CX Files: Recent Episodes
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan
CX Files features your hosts, CX industry analysts Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan, speaking each week to leading analysts, thinkers, and practitioners focused on managing the Customer Experience (CX). In each episode Mark and Peter talk to their guests about the future of CX, the important trends, and what customers really expect from brands today.
LinkedIn Has Lost the Plot — Can the CX Community Fix It? LinkedIn was once the essential networking platform for business professionals, but today it can feel overwhelmed by sponsored posts, algorithmic recommendations, automated sales messages and bland AI-generated content. Even genuine attempts to connect and start conversations are increasingly met with silence or suspicion.
Peter Ryan talks to Simma Kularatna, Head of New Business at Interact Contact Centres, about why LinkedIn has become so difficult to navigate and whether it can still deliver value for the CX community. Drawing on her experience of spending several hours each day using the platform, Simma explores how professionals can rebuild trust, create more authentic content and turn passive connections into meaningful business relationships.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/skularatna/
https://interactcc.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the relevance and challenges of LinkedIn for the CX community. They reflect on the platform's evolution, noting an increase in AI-generated content and sponsored posts, which dilutes the quality of engagement. Simma Kularatna, from Interact Contact Centres, joins to discuss the decline in genuine connections and relationships on LinkedIn. She emphasizes the need to rebuild trust and engage authentically, suggesting proactive commenting and creating a dedicated CX leaders page. They agree on the importance of LinkedIn for professional networking and advocate for a return to its original purpose of building meaningful business relationships.
Jim Farnsworth is Founder and CEO of HiOctayne. He is based in Denver, Colorado. Jim has a long history as a senior leader within and advisor to multiple BPOs and CX experts. He is therefore well placed to comment on why the publicly traded BPOs have seen their share price collapse - and what can these companies do to recover?
Publicly traded BPO and CX companies have faced a dramatic collapse in investor confidence over the past few years. Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan open this episode by exploring how AI disruption, falling valuations, short sellers, and weak industry storytelling have allowed analysts and investors to define the future of the sector.
Peter then speaks with Jim Farnsworth, founder and CEO of HiOctayne, about why the market increasingly views traditional BPO companies as vulnerable labor-arbitrage businesses rather than growth companies. Jim argues that BPOs need to stop positioning themselves as technology companies and instead demonstrate how they can deliver customer outcomes through a blend of AI, automation, analytics, and human expertise. The conversation also explores whether privately owned firms have an advantage over publicly traded businesses because they can plan beyond the pressure of quarterly results.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jifarnsworth/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hioctayne/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the challenges faced by publicly traded BPOs, noting significant losses and declining share prices over the past few years. They highlight the impact of AI on the industry, with companies like Klarna announcing major workforce reductions, leading to a negative narrative. Jim Farnsworth, a BPO industry expert, emphasizes the need for BPOs to redefine themselves as hybrid entities combining human and AI capabilities. He suggests that private equity-owned BPOs may have an advantage due to less pressure from quarterly market expectations and more strategic flexibility. The conversation underscores the importance of storytelling and strategic positioning in the evolving CX landscape.
If AI Can't See You, Buyers Won't Either: The New Rules of B2B Sales In this special bonus episode of CX Files, Peter Ryan turns the microphone on his co-host Mark Hillary to discuss Mark's latest book, If AI Can't See You, You Don't Exist: How B2B Sales Changed Forever. Mark explains how AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are transforming the earliest stages of the buying journey. Potential clients are now using AI to define their problems, compare solutions, investigate suppliers, and create shortlists—often before a salesperson knows that an opportunity exists.
The central message is that content can no longer be treated as a minor marketing activity. Original articles, interviews, podcasts, case studies, and executive insights have become part of a company's sales infrastructure: the public evidence AI systems use when deciding which businesses to recommend. Mark and Peter also explore why generic, automatically generated content is unlikely to build authority, why valuable material must be publicly accessible rather than hidden behind paywalls, and why podcasts and videos should be supported by transcripts that AI platforms can read.
Mark shares a striking example of ChatGPT recommending an earlier CX Files interview when asked about the impact of AI on contact centres—demonstrating how credible expert conversations can directly influence AI-generated answers. The episode offers a practical introduction to the book's central warning: companies that fail to make their genuine expertise visible may disappear from the buyer's consideration before the formal sales process has even begun.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.carnabysp.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Cant-See-You-Dont-Exist-ebook/dp/B0H4M7F44P
Send Mark Hillary a direct message on LinkedIn with your email address if you want to receive a free PDF copy of the book - or feel free to go and order a copy via Amazon if you prefer a "real" book.
Summary:
Peter Ryan and Mark Hillary discuss Mark's new book, "If AI Can't See You, You Don't Exist," which explores the transformative impact of AI on sales and marketing, particularly in BPOs. Mark highlights how AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are changing client behavior, emphasizing the need for high-quality content to engage AI systems. Peter shares examples of using AI for event planning and content accessibility. They stress the importance of visibility in AI-driven marketing and offer listeners a free PDF of Mark's book upon request. The conversation underscores the evolving landscape of sales and marketing strategies influenced by AI.
Jessica Pleffken is the founder and CEO of Pleffken & Marvulle Marketing. Ana Marvulle is co-founder and managing partner. Jessica and Ana both have a long history working inside CX and BPO companies and now their specialist marketing company advises companies working in the CX environment. Both Jessica and Ana are based in São Paulo, Brazil.
Jessica and Ana explain why the traditional separation between marketing and sales no longer works. BPO buyers now conduct extensive research before contacting a provider, using LinkedIn, client referrals and AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity to compare companies and build shortlists. Marketing must therefore do more than generate leads: it must establish trust, demonstrate operational capability and ensure that the company presents a clear, consistent and credible story across its website, content, sales materials and public reputation.
The conversation explores how sales, marketing and operations can work as a single growth system with shared priorities and metrics. Jessica and Ana also argue that BPO companies need stronger client advocacy, genuine case studies and evidence of results rather than generic claims. Their final advice is simple: write for customers rather than industry peers, avoid unnecessary jargon and explain clearly what the company actually does. In an AI-driven buying environment, the providers that communicate with the greatest clarity and credibility will be the easiest to discover - and the easiest to trust.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicapleffken/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-carvalhom/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/pleffken-marvulle-marketing-bpo
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-outsources-company-theyve-never-heard-jessica-pleffken-hosti-1na9f/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolving landscape of customer experience (CX) and marketing in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. They highlight the importance of integrating marketing and sales due to changes in client behavior, particularly the increased use of AI for shortlisting BPOs. Jessica Pleffken and Anna Marvulle from P&M Marketing in São Paulo emphasize the need for a unified growth system, shared metrics, and simple, clear communication to build trust and credibility. They stress the importance of aligning marketing and sales strategies, understanding client needs, and maintaining consistent messaging to enhance brand reputation and client acquisition.
Peter Ryan speaks with Tugs Smith and Adrian Smith, co-founders of ATAC Global CX in Oshawa, Ontario, about the launch of the Certified Remote Service Agent certification. The discussion explores why remote contact center work now needs a trusted global standard, how agents can prove they are ready to handle real customer interactions from home, and why resumes and interviews are no longer enough.
Tugs and Adrian explain how the CRSA combines written assessment, live call simulation, and blockchain verification to create a portable credential for work-from-home CX professionals. They also discuss how certification can help agents stand out, reduce hiring risk for employers, and give BPOs a stronger signal of quality when competing for new business.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tugssmith/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriansmith-atac/
https://atacglobalcx.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the CRSA (Certified Remote Service Agent) program developed by Tugs and Adrian Smith of ATAC, a work-from-home company in Canada. The CRSA is a blockchain-verified accreditation for remote customer service agents, ensuring they can handle complex interactions effectively. The program includes a written assessment and a live voice call simulation, evaluating agents on professionalism, communication, CX operations, technology, health and safety, and compliance. The dynamic and randomized nature of the evaluation ensures agents are tested on their real-time problem-solving skills. The CRSA aims to improve service standards and reduce hiring risks, benefiting both businesses and agents.
Your contact center may be one of the most valuable targets in the enterprise supply chain.
Peter Ryan speaks with Muhammad Yahya Patel, Cybersecurity Advisor at Huntress, about why cybersecurity has become a critical issue for CX leaders, contact centers, and BPO providers. He is based in Blackburn in the UK.
Muhammad Yahya Patel explains why CX operations are attractive targets for cybercriminals, how outsourcers can become vulnerable points in the enterprise supply chain, and why customer data makes these environments so valuable to attackers. The conversation explores identity as the new security perimeter, the risks of underinvestment, the difference between compliance and genuine cyber resilience, and why CX organizations need proactive partners rather than just more tools.
This episode is a timely reminder that cybersecurity is no longer just an IT concern. It is now central to customer trust, operational resilience, and the future of CX delivery.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mypi/
https://www.huntress.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the importance of cybersecurity in CX delivery, highlighting the vulnerabilities of CX operations within the supply chain. They reference a report by IBM, noting the average cost of a cyber attack cleanup is $5 million, which can be catastrophic for small and medium-sized businesses. Muhammad Yahya Patel from Huntress Labs emphasizes the need for proactive cybersecurity measures, advocating for partnerships that provide tailored solutions rather than just tool purchases. Patel also stresses the importance of continuous cyber resilience and compliance with evolving regulations. The conversation underscores the critical role of cybersecurity in maintaining business continuity and reputation.
Donald Berryman is the Founder & Managing Director at ProfectusCX. He is based in Florida, USA.
Don writes a LinkedIn newsletter called The CX Advisor Perspective. He recently published several newsletters focused on how the enterprise to BPO relationship needs to develop - to bridge new AI technology use and also to change how BPOs charge for their services.
Mark Hillary called Don to explore the issues he raised and how he sees the future of the bridge between the enterprise and BPO and the RFP supplier selection process.
ProfectusCX
https://profectuscx.com/
Don Berryman - LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-berryman/
The CX Advisor Perspective
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-cx-advisor-perspective-7460298175136911361/
Summary
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolving CX landscape with Don Berryman, an advisor at Bain and founder of ProfectusCX. Berryman's LinkedIn newsletter, "The CX Advisor Perspective," highlights the need for both BPOs and enterprises to adapt to AI technology. He argues that enterprises must move beyond outdated procurement methods and focus on strategic AI investments to improve customer experience. Berryman emphasizes the shift from headcount-based pricing to outcome-based models, such as per resolved issue or CSAT. He also stresses the importance of co-managed contact centers and the need for BPOs to invest in strategic people and technology to stay competitive.
Lara Klick is the Founder and President of Klick Advisors LLC. She is based in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA.
Klick Advisors is a trust-centered consulting practice that helps healthcare leaders and teams navigate high-stakes moments with clarity, empathy, and courage.
Lara heard our episode from March where Melanie Disse explored why companies ask for feedback, but don't use it. She suggested that this subject could be explored futther with a focus on healtcare and the Patient Experience - so Mark Hillary called Lara to explore feedback, PX, and designing better healthcare experiences.
Lara has already recently published a new book titled 'Simple Doesn't Mean Easy' - entirely focused on improving patient experience.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lara-klick/
https://klickadvisors.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Doesnt-Mean-Easy-Improvement/dp/B0GY47KDF2
https://cxfiles.libsyn.com/cxfiles/melanie-disse-melanie-disse-consulting-acting-on-customer-feedback
Summary:
Lara Klick, founder of Klick Advisors, discusses the importance of acting on customer feedback, particularly in healthcare. She highlights that healthcare organizations often collect vast amounts of data but struggle to utilize it effectively. Klick emphasizes the need for specialized leaders, a supportive culture, and personalized data delivery. She shares an example where gamification increased nurse compliance from 25% to 75% in three weeks. Klick also stresses the significance of treating complaints as opportunities and co-designing improvements with patients. Her book, "Simple Doesn't Mean Easy," offers insights from her 30 years of experience in healthcare feedback.
The BPO Industry Isn't Dying. But It May Need to Reinvent Itself Faster Than Anyone Expected. Yuma AI CEO Guillaume Luccisano argues that customer experience providers must evolve from labor arbitrage specialists into AI orchestrators and systems integrators—or risk becoming irrelevant. For years, critics of the business process outsourcing industry have predicted its demise. First it was robotic process automation. Then conversational AI. Then Generative AI. Yet the industry survived every previous wave of disruption because technology changed the way work was delivered rather than eliminating the need for the service itself.
In episode 420 of the CX Files, Guillaume talks to Mark Hillary about these changes and how BPOs may need to adapt.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaumeluccisano/
https://yuma.ai/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the impact of AI on the BPO industry, featuring Guillaume Luccisano, CEO of Yuma AI. Luccisano argues that traditional BPO models are outdated, emphasizing AI's potential to automate 100% of customer service within 2-3 years. He highlights Yuma AI's success in deploying AI agents since 2023, achieving automation rates up to 89%. Luccisano predicts a significant shift in the job market due to AI, suggesting BPOs must evolve into systems integrators to survive. He also notes the cost efficiency of AI, with interactions costing under $1 compared to $4-$8 for human agents.
The BPO Industry Isn't Dying. But It May Need to Reinvent Itself Faster Than Anyone Expected. Yuma AI CEO Guillaume Luccisano argues that customer experience providers must evolve from labor arbitrage specialists into AI orchestrators and systems integrators—or risk becoming irrelevant. For years, critics of the business process outsourcing industry have predicted its demise.
First it was robotic process automation. Then conversational AI. Then Generative AI.
Yet the industry survived every previous wave of disruption because technology changed the way work was delivered rather than eliminating the need for the service itself.
But according to Guillaume Luccisano, founder and CEO of Yuma AI, this time may be different.
Speaking on Episode 420 of the CX Files podcast, Luccisano argued that the traditional BPO model—selling customer service through large pools of human agents—is facing a challenge unlike anything it has encountered before.
His view is stark: AI is no longer just helping agents do their jobs better. It is increasingly capable of doing the job itself.
And if that trend continues, the industry will need to redefine its purpose.
The End of the "Cost Per Interaction" Era Luccisano's company specializes in AI-powered customer service automation for retail and e-commerce brands. He claims some clients are already automating the vast majority of customer interactions.
What has changed, he argues, is that AI is no longer limited to answering questions from a knowledge base.
Modern AI agents can access customer records, understand context, follow workflows, execute transactions, and complete tasks.
In other words, they are moving beyond information retrieval and into operational execution.
This matters because the traditional BPO business model has largely been built around charging for human effort—whether measured in agents, hours, seats, or interactions.
If AI can handle increasing volumes of customer contacts at a fraction of the cost, then the economics begin to shift dramatically.
A contact that once required several dollars of human labor may eventually be resolved for a few cents in computing costs.
Even if those figures are debated, the direction of travel is becoming difficult to ignore.
The Problem Isn't Technology. It's Incentives. One of Luccisano's most interesting observations is that many outsourcing providers are already talking extensively about AI.
The question is whether they are deploying AI to genuinely transform operations or merely adding enough AI to satisfy customer demand while protecting existing revenue streams.
That creates an uncomfortable tension.
A provider whose business depends on thousands of agents has little incentive to aggressively deploy technology that could reduce the number of agents required.
As Luccisano noted, many providers find themselves caught between serving today's business model and preparing for tomorrow's.
The challenge is not technical.
It is organizational.
And perhaps even existential.
Why Investors Are Nervous The sharp decline in the share prices of several publicly traded CX providers has fuelled speculation about the sector's future.
Luccisano believes investors are not simply reacting to hype.
They are attempting to price in a future where customer service becomes significantly more automated, more efficient, and therefore less dependent on large labor-intensive operations.
Whether investors have overreacted remains open to debate.
But the market is clearly asking a difficult question:
What happens to a company built around managing tens of thousands of customer service agents when customers increasingly expect AI-driven efficiency?
The answer remains uncertain.
But it is a question every provider now has to confront.
The Hidden Complexity Most Critics Ignore To his credit, Luccisano does not dismiss the value that BPOs create today.
Customer interactions are only one piece of a much larger operational puzzle.
Large CX providers manage compliance requirements, regulatory obligations, security controls, multilingual operations, workforce management, governance frameworks, quality assurance, and complex integrations across dozens of markets.
Replacing an individual customer service interaction with AI is one thing.
Replacing the entire operational framework surrounding customer service is something else entirely.
This is where many simplistic predictions about the "death of BPO" fall apart.
The institutional knowledge accumulated by major outsourcing firms still has value.
The question is whether that value can be repackaged.
From Outsourcer to Systems Integrator Perhaps the most important idea from the conversation was Luccisano's belief that the future role of the BPO may look less like a labor provider and more like a systems integrator.
Rather than selling headcount, providers could sell expertise.
Rather than managing agents, they could manage AI agents.
Rather than staffing operations, they could design, orchestrate, govern, optimize, and continuously improve AI-enabled customer experience ecosystems.
This is a subtle but profound shift.
It moves the provider higher up the value chain.
The emphasis shifts from execution to orchestration.
From labor to outcomes.
From workforce management to intelligent systems management.
Ironically, this would bring some BPOs closer to the role that companies like IBM, Accenture, and other major technology integrators evolved into years ago.
A Difficult Transition The challenge, of course, is that transformation is easier to describe than to execute.
Reinventing a startup is one thing.
Reinventing a global organization employing hundreds of thousands of people is another.
Many of today's largest CX providers are highly successful businesses with established customer relationships and predictable revenue streams.
That success can become a barrier to change.
The dilemma is obvious.
How aggressively should a company invest in technologies that could cannibalize its own business?
History suggests that incumbents often struggle with precisely this problem.
The Bigger Question Perhaps the most controversial part of Luccisano's argument extends beyond outsourcing entirely.
He believes AI is creating a broader economic transformation that will affect many knowledge-based professions, not just customer service.
Software engineering, consulting, administration, legal services, and customer experience are all beginning to feel the effects.
If he is right, then the debate is no longer about whether AI will change customer service.
The debate is about how quickly institutions can adapt to a world where intelligence itself becomes abundant and inexpensive.
The Future May Belong to the Adaptable The most important takeaway from this discussion is not that BPOs are doomed.
In fact, Luccisano repeatedly acknowledged that some providers will survive and potentially thrive.
But survival may depend on abandoning the assumption that customer service is primarily a labor business.
The providers that succeed could be those that become trusted advisors, AI operators, governance experts, and systems integrators.
The providers that fail may be those that continue selling people when customers increasingly want outcomes.
The outsourcing industry has reinvented itself before.
The question now is whether it can do so again—at the speed AI demands.
David Rickard is a partner at Everest Group. He is based in the UK.
David recently visited Ethiopia for the Elevate Africa event. In this conversation with Peter Ryan David gives his take on Ethiopia and Africa more generally for CX and BPO.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwrickard/
https://www.everestgrp.com/
https://www.weelevateafrica.org/
Africa has been talked about as "the next big thing" in outsourcing for at least two decades. South Africa became a serious global CX delivery location. Egypt built a powerful multilingual BPO proposition. Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and several other markets are now attracting attention as buyers look beyond the traditional offshore giants.
But Ethiopia is starting to enter the conversation in a more serious way.
In Episode 419 of CX Files, Peter Ryan interviewed David Rickard, a partner at Everest Group, shortly after David returned from the Elevate Africa conference in Ethiopia. The conversation was valuable because David was not offering a promotional pitch. As an analyst, his job is to look at both sides of the equation: the opportunity and the obstacles.
The annual CXOutsourcers Mindshare event took place in Ottawa, Canada, earlier in May 2026 (May 18-20).
Peter Ryan took a microphone onto the conference floor to capture ideas and comments from the delegates in Canada for this CX-focused event.
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
In this episode of CX Files you will hear comments from:
Sean Duncombe - COO, Neuroframe (USA)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanduncombe/
Nathalie Siphengphet - CMO and VP Strategy, NQX (Canada)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaliesiphengphet/
Yanique Grant - Chief CX Specialist, ElevateCX (USA)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaniquewagrantcx/
Seandette Wiltshire - Founder, The Contact Hub (Barbados)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandette/
Dave Rumble - various roles including Director and Chair Maistro Group and board advisor to NDH Group (UK)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
Krzysztof Herdzik - Co-founder and Chief Expert, Nalu Experts (Poland)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/krzysztofherdzik/
Fauad Nasir - CEO and Founder, EmpireOne BPO (Canada)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fauad-nasir/
Anna Yotova - Head of Innovation and co-founder, CALLBOXS (Bulgaria)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-yotova-2471aa17b/
Veronica Richards - VP at WW Calls Canada (Canada)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-richards-9b26969/
Faye Joubert - CRO, iTalk International (South Africa)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fayevaldajoubert/
Terez Rijkenberg - Executive Coach (UK)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terezrijkenberg/
Vinay Parmar - MD, Customer Whisperers (UK)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinayparmar/
Note: the order listed here is the order the voices feature in the podcast - there is no secret formula about the order. It's the order in which Peter sent the audio files to Mark Hillary to be included in this episode.
What makes a customer love a brand?
It is a simple question, but it quickly becomes complicated. People often reach for the obvious examples. Apple customers lining up overnight for the latest iPhone. Harry Potter fans queuing in costume outside bookshops. Lego fans who pass their love of the brand from one generation to the next.
Jonas Berggren, Chief Client Officer EMEA at Transcom, explores this question. What connects the best brands with customers and building a relationship that can last for many years?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasberggren2/
https://www.transcom.com/
Stephanie Reeves Millner is a Global EVP at TP. She is based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. It is worth noting from the start of this podcast episode that Stephanie is talking in a personal capacity in this interview.
CX and BPO processes are usually seen as a cost to most businesses. Stephanie argues that there are a number of strategies that can be used to drive up revenue, protect existing revenue, and increase customer loyalty. Applying all these strategies together can turn a CX cost center into a revenue generation center - moving from planning service to sales.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Stephanie explains this service to sales concept. She also talks her her use of LinkedIn video to promote and share her own ideas - why is it so valuable to share raw and unfiltered content full of original ideas?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemillner/
https://www.tp.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the shift from viewing customer interactions as a cost to recognizing their revenue-generating potential. Stephanie Reeves Millner, a global EVP at TP, emphasizes the importance of human engagement in customer care, highlighting revenue protection, creation, trust, and loyalty. She advocates for a brand performance engine over a cost center, focusing on retention, repeat purchases, and lifetime value. Millner also discusses the role of AI in augmenting human decision-making and the need for agents to have autonomy in upselling. She shares her experience with videos on LinkedIn, which have gained traction and provided valuable insights to her audience.
Andrew Hall is the founder and CEO of Ethenta. He is based in Portugal.
The "DREAM" service from Ethenta is a strategic framework designed to help organizations transition from traditional hierarchies to intelligent, agentic networks. It is aimed at enabling "+65% Productivity" through "Enterprise Agentic AI Transformation"
Mark Hillary called Andrew to ask about Agentic AI and how a focus on AI across the organisation may have a profound impact on CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewghall/
http://ethenta.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the challenges in the CX industry, including increased airfare costs and the bankruptcy of Spirit Airlines. They introduce Andrew Hall, who has formed a new company, Ethenta, focused on agentic AI. Ethenta's "DREAM" methodology helps organizations reimagine their business processes by capturing and synthesizing data from various sources, including interviews and historical data. The tool provides a visualization of the enterprise's "corporate psyche," aiding in decision-making and root cause analysis. Andrew emphasizes the importance of intelligent people using AI to augment, not replace, human intelligence.
Nathan Muniz is the founder and owner of 247Secretary.com. The business is based in Florida, USA, but has contact center operations in the Philippines.
Nathan talked to Mark Hillary from the floor of his contact center on his approach to telling the world about his business.
He walks the floor and talks to real people doing their job. No studio. No scripts. No "AI transformation" buzzwords. Just real agents, real calls, and real insight. And here's the uncomfortable truth: That raw, unfiltered content is doing more for his pipeline than most enterprise marketing teams with million-dollar budgets. Prospects are literally saying: "ChatGPT told us to talk to you." Let that sink in. While everyone else is using AI to churn out generic content, Nathan is using reality to train the AI engines.
Authenticity is the key word here. Nathan lets people see his business up close and the online viewers love it, but the AI audience is even more important - because these AI tools are telling people about Nathan's business.
https://247secretary.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdcoutsourcing/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss Nathan Muniz's innovative marketing strategy for his BPO, 247Secretary.com, in the Philippines. Nathan's approach involves posting authentic, behind-the-scenes videos on LinkedIn, which has attracted clients through AI recommendations like ChatGPT. This transparency has led to significant engagement and new leads without traditional lead generation efforts. Nathan emphasizes the importance of showing legitimacy, especially for offshore BPOs, and highlights the value of original content over glossy marketing. He also notes the ongoing demand for human agents despite AI hype and advises businesses to be transparent about their operations to build trust and credibility.
