This episode features an interview with Holly O’Neill, Chief Client Care Executive and Head of Consumer Client Services at Bank of America. Holly has spent her entire career of more than 25 years serving Bank of America customers, from wealth management to sales. She talks with us about capitalizing on client feedback, increasing communication during periods of change, and how to personalize the customer experience at scale.
This episode features an interview with Holly O’Neill, Chief Client Care Executive and Head of Consumer Client Services at Bank of America. Holly has spent her entire career of more than 25 years serving Bank of America customers, from wealth management to sales. She talks with us about capitalizing on client feedback, increasing communication during periods of change, and how to personalize the customer experience at scale.
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Holly O’Neill is the Chief Client Care Executive and leads Consumer, Small Business & Wealth Management Client Care at Bank of America. Her team provides financial solutions to more than 66 million clients each year, with a focus on delivering exceptional and distinctive client care with each interaction. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer for U.S. Trust®, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, overseeing strategic initiatives, business management, risk infrastructure and control, enterprise partnerships, and sales and service effectiveness.
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Holly: “We've got to look outside of our walls to make it easy for the clients. Everyone wants an easy interaction. They want it at the tip of their fingers. They want the answer in a very easy way that they can understand. So delivering an exceptional experience, making it easy for our clients and, and really being there for them around delivering for their priorities, right? What are they? What's their agenda? What are their life priorities? And how do we, how do we enable them to, to really exceed and meet their goals?”
Narrator: Hello and welcome to The Customer Experience Show! In this episode, we talk with Holly O’Neill, chief client care executive and head of consumer client services at Bank of America. Holly has spent over 25 years serving Bank of America customers, from wealth management to sales. In this episode, Holly talks with us about capitalizing on client feedback, increasing communication during periods of change, and how to personalize the customer experience at scale. But first, a word from our sponsor.
Phil: Trying to create a personalized experience is hard enough no matter the size of your company. It means knowing what each customer needs and how they want to interact with your business. So when you have tens of thousands of customers, it can be quite a daunting task. This is especially true when managing something as important and sensitive as money, not to mention doing it during an economic crisis. Despite all of these layers of complexity, there are simple ways to give customers what they want. Starting with listening, giving them options, and making it seamless. Let’s talk about personalizing the experience through providing customers with choices.
Hello everyone and welcome again to another episode of The Customer Experience Show. I'm your host, Phil Dillard, here today with Holly O'Neill, chief client care executive and head of consumer client services at Bank of America. How are you doing today, Holly?
Holly: I'm great, Phil how are you?
Phil: I am fantastic. Thanks very much, I bet a lot of people think that they know about your company and maybe they're right, but I'm sure you can educate them on different things. Can you tell me a little bit how you describe your company, what you do and what your role is?
Holly: Sure. Thanks, Phil. So my role at the company is chief client care executive looking after our 66 million clients and our consumer and small business team. And that role very simply put is to make sure we're delivering a great experience to every one of those 66 million clients billions of times a year, working across every business, every channel, and really delivering an exceptional and personal experience to each one of them.
Phil: So I love how you say that so matter of factly, because I'm like, wait a minute. 66 million clients, I'm sitting here thinking of every day, how do I make things better for 66 million people? Billions of transactions. I mean, just to think about that and as the purview of, I know it's not the purview of one team, of one person. But it's the purview of you and your role in your team. Right? It's, it's a huge number and a testament to the, size and the breadth of the institution, but how do you think about conceptualizing making such a personal experience for so many people?
Holly: Two ways we do that and really is core to our strategy. It's delivering both a high tech and high touch to our clients, right? So leveraging a world-class digital platform to make every transaction and interaction easy. And then at the same time, managing a team of specialists across our business that can interact and work with clients when they need advice and guidance. So it's really the combination of both the technology that we have through our mobile app and online banking, as well as our people. And bringing that together and using the power of that technology to deliver a personal experience at scale.
Phil: Well, that makes a lot of sense. I think one of the trends we see in, in banking is or at least if you're paying attention, is people trying to figure out how much tech, and how much in person, and how much branch, right? Do you have a, do you have a metric or a rule of thumb that you use for that? Because some people probably really want to do everything themselves as much as they can on their computer or their mobile phone. Probably younger, the younger, the better, when I work a lot with these and they're like, why would I use anything other than my phone? But there are other, their, their cousins, their uncles, their parents, right. Same household, completely different experience. How do you think about the mix of those two channels that you're, that you talk about to deliver that experience?
