CCO Forum
London

October 2009


The 9th Chief Customer Officer Forum (CCO Forum) took place on 13th and 14th October in the City of London.

Here’s some of the member feedback at this very productive event:

  • “Feel re-energised and able to add back value, by structuring business arguments better”
  • “Excellent content (depth and breadth) to stimulate good conversations throughout the day”
  • “Really enjoyed the session and felt everyone was open and honest”
  • “Great to see new people - good that linked to previous CEO slots”
  • “Still fresh after 4 years, well done!”

The October Forum’s main themes were:

  • The CEO slot with Barry Smith of Fortis (UK) Limited
  • Judging relative investment in customer experience
  • The market analyst’s view of customer experience and its impact on share price

Barry Smith - Insurance Times - Insurance Awards 2009 - Insurance Industry Awards - Broking - Commercial Lines - Personal Lines - Reinsurance - Technology - Regulation - Fraud - Claims - Schemes - Motor - Property - Flooding The CEO slot with Barry Smith was thought-provoking. A seasoned CEO, with a career in financial services, Barry provided us with sound insights into the self-discipline of management - belief and action. He outlined the importance of understanding how people want to work with each other; alignment with the business linked to processes and to what the customer is experiencing; increased personal efficiency by good planning and proactive external focus on customers; and the success that comes with thinking as a ‘collective’ (customers and your people). Amongst the useful advice Barry gave us: (1)the value in taking decisions as if ‘the CEO is in the room’ and (2) When planning to ask those vital questions of colleagues or the CEO think: How can I make it easy for them to say “Yes”.

The main morning session, we focused on investment in customer experience and the discussions you have with senior colleagues. We highlighted the energy required to get funding and the importance of coming armed with a good business case around the business and commercial value - in order to achieve a positive response to your CE proposal. There is real value, too, in first fixing the simple stuff with quick paybacks so that you gain internal capital and credibility - before asking for big budget board decisions. Remember, being a customer champion is about helping colleagues in marketing and elsewhere to achieve their KPIs too.

We spent time in the afternoon looking at how City analysts view customer experience in relation to their risk/value assessment of a company. We talked about the ways of managing the message and how (if you wish to get the right sort of response from stock analysts) any corporate communication around CE has to be based on future value - not current sales.

The next forum will take place on 3rd and 4th February, 2010 in Oxford and Silverstone. Take a look at what being a member means or get in touch if you’d like to discuss what it means to be a Chief Customer Officer.

 

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