Rebecca Martin
CMO at Calabrio

Calabrio‘s recent report, “Are You Listening? The Truth About What Customers Want in a Digital World” reveals what consumers want from companies. We spoke to Rebecca Martin, CMO, Calabrio, to understand the key takeaways from the report and how marketers could benefit from it.

Tell us about your role at Calabrio and the team/technology you handle.

I’m the Chief Marketing Officer at Calabrio, which is a customer engagement and analytics software company. My job is to get to the heart of what customers want and make sure we’re delivering on our brand promise at every point in their journey. Whether that’s a campaign or top of funnel content, lead generation or post-sale retention strategies, my team uses a variety of tools and technology, such as Sprout Social, Influitive and TechValidate to listen, learn and adjust to what customers want and need.

What is the state of Customer Experience in Marketing and Advertising? How does Calabrio enable customers to benefit from its workforce optimization platform?

Customer experience is at a crossroads. Customers are interacting with brands everywhere — web, chat, text, social, you name it — so there’s a ton of customer data out there. To stay ahead, companies must figure out how to turn that data into action. But staying ahead translates to implementing new technology.

In the race to do so, some companies have forgotten that customers are human and that they’re emotionally motivated. That certainly doesn’t mean stop investing in technology, but it does mean companies must be more strategic and look to deploy solutions that allow them — and their people — to get closer to their customers.

Our customers benefit immensely from our Calabrio ONE platform because it enables them to understand the customer interaction happening in the contact center. Clearly, the contact center is full of voice-of-the-customer data. By capturing customer interactions and applying speech and text analytics, companies can turn that data into valuable insights to drive top line growth.

Not only that, workforce optimization software equips agents for success and empowers them to deliver the right experience every time. It’s the combination of customer and employee insights that allow our clients to bolster their customer experience strategies.

Given the rapid transformation in Conversational Marketing technologies, how do you prepare for further disruptions in the industry?

While Conversational Marketing technology is changing the industry, I prepare for it just as I would any other disruption: I focus on people. Customers want to create an emotional connection with brands, and they can’t always do that with a chatbot. People empathize and make on-the-fly decisions that can create a customer for life, so regardless of new technology development, people are always at the center of our strategies — be it product or marketing, etc.

What are the key takeaways from your recent report? How could marketers better benefit from your report?

The report, titled “Are You Listening? The Truth About What Customers Want in a Digital World” surveyed consumers to learn more about what they want from companies. Some of it was no surprise: Customers want a great product or service. But earning their loyalty is a whole different matter. Customers want to be heard and they want to make an emotional connection, and the only way to do that is to have a human available on the other end of the line.

Seventy-four percent of customers are more loyal to a company if they can speak to a person, and 60 percent feel like their voices are heard when they talk to a live person. Making that human connection fulfills our customers’ emotional needs, and when their needs are met they come back for more.

For marketers, this is an important reminder to not lose sight of that connection in a digital world. Be strategic when implementing new technology and make sure it all works in tandem with the people who can make or break the customer experience: your employees.

In the GDPR era, what change to your data management strategy have you made? How does the post-GDPR impact your tech delivery?

At Calabrio, this is a two-pronged approach. Not only must we protect our customers’ data, but we must also equip them to do the same for their customers.

Internally, we have checks and balances in place to ensure that we are transparent in how we use customer data and quickly accommodate customer requests regarding their personal information. Our customers use Calabrio ONE’s native data capture, viewing, deletion/anonymization and protection capabilities to ensure compliance with GDPR mandates.

How do you work with AI/Machine Learning to extract meaningful value out of every conversation?        

AI and Machine Learning are powerful tools. Technology, such as chatbots, can catalog the interaction data and add structure to the analytics before it is analyzed for context and patterns. To get the most out of that data, Calabrio ONE offers Sentiment Analysis to understand what customers mean — not just what they say. That information is powerful, and it equips companies to make informed decisions to give customers they’re after.

What are the opportunities and risks you foresee in the way location data is shaping for 2020-2025? How do you prepare for these disruptions?

Location data is a data point that helps companies enrich the customer experience. The challenge lies in tying that information together with all other data points to gain a complete view of the customer.

Is it time to actually treat contact center agents like customers? How would it impact the bottom-line revenues?

Absolutely. Contact center agents are on the frontline of customer service. They have the power to make real connections with customers, which can increase sales and decrease churn. If agents are engaged, they’re more likely to stay. To get those bottom-line benefits, companies must prioritize the agent experience, which includes treating agents like your customers.

Thanks for chatting with us, Rebecca.

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