In this episode of Ipsos' Customer Perspective podcast, host Helen Bywater-Smith is joined by Zaheed Thawer, Director of Global Customer Centricity at leading insurance provider Manulife, and Vik Sood, EVP and Service Line Leader of CX Canada at Ipsos.

Zaheed shares how Manulife is transforming the Customer Experience and redefining the role of insurance in customers' lives. Through innovative products, digital engagement, and human-centred design, Manulife is building deep, emotional connections that go far beyond the typical transactional relationship that most people associate with insurance. By harnessing technologies like gamification and leveraging partnerships that enable proactive health management, Manulife is interacting with customers dozens of times per month rather than just once or twice per year. This allows them to better understand and meet customers' evolving needs and expectations across different life stages and cultural contexts. We discuss the critical importance of empathy, both for customers dealing with challenging life events and for the frontline employees who engage with them. By equipping and supporting employees with the right mindset, capabilities, and wellbeing resources, insurers can drive better customer and business outcomes.

If you're interested in learning how a customer-obsessed culture, creative use of digital tools, and human touch can breathe new life into a traditional industry, this is a must-listen episode.

Check out our latest Customer Perspective LinkedIn Live event - The Experience Beyond The Product, and more of our CX and Channel Performance thought leadership.

We open the new season of Ipsos' Customer Perspective welcoming Katrina Haby, Director of Customer Experience at Melbourne & Olympic Parks - Australia's heart of sports and entertainment, along with Lance Webb, CX lead for Ipsos New Zealand and head of CX Advisory for Asia Pacific.

Katrina and Lance join Helen Bywater-Smith, Ipsos' Global Head of Experience and one of the new hosts of Ipsos' Customer Perspective, to discuss how to design Customer Experiences in the events space. In this episode, we delve into the power of belonging and inclusivity, exploring how Melbourne & Olympic Parks design events that cater to diverse audiences, and leave a lasting impact. We also discuss the power of immersive customer journeys, the importance of drawing inspiration from unexpected places, and the enduring power of personalized human connection. Tune in to discover actionable insights and practical tips that you can apply to elevate customer experiences in any industry. We finish with a new book club feature - where our guests recommend their favourite books to elevate your experiences.

Ipsos’ Channel Performance teams partner with clients across the world to understand and measure channels and shoppers, to drive sales conversion. In our world of ‘convergent commerce’, they help improve performance across all sales and service channels – physical, contact centre, and digital – to deliver profitable growth.

We’re joined by Craig Bradley, who leads Channel Performance, and Stuart Wood, product leader for ‘Shopper’. At the start of 2023, Ipsos’ Shopper Insights and Virtual Testing teams joined our Channel Performance business. Virtual Testing offers simulated physical and digital retail environments to measure shopper decision making, and test different activation scenarios. Craig and Stuart tell us why these businesses came together, focusing on the benefits for clients, the business challenges addressed and, of course, the impact of so doing – with plenty of example cases. They delve into each aspect of Channel Performance: Channel Sizing, including Retail Census, Retail Audit and Illicit Trade Assessment, to inform channel entry and growth strategy; Execution Measurement to ensure compliance; Mystery Shopping with the end goal of driving the right customer behaviours; as well as Shopper Insights, with a behavioural science lens, to optimise marketing ROI; and Virtual Testing to win at the point of purchase. Craig and Stuart give a shout out to best practice organisations and share their predictions for the future.

Check out Ipsos’ latest Channel Performance, CX and omnichannel/convergent commerce thinking.

Many financial services businesses deploy external intermediaries in one form or another. These B2B (business to business) relationships are typically between the financial institution and external salespeople, advisors, agents, brokers, wholesalers and such like. In many cases, these businesses are then selling to other businesses, rather than the end consumer.

Unfortunately, it can be easy to overlook people who don’t work directly for your firm, because you may not ‘see’ or have regular contact with them. However, as an extension of your firm, they represent your brand, products, and services. More importantly, their success has a significant impact on the success of your firm during challenging economic times.

Mary DeBisschop and Jeff Repace, Senior Vice Presidents in our Ipsos US Customer Experience team, have recently published a paper called ‘Why empowering intermediaries can help financial services companies in a challenging economy’. They join us on our Customer Perspective podcast to talk about helping businesses understand what it takes to maintain successful B2B relationships with their intermediaries.

And if you’d like to hear more from Mary and Jeff, sign-up for their upcoming webinar on 7th June: [WEBINAR] Empowering B2B Intermediaries through Customer Experience | Ipsos.

Ipsos’ latest CX and Channel Performance thinking may be found via these links.

We’re delighted to welcome Emma Dark, Director of Customer Service at Estée Lauder, along with one of our favourite podcast co-hosts, Jamie Thorpe, Head of Experience Management at Ipsos in the UK. Emma and her team have recently been crowned the Best Small Customer Contact Centre of the year, in the highly prestigious European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards (ECCCSAs). Our own Helen Wilson, CX and Channel Performance CXO and Customer Perspective host, is the ECCCSAs’ Chair of Judges, and she certainly knows a great gold winner when she sees one! Emma takes us on her career journey, with signs of success evident early on; at just 17 years old, she opened her first store as a manager. She moved up the customer service ladder in leading global brands and start-ups, but with CX and EX always at the heart of her roles. As such, she’s exceptionally well-placed to share her take on some of our top topics including the role of Customer Experience measurement and management in CPG organisations, the importance of embedding ESG in experience, challenges when operating in our convergent commerce world, and, of course, delivering that Return on CX Investment (ROCXI). If you’re new to CX or looking to improve your CX focus, be sure to listen to Emma’s guidance on the three CX ‘must dos’! If you want to hear more from Estée Lauder, take a trip back to Season 2, Episode 9, when we were joined by Kate Fannin, Executive Director, Retail Experience & Insights, North America Corporate Marketing.

For more information about Ipsos’ point of view, check out our latest Ipsos CX and Channel Performance thinking. Read ‘Embedding ESG in Experience’ to find out how organisations can derive value from ESG.