Gary Slade is the Chief Commerical Officer at TP EMEA. He has many years of BPO and CX experience and he previously led the UK/Ireland operation at TP as CEO.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Gary is talking about BPO stability and how this is becoming an important new measurement that companies need to focus on. If you are looking for a BPO partner then how do you know if they will still be around in 5 years? There is so much M&A activity, Private Equity takeovers, and BPOs that rely on a single client or geography... how can you be sure that you are choosing a reliable partner who can support your future growth plans?
Is stability becoming the new BPO battleground?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyslade1/
https://www.tp.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the importance of stability in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services, highlighting Gary Slade's (TP EMEA CCO) views on the shift from cost to reliability. They note the volatility in geopolitics and fuel crises, which emphasize the need for BPOs to be resilient and financially stable. Slade emphasizes the importance of geographic diversity, industry experience, and technological investment. He also discusses the impact of private equity on service quality and the need for total cost of ownership considerations. The conversation concludes with the importance of BPOs demonstrating long-term stability and adaptability to future disruptions.
*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f2f632a-46c8-4445-8b38-333795a0ae69-2" data-testid= "conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> In this episode of CX Files, Peter Ryan speaks with Sarah Leff about Interact CC's expansion into South Africa's Eastern Cape, exploring why the region is emerging as a compelling alternative to traditional CX hubs like Cape Town and Johannesburg. Leff explains that while South Africa has long been a natural partner for UK-based customer experience delivery - thanks to cultural alignment, language, and time zone compatibility - the Eastern Cape offers a distinct advantage: significantly lower attrition, abundant untapped graduate talent, and greater cost stability.
The conversation highlights how Interact's people-centric, employee-owned model aligns well with a region where jobs are valued as long-term careers rather than stepping stones, resulting in stronger engagement and performance. Together, they argue that as CX buyers move beyond cost-driven outsourcing toward value, resilience, and talent quality, newer locations like the Eastern Cape represent the next evolution of Africa's role in global service delivery.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-leff-5338124/
https://interactcc.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the expansion of Interact Contact Centers into the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Sarah Leff, Managing Director of Interact Global, explains the decision to set up in the Eastern Cape due to lower attrition rates (15-25%) compared to other hubs like Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg (30-40%). The region offers a highly educated workforce, neutral accents, and lower costs. Interact's new site in Port Elizabeth employs around 100 people, with plans to scale up. The company values its people-centric approach and strong client partnerships, which have lasted over a decade.
Chris Chance is the Senior Vice President for East Africa at CCI Global. He is based between Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. CCI Global is headquartered in the UAR, but has extensive operations across Africa - they aim to be the largest and most respected BPO in Africa through a combination of offering innovative services with a focus on impact sourcing and community uplift.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary from his base in Ethiopia, Chris talks about the creation of the Outsourcing Alliance of Kenya (OAK) - what does it mean for the region that we are seeing stronger organization around promotion for CX and BPO?
Beyond the new alliance, Chris talked about the increased development of services from Africa - with a new wave of countries even coming up close behind the ones he is working in.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrischance/
https://cciglobal.com/
Reports mentioned in the podcast:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/david-rumble-4a4a09b_elevateafrica-gbs-globalbusinessservices-activity-7435711466642608128-owOl/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ethiopian-investment-holdings_elevateafrica2026-ethiopianinvestmentholdings-activity-7434521009770323969-LPhl/
https://www.storydoc.com/11ba14bd4fd414f857a280044f096bcc/800e1f-ee50-f41c-6572-bbe14876d62/691346c299a86062dbbd6c6c
https://genesisgbs.com/2026-abridged-east-central-africa-gbs-benchmarking-market-report-download/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the emergence of Kenya and other African countries as significant players in the CX and BPO sectors. Chris Chance from CCI Global highlights the Outsourcing Alliance of Kenya (OAK), which aims to unify the industry and align with Kenya's 2030 vision. Kenya's BPO sector has grown 10% annually, generating $700 million in revenue and creating 40,000 jobs. Chance emphasizes the importance of leveraging local skills, such as Kenya's expertise in mobile money, and the shift towards value-led delivery models. The conversation also touches on the broader African market, including emerging and nascent markets, and the need for organized, accessible information about these opportunities.
Steve Sullivan is the founder of Channel Doctors. He is based in Bournemouth in the UK.
Channel Doctors is a specialist advisory company focused on CX, contact centers, and especially issues such as data protection and GDPR.
Peter Ryan called Steve after seeing a LinkedIn post on managing customer rage. Are customers more angry today and how are companies dealing with it? How can it be managed in the contact center and how is it managed for customer service advisers who need to interact directly with customers - for example in retail?
Is the increased rage linked to social media and what can companies do to serve customers more effectively when they are more and more angry?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-sullivan-3275391/
https://channeldoctors.co.uk/cx/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the growing phenomenon of customer rage, particularly post-pandemic, with Steve Sullivan from Channel Doctors. They highlight the impact of social media on customer behavior, the rise of anonymous abuse, and the need for better training and support for customer service agents. Sullivan notes that customer frustration has increased due to self-service failures and cultural disconnects. He emphasizes the importance of organizations addressing these issues to prevent attrition and improve customer experience. They also discuss the potential negative effects of AI-driven automation on customer interactions and the need for personalized AI assistants to mitigate customer rage.
Melanie Disse is the Principal Consultant and Tech Adviser to Melanie Disse Consulting. Melanie Disse Consulting is a CX & VoC consulting firm helping businesses leverage CX as a key competitive differentiator to drive business performance through understanding customer experiences. Melanie is based in Auckland, New Zealand.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Melanie outlines how companies can more effectively obtain feedback from customers and how to make use of this feedback. Most companies struggle to turn customer feedback into action and many are still relying on the surveys that customers hate completing.
Is there a better way to engage customers and get productive feedback?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-disse/
https://www.melaniedisseconsulting.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the importance of leveraging customer insights to drive great customer experience (CX) with Melanie Disse, a consultant from New Zealand. Melanie highlights the need for organizations to move beyond just collecting feedback to actually acting on it. She identifies three stages: listen, analyze, and act, emphasizing the challenges in breaking down silos and using technology to unify data from various sources. Melanie also notes the global phenomenon of poor customer service and the necessity for organizations to implement feedback to improve CX.
They conclude by promoting the CX Outsourcers event in Ottawa, where Melanie will be speaking.
Gareth Bray is Business Development Director and WhatsApp Guru at Premier CX. He is based in Odiham, Hampshire, UK.
Over 100 billion WhatsApp messages are sent daily by users - that's more than a million messages on the platform every second. Between 1 to 3 billion of these daily messages is a customer talking to a business.
Gareth was on the Meta team when they launched WhatsApp in Europe so he has a long background using this asynchronous messaging tool. In many global markets WhatsApp has entirely redefined customer service. In Brazil and India it can be used to locate local businesses and almost all businesses engage with customers using WhatsApp.
It's not so prevalent in the US (although still over 100m users) or Europe, but should more companies be looking at this tool?
After all, as so many CX directors look to AI for a quick win, they could be exploring a tool that is used billions of times daily and offers a way to engage with customers that is much more convenient than webchat. It's also free for the customer and very low cost for the business.
Mark Hillary called Gareth to explore WhatsApp and why more companies should be considering this messaging app.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-bray-207105a/
https://www.premiercx.co.uk/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the rise of WhatsApp as a customer service channel, particularly in Brazil and India, with Gareth Bray from Premier CX. WhatsApp's asynchronous support allows for convenient customer interactions, improving efficiency and reducing costs by 85%. Bray highlights that 1 billion people weekly message businesses on WhatsApp, and the platform's user base in the US is growing rapidly. WhatsApp offers features like decision trees, video clips, and integration with CRM systems, enhancing customer experience and agent efficiency. The platform's automation and AI capabilities are also emphasized, with a focus on agentic AI that allows customers to accomplish tasks within a flow.
CCW 2026 took place at the end of February 2026 in Berlin. Peter Ryan was there on the conference floor. He took a microphone and tried to capture several comments and ideas from the delegates - what was the conference about and what were the key themes that people in CX are focused on in 2026?
https://www.ccw.eu/en/
CCW conference delegates who spoke to Peter Ryan:
Monika Röhr-Łukasik Axendi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/monika-r%C3%B6hr-%C5%82ukasik-596b3932/
Humphrey Davies
BPO Search
https://www.linkedin.com/in/humphrey-davis
Daniel Castilla
Alliance BPO
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-castilla-328b0734/
Corina Amza
Rockstart
https://www.linkedin.com/in/corina-a-73650660/
Chrissie Porter
CCMA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissie-spencer/
Simon Rainbow
Pose CX
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-rainbow-5197393/
NOTE: this recording was made on the floor of the CCW conference so the sound quality is not the usual quality we would use on the podcast, but we live and learn about the best ways to report from events like this!
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the CCW Berlin 2026 show, highlighting the event's international reach and focus on AI. Peter interviewed a number of people on the floor of the conference.
Key points included the need for broader event content beyond AI, the importance of networking, and the challenge of differentiating AI solutions. Attendees appreciated the international networking opportunities but criticized the over-focus on AI. Simon emphasized the need for clear AI use cases to enhance agent and customer experiences. The event was praised for its networking potential and international representation.
Michel Stevens is Course Director at the CXM Academy. He is also a managing partner at goCX. He is based in Antwerp, Belbium.
The CXM Academy aims to build training for the real world - interactive and culturally relevant.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Michel talks about CX events. Why are so many of them so repetitive? Why are they flooded with the same speakers talking about the same subjects? Why do events focus on getting 1,000 through the door rather than on high quality information?
https://open.cxm.academy/
https://www.gocx.eu/en/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelstevens/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the state of CX industry events, highlighting concerns about repetitive content, lack of thought leadership, and the dominance of AI discussions. They introduce an interview with Michel Stevens, who criticizes the traditional conference model for its focus on scale over depth. Stevens advocates for smaller, more intimate events that prioritize interaction and curated content. He suggests that organizers should emphasize interaction, curate events carefully, and be honest about their business models. The conversation underscores the need for events to evolve to provide genuine value and meaningful connections.
Roger Barlow is Director of LATAM Translations. He is based in São Paulo, Brazil.
Roger is British and has lived in Brazil since 1998. Since 2001 he has focused on helping Brazilian companies engage with a global audience. This involves a significant amount of translation from and to Portuguese.
Multilingual CX is a subject we have often covered on CX Files so Mark decided to call up Roger because of his experience managing a company that is entirely focused on translation. How has AI impacted translation and will we see a complete replacement of translation because AI can now do this work?
The answer may be surprising. AI is getting better, but the reality is still that many humans don't understand each other so there are many subtle messages and meanings that may still require human attention.
CX leaders considering a complete move to automated multilingual support may need to take these ideas on board - day-to-day basic services can be automated, but it's still not possible to achieve 100% accuracy using AI in translation or interpretation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-barlow-87270991/
http://latamtran.com.br/en/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the impact of AI on translation services with Roger Barlow, who runs LATAM Translations in São Paulo. Barlow highlights that while AI can handle basic translations, it struggles with nuances and context, especially in complex documents like ESG reports. He notes that most of his work comes via email, and the pandemic led to a permanent shift to remote work - WFH is now normal. Barlow also mentions that AI is often used without permission, leading to errors. He predicts a potential pushback against AI-driven translation due to its limitations in conveying subtle meanings and maintaining document quality.
Michael Gray is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Spacial Working. He is based in London, UK.
Spacial Working is focused on helping companies to create a flexible work environment that embraces both working from home and working in offices. The aim is to create a flexible arrangement that works well for the company and employees.
The media often reports that WFH is finished and most employees are heading back into offices, but the reality is quite different. There is less WFH than during the pandemic period, but it has plateaued and is not dropping much further - so there is much more flexibility today compared to 2019.
But many companies still struggle to make it work well so what does Michael advise?
https://spacialworking.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgray7/
Summary:
In this CX Files episode, Mark Hillary speaks with Michael Gray, Chief Strategy Officer at Spacial Working, about what the pandemic really changed — and what it didn't — in customer experience operations. Gray explains that work-from-home in the contact center industry is not a temporary COVID experiment but part of a much longer evolution enabled by technology and workforce expectations. While some executives continue pushing return-to-office mandates, the evidence shows the future is hybrid: organizations must redesign recruitment, training, management, and performance measurement rather than simply sending agents home with laptops. Flexible working can improve retention and productivity, particularly for parents, carers, and geographically distant employees, but only if supported by proper monitoring, communication structures, and culture. The real challenge for CX leaders is no longer deciding whether remote work works — it is learning how to operationally manage a permanent hybrid workforce.
Disclosure:
Mark Hillary is a research adviser to Spacial Working
Jacqui Turner founded the Turner Corner Leadership Academy. She is based at Great Malvern, which is close to Stratford-Upon-Avon in the UK.
The academy is focused on customer service training, leadership programmes and coaching interventions. Training followed by coaching with Jacqui's team has been proven to make training much more effective, in terms of staff productivity, performance and business results.
In this discussion with Peter Ryan, Jacqui talks about vulnerable customers. How do businesses define their vulnerable customers and how can they design CX that works better for customers with special needs or the need for greater consideration?
Vulnerability in CX design is often overlooked, but it is essential and for many types of regulated business this is mandatory.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-turner-leadership-trainer/
https://turnercorner.co.uk/
SUMMARY:
Peter introduces Jacqui Turner, who emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing vulnerabilities in customer service. Jacqui highlights that vulnerability can manifest in various forms, including age, health issues, financial struggles, and digital illiteracy. She stresses the need for organizations to have policies and training for handling vulnerable customers across different communication channels. Jacqui also advocates for AI technology to be designed with vulnerability in mind to maintain accessible communication.
Rob Joubert is the founder and CEO of Boomerang BPO. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
2025 was the 20th anniversary year for Boomerang, so at the end of the year Peter Ryan called Rob to talk about BPO and CX trends and what it takes to build a successful BPO operation from the ground up.
20 years into the journey, what has Rob learned about what clients want from a BPO partner in the 2020s?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-joubert-89176011/
https://boomerangbpo.com/
Last November, Leigh Hopwood, CEO of the CCMA (Contact Centre Management Association), was on the CX Files talking about the 25th anniversary of the European Contact Center and Customer Service Awards (ECCCSAs).
https://cxfiles.libsyn.com/cxfiles/leigh-hopwood-ccma-25-years-of-the-ecccsas
At those awards on November 25th 2025, The Best Customer Service Into Europe award was won (gold) by TUI working with Transcom.
https://ecccsa.com/2025-winners/
Peter Ryan recently called Leo Ooms (TUI) and Dario Bakovic (Transcom) to talk about the award and what it takes to build a BPO partnership that can win a prestigious 'Best in Europe' award...
Leo Ooms
Head of Customer Services BPO TUI Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leoooms/
https://www.tui.com/
Dario Bakovic
Head of Global Accounts EMEA at Transcom
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dario-bakovic/
https://transcom.com/
This special live episode was recorded on January 21, 2026 live in London, UK. This is the 400th episode of the podcast.
Lian Rowlands quizzed Peter and Mark about the origin of CX Files and what they plan for the future of the podcast...
Thanks to everyone who attended the live event in London last night - it was great to see so many friends of the podcast out in person!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Happy New Year for 2026 from Peter and Mark at the CX Files podcast. We asked our listeners to send some thoughts about 2025 and the year ahead...
If you listen to this episode you will hear messages from the Netherlands, Philippines, UK, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and Brazil... that's North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia all covered!
Contributors listed in the order they feature on the podcast:
Leo Ooms
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leoooms/
Nathan Muniz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdcoutsourcing/
Lian Rowlands
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
Rod Jones
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodjonessouthafrica/
Paul O'Hara
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauloharateleperformance/
Michael Gray
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgray7/
Anna Bessarabova
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-bessarabova/
Michael Clark
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelclarkcx/
Mike Ortegon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeortegon/
Stephen Loynd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
David Neale
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-neale-08b80011b/
Peter Ryan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Mark Hillary
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
"All I Want for CX-mas (Is the Future)" Composed by Mark Hillary with Suno
Verse 1 Snow's falling on the dashboards, Year-end reports are due, Another season of predictions, But nobody knows what's true. From São Paulo to Montreal, Different skies, same screen, Two voices cut through the noise, Talking 'bout what CX means.
Pre-Chorus The year's been long, the change came fast, AI hype, then lessons learned, But now we're looking forward, To the value still to be earned.
Chorus All I want for CX-mas is the future, Not the buzzwords, not the fear, Just better service, smarter choices, And a little more trust next year. From every brand to every customer, Let's build it human, let's build it right, All I want for CX-mas is the future, And the CX Files on a Wednesday night.
Verse 2 Agents, bots, and blended teams, Journeys changing shape, Less about the tech itself, More about escape From broken processes, From friction no one sees, Designing moments that feel simple, Even when the systems aren't easy.
Pre-Chorus We've learned that scale needs patience, And strategy beats speed, The future's not autonomous, Unless it serves a real human need.
Chorus All I want for CX-mas is the future, Not another pilot that won't land, Just outcomes, empathy, and clarity, Finally working hand in hand. From every continent and culture, One community, one shared view, All I want for CX-mas is the future, And the CX Files guiding us through.
Bridge From São Paulo sunshine, To Montreal snow, Two hosts, one question: "Where do we go?" Analysts, founders, leaders, friends, Four hundred stories, and still it never ends. No silver bullets, no easy claim, Just better questions changing the game.
Final Chorus All I want for CX-mas is the future, Designed with care, not just code, Where trust is built in every interaction, And experience carries the load. So here's to 2026 and beyond, To curiosity, courage, and insight, All we want for CX-mas is the future, And the CX Files lighting the way each night.
Outro So press play, pour a drink, Let the old year fade from view, The future of CX is being written— And it starts with me and you. 🎄✨
Celebrate CX Files Episode 400 — Join Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan Live in London for an Exclusive Networking Event! CX Files Episode 400 Live in London – January 21, 2026 Join Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan, co-hosts of the CX Files podcast, for a special live networking event in London as they celebrate the show's 400th episode!
This informal evening brings together members of the global Customer Experience (CX) community for drinks, conversation, and connection.
Mark will be flying in from São Paulo, Brazil, and Peter from Montreal, Canada — a rare chance to meet both hosts in person. They will also have copies of the CX Files book - to be launched at this event in London.
During the event, Mark and Peter will record a short live segment for the 400th episode in front of the audience, marking this milestone moment in the CX Files journey.
Tickets are free, but you do need to register so we can control the numbers. Click this link to register your place for this live CX Files event.
https://cxfiles.eventbrite.com
In this special episode of the CX Files, we are looking to the end of 2025 and into 2026.
Peter Ryan called Paul Smith and David Rickard - two expert advisers on CX and BPO - to talk about what just happened in 2025 and their top predictions for CX in 2026.
Paul Smith
Principal Consultant, Quinn Growth Advisers
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/swsalesexec/
https://quinngrowthadvisors.com/
David Rickard
Partner, Everest Group
Clanfield - near Portsmouth, UK
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwrickard/
https://www.everestgrp.com/
Summary: In the CX Files podcast episode 399, hosts Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss 2025 highlights and 2026 predictions with Paul Smith from Quinn Growth Advisors and David Rickard from Everest Group. Key points include the significant AI hype in 2025, the lack of differentiation in the market, and the slow progress of AI in customer experience (CX). They predict that 2026 will see more AI pilots moving into production, increased competition from in-house GCC capabilities, and a need for better buyer-seller communication. They also emphasize the importance of understanding customer needs and the potential impact of an AI bubble.
Nick Jiwa is the founder and president of CustomerServ. He is based in Houston, Texas, USA.
In this episode Nick talks to Peter Ryan about the importance of people in CX - in particular in BPOs. He asks why people have always been central to the customer experience, but now it sounds like everyone is just focused on AI and automation?
It's time to refocus on people and culture because this is how brands connect with customers and this leads to the success they need - extra revenue, loyalty, retention etc...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjiwa/
https://www.customerserv.com/
The Call Center – Still a People Business (Nick Jiwa - Aug 12, 2025) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/call-center-still-people-business-nick-jiwa-sn5lf/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the importance of human interaction in customer experience (CX) with Nick Jiwa, founder of CustomerServ. Jiwa emphasizes that despite technological advancements, CX remains a people-centric industry. He criticizes large BPOs for prioritizing tech over people, noting that many have an identity crisis. Jiwa highlights the resilience of the call center industry, projecting its growth from $300 billion to $500 billion by 2030. He argues that AI will enhance, not replace, human roles, particularly in emotional and complex interactions. The conversation underscores the need for a refocus on people, culture, and leadership in CX.
Leigh Hopwood is CEO of the CCMA (Contact Centre Management Association) and Chair of the European Customer Contact Alliance. She is based in London, UK.
Peter Ryan called Leigh to talk about the European Contact Center and Customer Service Awards (ECCCSAs), which celebrate their 25th anniversary on November 25th, 2025.
It sounds like an Iron Maiden song. On the 25th of November in the year 2025 the ECCCSAs will be 25...
Leigh talks about the judging process and the value of the awards to the growth of the wider industry in addition to talking about the logistics of arranging such a large event - the award ceremony itself features over 1,200 attendees from 44 different countries.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighhopwood/
https://www.ccma.org.uk/
https://ecccsa.com/
Summary:
Leigh Hopwood joins the pod to talk about the European Contact Center and Customer Service Awards, celebrating its 25th anniversary on November 25, 2025. The awards, which attract over 1,200 attendees from 44 countries, are judged by industry experts and feature rigorous criteria. Leigh emphasizes the importance of the judging process and the event's role in fostering industry growth and learning. The conversation also touches on the logistics of organizing such a large event and the significance of the awards in recognizing excellence in customer service.
Gerry Brown is known as the customer lifeguard. His ambition is to save the world from poor customer service.
Gerry is Canadian and based in the south of the UK.
Gerry has written a book titled 'When a customer wins, nobody loses.' He has a podcast and he is a regular speaker and adviser, regularly hosting CX workshops.
Mark called Gerry to ask about his book and the post-pandemic CX environment. In particular how can BPOs get more closely aligned with the needs of customers when AI is changing the entire industry?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerryhbrown/
https://thecustomerlifeguard.co.uk/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Customer-Wins-Nobody-Loses-ebook/dp/B07BFC83MZ/
Summary :
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolving landscape of customer experience (CX) with guest Gerry Brown, an independent consultant and author of "When a Customer Wins, Nobody Loses." They explore the shift from traditional customer service to more complex, multi-channel environments, including the rise of AI and automation. Brown highlights the importance of aligning customer needs with BPO services, noting that many organizations still handle customer service in-house. He emphasizes the need for BPOs to offer comprehensive solutions and the growing use of AI for efficiency and cost savings. The conversation also touches on the impact of the pandemic on remote work and the ongoing challenge of integrating legacy systems.
Paul O'Hara is the Executive Vice President of Business Development at TP EMEA. He is based in the Tyneside area of North-East England.
Paul recently published an article on Customer Think magazine titled "AI Won't End BPO - It'll Supercharge It."
Mark called Paul to ask Paul about the article. What was Paul trying to say? How does he believe that AI and human-focused customer service can be blended? How can smarter more value-driven CX be planned using AI?
Paul outlined many of these ideas in his article, but Mark questioned him further on the reasons he felt the need to talk about AI in this way. Mark even mentioned this conversation with Paul in a SubStack article he published earlier this week.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauloharateleperformance/
https://customerthink.com/ai-wont-end-bpo-itll-supercharge-it/
https://www.tp.com/
https://markhillarysp.substack.com/p/ai-in-customer-service-isnt-about
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the impact of AI on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) with Paul O'Hara, EVP for Business Development at Teleperformance (TP). O'Hara argues that AI will enhance, rather than replace, BPO services. He emphasizes the importance of blending AI with human expertise to deliver smarter, scalable, and value-driven customer experiences. O'Hara highlights that BPOs, with their operational backbone and regulatory compliance, are better positioned to design and scale CX solutions. He predicts continued growth in the BPO industry, driven by automation and ethical outsourcing, and stresses the need for performance-based models over traditional metrics.
Elona Ymeri is the service delivery manager at Assist Digital. She is based in Tirana, Albania.
Elona spoke to Mark Hillary about the role of smaller BPO destinations. What can they offer that is harder to find from the big locations? Is the continued influence of AI and other automation technology reducing the need to consider working in locations where large numbers of agents can be found?
Elona talked about Albania within this context, but also explored beyond Albania alone to consider other locations in Europe that might have an interesting and innovative new approach to BPO.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elonaymeri/
https://assistdigital.com/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan introduce an interview with Elona Ymeri, the service delivery leader at Assist Digital in Tirana, Albania. Alona highlights Albania's mature BPO sector, employing nearly 30,000 people, and its strategic position as a nearshore option for European companies. She emphasizes Albania's cultural alignment, linguistic skills, and the country's investment in AI and digital transformation. Alona also discusses the shift towards intelligent operations, combining human talent with technology, and the importance of compliance and strategic partnerships in the future of BPO.
Joanne Morrison is the founder of Outmarket. She is based in Toronto, Canada.
Outmarket is a specialist marketing agency that is focused on BPO and CX companies.
Telling potential customers about your services has always been important, but as BPO gets more complex, more international, and AI changes how marketing can function, it is more important than ever to get great advice.
Peter Ryan called Joanne to talk about these changes and her advice for marketing in CX in the 2020s.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-morrison-52299711/
https://www.outmarketbpo.com/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the challenges and mistakes in BPO marketing with Joanne Morrison, founder of Outmarket. Joanne highlights underinvestment in marketing, with typical BPO budgets being a fraction of the 2-8% recommended for B2B services. She emphasizes the importance of diversifying marketing efforts and leveraging AI beyond content creation. Joanne also stresses the need for effective post-event follow-up and risk-taking to stand out in a competitive market. She advises using AI for backend tasks like coding and research to improve efficiency and differentiation.
Miguel Familia is the CEO and co-founder of Wise BPO. He is based between the Dominican Republic and St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
Miguel has a long history in CX, but one year ago he decided to create a new BPO brand - serving clients from the Dominican Republic.
Peter called Miguel to learn about his story of creating a new CX brand, his background in this industry, the advantages of the DR, and his vision for the future of CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguel-familia-b0b37812/
https://wisebp.com/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan introduce Miguel Familia, CEO and co-founder of Wise BPO in the Dominican Republic. Miguel shares his journey from starting in BPO at 17 to establishing Wise BPO, emphasizing the importance of people over technology in customer service. He highlights the challenges of securing initial business deals and the success of engaging with new prospects. Miguel advises budding entrepreneurs to be genuine in their interactions.
This week we have a group of CX and BPO experts who recently visited Georgia. This nation of 3.6m people is positioned on the Black Sea, at the intersection of Europe and Asia, and is working hard to position itself as an attractive destination for CX and BPO sourcing.
Peter Ryan talked to people who travelled with him to visit Georgia this year to explore questions such as the ease of doing business there, the opportunity for multilingual CX, and how Georgia is attracting more digital and high-tech talent.
Featured in the discussion:
Elona Ymeri
Service Delivery Manager, Assist Digital
Tirana, Albania
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elonaymeri/
Traci Freeman
Managing Member, Believe Consulting
Johannesburg, South Africa
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracifreeman/
Jasen Shirley
Head of Customer Service and Sales, North America/Canada, SIXT
Riverview, Florida, US
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasen-shirley-688a651b8/
https://www.investingeorgia.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/enterprisegeorgia/
https://www.enterprisegeorgia.gov.ge/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss a recent visit to Georgia sponsored by Enterprise Georgia, highlighting the country's potential as a CX and BPO destination. The trip involved 15 stakeholders, including Jason Shirley, Ilona, and Tracy Freeman, who all shared their impressions in the discussion. Key points include Georgia's cultural alignment with the West, fast internet, co-working spaces, and ease of business setup. The Government Services Center was praised for its efficiency and customer service. The discussion also touched on Georgia's multilingual workforce, advanced skills, and the potential for complex services. Comparisons with Jamaica and other established BPO destinations were made, emphasizing Georgia's readiness for higher-value outsourcing.
Traci Freeman holds a number of roles, including as the managing member of Believe Consulting, but in this conversation we focused on her role as a partner of the Africa Federation of GBS Associations.
This federation is aimed at unlocking Africa’s potential in the BPO, CX and ITO sectors. Enhancing Africa’s standing as a hub for innovation, knowledge exchange, and technological advancement, promoting partnerships, youth employment, and digital enablement while driving best practices and standards.
Mark Hillary called Traci at her base in Johnannesburg, South Africa to talk about the work of the federation and the opportunities for CX and BPO across all of Africa.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracifreeman/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/africa-gbs-federation/
https://africagbsfederation.org/
SUMMARY
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the Africa Federation of GBS Associations, an initiative led by a team including Traci Freeman to promote Global Business Services (GBS), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and IT services across Africa. The federation aims to manage perceptions of Africa as a high-value destination, foster knowledge sharing, and support regional development. Key countries like Egypt and South Africa are leveraging their experience to help emerging markets like Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana. The federation, launched in February 2024, includes members from various African countries and aims to host global community engagement events by 2026-2027.
Kwame Agyei is the founder and CEO of Appoynt. He is based in London, UK with operations in Ghana.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Kwame tells the story of how and why he founded Appoynt during the Covid pandemic and the opportunity for more businesses to work with partners in Ghana.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwame-agyei-b3ab1333/
https://www.appoynt.co.uk/
SUMMARY
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the growth of BPO services in Ghana, highlighting Kwame Agyei's venture, Appoynt. Kwame, an accountant by background, founded Appoynt during the COVID-19 pandemic to leverage Ghana's talent and regional advantages. The company specializes in back-office support, accounts receivable, and customer support for SMBs in the US and UK. Kwame emphasizes the importance of understanding market capabilities and building trust through quality service. They also discuss the potential impact of proposed US legislation on offshoring and the emerging potential of Ghana as a BPO hub.
Enea Dervishi is the Operations Director at Simetrix Solutions. He is based in Durres, Albania.
Last month, Enea published an article in Customer Think titled "From Beaches To Business: Is Albania's BPO Wave About To Break?"
The article kicked off a fevered discussion on LinkedIn because it did not focus on the usual BPO regional comparisons - how many airports, graduates etc... it directly compared the BPO possibilities in Albania with much larger and established destinations such as South Africa and India.
Albania is on track to join the EU soon and although it is in Europe, companies there can compete with many regions that are much further away. Is it a hidden gem for European nearshoring?
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss this and then Mark speaks with Enea in the interview.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edervishi/
https://simetrix-solutions.com/
https://customerthink.com/from-beaches-to-business-why-albanias-bpo-wave-is-about-to-break/
SUMMARY
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the emerging CX delivery destination of Albania, highlighting its potential to compete with established BPO hubs like South Africa and the Philippines. Enea Dervishi, Director of Operations at Simetrix in Albania, notes the country's 20-year experience in BPO, multilingual capabilities, and cultural alignment with Western markets. Albania's proximity to Europe and its agile, personalized service are key attractions. Dervishi emphasizes the need for coordinated promotion and plans to expand Albania's presence in both the US and Europe, targeting American companies unfamiliar with Albania's BPO capabilities.
In this special episode of the CX Files, Peter and Mark join with David Rumble, Rod Jones, and Traci Freeman to remember how the late Gareth Pritchard influenced and helped to shape the BPO/CX/GBS industry in South Africa.
We discussed how Gareth was instrumental in making South Africa a leading location for this industry and what his legacy may be in future.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethmpritchard/
https://capebpo.org.za/
https://www.bpesa.org.za/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodjonessouthafrica/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracifreeman/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
SUMMARY:
The CX Files podcast episode paid tribute to Gareth Pritchard, a pioneer in South Africa's outsourcing and customer experience industry. Gareth's vision united regional fragmentation, promoting "Brand South Africa" globally. His efforts, including skills development and investor engagement, significantly advanced the country's BPO sector. His international experience and charisma facilitated high-level connections and constructive dialogues. Gareth's legacy extends beyond South Africa, influencing the African BPO sector's growth. His personal touch and commitment to individual development left a lasting impact on the industry and the community.
David Powers is the VP of CX at Rooter Hero. He is based in Los Angeles, CA.
David is also a published author and the host of the CX Riot Radio podcast.
This conversation between Mark Hillary and David came about because of a recent CX Riot Radio epsisode titled 'The Three-Faced AI God' where David talked about his experience of using AI in the contact center.
David's experience shows that AI has genuine value, but there is a big difference between the genuine application of AI to improve CX and what is promised by many commentators and "AI gurus."
David is both a CX leader and manager, in addition to his role commenting on the industry, therefore his direct experience with AI in the contact center provides a helpful comment on what is working, what is not, and what CX leaders can do to get the most from their AI strategy.
https://linktr.ee/caffcx
https://rooterhero.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjpowers2/
SUMMARY
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the pragmatic views of David Powers, VP of CX at Rooter Hero, on AI in customer experience (CX). Powers critiques the over-reliance on AI, which often frustrates customers and agents, and emphasizes practical AI use cases like agent assist tools and automated summaries. He highlights the importance of transparency and maintaining human interaction in CX. Despite AI's potential, many projects fail to generate ROI, with research suggesting that 95% are not creating value. Powers advocates for a balanced approach, using AI to enhance agent performance rather than replacing human agents, and stresses the need for common sense in AI implementation.
Cheryl Paarwater is the Managing Director at Enerlytics & Call Lab BPO. She is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Cheryl has championed CX in South Africa for many years and is a board member of BPESA - the trade promotion agency for business process service companies in South Africa.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Cheryl explores how BPO and CX has created many opportunities for employment in South Africa - and beyond - and this has created a very positive socio-economic ripple effect. People leaving informal jobs and entering contact centers pay tax, support their family, and help to support other businesses selling services to those working directly in BPOs.
As AI is gradually introduced in many CX processes, there is a fear in the industry that entry-level positions may no longer be staffed by humans. The most immediate effect is a reduction in the number of jobs created, but what are the wider effects of thinking that we can just replace people with bots?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-paarwater/
https://call-lab.com/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on customer experience (CX) jobs, particularly in South Africa. Cheryl Paarwater, CEO of Call Lab, highlights concerns about AI replacing human roles, which could exacerbate unemployment and social issues. Despite AI's potential to automate 10-15% of roles, Peter notes that many AI projects fail, citing a 42% failure rate in 2020. Cheryl emphasizes the need for AI to enhance human roles rather than replace them, suggesting AI could improve education and support high-value interactions. They stress the importance of a balanced approach to AI implementation in CX.
This is the final Covid flashback where CX Files has looked back at the early days of the 2020 pandemic throughout August 2025.
This interview was originally broadcast on May 15, 2020 - about a month into the pandemic and lockdowns.
At the time Kathy Juve was the EVP, Customer Experience Technology & Insights Division, at Concentrix. She is now EVP of Global Solutions - also at Concentrix.
Kathy is based in Orlando, Florida.
In this episode, Kathy describes how the previous three weeks created the digital transformation that might usually have taken three years... April 2020 was a time of huge change for CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyjuve/
https://www.concentrix.com/
NEXT WEEK: CX Files returns to our regular programming...
SUMMER SPECIAL - COVID FLASHBACK
Covid-19 was five long years ago. In a series of short summer specials, CX Files is bringing you some memories of what was going on at a very chaotic time for the industry. During the early days of the pandemic, CX Files went from weekly to daily and captured many important observations on how the CX industry was coping across the world.
Dave Rizzo is the APAC President of TP. He is based in Singapore. Five years ago the company was known as Teleperformance and Dave was based in Manila, but essentially he was performing the same leadership role for TP in Asia.
Dave talked to Mark Hillary on March 31, 2020. This was about a week into the Covid lockdowns for most nations so Dave was working 24/7 at this time.
Many of these conversations feel historic. It's worth revisiting some of them just to remember the sense of chaos in the industry at this time and how the industry adapted and coped with the challenges of 2020 and 2021.
www.tp.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-rizzo-7037763/
SUMMER SPECIAL - COVID FLASHBACK
Covid-19 was five long years ago. In a series of short summer specials, CX Files is bringing you some memories of what was going on at a very chaotic time for the industry. During the early days of the pandemic, CX Files went from weekly to daily and captured many important observations on how the CX industry was coping across the world.
John Devlin is the Founder and CEO of Ascensos (acquired by Firstsource in 2024) - he is still in this position.
John talked to Mark Hillary on March 26, 2020. This was day one of the first Covid lockdown in the UK - the Prime Minister had urged everyone in the nation to stay at home on March 23rd... it was enforcable from March 26th. Companies with staff in offices had three days to figure out how to keep going and many businesses were not able to function at all.
Many of these conversations feel historic. It's worth revisiting some of them just to remember the sense of chaos in the industry at this time and how the industry adapted and coped with the challenges of 2020 and 2021.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-devlin-4731521/
https://www.ascensos.com/
https://www.firstsource.com/
Dave D'Arcy is the founder of Laughing Leadership. He is based in Tring, close to London in the UK.
Laughing Leadership was created to guide business leaders to build the environment to nurture and develop happy engaged employees. The solution is not in bean bags, slides, fruit on Friday or free tea and coffee. It is in culture. And culture is a byproduct of leadership style.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Dave talks about some of the 'groundhog day' issues he keeps reading about and seeing in CX. Why do we keep reading about the same CX issues over and over again? Why is the CX business news from years ago just about the same as today? Why do we always see the hype cycle with new technologies - such as AI?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemdarcy/
https://www.davedarcy.co.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qbH1R9yDdr4
CX FILES IS TAKING A BREAK FOR THE REST OF AUGUST - WE ARE BACK ON SEPTEMBER 4! Keep tuning in as we plan to repeat some clips from this time exactly five years ago during the Covid pandemic - how did the CX industry cope? CX Files switched to almost daily interviews during the early part of the pandemic, so we will clip a few of the best interviews to share with you again this August... see you again in September!
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the final episode of the CX Files podcast before taking a break in August. They introduce Dave D'Arcy, founder of Laughing Leadership, who focuses on leadership and employee engagement. D'Arcy critiques common CX industry issues, such as outcome-based pricing models, lack of investment in training, and the overemphasis on impact sourcing. He argues that AI has not lived up to its hype and has led to employee disengagement. D'Arcy emphasizes the need for businesses to invest in their employees and align strategies with clear business objectives.
Amanda Quinn is the Founder and Principal of Quinn Growth Advisors.
She is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Amanda talks about her work advising BPOs on how to build growth and develop a sales pipeline. Amanda advises focusing on deep expertise and specialization, rather than claiming to offer every single service and excelling at none of them.
How can BPOs compete and leverage technology to improve what they offer to clients?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandaquinnmalach/
https://quinngrowthadvisors.com/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the challenges faced by BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) in the market, emphasizing the need for specialization over generalism. They highlight the inefficiencies of BPOs claiming to offer a wide range of services without excelling in any. Amanda Quinn, founder of Quinn Growth Advisors, is introduced as a guest who advocates for BPOs to focus on niche markets and develop deep expertise. Quinn advises BPOs to identify their strengths through internal stakeholder meetings and client feedback, and to expand by adding related services or industries. She also stresses the importance of charging for value-added services and leveraging technology to enhance service delivery.
Mike Ortegon is a customer solutions director at Yoummday. He is an American based in London and he has a focus on the global travel industry - with a long track record of leadership roles in travel companies.
Mark Hillary called Mike to talk about travel. How has it recovered since the pandemic? What trends are travel companies seeing that are new for the 2020s? Are travel companies becoming more proactive in their approach to the customer experience? Why are some people around the world protesting that there is too much tourism now?
Mike talked about all these issues and explored how the customer experience is integral to ensuring that customers enjoy their travel and also want to remain loyal to the hotel/airline/travel agency they are using...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeortegon/
https://www.yoummday.com/
SUMMARY
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolving travel industry with Mike Ortegon, a customer solutions director at Yoummday. They explore the impact of anti-tourism protests, the rise of multi-generational travel, and the shift from reactive to proactive customer service. Ortegon highlights the importance of automation, local experiences, and inclusivity, noting that 50% of travelers now take more than one trip annually. He also emphasizes the need for travel companies to balance technology with human touch, especially for Gen Z, and to address accessibility challenges for travelers with mobility issues. The conversation underscores the industry's focus on enhancing customer experiences and adapting to changing travel behaviors.
Jon Florence is the SVP of Industry Solutions at Xima Software. He is based in South Jordan, Utah.
Xima is a contact center software company that is focused on AI solutions.
Peter Ryan called Jon to discuss AI in CX. Beyond the hype, how can companies managing their own CX and BPOs all benefit from the use of AI in the contact center? What are the genuine and practical use cases that move the dial and which claims are just hype?
What can you really do with AI today?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-florence-67019a79/
https://ximasoftware.com/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan introduce Jon Florence, SVP of Industry Solutions at Xima Software. Jon explains his role in integrating AI into customer experience solutions. They delve into the hype cycle of AI, comparing it to the VoIP boom, and emphasize the importance of understanding business needs before implementing AI. Jon advises starting with simple AI tools like speech analytics and messaging bots, and stresses the need for certified integrations. He also highlights the importance of testing AI capabilities and ensuring long-term vendor stability to avoid future consolidation issues.
Thomas Oronti is the CEO at Advensus. He is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The CX Files has explored many different nearshore options in the Caribbean region, but has never explored the Dominican Republic before and yet this location has the advantage of being able to easily offer customer support in English, Spanish, and French - thanks to Haiti also sharing the island of Hispaniola.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wgpE2LoSLp9tu6TX6
Peter Ryan talked to Thomas about the growing importance of the DR in the nearshore CX and BPO sector and how Advensus strongly focuses on the role of the agent in any CX strategy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-oronti-67777a12/
https://advensus.com/
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the Dominican Republic's growing importance in the BPO and CX sectors. Thomas Oronti, CEO of Advensus, highlights the DR's unique trilingual labor pool, strong English proficiency, and robust connectivity. Advensus has grown from 100 to over 5,500 seats in 19 years, offering services like translation, collections, and customer service. The DR's stability, political reliability, and cost-effectiveness make it a premier nearshore destination. Oronti emphasizes the need for better English training programs and the potential for servicing Spanish, French, and English markets. The DR's success is attributed to its flexible workforce and strategic location.
PANEL: In Face of Stagnating Favorability Ratings, What’s Next for South African Offshore CX?
When Ryan Strategic Advisory published the most favorable offshore location study last May, South Africa had dropped to third position, compared to more recently topping the poll.
This survey features feedback from over 800 CX decision-makers and is potentially the largest survey that explores where CX leaders will consider operations.
https://ryanadvisory.com/india-is-the-most-favored-offshore-cx-delivery-point-in-2025/
India and the Philippines are now the most popular destinations, but have these giant destinations just reasserted their postiion or is something going wrong in South Africa?
South Africa is still in the top three destinations, but is this slip from the top position a significant change or a blip?
Peter Ryan called together a group of three experts to talk about the change in favorability and what is next for BPO and CX in South Africa...
Lian Rowlands
Owner and Principal Consultant at Tayma Solutions
Liverpool, UK
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
Steve Weston
Founder of ApexCX
Baltimore, MD, USA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-weston-1843152/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/apexcx-customer-experience-support-services/
Mark Essey
CEO Custom Connect South Africa
Durban, South Africa
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markessey/
https://www.customconnect.com/
Summary:
In the CX Files podcast episode from July 3, 2025, hosts Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the recent Ryan Strategic Advisory survey on CX technology and global services, which ranked offshore destinations for favorability. India ranked first, the Philippines second, and South Africa tied for third with Poland. The conversation features experts Lian Rowlands, Steve Weston, and Mark Essey, who discuss South Africa's decline in favorability rankings despite maintaining a strong delivery system. They highlight the need for South Africa to reinvent its value proposition, focusing on data security, compliance, and advanced technology to regain its top position. The discussion emphasizes the importance of government support, industry cooperation, and forward-thinking strategies to enhance South Africa's BPO sector.
Pete Jones is the founder and CEO of Grypp. He is based in the UK between London and Birmingham.
Grypp is a visual platform that aims to help contact centers and the agents working within them see what their customers can see.
This can be a transformative technology for many support environments and it is low cost and proven - in contrast to many of the AI projects we have covered recently on the podcast.
Mark Hillary called Pete to get an ouline of the various ways in which a visual approach to CX can transform how the support process works and how this also creates opportunities for managing fraud and identity.
As the conversation suggests: we need humans In CX so why are we restraining them by not allowing them to see what the customer can see?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-jones-gryppcorp/
https://grypp.io/about-us/
Summary:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolution of visual customer experience (CX) with Pete Jones, CEO of Grypp. They highlight how visual CX, which allows agents to see customer issues in real-time, can reduce communication inefficiencies and enhance customer service. Jones shares that one in five enterprises now use visual CX, and Grypp has released 20 new innovations in the past two years. They also explore the potential of visual CX in fraud prevention and its integration with AI to improve customer interactions and operational efficiency. Jones emphasizes the importance of immediate value and the potential for significant cost savings and improved customer satisfaction.
Nicola Collister and Jerry Briggs talk to Peter Ryan about AI in CX
We have talked many times on this podcast about AI and the hype aound what it can do for CX designers and managers. But what can it really do? We are being flooded with AI-themed ideas on LinkedIn daily, but it is also clear that many AI projects are failing (Gartner says that 85% of AI projects are failing at present).
In this episode Peter Ryan aims to do some myth-busting. Where is AI in CX today? What are the real use cases and where is the hype?
Peter talked to two CX leaders - in the UK and US - to discuss their thoughts on the realities of using AI in CX today...
This episode features the guests:
Nicola Collister
CEO and Founder of Custerian - based in Bowden, near Manchester UK
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-collister-7b34ba2/
https://www.custerian.com/chat-to-us
Jerry Briggs
CEO and Owner of ApexCX - based in Washington DC, USA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerryhbriggs/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/apexcx-customer-experience-support-services/
Interview led by Peter Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Summary
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the hype cycle surrounding AI in customer experience (CX) with guests Nicola Collister and Jerry Briggs. They highlight the disparity between AI adoption in the US and China, noting that many US companies are still in the hype phase, while Chinese companies are using AI for practical applications.
The conversation emphasizes the need for strategic AI implementation aligned with business goals, rather than just adopting AI for the sake of innovation. They also discuss the importance of understanding AI's limitations and potential negative impacts on both customers and employees. The guests stress the need for clear communication and realistic expectations from AI vendors and consultants.
Owen Campbell is the operations director at Kura. He is based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Kura is a BPO based in the UK, but also with operations in South Africa. They have a number of clients from various regulated industries and Owen talked to Mark Hillary about the differences between a client that has complete control over all their services and a client from a more regulated environment.
What needs to be considered when working to design CX for a regulated industry?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-campbell-a4602b173/
https://www.wearekura.com/
SUMMARY
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the complexities of customer experience (CX) in regulated industries with Owen Campbell, Operations Director at Kura, a BPO focused on culture and people development. Campbell highlights Kura's work with heavily regulated sectors like healthcare, utilities, and financial services, emphasizing the importance of compliance and agent training. He notes that while innovation may take longer in regulated environments, it is still possible. Campbell also discusses Kura's strategic planning sessions, the importance of data security, and the shift towards outcome-based models for advisors. He predicts increased use of AI and automated compliance in the coming years.
David Neale is the Founder and CEO of GBPO Solutions. He is based in the UK.
David has experience as a buyer of BPO services and as a representative of BPOs. With this insight he decided that one of the missing ingredients in the BPO sales process is transparency - how does anyone know that what a BPO says about their services is really true?
David founded GBPO Solutions to provide accreditation to BPOs, so if they do make claims about their capabilities then they can point to the accreditation to show that their claims can be verified.
David talked to Mark Hillary about why he started GBPO Solutions and why he explored this idea of transparency rather than measuring processes and delivery capabilities...
David also publishes the popular David's Diaries podcast - focused on the biography of his guests. You can find both Mark and Peter in the back catalogue - both interviewed in 2024.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-neale-08b80011b/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/gbpo-solutions/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/davids-diaries/id1766136430
Mark and Peter on David's Diaries
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mark-hillary/id1766136430?i=1000668074006
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-ryan/id1766136430?i=1000668073926
Podcast Summary
In this episode, David Neale introduces his new venture, GBPO Solutions, and discusses a novel approach to BPO accreditation. Unlike traditional certifications focused on operational standards (like ISO or HIPAA), David’s accreditation model emphasizes truthfulness, transparency, and independent validation of how BPOs present themselves to the market.
David Neale's accreditation model for BPOs aims to inject much-needed transparency and accountability into a market still relying on legacy procurement methods. By focusing on honesty over hype, GBPO Solutions wants to reshape the buyer-supplier dynamic in outsourcing for the better.
The 2025 CXOutsourcers event took place earlier in May in Munich, Germany. Peter called on a few of the delegates to get their feedback and key takeaways from the event.
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
https://nearshoreamericas.com/cxoutsourcers-forum-trade-and-cx-disruptions-take-center-stage/
https://ryanadvisory.com/cxoutsourcers-2025/
Peter Ryan talked to:
Carrie Ramskill - COO HGS (UK)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-ramskill-503446223/
https://hgs.cx/
Ahmed Refky - CEO Planovate (Orlando, FL, USA)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmedrefky/
https://www.planovate.com/
Kevin Lightfoot - CMO Ascension International (Frisco, TX, USA)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinlightfoot/
https://ascensionbpm.com/
Mark Zucker is the Co-Founder of MCVO Talent Outsourcing. He is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Mark shares his journey from founding a wedding album manufacturing company (almost 30 years ago) to starting MCVO, which specializes in helping small businesses in North America. He highlights the benefits of the Philippines as a BPO destination, citing its respectful culture, strong English proficiency, and service-oriented mindset. Zucker emphasizes the importance of understanding client needs, maintaining client relationships, and providing simplified pricing models. He advises entrepreneurs to seek knowledgeable, involved partners and to consider the feasibility of outsourcing tasks.
