Author: Mark Atterby

Personalisation has become an important aspect of creating a great customer experience. Customers now expect seamless personalised experiences when dealing with their bank and if they aren’t satisfied with their current institution, an alternative provider is only a click away. The move to greater personalised experiences has gained momentum during COVID. Banks are looking to explore new ways to connect with their customers and add value in an ever changing, complex and disruptive consumer landscape. Banks are leveraging personalisation to boost customer loyalty and business growth. Anita Parer, founder and CEO of Kyte Consulting, observes, “The global pandemic has accelerated…

An omni-channel experience is about providing a seamless experience across all service and communication channels. Regardless of how or when or how often a customer wants to interact with a brand, they can. Over the years, however, omni-channel has become an over-used buzzword employed by vendors to sell technology and software. Rather than a strategy focused on helping customers, it can turn into a millstone around the neck of contact centre operations. Damian Kernahan of Proto Partners, comments, “An Omni-channel experience means that regardless of how a customer wants to interact with a brand, there is a platform for them…

The travel, hospitality and tourism industries have been hit hard by the COVID 19 pandemic. These industries are expected to rebound slowly as the world emerges from the crisis and travel restrictions are lifted. CX is expected to be a critical factor in how quickly these industries recover. At the beginning of 2020, travel was considered to be one of the most robust global industries. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded in 2019, a 4% increase on the previous year. The World Travel and Tourism Council highlights how 10.4% of…

In recent years the customer experience landscape has seen the emergence of chatbots, virtual digital assistants, and AI. By automating repetitive tasks these tools have saved costs, allowing humans to focus on more complex issues. The long term impact of AI and machine learning applications, however, is potentially tremendous and far reaching. Machine learning refers to the ability of information systems or computer programs to learn and improve from experience, without being programmed. Essentially, the machine interprets existing data using algorithms allowing the computer program or information system to find hidden insights without being explicitly programed where to look. “At…

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic businesses are increasingly prioritising customer experience over product and pricing as a means to differentiate their brand. As a result, customer experience skills and competencies are in high demand across most if not all industry sectors in Australia. Jobs with customer experience in the title are proliferating across Australian businesses. Anita Siassios, managing director of ManagingCX and lead of CXPA Melbourne Network, comments, “Organisations are demonstrating a sense of urgency to re-invent and reset themselves as we come out of the pandemic. It has elevated the ‘customer’ and the people who serve them…

Ensuring your customers receive maximum value and enjoyment out of the products you sell them is a critical component of their overall experience with your brand. The term ‘Customer Success’ refers adopting a proactive approach to providing solutions and answers for your customers. Along with ‘Customer Experience’, ‘Customer Success’ has become increasingly popular over recent years. Companies are increasingly aware of the fact that the real value behind the products they sell, is not determined purely by the features of those products, but in their ability to allow a customer to achieve a goal or an objective. The easier and…

Personalisation is one of the most important aspects of creating a great great customer experience. Today’s customers expect a personalised experience when dealing with brands. Highly personalised customer experiences driven by data analytics about current customers are difficult for competitors to imitate. The challenge lies in: who are we actually trying to personalise for? All too often personalisation is confused with segmentation and vice versa. Personalisation refers to an organisation’s ability to adapt the customer experience to the specific needs of the individual. It raises a series of questions that a brand needs to answer such as: Who are we targeting? Who…

The ability of a business to deliver an exceptional experience to customers is dependent on one thing – it’s culture. Successful CX requires a culture that puts the customer at the heart of every decision and action made. Unfortunately, for most organisations, that’s easier said than done. You can build as many customer journey maps as you want or implement as many customer feedback systems or undertake a major digital transformation project, but none of these will matter much if you’re not able to create a ‘customer centric’ culture within your organisation. Dr Linden Brown, author of The Customer Culture…

With $5 billion in annual revenue, John Holland builds and operates transport infrastructure across Australia, including Sydney Metro and Melbourne Metro trains. Director of Customer Experience Yvette Mihelic, explains how the concept of ‘customer experience’ became vital to the way the company operates. John Holland needs to cater for the requirements of two types of customers. Firstly, they need to cater for the end users of public transport services, i.e. the people who catch the trains and light rail they build, operate and maintain. Secondly, they need to cater to their clients’ needs, which is the government or transport jurisdiction…

Gumtree helps local buyers and sellers to connect and exchange goods and services across Australia. When COVID struck Gumtree had to make drastic changes to its operating model and how it serviced its customers. Amanda Behre, Head of Marketing, explains how Gumtree leveraged its data and customer insights to engage and connect with the communities it serves. Gumtree may receive, on average, 80 – 90,000 listings a day from sellers of second hand or used goods. Buyers search these listings, which are divided into categories, to find items they’re looking to buy. When someone finds something on Gumtree they want,…