CEM Africa to focus on meeting the expectations of customers

The current luggage drama transpiring across Europe, with thousands of pieces of luggage going missing causing untold frustration, and how the airlines are communicating with their passengers, is a case study in customer experience (CX) waiting to be written. In fact, there are valuable CX lessons to learn from these challenges for many affected European airlines, airports and their service providers.

As a specialist marketing discipline, CX can be summarised as the customer’s perceptions and feelings resulting from interactions with a brand's products and services.

“Online or offline business, or a combination of the two, the CX is key to any organisation” says Shannon Mackrill, co-founder of the CEM Africa Summit, the continent’s largest CX event, taking place from 23–24 August in Cape Town.

He explains: “The event is about separating true value from perceived and elevating the CX. This includes providing a platform that caters for detailed product information, reviews, delivery times, a good returns policy and online support. While a chatbot can augment customer experience, it does not replace the need for a real person”.

Two-day expo and key content
CEM Africa will gather 1000+ top brands and experts in CX to connect in person to share insights and rub shoulders with top operators in the space.

Some of the brightest minds from hugely successful brands, such as Discovery, Checkers, Hollard, AVBOB, FNB, Mr Price and TFG, will congregate in August for the tenth edition of CEM Africa, as well as many keen entrepreneurs and start-ups whose companies will also become household names in the near future.

The event features a two-day expo combined with key content, covering everything from personalisation, automation, AR/VR and machine learning, retention and customer journeys to data.

Panel discussion highlights
“Panel discussions are the think tanks of our conferences”, states Mackrill, “they highlight the multi-dimensionality of issues and challenges and help facilitate clarity for the panellists and the audience. It is inspiring to see and learn from CX experts and leaders while they hash out ideas and strategies, and share their experiences”.

Some of CEM Africa’s anticipated panel discussions include:  

• African market leading digital transformation in customer experience
  An opportunity for organisations to review their CX strategy against global shifts, local trends and forecasts, and gain invaluable insights into where the CX industry is headed. 

- Julia Ahlfeldt (Customer experience professional, South Africa)
- Charlie Stewart (Co-founder and Chief Executive, Rogerwilco, South Africa)
- Janine George (CPTO, Carrol Boyes, South Africa)
- Kamohelo Potloane(CX Officer, Rand Water, South Africa)

• Mapping the customer journey - exploring the true meaning of customer experience delivery
  Step into the shoes of your customers and gain some perspective on the challenges and opportunities to effectively communicate with them at each touchpoint.

- Moses Duma (Head Group Customer Experience Strategy and Governance, Old Mutual Group, South Africa)
- Wendy Houlson (Group CX Service Manager, Spar Group, South Africa)
- Brigitte De Gama (CHRO, McDonald’s, South Africa)

• Keeping up with ever-evolving customer expectations
  Technology is an opportunity and a threat for businesses of all sizes; customers are either adequately satisfied and feel as though they are being met at the level of their expectations, or not, to which they may decide to leave and go to a competitor. The one thing all businesses can agree on is that customers take things for granted and so it has become imperative for brands to have strategies in place that keep them ahead of the curve and ready to meet the expectations of their customers. 

- Errol Van Graan, (Chief CX Officer, Vodacom, South Africa)
- Brenda Zuma (Customer Service and Operations Manager, Superbalist, South Africa)

Educational workshops

• CEM Africa’s new format features educational workshops on Day 1 of the event, presented by industry specialists and their end-users to demonstrate real-world case studies in roundtable workshops with real CX use cases, challenges and solutions. These include:
• Artificial intelligence: The invisible engine behind modern CX  Contact centres have traditionally used interaction data to boost efficiency by managing costs and time, but so much more is possible. The missing element is now available: artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which have entered the contact centre conversation in a powerful way.
• Human-centred design key in creating employee experiences that enhance engagement and productivity A strong organisation is built and maintained by a strong following, the customer or end-user, as well as a unified workforce behind the customer experience led by a well-designed employee experience. 
• CXPA - Customer Experience Professionals Association workshop The Customer Experience Professionals Association is the premier global non-profit organization dedicated to the customer experience profession.
• Revamping customer service through implementation of artificial intelligence by streamlining data analytics process Businesses that include customer service in their company goals should incorporate AI into strategies to improve a customer’s experience. AI tools can be found online and used to encourage interaction with customers while they browse sites or apps. 
• Personalisation and data privacy The most effective tactics employ zero-party data to drive marketing and sales, give consumers power over how their data is used, and build transparency and privacy into every department's operation. How often do brands find a balance between the obvious benefits of personalization and customers' privacy concerns?

CEM Africa’s keynote addresses will focus on the following themes:

• Myths of customer experience:This keynote session will address some common myths of CX transformation and provide a provocative course-corrected perspective.
• Customer journey management: From designing, measuring, managing and implementing fixes and improvements to closing the feedback loops.
• Data-driven marketing for better customer experience: Undoubtedly, data-driven marketing is the future. Data enables businesses to target, engage and connect with consumers more effectively, which is what customers expect. A single bad experience is enough to deter visitors from becoming customers.

With all this fresh new content from industry specialists and leaders in CX, business leaders can walk away with a solid game plan to map out or refresh their CX strategy and activities.

How to join them?
Download the CEM Africa agenda here: https://cemafricasummit.com/agenda/
Register to attend here: https://cemafricasummit.com/attend/ 

About CEM Africa
CEM Africa is the largest CX event on the continent and is organised by Kinetic Events, which is a partner of The Vuka Group (formerly Clarion Events Africa).

Dates and location:
Dates: 23–24 August 2022
Venue: Century City Conference Centre, Cape Town

Links:

Website: https://cemafricasummit.com/
Agenda download: https://cemafricasummit.com/agenda/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CEMAfrica/?_rdc=1&_rdr
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cem-africa-summit/ 

Media contacts:
Adam Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer, CEM Africa
Mobile: 071 130 9160
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Annemarie Roodbol
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.