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A Closer Look CEO Chris Gillen Shares Insights on AI and Customer Experience in Recent Podcast

A Closer Look CEO Chris Gillen Shares Insights on AI and Customer Experience in Recent Podcast

ACL's CEO discusses the delicate balance between AI implementation and maintaining exceptional customer experiences in an evolving digital landscape.

A Closer Look (ACL), a leader in customer experience solutions, announces that its CEO and co-owner, Chris Gillen, was recently featured in Part 1 of a two-part podcast series discussing the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on customer experience (CX) and brand loyalty.

Leveraging his extensive background spanning almost 30 years in the customer experience sector, Gillen offered thought-provoking perspectives on the evolving dynamics of consumer interactions. He emphasized the crucial need for organizations to strike a delicate equilibrium between cutting-edge AI technologies and the irreplaceable human touch, highlighting how this balance is pivotal in shaping superior customer experiences in today’s rapidly changing market.

Key points from Gillen’s podcast appearance include:

  • The growing importance of customer service in brand selection, with 60% of consumers choosing brands based on expected service.
  • The need for brands to carefully evaluate which tasks or roles to enhance or replace with AI to maintain a positive customer experience.
  • The importance of measuring customer experience before, during, and after AI implementation to ensure it doesn’t erode brand reputation.
  • Insights from ACL’s first-party consumer survey data, revealing consumer perceptions of AI in customer service interactions.

“At A Closer Look, we believe that the key to success is finding the right balance between artificial intelligence and human emotional intelligence,” says Gillen. “Our goal is to help brands navigate AI innovation while maintaining and improving their customer experience.”

Gillen also emphasized the need for a well-rounded approach to measuring customer experience, including methods such as mystery shopping, SMS-based feedback programs, and focus group studies.

This podcast appearance delves into the concept of emotive loyalty, which Gillen argues is built on trust and communication, far more than the transactional loyalty that most brands are driving today. He introduces the concept of “AI + HEI” (Human Emotional Intelligence) as a formula for success in implementing AI, emphasizing that while technology can enhance efficiency, the human touch remains crucial in building lasting customer relationships. Gillen challenges brands to rethink their approach to customer loyalty, moving beyond simple reward programs to create deeper, more meaningful connections with their customers.

Part 1 of the podcast can be accessed at: https://syndeo.cx/resources/e15-enhancing-brand-loyalty-and-customer-experience-with-chris-gillen-part-1/. Listeners can look forward to Part 2 of the series, coming soon, where Gillen will further explore how the human experience is more important than ever with the advances AI will bring to the customer journey.

About A Closer Look

For more than 25 years, A Closer Look’s unwavering mission has been to elevate the customer experience to unprecedented heights, which it does by empowering brands with deep audience insights and research. ACL is driven by a passion to evolve brands beyond mere price-driven loyalty by aligning brand, product, and messaging to meet genuine customer needs, building authentic and enduring brand loyalty centered around customer values.

A renowned customer experience research firm dedicated to providing invaluable insights to organizations across various industries, ACL delivers objective and data-driven research that empowers businesses to make informed decisions and drive meaningful improvements.

Contact:
Chris Gillen
CEO
A Closer Look
(888)446-5665