increase the importance of workforce managers.

- Automation may replace some mundane tasks but will create a more sophisticated workforce.

- How the call center workforce may pivot to a gig economy workforce.


This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com


#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia is joined by Jon Arnold, Principal at J. Arnold and Associates, who has spent more than 15 years in the technology space. He started his career in telephony during the transition to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and is now a specialist in tech for call centers. 

Jon touches on the following topics:

- The similarities between the transition to VoIP and today’s transition to cloud technology.

- The metrics managers currently use to measure agent experience (AX) and how those numbers will only positively affect the customer experience (CX) if the agents are engaged.

- The fact that happy agents are 12% more productive.

- The evolution of customer service.

- How embracing cloud technology can provide a roadmap to increased satisfaction for both customers and agents.

- Why now is the time to embrace cloud technology.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative and comprehensive end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

On this episode, Amelia welcomes Christopher Hodges, Principal at Hodges and Company and author of the book, “Noble Automation Now.”

Chris talks about: 

- Helping humans be heroes in the age of automation. 

- His expertise in intelligent automation. 

- His fight against the common perception that every time automation doesn’t fit a business process, it must be the fault of the automation technology. 

- Intelligent automation utilizes the magic rule of three: people, process and technology. 

     - The people aspect focuses on the importance of having a strong human-centric culture in your organization. 

     - Achieving an excellent process requires a shared respect for process across the organization. 

     - The challenge with technology is for leaders to identify the proper tech for solving the organization’s specific problems. 

- Creating quality through noble automation is a hero’s journey.

- Leaders can help humans be heroes through proper automation technology.

This podcast is brought to you by NICE, the world’s leading cloud CX platform. Go to nice.com to learn more about our innovative, comprehensive, end-to-end CX solutions. That’s nice.com

Noble Automation Now - https://www.nobleautomationnow.com/

#CXO #CX #ContactCentre #CustomerService #CustomerExperience

Workforce management is a critical component of any contact center operation. It is responsible for ensuring that the right number of agents are available to handle customer inquiries and managing schedule adherence, performance tracking, and capacity planning. While workforce management systems optimize efficiency and productivity, how can they benefit the entire organization?

In this episode, Amelia talks with Sean Ilenrey, Vice President of Support at Dutchie. Sean is an award-winning executive with over 20 years of experience in the Customer Relationship industry (Customer Care, SaaS, Sales, Retail, Real Estate, Restaurants, and Pharmaceuticals). He has built and managed several departments domestically, in Latin America, and in the Philippines.

Having worked for several Fortune 500 accounts at the Director & VP levels, Sean talks about how to build a successful relationship between contact center operations and workforce management. He also speaks about the ultimate goal of workforce management, its impact on the entire organization, and the top four factors that influence net promoter scores.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:44 - A history of Sean's experience in contact centers.

02:04 - How to build a successful relationship between contact center operations and workforce management

03:16 - The ultimate goal of workforce management

04:43 - Impact of workforce management on the entire organization

06:28 - The benefits of implementing a workforce management solution for companies

07:16 - The top four factors that influence net promoter scores

Favorite Quotes

02:47 - "Workforce management is not just trying to help you become more efficient and productive. It also can help the agent morale on the floor by ensuring that they aren't getting hit back to back and ensuring customers aren't waiting a long time in a support experience." - Sean Ilenrey

03:30 - "Workforce management is trying to balance two things. One is customer experience, and the other is center profitability." - Sean Ilenrey

06:01 - "It's (workforce management) about utilizing these tools to help you make smarter decisions. But the flip side of that is, too, we also know where to staff our people, so no one's being overworked compared to the next person." - Sean Ilenrey

Connect with Sean Ilenrey
LinkedIn
Corporate Dad
Dutchie

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast
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This last part of Amelia's favorite moments from the previous episodes features episode 18, where she tapped into the knowledge of Donna Fluss, Founder and President of DMG Consulting. Here, Donna shares the specific findings of her research, which spanned over seven years and revealed contact center and servicing priorities and investment plans for 2022. 

To know more about the DMG report, Customer Experience, Contact Center and Servicing Priorities and Investment Plans, tune in to CX Pulse Podcast episode 18, Top Contact Center Investments in 2022.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

01:17 - What Donna found to be the number one goal for top contact centers

02:26 - What the future holds for work from home and hybrid schedules

03:40 - How executives recognize the role of agents

Favorite Quotes

01:36 - "Based on the study, the top contact center and servicing goal for enterprises is number one, improving CX. 76.7% of respondents selected it as their top priority." - Donna Fluss

04:14 - "New findings show that those in decision-making positions are now recognizing the critical role of the agent, and intelligent organizations are making sure that this change is here to stay." - Amelia Rose Earhart

Listen to the full episode: Top Contact Center Investments in 2022

Apple Podcast
Spotify

Engage with Donna Fluss
LinkedIn
DMG Consulting

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast
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This second part of Amelia's favorite moments and thought-provoking takeaways from her CX Pulse conversations highlights how AI made its way into contact centers and why organizations should embrace AI. In episode 15, Contact Center and AI: Making Real-World Progress, Keith Dawson shed light on the best practices and opportunities for contact centers, from making agents' jobs more streamlined to providing solutions for marketing and sales.

Tune in and listen to episode 15 of the CX Pulse podcast to learn more about the impact of AI in contact centers and the many ways AI can be used in the future of the contact center industry.   

