Welcome back to Day Two of the ISG Xperience Summit. After some fantastic insights into Understanding Shifts in Consumer Behavior and discovering the future of data analytics, today's content will focus on our final two themes - Back to Basics and The Future of Customer Experience. From first-class keynote speakers, to expert panelists and ISG Insights, we look forward to spending the morning with you for part two of the ISG Xperience Summit. 

Throw out the strategies and customer experience tactics that focus on age groups, demographics/psychographics or even “micro-segments” – the battle for consumers is now at the individual!

This keynote address will outline the opportunities to utilize the right balance of emerging technology with employee engagement to create personalized experiences and ultimately strong brand loyalty at scale. Consumers are screaming to be understood and treated as individuals – not Millennials, or soccer moms from Atlanta, but Mary, Beth and Susan. They are screaming to “KNOW ME” – so are you listening and what are you doing about it?!

In the wake of 2020's unprecedented changes across the globe, recognizing the way customer, employee and partner experiences have changed is vital. We will look at some of the key trends that are surfacing and examine the ways in which forward-thinking organizations can seize an opportunity to apply innovative technologies in response to those trends, creating new interactions between humans and machines—and indeed, between humans and digital humans—that are emotionally resonant but also leverage and amplify the analytical insights we are deriving from our data. 

Customer Experience was a hot topic before the pandemic hit.  Now it has become even more so because it doesn’t only relate to the end customer.  Now more than ever, organizations need to realize that your end customer is served by your employee, who is the customer of your back office services and providers.  Many providers now offer claim to offer XLAs (Experience Level Agreements) to support your business but are they true XLAs?  What is an Experience and in the age of new digital customer experiences and, what is it that must be done differently to succeed?  Here we will look at the value chain that is experienced from provider to end customer and the key elements that must be in place to offer a post-pandemic digital customer experience. With your competitor being only one click away, now more than ever does business need to understand what real Experiences are and how they need to define XLAs to deliver CX

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed innovation that retailers, healthcare practitioners and financial institutions alike weren’t planning to implement for another 3-5 years. Be it contactless payment methods, self-service mechanisms, virtual visits, etc, organizations were forced to implement technologies at a breakneck speed to ensure they remained front-of-mind with their established consumer base. With everyone’s attention on new capabilities, what happened to their core customer experience? 

Key Takeaways Include:

• What suffered as a result of rapid digital transformation? 
• What are the top values that were likely ignored in your rapid innovation rollout? 
• How can I strike the optimal balance between delivering the experience I want without hindering certain operations? 
• Does my organization have the agility to adapt this quickly and this frequently going forward? Will this rate of change become the norm? 

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed innovation and technology adoption that has forever changed the customer experience.  Self-service, whether from our phone, laptop, tablet or Smart TV has overcome the old needs of in-person contact and has become business as usual for consumers and businesses alike.  In fact, reports suggest that more people are embracing technology for placing orders and answering questions, for instance, that ever before. 

In this session, ISG’s Dr. Linda Delbridge lays out the latest customer experience trends that impact contact center services – sharing what is working and what is not, and how to get ahead of the curve in this dynamic environment.  It isn’t a big surprise to find that personalization matters for the best customer satisfaction, but what exactly does that mean and how do you need to change and adapt to take advantage of these latest insights?  How do you find, nurture  and balance your human and digital workers to generate top-notch bottom-line results?  Find the answers to these and other questions to help you deliver the future of CX!

Michael Chachula has over 20 years of leading IT Digital and Operaions for large and multinational companies in industries such as Finance, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods and Consumer Electronics and Hospitality. With a full breadth of experience in creating business and IT solutions at work Michael takes the stage to discuss these key takeaways:
  -  Will the demand economy regress to pre-COVID states?
  -  What are the business effects of consumerism?
  -  Will companies start to expect more from their consumers?
  -  What role will digital play in shaping the future of consumerism?
  -  Data's already important, but how will it further shape expectations and delivery in the future? 
  -  Are you ready to scale at volume when the world returns to 'normal'?

Convenience will no longer be optional, personalization will need to be more personal, chatbots will become more advanced and will do more than just communicate with customers, and problems will be predictable – these are just some features that will define Customer Experience within the next 12-months. Our panel of experts, hailing from the retail, healthcare, banking and travel & hospitality sectors, outline what the future of customer experience in their industries will look like this year.

After two days of great content, what do you do with it? ISG’s John Westfield will provide guidance on what your next steps should be to prepare your customers will an experience that will ensure to keep you front-of-mind and brand-loyal in an age of rapid change and new possibility.