No, you’re not in a time warp. This Fall’s U.S. television season includes some old favorites—“Will & Grace,” “Murphy Brown,” and “Magnum P.I.” As a TV junkie, I am looking forward to watching them, both for the nostalgia of familiar characters, but also to see how the shows evolve to reflect the current culture.
Just as with entertainment and fashion, some things never go out of style. If an idea resonates and has impact, people find ways to rejuvenate and contemporize it so it applies to new generations and untapped audiences.
The same can be said for customer experience. The concepts of personalization, one-to-one relationships, and understanding individual customers have been around since commerce began. Companies have always strived to recreate the mom-and-pop shop feel at scale, and now digitally and across devices. What’s new has been the application of the concept to match the realities of the times.
This issue of the Customer Strategist focuses on customer experience innovations, both big and small. Some companies have revamped old products and processes, while others are starting fresh with a new outlook on how to serve customers in new ways. They take the timeless notion of delivering great customer experiences and adapt it for today’s customers.
Business services firm ADP and Arizona State University both emphasize emotion to boost their customer service organizations. We highlight how small, everyday innovations in the contact center lead to ROI impact. And we detail how automation and AI are enhancing service to sales and employee learning initiatives.
Enjoy the issue!
