ISG Advises Companies to Go on Offense Now to Build Post-Pandemic Customer Loyalty

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Businesses should go on the offensive now to implement personalization at scale, create innovative marketing approaches, and adopt differentiating technology and best-in-class security to deliver enhanced post-pandemic customer experiences, say experts with Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

These topics will be the focus of the ISG Xperience Summit, a two-day virtual event, March 30–31, that will explore how to prepare today to deliver the customer experience of tomorrow, including new ways to predict customer issues before they arise; how to analyze, filter and apply growing volumes of data, and the effects of pandemic-induced innovation.

“Any business that didn’t already have a burning need to use technology to improve operational costs or customer service has one now,” said John Westfield, partner, ISG Consumer Services, and host of the ISG Xperience Summit. “The opportunity exists to create a whole new set of industry-wide standards. Offensive-minded organizations will scale capabilities and introduce new paradigms in ways that didn’t seem possible even one year ago.”

Westfield said enhanced customer loyalty programs, buoyed by innovative ways to find and communicate with customers, will encourage new forms of interaction as pandemic restrictions are lifted. Businesses should identify what processes can remain remote and what can be automated and leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to capitalize on customer data. Businesses of all sizes should ensure their social collaboration tools, IT infrastructure, privacy, security and productivity standards and governance will meet sustained virtual demand.

Three keynote addresses at the ISG Xperience Summit will cover personalization, effective customer communications and agile experience programs. Sherif Mityas, former chief experience officer for TGI Fridays, will discuss how to leverage technology and employee engagement to personalize the customer experience down to the individual. Jennie Liu, executive director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights, will explore reinventing traditional communications to reflect consumer decision-making processes, and Christine Rimer, vice president of customer experience at SurveyMonkey, will present on agile, holistic, integrated CX programs for 2021.

Brian Anderson, director of technology at Modern Restaurant Concepts, will participate in a fireside chat on finding the right platform to fuel restaurant technology, and Greg Chase, founder and CEO of Experience Strategy Associates and one of Loyalty360’s “Top 10 Most Influential Individuals in Customer Experience & Customer Loyalty,” will join Lilian Tomovich, former chief customer and marketing officer for MGM Resorts International, for an open-ended discussion of real-time industry issues.

A panel discussion on the swift adoption of virtual shopping will ask Patt Chowdhury, adjunct professor of marketing and management at the University of Dallas, Gupta College of Business, and Natascha French, Los Angeles chapter president of the VRAR Association, how enterprises can utilize virtual reality and other technologies to adapt to consumer expectations and enable consumers to shop from home. In addition, Theresa Kushner, AI and analytics practice lead for NTT DATA, will deliver a featured presentation on how innovative technologies can create new interactions between humans and machines.

“It’s time to abandon ‘it’s been this way for years’ norms and drive changes in every aspect of customer experience,” Westfield said. “Jointly developed and delivered innovation will take vendor relationships into the future, and dynamic pricing for different customer segments will increase loyalty and revenue. Going on the offensive and shifting investments into specific business outcomes is what’s required now.”

ISG events include keynote addresses, panel discussions and fireside chats, and an ISG Startup Challenge featuring entrepreneurs pitching their new business ideas, with winners chosen by audience vote. Attendees can network in online chat rooms and one-on-one meetings.

The ISG Xperience Summit is sponsored by NTT DATA and Cigniti. Additional information and registration are available on the event website.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.