Mark talked to Peter Ryan about his journey as an entrepreneur and the specific needs of smaller companies when outsourcing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markzucker/
https://www.mcvotalent.com/
Martin Hill-Wilson is the founder of Brainfood Training and Brainfood Consulting. He is based in Milton Keynes, close to London, UK.
Martin has a long history as a leader inside the CX and BPO industry. For the past 15 years he has focused on strategy consulting and advising on CX leadership and culture. Brainfood Training is a more recent focus on helping non-technical teams to understand the implications of and opportunities for the use of AI - particulary for CX teams.
Brainfood Training is focused on helping people understand what AI can really do - not just repeating the hype from the media.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Martin talks about his experience talking about and training CX teams on how AI can be used and where it is already possible to find real use cases - how is AI really being used to improve CX?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/customermanagement/
https://brainfoodtraining.com/
Michael Aronowitz is the Senior Vice President of Revenue Growth at VXI Global Solutions. He is based in Miami, Florida.
Mark Hillary called Michael to discuss the importance of turning contact centers from cost centers to profit centers, emphasizing the need for revenue generation through customer interactions.
Michael highlights VXI's success in winning three Stevie awards for retention, win-back, upsell, and cross-sell. Michael stresses the significance of the human touch in customer interactions, leveraging AI for training and recruitment, and the importance of blending sales and service roles.
He argues that companies should focus on driving revenue per interaction and maintaining customer loyalty through personalized service.
Many business journals talk about turning the contact center into a profit center, but in this conversation Michael gives his thoughts on how to really make it happen...
http://vxi.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-aronowitz/
Jonas Berggren writes the popular Transform Customer Service newsletter on LinkedIn. He is the Chief Business Development Officer EMEA and member of the executive leadership team at Transcom. Jonas is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mark Hillary and Jonas have published a new book together called The CX (R)evolution - so Mark called Jonas to talk about how the book project started out.
In this conversation they talk about how Mark's comments on the newsletter formed the initial idea for a book and how they developed the idea together.
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/transform-customer-service-6992863124731113474/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasberggren2/
https://transcom.com/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4XWH1L6
Amas Tenumah is the host of the Amas Talks podcast. He is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US.
Amas has a long history focused on customer service and service innovation. He regularly advises companies and speaks at events forcused on CX. On his LinkedIn Amas says: "I’m a digital philosopher, keynote speaker and customer service thought leader. My thoughts are featured on NPR, NBC, Fox-business and other outlets. I have spent over 20 years in the customer service industry and now advise executives on service modernization."
Amas recently published an article titled: "The Worst Job in Corporate America is In a Call Center - And Is It Even Worth Fixing?"
Mark Hillary called Amas to ask about the article and his thoughts behind his statements on contact centers and what he thinks can be improved...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amastenumah/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/worst-job-corporate-america-call-centerand-even-worth-amas-tenumah-cdcfc/
https://amastalks.com/
Phil Kitchen is the Founder & Managing Director of Customer Contact Panel. He is based in Sheffield, UK.
He recently attended the Outsource 2 Jamaica conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Peter Ryan caught up with him to discuss what Jamaica is offering to potential clients in locations such as the UK - outside their more traditional US nearshore market.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-kitchen-ccp/
https://customercontactpanel.com/
Phil's LinkedIn comments on Outsource2Jamaica 2025
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/phil-kitchen-ccp_outsource2jamaica-bpo-cx-activity-7318574026124058624-yQZd
Juan Caire is Co-Founder and CEO of Alliance BPO Services, based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
Jim Farnsworth is the CEO and Founder of Octayne Ventures, based in Denver, Colorado.
Peter recently visited Hermosillo and talked to Juan and Jim about the potential for growth in the BPO industry and the importance of value over cost in outsourcing. The event in Hermosillo also emphasized the strategic partnerships Alliance BPO has formed globally to enhance service delivery.
An important part of the discussion was also focused on looking beyond the major BPO delivery cities and finding new talent and value in other locations.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juancaire/
https://alliancebpo.net/#home
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jifarnsworth/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/octayne/
Chris Dumpleton is the Chief Sales Officer at Limitless Technology. He is based in London, UK.
Limtless is a GigCX platform that offers a connection to freelance customer service agents to brands - replacing the need for a more traditional customer service contact center as all the agents work from home, choosing their own hours and the brands they want to work for.
Chris describes it as "Uber for CX."
But how does the gig economy work in the CX environment and what are the challenges that clients with experience of the contact center face when they explore these ideas?
Mark Hillary called Chris to explore Gig CX and this episode is introduced by Mark and the founder of TrendzOwl, Stephen Loynd... Peter is not feeling well this week so thanks to Steve for stepping in and get well soon Peter!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-dumpleton-54557214/
https://www.limitlesstech.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
https://trendzowl.com/
Dave Rumble is Director and Executive Chair of the Maistro Group. Maistro has long been a specialist in helping companies with RFPs and vendor selection. The Maistro platform helps companies to make better sourcing decisons adn their database has very prescise details on thousands of suppliers.
Maistro recently introduced the ability to have natural conversations with the database using generative AI, so B2B buyers can engage with the information in the database without needing to build complex queries.
Our conversation came about because Forrester Research recently noted that 9/10 B2B buyers are now asking Gen AI for advice and help when selecting a supplier. Mark Hillary wrote an article exploring this and it was noted in the comments that tools like Maistro offer an advantage over the more general publicly available information on suppliers...
Mark called Dave to explore how B2B buyers are changing and using AI to find CX suppliers.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
https://www.maistro.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/original-human-created-content-more-essential-than-ever-hillary--1vi7f
Peter Ryan recently attended the CCW Berlin show in Germany. He talked to a lot of people at the show and recorded a conversation with a couple of the CCW stars for their views on BPO in 2025 and what to look out for based on the show in Berlin...
This episode featured Peter talking to:
Sherif Kamel
Poland GM @ Raya CX
Rachel Poku
Founder, CXHero
https://www.ccw.eu/en/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherifmk/
https://rayacx.com/get-in-touch/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelpoku/
https://cxhero.co/
Mark and Peter take a diversion from the usual CX discussion to talk about LinkedIn. Why is it filled with garbage today and what can be done about it? Is there a way back for Microsoft to restore the function of the business networking tool?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Last Saturday was International Women's Day 2025.
To mark the occasion, Peter Ryan reached out to three leading women working in CX in three different global locations. Listen to his discussion with them about the challenges and opportunities for women in CX in 2025...
Samar ElShafie - Egypt
Head of Commerical and Client Relations - Octopus Outsourcing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samar-elshafie/
https://octopusoutsourcing.com/
Sabrina Labonte - Canada
Marketing Director, Laivly
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinalabonte/
https://laivly.com/
Sophia Mohammed - UK
Client Parter, USMAART
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophia-mohammed-3a1b851b6/
https://usmaart.com/
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
https://medium.com/@markhillary/international-womens-day-and-the-challenge-to-dei-in-2025-262c4bd973a3
Sergei Levteev is the Chairman and CEO of IBA Group. He is based in Prague in Czechia.
IBA Group is a technology company with deep experience building and supporting IT infrastructure. They have managed cloud systems, AI, RPA, and are even supporting old mainframe tech.
Mark Hillary called Sergei to talk about the IT infrastructure supporting CX.
Sergei decided to respond to Mark using the ElevenLabs AI voice system - underlining some of the ideas around how AI can be used to create voice-based systems.
https://elevenlabs.io/
https://ibagroupit.com/
Audrey William is Principal Advisor at Ecosystm. She is based between Sydney, Australia and Singapore.
Audrey has several areas of research focus, including the Future of Work, Unified Communications, Video and Collaboration, Contact Center, CX, Outsourcing and Conversational AI.
Mark Hillary called Audrey to talk about AI in CX - in particular what is happening on the ground in pilots, which are the main tech vendors to watch, and what are the difficulties or blockers that some companies are experiencing - it's not always out-of-the-box!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-william-3a4a04/
https://www.ecosystm.io/
Ian Jacobs is the Vice President and Lead Analyst at Opus Research. He is based in San Francisco, California, USA.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Ian explores how BPO is being transformed by AI and asks if we are sometimes focusing too much on Gen AI? CX practitioners have traditionally focused on the customer-facing AI changes - the improvement in chatbots - but there are many other changes taking place inside the enterprise.
Ian also talks about the pilots and experiments in AI that have worked and where more traditional CX is still working well and maybe doesn't need to change...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iangjacobs/
https://opusresearch.net/
Sid Victor is the Senior Vice President and Head of Support Services at Movate. He is based in Frisco, Texas, USA.
Sid has published his opinion around BPO flexibility on LinkedIn several times. He has made it clear that he feels the future is not human agents OR AI OR any other solution - it is a blend of all the best options and BPOs should be able to offer this blended solution.
For example, should BPOs be capable of offering traditional BPO, Gig CX, and AI all under one roof?
This is what Sid has been talking about for some time. The future for successful BPOs will need to be about more than just offering an automation service or a contact center. They need to offer a flexible mix of everything - building a CX solution using all these ingredients.
Mark Hillary called Sid to find out more...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sid-victor-3355b73/
https://www.movate.com/
Phil Fersht is the CEO and Principal Analyst at HFS Research. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
He recently posted this 'AI continuum' on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pfersht_rpa-genai-agentic-activity-7282865406917115904-5lrX
Mark Hillary called Phil to talk about this and how AI is offering the opportunity for genuine innovation in CX and BPO.
https://www.hfsresearch.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pfersht/
March 2010 - Mark Hillary with Phil Fersht podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/phil-fersht-horses-for-sources/id216384010?i=1000404472875
Gregorio Uglioni is an Associate Partner at Forward. He is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Greg is focused on business transformation and service excellence. He is an outspoken commentator on LinkedIn about the CX and BPO industry in general and his online commentary led to Peter calling him for a conversation.
Greg also hosts the CX Goalkeeper podcast so he is another CX podcaster! Greg's podcast focuses on using the analogy of how a football team (soccer) works together to achieve success and applies this to the CX environment. How can customers and brands both win when they think carefully about their CX strategy?
https://cxgoalkeeper.com/podcast/
https://forwardwith.ch/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorio-uglioni/
Joel Walker is the Co-Founder and Managing Director Platform Services of The Knowledge Group (tkg). He is based in Luxembourg.
Last year Peter saw the tkg vendor selection system, which has details of millions of FTEs working in BPO and CX services globally. The system can help companies find the right supplier based on a large number of variables - it's an independent and impartial advice service that helps CX executives find the best service provider at the right price.
Peter called Joel to talk about CX pricing and how to find the right partner.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelwalker/
https://welovetoknow.com/contact/
BONUS EPISODE: CX Transformation in 2025
At the start of 2025, Mark Hillary from CX Files joined Chris Hague from Yoummday and Lian Rowlands from Tayma Solutions to talk about CX trends in 2025.
This discussion was hosted by Yoummday and focused on some of the trends detailed in their CX Report 2025: “Transforming Customer Experiences: The AI Advantage Meets the Human Touch.”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-hague/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.yoummday.com/
--- 🎧 Listen to the original podcast here - youtu.be/dVl4V7NGvhA ⬇️ Download the report here - lnkd.in/efpQBjbP
Veronica Richards is the COO at CALLS Contact Center and VP at WW CALLS Canada. She is based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Veronica is also the marketing director of the Mexico Business Club in Toronto.
Veronica is originally from Mexico and now works with Mexico from her base in Canada so Peter called her to ask about BPO and CX in Mexico in addition to the attractiveness of the consumer market in Mexico - a market with a population of 128 million people.
What opportunities are created by being located so close to the USA and what opportunities are now being created in Mexico itself?
https://www.calls.com.mx/
http://www.wwcallscanada.ca/
https://mexicobusiness.club/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-richards-9b26969/
Neville Samuels is the CEO of Virtual Staff 365. He is based in Melbourne, Australia.
Virtual Staff 365 offers a virtual staffing service that includes CX. In this discussion with Peter Ryan, Neville explores how virtual staffing can help to create a flexible CX environment that can work for in-house teams or BPOs.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/outsourcingexperts/
https://www.virtualstaff365.com.au/
Mark Lowe is an expert in business risk and security. He is based in Genoa, Italy. Mark is a faculty Member of the ASERI Postgraduate School of Economics and International Relations at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He is also a columinst in the Italian financial journal Fondia & Sicav.
Risk and security are particularly important for CX executives. Who can forget how impossible it was to contact an airline as the Covid pandemic started? Companies managing customer data also have very detailed private data, including payment details - this has to be kept secure.
Over the past year or so there has been constant disruption. Politics, climate change, and unexpected events... how do companies focused on CX manage risk and security?
Peter Ryan called Mark at his base in Italy to talk about this in our final interview on CX Files this year...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lowemw/
Katrin Langley is a CX expert with experience throughout her career at several major BPO companies. She is based in Tampa, Florida.
Peter Ryan called Katrin to talk about first-time outsourcing. Most companies still handle their customer service processes in-house, even as it has become more and more complex in recent years. Why do companies still want to retain these processes and what approach can BPOs take to convince them that outsourcing is a positive strategy?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinlangley/
Jose Paz is the founder and CEO of Startups BPO. He is based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Jose has been living and breathing BPO recruitment for many years. In this conversation with Peter Ryan he explores CX recruitment trends in Honduras and the wider nearshore US area.
What are agents expecting when they apply for CX jobs in the 2020s and what is the reality? How can modern CX brands be creating real careers in CX? How is skills-based hiring changing BPO and CX recruitment? How is AI changing the way that companies hire?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-paz-8883b968/
https://www.startupshonduras.com/
Claas van Delden is the Chief Growth Officer at yoummday. He is based in Munich, Germany.
Yoummday is a proprietary technology platform for managing remote workforces - what we have summarized on this podcast in the past as 'Gig CX'. Yoummday has a diverse global talent pool of 15,000+ sales and customer care freelancers available.
Mark Hillary called Claas to talk about the issues around providing support to customers in multiple languages and whether the platform-based appproach is replacing the more traditional multilingual hubs used by BPO companies...
Claas talks about this specific question and outlines how Gig CX really works in this interview.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claas-van-delden-b7b3b2/
https://www.yoummday.com/en
CX Report 2025: https://business.yoummday.com/en/yoummday-cx-report-2025
Ted Nardin is the VP of Customer Success & Value Add at Teleperformance Jamaica.
Ted has spent years researching CX. He recently joined Teleperformance and Mark saw a LinkedIn update with this new job title focusing on customer success and value add.
Mark called Ted to discuss this idea. How can BPOs put business success on the table and talk to clients about how to add value in the customer relationship - rather than the usual focus on the cost to serve customers?
What more can companies get from all those customer interactions?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tnardin/
https://teleperformance.com/
John Dinardo is the CEO and president of Nordia, a Canadian CX specialist with over 10,000 employees on the team. Nordia is the largest BPO in Canada.
Peter Ryan and John are both based in Montreal, so this is a local Canadian edition.
Bell Canada created Nordia back in 1999, but a quarter of a century on they are now looking at many new opportuntiies and areas of business. John talked about expansion beyond Canada and also about the complexities of managing customer service processes in both English and French.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-dinardo-nordia/
https://www.fr.nordia.ca/
Vidya Ravichandran is the CEO of UnifyCX. She is based in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Vidya talks about the evolution of GlowTouch Technologies into UnifyCX, how technology is changing the BPO industry, and how CX and BPO is evolving as technology solutions become more integral to customer interactions.
As customers demand more complex solutions the BPO community is adopting or building different tech solutions - using AI in particular. But should BPOs buy off-the-shelf tools or create their own and attempt to lead their sector? In this conversation Vidya talks about how BPO is evolving and how the new brand wants to be seen as a CX leader.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidya-ravichandran-53423b2/
https://www.unifycx.com/
The new (July 2024) UK government just announced their budget plans for the year ahead. Several measures look like they could impact the BPO and CX industries. In this special extra edition of the CX Files, Peter Ryan called a few UK-based friends of the podcast to ask for their views on the challenges and opportunities they can see in the latest UK budget...
Featuring a discussion with...
Alistair Niederer, CEO, NeedleRock
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
http://www.needlerock.net/
Lian Rowlands, Principal Consultant, Tayma Solutions
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
David Rumble, Managing Partner, On Consultancy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/on-consultancy/
Tanya Scotece is also known as 'Dr T.' She is a Professor and Program Coordinator at Miami Dade College focused on funeral service education. Tanya is also a senior placement specialist with Sunshine Senior Placement, helping familes find an assisted living facility for their loved ones.
Tanya is a licensed funeral director and has direct experience managing a funeral home and crematorium.
The funeral and mortuary environment in the US is heavily regulated and people working in this field need to understand that end of life and funeral care is an environment where a very special level of care is required.
Peter called Tanya to ask about this fascinating area of customer care that is often not discussed because so many people prefer to avoid end of life conversations.
https://www.mdc.edu/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-scotece-ph-d-lfd-cfsp-%E2%80%9Cdr-t%E2%80%9D-a85a6226/
Almost everyone in the CX environment knows about B2B sales. BPO companies need to sell to clients. CX software companies need to sell to customer service teams or BPOs. Most people in this industry are working for specialist companies selling services to another company.
Mark Hillary has just written a book about this - how do B2B companies sell to each other and how has it changed since the Covid pandemic?
Mark and Peter talked about the new book. What inspired it and why it matters for people working in CX...
The book also features a foreword by Paul O'Hara - a legend from the CX environment with a decade plus experience of using social sales strategies for B2B.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauloharateleperformance/
The Social Sales Playbook: Developing a B2B Sales Plan That Drives Results Published October 11, 2024
https://www.amazon.com/Social-Sales-Playbook-Developing-Results/dp/B0DJY3MYD2/
Neal Topf is the founder and President of Callzilla. He is based in Miami, Florida.
Callzilla is a CX specialist based in the US, but also with delivery centers in Colombia and South Africa.
Peter Ryan called Neal for a conversation about corporate culture - in particular culture inside the BPO environment. Neal recently posted on LinkedIn that a prospective client was impressed with the Callzilla technology and their business proposal, but he wanted to meet the team.
Seeing the team at work and learning about their daily on-the-job culture was really important to this company - he wanted to build a rapport with the Callzilla team.
Neal has often written that prospective clients today are less interested in contact center metrics and much more interested in how the team can help with both sales and service or how engaged the team is and how this will translate into great CX.
Clients today are looking for a BPO to have solutions to business problems - not just AHT statistics.
Tune in for the latest CX Files where Neal talks about culture and why it is more important than ever for BPOs to have a positive answer when a prospect suggests visiting their team.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealtopfcustomerexperience/
https://www.callzilla.cx/
Peter has recently been touring Asia, including some time meeting CX and BPO experts in the Philippines. Mark called Peter in Tokyo to talk about his recent time in the Philippines. What is going on in CX over there right now and do they need to reinvent their approach to communications and promoting what they can do?
When will we see Philippines BPO 2.0?
https://www.ibpap.org/
https://ryanadvisory.com/india-is-the-most-favored-offshore-cx-delivery-location-in-2024/
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
The CX Alliance is a brand new CX trade association launched in September 2024 in the UK. It is being launched by Karen Howard, MD of The Retail Bulletin (TRB) and the partnership director of the CXA is Isobel Rogers. They aim to publish information, research, and host events all focused on various aspects of CX.
Mark Hillary talked to Isobel and Karen to find out more about how this initiative got started and what are their plans for 2025.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cxisobelrogers/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhoward/
https://www.theretailbulletin.com/
https://www.theretailbulletin.com/general-merchandise/the-retail-bulletin-announces-set-up-of-cx-industry-body-cx-alliance-19-09-2024/
The CX Alliance news is so recent that they are still in the process of setting up their website and other channels ... follow Isobel and Karen for now and check TRB for new information...
http://cxalliance.org/
Graham Brown is the SVP EMEA Sales for Alorica. He is based at Leicester in the UK.
In some parts of the world, like Europe, brands need to offer a customer experience in many different languages. For major languages this is not a problem. It's relatively easy to find French and English speakers, but some languages can be hard to support and often they are not even economic to support.
What if you want to operate in Finland, but you can't support those customers in their local language? Do you expect every customer to use English?
Graham has been working on simultaneous voice translation with Alorica. This allows an AI-powered translation system to sit between the customer and the agent.
How well does it work and can we really just staff a contact center with English-speakers and let them support anyone from anywhere?
Listen to this conversation between Graham and Peter Ryan to find out!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-brown-cx/
https://www.alorica.com/
This week we have two guests rather than the usual one!
Chris Gillen is the CEO of A Closer Look. He is based just outside Atlanta, Georgia. Stephen Loynd is the founder and Principal Analyst at TrendzOwl. He is based in Virginia, just across the Potomac from Washington DC.
Both of these leading thinkers have spoken before at the CX Outsourcers conference about how AI is changing the CX industry. In this conversation, they join forces to talk to Mark Hillary about how the past couple of years has shaped expectations on what AI can do for CX companies and how this might be changing the traditional BPO business model. Is CX getting more tech focused?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
https://www.trendzowl.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgillen/
https://a-closer-look.com/contact-us/
Michael Clark is the founder of CXTT Consulting. He is based in Sydney, Australia. Michael has been recognised in 2023 in the Top 100 Contact Centre Influencers in APAC, and in 2022 as a Top 50 Small Business Leader.
Peter Ryan called Michael to talk technology and the tech stack required to make modern CX processes work well. We all know that multiple types of technology have become important for CX executives but how important is it to understand this technology and what really matters?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mclarkcxtt/
https://cxtt.com.au/
Once you are into CX, you never leave... this summarises how Martin Anderson explains the journey he has taken over the past 21 years building the Lemon Contact Centre near to Durham in the north-east of the UK.
Peter Ryan talks to Martin about the entrepreneurial nature of BPO and CX, how he got started, and how he manages to compete in a business where the competition can be both local and global.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-anderson-%F0%9F%8D%8B-b5372123/
https://www.lemoncontactcentre.co.uk/
Jonas Berggren is the Head of Global Accounts EMEA at Transcom. He is also a member of the Transcom EMEA management team. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Jonas has a long history designing customer experience processes, but he is also well known as an innovative thought leader. He publishes a popular LinkedIn newsletter titled "Transform Customer Service" that explores the future transformation of CX.
Often the newsletter looks to the future of CX, but recently it has been exploring how AI is immediately changing the CX landscape.
In this episode of CX Files Mark Hillary talks to Jonas about some of his newsletter themes and how he sees the future of CX in both the short and long term...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasberggren2/
Transform Customer Service Newsletter:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/transform-customer-service-6992863124731113474/
https://transcom.com/
Leo Lopez is the co-founder and principal consultant at Calltastic, an advisory firm focused on helping startups and small businesses. He is based in Los Angeles, California.
Leo has over 30 years experience in contact center operations and he is now using this expertise to help startups improve their customer service processes. In this conversation with Peter Ryan he outlines the top five mistakes that startups and small companies make when engaging with their customers.
https://www.calltastic.com/
https://riseglobalsolutions.net/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leolopez1/
FormIGA was launched in London in June this year. It's the Industry for Good Alliance for technology and business services and is a joint venture between the IAOP and the GSA.
Alistair Niederer heads up the ESG initiatives for the GSA so he talked to Mark Hillary about what this new alliance is doing and how it is more than just another industry body publishing white papers on ESG...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
https://www.anindustryforgood.com/
https://www.gsa-uk.com/
https://www.iaop.org/
Full details of the Service Provider Sustainability Index assessment can be found here:
https://formigaspsi.com/
Stephen Peattie is a Director at Kinetic GB and HybridWorkSmart. He is based near to Leicester, in the UK Midlands.
Daniel Castilla is the co-founder and MD of Alliance BPO Services. He is based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
Daniel and Stephen both visited Fiji on a recent mission to explore current and potential BPO and CX services from Fiji. Fiji is a small island nation of around one million people located in the South Pacific Ocean.
What was their assessment of Fiji as a location for business services? How did they feel on the ground in Fiji? What makes Fiji different or interesting compared to other locations? What are the limitations in Fiji?
Daniel and Stephen explore all these questions in this conversation with Peter Ryan.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-castilla-328b0734/
https://alliancebpo.net/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-peattie-799181/
https://www.kineticgb.com/
https://outsourcefiji.com/
Leigh Hopwood is the CEO of CCMA (Call Centre Management Association) and Chair of the European Customer Contact Alliance. She is based in London, UK.
Peter recently attended a CCMA event in Manchester focused on the buy-side - the companies that need to create their own CX team or buy in expertise from a specialist BPO. He called Leigh to talk about the event and to discuess what buyers are really looking for when they are in the market for CX and BPO services...
https://www.ccma.org.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighhopwood/
Sandra Busy is the Chief Executive Officer of Cnect Waies. Cnect Wales, (formerly The Welsh Contact Centre Forum), is Wales' premier networking organisation for business in Wales operating centralised services. They represent Wales and promote greater investment in BPO and CX in Wales.