Holly: Sure. the mix is unique to every individual, right? And that's core to our strategy in terms of having that digital capability for those that want to use it. It does make it so much easier to interact when and where you want, but also leveraging that extensive financial center network that we have, 4,300 financial centers across the country, so that you can walk in and work with one of our specialists, or you can call our client service team if you have a challenge or a problem that you need to resolve. So every individual has their own formula, and will interact with us in different ways. And it's interesting that you bring up the generational aspect, because what we find is that people across every generation are actually leveraging our technology to make it easier. And, I think the hypothesis, you know, five years ago was ,well, it'll take a long time for the boomers or people who are older to use the technology. and we definitely don't find that's the case. People across every generation and every demographic are able to use the technology.
Phil: That's pretty cool. You know, it's good to hear, To dispel some of those myths themselves. Is there anything that you've seen recently, I'd say over the past 18 months, because of, I don't know, some unexpected events that things have have changed even more substantively for your clients?
Holly: Sure. I mean, the global pandemic of 2020 has shifted a lot and really played right into the hands of our strategy. I think in many ways it accelerated people to use digital, people who may have been hesitant before because of some of the challenges of being face-to-face in many parts of the country we're forced to use digital. And now, in fact like it, so I do think the events of 2020 to present have accelerated the use of digital. And at the same time, we heard from our clients during the pandemic, those who called or those who walked into our financial centers, they really appreciated that human connection. So I think both aspects of the business played out very well during the pandemic, but technology for sure was accelerated.
Phil: That sounds a lot like we heard earlier this year from the CMO of Coldwell Banker who said, we're over a hundred, over 120 years old. And they said, you know, we had our biggest year ever in 2020, partly because they said that the pandemic played into their strategy for digitization and for rebrand. And also because there is a significant amount of trust in the brand and relationship that was there. And that that, that trust allowed people who are a little afraid of crossing that gap to do that. And they had shifted the technology more in the past six to eight weeks than they had in the past 25 to 30 years. I leave that as a lead in to say, is there anything in your strategy that was a surprise learning or that you paid even better dividends than you had anticipated along those lines?
Holly: Yes. So from the very start of the pandemic, we doubled down on communicating with our clients. Early, often, all the time. The landscape was changing consistently with the CARES Act and PPP and supporting our small business clients, supporting our consumer clients. So as a company, we really doubled down on constant communication , um, getting them information as we were receiving it. Shifting and adjusting our resources that were available online. And we actually heard back from our clients throughout the course of the year from outside parties, like JD Power that clients really liked that communication, right? The constant communication reminders. Here's, what's changing, here's where you can go. And that really was delivered through technology. But it really emphasized that clients needed that guidance, that handholding, and they wanted the constant connection.
Phil: Yeah, that makes sense. It makes a ton of sense. And it's actually a great segue to another question that was on my list because we know a lot of customer experience leaders didn't really start there and you've been around bank of America for a little Bit
Holly: A little, just a little bit.
Phil: Just a little bit. And I'm curious What part of the company you started in, how you first gotten involved in customer experience, and most importantly, how did you learn? Where did you learn that communication would be important at this time?
Holly: Communication has been important at every stop that I've made. I started with the bank. I'm not going to tell you how long, but it was over 20 years ago. And I started in our corporate and investment bank handling financial services companies. So I handled institutional clients where you were working one-on-one with the client, constant communication, one-on-one time advice consulting. And then I transitioned into our global wealth business. and I spent about 10 years there working with our high net worth clients, primarily in a strategic role. And then five years ago, I took my current role in the consumer and small business team. So at every step along the way, I was always very connected to the client. First in an advisory role, as I worked in the corporate and investment bank. Second, setting strategy and working across our wealth businesses, working with fewer clients, but more complex, more customized solutions being delivered to those clients. And now within the consumer business, really taking those experiences and leveraging it at scale. And that is what's so exciting is taking those very boutique, custom businesses and coming to the consumer business with that frame of mind to deliver a really personal experience, but at scale, right? So we talked about the 66 million clients. How do you do that at scale? So every single client knows that they are an individual within the company and they're being handled with a very customized approach.