Keith Dawson is the Vice President & Research Director, Customer Experience at Ventana Research. He leads the expertise in Customer Experience technologies (CX), covering systems that facilitate engagement and allow businesses to influence and optimize their customer-facing operation.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:47 - How AI made its way into the contact center

01:37 - Why top organizations need to embrace AI and machine learning

04:24 - What the future holds for AI integration in contact centers

Favorite Quotes

01:29 - "When realistic use cases of AI began to emerge a couple of years ago in contact centers, they were seen as both innovative and evolutionary rather than revolutionary." - Keith Dawson

03:12 - "AI has become so pervasive that it's coming at that kind of problem from various angles. It's surfacing better information, better knowledge, and a knowledge management system, but it's also directing it to where it can do the best." - Keith Dawson

04:59 - "A lot of the exciting things people want to do in areas like personalization, targeting promotions, or offers to specific people or groups of customers will be genuinely assisted by AI and machine learning." - Keith Dawson

Listen to the full episode: Contact Center and AI: Making Real-World Progress

Apple Podcast

Spotify

Connect with Keith Dawson

LinkedIn

Twitter

Ventana Research

Visit NICE

Website - www.nice.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast

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This episode is part one of the 3-part bonus episode where Amelia sourced some of her favorite moments and thought-provoking takeaways from the previous episodes. In Episode 21, Omer Minkara, VP and Principal Analyst at Aberdeen, talks about the Building Blocks to Boost Agent Retention & Performance. Passionate about all things CX, Omer explains how many channels agents can be responsible for and why agent retention should be a major focus, even as we become increasingly digital. 

Tune in to learn more about why prioritizing agents is the best action to make it through the most turbulent shifts of the great resignation and simultaneously strengthen the contact center’s approach to digital transformation.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

01:12 - Why agent retention remains crucial despite an increasingly digital world

02:03 - How to reduce agent attrition

02:48 - How to make agents happy and perform at their best

Favorite Quotes

01:27 - "The perception that as digital becomes more pervasive, companies may think agents are not as important as last year or maybe a decade ago is completely inaccurate." - Omer Minkara

03:20 - "Companies with agent empowerment and engagement programs are achieving 70% more improvement in customer effort scores." - Omer Minkara

03:42 - "Companies that have engaged and empowered agents are seeing four times the annual improvements in costs and service delivery and almost two times the annual revenue growth." - Omer Minkara

Listen to the full episode: Building Blocks to Boost Agent Retention & Performance
Apple Podcast
Spotify

Engage with Omer Minkara
LinkedIn
Twitter
Aberdeen Research

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast
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Digital transformation is top of mind for companies across industries as they seek to remain competitive in an increasingly digital era. For many, this means turning to automation to unlock new efficiencies and drive better customer experiences (CX).

In today's episode, Wayne Butterfield sits with Amelia Rose Earhart to talk about all things automation. They take a big picture view of the technological advancements and how to unlock new opportunities in CX. 

Wayne Butterfield is an automation pioneer, initially starting as an early adopter of RPA in 2010 and creating one of the first enterprise-scale RPA operations. As the Global Head of Intelligent Automation Solutions at ISG Automation, Wayne is responsible for helping organizations leverage Automation Technologies, such as RPA, NLP, OCR, and Virtual Agents, for creating efficiency and improving the customer/employee experience.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

01:10 - What motivates Wayne to continue working in contact centers

03:36 - How AI has evolved over time

06:26 - How innovation drives new-age customer experiences

09:36 - Some tips for keeping up with contact center innovations

11:30 - How to learn more about the role of intelligent automation in business

Favorite Quotes

01:27 - "The contact center never stands still. It is the beating heart and where the vibrancy is in most organizations." - Wayne Butterfield

04:41 - "We've spent the last 2000 years putting people at the heart of everything we do. Every process we have generally created as an organization has people and a system right in the very center of it. It's been interesting to see this move and the mindset shift that AI generates." - Wayne Butterfield

07:43 - "Technology will enable us to do that 15 years' worth of work with one or two people in probably three to six months." - Wayne Butterfield

09:04 - "Process mining, task mining, and communications mining— all these technologies are helping organizations reduce massively the amount of time that's going to take to get useful, insightful, and actionable data. And that, for me, is where we are pushing boundaries right now. " - Wayne Butterfield

Connect with Wayne Butterfield
LinkedIn
ISG

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast

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In a highly competitive business environment, organizations must keep up with the ever-changing customer journey. To stay relevant, proactive CX has become a focus of attention. That means taking measures to prevent problems before they occur instead of waiting for customers to come to you with complaints. But how can organizations take proactive CX to positively impact all aspects of customer service?

Melanie Turek joins Amelia in today's conversation. Melanie is the VP of Research for Digital Transformation and Connected Work of Frost and Sullivan. Today, Melanie talks about what proactive CX is, how companies use it, and how organizations can take proactive steps with their data.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:56 - Melanie Turek's role at Frost & Sullivan

01:48 - What is proactive CX?

03:04 - An example of how companies are using proactive CX

06:29 - The impact of proactive CX on corporate clients

08:55 - How organizations can take proactive steps with their data

12:56 - What the future holds for proactive CX

Favorite Quotes

02:02 - "Instead of waiting for your customers to reach out to you for a problem or an issue or just something they need to get done, you are identifying the areas where you pretty much know that they're going to have to do something or have a question or something's going on there. Right? So you want to identify that early ahead of time and then reach out to them proactively." - Melanie Turek

07:05 - "After you do a proactive outreach, you may very well get a contact you wouldn't have otherwise, but chances are, you want that contact." - Melanie Turek

12:29 - "You need to be aware of the language you're using and how it is that you're reaching out to people. You don't want to overuse it. People do not want to hear from you every day. They want to hear from you only when it's relevant, and you'll have to give them the option of opting out." - Melanie Turek

Engage with Melanie Turek

LinkedIn
Twitter
Email

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

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Data is increasingly becoming a key differentiator for brands. Today, a new breed of "data rich and famous" brands is emerging, and these brands are using data in innovative ways to create exceptional customer experiences. With the advent of big data, how can brands organize, leverage, and harness the power of data to transform the CX landscape?

