Megan Burns [Posted by Megan Burns]

Happy Friday everyone!  It's hard to believe, but Forrester's Customer Experience Forum is just 17 days away. A few of my colleagues have already talked about the event, but I thought I'd add my own take with a sneak preview of the track I'm leading.

 

My track is all about Customer-Centric Culture and the role it plays in helping companies along their customer experience journey. Our research shows that culture is a huge piece of the puzzle, so it was hard to narrow the list of topics to just four. But we did it, and I'm excited about the lineup we've put together.  Here's the agenda:

 

  • Leaders from Intuit, Discover Financial, and Verizon Wireless will participate in a panel discussion on what it takes to build a world class Voice Of The Customer program. (Note – if you're interested in this topic, stick around for the first annual Forrester Voice Of The Customer Awards later in the afternoon on Monday!)

 

  • Author Jeanne Bliss will lay out a step-by-step roadmap to success for new Chief Experience Officers and others charged with leading transformation of their company's culture.

 

  • Senior Analyst Chad Mitchell will look at how the customer-centric culture at leading insurance companies translates into a better end-to-end customer experience. Chad will be joined by customer experience leaders from AllState, who will talk about their own journey toward customer-centricity and the lessons they've learned along the way.

 

  • Principal Analyst Dave Frankland will talk about how companies are using the customer database and customer analytics platforms to nurture a customer-centric culture across the enterprise.

In addition to coordinating these sessions, I'm giving a speech on Tuesday afternoon in the “Designing Great Web Experiences” track. I'm not actually talking about design, but something equally as important – how to find money to actually implement great design in a tough economy. I firmly believe that the money is out there to be had; you just have to be a little more creative than normal to tap into it.

 

We're going to be very busy in the next few weeks putting the finishing touches on all these sessions, but if you have any ideas or questions let us know.

 

I hope to see you at the Forum in New York, but until then take care and enjoy the start of summer! (This really is the best time of year, isn't it?)

 

-Megan