Download the 2024 attendee list to discover key participants who attended the CCW Europe Summit and enhance your networking opportunities.

Health and wellness is big business these days.

Consumers are actively taking greater control over their wellbeing and their lifestyle like never before, and they’re prepared to back the brands that can meet their needs with effective, sustainable, scientifically proven products or services.

One such brand is Germany-based air up – a groundbreaking start-up retailing refillable bottles that add flavour to plain drinking water through nothing but scent. The technology behind their products is radical and innovative and so, too, is their approach to building and maintaining connections with their audience. Here, we speak with air up’s Head of Customer Engagement Thomas Staudte who describes the story behind the brand’s exponential growth. He dives into the initial challenges he faced when he came into the company, the core elements that underpin his communication strategy, his learnings relative to implementing generative AI, his digital roadmap over the next 12 months, and a whole lot more.

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The spotlight shines bright on customer experience right now.

The old adage that contact centres are mere cost centres is making way for an exciting new narrative that they are instead tremendous value centres. Indeed, 63% of customer management leaders from across Europe report that improving their CX strategy is either “high” or “very high” on their C-suite's agenda today, with only 6% saying it represents a “low” priority. CX teams have a compelling mandate to enact change then, and the CCW Europe Summit is the place to go to drive it home.

The three-day event, taking place in Amsterdam this October, has emerged as a vital forum for networking, collaboration, and innovation over recent years, and the 2024 edition is set to be the biggest and best yet. It promises to be a platform for world-class learning and inspiration with a raft of industry thought leaders taking to the stage to share their knowledge and impart the lessons they’ve learnt from all their various CX initiatives.

Ideas always evolve differently, and professional relationships always grow stronger at the CCW Europe Summit, and here members of the CCW Europe Advisory Board tell us why.

Customer-facing generative AI use cases remain few and far between.

For obvious reasons. The risks are huge and the act of introducing such technology comes with tremendous challenges – not least brands need to build-in rigorous protection against bias and hallucinations and establish absolute data security. We’ve all seen what can happen when things go wrong.

These challenges are even more profound for organisations operating in the public sector, where customer engagement needs to be whiter than white.

In this podcast, Sarah Williams – the Chief Customer Experience Officer at Westminster City Council – deconstructs the journey she’s on with customer-facing generative AI. She speaks about overcoming the perception that local governments have low technology ambitions and how Westminster City Council is now setting industry standards when it comes to delivering first-class customer service.

We dive into:

• The strategies she’s adopting to foster deeper connection with Westminster communities
• How she secured the mandate to embark upon an AI transformation
• The work she did to ensure AI was implemented safely and securely
• How to build a bench full of the right talent that can use AI effectively
• How she approached vetting vendors and bringing the right partners on board
• The need to continue scaling the project

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For sponsorship opportunities, reach out to katie.judd@iqpc.co.uk

To register an interest in becoming a guest, get in touch via simon.hall@iqpc.co.uk

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There’s a sea change transpiring within customer support right now owing to ever-increasing customer expectations and complexity around problem-solving.

And the question is: Are you ahead of the curve?

Indeed, consumer behaviours are changing. The landscape is changing. And support dynamics are changing with them. Customer service has evolved into a key business battleground and a critical component in the buying journey against waning consumer loyalty. Queries will arise and issues will surface with products and services – that’s unavoidable; a natural part of business. What’s determinative now is how quickly, comprehensively, and effectively brands deal with them. Suffice it to say, one of the single biggest ingredients of standout customer service today is a company’s ability to resolve problems at the first time of asking – otherwise known as first contact resolution (FCR).

So, how are customer management leaders responding to this imperative?

To find out, CCW Europe and GoTo teamed up to survey the members of the CCW Europe community. The results are laid out in this report alongside some actionable strategies that CX teams can adopt to really propel their FCR rates to new levels.

Key Findings Include:

• Only around one in two brands currently have an FCR rate north of 70%
• 63% of brands have improving FCR either high or very high on their CX agenda
• 63% of brands report that IVR technology is their primary tool when it comes to driving FCR
• 65% of brands have no visual customer support in place whatsoever

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Want to dig deep into how customer management leaders are cultivating memorable customer experiences through FCR? Download the full report now.

The role of Chief of Staff – long established in military and political circles – is finding a new home: In thriving corners of the private sector. It’s a title of great intrigue and mystique – no two people ever take the same road to occupy the position and the range of responsibilities is so broad from company to company. But it’s undoubtedly growing in prominence, particularly at large-scale corporations harbouring complex portfolios and delivering big revenue numbers – senior leaders in these organisations often require support carrying out their duties, executing their purpose, and navigating the disruption that is a constant fixture in the business world right now.

So is the case at global healthcare giant Sanofi, where Joanne Kennedy is Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President of R&D, responsible for leading the Management Office team. Joanne recently spoke with our Industry Analyst Simon Hall about the work she is doing day-to-day and the integral part she is playing in the AI and digital transformation journey Sanofi is pursuing. Our interview with her covered a broad range of topics: how to prevent digital fatigue, how to create psychological safety, the importance of having a north star, quashing imposter syndrome, the benefits of diversity in leadership, and a whole lot more.

It appears the penny has finally dropped.

With 63% of customer management leaders reporting that improving CX strategy is either “high” or “very high” on their C-suite’s agenda, and 67% set to see their CX budgets increase in 2024, the stage is set for this to be a groundbreaking year in the industry. There is growing sentiment among executive leadership that customer management must now take centre stage – the time is now to break free from the shackles of legacy thinking and build the foundations of nimble customer-facing operational architecture (technology, processes, data) that can future-proof business resilience.