Phil: Yeah. You went right into something that I was going to ask you about because if you're dealing with institutional and I don't know the level of experience of our listeners, of dealing with talking about institutional and high net worth and global wealth. There's a huge difference of somebody who works with money every day and their expectation from their banking relationship or an investment banker and their expected relationship with their client, or even a high net wealth individual who is very attuned to different changes in the market and demanding, because of the size of their deposits and how much it matters to them, to your everyday consumer who was really different. Was it a big shift for someone with your background to run into consumer and small business from such a, such a different part of the company?
Holly: It was a shift. it absolutely was a mindset change because I had to learn to do what I was doing at scale and do it perfectly 10 billion times a year. So you have to let the system work. You have to have processes that are flawless. You have to have that system in place in order to make it flawless for 66 million clients. And that is the challenge in a business like this, is making the process flawless. Making it personal for the individuals you're working with. And one of the ways, one of the key ingredients for that is technology. We know a lot, and that enables us to create a much more personal experience for our 66 million clients.
Phil: Sure. Just describing that, right? Making a flawless, personal process for 66 million people at scale requires I mean, just thinking about the things you have to get right from a technology side. So I often think these things break down into people, process and systems, or even simpler, right? There is a process side and there is a culture side. Can you talk a little bit about how you wrangled that, that expertise? Because in your description of your background, you didn't talk about yourself as a technologist or as a product manager or as a strategic person. How do you wrangle that?
Holly: Fortunately, we have a world-class technology team and digital team that I work with every single day. So they're working the technology, envisioning what we're going to do. And what I bring to the table is a view of the client. And a view of the process. So getting into the weeds of the process from the client perspective, right? How does this feel for a client? If I'm a client, what am I going to do? How am I going to try to get this done? And then, translating that for the technology team so that they can then build that technology that makes it incredibly easy to use.
Phil: Sure, but so now how does that extend and then into the culture of the organization? I would assume today that most consumer banking is very technology heavy in what it does. But if it if someone came from a mindset maybe where they were treating the consumer differently , like, one size fits all, we're going to give you what you need. Versus we're going to talk to you about what you want, and we're going to try and customize this for you. How does that change the culture of the organization?
Holly: The culture of the organization really is driven from the client first. And that's another aspect of my job is getting that feedback from the clients. Whether it's a client in the high net worth end of the business, or it is more a mass affluent client, what do they want? How do they perceive these solutions? And really thinking about what we deliver to them across the business. Financial centers, ATM's product, et cetera, taking that feedback from the client and then tailoring our business around that. So the culture is really one that's driven first by what the client demands are.
Phil: Has that always been the case or is it something that's been evolving over time? I mean, The way I understand the growth of Bank of America, that there are periods of rapid growth, where there was acquisition of different types of , um, different types of banks and that that could also be a strength, but it also could be a weakness. Can you comment on how that's changed or whether as a current focus on that?
Holly: Sure it definitely has evolved, Phil. So over the past five years, we have really placed a very heavy emphasis on listening to the client in a variety of ways. Doing so at the highest levels of the company. And it really starts with our CEO, with Brian Moynihan, who every single day is reading emails from clients, and sharing their perspectives with people across the business. It comes from the top, but then within the consumer business, we transitioned and implemented a very robust system across the consumer business, we call Voices. It's a way that we get real-time feedback from our clients. It goes not only to the leadership in the business, but it also goes to our 70,000 associates in the business who are interacting with the clients every day. So we felt that culture of listening to the client not only had to be at the leadership level, but it had to be at the ground level of the organization so that the people who are interacting with clients every day were also receiving the feedback on their interactions. So, you know, we get about 11 million pieces of feedback, very specific feedback, a year about the interactions our clients are having with our teams. And we use that every single day, every hour, to constantly improve. And look at the business through the eyes of the client.
Phil: Again, a set of staggering numbers when you really think about it, right? 70,000 associates.
holly-o-neill_1_05-25-2021_160745: Yeah.
Phil: You're having a conversation with your CEO led conversation with and 11 million pieces of feedback from customers. So once again, it makes me think, hopefully this is a start of a little bit of a teaser to a masterclass on those who aspire to be unicorns who might be listening to this message or who are trying to teach elephants how to dance. Like, how do you think about having those conversations. Cause you're not only needed to have the personal conversations with the customers, but you want to have it with your 70,000 associates. And find a way to digest out of 11 million, where is signal versus noise? Where is trends and how do you customize 11 million communications and then extrapolate that over the 66 million clients? Let's assume if it's one-to-one over 51 additional million people. How do you balance that? How do you conceptualize that?