In this episode, Omer Minkara joins Amelia for the second time. And today, Omer talks about Aberdeen Strategy & Research's recent study on the "data rich and famous," what makes a business "data rich" and savvy, and what the six building blocks are for organizing big data.

Omer Minkara is the Vice President & Principal Analyst of Aberdeen Strategy & Research. In his role, Omer is tracking and reporting the key trends and best practices in customer experience management, contact center, and e-commerce. Through a combination of prior experience, skills in financial and data analysis, and passion, Omer helps organizations build and maintain profitable customer relationships and reduce unnecessary costs.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:56 - The key role Omer plays at Aberdeen Strategy and Research

01:29 - An Aberdeen study on the "data rich and famous"

02:19 - The difference between traditional and intelligent self-service

03:37 - What makes a business "data rich and savvy"

06:52 - Six building blocks for organizing big data

Favorite Quotes

03:09 - "The "data rich and savvy" business companies not only have better data quality but also leverage a certain set of tools more effectively and widely." - Omer Minkara

04:09 - "The real "data rich and savvy" businesses are the ones that turn the existing data into rich insights and leverage the existing insights to steer conversations. " - Omer Minkara

06:29 - "The "data rich and savvy" are rich and savvy, not in terms of the quantity of data but rather the insights that they're able to extract from the data. And as a result, they're reducing costs, creating happier customers and growing revenue." - Omer Minkara

[08:18] - "Without knowing who your customers are, you can't optimize self-service." - Omer Minkara

10:01 - "Contact center leaders should consider a low-code or no-code approach to leveraging self-service. That means that you're not relying heavily on your business personnel, business staff, and business leaders to analyze data and make adjustments. Instead, you can quickly leverage low-code or no-code to make the necessary adjustments." - Omer Minkara

Engage with Omer Minkara
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Twitter
Aberdeen Research

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The recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the development of conversational AI, which is responsible for powering chatbots and other similar technologies. This technology is revolutionizing how we interact with computers, making more natural and human-like conversations possible. What are some use cases of conversational AI, and how is this technology revolutionizing the CX industry?

In this episode, our guest, Craig Kennedy, discusses why conversational AI is gaining traction and attention, how the CX industry has adopted this technology, and where conversational AI is heading in the future.

Craig Kennedy is the Sr. Director of Research at Aragon Research. He is also the Lead Analyst for conversational AI and digital operations, including areas like security cloud infrastructure. Aragon Research provides research and advisory services to businesses and IT executives ranging from startups to some of the largest enterprises in the world. 

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:56 - Craig Kennedy's role at Aragon Research

01:32 - Why conversational AI is gaining traction and attention

05:25 - How the CX industry has adopted conversational AI

07:16 - Some of the use cases of conversational AI

08:59 - Conversation AI: what's next and where it's going

Favorite Quotes

01:43 - "Conversational AI has always been perceived as the pinnacle of artificial intelligence. It's always been showcased in science fiction. And today, it's becoming a scientific fact." - Craig Kennedy

08:01 - "Some of the leading collaboration providers are also offering real-time translation. So, it's a translation of the transcription. So if you have a remote team in another country that speaks a native language that's not English, it can actually transcribe and translate on their screen what you're saying in their native language. So really cool stuff." - Craig Kennedy

08:22 - "Another use case that's pretty cool and popular in conversational AI is the use of agent assist. This is where a customer or prospect talks to a live agent. The conversation AI technology follows along and monitors the conversation, providing suggestions to the agent on how to best respond to the caller. And this technology is helping live agents improve their calling skills, and it's been proven invaluable in helping to onboard contact center agents very rapidly." - Craig Kennedy

09:24 - "There's also a growing expectation that chatbots provide a personalized experience for the end-user. And that means that each conversation doesn't always start again from square one. The chatbot can identify who it's conversing with, retrieve that user's previous interactions and the overall experience based on that is incredibly pleasant." - Craig Kennedy

10:03 - "Another trend we're seeing gaining popularity is voice interactions, including the ability to customize the brand to a voice. So that's being made available by some leading conversational AI providers." - Craig Kennedy

Connect with Craig Kennedy
LinkedIn
Aragon Research

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In today's world, consumer expectations evolve tremendously. Businesses go above and beyond to keep up with the challenge and create a memorable customer experience. One way they do this is through journey orchestration, a process that creates personalized, real-time customer experiences across all channels and touchpoints. How can companies design, manage, and optimize the customer journey to create the best possible experience?

In this episode, Amelia talks with Julio Hernandez about journey orchestration. Julio discusses customer orchestration, how orchestration fits into a company's CX strategy, and the core capabilities companies need to support this practice.

Julio Hernandez is the Global Lead of Customer Center of Excellence and US Customer Advisory Practice Lead at KPMG. He focuses on helping organizations think about how to engage the marketplace and attract, convert and keep customers to fuel profitable growth. He also works with businesses from across the globe to help them design and deliver relevant customer experiences that drive engagement and result in sustainable customer relationships.

Enjoy!


