Spotlight: Jeannie Walters, CEO, Experience Investigators
NEXTRA thoughts on key disruptors in CX and where to go from here from Insights Association’s NEXT 2019 Conference Keynote Speaker. To read more insights from the full conference, follow the blog updates.
The biggest disruptor and fear is around automation with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. It’s what Walters gets most excited about — to have machines that can behave in ways that humans are comfortable with! Many chatbots are getting better, but some are awkward, she said, citing the case of Ruby, who in many hotels, you can text on the phone to answer all those questions you usually ask at the front desk, a clear disruptor. The more valuable information you can provide the machine, the more consistent the experience.
Automation structure depends on your firm’s overall CX strategy. Everyone needs to move through the four steps of: fixing the problem, elevating the service that exists, optimization around designing whole new journeys, and differentiating yourself on CX. But it’s not like once you reach the pinnacle of differentiation you stop doing the repair work as you move through levels of customer maturity. You will always need CX at every stage.
In a platform-saturated marketplace, Walters advises staying agnostic, indicating it’s all about the strategy. How do you build an experience that customers don’t even know they want right now, is the pressing question! “We wanted better than cabs that smelt bad, didn’t show up, weren’t safe. Uber showed up, on demand, had standards. That’s what’s so hard about retrofitting – it’s hard to shake the cobwebs off (how we did things before) to really serve our customers,” she reasons. While every firm’s clientele and objectives are different, the CXPA is Walters’ go-to for the industry’s gold standards. She says, “CX knowledge is not based on software platforms, but on disciplines and the CCXP community, is where the best standards live.”
Compiled/Written by: Arundati Dandapani, Generation1.ca
