An outstanding array of Australian CX thought leaders gathered on the 6th October to share stories on how their teams met the challenges of the COVID pandemic. Though each story was unique, the one thing that was common was the importance of customer empathy – the ability to understand what customers are experiencing and feeling in response to the crisis.
COVID-19 has disrupted just about every business and individual across the globe. The organisations that have dealt successfully with the impact of the pandemic, did so by truly understanding and meeting their customers emotional needs. Beyond focusing on customer metrics such as NPS and CSAT, they were able to quickly pivot their operations to urgently address what their customers needed.
In their presentation Edwina Morgan, general manager CX and Aife O’Loughlin, CX manager, explain the journey Salvos Stores took with their customers during the pandemic. Alex Allwood, gave a presentation specifically on customer empathy and how it is lacking in so many customer experience initiatives, she says, “I have observed in my consulting work, something I refer to as the CX practice gap or empathy deficit, which is perpetuated through a shortfall in empathetic leadership. And it’s also perpetuated through our obsession with customer scores such as NPS and CSAT. It means that despite all the investment in CX very little gains are actually achieved.”
Ian Stokol CCXP, lead a panel discussion, Reframing the student experience & learning during the pandemic. The emergence of COVID-19 dramatically changed the way schools and universities provide education and services. The panel talked about how to maintain a positive student experience while embracing a digitally enabled and virtual learning environment. The panel included:
- Amin Foda – Monash University – Director, Marketing Infrastructure
- Dean Pearman – Wesley College – Head of Digital Learning & Practice,
- Kirsty Watts – Academic Dean of Technology & eLearning Kilvington Grammar.
The event was organised by CXPA Australia and was held virtually on Zoom. Anita Siassios CCXP Founder of the CXPA Melbourne Network , was the main host and was moderated by the planning committee that included Zora Hoare CCXP, Killian McAndrew, Vanessa Bedelis, Danielle Grehan,Ian Stokol CCXP and Anna Siassios.
Anita explains the purpose behind CX Day, “CX Day was created by the CXPA as a way of recognising all the professionals who work in creating great experiences for customers. The local planning committee started working on this event five months ago. The most important thing we wanted to do for our community was to create an awareness of our indigenous and Torres Straights culture. The event started with a ‘Welcome to Country’ acknowledgement conducted by Uncle Dave Wandin, a traditional owner of the Wurundjeri People.”
“We wanted to hear from an international perspective so we had Greg Melia CEO CXPA and Jeanne Bliss, CCXP join us. We also wanted to understand what our CX leaders in the community were doing and how they were coping in supporting communities in crisis. The event was also a Fundraiser for the Salvation Army and so far has raised approx. $700.00 the goal is to reach $1000.00 by the end of the week”.
Further donations can be made at https://chip-in.salvationarmy.org.au/cxpa
