Recap of the Customer Experience Leadership Conference 2013

An amazing event by The Conference Board, The Customer Experience Leadership Conference brings together an impressive group of business leaders in a highly personal, engaging environment. It was a privilege to hear from the likes of Laura Kane, VP of Corporate Communications at Aflac (@laura_kane); Bob Lord, CEO of Razorfish (@rwlord); and Chris Zane, CEO and Founder of Zane’s Cycles (@ChrisZane).

On Digital

The theme of the 2013 Customer Experience Leadership Conference was, “How Digital is Transforming the Customer Experience.” Speaker after speaker shared compelling examples of how companies are creating platforms to engage their users (Virgin Atlantic), creating memorable experiences over social media (Smart Car), and using the reach of mobile to empower users with information at their fingertips (WebMD).

The big takeaway on the topic of digital is to never do digital for digital’s sake. Digital technology is only a new medium to deliver the brand experience.

On Big Data

Is Big Data hype or reality? The consensus seemed to be both. One important message is that Big Data is useless if you don’t know what you are trying to achieve. You have to know what questions you are trying to answer, what experience you are trying to deliver. Cavan Redmond, CEO of WebMD, shared how Big Data is powerful because of the small insights it can offer up. It helps us to spot the outliers, and the patterns that may otherwise be missed.

Another Big Data theme was around taking action. Fernando Aquirre, CEO of Chiquita Brands International gave advice on pitching to a CEO. He made it resoundingly clear that it is of the utmost importance that you keep your presentation short, on point, and focused. Truth is, this is becoming more important for everyone, at all levels of the organization. Your customer data must empower employees – from the C-suite to the frontline – to be clear on what the best next action is.

And finally, at some point you just have to get started. John Bianchini, VP of National Customer Service at Verizon encouraged attendees to jump in with the understanding that data will never be perfect, but you need to start somewhere.

On People

Every part of a company is being built by their people. The new mobile app, the ideas, the website, the processes, the data that is being analyzed, and the insights shared are all coming from people. Bob Lord emphasized the enormous challenges CMOs are facing in a quickly changing environment. This environment is highly favorable toward companies who can move quickly. This is something that can only happen when employees have the resources and knowledge and liberty to bring the brand to life for their customer (internal or external). What is overwhelmingly evident is that companies who are successful at customer experience have incredible cultures.

Another aspect of the customer/employee relationship that emerged at the event was how a company’s customer policies impact the employee experience. VP of Brand Management and Guest Experience at The Ritz Carlton, Lisa Holladay, shared the Ritz’s campaign around The Art of the Craft. The Art of the Craft is a video series highlighting individuals who do amazing things at Ritz Carlton, from a florist in Barcelona to a shoe shiner who understands that his role helps speakers feel confident when they stand in front of an audience. Lisa told the story of a lady who dressed up as a tooth fairy to make sure one little girl knew her missing tooth wouldn’t be missed just because she was on vacation. The Ritz’s relentless focus on the customer has a created a workplace that allows their employees to have a meaningful impact of the lives of guests.

The Ritz story touched on a theme that was further exemplified by Disney. Jodie Martin, Senior Manager of Field Human Resources for the Disney Store joined Gary Magenta from Root to demonstrate the power of inviting employees to be part of co-creating the customer experience. Together they walked attendees through some quick exercises that were done with employees to get them excited and emotionally invested in creating a memorable in-store experience. Both the Ritz Carlton and Disney know that a great customer experience starts with a great employee experience.

And finally, a shout out to the many active tweeters capturing the event and sharing quotes, pictures, and some of the many fantastic videos presented at the event.