Holly: It's an intricate system, right? And we use it in a few ways. Number one, we use it for teammates, right? For the 70,000 people who are sitting in our financial seminars or sitting in our contact centers to make sure they're delivering that experience to clients that we want them to deliver. So we're using it at the grass roots level of the organization. Then we take the data and we look at it by business, right? So we look at the feedback that we're getting from our ATM network or our financial center network or a contact center. So we're looking at it thematically like that. So it's a fairly intricate system that's used at multiple levels of our organization to make sure we're identifying those opportunities where we can improve, taking it, finding the themes, finding the trends and delivering improvements.
Phil: That makes a ton of sense. Given all of that, is there one particular, most important lesson or a super gem that you would want to share with our listeners that says, oh, this one's a really good one that you should know?
Holly: Sure. So on feedback, the super jam is you want to be prepared to listen to the good, and really be prepared as a leadership team to listen to the not so good. And that was an evolution that, this team I think really went through several years ago. We really break down where something goes wrong. And figure out why it went wrong. Be really honest with it. Be comfortable as a team, debating it at the table and calling a spade a a spade. So not only do we want to see the great results from the surveys, but you have to be prepared to take the opportunities where you see it and commit to improve it. And at times that does take some leadership bravery to just put it on the table and say, you know what? It really broke down here. Here's why it broke down. And here's how we need to fix it. To being really honest at the table. And I think we've made some of our biggest improvements as we've debated those issues over time.
Phil: That sounds great. And it sounds like something that could be useful, whether your customer base is a hundred or 66,000 or a little bit bigger. Another thing that comes to mind is of 11 million pieces of feedback per year, what's the balance of the good versus the not so good? And does it give you any indication if more of them shift from one to the other?
Holly: Sure. So the balance of good and not so good, over the year during the pandemic, we actually hit all time highs in client satisfaction. So how we measure the satisfaction of clients interacting with us. So we've seen the good far outweigh the bad, especially over the past year. Right? And that trend is improving. That being said, we do look at those elements of feedback that come in with suboptimal scores and we really dissect those. What are the experiences? Why did it go bad and how do we fix it? But what I would say is that our trends are incredibly positive. I attribute it over the past, several years to the strategy around delivering high-tech and high-touch, it gives clients choice thing. It makes them feel like they have a personal relationship with us. They have a choice as to how they interact. And then coming through the pandemic, the commitment that we made around communicating and really delivering for our clients at a time where honestly they really needed the support of their financial institution. So, You know, fortunately the team is highly focused on keeping those trends moving in a positive direction and we've seen them hit all time highs over the past year.
Phil: That sounds amazing. With so many people to deal with I would expect so many of them to have an angst about their financial situation. And to me, it speaks monumentally to the effectiveness of your communication campaign, because in an area where people could easily find fault, you've exceeded expectations. But if that's fair enough analysis of that metric. So let me shift gears a little bit. And talk just a little bit more about like some general customer experience stuff. Like when you think about the term "customer experience," what is it what does it mean to you?
Holly: So it means that it means a few things, Phil. First and foremost, it means making sure that no matter what the customer wants, we're delivering it. Two, it's making sure we're making it as easy for them as possible. And I think in today's environment, people outside of financial services are setting the bar for our clients. They want it easy. They see Amazon, they say Google, they see Apple. And so the bar is getting raised for us even outside of financial services. And so we've got to look outside of our walls to make it easy for the clients. Everyone wants an easy interaction. They want it at the tip of their fingers. They want the answer in a very easy way that they can understand. So delivering an exceptional experience, making it easy for our clients and really being there for them around delivering for their priorities, right? What's their agenda? What are their life priorities? And how do we enable them to really exceed and meet their goals? so it's really that very simply.
Phil: And is that also a little bit of a reimagination of the culture? I mean, I know that the culture came focused on folks, on people first, on clients first, you mentioned that. But there's also this aggressive competition in this market for people's attention and money, right? There's the fintechs. There's big tech. And then there's your incumbent financial competitors in a space where you expect to see contraction. It seems like there's a new FinTech every day. And then there's cryptocurrencies and all these different things. Like, how do you keep it so simple in the face of all this additional competition for the attention of the consumer?
