Martin Hill-Wilson is a Customer Service, CX & AI Engagement Strategist as well as the founder of Brainfood Extra. Between the 7th and 10th of October 2019, Martin will join 70+ expert speakers at Customer Contact Week Europe, the European flagship for the world’s largest customer contact event series. There, Martin will share insight into how companies can develop an emotional intelligence framework to make a positive impact at every touchpoint.  Below, we ask Martin some questions about his passion for customer contact and her involvement in the event.

Martin, could you begin by telling us about yourself and your career in the customer contact industry?

I began putting in the first wave of contact centres in the UK. I ended up running the BPO and consulting business. Then, once acquired, worked in technology for a decade understanding the issue in helping customer invest in the right solutions. For the last decade I’ve run my own consultancy, Brainfood, delivering keynotes, chairing CS,CX and AI conferences, running masterclasses on omni-channel design, self service, the impact of AI on customer contact and advising brands on their contact strategies. My latest interest is running a five month programme for 35 people on Emotive CX for customer interaction. 

What makes you passionate about work in this industry?

It’s a litmus test for how organisations relate to people (customers/employees) and as such indicates the real degree that organisations embrace a customer first agenda. That has always been my prime fascination how well we engage in a business context

What is your involvement at CCW Europe 2019?

I’m running a half day session on Emotive CX for customer interaction. It’s one way to reframe the strategic value of customer engagement and anticipates a time when we use advisors only for high value engagement once conversational AI and RPA has absorbed the high volume, lower value interactions. I’m also part of the judging panel

What do you believe defines customer contact in 2019?

Optimising the use of live assistance with self-service and proactive service to achieve better CX at lower cost. 

What transformation initiatives is Brainfood undergoing to address this?

Cloud migration, omni-channel frameworks, testing new channels, experimenting with personalized service, smarter routing and triage, introducing learning culture and continuous improvements, upskilling advisors and team leaders, turning data into insights and moving towards automated real time decisioning

What are the key challenges that you are facing on this journey?

This depends on the age and size of brand. Older brands struggle with legacy and silos. B2B organisations need to cater to five generations of customer. Investment is still cost out oriented rather than value based. 

Why are events like CCW Europe 2019 important for industry professionals and what can they expect to take away?

It is important to celebrate progress and motivation people to keep moving forward. These events can provide long lasting momentum.

Learn more about Customer Contact Week Europe by clicking the image below: