In Focus: Analyst Insights on the Future of Customer Contact

9:00AM – 10:30AM

More than 74% of consumers feel today’s customer experiences are too slow and inconvenient. Even more complain that they do not get to interact in their channel of choice. Challenges like “long wait times” and “frequent transfers,” moreover, perennially rank as top CX pain points.  
 
In theory, robust self-service should be the obvious solution to these problems. And given the power of modern AI technology, it should be an effective one in practice. Unfortunately, reality confirms the exact opposite. Customer trust in web self-service actually dropped over the past year. Customers still expect live agent support for even minimally complex matters, and only 29% feel AI is adding value to their journeys.  
 
Why is this happening? The reality is that we’re not listening to our customers. As a result, we’re designing self-service experiences that are anything but empowering.  
 
What can we do about it? We’ll answer these questions in our interactive workshop. Topics include:
– Top demands customers have for self-service experiences and why brands continue to fall short
– The rise of “omnichannel” AI experiences and why they can make or break customer relationships
– Tips for designing journeys that properly balance self-service and agent support
– The truth about whether you can deliver empathy, personalization, and humanity in your self-service experiences
– Metrics for understanding the overall impact of self-service

11:00AM – 12:30PM

For decades, customer contact leaders have treated employee engagement as the conversation topic. As the thing that keeps them up at night. As the gateway to success. Recently, however, it feels like EX conversations have become too vague and hollow. More alarmingly, it feels like EX initiatives have become too superficial.  

We all agree, for example, that pizza parties are not enough to create happy agents. But what is enough, and what can we do to create and measure it?  

We talk about how the rise of AI will help agents focus on more complex work, but what is that work? What training will agents need? And what support and wellness initiatives will help them navigate this new normal?  

We all stress the importance of listening to employees, but what does it take to actually develop a “voice of the employee” program? And to what extent will we actually let their voice dictate factors like career path and work flexibility?  

This is a workshop for those who want to move past the superficial and into the substantive. It is for those who remain certain that what happens inside the contact center impacts what happens on the frontlines. Topics include:  

– Top drivers of employee satisfaction and how contact centers are falling short
– Sources of effort and inefficiency that prevent agents from making human connections
– Specific tasks that employees will handle in the AI-powered contact center – and how their workflow must evolve
– Keys to creating a truly empowering, “delightful” contact center culture
– Blueprint for building modern training, listening, and wellness programs

1:30PM – 3:00PM

It is easy to celebrate “trust over transactions” and “connections over conversations.” It is easy to celebrate a world in which AI removes distractions that prevent human employees from delivering more empathetic, relationship-minded care.  

Based on the state of today’s customer and employee experiences, it is far harder to actually produce these outcomes. Only 18% of consumers feel the typical experience is personalized, and just 20% sense a serious degree of “empathy” in their interactions.  

Customer contact leaders have long wrestled over the best ways to define, deliver, and measure concepts like personalization and empathy in today’s environment. Transforming customer expectations, emerging digital channels, AI-powered engagement, and unpredictable workflows have further complicated the matter.  

In this workshop, we’ll reveal what it takes to be human-centric in an increasingly automated customer contact landscape. More importantly, we’ll reveal a game plan for actually scaling that humanity to turn every conceivable “moment of truth” into a pathway to customer trust. Topics include:  

– Factors that impact customer’s willingness to support, trust, and advocate for brands in today’s landscape
– Honest realities about delivering “empathy” and “human centricity” in low-touch, digital channels
– The truth about what customers value – and don’t value – when it comes to “personalization”
– Data and security concerns as you deliver personalization in the age of AI
– Keys to actually measuring “soft skills” like empathy and warmth

All sessions are available on first-come, first-seated basis.

3:30PM – 5:00PM

“Happy agents equal happy customers.” “AI will handle simple issues so agents will handle complex ones.” “Be where your customers are.”  

These sorts of clichés and calls to action are unavoidable. Yet examples of them being actually achieved are almost impossible to find.  

Agent disengagement and attrition levels remain high. Contact center efficiency remains low. Customer preferences remain ignored.  

In this session, we’ll explore the buzzwords, empty promises, and trends that are distracting us from what really matters in customer contact. More importantly, we’ll reveal action steps for approaching customer contact best practices, innovations, and opportunities in a more productive way.  

– Honest insight into the definition and impact of “customer centricity” in today’s landscape
– Fact vs. fiction assessment of the most popular customer contact buzzwords and catchphrases
– The mistakes that are preventing “contact center aspirations” from becoming customer experience realities
– Tech trends you need to chase – and ones you can safely ignore
– The most urgent customer, employee, and business demands you’ll have to meet – and how to measure success

All sessions are available on first-come, first-seated basis.