Top Headlines In Customer Contact News This Week | 1/15/2023

Welcome back to “Top Headlines In CX News This Week” here at CCW Digital where we’ll be handpicking and highlighting the most interesting news stories in customer contact and business just for your learning pleasure.

The first serious snowfall of the New Year has hit the northeast and then some, and as usual nobody quite knows how to proceed at the moment. Long gone are the days of school closures and delayed store openings, and here to stay are WFH and hybrid learning. For the kids, digital may be taking away some of that winter magic, but for big name brands the sudden snow is also urshering in some viral social media moments.

Grab your warmest gear and a shovel—let's dig into this week's CX news.

Arctic Blast Freezes Travel Plans Across The U.S.

Nearly 10,000 planes full of passengers are out of luck this week as an artic blast hits 80% of the country, causing flight delays and cancellations across airlines. "Alaska Airlines canceled 166 flights, which equates to 24% of its scheduled flights for the day. Southwest Airlines canceled 719 flights, representing 18% of its schedule, while United Airlines canceled 349 flights, or 13% of its total flights," reveals FlightAware data.

Following last week's Alaska Airlines in-flight door rip, and considering customer dissatisfaction rates for United last year, it doesn't seem like 2024 is going to be the year for travel CX success—at least for now.

RELATED: United Airlines Launches 'Agent on Demand': What It Means For CX and EX

Uber Pours One Out For Drizly Over Cybersecurity Concerns

"After three years of Drizly operating independently within the Uber family, we've decided to close the business and focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything—from food to groceries to alcohol—all on a single app," Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber's SVP of delivery, shared with Axios earlier this week.

The announement comes on the heels of serious cybersecurity concerns on the part of Drizly: after two years of known data protection issues within the organization, in 2020 the brand was finally hacked, compromising the data of 2.5 million customers. Now, it seems like all those looking for sommelier-recommended wine picks and beer bottle might be out of luck when it comes to their UberEats delivery.

Stanley Quenches CX Thirst With Viral Customer Centricity 

"Whether you’ve seen Stanley on social media, in your child’s classroom or on your colleagues desk, it has become a staple item for customers looking to up their water intake. But, unpacking the source of the obsession and the history of this iconic brand seems a worthwhile discussion," writes CCW Digital's Deputy Divisional Director Brooke Lynch.

"The history and trajectory of Stanley’s recent growth reflects a winning combination of marketing and viral customer service moments," she adds, offering the CCW Digital community a breakdown down the rise of Stanley in 2024 and key learning moments for engaging customers and redefining your brand.

Related: CCW Digital Exclusive—Shapermint's Customer Care Director Shares How The Brand Keeps CSAT Scores High

Musk Raises Stakes At Tesla Over AI

As of Monday, Elon Musk says he needs to "own 25 percent of Tesla to avoid takeovers and have enough control of the company as it develops robots and other artificial intelligence technology," with the goal of being influential in the company while still maintaining parity. “Unless that is the case," he adds, "I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.” 

Musk's race to become the richest man in the world also encompasses making his brand a world leader in AI, which resonates with many of us in the customer contact space. While his methodology may be a bit unorthodox by some standards, the notion that we've just scratched the surface on advanced technology's capabilities is alive and well. Will Tesla cave in to his request? Read more at the New York Times.

RELATED: According To The Internet, Twitter X Is A Recipe For Branding And CX Disaster

How The Fortune 500 Can Enhance The Customer And Employee Experience

Customer Contact Week speaker Kimberlee West has joined our ranks at CCW Digital, contributing her insights on leading high performing teams. "I have four key missions when I write and advise in this space," she writes.

• "Elevate the contact center function
• Put people at the center when we talk about CX
• Break down silos
• Remove the complexity of AI to make it easier to adopt and drive change." 

Head here for a high-level view of what to expect from West.

RELATED: Advancing Small Businesses Through AI, Revolutionizing Customer Experience And Satisfaction

Lindt Makes Sweet Record Sales

The cost of living is increasing, and every industry is feeling it in their bank accounts, including confectonary coroporations. As the cost of making sweets rises so too do their price points, but for Swiss chcolate brand  Lindt a pricey package of goodies isn't a turn off for customers. If anything, a high price for high quality is making sense. 

Lintd managed to post a "10.3% rise in sales in 2023," reports Fortune. "Despite major pressures on the cost of key input cocoa, the group said it was able to offset some costs through improved efficiency at its factories... The rest of the costs fell on the group’s sweet-toothed customers." 

How did the brand make it happen without it being a toothache for everyone involved? Read on.

RELATED: Shep Hyken Shares His 3 Customer Service Strategies That Work In A Tough Economy

Photo by Moses Rukshan on Unsplash.