In This Episode

01:08 - Recent developments in digital transformation for CX

02:07 - What orchestration is and how does it fit into a company's CX strategy

03:59 - What orchestration means for the end consumer

05:45 - The core capabilities companies need to support customer orchestration

Favorite Quotes

01:30 - "Experience centricity is about designing the experience you want to give your stakeholders." - Julio Hernandez

02:16 - "Orchestration is the execution, the ability to be able to get things done in the way that you want them to be done." - Julio Hernandez

03:02 - "The idea of customer orchestration, journey orchestration says, hey, I need to understand who the customer is. I need to understand what experience I want to be able to deliver. I need to understand which channel they're in. I need to be able to use data and analytics to basically deliver that experience, and I need to make sure that the people who are engaged in that experience, the employees or partners, are all working the right way. So, that's the idea of orchestration." - Julio Hernandez

03:48 - "You cannot do orchestration without facts, and you can't do it without data. You can't do it without technology. and you can't do it without basically having a threat across the whole customer experience that holds everything together. " - Julio Hernandez

04:18 - "If you think about consumers today, their expectations have evolved tremendously. I almost call it the inflation of customer experience." - Julio Hernandez

Engage with Julio Hernandez
LinkedIn
KPMG International

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It's been shown time and time again that happy agents lead to happy customers, and happy customers lead to increased loyalty and customer lifetime value. As the customer experience is the new battleground for companies, agent experience is just as important to a company's overall success. So what does it take to create a great agent experience?

In this episode, Amelia is joined by Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst at COMMfusion. Blair will share her expertise about why agent experience is essential to a company's overall success, what motivates agents to deliver their best, and what organizations can do to improve employee experience and engagement.

Blair Pleasant is an independent industry analyst with over 20 years of experience, providing market insights and analysis on business communications markets and technologies for end-user and vendor clients. At COMMfusion, Blair provides insights, analysis, and consulting services to help the vendor and end-user clients develop ongoing strategies and tactics in the evolving business communications arena.

Enjoy!

In this Episode

01:05 - Why agent experience is important to a company's overall success

02:23 - The benefits of agent empowerment in the workplace

04:20 - What motivates agents to deliver their best

06:31 - How coaching can improve the agent experience

07:31 - The role of gamification in empowering agents

10:43 - How to quantify employee experience benefits

12:00 - What organizations can do to improve employee experience and engagement

Favorite Quotes

01:17 - "You can't have a good customer experience if agents are bored, unhappy, and dissatisfied with their jobs, and the agent experience directly impacts the customer experience." - Blair Pleasant

02:06 - "As it relates to the contact center and customer experience, engaged employees build stronger relationships with customers and that helps their company increase sales and customer retention. So really by focusing on the agent experience, it's good for the agent, good for the customer, and good for the organization." - Blair Pleasant

03:07 - "By empowering agents, they have the autonomy and the motivation to do what's right to solve the customer's issue as effectively as they can." - Blair Pleasant

11:00 - "As it relates to contact center and customer experience, it has been proven that engaged agents can build stronger relationships with customers. It helps increase sales and revenues and customer satisfaction and loyalty." - Blair Pleasant

11:13 - "From a revenue perspective, engaged agents are more likely to have longer and better customer interactions and find more upselling and cross-selling opportunities." - Blair Pleasant

Engage with Blair Pleasant
LinkedIn
Twitter
COMMfusion
BC Strategies

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is often seen as the future of customer service. This shift is primarily driven by advancements in natural language processing and machine learning. As AI evolves, so does its ability to help businesses improve the customer experience. With the rapid growth of these technologies, contact centers need to start preparing themselves for a future where AI plays an even bigger role in customer experience.

In this episode, Amelia is once again joined by Donna Fluss, Founder and President of DMG Consulting, to discuss AI in action. As an expert in AI in contact centers, Donna will cover the most practical applications of AI for customer experience, how AI has been implemented in the industry, and what advice she can offer organizations just getting started with AI.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

01:00 - What is AI in contact centers

03:50 - How widely has AI been implemented in contact centers

05:22 - The most practical uses of AI for customer experience

14:46 - Donna's advice to organizations just getting started with AI

Favorite Quotes

01:30 - "AI is a branch of computer science that's focused on the development of programs and machines, which are of course computers to solve complex problems by simulating behaviors associated with intelligent beings." - Donna Fluss

04:17 - "The amount of innovation and practical capabilities that are being enabled by AI is nothing short of phenomenal. It's almost been an exponential series of enhancements." - Donna Fluss

11:17 - "It is absolutely AI in action, which really is the name of the game because what we're looking for in contact centers are applications that enhance the customer experience, that enhance and improve the employee experience and do things cost-effectively."- Donna Fluss

15:14 - "AI is here to stay. And so, companies really need to get on board with this, but not just haphazardly finding it in one application or deciding to go with another application. What we recommend is that companies go through a very thoughtful process of developing an AI strategy." - Donna Fluss

Engage with Donna Fluss
LinkedIn
DMG Consulting

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Maps are essential for getting from point A to point B. They provide a visual representation of the route one needs to take as well as how to navigate along the way. Similarly, journey maps help business stakeholders define exactly what customers want and what the customer journey actually looks like. When done correctly, they can help businesses achieve their goals by revealing opportunities for improvement and optimization.

In today’s episode, our guest, Jeannie Walters talks about journey mapping, what key elements are needed to map a digital first customer experience, and what business data are most beneficial to understanding the customer experience.

Jeannie Walters is the CEO & Founder at Experience Investigator, a global customer experience consulting firm helping companies improve loyalty and retention, employee engagement, and overall customer experience. Jeannie has 20 years of experience helping companies improve loyalty and retention, employee engagement, and overall customer experience. 