In 2023, the greatest technological advancement since the introduction of the smartphone began making massive waves in the customer management space: generative AI. A tool that promises much, and the evolution of which is certainly not one to watch from the metaphorical sidelines. Innovations are springing up at pace and any failure to move with the transformation could be to risk falling behind (or worse).

As the industry teeters on the precipice of unprecedented disruption, how are customer management teams preparing? What are their top priorities as we move through 2024? How is (or will) generative AI fit into their organisational framework? And what challenges are currently top of mind?

A Figurative Lay of the Customer Management Land

To get answers to all these questions (and more), CCW Europe surveyed over 140 customer management thought leaders. All pioneers in their respective domains spanning customer care, support services, customer operations, customer insights, product management, and many more, the respondents collectively came from a range of companies of all sizes plying their trade across all the major industries. The results form the basis of this report.

Key Findings Include:

• “Enabling better CX through technology” will be the number one priority for 40% of customer management leaders over the course of 2024.
• “Implementation and management costs” (31%) are cited as the biggest barrier to adopting AI, closely followed by “concerns around privacy and regulation” (30%).
• Only a fractional 11% of respondents say they are “inactive” in terms of bringing CX-focused AI technology into their roadmaps. Grappling with an “insufficient technology framework” is the predominant challenge for respondents in the context of implementing their desired CX.
• A significant 60% report using more than five data sources to execute their strategies with 5% employing more than 30(!)

Want to dig deep into how customer management leaders are currently primed to navigate the winds of change on the horizon this year? Download the full report today.

The energy market is extremely volatile right now. A perfect storm of massive supply chain disruptions, increased urgency around decarbonisation, and new and more rigorous regulation is forcing energy providers into deep change. The enduring cost of living crisis, that has often seen rising gas and electricity prices form the centrepiece of the issue, is also creating further operational pressures against constant calls to reduce costs.

To combat those challenges and address consumer demands, many companies throughout the industry are investing in new technology and new services – in effect, modernising their legacy infrastructure – to better engage with their customers and create a customer experience that is more in tune with the times. Every brand in this space is at a different stage of digital transformation; some are more advanced than others. For Utilita Energy, their journey started two decades ago as the first energy supplier to install smart metres, and they’ve been on a road of perpetual innovation. Here, we‘re joined by the company’s Chief Customer Officer Louise Walsh who takes us on a whirlwind tour through the work her teams are doing to ensure they’re meeting the needs of their customers head on.

We dive into:

• What it’s like to work in the customer contact space at a company unsettling the status quo
• How Utilita Energy keeps communication fast, flexible, and efficient around the clock
• The tactics and practices they use to deal with vulnerable customers
• How they train their frontline staff to handle and manage difficult, emotive conversations
• The technology focus areas for Utilita Energy in the near future
• The strategies they’re using to drive behaviour change and help customers use less energy
  

The airline industry is ripe for disruption. AI disruption.

Looking at the processes that travellers endure when it comes to searching for trip destinations, booking flights, and purchasing other travel add-ons, it’s clear that AI and generative AI can propel improvements. From analysing user behaviour in more granular detail, to driving enhanced personalisation, to fostering greater loyalty via better post-travel experiences – AI has the power to sharpen and enrich the way airline brands connect and engage with their customer base.

This AI transformation journey is one that Sutherland and Scandinavian Airlines have been on together for a number of years. And in this episode of In Conversation With CCW Europe, Sutherland’s Naveen Mehta and Scandinavian Airlines’ Mattias Helgesson and Andreas Broberg Henning join forces to discuss what they’ve accomplished thus far and what’s in the pipeline. Alongside CCW Europe’s Simon Hall, they map out all the foundational pillars on which they’re building their customer-centric AI strategy.

We dive into:

• The challenges Scandinavian Airlines were facing prior to partnering with Sutherland
• The steps they’ve taken to inspire and deliver digital culture change
• The AI solutions and proofs of concept they currently have in-flight
• The work they’re doing with data to empower improved segmentation and personalisation
• How they ensure every decision points toward their transformation north star
• What they would do differently if they started again
  

The post-show report reflects on a programme filled with trending insights, key takeaways, and industry-shaping conversations. The theme for 2023, "Disrupt or Be Disrupted," set the stage for insightful discussions and meaningful connections.

Read more to discover:

• A letter from CCW Europe's Senior Analyst and Head of Production, Kiera Martin
• Who attended CCW Europe 2023
• Top Focus Areas at CCW Europe 2023
• 9 Standout Sessions
• Spotlight on the Star Speaker
• An overview of CCW Europe's Advisory Board
• What our attendees had to say
• Our Sponsors and Exhibitors
• Upcoming events and content

Download the post-show report here >>>

CCW Europe shares the highlights from the return of its annual flagship summit in Amsterdam post-COVID. The post-show report reflects on an event programme filled with trending insights, key takeaways, and industry-changing conversations. The sessions aptly represented how companies are trying to recoup long-term customer and colleague loyalty by leveraging a world-class experience strategy.

Read more to discover:

• Who attended CCW Europe 2022
• The top 12 topic areas on the event agenda
• The top 10 sessions from CCW Europe 2022
• The must-see motivational talks to inspire attendees to act and break away from traditional business practice
• An overview of CCW Europe’s Advisory Board
• What attendees had to say
• Our sponsors
• What's up next for CCW Europe

Download the post-show report here >>>