In this episode of Customer Engagement – Examples of Excellence it was a delight to welcome Tracy Kellaway, Executive Director of Consumer Care Operations at the Estée Lauder Companies.

Tracy began by sharing her extensive and diverse journey in customer service with leading retail, financial services and utility brands and how that has been so instrumental in her empathetic approach to her role with Estée Lauder.

She took us through the evolution of customer service and contact centres, the changes she has seen, especially the growth of technology and the ever-changing customer expectations.

Tracy emphasised that the significant focus on the voice of the customer and the improvements made by companies that really listen, has been one of the most important elements in improving customer experiences.

She concluded by saying that AI will continue to play a key role in supporting advisors and applications such as agent assist, summarisation and transcription making the biggest impact currently.

Global CX AI Lead at Zoom, Laura Ball, joins host Martin Hill‑Wilson to explore how organisations can use AI to remove friction from customer journeys rather than simply layering new technology on top of old problems. They discuss the loyalty “gap”, lessons from the first wave of omnichannel, what good human‑AI partnership looks like in the contact centre, and the skills, governance and mindset needed to make AI‑driven CX an ongoing success rather than a one‑off project.

In this episode of “Customer Engagement – Examples of Excellence”, we meet Jason Bloomfield who is Global Head of People Change & TA Transformation at Ericsson.

Jason shares his diverse business and strategy experiences in various global roles and the increasingly important role that AI is playing where HR meets IT and the benefits that this drives for both customers and colleagues.

We spoke about the potential fears that colleagues may have about AI but that how Ericsson has gone to great lengths to ensure that it is seen as complementary and supportive to front line and back-office employees.

In particular Jason acknowledges that AI can play a role in leveraging employee feedback to power transformation, and that Ericsson’s program, "Your voice, our action" ensures that feedback is not only heard but shapes strategy and aligns action.

And that it can create a culture where colleagues recognise the value of their input and the role it plays to enhance both the employee experience and by extension, the customer experience.

In this episode of “Customer Engagement – Examples of Excellence”, we meet Leigh-Anne Gray who is Senior specialist complaints manager at Vanquis Bank

Leigh-Anne shares her diverse business experiences in various roles in the financial sector and especially how complaint handling has evolved over the years.

She tells us about the importance of creating an environment where colleagues are encouraged, supported and empowered when handling more complex inquiries and in dealing with vulnerable customers.

Leigh-Anne acknowledges that AI can play a role in leveraging customer data to enable colleagues to deliver authentic and empathetic responses to customer issues.

But she advocates passionately that culture is a critical element in developing a strong contact centre team and the human element is still a vital and important part of customer interactions.

In this episode of “Customer Engagement – Examples ofExcellence”, we meet Hannah Ratcliff-Barnes who is Social Media Lead at HSBC.

Hannah shares her diverse business experiences in various roles in the financial sector and how these have been very beneficial in preparing her for her current role at HSBC.

She tells us about the importance of making social media acore element of the HSBC contact Centre and the key role that it plays in influencing HSBC customer experience and employee engagement, while enhancing the banks’ reputation.

She advocates passionately that culture is a critical elementin developing a strong contact centre team and is vital to create opportunities for colleagues to thrive and deliver authentic and empathetic responses to customer issues.

Recorded live at our recent Customer Engagement Summit, this episode features Thomas Husson, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester, sharing his groundbreaking vision for “total experience.” Discover how integrating brand experience and customer experience can close the “say–do gap” and unlock exponential growth. Husson reveals insights from Forrester’s research and real-world examples from Disney, Mars, and Monzo—showing how successful organisations blend data, technology, and human creativity to deliver truly transformative customer engagement.

In this episode of “Customer Engagement – Examples of Excellence”, we meet Stephen Akadiri, SEO & Organic Growth Strategist. This episode takes a fresh look at Customer Lifetime Value, moving beyond a simple financial metric to a framework for relationships, loyalty, and advocacy.

Key discussion points include:

• Breaking barriers to measurement: common pitfalls and how to combine qualitative and quantitative signals such as sentiment, referrals, and community engagement.

• Identifying high-impact customers: focusing on those with the greatest advocacy potential, not just the biggest spenders.

• Personalisation at scale: practical ways to deliver meaningful, trust-building experiences without draining resources.

• Balancing growth horizons: meeting short-term revenue targets while investing in long-term loyalty.

• The future of advocacy-driven brands: how community, technology, and purpose can transform loyal customers into ambassadors.

In this episode of the Engage Customer Examples of Excellence Podcast, host Will Lusted, Senior Account Manager at Kerv, sits down with Mike Tamblin, Front Office Manager at Guardian Financial Services.  

With 17 years’ experience in financial services, Mike shares first-hand insights into Guardian’s transformation journey.  

Discover how they’ve reimagined customer engagement, the challenges they’ve overcome, and what’s next for financial services innovation. 

In this episode of “Customer Engagement – Examples of Excellence”, we meet Kelly Shippen who is Head of Customer Operations at Leeds Building Society

Kelly shares her diverse business experiences in various roles in the financial sector and how these have been very beneficial in preparing her for her current role at Leeds Building Society.

She tells us about her passion for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and how that is incorporated into a strong focus on Neuro Diversity that is a key element in influencing Leeds’s customer experience and employee engagement.

She advocates strongly that it’s not just a tick box exercise and that a neuro diverse perspective is vital to create opportunities for people to thrive, belong in their business, and to learn more for customers and colleagues.

In this episode of “Customer Engagement – Examples of Excellence”, we meet Ben Briggs from Join the Dots, part of Salocin Group and Tom Ridges from Herdify where they share how real-world influence and word of mouth delivered to real-life communities are increasingly valuable and cost-effective routes to new customers. This approach combines data led, media campaign strategy with innovative AI technology to significantly enhance and improve campaign performance and customer experience.

They go on to explain that when postcode-level community hotspots are activated across every channel – direct mail, TV, digital, radio and Out of Home – the results are significantly superior to the old “spray and pray” model?

They share some impressive real-world examples of successes with organisations such as Abel & Cole and Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance to demonstrate the speed, accuracy and financial benefits that this well-designed, targeted approach can achieve.