MarTech360 Interview With Mark Smith, Vice President, Digital Engagement Solutions, CSG

“A proactive tactic is a good tactic. Mapping out a plan of communication for any new product is essential and necessitates an in-depth understanding of the potential purchaser.”

Hi, Mark, could you tell us about your professional journey so far?

I’ve been in the customer engagement business for more than 25 years, with a background in both real-time integration management and analytical CRM. I founded Quadstone, which was the first data mining company to focus solely on the analytics of customer behavior, in 1995. What was especially interesting about Quadstone was that we were really a “big data” pioneer, years ahead of what other companies were doing – which was powering the first integrated customer engagement suite. 

In 2013, I founded Kitewheel, where we were really the first to specialize in customer journey orchestration on a SaaS platform. Kitewheel was acquired by CSG in 2021, with the goal to power its Customer Engagement division by creating CSG Xponent, our unified, cloud-native engagement platform. Xponent brings together holistic customer data, industry-leading customer journey orchestration and analytics, proven omni-channel communications, and an unmatched passion for customer experience excellence. As a result, companies can deliver personalized, predictive, and proactive customer connections that drive better business outcomes, quicker time to value, and lower risk.

Tell us about your role at CSG?

It’s an exciting time to help our customers deliver extraordinary experiences, when the importance of CX as a business differentiator is at an all-time high. As Vice President of Digital Engagement Solutions, I help lead go-to-market strategy for CSG’s Customer Engagement business. 

What sets CSG apart from the competition?

We’ve been in business for 40 years, right at the heart of helping our clients manage some of the most important communications with their customers. 

CSG is now a one-stop shop for CX. Xponent is not only a customer journey analytics, mapping, and orchestration tool, but also delivers CDP capabilities that work in real-time. The solution suite is a truly powerful tool in creating extraordinary customer experiences and delivering value to our customers and their customers. Beyond Xponent, our verticalized solutions for sectors like healthcare, financial services, telecom, and retail come with decades of industry-specific expertise. We don’t offer CX in a silo – customer journey solutions are woven into our other solution suites for payments, revenue monetization, and business digitalization.

CSGers care deeply about our partners and customers, and we are willing to go the extra mile to ensure long-term satisfaction and close collaboration. Our CEO, Brian Shepherd, takes pride in being honest and transparent with all stakeholders; we are willing to level set and get back on the horse when things don’t go our way. Plus, we unwaveringly support our people and the communities in which we operate.

Also Read: MarTech360 Interview With Hanan Maayan, CEO And Co-Founder, Trackonomics

How, according to you, has Marketing Automation impacted the whole Marketing and Sales landscape?

Over the past few decades, I’ve seen the industry evolve significantly as new technologies hit the market. One of the most transformative has been AI-powered technologies to support automation and natural language processing, helping businesses gain real-time insights into their end-customers and offer white glove customer experiences at scale. These solutions support customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty through experience personalization, quicker issue resolution, and journey optimization. 

When AI and automation tools are fed with customer data and fused with human logic and business insights, they can create truly extraordinary customer journeys. This of course impacts the entire marketing and sales landscape, not only helping business, marketing, and CX leaders understand customer behavior but also allowing them to predict future actions and prepare proactively. With customer journey orchestration, leaders can take it a step further to guide the customer and engage in the channels that are most appealing to them – moving the customer from shopper to buyer to loyal patron.

But there is a real challenge with the rise of the “journey” concept in marketing and specifically Marketing Automation. The term is so popular, and is seen as a way to broaden into CX initiatives, that often simple outbound marketing campaigns are now named as journeys – missing the whole point that a journey is driven by the customer, not the business.

How are digital marketing technology trends shaping business strategies to effectively reach the target audience?