Jeannie was named one of the Huffington Post’s “Top 100 Most Social Customer Service Pros on Twitter," Tenfold’s “Top 40 Customer Success Influencers,” one of “The Top 5 Women Customer Experience Influencers” by CloudCherry. Her mission is “To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™.”

In This Episode

01:02 - Why Jeannie is passionate about journey mapping

02:14 - The main goal of journey mapping

03:43 - The key elements needed to map the digital first customer experience

06:25 - What CX leaders should strive for

08:06 - What are some ways to collect customer feedback for journey mapping

09:56 - What business data are most helpful in understanding the customer experience

Favorite Quotes

01:31 - "Journey mapping is a tool that we have in our toolkit that really can help us understand our customer needs better. It can help us anticipate what the future will hold. And it's a really great tool to get everybody on the same page, to understand more so that we can make more strategic decisions moving forward." - Jeannie Walters

03:14 - "I like to say journey mapping is a verb, not a noun because it really is about the process of gaining those insights and then acting on them. That's what ultimately improves the customer experience. The map itself, it doesn't really do that. We have to do that. And so, the mapping is what's most important, but we need to know the goal before we start." - Jeannie Walters

04:52 - "The power of customer journey mapping is really stepping into what is actually happening with the customer." - Jeannie Walters

09:25 - "If you really get to know who your customers are, you can start expanding that lens and look at who are these people and what is their real life like because that can really give you data points about where they are in the market or where they are regionally or culturally. There are some differences we have to consider." - Jeannie Walters

Connect with Jeannie Walters
LinkedIn
Experience Investigators
Year of CX

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Self-service is nothing new, but the ways in which data and technology are being used to power it are changing rapidly. Artificial intelligence (AI) provides businesses with new opportunities for customer experience, driving the expansion of self-service. Today, customers have more options for engaging with businesses and their favorite brands. At the same time, businesses can provide a more personalized experience as well as predict what customers might want in the future.

In today’s episode, Amelia talks with Dan Miller about whether or not chatbots can improve customer experience. Dan will also discuss how data and technology are redefining self-service, how CX leaders are now improving their digital CX, and the four pillars of maximizing the conversational cloud.

Dan Miller is the Lead Analyst and Founder at Opus Research, a diversified advisory and analysis firm providing critical insight on software and services that supports digital transformation.

In his role, Dan conducts research, writes reports, provides consulting services and administers conferences specializing in Intelligent Assistance and Intelligent Authentication.  He coined the term "Conversational Commerce" to describe applications and services that improve person-to-person, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

01:00 - What led to the founding of Opus Research

03:00 - What CX looks like today

04:25 - How data and technology are redefining self-service

06:01 - How CX leaders are now improving their digital CX

07:33 - How companies are making the most of their data

08:40 - The four pillars of maximizing the conversational cloud

Favorite Quotes

01:50 - "I coined the term 'conversational commerce' to capture the idea that the best CX, the best customer experience, takes the form of a conversation between individuals and the brands or companies that they want to do business with." - Dan Miller

04:01 - "And what's basically happening, because we're looking at bringing some form of artificial intelligence or conversational AI into the conversations between companies and their customers is that we're really defining self-service." - Dan Miller

09:58 - It's the resources, both human and automated that smooth things out, that orchestrate the conversations, and that keep track of things over time but amount to the integration of multiple systems to provide coherent and correct responses at scale." - Dan Miller

Connect with Dan Miller
LinkedIn
Twitter
Opus Research

Visit NICE
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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
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Nowadays, the business world is buzzing with words like "great resignation" and "digital transformation". While such changes profoundly affect people’s lives and careers, contact center agents are far from being threatened. The human element still plays a crucial role in contact center management. How can businesses empower their people to deliver top-notch service in an ever-changing and complex environment?

In today’s episode, Amelia talks with Omer Minkara about why the great resignation is relevant to contact centers, how the transformation between the digital and human elements works, and in what ways contact centers are solving the challenge of agent attrition.

Omer Minkara is the Vice President & Principal Analyst at Aberdeen, a leading global provider of behavioral-based marketing solutions, from intent-targeted media to demand gen programs and independent industry research. In his role, Omer is tracking and reporting the key trends and best practices in customer experience management, contact center, and e-commerce fields. Through a combination of prior experience, skills in financial and data analysis as well as passion, Omer helps organizations build and maintain profitable customer relationships and reduce unnecessary costs.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

01:21 - Why the 'great resignation' is relevant to contact centers

02:57 - Why going digital is not a threat to contact center agents

04:05 - How contact centers are solving the challenge of agent attrition

05:48 - What impact agent empowerment and empowerment programs have on business

Favorite Quotes

01:00 - "We're all consumers at the end of the day. I feel like through our research, we're able to provide a new light, a fresh perspective on what the leading brand is doing to create happier customers and how they can spread those best practices so that we all as consumers can have better customer experiences." - Omer Minkara

03:35 - "The perception is that, as digital becomes more pervasive, companies may be thinking that agents are not as important as last year or maybe a decade ago. And that's completely inaccurate. What we are seeing today is a lot of those emerging digital channels or channels that are increasing in traffic, they also have agent involvement." - Omer Minkara

07:47 - "Companies that engage and empower their agents are improving customer satisfaction, driving down cost, increase in revenue, and maximizing efficiency through productivity." - Omer Minkara

Engage with Omer Minkara
LinkedIn
Twitter
Aberdeen Research

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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
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Robotics Process Automation (RPA) is changing the way businesses operate. It can work independently or alongside people to streamline business processes. As RPA becomes more widely adopted, an increasing number of businesses are turning to automation to improve efficiency and accuracy, reduce operating costs, minimize the risk of human error, and will likely play a bigger role in the future of organizations.

