Thanks to Napster, a critical mass of people were already listening to music electronically before Apple introduced iTunes and the iPod. The volume of digital listeners was even bigger by the time Apple (along with Spotify and others) took the experience a step further with streaming music services. The path was similarly smooth when desktop computers gave way to laptops and then later smartphones and smart watches. In every one of these cases, people were simply being given an option to access the same content and digital experiences at a location of their choosing. Apple’s Vision Pro, announ ..read more

It used to be seen as more of a tool for the sales department, but there are few repositories of customer data as powerful as a CRM, which means Chris Pennington’s job is to help SugarCRM’s customers manage relationships with their own customers. Prior to joining the Cupertino, Calif.-based software firm in 2019 as chief customer officer, Pennington spent more than a decade seeing first-hand how companies adopted technologies like a CRM when he worked for Professional Advantage, a services firm that also specializes in solutions like ERPs and business intelligence applications. Given the strat ..read more

Brands may be eager to adopt artificial intelligence technologies as a way to personalize the customer experiences they deliver, but concerns over biases in algorithms could be jeopardizing their relationships, according to research from Telus International. The Vancouver-based firm, which designs a range of CX solutions, surveyed approximately 1,000 Americans who said they were familiar with concepts such as generative AI. Telus found that two out of five people surveyed said they had been given the wrong content from brands due to the use of AI. Examples included music and TV programs they d ..read more

“Please be a lady, please be a lady, please be a lady . . .” In the trailer for the new movie Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the title character is with her friend at the drug store. They are buying sanitary napkins for the first time. They are approaching the counter. And as you may have guessed, the person serving them is not a lady but a dead-eyed teenage boy. His expression – and then their mortified expression – tells you everything about the kind of customer experience that is taking place. I was reminded of this trailer recently when I learned about a study by researchers at ..read more

When vendors ask their customers to join them on stage at their annual conference, it’s usually to ask them about their key business challenges and how they used the vendor’s products. When Aaron Bradley came on during the customer experience session at Sapphire 2023 last week, however, the first question was something a little unusual. “Do you like my hair?” Ritu Bhargava, president and chief product officer of SAP CX wondered during the Orlando-based event, which was broadcast online. Bradley was nonplussed because he knew Bhargava was clearly using loads of products from Wella Company, the ..read more

The demand for more insights is on the rise, as 80 per cent of business professionals say their organization is prioritizing or investing in customer experience (CX) design, according to a research from UserTesting. Based in San Francisco, where it provides technology to assist with the way digital products and experiences are built, UserTesting said it combined two surveys that totalled more than 1,800 people to produce its 2023 Experience Research Industry Report. This marked the 10th year the company has fielded its CX survey in particular. UserTesting found that more than half of responden ..read more

“Oh no,” I said to myself while I was walking around downtown last week. “Not again.” Just off Yonge St, which is the main artery connecting Toronto’s core, I saw that Wish, a low-key restaurant I had loved for years, was gone. It wasn’t a surprise, really – there have been businesses of every kind shuttering their doors since the pandemic began – but I would have done something if I’d known. Maybe I would have taken my wife there one last time. I might have even sent a note via e-mail, letting them know I was sorry to see them go. Instead, I was just left with disappointment, the sad end of s ..read more

It’s the kind of mix-up that wouldn’t have been possible less than 10 years ago, but today it’s commonplace: You accidentally put in a mobile order for coffee at the wrong Starbucks location. There are only two things you can do when this happens: either forego the coffee and lose your money, or reach out to Starbucks for help. At its Knowledge 2023 conference this week, ServiceNow showed how its use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) could make that second option a lot easier for both customers and service agents. “We believe that this technology has reached an inflection point where ..read more

While 80 per cent of contact center agents agree that having quick access to information has an impact on their metrics, only nine per cent work in organizations with a “case swarming” model, according to research from Coveo. The Quebec City-based provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions surveyed approximately 250 U.S. contact center agents at organizations with more than 100 employees to produce its 2023 Customer Service Agent Relevance Report. While the research found many agents are continuing to work in relative isolation, 14 per cent said their organization is researching or con ..read more

I’ve never been much of a video gamer, but I spent enough times at arcades in my youth that I’m pretty good at pushing past self-checkout kiosk buttons as a way of saying “No.” Assuming what I buy can fit in my backpack, for instance, I usually say no to bags. Next I often skip past entering my loyalty card (much to my wife’s chagrin). Then there are philanthropic nudges, such as asking whether I will give some extra money to a children’s hospital or women’s shelter. Please don’t call me Scrooge because I don’t want to make a charitable donation every time I shop. Now, although it hasn’t happe ..read more