The Experience Perspective: An Ipsos Podcast

In this episode, join Danielle Doran as she chats with Erika Terblenche and Andy Firth about the Channel Performance Benchmark. Erika and Andy give us everything we need to know about the Benchmark; what it is, why it was created, the channel and sectors it covers, and how clients can put it to work to uncover hidden insights that leads to improved business and channel performance in our onmichannel world.

As the largest Mystery Shopping agency in the world, we know the importance of data, data and more data. But knowing what to do with it and how to put it to work is rarely optimised. Erika shares with us how Benchmark data and additional sales data can be used in tandem to achieve greater insight which can have a huge effect on the bottom line through effective mystery shopping programmes.

Get ready to uncover how the Channel Performance Benchmark is the competitive advantage your clients need to compare their performance against competitors and wider industry standards, identify performance gaps, uncover best practices, set realistic goals, and make informed strategic decisions.

What to learn more about the Channel Performance Benchmark? Head to Ipsos.com. There you can also find previous episodes of this podcast, for more thought leadership on Channel Performance and CX!

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

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

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

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

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! 

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.

In some of our Customer Perspective podcasts over the past year or so, you may have heard us talking about Convergent Commerce – the blurring of

You’d be forgiven for thinking that with all the talk about digital channels, the physical store is dead. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We’re joined by Norrelle Goldring, one of the authors of our recently published paper, ‘The Morphing Store: bricks and

Ipsos’ latest CX and Channel Performance and thinking may be found via these links, along with ways in which our CX – including Service Design,