In today’s episode, Amalia talks with Amardeep Modi, a Vice President at Everest Group, about what RPA is and why it matters for organizations, what enterprises expect from an enterprise-grade attended RPA solutions, and how to make the most of attended RPA deployments. 

Amardeep is a seasoned advisor and leader with more than nine years of consulting and research experience. At Everest Group, Amardeep leads the service optimization technologies research and advisory practice globally. The majority of his work is focused on leading industry-defining research on intelligent automation technologies, such as attended RPA, unattended RPA, process mining, intelligent document processing, process orchestration, and conversational AI.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:34 - The role Amardeep plays at Everest Group

01:52 - RPA: what it is and why it matters for organizations

05:21 - What enterprises expect from an enterprise-grade attended RPA solutions

09:13 - How to make the most of attended RPA deployments

10:42 - Real-life examples of how RPA worked in an organization

13:12 - What business owners need to know before adopting RPA

Favorite Quotes

04:43 - "We found that improving employee productivity, generating cost savings, and increasing operational efficiency are among the top three drivers for adopting attended RPA at an overall level." - Amardeep Modi

09:23 - “Adopting and scaling attended RPA is not without challenges. However, these challenges can be overcome by following a set of best practices, such as securing executive sponsorship and empowering the center of excellence, appointing champions to drive awareness in the enterprise, driving citizen developer focused on training programs, enabling a crowdsourcing approach for use case identification, and early partnership and alignment with enterprise IT." - Amardeep Modi

10:10 - "Now when done right, attended RPA can yield phenomenal returns by decreasing onboarding time, reducing errors, improving first call resolution, and drastically reducing average handling time." - Amardeep Modi

Engage with Amerdeep Modi
LinkedIn
Everest Group Website

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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
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Artificial intelligence has been making waves in the contact center industry for a few years now, and for good reason. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are changing customer service for the better, from how customers communicate with businesses to how businesses manage their workforces. As these technologies continue to evolve, do contact center agents need to be educated on them?

In today’s episode, Amelia talks with Sheila McGee-Smith, President & Principal Analyst at McGee-Smith Analytics, about whether or not contact center agents should be educated about AI. They will also discuss the value AI can bring to the contact center space, what lessons contact center agents can learn from top CX performers, and how AI can help them interact with customers.

Sheila McGee-Smith is a leading communications industry analyst and strategic consultant with a proven track record in new product development, competitive assessment, market research, and sales strategies for communications solutions and services. She founded McGee-Smith Analytics to offer enterprises and solution providers an expert and reliable source for information and analysis related to the contact center and customer experience markets. Her expertise has helped enterprises and solution providers develop strategies to meet the escalating demands of today’s consumer and business customers.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:46 - An overview of Sheila's role in the contact center industry

01:39 - What contact center agents can learn from top CX performers 

05:21 - The benefits of AI for contact center agents

08:00 - How AI and analytics prepare agents to interact with customers

09:40 - How agents perceive AI in the workplace

12:06 - How AI eliminates bottlenecks and frustrations in call centers

Favorite Quotes

07:20 + 11:10 + 10:58 - "That's the power of artificial intelligence for agents, that it helps them take more difficult calls. It allows them to do things they might not have been able to do before and to deliver better service. It's helping the agent do their job better." - Sheila McGee-Smith

10:42 - "Once we educate agents about what their role is, it's doing the people work and that when adding automation, we're doing that to take out the work that machines could do." - Sheila McGee-Smith

Engage with Sheila McGee-Smith
LinkedIn
Interactions Live 2022
McGee-Smith Analytics

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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
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Contact center companies are always on the lookout for new and better ways to improve their customer service. This often comes in the form of new technologies, such as chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI). With many companies turning to AI to optimize their business processes, contact center executives are also becoming more aware of just how important contact center agents are to their overall success, increasing their focus and appreciation of their agents.

In today’s episode, Amelia talks with Donna Fluss, Founder and President of DMG Consulting, about the findings of the DMG report, Customer Experience, Contact Center and Servicing Priorities and Investment Plans for 2022. They will also discuss the top contact center and servicing goals for enterprises in 2022, what technologies contact centers intend to invest this year, and where employees are likely to work in the future.

With over 30 years of hands-on experience helping organizations build world-class call centers and assisting vendors to deliver differentiated solutions, Donna is leading global contact centers, analytics and back-office industry analysts and consultants to deliver outstanding customer experiences.  A recognized visionary author and speaker, Donna drives strategic transformation and innovation throughout the service industry and provides strategic and practical counsel for enterprises, solution providers, and the investment community.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:44 - The role Donna plays at DMG Consulting

01:20 - What the DMG report, Customer Experience, Contact Center and Servicing Priorities and Investment Plans for 2022, is all about

02:29 - The top contact center and servicing goals for enterprises in 2022

04:24 - What technologies contact centers intend to invest this year

06:38 - A comparison of the 2022 survey findings with the previous years

08:11 - Where employees are likely to work in the future

09:56 - The most significant finding in the DMG report

Favorite Quotes

04:55 - "We are seeing a lot of practical and effective AI applications coming into the market. Even though they're still relatively new, we are seeing benefits from those innovations." - Donna Fluss

07:48 - "It's wonderful to see that executives are finally paying attention to their agents who are the front door into the company and play an essential role in building relationships with their customers." - Donna Fluss

10:06 - "Executives are finally starting to appreciate their agents, the job of a contact center agent. It's a difficult job to consistently and empathetically deliver an outstanding customer experience." - Donna Fluss

10:52 - "Executives are demonstrating an appreciation of the critical role that agents are playing in their companies. And that is delivering that outstanding CX." - Donna Fluss

Engage with Donna Fluss
LinkedIn
DMG Consulting

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

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Culture is often seen as something that is intangible and hard to measure. However, it is one of the most important aspects of any organization. In fact, culture plays a key role in employee engagement, and the employee experience drives the customer experience. What are ten critical principles that form the foundation of creating a culture?

