In the first installment of our CX Predictions 2026 series, I sat down with Laurence Fox from Kapitol Group to discuss how a high-growth, Tier 1 construction firm navigates the tension between maintaining efficiency and the essential human relationship needed to build trust on multi-million dollar projects.
Mark Atterby (MA): Hi Laurence, thank you for your time. Please describe your current role, responsibilities, and professional background.
Lawrence Fox (LF): I am the Customer Experience Manager at Kapitol Group a Tier 1 construction company based in Melbourne. Despite being only seven years old, we have grown rapidly to achieve a turnover of over $1.5 billion.
We operate across diverse sectors, including high-tech (primarily data centres), high-end residential, commercial spaces (restaurants, pubs), and education (private schools). Our strategic vision is to expand nationally, starting with a current project in Darwin, with future plans for NSW, Queensland, and South Australia.
A key strategic objective is to achieve an aspirational Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +85 within the next four years.
My current focus is on building the foundational CX capability:
- Solidifying Voice of Customer (VoC) methodology across the business.
- Mapping end-to-end customer journeys for our highly diverse client base
A core challenge is standardising best practices and finding innovative ways to ‘wow’ our customers—creating a strong emotional connection with Kapitol, regardless of the project’s technical complexity.”
MA: We all know AI is the hot topic. Stepping past the hype for a moment, what are the critical customer experience trends that you feel are genuinely shaping the future?
LF: “Everyone is talking about AI, and for us in the construction industry, it’s vital. At Kapitol, we see AI as a crucial tool for streamlining and advancing our internal processes, which allows us to respond to customer requests and expectations much faster.
However, the feedback we consistently get from our clients is that the human connection remains the true differentiator. Our large-scale B2B projects—like building data centers or high-end residential—rely entirely on trust and high-touch engagement. Clients need to see the ‘whites of our eyes’ to build confidence that we will hit critical delivery dates.
While AI is optimising the ‘how’ we build, we believe that prioritising that deep, human, relationship-driven interaction is what will ultimately set us apart. We’re cautious that in the rush to automate, we may lose this essential connection.”
MA:What specific actions or initiatives are you and Kapitol prioritising for 2026?
LF: On our large construction projects, staffing changes pose a serious risk to our client relationships. The breakdown in trust isn’t due to a drop in technical skill; it’s the loss of critical intellectual property and informal context—the day-to-day conversations that define a successful partnership.
Clients are often frustrated by having to re-establish rapport and repeatedly communicate details to new personnel. Our focus is on institutionalising that project-specific knowledge. We need to ensure that the depth of delivery remains consistent, and the human element of the relationship is protected, so that any new team member can step in and continue the dialogue without forcing the client to bear the burden of information transfer.
Client relationships can be quite fragile, but they are highly valued. By deeply knowing our customers, both as individuals and as businesses, we can build robust emotional connections.
This means the relationship isn’t dependent on one individual who might be moved; it’s about the collective effort of our entire team. Our challenge is consistency: some projects excel at this, others don’t. We must close that gap by standardising and sharing best practices in relationship building across the entire organisation.
Since Customer Experience isn’t always top-of-mind in construction, a core part of my role is to train and educate our people. We need every employee to understand what CX truly means and how their actions contribute to building that essential client trust and emotional connection.
In follow up interviews we talk to Lachlan Davidson from Bupa, Elisa Adams from Sprout Strategy, Sian Howatson from Swyftx, Dannielle Pearson from Concentrix and other Australian CX Leaders.
