Journey Mapping, CX Automation and More: Your Guide to CCW Vegas 2019

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Customer Contact Week Vegas promises to be educational, informative and star-studded, featuring rousing keynotes from Earvin “Magic” Johnson, president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and Ambassador Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.

With seven tracks of cutting-edge content around CX automation, customer journey mapping, personalization and more, you’ll leave with actionable takeaways tied to your specific business problem no matter where you are in the CX journey.

Here are five buzz-worthy CX topics we’re excited to tackle at CCW Vegas:

1. Chatbots and CX automation

Under pressure to appease the digital-first customer, organizations are investing heavily in self-service portals, chatbots and knowledge bases to provide on-demand, 24/7 customer support. However, self-service radically changes the customer journey: from product consideration (online comparison-shopping) to purchase (e-commerce) to after-sales care (searching FAQs or querying a bot).

In a panel discussion with VP-level executives from Verizon, Uber and IBM, you’ll learn how these Fortune 500s optimized the human factor in customer engagement.

Read more: Bots vs. Humans - 4 Ways to Balance Automation with Live Agents

That same day, RLH Corp’s April Weatherly will discuss how Red Lion Hotels uses intelligent virtual agents for customer care. Join a CCW Innovation Lab track session to hear from Sony Electronic’s Roger Brewer about the company’s journey shifting to digital customer service to compete with rivals Samsung and Apple.

CX automation is more than just a contact center tool; it’s a new approach to the digital product experience - at least for Verizon Fios. Verizon’s Sasha Chatani Lucas will discuss the company’s advanced digital experience and how to innovate continuously for competitive advantage.

2. Agent engagement

With CX automation comes higher-skilled demands on agents to handle complex or uncommon requests not resolved in self-service. At the same time, more and more organizations recognize their frontline agents as sources of insight into the voice of the customer and key drivers of customer loyalty. Given the increased responsibilities placed on agents, fostering an inspiring employee culture has never been more important.

Read more: Marriott Hotel Former GM on 4 Ways to Build an Unforgettable Employee Culture

Hootsuite’s VP of customer, Kirsty Traill, will share how the social media management platform connected CX and brand experience to improve employee engagement and how to transform your culture across departmental silos.

Meanwhile, education technology company Age of Learning will provide insights into how to equip agents to cultivate customer loyalty. During CCWomen, a gathering of female leaders in customer contact, Uber’s Lisa Stoner will share how Women Of Uber promotes the advancement of women in recruiting, professional development and community service.

3. Customer intelligence and actionable analytics

With the advent of speech analytics, AI-powered CRM systems and real-time customer feedback mechanisms, companies collect unprecedented amounts of customer data. But it should be more than just a self-congratulating feedback loop for the contact center. Rather, it’s a living, breathing trove of insights into what you should stop, start and continue to do for your customers. In fact, data should guide your quality assurance model at every level of the organization.

Hear Lexi Emmons discuss how childcare provider Bright Horizons pivoted to metrics focusing on the experience at large and not scores or statistics. She’ll also offer tips on how to train agents to adapt to a new metric systems.

Read more: 5 Overhyped CX Trends You Should Reconsider

Most organizations are unaware how difficult it is to do business with them until they start tracking customer feedback. Don’t miss Verizon’s director of digital marketing, Matt Cecil’s discussion on how to use customer insights to refine your training and coaching strategy.

Finally, complete your mastery of customer data by attending a presentation by Brad Prescott, senior manager of customer experience at Asurion, on how to take customer insights to the next level.

4. Customer journey mapping

CX automation, customer intelligence, self-service and personalization – all the hot-button issues organizations are obsessing over right now disrupt the pre-existing customer journey.

In ‘Supercharge Your CX With Customer Journey Mapping,’ Mitel’s Matthew Clare warns against building a one-size-fits-all customer experience, and proposes instead how companies can understand each customers’ unique omnichannel journey to “supercharge” their CX.

If that doesn’t convince you, take it from two executives at Amex Global Business Travel as they discuss how American Express reimagined end-to-end corporate travel management using digital technologies centered on proactive customer care.

5. Customer-centric culture

Customer centricity doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a mindset that permeates the entire organization. Before CX became a buzzword, many businesses believed the customer experience was the sole concern of the contact center, while B2B support was nonexistent.

Take it from Mastercard’s Lance Gruner: when he was first recruited to focus on B2B customers he felt like a “party crasher” as there was no seat for him or the customer at the table.

Catch his keynote on Thursday to hear how he championed a customer-centric culture transformation and came to lead B2B and B2C customer care, global CX and insights. Also not-to-be-missed is the 20th anniversary keynote from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who is applying his very successful Zappos corporate culture model to build the $350 million Downtown Project, a “city as a startup” business incubator in downtown Las Vegas.