In this episode of the CX Pulse Podcast, our guest, Annette Franz talks about the top three basics that many companies still overlook, why culture is so important in an organization, and what the ten critical principles are that form the foundation of building a culture.

Annette Franz is the Founder and CEO at CX Journey Inc., a global customer experience strategy consulting firm that specializes in laying the groundwork required to establish a CX roadmap and strategy that drive culture transformation efforts. She is an internationally recognized customer experience thought leader, coach, consultant, and keynote speaker. Annette is also an official member of the Forbes Coaches Council.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:42 - Great ways to help customers connect with brands

02:06 - The top three basics that many companies are still missing

04:45 - Why culture is so important in an organization

06:54 - The ten critical principles that form the foundation of building a culture

09:32 - How to get a hold of Annette Franz's books

Favorite Quotes

01:51 - "There are so many ways that customers can contact a brand these days. And the challenge for the brand is that they've either got to understand the preferred channels, the preferred methods that customers want to contact them and then be there and be responsive when customers do contact them." - Annette Franz

04:52 - "Culture is really about core values and behaviors. If we're building this customer-centric culture, we have to include values that drive that customer-centric behavior. Then we take those values, we define the associated behaviors, and behaviors we don't want to see so that employees are really clear on what those core values mean. And then they have to be socialized and operationalized." - Annette Franz

07:07 - "Culture is really the foundation, leadership has to be committed and aligned, and the employee experience has to come 'more' first. If we put employees 'more' first, customers can still be first." - Annette Franz

07:24 - "Employee experience drives the customer experience. People have to come before products, profits, and metrics. Customer understanding is the cornerstone of customer-centricity. Of the customer-centric culture, we have to bring that customer voice into everything we do." - Annette Franz

07:52 - "Governance is an important thing that we need to have in place. It bridges the gaps across the organization. It helps to break down and connect silos. It helps to get everybody working together because my definition of customer-centric culture really is one that is collaborative." - Annette Franz

Engage with Annette Franz

LinkedIn

Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the "Customer" in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your Business) on AmazonBuilt to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business on Amazon

Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business on Amazon
 

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

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Customers' purchasing habits, needs, and preferences evolve over time. One thing that will never change, however, is their need for support and service. A great customer experience goes beyond just meeting expectations, but also taking it a step further to succeed. At its core, great customer service results in greater customer loyalty and more repeat business.

In today’s episode of the CX Pulse Podcast, our guest, Shep Hyken talks about what amazing customer service looks like, why customers terminate a business relationship, and how companies can still create emotional connections with little or no person-to- person contact.

Shep Hyken is the CAO (Chief Amazement Officer) of Shepard Presentations. As a customer service and experience expert, keynote speaker, and bestselling author, Shep works with companies that want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. His focus is on delivering amazing customer service, customer engagement, managing the customer experience and creating customer loyalty. Shep is a hall of fame speaker (National Speakers Association) and a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:54 - What the book, I'll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again & Again, is all about.

03:21 - The difference between repeat business and loyal business.

04:44 - What amazing customer service looks like.

08:16 - Why customers terminate a business relationship.

11:40 - How companies can still create emotional connections with little or no person-to- person contact.

14:23 - How proactive communication is also a key to customer satisfaction.

Favorite Quotes

06:56 - "The word 'always' followed by something positive is what you're looking for in the experiences that you want to create that are amazing. That's when customers say, "I love doing business with them" because that word always just creates this consistency and this confidence in their minds. And that's what customers like. They like to have confidence and trust in who they're doing business with." - Shep Hyken

02:48 - "Metrics are history and you learn from history, they're really important. You've got to get them. And once you understand the 'why' behind the metrics, we can make improvements, and we can change whatever to make sure we do it better next time and forever." - Shep Hyken

05:39 - "You need to be so good that when the customer calls to complain, at the end of the conversation, they're the ones that are apologizing." - Shep Hyken  

14:23 - "One of the other things we found is that a large number of our customers that we surveyed want proactive communication. So, they want to know if things are going well. They also wanna know if things aren't going well." - Shep Hyken

Engage with Shep Hyken
LinkedIn
Website
Amazon

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast
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Artificial intelligence has been around for a long time, but it has exploded in popularity in recent years. This is especially true in the contact center space, where businesses are looking for new and innovative ways to improve customer service. Artificial intelligence has already proven itself to be a valuable tool in many industries. Why should contact centers be on board with embracing AI?

In today’s episode of the CX Pulse Podcast, our guest, Keith Dawson talks about why artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining popularity in the contact center space, the impact of AI on contact center agents, and the many ways AI can be used in the future of the contact center industry.

Keith Dawson is the Vice President & Research Director, Customer Experience at Ventana Research. He leads the expertise in Customer Experience technologies (CX), covering systems that facilitate engagement and allow businesses to influence and optimize their customer-facing operation. Keith is focused on how businesses can break down technology and operational silos to provide more efficient processes for two-way engagement with customers.