The British general election is taking place as this episode arrives on July 4th so Peter talked to Sandra about this specfic region of the UK that has recently been enjoying far more global attention thanks to the Disney+ TV show "Welcome to Wrexham", which explores the success of Wrexham foorball club since it was purchased by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
But, there is much more to Wales than just sport and music. Sandra has spent many years promoting investment in the region and in this episode she explains why Wales is a particulkarly attractive part of the UK for any business managing their BPO and CX functions.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrabusby/
https://cnectwales.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Wrexham
Alexandra da Silva Rodrigues has many years experience designing and supporting CX in various major hotel groups. She is now the Global Head of Reservations and Customer Services at Generator & Freehand hotels. Alexandra is based in Barcelona, Spain.
Mark Hillary called Alexandra to talk about CX in hotels generally, but with a focus on the multilingual challenges this presents when supporting customers across many different European countries.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra1971/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/staygenerator/
https://staygenerator.com/
https://freehandhotels.com/
Andreas Helland is the CEO & Co-Founder at Atender Group. He is based in Bergen, Norway. Atender Group is based in Norway, but has their main operational facility in Málaga, Spain.
Andreas talked to Peter Ryan about how a company that mostly serves customers in the Nordics region manages to do this from a sunny location in Spain that is known to most Europeans as a vacation destination.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahelland/
https://www.atender.com/
Stephen Loynd is the founder and principal analyst at TrendzOwl. He is based in Virginia, close to Washington DC.
Stephen has just published a new book this week. It's called "The Widening Turn: America & the Accelerating Sweep of Innovation."
The book explores how new technologies, such as AI, are redefining work, culture, and our entire society. It also includes many observations on CX and how companies need to entirely reshape their relationship with customers.
Stephen talked to Mark about the new book and his belief that we are entering into a new industrial revolution.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
https://www.trendzowl.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Widening-Turn-America-Accelerating-Innovation-ebook/dp/B0D673PRSW/
Erin Broecker is the Senior Director for Global Content Strategy at Teleperformance. She is based in Sacramento, California.
Erin is focused on content. How it is created and how it is published. She is endlessly thinking about how people within our industry learn about CX strategies. Erin plans which organizations Teleperformance can work with to create greater insights into the industry and how the company can publish this information.
Erin talked to Peter Ryan about content creation and how to use networks like LinkedIn to publish it for a global audience.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-b-411150a/
www.teleperformance.com
Michael Morrison is the Chief Revenue Officer at NCRI Inc. He is based in Toronto, Canada. Peter called Michael to talk about CX and BPO in Canada and how Canada has played a dual role as a nearshore BPO destination for the US as well as being an important market for customer service itself... come and listen to a discussion about the great white north! 🇨🇦🍁
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-morrison-9961052/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/nrci-inc/
https://ncri.com/
Aymen Ismail is the Head of Customer Engagement Solutions at smart Europe GmbH. He is based in Stuttgart, Germany. The smart auto company was founded in Germany in 1994. The brand ws originally famous for quirky small cars, such as the ForTwo. Now, the company is focused on EV production and battery technology. The auto industry is surfing an extreme wave of change at present. Electic vehicles, autnomous vehicles, retail purchasing, leasing... change in the traditional dealer-focused business model is all around. This also changes how customers build a relationship with auto brands. In this conversation, Peter Ryan talks to Aymen about the modern auto business and how to serve the day-to-day needs of customers alongside building long-term relationships. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aymenismail/
https://media.smart.com/eu
Seandette Wiltshire is the founder and director of strategy and operations at The Contact Hub. She is based in Christ Church, Barbados.
The Contact Hub offers contact center and marketing services to companies in Barbados - and beyond. In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Seandette talks about creating a new BPO in Barbados and how the region is developing a growing reputation for the quality of CX services.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandette/
https://gocontacthub.net/
Steve Mosser is the Group CEO & Chief Innovations Officer at Sensée. He is based in London, UK.
Sensée is a work-from-home specialist, but has recently purhased The Contact Company, in Liverpool UK. This more or less doubled their size, but means they now offer both contact center and WFH options.
In this conversation, Steve focuses on the evolution of workforce management and flexible working patterns, why this is good for the clients and the agents, and how to create flexibility while still investing in agents - rather than creating a casual workforce.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mosser-77136712/
https://www.sensee.co.uk
https://newsblog.sensee.co.uk/sensee-creates-a-powerhouse-in-uk-based-cx-outsourcing-with-purchase-of-the-business-of-the-contact-company/
CXOutsourcers 2024 took place on May 1/2 in Atlanta, GA.
Both Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan were at the event. Mark talked to some of the speakers and delegates about their thoughts on what they experienced and learned from the event.
This podcast features:
Stephen Loynd, Founder and Principal at TrendzOwl
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
Rod Jones, Founder Rod Jones Contact Center Consulting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodjonessouthafrica/
Yanique Grant, MD of Professional Training and Occupational Services Ltd. (PTOS)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaniquewagrantcx/
Tyler Ashby, COO of Agents Only
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-ashby-agentsonly/
Neil Sturrock, Global Customer Support Director
Wave Mobile Money
https://www.linkedin.com/company/wavemm/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neils74/
Chris Gillen is the CEO of A Closer Look. He is based very close to Atlanta, GA, so the CX Outsourcers conference is a local event for him. In this conversation he gave Mark Hillary a preview of his CXO keynote speech on CX and AI and keeping humans in the loop
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgillen/
https://a-closer-look.com/
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
Alex Muñoz is CEO of the Hispanic Media Center in San Diego, CA. He is focused on advertising and marketing for the hispanic community in the USA.
Alex talked to Mark Hillary from Mexico City about the importance of understanding the complex nature of the hispanic community in the US and not just assuming there is a broad need for an "English" customer experience and another in "Spanish"...
Alex will be talking about this in more detail at the CX Outsourcers conference in Atlanta on May 1/2. This conversation is a short preview where Alex talks about his forthcoming talk with the CX Files...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-munoz-media-sales/
https://hispanicmediacenter.com/
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
Barry Winkless is the Chief Strategy Officer at Cpl Group & Head of the Future of Work Institute. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.
Barry is speaking at the CX Outsourcers conference in Atlanta on May 1/2. In this conversation with Mark Hillary he gives a preview of his keynote talk about making companies - and countries - more attractive locations for investment and improving the ability to attract talented people.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-winkless-7357094/
https://www.cpl.com/ie
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
CX Outsourcers Special Edition: For the next two weeks CX Files will be published on both Monday and Thursday giving previews of the talks that will be taking place in Atlanta at the CX Outsourcers conference on May 1/2...
Paula Kennedy Garcia is an old friend of the CX Files. She has senior experience in several leading BPOs and is know as a leader in CX innovation and new delivery models. Paula is based in Belfast.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary she talks about her planned talk on digital CX to the CX Outsourcers conference in Atlanta on May 1/2.
Unfortunately, Paula has had to cancel her visit to Atlanta just before the broadcast of this epsiode (Peter and Mark recorded this about a week before broadcast), but it would be a shame to not hear the conversation so we have still published it here.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-kennedy-garcia-1b90b81/
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
Alex Mead is the CEO of Total CX. He is based in Bahrain.
Alex is a long time friend of the CX Files and he has featured before talking about the need for better CX advice and expertise across the industry. In this discussion with Peter he is talking about Bahrain and the opportunity for this region to emerge as a nearshoring BPO destination... Bahrain may not have been on your radar before, but listen to Alex and it may well be!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmead/
https://total-cx.com/about-us/
Nirali Amin is the SVP Global Solutions and Success at LivePerson. She is based in the US.
LivePerson recently published a report focused on the state of customer conversations and the emerging "AI gap" between the willingness of customers to use and accept AI customer service solutions and the willingness of executives to roll out these solutions.
This gap points to a bigger picture that is focused on the digital transformation of customer service processes. Mark Hillary called Nirali to talk about the research and the bigger picture for tech solutions in customer service today.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirali-amin/
https://www.liveperson.com/
State of Customer Conversations 2024: https://www.liveperson.com/customer-conversations-report
Digital Transformation: https://www.liveperson.com/solutions/digital-transformation/
Chris Hague is the head of marketing at yoummday. He is based in Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Chris was at the recent CCW conference in Berlin and he posted some of his thoughts online about his views on the future of BPO - based on the conference trends. In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Chris explores some feedback from the CCW conference and also asks what the BPO or CX specialist of the future needs to look like?
Chris talks about the discussion in Berlin affecting all professional jobs - how do we plan CX if employees want more control over where and when they work and which brands they are representing?
Where is CX heading in future and how will companies in this industry eventually be serving others?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-hague/
https://yoummday.com/
Rod Jones is a legend in the CX industry.
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Rod is now a speaker, trainer, and coach - focusing his experience of contact centers and CX on the next generation of managers.
Rod was 75 a few days back and he started his first business in 1972 - so he has experienced CX and customer service processes up close, or as an advisor, for over half a century. There are very few people in the industry with this level of experience so Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan called Rod to wish him a happy birthday and to ask for some background on how he started out and what has changed in CX in all that time... Rod also takes a look forward to the future, applying his experience to some ideas around what might be coming next.
We hope you enjoy this 75th birthday conversation with Rod - do go to his LinkedIn to leave him a happy birthday message!
Rod will also be at the CX Outsourcers conference in Atlanta on May 1/2 - all of us hope to see you there if you will be attending.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodjonessouthafrica/
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
https://rodjones.co.za/
Mark, Peter, and Rod all together:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4gpH4Gvn9I/
Matt Kendall founded Cognitive Copy, a B2B copywriting and ghost-writing specialist. He is based in Madrid, Spain. He recently launched a newsletter focused only on the BPO and CX community called BPO Bullhorn...
Mark Hillary called Matt to talk about BPO Bullhorn and why newsletters are still a useful way to build a community.
Matt also reminded Mark that he has been on the podcast back in 2021 - Mark forgot this during the introduction! Here is that earlier show...
https://cxfiles.libsyn.com/cxfiles/2021-offshore-bpo-confidence-index-cognitive-copy-and-ryan-strategic-advisory
Contact and Show Details:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cognitivematt/
https://www.cognitivecopy.com/
Sign up for the BPO Bullhorn newsletter here:
https://www.cognitivecopy.com/newsletter
Dr Lollie Mancey is an anthropologist and AI ethicist based in Dublin, Ireland. She is the Programme Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Digital tech and resilience) at the University College Dublin Innovation Academy.
Lollie is focused on workplace performance and this includes how work/life balance should be managed and what causes anxiety and other issues that may damage work perforamnce, home life, or both. Lollie isn't focused specifically on CX, but her research covers workplaces that are similar to those we see in BPO and CX and her ideas in this conversation with Peter Ryan are valuable lessons on how to look after your people - if you don't then they will not be around for much longer.
https://www.ucd.ie/
https://www.ucd.ie/innovation/
https://www.innovationacademy.ie/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlollie/
Bruce Winder is the president at Bruce Winder Retail. He is a leading analyst focused on the retail sector, with a long history of senior management roles in the retail industry. Bruce is based in Toronto, Canada.
Bruce talked to Peter Ryan about trends and challenges for CX in retail in the 2020s.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucewindermba/
www.brucewinder.com
Vaishali Dialani is a Senior CX Strategist at Konabos. She is based in Dubai, UAE.
Vaishali is passionate about how data can be used to help both customers and brands by identifying preferences and trends. Peter Ryan called Vaishali to talk about making better business decisions by using data-driven analytics.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaishalidialani/
https://konabos.com/
Rob Dwyer is the VP of Customer Engagement at Happitu. He is based in Wichita, Kansas.
Rob also hosts the Next In Queue podcast - another CX-focused podcast. Peter Ryan called Rob to talk about CX lessons from his main day job, but also what he learns from talking to CX leaders across the world on his podcast.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-robert-dwyer/
https://happitu.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-in-queue/id1586211868
https://happitu.com/learn/podcast
On February 5, 2024, British contact centre company The Contact Company (TCC) was put into adminstration. Struggling to recover from a cyber attack in 2022, the previously successful company found itself in the red.
On February 7, 2024, the UK media - starting with the Liverpool Echo - explained that the assets and business of TCC had all been sold to the British work-from-home specialist Sensée by the finance company FRP Advisory - the company called in to save the business.
Mark Hillary spoke to Steve Mosser, the group CEO at Sensée and Asif Hamid, CEO at TCC on a call together in Liverpool just after concluding the deal and even before a press release had been released - the press release went out on Feb 8.
This CX Files is a recording of that call - immediate reaction to the deal from both CEOs.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/nearly-1000-jobs-saved-call-28586234
https://sensee.co.uk/
https://thecontactcompany.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/asif-hamid-mbe-aa37723/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mosser-77136712/
Mike Harfield is the COO and Co-Founder at Sigma Connected Group. He is based close to Birmingham in the UK.
In this epsiode of CX Files Mark Hillary speaks to Mike about developing careers in CX. He explains how his company has explored impact sourcing initiatives across South Africa and the UK and how a focus on training, support, and developing genuine career paths for people working in CX helps employees to perform better now - and creates options for their future.
Mike is passionate about developing his team and this conversation demonstrates that ESG and impact sourcing are not just 'nice to have' initiatives - they can improve how your business operates today and also demonstrate a real commitment to the team.
https://sigmaconnected.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-harfield-8820254/
Nina Čaprić is the Government Relations Manager EMEA at NCR Voyix. She is based in Belgrade, Serbia.
Peter Ryan called Nina to talk about her role managing government relationships. How is the public sector different to the private sector and do BPOs need to behave in a different way when national - or regional - governments are the client?
https://www.ncr.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-capric/
Jo Garland is an experienced CX professional. She is based in Surrey in the UK, close to London.
In this interview Jo is speaking in a personal capacity as Peter Ryan called to ask about her experience of a Master's Degree in Leadership at Henley Business School. Jo graduated in 2021 with a distinction so the research was clearly appreciated by the course supervisors.
Jo used the experience of the pandemic to focus her research on how the CX and BPO environment changed because of the move to a work-from-home and hybrid business model.
We have often talked about the corporate experience of WFH on this podcast, but in this interview Jo goes into more detail on how WFH looks from a research perspective.
How did office-based employees emulate the experience of working in a team when they all had to work from home? What worked and what is essential now that this is now normal? How can managers with remote teams ensure that they enable the creation of teams, no matter how the team is constructed and how are we building a flexible future for CX?
Do you have the leadership skills and structures in place to really manage in a remote environment?
These are the questions that Jo and Peter explore in this edition of the CX Files
https://www.henley.ac.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garland-jo/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Episode 300 of CX Files... here's to another 300 in the future! Mark & Peter
Randy Arellano is the head of sales and marketing at DATAMARK. He is based in Dallas, Texas.
DATAMARK offers contact center and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services with delivery centers in the US, India, and Mexico.
In this discussion with Mark Hillary, Randy talks about how rapidly the entire BPO landscape has progessed since the start of this decade. The period of the pandemic created a wave of flexible working practices and work-from-home (WFH) that has persisted across the industry.
This has also led to new expectations around data security - to protect customer data when services are being delivered using a hybrid of WFH and in-office teams.
Randy also talks about how AI is offering new opportunities to support agents inside the contact center and improve the customer experience.
With all these developments available equally to the big and medium players, Randy argues that there is no longer a need to work with the giant BPOs if you want to access the latest technology and flexible working practices - it is equally possible in mid-size partners now.
A modern BPO is not stronger just because they have more agents. They are stronger because they have insight and ideas for how to transform CX processes and the ability to work in partnership with their clients - size is no longer a marker of service quality.
BPO has transformed inside this decade and we are only at 2024 - listen to Randy explain what has changed and why it is important for CX executives to understand this evolution.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/randyarellano/
https://datamark.net/
Every analyst and journalist is saying that AI will be important in 2024. It's obvious... but what are the less obvious predictions we can make for CX trends in the new year?
CX Files host Peter Ryan (Canada) hosted a discussion focused on CX in 2024 featuring:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Mark Hillary
CX Files co-host (Brazil)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
Lian Rowlands
Principal Consultant, Tayma Solutions (UK)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
Stephen Loynd
Founder and Principal Analyst, TrendzOwl (USA)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
It's the festive season. Mark and Peter have decorated the podcast for Christmas. Although many people will now be off work for the Holidays there are millions of CX agents out there still helping customers to get their presents on time.
In this final CX Files of 2023, Mark and Peter look back at the key CX trends of 2023 and some of their favourite interviews from the year.
CX Files will return on January 11 with a panel of expert analysts exploring the trends to watch for in 2024.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Adrian Swinscoe is well known in the CX community as an adviser, speaker, and writer. His Punk CX book argued for a new approach to CX and he also publishes the Punk CX podcast. Adrian also writes about CX in the business magazine Forbes. He is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Adrian argues for a new approach to designing and managing CX - especially when hiring a customer service specialist. He argues for genuine partnership rather than the traditional client and supplier relationship.
The punk approach is to tear up the traditiional rules and try something new.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianswinscoe/
https://www.adrianswinscoe.com/
In this discussion, Mark Hillary talks to Christine Heynes, Head of Customer Transformation, and Yvonne Quinn, Head of Customer Relations, at Southeastern Railway in the UK. Southeastern is the public-facing name of SE Trains Ltd - a train operating company that serves the south east area of England. Southeastern serves the main London stations of Charing Cross, Waterloo East, Cannon Street, London Bridge, St Pancras, Victoria and Blackfriars. The network has route mileage of 540 miles (870 km), with 180 stations. Christine and Yvonne explore the complexities of managing customer expectations on a major rail network and how to manage daily complaints and refund demands alongside building a CX strategy for the future. They also explore the importance of finding the right CX partner. They are happy to talk about their relationship with Teleperformance, a contract that has been extended. It's interesting to note how they see Teleperformance as a CX expert that can guide the rail company, rather just just a supplier of customer service solutions. This collaboration recently won an award (best cross functional collaboration) at the ECCCSAs 2023. In the interview, Yvonne answers the first question - Christine joins from the second question. https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-heynes-40233a104/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonne-quinn-18366a297/ https://www.ecccsa.com/2023-finalists/
Sidharth Mukherjee is the Chief Digital Officer at Teleperformance. He is based in San Francisco, California.
Sid is focused on all things digital and CX and in this conversation with Peter Ryan he talks about the explosion in interest in Generative AI in 2023 and how it can really be applied to improve the customer experience.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidmuk/
https://www.teleperformance.com
Andrew McNeile is the Chief Customer Officer of ThinScale Technology. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.
ThinScale enables remote and hybrid work using bring-your-own-device by ensuring that remote employees can connect securely. The company saw a boom as the pandemic forced office workers to work from home, but what does the situation look like now?
Is WFH and hybrid here to stay in CX and BPO?
Mark Hillary called Andrew at his base in Dublin to catch up and see how he thinks BPO will evolve...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amcneile/
https://www.thinscale.com/
Sagufta Janif is the Executive Director of Outsource Fiji. She is based in Suva, Fiji.
Fiji is located in the South Pacific, east of Australia and north of New Zealand. It is an island country with a population of approximately one million people, but Fiji has been punching above its weight in CX and BPO.
What is Fiji offering and why are so many companies interested in BPO from Fiji?
Peter Ryan called Sagufta at her base in Suva to explore these questions.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagufta-janif-social-impact-entrepreneur/
https://outsourcefiji.com/
Chris Hague is the head of marketing at Yoummday. He is based in Prague in the Czech Republic. Yoummday is based in Germany and offers a platform-based approach to CX that resembles the GigCX we have often talked about on CX Files, but in the interview Chris explains how Yoummday differs from the classic gig approach.
Mark Hillary called Chris after reading an article Chris published asking if the traditional BPO model - contact center and customer service employees - is dead...
Chris argues that there is a more positive and flexible future where agents can choose the brands they are working with, choose their working hours, and choose to work from home. They get more flexibility and also earn more - and this flexible approach costs the brand less.
Is this flexible model of CX going to replace traditional BPO? Listen to Chris and decide for yourself...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-hague/
https://www.yoummday.com/en
Nerys Corfield is the founder and director of Injection Consulting. She is based in South Wales, close to Newport.
Nerys posted on LinkedIn recently about how a retail bank is using digital non-voice customer service channels - it wasn't a compliment. Peter called Nerys to discuss why so many organisations are getting voice right, but are not paying attention to chat, email, and texting... why are so many companies dropping the ball when it comes to digital channels?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neryscorfield/
https://www.injectionconsulting.co.uk/
Dianne McCoubrey is the VP of Sales at Grypp. She is based in Toronto, Canada.
Grypp helps customer service agents to get closer to customers by providing an immersive video experience.
In this conversation, between Mark Hillary and Dianne, the CX Files explores how video can be used to improve customer service interactions. Why is it not used more often today and can it be more than just a video call between a customer and agent?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianne-mccoubrey-7a87b510/
https://grypp.io/
David Neale is the Chief Growth Officer at Nutun CX. Mike Butler is the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing at Nutun CX. David and Mike are both based in the UK, but Nutun operations are in South Africa.
Every BPO says that they do Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Every annual report features an update on Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (ESG) these days... but are BPOs and clients really taking this seriously?
The team at Nutun believes that their approach raises the bar. It involves employees and clients and they can see a dramatic improvement in employee engagement because of the work they do in the local community - this directly leads to better performance and better CX.
The CX world is seeing a strong focus on cost at present as many countries are facing up to an uncertain economy, but is the real way to evaluate ESG not just that it is a good thing to do, but it is also good for business?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-butler/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-neale-08b80011b/
https://www.nutun.com/
https://melloneducate.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4wMzJ03Jvc
Diane Edwards is Director of the consulting and professional services unit at the Mona School of Business & Management in Kingston, Jamaica.
Diane has a long history in BPO management and promotion and she led JAMPRO, the Jamaican trade and investment agency for over 9 years, until 2022.
In this CX Files episode, Peter Ryan talks with Diane about the compliance implications of the Jamaican Data Protection Act 2020. This law comes into force on December 1, 2023 and many companies are still not ready.
Is this a Caribbean and nearshore version of the rush for GDPR compliance we all saw a few years ago in Europe?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-m-edwards-mba-a1a9501/
https://www.mona.uwi.edu/msbm/
https://jis.gov.jm/data-protection-act-regulations-to-be-tabled-in-parliament-soon/
Michele Rowan is the founder and president of the Work From Home Alliance. She is based in Virginia in the US.
The CX Files talked to Michele over two years ago in 2021. At that time we were leaving the worst period of the pandemic - the lockdowns were over and a vaccine was just starting to roll out. Michele then predicted that WFH and hybrid working would remain a permanent feature of BPO and CX. The new normal would include WFH.
Mark Hillary caught up with Michele to see what the WFH Alliance has been doing in the past two years and what Michele thinks of her prediction from 2021.
Michele also contributed a foreword to the recent book 'GigCX: The Benefits of a Flexible Workforce' by Mark Hillary, Terry Rybolt, and Brian Pritchard - as featured on the CX Files episode from last week.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-rowan-6006516/
https://www.wfhalliance.com/
https://www.amazon.com/GigCX-Benefits-Workforce-Brian-Pritchard/dp/B0CJB9WV7N
Terry Rybolt is the Chief Revenue Officer at LiveXchange Technologies. He is based in Boston.
LiveXchange is a platform that allows companies to augment their existing customer service processes with a team of gig workers - a bench of GigCX. This talent can be called on daily or occasionally, as and when it is required. It works for companies that manage their CX internally and also if a BPO is managing the process.
Terry recently published a new book - co-authored with Mark Hillary - on GigCX so Mark called him up to ask about the book and some of the trends in GigCX that Terry has been recently observing.
Follow the link below for more information on the new book:
https://www.amazon.com/GigCX-Benefits-Workforce-Brian-Pritchard/dp/B0CJB9WV7N/
https://www.livexchange.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-rybolt-808361/
Beza Tekola is a doctor. She is a gastroenterologist based in Fairfax, Virginia. Beza founded Suture BPO to help manage the back office processes within healthcare organizations. In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Beza talks about why healthcare needs BPO expertise and what is especially important about the healthcare industry.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bezawittekola/
https://www.getsutured.com/
Jon Yarlett is the founder and COO of Intelligent Sourcing magazine. He recently founded a new trade association focused on impact sourcing titled the Impact Sourcing Alliance. The role of the new alliance is to support the education and information sharing of Impact Sourcing globally across the broad BPO and CX community.
Jon is an old friend of CX Files and has often published articles by Peter and Mark in his magazine. In this discussion with Peter he explores why impact sourcing has become so important to the CX community and what the new alliance hopes to achieve.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-yarlett-91282aa/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/impactsourcingalliance/
https://www.intelligentsourcing.net/
Cheryl Paarwater is the founder and Managing Director of Call Lab BPO - based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Cape Town faced a recent wave of violence during a series of taxi strikes. Peter called Cheryl to find out what's really happening and why we should still have confidence in CX services from South Africa.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-paarwater/
https://call-lab.com/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66445019
This is just a short alert to let you know that CX Files will be back from our summer break tomorrow - remember to tell your friends and contact Peter Ryan or Mark Hillary if you have ideas or questions for the show...
https://cxfiles.libsyn.com/cxfiles
For 280 episodes Mark and Peter have always ensured there is a new CX Files episode every single week. However, as it is a very quiet time of year we decided this year that it's not fair on our guests to ask them to appear when few are listening.
