Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson is CEO of CustomerThink, an independent research and publishing firm focused on customer-centric business management, and Founder/Editor-in-Chief of CustomerThink.com, the world's largest community dedicated to customer-centric business. Thompson is a popular international keynote speaker, blogger and author of Hooked On Customers: The Five Habits of Legendary Customer-Centric Companies.
[iCXM News] Intelligent CXM or CRM? Updates on Anexinet, InsideSales, Pegasystems
In the wake of my long iCXM Comes of Age article, AI activity continues apace. I've decided to periodically post a summary of new...
iCXM Comes of Age — Using AI to Know, Engage, and Serve Your Customers Better
"The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed." ...
Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) Improve the Customer Experience?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hot. One breathless press release predicted that by 2025, 95% of all customer interactions will be powered by AI. AI...
Report: “Customer Orientation” Declining, Few Large Companies Have Strong Culture
Forrester says we're in the "Age of the Customer." Posts about delivering a "great customer experience" and "obsessing" about customers abound. Why, then, is...
Should Chatbots Pretend to Be Human?
In a recent post by Sandeep Raut, he writes about the role of chatbots in digital transformation. Chatbots are built to mimic human interaction,...
Delighted: A Disruptive “Voice of the Customer” Solution for the Rest of Us
If you're looking to hire temporary workers, you might find yourself using Wonolo, an Uber-like service that connects job seekers with hiring companies. Wonolo...
Here’s Proof from Forrester that CX Drives Revenue. And 3 Cautions That It May Not
Forrester just released an excellent new report "Drive Revenue with Customer Experience, 2017" co-authored by Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian, Dylan Czarnecki, and Laura Garvin Tramm. Forrester...
13 Ways to Turn Customer-Centric Theory into Practice
Ready or not, 2017 is here. How will you turn the promise of customer-centricity into value for your customers and your business? While every situation...
12 Powers: How Marketing Leaders Can Succeed by Building Customer and Company Value
According to The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader, a new book by Thomas Barta and Patrick Barwise, marketers are doing just fine "doing"...
Satisfaction is Dead. NOT. It’s the Most Common Emotion in Great Customer Experiences [research]
Don't ignore satisfaction. That's one compelling conclusion from Inmoment's recent global study of 20,000 consumers. Brennan Wilkie, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Strategy, shared key...
Kustomer’s new #CustServ solution — You had me at “Treat Customers as People”
Does the world need a new customer service solution? Kustomer thinks so. After a few months in beta, the new solution officially launched on...
Goodbye CXM. SDL Reboots to Focus on “Taking Digital Content Globally, Faster”
A couple of weeks ago I attended SDL's annual user conference, which emphasized the company's global capabilities to manage content and localize (translate) languages. I...
The Rise of Predictive Service Experiences. Because “You, you, you oughta know!”
We've all had experiences as customers of being asked to do something that's clearly unnecessary. To my gym, I ask: "Why can't I sign up...
Do Rewards Programs Drive Real Loyalty? Zappos Says “Yes” — If Focused on Engagement
The Zappos logo says it all: "Powered by Service." The company has built a cult-like following by making "wow" customer service a differentiator. One...
Forrester: Good and Bad News on CX Day
On CX Day, Forrester released a new report "Why CX, Why Now?" by Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian and Samuel Stern that highlights the (sorry) state of...
SAS ups the ante on machine learning, cognitive computing. How will it improve CX?
Last week I geeked out at the SAS conference Analytics Experience 2016 in Las Vegas. It was a heady mix of business and technical...
TD Bank Study: “Thanks” is Best Delivered In Person to Customers
A few years ago I found in a research study that customers want to be "rewarded" for their loyalty. Now you might immediately think...
Spirit plans passenger experience makeover. Can low price and great CX coexist?
Quite a few years ago (ok, more than 2 decades, ouch!) I worked at IBM, selling to a large enterprise. IBM's strategy at the...
5 Fails by Angie’s List — Why “Soft Skills” are Key to Customer Service Success
One might think that a small company like Angie's List (~$100 million/year) would outperform e-commerce giant Amazon.com (~100 Billion/year) on customer service. Sadly, no. After...
At the Center of Customer Conversations: Q&A with Pypestream Chief Customer Officer Donna Peeples
Chief Customer Officers are becoming more common in recent years. According to the CCO Council there were fewer than 20 CCOs in 2003. Now...