Ventana Research is the leading benchmark research and advisory services firm. They provide expert guidance to help organizations manage and optimize performance – to become not only more efficient but more effective. Using a combination of primary market research, rigorous market coverage, and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers, Ventana Research delivers business and technology education and expertise to clients and the marketplace.

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:56 - Brief backstory of Keith Dawson

1:33 - How AI is making its way into contact centers

3:21 - How AI is used across different areas of contact centers

6:10 - The impact of AI on contact center agents

8:57 - The role data professionals play in the age of artificial intelligence

10:55 - The many potential uses of AI that have yet to be explored

13:18 - Why you should consider a vendor instead of building your own AI

Favorite Quotes

00:04 - "The fact that AI has become so pervasive means that it's coming at that kind of problem from a variety of angles. One of the things it's doing is surfacing better information, better knowledge, and the knowledge management system, but it's also directing it to where it can do the best and where it's the most useful." - Keith Dawson

2:52 - "As contact centers have become more entwined with other processes in customer experience and in the back office, the need for the kind of complicated data analysis that AI can provide has become a lot more intense and modern systems have really stepped to fill what I think has become an emerging need." - Keith Dawson

12:01 - "When we talk about broader ways of orchestrating the customer journey and having more control over the customer's life cycle, the need to automate the processes that cross different teams and different technology stacks become pretty sharp." - Keith Dawson

Connect with Keith Dawson
LinkedIn
Twitter
Ventana Research

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast
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As technology constantly evolves, it's no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a larger role in customer experience. With the rise of chatbots and virtual assistants, businesses are starting to see the value in using AI to improve customer interactions, making it easier than ever for customers to engage with brands. How can businesses make the most of AI to improve their business outcomes?

In today’s episode of the CX Pulse Podcast, our guest, Maribel Lopez, talks about some of the best practices organizations can get in touch with customers. She will also discuss the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in customer experience, how bots and virtual agents can improve sales conversion as well as some of the pitfalls organizations often fall into with AI.

Maribel Lopez is the Founder and Principal Analyst of Lopez Research, a market research and strategy consulting firm. In her role, Maribel tracks the evolving trends in mobile, IoT (transportation, retail, telecom, healthcare) and machine learning that leads to cognitive computing services. She helps companies select the right technology to build new agile business processes and advise technology vendors on how to build better products and go-to-market strategies. 

Enjoy!

In This Episode

00:41 -What Lopez Research is all about

01:07 - How organizations can seize the opportunity to connect with their customers

02:07 - The role of AI in customer experience

03:15 - How bots and virtual agents can improve sales conversion

04:40 - Examples of how virtual agents have improved business outcomes

06:43 - Some of the pitfalls organizations often fall into with AI

Favorite Quotes

04:15 - "We've seen it happen in travel where someone might not know where they want to go next. But the right type of virtual agent can guide them down a path to say, 'Here are some things that might be interesting to you based on what you're looking at right now'." - Maribel Lopez

01:25 - "Customers want to be served on their channel. They expect you to know them, even proactively reach to them to alert them of issues. You have to be available on their channel of choice" - Maribel Lopez

06:59 - "I think one of the pitfalls that a lot of organizations fall into with AI is trying to make the scope of what they're doing too big. You have to really narrow it down to make sure that you can have success." - Maribel Lopez

07:53 - "Don't assume that the fallout (AI) is a result of just the technology. Sometimes the fallouts result of needing to change the process, needing to change the terminologies, or needing to broaden things." - Maribel Lopez

Engage with Maribel Lopez
LinkedIn
Twitter
Lopez Research
Reimagine Hybrid Work Podcast

Visit NICE
Website - www.nice.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNICELtd/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/NICESystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/NICE_CX
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/nice-systems/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to more episodes of the CX Pulse Podcast
Apple Podcast 
Spotify

Knowledge management programs can falter because companies see them as technology projects. Learn how curated content can fuel agent productivity and empower self-service resolution. 

Learn about the latest in robotic process automation (RPA) and the value of a holistic approach to avoid random acts of automation that can impede your progress on your road to digital transformation. 

Discover the source of your quality program’s pain and learn how to improve your contact center’s wellbeing by implementing a structured, standardized quality program and dedicated platform. 

The pandemic has changed the way we work. If you are managing a hybrid workforce, you need to think of it as remote. Treating employees consistently no matter where they are is essential. 

Have you assessed your AI risk? You might be surprised to discover the scope of your own vulnerability. Learn how ethics and best practices can prevent your RPA from propagating the wrong AI. 

Customer behavior and expectations digitally transformed during the pandemic. Learn what unique long-term implications will impact your contact center operations and CX priorities moving forward.

With the increasingly remote contact center workforce, Paul Stockford talks about the latest applications of gamification to enhance agent engagement, connectivity, and job satisfaction.

The pandemic has caused seismic contact center shifts, including agents working remotely, customer traffic swings, as well as rapid migration to the cloud.  Now, learn what cloud “flavor” is right for you. 

Discover how the RPA COE can help large, high-security organizations create consistencies, best practices, and economies of scale to maintain seamless operations—even in times of disruption.  

The future of work is becoming more hybrid as offices are reopening. Learn how contact centers are effectively combining remote and onsite workforces to meet shifting agent and customer expectations.  

As the pandemic eases and the hybrid work model continues to evolve, hear how digitally powered agile staffing practices can transform your contact center’s onboarding, training, engagement—and CX.

Discover how Digital plays a key role in delivering exceptional customer experiences and the strongest competitive advantage a company can focus on. 

Learn how personalization programs have changed over the past decade, and how modern CX leaders use personalization as a competitive advantage.