We will be back in the first week of September - see you then!
If you are taking a summer break then have a great time (it's winter here in Brazil!)
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan
Alistair Niederer is well known on the CX Files - he was a guest just a few months ago, but was invited back as he has now changed role and he published an important new white paper on ESG.
Most leaders are now concerned about their Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (ESG) measures - but are they really focusing on change or just how to score well in the audits? Alistair has been focused on exploring ESG in CX and BPO and he talks about his recent research in this episode.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/needlerock/
https://www.intelligentsourcing.net/esg-essential-to-bpo-competitiveness/
BPO Guide to ESG
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aniederer_bpo-guide-to-esg-activity-7069295941454835713-XVe_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
It's the first CX Files Q&A session with Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan. Listen in to hear Mark and Peter answer audience questions and talk about the latest industry trends and news.
In this discussion Mark and Peter talk about:
- Why are IVRs so bad?
- Will AI drastically reduce agent numbers?
- What are the latest trends in WFH?
- Was Queen at Wembley 1986 the best concert movie ever?
- Tribute to our friend Dominic Pannell
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Keith Gait is the CEO of the CX Foundation. He is based in the UK. The CX Foundation publishes research, blogs, a podcast, and hosts many different events focused on CX. Member organisations are drawn from across the industry.
In this discussion Keith talks about te work of the CX Foundation, his new book "Definitely CX", and looks to the future of CX - managing the cost of living crisis and predicting how the role of the agent may be about to change.
https://www.cxfo.org/meet-the-team/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-gait-mba-ccxp/
Caskey Ndaba is the Executive Head: Channel And Distribution at Momentum Metropolitan Insurance Africa. Both Caskey and Momentum Metropolitan are based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
For this interview Caskey was on the road so Peter Ryan called him in Windhoek, Namibia.
Caskey talked about the challenges of building customer relationships in insurance when many customer interactions are difficult - for example, processing claims. He also talks about the differences in nuance between regions across Africa. How and why are customers different in each market?
https://www.momentummetropolitan.co.za/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caskeyndaba/
Audrey William is the Principal Adviser at Ecosystm - she is based in Sydney Australia. In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Audrey talks about how companies can listen to their customers more effectively. This especially applies to collecting and using data more effectively to create insight into what their customers need.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-william-3a4a04/
https://team.ecosystm.io/
Amy Bennet Roach is the VP Sales and Marketing at Blue Ocean Contact Centers. She is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Amy talked to Peter Ryan about her views on the future for CX at present and in particular how smaller and medium-sized players can offer more agilty and flexibility when working with clients. Is smaller better?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-bennet-roach-4bb5ba48/
https://blueocean.ca/
Peter Klayman is the VP of Strategy at Bottle Rocket Studios. He is based in Denver, Colorado. Bottle Rocket is focused on the design of digital CX with a focus on helping to accelerate growth.
In this conversation with Mark Hillary, Peter talks about how to justify investment in CX and how to start thinking of the complete customer journey - extending beyond just customer service and contact centers alone. All customer-facing functions need to be coordinated and working together.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterklayman/
https://www.bottlerocketstudios.com/
James Sherin is based in Tulsa, OK. He is Executive Vice President at Yo! Solutions.
Yo! is a BPO, but their clients are other BPOs. How does this work and why would a BPO want towork with another BPO?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-sherin-5925a555/
https://www.yo-solutions.com/
Jeremiah Okello is the founder and owner of Collins Consulting International, a consulting firm focused on CX and BPO outsourcing and based in Nairobi, Kenya.
In this interview, Jeremiah talks about the CX market in Kenya and the wider emerging opportunities for CX in Africa with Peter Ryan.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremiah-okello-8875689/
Last week, both Peter and Mark were at the CxO Glasgow conference in Scotland. Peter was one of the event organisers. Mark featured on a panel exploring the future of CX with Stephen Loynd, the founder and principal analyst at TrendzOwl.
Once Mark was back home in São Paulo, he called Stephen at his base in Virginia, just outside Washington DC, to talk about the various discussions that took place in Scotland last week.
https://cxoutsourcers.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
https://www.trendzowl.com/
Barry Winkless is the Chief Strategy Officer at Cpl Group and Head of the Future of Work Institute Cpl. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.
CPL is a major HR and recruitment company that works across multiple industries - including CX. Barry is always considering the future of work for both employers and employees so in this discussion with both Peter Ryan and Mark Hillary he explores some of his ideas around how the evolution of work itself may change and affect CX executives.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-winkless-7357094/
https://www.cpl.com/ie
barrywinkless.com
Shane Jackson is the founder of Knowledge Rhino. He is based in Sarasota, Florida.
Shane is focused on data, analytics, and workforce optimization. In this interview he talks to Peter Ryan about the value of workforce management (WFM) and how critical it is for an efficient CX process.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneajacksondata/
https://knowledgerhino.com/
Sadiq Mohammed is the managing director of USMAART. He is based in Manchester in the UK. USMAART provides outsourcing consultancy support to retail, travel, energy and telecoms sector clients such as N Brown, Studio Retail, Music Magpie, Sky, Coast, Comparison Technology Ltd and many others.
Peter Ryan talked to Sadiq about how clients can find the right outsourcing partner for customer experience (CX) projects and what has changed in the selection process in recent years?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadiq-mohammed-b281293/
https://usmaart.com/
Peter Ryan has been talking to Marianne Withers for some time about the special needs of vulnerable customers. Marianne is the founder and CEO of The Verity Centre, a boutique contact centre and BPO in Portsmouth, UK. Marianne is joined in the discussion by Cath Wohlers, LIAISE Manager at England Illegal Money Lending Team, to talk about how comanies can engage with their most vulnerable customers.
How can contact centres and BPOs help vulnerable people get their life back on track if they have been caught out by gambling addiction, loan sharks, or just huge increases in their regular energy bills?
How can BPO agents handle customer contact effectively when they may be talking to customers that are threatening to take their life if the company insists on collecting the debt?
Can it ever be moral to hire a BPO for collections and pay them only if they force customers to pay? This aggresive approach is common, but does it ever achieve results if it just forces customers into even more debt? How can a BPO force their employees to act in an aggresive way, ingnoring the need of any vulnerable customers.
The difference between what a company wants to do may not be morally correct. How do BPOs handle this dilemma?
The economy remains uncertain in many major economies at present, but in the past year the UK has had a very tough time with energy and property rental/mortgage prices soaring. How can BPOs help their clients to ensure bills are paid, but in a way that also accepts that vulnerable customers need more empathy that others?
Marianne Withers
Founder and CEO, The Verity Centre
Portsmouth, UK
https://tvc15.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne10/
Cath Wohlers
LIAISE Manager at England Illegal Money Lending Team
Liverpool, UK
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cath-wohlers-2a5328134/
Peter's recent article:
https://ryanadvisory.com/5-impacts-of-cx-bpo-mega-consolidation/
Peter Ryan leads a discussion on the recent wave of M&A activity in the BPO industry. What does it mean for CX innovation and diversity in the industry?
This emergency CX Files features these speakers joining Peter from his base in Montreal, QC, Canada:
Anne Bibb
Founder and CEO, Remote Evolution
Dallas, TX, USA
https://remoteevolution.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annebibb/
Lian Rowlands
Owner, Tayma Solutions
Swindon, UK
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
https://www.meetami.ai/
Rod Jones
Founder, Rod Jones Contact Centre Consulting
Johannesburg, South Africa
https://rodjones.co.za/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodjonessouthafrica/
Ian Barkin is a well-known expert inside the BPO industry. He is an entreprenuer and investor, has founded 4 companies, has written popular LinkedIn courses on automation, is an external adviser to Bain & Company ... the list could go on. Most recently in the BPO world he was the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at SYKES until May 2021. Ian is based in Tampa, Florida.
Mark saw Ian recently contributing to a new feature of LinkedIn, collaborative documents. These resemble a wiki and allow several different experts to contribute ideas to documents and many of them were focused on BPO as an industry.
Taking this as a start to the conversation, Mark called Ian to talk about BPO consolidation, AI, automation, and where customer experience specialists go from here?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianbarkin/
Who managed the limousine logistics at the Academy Awards in Hollywood, California earlier this year? You might not expect it, but one of the leading customer care and dispatch services for luxury autos is based in Serbia.
Marko Torovic is the founder of NSourcing, a specialist BPO focused on limo logistics and trucking. Peter caught up with him during his recent tour of Europe to talk about limos and managing customer expectations when they demand luxury from start to finish.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markotorovic/
https://www.nsourcing.net/
It's that time of year again - the 2023 Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office CX Omnibus Survey is being revealed by Peter live in Poland at exactly the same time as this episode drops - so if you are downloading this on April 20th 2023, then you are one of the first to hear the results!
Which are the most favoured offshoring locations around the world for CX and BPO?
This is probably the largest annual study in the industry and is updated annually. In this episode, Peter explains how the research was conducted, what it means, and where are the top 5 global locations that are seen as the best for CX services?
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal
Call that a CX strategy? No mate, this is a CX strategy...!
Anyone who follows Peter knows that he loves 80s pop culture so we can't avoid a reference to Paul Hogan here because this week CX Files is going down under. Peter talked to Simon Kriss - a CX veteran based in Melbourne - about what's happening in BPO and CX in Australia.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonkriss/
https://www.auscontact.com.au/member-services/membership-categories-and-fees
Johan Steyn is a Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence advocate and thought leader. He was recognised by Swiss Cognitive as one of the top 50 global voices on AI. He is a Research Fellow at the School of Data Science and Computational Thinking at Stellenbosch University and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Business at Woxsen University. Johan is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mark Hillary talked to Johan about the sudden attention on generative Artificial Intelligence, such as ChatGPT, and what it could mean for the customer experience. Will contact centers be replaced? Will the remaining human agents become super agents? Is this finally the end of the FAQ?
Listen to Mark and Johan talk about AI, ChatGPT, and how these emerging technologies could reshape the customer experience.
www.aiforbusiness.net
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanosteyn/
https://swisscognitive.ch/
Kirk Laughlin is the Founder and Chief Analyst at Nearshore Americas. He is based in Connecticut in the US. Nearshore Americas is the definitive authority on knowledge service exports across the Caribbean and North, Central and South America.
Kirk recently hosted the CrossConnect Forum in London. This event was focused on introducing many Caribbean destinations to a British and European audience. Peter Ryan talked to Kirk about the forum and the opportunity for non-US companies to take a closer look at the Caribbean region for CX and BPO.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirklaughlinmanagingdirector/
https://nearshoreamericas.com/
https://crossconnectforum.com/
Chandni Bhatt is the Senior UK Manager for Member Happiness at Beauty Pie. She is based close to London in the UK.
Beauty Pie is a member and subscription-based service offering cosmetics and beauty products to customers in the UK and US. In this discussion with Peter Ryan, Chandni talks about how D2C customer realtionships work and how to deliver great service within a member-based organisation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandnib157/
http://www.beautypie.com/
Matt Sims is the President EMEA at Alorica. He is based in the UK.
Headquartered in the US, Alorica has recently been leaning into Europe so Mark Hillary called Matt to explore the differences between the European and American CX markets and how economic uncertainty may affect CX and BPO strategies.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-sims-7892542/
https://www.alorica.com/
Stuart Knight is a technology executive with over 25 years experience leading multiple organizations in CIO and CTO roles. He is on the Leadership Team at flōswitch and he is based in Cardiff, Wales.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Stuart talks about the issues of technology redundancy and how BPOs need to address these issues if they want to optimize costs.
With a possible recession looming, it's time to take a look at your systems and decide what needs to go.
https://floswitch.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-knight-tech-exec/
NOTE: This episode was originally released on March 9th, but was released again a few days later to fix a problem in the episode meta-data.
Stuart Knight is a technology executive with over 25 years experience leading multiple organizations in CIO and CTO roles. He is on the Leadership Team at flōswitch and he is based in Cardiff, Wales.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Stuart talks about the issues of technology redundancy and how BPOs need to address these issues if they want to optimize costs.
With a possible recession looming, it's time to take a look at your systems and decide what needs to go.
https://floswitch.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-knight-tech-exec/
NOTE: This episode was originally released on March 9th, but was released again a few days later to fix a problem in the episode meta-data.
Stuart Knight is a technology executive with over 25 years experience leading multiple organizations in CIO and CTO roles. He currently runs BarcoTech, an IT consultancy based in Cardiff, Wales.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Stuart talks about the issues of technology redundancy and how BPOs need to address these issues if they want to optimize costs.
With a possible recession looming, it's time to take a look at your systems and decide what needs to go.
https://barcotech.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-knight-tech-exec/
Nathan Muniz is the founder of 247SECRETARY.COM. He is based in Ocala, Florida.
247SECRETARY.COM is a BPO that works with agents in the Philippines. Nathan has worked hard to specifically make his team a valued part of the local community in a great example of impact sourcing in one of the most popular destinations for offshore CX.
In this interview, Nathan talks to Peter Ryan about how he started the company and why he is so focused on the community and making a difference.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/247seretary/
https://247secretary.com/contact
Marianne Rutz is the founder of Rutz Consulting. She has a long track record of advising BPO and customer service operations and she also hosts the popular Operational Excellence Podcast. She is based in Scotland.
Peter Ryan heard an episode of Operational Excellence focused on the topic 'Where is your CX going wrong?' The episode focused on why companies keep making the same mistakes so he called Marianne to ask about how to avoid these CX breakdowns.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-rutz/
https://rutzconsulting.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-operational-excellence-show/id1499082914
Imagine if you were defined by the worst mistake you made for the rest of your life And denied of opportunity, growth and personal success at every turn. That’s how it is today for more than 200,000 incarcerated women in the United States. They, like all of us, made a mistake. Only their lapse in judgment came with a different consequence.
Televerde has a unique business model. They create opportunities for incarcerated women to train for and then work in CX jobs. They help incarcerated women transition back into society by allowing them to transfer into a Televerde center as their sentence is completed.
Michelle Cirocco is the Chief Impact Officer at Televerde and CEO of the Televerde Foundation - based in Phoenix, Arizona. She talked to Peter Ryan about how Televerde has taken an unusual approach to locating new talent - an approach that gives people a chance to rebuild their life.
It's great for the individuals that get a chance to train and be employed again, but it's also great for clients of Televerde as they can access a pool of highly motivated talent - just as it is getting harder and harder to locate and hire people.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellecirocco/
http://www.televerdefoundation.org/
https://televerde.com/about/our-model/
Alistair Niederer is well known as a leader in the CX industry. He has led several major companies and was heading the Davies Group customer experience consulting business when the pandemic arrived in 2020 - leading to many months stuck in lockdown in a Toronto apartment.
Now back in his London base, Alistair is a non-executive director of Blackout Technologies, focused on WFH security. In this epsiode of the podcast he talks to Mark Hillary about how to approach WFH now that hybrid and WFH is clearly becoming a permanent feature of most workplaces.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
https://www.blackout-technologies.com/
John Sills is MD at The Foundation, based in London.
The Foundation is a management consultancy focused on growth, but in this episode of CX Files Mark Hillary talked to him about his new book 'The Human Experience.' Published by Bloomsbury the book is out TODAY so this is a CX Files exclusive - probably the first media interview post publication of the book.
The Human Experience is focused on CX and how companies need to find a better blend of digital and human CX - in particular retaining the human element of customer service where it remains essential.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnjsills/
https://www.the-foundation.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Human-Experience-customers-successful-organization/dp/1399401734
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/human-experience-9781399401739/
Paige Webster is the Founder and CEO of Webster Global Site Selectors. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Paige is focused on site selection and economic development and he has advised companies seeking to invest in new regions all over the world. In this epsiode Paige talks to Peter Ryan about the complexity of site selection and how companies decide where to locate their offices and infrastructure.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paige-webster-cecd-562bbb21/
http://www.globalsiteselectors.com/
Justin Custer is the Founder and CEO of ChatLingual. He is based in Boulder, Colorado.
This CX Files episode delves into how digital chat is revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers; thus transforming the customer experience. Mark Hillary and guest Justin Custer discuss the benefits of digital chat for customers (and employees), including convenience, speed, and personalized language interactions, as well as the advantages for businesses, such as cost savings, increased customer engagement, and improved customer loyalty. The future of digital chat in customer service, how will it shape the way businesses interact with customers?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkjc/
https://www.chatlingual.com/
Stephanie Todd is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the founder and CEO of advisory firm Soul CX and has a history managing travel and airline customer service processes.
After his own travel nightmares over the holiday season, Peter Ryan called Stephanie to ask about the problems airlines are facing at present. How do they recover from the pandemic disruption and rebuild customer loyalty - right now the news is filled with one travel meltdown after another... how can CX help airlines out of this?
Did Peter ever get his luggage back?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemtodd/
https://soulcx.com/
Mark Walton spent the past couple of years as CEO of specialist work-from-home BPO company Sensée. He stood down in May 2022 and then launched Cloudbase Partners with the Flex@Home Workspace Health & Safety audit app as the intial product. This app helps companies to audit their WFH environment to ensure the business knows their employees are working in a safe enviroment and their wellbeing is being managed. It also helps the business reduce the risk of employee litigation, regulatory investigation, and criminal prosecution.
WFH hurridly introduced during the pandemic now has to become permanent and this means ensuring the safety of WFH employees.
Mark explains what his new business is doing, how he believes WFH will develop in 2023, and how to build a team culture when nobody physically works together.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-walton-0627a74/ https://www.flex-home.app/
It's the end of 2022. In the last few days of the year you may be away from the office taking it easy, so why not catch up with this final CX Files for 2022?
Peter Ryan talked to a group of CX experts and analysts to learn about their observations on 2022 and ideas for what to watch in 2023.
The panel included:
Rod Jones (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Owner, Rod Jones Contact Centre Consulting
https://rodjones.co.za/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodjonessouthafrica/
Lian Rowlands (Royal Wootton Bassett, UK)
Director of Customer Success, Conversations By Ami
https://www.meetami.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
Jon Yarlett (London, UK)
COO, Intelligent Sourcing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-yarlett-91282aa/
https://www.intelligentsourcing.net/
Melissa O'Brien (Boston, US)
Research and Operations Leader
HfS Research
https://www.hfsresearch.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-o-brien/
There is no guest this week because your hosts Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan decided to talk about their own CX highlights from 2022 as well as their favourite interviews from the CX Files this year. CX Files delivers 52 episodes every single year. It's like Bob Dylan's "never ending tour." We deliver a new episode every week and in this special Christmas 2022 edition we look back at the year...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
CX Files is not the only CX podcast out there! You probably know that already, but in this episode we have invited other CX podcasting peers to join us in taking a look back at the highlights of 2022 and forward into the expected CX trends coming in 2023...
Peter Ryan leads the discussion and this episode features:
Wiktor Doktór (Warsaw, Poland) CEO of Pro Progressio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiktordoktor
https://proprogressio.pl/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-morning-bss-world/id1487461301
Marianne Rutz (Sauchie, Scotland) Founder, Rutz Consulting https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-rutz/
https://rutzconsulting.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-operational-excellence-show/id1499082914
Stacy Sherman (New York, USA) Doing CX Right podcast https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacysherman
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doing-cx-right-podcast/id1573754741
David Powers (Los Angeles, USA) Chief Experience Officer, Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air https://rooterhero.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjpowers2/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/caffeinated-cx/id1586545435
Steve Mosser is the Group CEO and Head of Innovation at Sensée. He is based in London, UK.
Sensée is a homeworking specialist. They design customer service and CX solutions using 100% WFH teams - and have done so for around two decades. When the pandemic arrived Sensée already had all their people at home anyway - they started advising clients on how to manage the crisis. In this interview, Steve talks to Mark Hillary about how to build a team culture with a team that is not working in the same place and how companies can move on from just WFH to embracing more flexible work. As companies negotiate a hybrid future that involves offices and working from home, how has Sensée built a strong corporate culture with no offices at all?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mosser-77136712/
https://www.sensee.co.uk
Everyone is familiar with South Africa as a CX destination. Maybe you have also worked with Egypt and a few others too, but Martin Roe, the CEO of CCI Global, is on a mission to build far greater customer service capabilities in many other African nations. Martin is a Brit based in Dubai and Peter Ryan called him to talk about the development of many emerging CX destinations in Africa.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-roe-55a4724/
https://www.cciglobal.com/
Roger Beadle is the founder and CEO of Limitless. Roger is based in London, UK.
Peter Ryan caught up with Roger to talk about GigCX and how it offers the opportunity to do more than just change how customer service agents are paid - hiring agents that love the brands they support is just one example. Flexible CX is about far more than just WFH.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-beadle-96048410/
https://www.limitlesstech.com/
Chris Gillen is the CEO of A Closer Look. He is based near to Atlanta, GA.
A Closer Look is focused on CX market research and explores most of the major industry verticals. In this discussion with Peter Ryan he talks about research A Closer Look has carried out on the travel industry - focusing on the forthcoming holiday season and trends to watch for in 2023.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgillen/
https://a-closer-look.com/
Chris Gillen is the CEO of A Closer Look. He is based near to Atlanta, GA.
A Closer Look is focused on CX market research and explores most of the major industry verticals. In this discussion with Peter Ryan he talks about research A Closer Look has carried out on the travel industry - focusing on the forthcoming holiday season and trends to watch for in 2023.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgillen/
https://a-closer-look.com/
Jonathan Steiman is the CEO and founder of Peak Support. He is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jonathan worked as an analyst with Peter in the past, but since then he has created his own CX company. In this conversation he talks to Peter about BPO and how he went from analyst to CEO in the BPO environment...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-steiman-4712402/
https://peaksupport.io/
Jonathan Steiman is the CEO and founder of Peak Support. He is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jonathan worked as an analyst with Peter in the past, but since then he has created his own CX company. In this conversation he talks to Peter about BPO and how he went from analyst to CEO in the BPO environment...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-steiman-4712402/
https://peaksupport.io/
Jonas Berggren is the head of business development for Transcom - focused on leading the northern European division (baltics and nordics).
He recently published a long article on LinkedIn (link below) exploring the values of GigCX, but Jonas went beyond just arguing for GigCX, he was exploring flexible work and what it means for the future of CX and BPO.
Mark Hillary called him at his base in Sweden to talk about the article and some of his ideas how how flexible CX is becoming essential in the post-pandemic business environment.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonasberggren2/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-gig-economy-reshaping-future-customer-experience-jonas-berggren/
https://www.transcom.com/global/
Barry Matthews is the CEO of Open Assembly. He is based just outside Oxford, in the UK.
Open Assembly co-creates the future of work with organizations, platforms, and people by providing content, community, and strategic advising services. They glean key insights from Harvard Business School faculty and researchers and the Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH), to inform and inspire new ways of working using open strategies.
In this interview, Barry talks about the future of work and how trends such as GigCX may be changing the way that CX and customer service processes are designed in future.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-matthews-2a51a32/
https://open-assembly.com/
Leigh Hopwood is CEO of the Call Centre Management Association - based in London, UK. Leigh recently published an article in a special report on the future of CX published by Intelligent Sourcing - the article was focused on the development of learning and training in CX.
Mark Hillary called Leigh to talk more about learning in CX and how to create genuine career opportunities for people who work in customer service teams.
Are the opportunities for career development really out there? It now looks like it so listen to this episode for more information!
https://library.myebook.com/PC/what-s-next-for-cx-special-report/4379/#page/12
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighhopwood/
https://www.ccma.org.uk/
http://intelligentsourcing.net
David Powers is the Chief Experience Officer at Rooter Hero. He is based in Los Angeles, CA.
David has written extensively on CX, including a book called 'The Blue Collar Call Center' and hosts his own podcast called 'Caffeinated CX.'
David manages CX for Rooter Hero - a plumbing company that is expanding across the western US. When David's team get a call it is usually from a customer that has a crisis on their hands - they don't just want a chat.
David talks about how to manage CX for an essential service like plumbing and also how he believes the BPO community needs to work with companies that are exploring CX outsourcing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjpowers2/
https://rooterhero.com/
Book and Podcast link: https://linktr.ee/caffcx
Rick A. Collins is a SVP at Marsh USA. He is based in New York City and his focus is consultative analysis and implementation of creative and novel ideas for risk management.
Peter Ryan met Rick at a recent conference focused on fraud and so they recorded a conversation about fraud and risk management and how this is an important focus for any manager planning a CX strategy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-a-collins-23b5284/
https://www.marsh.com/us/home.html
Stephen Loynd is an old friend of CX Files. Both Mark and Peter have know him for many years. He is the founder of TrendzOwl, based in Arlington, VA, and is well known as a speaker and deep thinker on the future of CX. Before running his own advisory firm, Stephen was a senior analyst at Frost & Sullivan, focused on CX.
