
The CX Leader as a Change Agent
Change management is defined as making positive adjustments in an organization. Mark Slatin, Customer Experience Advisor and Consultant at consulting firm Empowered CX, said an innovative way of improving a company’s CX strategy is through change, and that change management is a hidden role for CX leaders.He added that the most important aspect to implement when making changes in the CX experience is value. In the case of CX, organizations need to focus on how they’re creating value for the customer, and, at the same time, how they’re creating value for the company.A change agent wears many hats, Slatin pointed out. Their job, at its core, is guiding their company from its current state to a desired future state to create a value or benefit.“And your goal really is to transform the culture because the change doesn't happen in one pocket, and it certainly doesn't happen in the CX department,” he said. “So, the only way it can work is if it's cultural transformation.”According to Slatin, there are five steps necessary for implementing change successfully:

Reimagining Experience Ecosystems
Shawn Nason, Founder, and Chief Experience Officer at consulting firm MOFI, feels that companies have become so enamored with technology that they’ve started losing touch with humanity in the CX space. As a self-proclaimed experience evangelist, he wanted to know how we can humanize experience again and leverage it as a competitive advantage.“Using this approach increases engagement, loyalty, and revenue year after year, but it requires engaging and humanizing the entire ecosystem,” he said.Nason explained that an experience ecosystem is the web of people, touchpoints and systems that define the experiences of everyone who interacts with an organization. He added that organizations need to refocus on humanity in that ecosystem, and one way is to be more empathetic.Empathy is a word that's getting thrown around a lot in the CX industry, he continued, though many people don't truly understand what it is.“You can be sympathetic with somebody, but to be empathetic is a completely different space,” he said.It's about asking questions like, “What is your experience?” and “Tell me what it's like to be you,” and then listening to the answers and making positive changes based on them, according to Nason.Nason advised CX leaders to go walk in their customers’ and employees’ day-to-day lives. Get to know them. Fully understand them. Then apply what you learn to your CX strategy. If you don't, you aren’t doing justice to your organization.Also, he added that, while he is a huge fan of digital and technology, it should only be used as an enabler for customers and agents, and not as a means of replacing employees. Part of having a well-rounded ecosystem and satisfied, loyal customers is by supporting and treating agents like humans too. If you don't have engaged employees and take care of your own people, they won’t take care of your customers or your business, Nason said.Hear the full “Reimagining Experience Ecosystems” episode on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
Improving the Relevance of AI for CX
According to Dave Michels, Lead Analyst at TalkingPointz, AI technology has been evolving rapidly and gaining more attention than ever. As a result, it’s changing contact centers and improving customer engagement in almost every way imaginable. That includes speeding up customers’ desires to resolve problems through self-service, as well as how organizations forecast, how they coach and mentor agents, and how they track quality metrics.“It’s almost shocking how much AI is impacting the contact center or customer engagement in general,” said Michels. But he warns of downsides as companies rush to implement AI tools before they’re ready and cautions against implementing tools that don’t fit with the workflows of your company.Michels pointed out that the big challenge for a lot of companies is assessing how AI will fit in their environment. There's a lot of AI opportunities to solve problems, but to do it properly, it takes a considerable amount of time and patience as well as a lot of data.There are two factors that determine the difference between exceptional and good AI, he said:- Invisible technology— When AI works in the background and makes things better for all parties without the customer knowing it’s AI, it can be exceptional.
- Whether AI is truly helpful— AI tends to make a lot of assumptions that aren’t always correct, and that can frustrate customers. Once it can ask customers questions like agents do to qualify and determine the best outcome, that will classify it as exceptional.
“I think our trust level is rising on the customer front,” Michels said. “And we're willing to trust those AI options as the first point of contact, which is good to see because AI is getting so much better.”Yet, he cautioned that AI won’t solve every problem. He believes the most effective way of using it is to make it optional and let customers decide when using it may be appropriate. Also, AI isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. You need to work with the right vendors who can make the best use of your data.Hear the full “Improving the Relevance of AI for CX” episode on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
