Aarthi Murali, Chief Customer Experience Officer at M&T Bank, joins us to share how customer-centricity creates value and keeps companies competitive in an ever- changing and challenging landscape. She shares how to instill a customer-centric culture across your enterprise and offers insights on current challenges and opportunities, as well as how to leverage technology and AI.

The role of leadership has changed immensely over the last few years, with a newfound emphasis on inspiring with purpose, encouraging risk-taking, and bouncing back from disruption and uncertainty. Every day we are faced with complex questions and situations, often for which there is no way to control the outcome. The role of leadership today has never been so demanding yet critical to set the tone for human-focused business success.

According to a study by Capgemini, major cultural disconnect between leadership and employees is the biggest blocker to digital transformation. Whilst exciting technologies, processes, and rich data undoubtedly help to build a CX centred organization, the focus must lie within the culture, the people, the capabilities, and the organizational mindset.

CX leaders see first-hand how a consistently good CX strategy can boost loyalty and promote growth. And in a world where customers’ expectations – and their capacity to influence others – are rising, creating a positive experience counts more than ever. So why are so many businesses failing to make any headway? According to Forrester, it comes down to a lack of CX leadership. Those who want to “break away from the pack” need to focus on the feeling customers are left with after interacting with a brand and its people. We need to do more than provide responsive systems and tools like chatbots – we need to demonstrate emotional intelligence, and empathy - for both our customers, and employees.

During this panel discussion we will be exploring this concept from a cross-industry perspective and hear from our senior leaders regarding their experiences and lessons learned from disruptive times, as well as developing the next generation of leaders. What does this look like for them and their industry? What are the biggest challenges when it comes to leadership, and redefining strategy & cultural mindset?

Today’s CX leaders face increasing pressure to keep costs down while continuing to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Customers expect consistent, personalized support across channels, and leaders are being tasked with delivering on this with limited resources. So how can CX teams deliver a great customer experience more efficiently?

Join this session to discover how to strike the perfect balance between cost efficiency and providing your customers with a remarkable experience.

Customer experience is a concept that has been around for generations. Yet, organizations still struggle to master it. Research indicates that 73% of customers agree that great customer experience drives their purchasing decision AND 86% of customers say that they are ready to pay more if it means getting better customer experience. These figures are difficult to argue with.

CX is now a well-regarded and rewarding career, especially when companies integrate systems that allow for collaboration between humans and machines. Furthermore, automation is now the new normal regardless of your industry. With more micro services architecture, digital solutions, data analytics and AI, driving impactful experiences are within reach. If you don't embrace intelligent tech & automated approaches, you will likely be left behind and become irrelevant. As technology delivers more convenience to our daily lives through smart phones, virtual assistants, the Metaverse, NFTs, etc - our interactions with customers could become life changing. Take Netflix, for example – it’s no secret that its recommendations that drive our viewing experience are powered by artificial intelligence and algorithms.

Recent data reveals that 90% of companies report that they are planning to deploy AI by the end of 2022. This means that going forward into 2023, nearly 40% of all customer interactions will be automated through AI and machine learning. As technology delivers more convenience to our daily lives, virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri will continue to optimize the interactions your brand has with customers.

• How can you leverage technology to drive not only exceptional experiences but drive the growth of your business?
• How can you embrace technology like, voice, app, and chat platforms to improve the experience?
• How can you implement an automation solution that enables you to train, monitor, and manage your virtual assistant?
• Do you have a well-delivered digital channel? If not, how can consumer experience tools can help you achieve this?
• How can you make the most of an omnichannel approach when engaging with your customers?
• Where can you leverage ML and AI tools to make innovative observations about your customer's behaviour?
• What does the future look like for customer service trends, including AI, virtual agents, app-based platforms, and the metaverse?
• How can you integrate CX into the blueprint of your digital transformation journey, rather than it being an after- thought?
• What are the future trends in client experiences?

CX is the most important area of differentiation for a company. While 80% of companies believe they deliver a great customer experience, only 8% of their customers feel the same. In a world of AI, automation, and new channels, what do your customers really want? In todays’ world it is imperative that the customer journey be seamless, frictionless, and engaging.

Customers are expecting these seamlessly connected experiences through an omni-channel approach, which is top of mind for many contact centres — for good reason. Leveraging your digital channels creates a significant competitive advantage. But simply being present on the channels your customers prefer isn’t enough. According to Segment research, 69% of customers want a consistent experience with a company across all physical and digital channels. Unfortunately, few companies are delivering on this desire. The key is taking a customer-centric approach and then building your strategy around your customers’ viewpoint. So how do we get there?

Furthermore, a frictionless experience comes hand in hand with a proactive, and personalized approach. With statistics showing over 50% of consumers will shift to another brand if companies don't routinely anticipate their needs, there is a need for you to predict customer needs and arrest potential problems before they become major complaints. And as far as personalization goes, it’s no longer just an option that businesses might consider. Instead, it’s fast becoming a norm and customer expectation, and one that’s proven to reward well. Slideshare (2022) found that 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a tailored experience.

Ultimately, CX leaders must understand their customer’s pain points and aim to deliver and exceed them. It is now vital to align touchpoints and departments internally to ensure a clear customer journey and UX.

• Define the importance of the customer journey and what does that focus mean in your organization?
• What tools can you use to create a frictionless user experience?
• What are the best approaches to understanding omnichannel customer journeys?
• What does personalization mean to you in the CX space? Who is the customer and how can we actually define this? How do you develop a better understanding of your customer?
• How can you utilize personalization to increase customer loyalty and retention?
• How can we ensure there is clarity in communication throughout the customer journey?
• How can you identify and determine repeat occurrences that impacts and hampers the customer's journey?
• What are current challenges preventing you from having a holistic view of your customer? (i.e. How do you manage, and action your data across your channels? How are you organized to successful pursue this digital transformation?)
•How has your customer journey & experience changed in the last two years, and what is the future in this space?

Investing in customer retention and loyalty is a proven business strategy. Customers can be retained for 7x less money than new ones, according to a well-known statistic from Bain and Company. Additionally, companies that increased their spending on customer retention over the past 1 to 3 years achieved a 200% higher probability of increasing their market share.

So, what is it that drives customer loyalty? Trust, engagement, and brand exclusivity all help to build lasting customer relationships. Whilst it has always been a hot topic, the question remains – how do we gain it, nurture it, and what are the consequences of losing it? A huge part of providing a great customer experience is making sure that CX is ongoing and focused on keeping your existing customers, rather than just attracting new ones.

• What does effective customer loyalty mean to you – and how does it play into your respective roles and perspectives? 
• What are some of the key challenges that you feel organizations and leaders are facing today when it comes to excelling in CX?
• What tactics have you found to effectively keep customers coming back? What are the metrics people are using to measure success in customer loyalty and advocacy?
• What about metrics on trust? How do you measure that?
• How can you connect on a more human level with clients and customers to make a connection and drive loyalty?
• How do you achieve the right balance between human interaction and the role of AI and automation?
• How do you show customers that you’re acting on your insights? Can they feel the positive changes you’re making?
• How do you keep a customer experience positive when the customer may be disengaged in your product/service?

Data is the common thread connecting the external experiences of customers and the internal teams, processes, and systems that enable them. And data is key for driving growth through improved understanding of customer needs and journeys, implementation of experience- enhancing tools and technologies, and informed business decision making. While more data is being collected today than ever, businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to make the best use of it. This session explores how data unification and enablement strategy is helping businesses achieve a “single source of truth” to unlock the full business growth value of their data.