Stephen was speaking about the future of customer channels at the recent CX Outsourcers event in Las Vegas and he touched on the development of the Metaverse so Mark called him for a deep dive into what it is and why it matters for companies planning a customer service strategy...
https://www.trendzowl.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
Ben Jones is the Group CCO at Sigma Connected Group. He is based in Birmingham in the UK. Ben attended the CX Outsourcers event in Las Vegas last week and in this interview he talks about some of the key takeaways from the conference with Peter Ryan.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-jones-1667641b/
https://www.sigmaconnected.com/
Ricardo Pedroza is the USA Executive Director of PROCOLOMBIA - the government agency focused on developing business, foreign investment, and tourism for Colombia. With a recent change of government, many in the BPO industry have been talking about how Colombia can continue the CX success of recent years. Listen to Ricardo explain the Colombian experience and their strategy for the future with Peter Ryan.
https://procolombia.co/en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardopedroza/
Peter Ryan called on Sean Goforth and Lynda Arsenault to give their feedback on a visit by a group of international BPO influencers and advisers to Georgia this week. In this call, Lynda and Sean are on the ground in Georgia giving their immediate feedback on the visit, hosted by Enterprise Georgia.
Sean Goforth is the research director at Ryan Strategic Advisory. He is based in Mexico City, Mexico.
Lynda Arsenault is a Foreign Direct Investment specialist advising several organisations including AHP International. She is based in Canada.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-arsenault/
http://www.ahp-international.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-goforth-9a4725b2/
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/enterprisegeorgia/
https://www.enterprisegeorgia.gov.ge/en
Victor Pereda is the CEO of Nearsol. He is based in Irvine, CA.
Victor and Nearsol have advised many startups on how to manage the transition from in-house CX to working with a partner to cope with the hypergrowth that happens when a new service takes off. In this episode he talks about some of this experience with startups and how small fast-growing companies can handle a sudden explosion in customer numbers.
http://nearsol.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-pereda/
Indu Badlani is the CEO at business process management experts Project Space and co-founder of StaffingExpert - a recruitment company focused on BPO and contact centers. She is based in Manila, Philippines.
Indu talked to Peter Ryan about how BPO and CX recruitment is changing, how CX careers are developing, and how the industry looks post-pandemic. What are the most common staffing challenges in the present environment?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/indu-badlani-b8408025/
http://www.project-space.co/
https://www.staffingexpert.com/
Indu Badlani is the CEO at business process management experts Project Space and co-founder of StaffingExpert - a recruitment company focused on BPO and contact centers. She is based in Manila, Philippines.
Indu talked to Peter Ryan about how BPO and CX recruitment is changing, how CX careers are developing, and how the industry looks post-pandemic. What are the most common staffing challenges in the present environment?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/indu-badlani-b8408025/
http://www.project-space.co/
https://www.staffingexpert.com/
Simon Yoxon-Grant is the CEO of TLScontact. He is based in the UK. TLS is focused on providing visa and consular services so if you have had to travel since the pandemic - and you needed to apply for a visa for your destination - then it's possible TLS processed it.
With this detailed inside knowledge of who is traveling and where, Simon gives his views on how the travel industry coped with the pandemic, what the recovery will look like, and what might be coming soon with digital travel and biometrics.
https://www.tlscontact.com/en/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-yoxon-grant-b719914/
Claas van Delden is the Chief Growth Officer of Yoummday. He is based in Munich, Germany.
Yoummday is a highly flexible work-from-home CX specialist that has recently purchased Icon, the Prague-based BPO. In this episode, Peter Ryan asks Claas about flexible BPO in Europe and what the acquisition means for Yoummday and Icon.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claas-van-delden-b7b3b2/
https://www.yoummday.com/
Claas van Delden is the Chief Growth Officer of Yoummday. He is based in Munich, Germany.
Yoummday is a highly flexible work-from-home CX specialist that has recently purchased Icon, the Prague-based BPO. In this episode, Peter Ryan asks Claas about flexible BPO in Europe and what the acquisition means for Yoummday and Icon.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claas-van-delden-b7b3b2/
https://www.yoummday.com/
Cheryl Paarwater is Managing Director at Enerlytics & Call Lab BPO. She is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Cheryl talks about the ongoing entrepreneurial nature of BPO and how CX is supporting career development in South Africa.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-paarwater/
https://call-lab.com/
Andrew Hall is the Chief Commerical Officer at Quantanite. He is based in Milton Keynes, in the UK.
In this interview he talks to Mark Hillary about some of the challenges and opportunities associated with content moderation and how many companies may now be taking a fresh look at offshore outsourcing to locations such as South Africa in the post-Covid business environment...
https://quantanite.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewghall/
Tony Won has a long career as a leading player support specialist in the gaming industry. Previously he was the head of player support at Riot Games and Epic Games - responsible for supporting titles such as Fortnite. He is usually based in Austin, Texas, but joined the CX Files from sabbbatical leave in South Korea.
Tony has argued on LinkedIn that player support is a different process to traditional customer service - the player is not always right to start with. In this discussion he talks about why player support is different and what other industries can learn from gaming.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonywon1980/
Hemant Puthli is MD and Partner at Neo Group. He is based in Mumbai, India.
Neo Group recently conducted a detailed study of business service and IT companies to determine which are really adopting a robust ESG strategy and which are just "greenwashing" their credentials. In this interview Hemant talks in detail about why ESG matters and how they conducted their research...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hputhli/
https://www.neogroup.com/
https://www.neogroup.com/esg-adoption-survey-across-select-it-business-service-providers/
Bill Colton is the CEO at Global Telesourcing. He is based in Arlington, VA, USA. In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Bill talks about how celebrities can boost BPO brands and help specifically with attracting new talent. Could the right celebrity boost your hiring plans?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcolton/
https://globaltelesourcing.com/
Colson Hillier is the CMO of Alorica. He is based in New Jersey in the US. Mark called Colson for this interview because the most recent Gartner Magic Quadrant mentioned several examples of post-pandemic innovation and resilience being adopted by Alorica - such as virtual contact centers, GigCX, and permanently embracing WFH... in the conversation Colson talks about balancing resilience, innovation, and what Alorica learned from these unsual past two years.
https://www.alorica.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/colsonhillier/
Stefan Freyer is the Managing Director of Orphoz (a McKinsey company supporting cross-industry transformation and project management) - he is based in Berlin, Germany.
Stefan recently talked to Mark about the disconnect between grand visions of CX and the reality on the ground when implementing a project - so Mark called him back to record Stefan's ideas on this implementation gap for the CX Files.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-freyer-25274a1/
https://www.orphoz.com/
Natasha Rantanshi-Stein is the founder at Surfboard - a service that has reinvented workforce management (WFM) by turning it into team planning. Surfboard is focused on team planning for CX and this is a fast-moving area, especially since the pandemic created a sudden wave of flexible and home-based workers. Listen to Peter Ryan talking to Natasha about the evolution of WFM on this episode of CX Files...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-ratanshi-stein-69333723/
https://teamsurfboard.com/
Sara Sloman is the Director of Future Fleet at Paythru. Sara is based in the UK.
Sara's role is to imagine the future of the Electric Vehicle (EV) market - in particular for fleet users. She is focused on designing infrastructure, software, and payment systems that can make life easier for EV users - especially when out on the road and requiring a public charging station.
In this episode, Peter Ryan talks to Sara about the CX requirements for EV users and how the market is developing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-sloman-4a3b2711/
https://paythru.com/
Annelien Marcus is a Recruitment Manager at Clarion People, based just outside of London in the UK... her focus is contact centre and CX recruitment so Peter Ryan called to ask about the latest recruitment trends and how the post-Covid recovery is shaping up.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annelienmarcus/
https://www.clarion-people.co.uk/
Cathy Jooste is the CCO and US Nearshore director at Atento. She is based in Florida in the US.
Nearshoring is a strategy that is changing fast, especially because of the Covid experience where long distance travel became extremely difficult. Cathy talks to Peter Ryan about interesting new locations and how nearshoring is evolving.
https://atento.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathrine-jooste-a218663/
Daniel Hay is the CX and Digital Transformation Leader at Dow (Latam). He is based in São Paulo, Brazil.
With a 125-year history, Dow is one of the largest chemical producers in the world with products that include plastics, chemicals, and agricultural products - it's an enormous global B2B operation and Daniel explains how they have learned from B2C approaches to CX and how B2B is slightly different.
https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielaehay/
Faye Joubert is VP of Service Delivery at iSON Xperiences. She is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Faye talked to Peter about the importance of CX and BPO partnerships, especially in the post-pandemic business environment where so many industries are coping with a rapid wave of change.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fayevaldajoubert
https://isonxperiences.com/
Nadia Pace is a board advisor and executive mentor - she holds non-executive positions on several corporate boards. She is based in Malta.
As a former CEO and with extensive CX experience, Nadia often advises on how to create success in the CX environment so Peter called to ask for her top advice.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-pace-13513618/
https://nadia-pace.com/
Steven Van Belleghem is an author and keynote speaker with a strong focus on CX. Based in Belgium, Steven has now written four books focused on CX and has spoken at around 1,000 events in over 40 countries.
In this episode of CX Files, Steven talks to Mark Hillary about the ideas contained in his most recent book and how customer loyalty will evolve in future.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenvanbelleghem/
https://www.stevenvanbelleghem.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Offer-You-Cant-Refuse-Customers/dp/9401470359/
Paul O'Hara is EVP of Business Development at Teleperformance EMEA. He is based in the Newcastle area of the UK.
Paul is on a mission to demonstrate the true value of great CX partnerships. Good CX can create value AND revenue and should not be seen as a cost to a business - if you design CX effectively then it can not only lead to happy customers, it can create more profit!
Paul talked to Mark Hillary about a recent blog he wrote on this subject and how CX can be seen as more strategic than just contact center processes.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulohara/
https://teleperformance.com/
Wiktor Doktór is the founder and CEO of Pro Progressio, he is based in Warsaw, Poland.
Pro Progressio supports the BPO and CX industry in Poland with research, advisory work, and events.
Peter talked to Wiktor during a recent Pro Progressio event in Gdańsk about the CEE region and opportunities in Poland.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiktordoktor/
https://klub.proprogressio.pl/pl
The Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey for 2022 is now published! In this edition of CX Files, Peter talks about the results - focusing on the top 5 countries globally - with a panel of leading global BPO and CX experts... the guests on this episode are:
Peter Ryan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Sean Goforth
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-goforth-9a4725b2/
David Rumble
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
Steve Weston
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-weston-1843152/
Andrew Wrobel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwrob/
Ann Harts
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annharts/
Marianne Rutz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-rutz/
Rolana Rashwan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolanarashwan/
Jacqui Turner is the founder of Turner Corner Learning Solutions, based in the UK. She specialises in customer service and team leader coaching.
Peter called Jacqui to explore the role of coaching and the evolving role of the agent inside customer service solutions.
Jacqui started a regular LinkedIn post called the 'Customer Service Dancing Queen' where she dances to music and talks about customer service issues every Friday. It started during the pandemic lockdowns, but continues to be popular today!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-turner-trainer/
https://turnercorner.co.uk/
Ivan Kotzev is a research analyst at NelsonHall - he is focused on CX transformation. In this episode, Ivan looks to the future. How is CX transforming in the post-pandemic environment and which technologies and innovations should you be watching out for?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivankotzev/
https://research.nelson-hall.com/
Mike Pipicello is the VP of Client Services for GlobalStep. He is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
GlobalStep is focused on gaming and digital services so in this edition we are focused on games and player experience - is this hi-tech sector ahead of other industries for CX design?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikepipicello/
https://www.globalstep.com/
Robin Harrison is the Group Chief Marketing Officer at Webhelp. He is based in the UK.
Robin has some strong views on the post-pandemic return to normal. Both employees and customers have changed, so CX strategies also need to evolve.
This is a view that CX Files endorses - as can be clearly heard in the introduction with Mark and Peter.
Research undertaken by Webhelp with Frost & Sullivan has shown that 92% of CX leaders intend to transform their CX inside the next 12 months - so there is an urgent need to review a post-pandemic strategy for modern CX.
During the interview, Robin mentioned the Webhelp Anywhere methodology that codifies much of this thinking - follow the link for more information.
https://webhelp.com/anywhere
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrisonrobin/
[Apologies to listeners as Mark tested positive for Covid just after speaking to Robin and was still positive when recording with Peter - plus his neighbour decided to rebuild when the intro recording started!]
It's International Women's Day this week so Peter talked to two inspirational female CX leaders... and name-checked many others that we have also featured on the CX Files! Alexandra Fus, Operations Manager at Valoris in Bucharest, Romania and Kathia Yacaman, EVP at Grupo Karim’s in Honduras talk about what has changed for women in CX - and what could still be improved!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-fus-08b79417/
https://www.valoris.ro/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathia-yacaman-45216428/
www.grupokarims.com
www.altiasmartcity.com
Paula Kennedy Garcia is the global head of Trust & Safety and Content Moderation at Concentrix. Paula is based in Belfast.
In this episode, Paula explains to Peter the importance of a T&S strategy and how it's essential to protect both customers and employees when managing content moderation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-kennedy-garcia-1b90b81/
https://www.concentrix.com/
Stephen Loynd is a great friend of the CX Files. He is the founder and principal analyst at TrendzOwl, based in Virginia, US.
Stephen joins the CX Files this time to explore the effect of the Great Resignation on jobs and careers in CX... will we see better careers, more flexibility, and the growth of GigCX?
Terry Rybolt is the Chief Revenue Officer of GigCX platform LiveXchange - he is based in Boston, MA.
Terry has just published a new book called "Don't Fear The Gig Worker: GigCX And The Employment Reboot" - written with Mark Hillary from this podcast.
Peter Ryan talks to Terry about GigCX, the Great Resignation, and how work will look in the 2020s.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-rybolt-808361/
https://livexchange.com/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QTSPPBR/
www.dontfearthegigcxworker.com
Shira Dodi is the VP of Global Support at Checkmarx in Israel.
In this episode Shira talks about cybersecurity, data protection, and how CX companies can protect important customer data.
https://checkmarx.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shira-dodi-0a0819/
Episode 200 of CX Files and we are talking to the person who gave this show it's name, William Carson, Director of Market Engagement at Ascensos in London, UK.
William talks about the post-covid Ascensos Local initiative and how to plan for the future of CX more generally.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-carson-ascensos/
https://www.ascensos.com/
Scott Broetzmann, President of Customer Care Management and Consulting
Scott is based in Virginia, close to Washington DC. His company has been surveying American consumers on anger and rage for almost two decades.
In this episode he talks about what causes customer rage and how to handle it - can it be avoided by better CX design?
www.linkedin.com/in/scott-broetzmann-6015741
www.customercaremc.com
Lisa Stoner is the global head of support operations at Uber, based in San Francisco, California. Lisa is also on the General Member Board of Transcom.
In this episode Lisa explore some of the challenges of hyper-growth, multiple customer channels, and how to innovate without breaking your day-to-day service to the customer.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-stoner-21529b6/
https://uber.com/
https://transcom.com/
A look ahead at CX in 2022 with...
Lian Rowlands, Director of partnerships at Conversations By Ami
Royal Wootton Bassett, UK
https://www.meetami.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119
Stephen Lloyd
Founder and Principal analyst at TrendzOwl
Virginia, USA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd
https://www.trendzowl.com/
Peter Ryan
Principal, Ryan Strategic Advisory
Montreal, Canada
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal
Happy New Year!
Peter Ryan, Principal, Ryan Strategic Advisory (Montreal, Canada) and Mark Hillary, CEO of Carnaby Content (São Paulo, Brazil) explore some of the big picture CX issues for 2022.
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal
https://www.carnabysp.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
Review of 2021 and a look ahead to 2022 featuring:
Alistair Niederer, EMEA Head of TTEC
Paul O'Hara, SVP Business Development, Teleperformance EMEA
Peter Ryan, Principal Analyst, Ryan Strategic Advisory
https://ttec.com/emea/
https://teleperformance.com/
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulohara
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal
Cognitive Copy and Ryan Strategic Advisory recently published the 2021 Offshore BPO Confidence Index. This research gauges BPO confidence in 12 global markets.
The report authors Matt Kendall and Peter Ryan explain the key takeaways from the research in this episode.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjqkendall/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
https://ryanadvisory.com/2021-offshore-bpo-confidence-index-now-available/
https://www.cognitivecopy.com/research
Gill Marchbank is CEO and co-founder of ResQ, based in Hull, UK. ResQ is a customer service specialist that was recently named a 3-star company by the Best Companies organisation.
This is an accreditation focused on employee feedback and 3-stars means world-class - the only BPO with this accreditation in the UK.
In this episode Gill talks about building and maintaining a great employee culture and how that translates into great CX.
https://resqcs.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gill-marchbank/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/resq-contact-services-limited/videos/native/urn:li:ugcPost:6857209199257096192/
https://cert.b.co.uk/
Steve Gush is the head of EXP+ solutions EMEA at Sitel. He is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
EXP+ is the digital solutions division of Sitel so in this episode Steve talks about how digital CX is changing customer interactions, agent support, and why we might all be interacting with brands using the metaverse in future!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-gush-92a5033/
https://www.sitel.com/
Ian Jackson is the CEO at Enshored, based in Los Angeles, California. Enshored is focused on innovative startups - especially e-commerce - but in this episode he talks to Peter Ryan about startup e-commerce and what this can teach the retail and e-commerce giants.
https://www.enshored.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianjackson2/
Hui Wu-Curtis is the COO at SupportU based in Phoenix, AZ.
In this episode, she talks to Peter Ryan about CX impact sourcing and how it can be used domestically inside the US as well as internationally.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hui-wu-curtis-b730682/
https://supportu.solutions/
Tariq Alinur is the founder and CEO of Brayn CX, based in Miami.
We have all become more used to using Teams and Zoom for work during Covid, but are customers now demanding video chat for service? Tariq believes there is an increasing demand... he discusses video chat for CX with Peter Ryan.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariqalinur/
https://brayncx.com/
Tamar Ravelli Is an international recruitment consultant at Talingual, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Tamar is focused on multilingual recruitment in Europe so she is the ideal person to give an update on how BPO recruitment is recovering after the pandemic.
http://www.talingual.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamar-ravelli-a384482/
Hailey Corr is a senior marketing manager at Vistio. She is based in Puerta Vallarta in Mexico. Vistio's software helps agents inside contact centers deliver a better customer experience by guiding them automatically to the information the customer needs.
This is real-time automation and in this episode Hailey talks about how automation can be used to dramatically improve CX - where does it work and where does it need more thought?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/haileyecorr/
https://www.vistio.io/
Steve Soechtig is the Global CEO of Ogilvy Experience. He is based in Denver, Colorado.
Steve is focused on the entire customer journey and how brands can create a fantastic customer experience so in this episode he talks about how to build better, longer-lasting customer relationships with a focus on CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssoechtig/
https://www.ogilvy.com/
Professor Moira Clark is a Professor of Strategic Marketing at Henley Business School in the UK. She is also the founder and director of the Henley Centre for Customer Management.
In this episode Professor Clark explores the need to build back better post-pandemic CX and also the total lifetime value of customers.
https://www.henley.ac.uk/people/professor-moira-clark
https://www.henley.ac.uk/
Tijana Dmitrovic is the CEO of Contact Service based in Belgrade, Serbia.
She started out in the industry as an agent and is now in the c-suite so how can more CX focused organizations offer a stronger career path to their employees? Tijana talks to Peter Ryan about her own experience and how Contact Service aims to help people build long-term CX careers.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdmitrovic/
http://www.contactservice.info/
Darren Arnold and George Todd are the founders of Intersect-HP in South Africa. Their mission is to create genuine employee engagement for customer service teams.
Why do so many companies say they value their team yet fail to really engage them?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenarnold-intersect-hp/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgectodd/
https://intersect-hp.com/
Jo Causon is the CEO of the Institute of Customer Service - she is based in London in the UK.
The ICS is the UKs independent professional customer service body. They offer professional qualifications along with research, advice, and they regularly lobby the government and media to ensure the importance of customer service is better understood.
In this episode Jo talks about building back with better CX as we emerge from the pandemic.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-causon-8b53652/
https://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/
Mark Trimble is a Senior Account Executive at Powerland based in Saskatoon, Canada. Powerland is an IT services provider focused on cloud-based services and they have extensive experience working with BPO and CX clients. In the podcast Mark talks about how the cloud and SaaS model is changing CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-trimble-3414441/
https://powerland.ca/
Vidya Ravichandran is President of Glowtouch Technologies, based in Louisville, Kentucky, US. GlowTouch is a strategic outsourcing partner, providing personalized contact center, business processing, and technology outsourcing solutions.
In this episode, Vidya talks about the importance of Diversity and Inclusion in the CX industry. Why should CX companies pay attention to diversity and is more inclusion better for business?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidya-ravichandran-53423b2/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/glowtouch-technologies/
Greg Murphy is the EVP North America of Instanda, he is based in Minnesota. The company provides SaaS cloud-based insurance policy admin services to insurance companies - allowing them to rapidly trial or launch new services.
In this episode Greg talks about how insurance is changing and the renewed focus on insurance CX.
https://instanda.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregmurphy24/
Gareth Richards is the co-founder and CEO of Help With My Visa!
In this edition of the podcast, Gareth explains what travelers are looking for when applying for visas, how agencies supplying these documents can prove their own CX, and what the post-vaccine environment will mean for travel-focused firms like his own.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethrichards0103/
https://helpwithmyvisa.com/
An electric vehicle (EV) is plugged into the ChargePoint network every 2 seconds, but is the charging infrastructure for EVs being upgraded fast enough for drivers? The UK will ban petrol and diesel vehicle sales from 2030 and many countries have similar deadlines so what will the future driving experience be like?
Tanya Sinclair is the UK and Ireland policy director of ChargePoint - Tanya is based in London, UK. In this episode Tanya talks about the future of EVs and the user experience we can expect.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyasinclair/
https://www.chargepoint.com/
Tom Doran is the Head of Remote Working at health insurance company Bupa. He is based in Manchester.
Bupa was founded in the UK in 1947, but has been expanding overseas since the 1970s and is now a global company with over 31 million customers.
Tom was managing WFH CX long before the pandemic and had to help the rest of the company move home in March 2020 so in the podcast he talks abut WFH strategy before, during, and after Covid.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-doran-75907917/
https://www.bupa.co.uk/
Sure is a Guernsey-based telecoms firm with a 125-year heritage. Charlotte Dunsterville is the Chief Consumer Officer and therefore leads all consumer engagement - including sales and customer service.
Sure has a focus on telecoms for islands - from the Channel Islands down to the South Atlantic.
In the podcast, Charlotte talks about managing B2B and B2C processes together and how to blend sales targets with customer service.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottedunsterville/
https://business.sure.com/about/
Mark Walton is the CEO, of Sensée. He is based in Shrewsbury in the UK. Sensée is one of the leading work-from-home customer service specialists in Europe with 17 years experience of managing WFH customer service solutions.
In the podcast, Mark looks to the future and the lessons Sensée learned long before the pandemic.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-walton-0627a74/
https://www.sensee.co.uk/index.html
Richard Farrand is a senior director at Conduent, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is responsible for the APAC CX business and globally for resource planning.
Richard was previously the Global COO for Bank of America IT and BPO systems and before that he was leading IT and BPO inside HSBC.
In the interview we talked about how CX is transforming companies and how better design thinking can lead to great CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardfarrand/
https://www.conduent.com/
Special Edition of the CX Files focused on the recent violence in South Africa. What will it mean for BPO and continued confidence in South Africa?
Peter Ryan
Principal at Ryan Strategic Advisory
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Mark Essey
CEO, Capability BPO
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markessey/
Stephen Loynd
Founder and Principal at TrendzOwl
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
Dave Rumble
Co-founder, The Knowledge Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
Huw Davies is the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Ozone API - Ozone helps banks to plug into Open Banking standards.
Huw is on the board of advisers of the Emerging Payments Association and was previously the Ecosystem Development Director at Open Banking - the implementation entity created by the UK government to define and build Open Banking.
https://ozoneapi.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/huwwilliamdavies/
Numrah Irfan is the VP of Client Success at WatServ. She is based in Toronto, Canada. WatServ is a specialist in advising and implementing cloud computing systems.
In this episode, Numrah talks about how companies can use cloud strategies to ensure they always have enough storage and access to computing power. It's a chance to build back better after the pandemic.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/numrah-irfan-1904b717/
https://watserv.com/
Lian Rowlands is the director of partnerships at Conversations by Ami. She is based near Swindon in the UK.