With automation tools, organizations can scale their journey orchestration efforts and more effectively utilize customer insights. This allows CX leaders to make the transition from customer journey mapping and planning to customer journey decisioning and orchestration. Right now, the biggest trends are around use cases for AI and machine learning, which can be used in customer journey orchestration for recommendation and classification. Recommendation denotes the ability to personalize an algorithm – which in turn will determine what next step the customer should take, given history and behavior. Additionally, classification allows brands powerful audience targeting capabilities, reaching out to each individual with different offers, messages, or campaigns. 

Another major technological innovation shaping the way businesses reach customers is conversational AI. CAI seeks to solve the pain points most often associated with voice, text or interactive voice response (IVR) communication – which is understanding the underlying intent of a customer. Through CAI, companies can better determine where to route a customer, or how to resolve customer issues in a more streamlined way – ensuring a happier customer. In an environment where customer behaviors change so quickly, adaptive learning approaches can adjust predictions in real-time based on customer data being inputted. 

Why is it important to map a customer journey? And how does it result in better customer experience?

We all experienced the global macroeconomic challenges over the past few years, from pandemic and supply chain, to record inflation. Customer behavior has become as unpredictable as the market itself, in some cases, truly becoming a dynamic landscape. Brands must be at the forefront of digital engagement to evolve along with the customer’s demands. What used to resonate with the customer even five years ago will no longer serve brands.   

So while the Customer Journey is really the customer’s journey, and must be allowed to be so, the business needs to map out the experience and brand message it would like to deliver. The customer may not follow the plan, but at least the brand needs to have a plan to guide the customer.

Mapping is an essential element to customer journey analytics. Mapping a customer journey helps to understand drop-off points and opportunities, but also allows the brand to deploy tools that help manage that journey and ensure a tailored customer experience. When mapping a customer journey, brand leaders naturally become more customer-minded and digital-focused, which has been especially important post-pandemic as many legacy touchpoints for brands have long moved into the digital space. 

Do GTM strategies help in more customer engagement?

A proactive tactic is a good tactic. Mapping out a plan of communication for any new product is essential and necessitates an in-depth understanding of the potential purchaser. Customer data analysis and journey mapping empower brands with those unique insights into the customer persona and what messaging and product will appeal to them most. GTM strategies that incorporate this level of customer knowledge are most likely to generate customer engagement, enthusiasm, trust, loyalty, and market preference.

Do you think being customer-driven is the best way to innovatively boost customer engagement? What are the other best methods?

It almost goes without saying that, yes, being customer-centric is a non-negotiable to truly embrace the customer journey – businesses must be customer-obsessed in order to compete in today’s market. 

It’s also essential to remember how employee experience positively impacts customer engagement, as we live in a time where customers are more likely to be loyal to brands who align with their value systems with regard to employee treatment. Each employee has a part to play in the customer journey, whether they’re in the call center speaking with the customer directly or working behind the scenes to engineer mobile apps or research new products. 

Great customer experiences happen when departments across the company are aligned on strategy, values, and vision. From engineers creating new software updates, to marketers working on the next sales campaign and R&D teams developing the newest, most cutting-edge technology, everyone has a role to play in the customer journey.

Could you name any other VP or C-level personnel that you would like to see featured here?

I would love to hear from Manu Steijaert, the first chief customer officer in McDonald’s history. Over the past decade, McDonald’s has shifted from anonymous cash purchases to a digital customer journey – a microcosm of what we’re seeing across industries. McDonald’s realized the value in understanding the customer and the decisions they make before and after the purchase – not just what happens in the store. The creation of a “chief customer officer” role is demonstrative of McDonald’s commitment to understanding the channels their customers are using, the best way to communicate with them, and what will motivate them to buy their next Big Mac. 

As a go-to-market leader, what is the one piece of advice you would give to those who aspire to make a career in marketing?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: be customer-obsessed. Remember that we are all customers and that the human touch should never be forgotten behind the gadgets and gizmos of the digital world – on the contrary, CX tech should support a more authentic, human customer experience. Once you’ve aligned internally and mapped out the customer journey, have fun! Get creative and see what sticks for your customer base; innovate with your partners; collaborate with everyone, even the competition. 

Thanks, Mark!