The Cx Cast

Every year Forrester looks to the future to predict what we think will happen across industries, geographies and technologies. In this episode Principal Analyst Riccardo Pasto joins us to talk about where he sees Government CX heading in 2024. We cover generative AI, open government, cross-agency collaboration and more as we discuss the state of CX in government and its path in 2024.

Forrester predictions are grounded in the previous year’s trends. To that end, VP, Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali and VP, Research Director Fiona Swerdlow offer CX pros insight into 2024’s biggest changes in retail experience by first outlining 2023 trends and forecast data. They note the influence of digital and systemic risk on the biggest predictions.  Featuring: Sucharita Kodali, VP, Principal Analyst Fiona Swerdlow, VP, Research Director Show Notes: Forrester predictions are grounded in the previous year’s trends. To that end, VP, Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali and VP, Research Director Fiona Swerdlow offer CX pros insight into 2024’s biggest changes in retail experience by first outlining 2023 trends and forecast data. They note the influence of digital and systemic risk on the biggest predictions.  We cover:  How is the cross-channel experience evolving? What are implications for the associate experience?  What trends did we see in 2023 that will continue in 2024?   Where have trends re

Though we’re out for the holidays this week, we’re dropping in with a short preview of what we have planned for the CX Cast in 2024. Tune in to hear what’s to come, including:  Our annual series on Forrester’s 2024 predictions, airing throughout January.  A preview of Forrester’s 2024 events theme, “Human + AI,” and what it means for the customer lifecycle.  And more content from Forrester analysts throughout the year. 

Forrester’s culture energy data reveals that culture varies across organizations, including within an individual company. In this episode, Martin interviews Angelina on her findings regarding customer-facing employees’ unique culture within an organization. Angelina shares her findings from other interviews with other culture experts, who helped her explain the data.

Journey maps are wildly popular, and for good reason: Done right, they can transform your company’s customer experience and even alter its culture. But producing journey maps won’t change anything unless CX professionals think ahead about purpose, goals, and potential broader impact and follow the seven key steps of effective journey mapping. Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Joana de Quintanilha joins to discuss how to align your journey mapping efforts with your overall CX strategy. Listen as we run through seven steps to do journey mapping right — whether to design customer-centric experiences, or align employees and cultures to customer needs. 

Managing global complexity is a major challenge when it comes to understanding what customers want, delivering customer goals, and measuring success. Gail Russell, global head of customer experience, wealth, and personal banking at HSBC, joins the CX Cast this week to share insights from her session at CX EMEA. 

CX leaders must set goals for standard CX beacon metrics such as NPS and CSAT, but every organization is at a different point in their measurement journey. Rich Saunders, Senior Analyst, describes the challenges in setting the right metric goals and how to take a tailored approach that matures over time. 

Senior Analyst AJ Joplin goes deeper into how to design, plan, and facilitate a workshop, this time discussing approaches to designing the workshop activities. Whether your workshop is for journey mapping or experience design, AJ explains how to guide participants to outcomes.

Technology underpins great CX. But how much do you really know about how your platforms work? How much do you need to know? What’s the next big technology that you need to pay attention to? OK, obviously it’s generative AI, but what else? Producer Julia joined Martin at Forrester’s annual Technology & Innovation Forum in London to find out what’s hot in the world of technology. 

Generative AI (GenAI) will have a transformative impact on customer experience. VP, Principal Analyst David Truog guides CX leaders on how to harness the creativity and navigate the risks of GenAI for better CX. He offers definitions, use cases, and prescriptive advice so you can confidently dive into this brave new world. 

Workshops have grown in popularity as a frequent activity for CX pros. But successful workshop facilitation requires skill and thoughtful planning. Forrester Senior Analyst AJ Joplin discusses the importance of improving workshop facilitation and outlines an approach for optimal workshop output.

In this episode, we welcome back Senem Guler Biyikli, now officially an analyst! She joins us to discuss the link between anthropology and CX, her current research on empathy, and how to promote empathy in a digital environment.

In this episode, CX Cast host and Forrester VP and Research Director Martin Gill joins Senior Analyst Michelle Beeson to describe a workshop activity they used to bring the frameworks of value for customer to life. They had participants, who represented different companies and industries, try out a combination of mystery shopping and ethnographic research by visiting coffee shops in London. Listen to hear about the frameworks, design, and approach used for the activity and how your company can put it in place.

Every year, Forrester’s global survey of firms’ customer experience (CX) programs presents up-to-date insights into CX teams. Variation across CX teams, including team size, responsibility, and budget, is a main theme in the 2023 results. Principal Analyst Judy Weader, whose upcoming report dives into the survey results, joins us to discuss her findings.

It’s a topic that is a perennial favorite among CX pros: journey mapping. Today, journey mapping platforms help not only with mapping itself but with visualization, brainstorming, and ideation, as well. Covering the key trends is Forrester Senior Analyst Michelle Beeson.

CX pros are used to focusing on the customer, often using tools like personas and workshops to create stellar customer experiences. This week, Forrester Senior Analyst Su Doyle makes the case for using those same strategies to prove CX value internally.

Responsible design — design that aligns with a company’s brand purpose, values, and commitments — is a powerful tool for earning trust. Forrester Principal Analyst Gina Bhawalkar joins us for a discussion on what responsible design is and why brands should embrace it.

Many brands sell products through retailers. Forrester Senior Analyst Michelle Beeson joins the CX Cast this week to discuss how, now that we care more than ever about the customer experience, the brand and retailer partnership is more important than ever.

The right approach to building a journey atlas will ensure the resulting product is insightful and actionable. Susan McNulty, consultant in CX transformation, has worked in CX leadership roles across several industries. She offers her experiences and practical, easy-to-follow expertise on the journey atlas creation process.