Ami is a chatbot that has helped millions of customers, but chatbots have a bad reputation. How can it be improved?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
https://www.meetami.ai/
GigCX Discussion
In this episode of CX Files we talk to a leading management consultant, a provider of a GigCX platform, and a user of GigCX to ask what is GigCX and why is it taking off in 2021?
http://j.mp/gigcx
GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE:
Vinay Gupta, Senior Expert, McKinsey & Company
https://www.mckinsey.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinay-gupta-b3028a16/
Terry Rybolt, Chief Revenue Officer, LiveXchange
https://livexchange.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-rybolt-808361/
Mahesh Raghuram, Director of Customer Service, NewAge Products
https://newageproducts.com/ca/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahesh-raghuram-8600a726/
What is Contact Center Implementation? How do you create a new contact center in 2021? How do captive centers or BPOs enter into new locations and build a contact center?
Victor Pereda is CEO of Nearsol, based in Irvine, CA. Nearsol is a BPO, but also has a background in real estate and still advises on how how to build the ideal contact center.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-pereda-56068117/
https://nearsol.us/
Alex Mead has a long track record in CX director roles in various brands. He is presently based in Bahrain and is the Executive Director of Customer Service Experience for a new Middle East startup that is still in stealth mode - brand to be revealed in a few months.
Alex has been vocal about the sheer number of lists of top 50 or top 100 CX gurus so the CX Files contacted him to find out if there is a better way for us to all judge who are the real experts in CX?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmead/
Helen Hickin is the founder and CEO of ICON Communication Centres, based in Prague in the Czech Republic. ICON is focused on CX, inside sales, and account management for B2B brands.
Most of the time when we focus on CX strategy we tend to focus on B2C - the end consumers - but B2B remains critically important and has also changed with the pandemic. In this edition, Peter Ryan talks to Helen about what has changed in B2B CX and what is coming next in this space...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-hickin/
https://www.theiconadvantage.com/
Michele Rowan is president of the WFH Alliance, an industry forum that organizes workshops, events and toolkits all focused on helping companies implement WFH programs. Michele is based in Dallas, Texas.
Michele has a background leading the customer contact team at Hilton Hotels and overseeing their own move into WFH agents.
In this episode we look beyond the pandemic to a business world where WFH is normalized.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-rowan-6006516/
www.WFHAlliance.com
Jeff Pappas is the EVP of Site Selection and Brokerage at ESRP, based in Dallas, Texas. Jeff has two decades experience helping companies select the best site for their business - including contact centers and BPO operations.
In this episode Jeff talks about the process involved in deciding where to locate a contact center and what might change in the post-pandemic era.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffpappas/
https://esrp.com/
Annelien Marcus is director and recruitment manager at Clarion People, based in London. In this episode she talks about the changing nature of CX recruitment and the skills needed to be a modern CX professional.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annelienmarcus/
https://www.clarion-people.co.uk/
Miya Knights is the Director and publisher of Retail Technology, possibly the first dedicated retail technology trade journal in the UK. She is based in Brighton, in the UK.
Miya is also the global content strategist for Poq, a platform that enables retailers to build apps extremely quickly and she has written several books about the retail industry including one on omnichannel and one focused entirely on Amazon.
In this episode we discuss the future for retail in the new normal.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/miyaknights/
https://poqcommerce.com/
https://www.retailtechnology.co.uk/
Mark Hillary, from CX Files, published a new book this week (WFH: Securing The Future For Your Organization) co-authored with Andrew McNeile, the CCO of Thinscale Technology in Dublin, Ireland. Shelli Ryan, founder and CEO of Adhoc Communications in Las Vegas, Nevada, contributed the foreword.
In this CX Files Mark talks to Andrew and Shelli about the book and WFH in the post-pandemic environment.
http://j.mp/wfhbook2021
https://www.thinscale.com/
https://adhoccr.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelliryan/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amcneile/
Alistair Niederer is the EMEA head of TTEC. He is based in London in the UK.
Alistair has published several articles recently suggested that we need to redefine CX outsourcing - even dropping the term outsourcing. His argument is that CX requires orchestration, not outsourcing. CX suppliers should be genuine business partners.
In this episode of CX Files, Alistair takes some time to explain CX orchestration in more detail.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
https://www.ttec.com/
ATAC is a Canadian based virtual service BPO. They have been a Canadian trailblazer since 2011 and have always focused on work-from-home (WFH) agents.
Tugs Smith is the co-founder of ATAC and in this episode of CX Files she talks about WFH both pre and post-pandemic and how ATAC quickly developed a certification program to improve the WFH recruitment process
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tugreofia-smith-a9a965a5/
https://www.atacinc.ca/
It's that time of the year again! Ryan Strategic Advisory asks hundreds of CX decision-makers every year to talk about their most favored locations for BPO and other trends affecting the marketplace. In this episode of CX Files, Peter talks about the top 5 global locations for BPO based on his research in 2021.
The Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey 2021 is being released live at exactly the same time as this edition of CX Files - be the first to hear Peter interviewed about the research results right here.
https://ryanadvisory.com
Simon Dillsworth is the UK Managing Director of Davies Consulting (Davies Group acquired Ember Group - you may have heard Simon a year ago on this podcast when he was with Ember).
In this episode, Simon talks about Intelligent Automation (IA) and Digital Transformation - especially in the post-Covid era. What is IA and how can it be used to improve customer loyalty?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-dillsworth-sd/
https://davies-group.com/
Chris Gillen is the CEO of A Closer Look, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
A Closer Look focuses on data and human intelligence and in this episode of the podcast Chris explores the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on customer experience and behavior in travel and leisure. What is the pre and post pandemic view on travel and leisure and how can you get closer to customers?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgillen/
https://a-closer-look.com/
Rob van Herpen is the Regional Vice President for North America at 5CA. He is based in North California.
5CA has a two-decade history of work-from-home (WFH) CX and Rob was here on CX Files a year ago helping companies quickly move to WFH in the early stages of the pandemic.
Now he is back and talking more strategically about how WFH will evolve, embracing hiring from anywhere and 'fans of brands.'
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robvherpen/
https://5ca.com/
The CX rules have been rewritten by the Covid-19 pandemic. That's the conventional wisdom, as analysts talk about the New Normal... but Rick Denton, the Managing Principal of EX4CX says we should not forget what has not been changed by Covid.
Rick is based in Dallas, Texas, and on this episode of CX Files he talks about what we need to focus on to build a post-pandemic CX strategy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenton/
https://www.ex4cx.com/
The Ryan Strategic Advisory annual BPO survey will be published next month - featuring the most desirable global BPO locations. In this preview Peter Ryan talks to Lian Rowlands from Conversations by Ami (UK), Dave Rumble from The Knowledge Group (UK), and CX analyst Jesús Hoyos (USA) on what makes a great post-Covid BPO destination.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/
https://www.meetami.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesushoyos/
http://cx2advisory.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/welovetoknow/about/
Randy Arellano has a long history in CX - he has worked at several of the major CX suppliers. In 2018 he joined Auxillium with the mission of making high quality CX available to smaller companies and start ups. His mission was to take the standards and processes used by the big players and to apply this to smaller projects.
In this episode, Randy describes how he managed to achieve this goal and how a CX supplier can serve a client even when they are only working with a few agents.
Randy is based in Denver, Colorado.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/randyarellano/
https://auxilliumusa.com/about-us/
Stuart Ravens founded Corax Insights in London at the start of 2021, but he has a long history as an industry analyst (Navigant and Ovum) focused on energy and utilities. In this episode of the podcast, Stuart talks about the transition to renewable energy and the relationship between energy companies and their customers - do energy companies even think about the customer experience at all?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartravens/
https://www.coraxinsights.com/
William Carson is the director of market engagement at Ascensos. He is based in London and away from Ascensos he is also a frequent CX commentator and council member of the GSA.
Ascensos has a strong focus on retail CX so in this episode CX Files talks to William about the failure of department stores and the dramatic rise of brands such as Shein, BooHoo, and Asos. How does CX work in a modern retail industry?
www.ascensos.com
www.linkedin.com/in/william-carson-ascensos
www.gsa-uk.com/Associates
Jim Farnsworth is a veteran of the CX industry. He is currently an Executive Vice President at SYKES and is well known as one of the leading thinkers in the business. He is based in Denver, Colorado.
In this interview, Jim talks about the adaptation of CX and contact centers and how modern CX needs to embrace the role of the agent - they are on the frontline and they are the experts.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jifarnsworth/
https://www.sykes.com/
Ted Nardin and Brian Kearney founded research and advisory firm 5th Talent and are based in the US. During the Covid-19 pandemic they asked 4,000 contact center agents about their WFH experience. Now they are back with new research focused on what CX leaders have learned and need to know about WFH.
https://www.5thtalent.com/work-at-home-study-november-2020
https://www.5thtalent.com/post/what-leaders-should-know-about-work-at-home-fatigue
https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankearney-meaningfulwork/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tnardin/
https://www.5thtalent.com
Nate Brown is the Chief Experience Officer at Officium Labs and the co-founder of the CX community CX Accelerator. He is based in Nashville Tennessee.
In this episode, Nate talks about the people who work in CX. How do we fix the "minimum wage" reputation of CX and how do companies attract the best talent and start treating them like experts?
https://www.officiumlabs.io/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cxaccelerator/
https://www.cxaccelerator.com/
GigCX is often compared to traditional contact centers or BPO, but there is an opportunity to re-think how customer service is designed throughout the entire customer journey.
Megan Neale is co-founder and COO of Limitless Technology, based in London. She explains how the Limitless platform works and how we need to re-think GigCX and what it can offer.
www.linkedin.com/in/meganneale-belimitless
www.limitlesstech.com
Victor van Baal is the GTM lead and MD of Qelp at Sykes Digital Services (SDS) and Amahl Williams is a director of SDS. Victor is based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Amahl is based just outside of Boston, Massachusetts in the US.
In this episode we focused on post-Covid digital transformation, innovation, and automation - including RPA.
www.linkedin.com/in/amahlwilliams
www.linkedin.com/in/vanbaal
www.sykes.com/digital
In this final 2020 episode of CX Files, we brought together some leading CX experts and analysts to look at the key trends in 2020 and what might happen in 2021. Featuring:
Marianne Rutz, founder of Rutz Consulting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-rutz-351b0a5/
https://rutzconsulting.com/
Stephen Loynd, founder and principal analyst at TrendzOwl
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
https://www.trendzowl.com/
Peter Ryan, founder and principal of Ryan Strategic Advisory
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Jonas Dahlberg is the CEO and President of Transcom. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Transcom has a team of over 26,000 people working across 22 countries using 33 languages. Jonas likes to say that they are big enough to really matter, but small enough to still listen to their clients.
In this episode Jonas talks about BPO and CX in the post-covid environment - will contact centers change in 2021?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonas-dahlberg-033b3925/
https://www.transcom.com/en
Robèrt van Diem is the Senior VP of Operations at 5CA, He is based in the Netherlands.
Robèrt has a long history leading operations at companies including Xerox and Conduent before his present role at 5CA.
5CA is an almost exclusively work from home company so in this episode we explore how remote-first really works for 5CA.
https://www.5ca.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob%C3%A8rt-van-diem/
Ian Sanders has had a long career in events and ticketing, most recently as the Senior Commercial Director at Ticketmaster in the UK. Ian is based in Manchester.
In this episode, Peter Ryan talks to Ian about how events companies can build close customer relationships and what may happen to the industry in a post-covid environment.
Ian is also host of the Cold War Conversations podcast - one of the most popular history podcasts globally, go and subscribe to that one after you hear his thoughts on CX!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-sanders-mcr/
Paula Kennedy-Garcia is VP of Strategic Projects and Corporate Strategy at Concentrix. She leads the Concentrix Gig platform - Solv.
In this episode, Paula gives an update on Solv, WFH, GigCX more generally, and what she is planning for 2021.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-kennedy-garcia-1b90b81/
https://www.solvnow.com/
Terry Rybolt is the Chief Revenue Officer at LiveXchange. He is based in Boston, MA.
LiveXchange was one of the earliest Gig CX platforms and they continue to define the #GigCX environment. Terry recently co-wrote a book titled 'GigCX: Customer Service In The Twenty First Century'
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-rybolt-808361/
https://livexchange.com/
http://j.mp/gigcx
Shannon Burch is the Contact Center Director at Western Financial Group, based in Alberta, Canada.
Shannon has deep experience of managing customer experience in Canadian financial service companies and she has managed CX in smaller high-growth companies AND large established banks. In this episode Shannon will talk about the difference between these types of organization and the differences in CX strategy they require.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-burch-1321ba12/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/westernfinancialgroup/
Scott Newman is the founder and CEO of Transparent BPO. He is based in Maryland, US, although Transparent has extensive operations in the Philippines and Belize.
In this episode, Scott talks about WFH going permanent, WFH security, and how smaller BPOs will build more CX resilience and agility for their clients in 2021.
https://transparentbpo.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-newman-01381021/
Ahmed Refky is CEO of Raya Contact Center, based in Cairo, Egypt. In this edition we look at CX in Egypt and how the region has recovered from the Egyptian Revolution almost a decade ago.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmedrefky/
https://rayacc.com/
Andrew McNeile is the Chief Customer Officer of ThinScale Technology, based in Dublin, Ireland.
ThinScale was recently mention on this podcast by Michael DeSalles of Frost & Sullivan. This episode is a follow-up and asks why BPOs are buying and shipping millions of dollars worth of laptops when they could use BYOD?
www.linkedin.com/in/amcneile/
www.thinscale.com
Pratik Salia is the Senior Product Marketing Manager at Knowmax, based in Gurgaon, India.
Knowledge Management is becoming a strong CX differentiator and Pratik has a unique insight with his product being used now in over 30 countries. In this discussion with Peter Ryan he explores the importance of KM to CX.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pratiksalia/
https://knowmax.ai/
Michael DeSalles is a Principal Analyst on the North American Customer Care team at industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. He recently published a paper exploring how the BPO and CX industry is reacting to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the podcast, he talks about this article and the CX road into 2021.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-desalles-82519114/
https://www.frost.com/
Nearshoring has been a popular CX and BPO option for many years, but what about super-nearshoring from the border between the US and Mexico. Is there an advantage to be working right on the border?
Hosted by Peter Ryan and featuring Jason Heil, Co-founder and VP of Business Development at Redial BPO and Anny Serrano, CEO, OneStar Solutions Inc
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-heil-56988616/
https://redialbpo.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anny-serrano-848b3025/
https://www.yourstarsource.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
In this episode we will hear from two BPO leaders focused on how the Philippines is recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Don Berryman is the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Transcom North America.
Mike Lytle, is the COO of Teleperformance in the Philippines
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-lytle/
https://teleperformance.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-berryman/
http://transcom.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-india-philippines-still-lead-global-bpo-when-wfh-hillary-em-/
https://www.intelligentsourcing.net/how-has-the-pandemic-affected-contact-centres-in-the-philippines/
Emelie Hedén Edlund is a design director at McKinsey Design. She is based in Stockholm Sweden. Emelie is experienced in design thinking and has a background in industrial design, trend forecasting and futurism as well as user and customer experience. She has been working with McKinsey on retail design and in this episode she talks about some of the changes we might expect in retail as we enter the post pandemic next normal
http://bit.ly/emeliehe
http://mckinsey.com/
Simon Knudsen is the CEO at Xzakt Kundrelation - a Transcom company. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Simon heads the FLEX model Transcom has recently launched. FLEX aims to offer GigCX-style flexibility inside the traditional contact center.
Which is better? Listen to the podcast to hear Simon's view.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-knudsen-03229428/
https://www.xzakt.com/
https://www.transcom.com/en
Stephanie Reeves Millner is Vice President of CX Management at Teleperformance US. She is also a board member of TP Women and she is based in Phoenix, Arizona. One of her key areas of focus is American retail which is an industry that has seen a lot of change in the past 6 months.
On the podcast Stephanie talks about retail innovation and how retail brands can get closer to their customers in a post-covid environment.
https://teleperformance.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemillner/
Peter Ryan is the Principal Analyst at Ryan Strategic Advisory. He is one of the best-known commentators on CX and contact centres globally. Peter is based in Montreal, Canada.
In this episode, Peter talks about WFH going permanent, the development of GigCX, and what we might expect in CX in 2021.
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Something new - just Mark Hillary alone this week. It's an experiment, but next week will be the usual interview format...
Mark explores how the CX industry has managed to innovate and adapt to the new normal after Covid-19, but so many other industries are struggling. What can they learn from CX?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary/
https://www.carnabysp.com/
What's happening in Belarus and how does it affect the wider IT and CX business community? On this episode, three experts on Belarus, and the region, discuss the recent disputed election and the subsequent turmoil in Eastern Europe.
Featuring:
Michael Zdanowski
Head of Energy & Environment at Madano
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-zdanowski-2545322/
https://madano.com/
Andrew Wrobel
Founding partner of Emerging Europe
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwrob/
https://emerging-europe.com/
Peter Ryan
Principal at Ryan Strategic Advisory
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
https://ryanadvisory.com/
Kelvin Plomer is director of player experience at Jagex, based in Cambridge in the UK. Jagex is well known for their classic RPG, Runescape, but they have several other games in their portfolio.
In this episode Kelvin talks about managing player experience and how this differs from traditional CX. He talks about supporting players and employees mental health and the post-Covid WFH experience.
Gaming is a positive experience for most players, but where can problems develop?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelvin-plomer-a3142913/
https://www.jagex.com/
Are you remote-friendly or remote-first? What's the difference? Trust and transparency to start with. Zoom Happy Hours are not going to make a difference if you don't build a culture that embraces everyone in your distributed team and measure them by output - not hours at the desk.
5CA is almost 100% WFH - all the agents are WAHA. Their B2B sales head Marcel Stroop talks to CX Files about how you can embrace remote working and how it can improve CX.
www.linkedin.com/in/marcelstroop
www.5ca.com
Simon Dillsworth is the Managing Director for Consulting at Ember Group, based in London, UK.
Ember Group recently published a research paper on the opportunities around a combination of CX and the gig economy - analysts are already calling this GigCX.
On the podcast, Simon explains why GigCX is happening now and the opportunities it creates.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-dillsworth-sd/
https://www.embergroup.co.uk/
Merijn te Booij spent the past 4 years as the CMO of Genesys. Since last month he has been the EVP and GM for Employee Engagement. Genesys offers contact centre technology solutions from cloud to chatbots to personalisation with AI. The company is based in California, but has a presence in over 100 countries.
In the podcast, Merijn talks about the evolution of WFH, the tech needed to get it right, new metrics, and how to engage with blended CX solutions.
www.linkedin.com/in/merijntebooij
www.genesys.com
Lynda Arsenault is a partner focused on investment attraction at FDI Business Diplomacy, based in Canada.
CX, BPO, and Shared Services are all regularly involved in helping regions create jobs and boosting the local economy. How do these regions make their offer more attractive so they can encourage companies to invest there and how has Covid-19 affected investment flows?
Dubai DAFZA Webinar: https://j.mp/30mslFS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-arsenault/
https://www.fdibd.com/
Dr Julian Raabe is an expert partner at McKinsey & Co, based in Munich, Germany. He leads the McKinsey customer operations practice for Western Europe.
In the podcast, Julian talks about recent McKinsey research in hyper-personalization, omnichannel, innovation, digital transformation, and the 'next normal' for BPO and contact centers.
http://mckinsey.com
www.linkedin.com/in/dr-julian-raabe
The CX Files episode for July 10 with Dr Julian Raabe of McKinsey will appear in your podcast app on Monday July 13. Sorry for the delay, but it will be with you soon!
www.mckinsey.com
www.linkedin.com/in/dr-julian-raabe
Luuk Houtepen is the BD Director for SThree DACH and Chairman of APSCo Germany - The Association of Professional Staffing Companies. He is based in Munich.
SThree is one of the largest global recruitment companies, focused primarily on technology and STEM. Luuk recently told me that the contact center industry has been hiring a lot more technology specialists - so in this edition of CX FIles I asked him about the trend for more tech in the contact center.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/luukhoutepen/
https://www.sthree.com/
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What do they really think about working from home?
Brian Kearney and Ted Nardin are the co-founders of 5th Talent. Their mission is to make work more meaningful, so they asked thousands of contact center workers what they really think about working from home.
REPORT: https://bit.ly/wfh5thtalent
www.5thtalent.com
www.linkedin.com/in/briankearney-meaningfulwork
www.linkedin.com/in/tnardin
Stephen Loynd is the principal analyst at TrendzOwl based in Arlington, Virginia.
Last March he was on this podcast and he predicted 18-24 months of business disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic. It looks like he was right, so CX Files caught up with him again to talk about the New Normal.
www.trendzowl.com/
www.linkedin.com/in/stephenloynd/
Brian Pritchard is the founder and CEO of LiveXChange Corporation, based in Toronto, Canada. His company offers a virtual contact centre solution - including agents.
Brian believes that the New Normal is about more than just working from home - it also demands greater flexibility and new ways of working. The 9-5 in an office is dead.
In the podcast be explains how LiveXchange handled the crisis and actually grew their business during the past few months.
https://livexchange.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianpritchard/
Robin Hoekstra is CEO at Outworx, based in Durban South Africa. Outworx focuses on CX and back office BPO solutions.
Most of the coverage by analysts focusing on the 'New Normal' for CX after the Covid-19 pandemic focuses on the US and Europe. In this episode of CX Files we explore the African perspective and how a focus on technologies supporting human agents may be the transformation that will change the industry in 2021.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-hoekstra-59a54213/
https://www.outworx.co.za/
Phil Jones is Senior VP for Strategic Business Development at Teleperformance UK and South Africa.
He gave CX Files an advance look at a new white paper TP UK is publishing on how the CX industry is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. It explores innovation, collaboration, and the New Normal. In the podcast Phil talks about the issues covered in the new white paper.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/philjonesosp/
http://teleperformance.com/
Graham Brown is the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Hinduja Global Solutions, also know as HGS. He is based in the UK.
I called Graham to ask him about the New Normal for BPO and CX - how can contact centres function in a world of social distancing?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-brown-7433891/
https://www.teamhgs.com/
Kathy Juve is the EVP, Customer Experience Technology & Insights Division, at Concentrix. She is based in Orlando, Florida.
Kathy is focused on looking forward to the future of CX - especially looking how customers are behaving, emerging technologies, and digital transformation.
In this episode Kathy talks about the rush to digital transformation as a response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyjuve/
https://www.concentrix.com/
Jerry Leisure is the CEO and founder of Officium Labs, based in Silicon Valley, California.
Officium Labs has created a CX Marketplace that blends traditional BPO operators as partners with independent gig workers allowing them to offer a highly flexible CX service that has elements of the gig economy with more traditional CX.
Jerry has been closely linked to the games industry so in this interview we focus on exploring how the CX marketplace works, how gaming companies are calculating the ROI of their CX spend, and how Jerry thinks CX will look in the new normal after covid-19.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerryleisure/
https://www.officiumlabs.io/
Every year, Ryan Strategic Advisory publishes their list of the top 5 most favoured offshore contact centre delivery points. The 2020 Front Office Omnibus Survey, is being announced by Peter Ryan simultaneously with the publication of this special bonus edition of the podcast - so if you can see this then the results are now public.
In this episode Peter talks about the research and the top 5 locations... use the links to access the research.
https://ryanadvisory.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/
Alistair Niederer is the North America CEO of Ember Group, based in Toronto. He has a long track record in CX having previously been CEO at Praxidia and almost 6 years as CEO at Teleperformance UK and South Africa.
Alistair recently published a blog talking of a third wave of customer service and how working from home will be the new normal. In this episode he talks about the path to a new normal for customer service.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniederer/
https://www.embergroup.co.uk/
Rod Jones is a contact centre strategic adviser, industry analyst, and consultant. He is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and he is something of a legend in the CX analyst circles.
Rod has spent 50 days in lockdown so far and has been using his time to call CX analysts and operators to ask about a path to the new normal. This episode features me (Mark Hillary) and is just a taster of the full interview. Follow these links to hear the complete conversation:
https://rodjones.co.za/covid-19/
https://youtu.be/2b3r-SCB5Hc
Syamant Sandhir is Director of learning and technology at Futurescape, based in Gurgaon, India.
Futurescape is focused on helping companies meet Environmental, Social and Governance goals (ESG), with a focus on how issues such as sustainability affect the customer experience.
In this episode we explore CX and sustainability.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/syamant/
https://www.futurescape.in/
Audrey William is a Principal Advisor at Ecosystm, based in Sydney, Australia. She recently published a research paper on the contact centre industry in 2019.
In this episode Audrey talks about contact centres, apps, personalisation, and the importance of great customer journey analytics.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-william-3a4a04/
https://www.ecosystm360.com/
Marianne Rutz founded Rutz consulting over 20 years ago and she had advised companies such as Hertz, Thomas Cook, Ralph Lauren and Banco Santander. She is based in Stirling, in Scotland.
Her focus is operational excellence for contact centres and she also hosts a podcast titled The Operational Excellence Show.
I asked Marianne to tell me about some of the problems of trying to shift very quickly to a work from home strategy - just as many companies are doing right now.
https://rutzconsulting.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-rutz-351b0a5/