Holly: I would say the competition is certainly out there in silos, you know, but from a big bank competitor perspective, it really is just delivering on the strategy and, we're fortunate we have a very large customer base and our job is to deliver for those customers and not create the need for those customers to seek help elsewhere Our customer base is so big that we really need to deliver for the existing customers, expand those relationships, make sure we're there. If they have an additional need that they need to fulfill. I believe that by delivering that strategy, making sure that we're seeing eye to eye with our clients when they have a need we're there for them, whether that's through technology or an in-person meeting, they shouldn't have to go elsewhere. We have it all here for them. and that's the goal is to really deliver on whatever our clients' needs are.
Phil: So makes a lot of sense. Makes me wonder, if you could talk about it, what sort of technology you use to help build a great customer experience? I think some of those you've already alluded to in terms of the app, for example or maybe some communication tools, but can you talk about some other tools that, that combined to, to deliver this?
Holly: I think it really would be delivered through two mechanisms for our clients, right? It's through our mobile app or it's through online banking. So whether you want to use your phone or you want to use your computer, all of the tools and technology should be embedded in those delivery mechanisms. That makes it easy. So if you're a client of Bank of America, you should be able to get everything you want through a touch on your phone. And therein lies the strategy. You know, our digital team is constantly evolving the capabilities that are available on our phone. Erica, which is our mobile app assistant is breaking records in terms of the numbers of users that are interacting with Erica. I think just this year, we reached over a hundred million client interactions with Erica. So those are clients who are willing to interact with our mobile assistant, right. And ask questions. So that is probably one of our biggest features that we've rolled out in recent years, but we're constantly evolving in order to take the feedback from clients and roll that into our digital capabilities.
Phil: And is there one of those capabilities or those interactions that you developed from feedback that you're particularly proud of, or you would call maybe one of your favorite experiences?
Holly: I think Erica came from client feedback. Another feature that is of particular interest to me, one that I like is, our ability to alert a client if we think that they have experienced fraud. I love, like you, standing at a point of sale, standing, trying to buy something at a merchant that may look suspicious and I love when I got the alert from Bank of America saying, Holly, is this you? And you said, yes. And you're on your way. That's a very seamless interaction. And that capability came from client feedback. Why are you waiting? Why can't I just do it point of sale, while you're standing in line at the grocery store or wherever? And just ask me to confirm that it is in fact me. If you don't hear from me, maybe it is fraud and we need to take another step. Those are two examples of technology or enhancements that have come by the way of client feedback.
Phil: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And you know, it also speaks to the client focused nature of it because I've had experience with other banks who shall remain nameless, where they just said, yeah, we shut down your credit card cause it looked like there was fraud or we denied this transaction because it looks like it's fraud. And I, call up and say, what do I need to call you up and tell you that that that I'm traveling for business or that I'm getting out of the country? I mean, you already have this information, that, X percentage of the time, Right. these charges come from somewhere else. Why would this be a problem for you? You know, and I, and I think that speaks that personal experience, speaks to some of the expectation that you have. If Apple or Facebook or Twitter, or, some other tech company says, oh, I see that you're not at home right now. Should we switch your time zone? it sets that expectation in my mind that, and it's delivered through my phone. Now I'm comparing apps to apps, not my banking app to my scheduling app. These are all experiences that are delivered. So I think it contextualizes a little bit what you were talking about when you said you have additional competitors or folks who are raising the bar.
Holly: So totally fair assessment. And that, that example speaks to two things. Number one, people expect their bank to have their back. They want to know if there's a suspicious transaction in their accounts. So that's number one. But then number two, it's quickly followed by a really easy experience that eliminates any delay or any friction in their ability to make a purchase or transact. That really is the holy grail right there where you're wrapping two things into one.
Phil: Sure. No, absolutely. That makes a ton of sense. What's your comments also made me think was if you were the head of the experience, you are lucky you say, because you have a world-class technology team. So if you were to think of what technology or trend do you think will be most important to the future of customer experience, can you talk about that as it applies to your company and maybe even to customer experience more broadly?
Holly: Sure. So the technology that I think is going to be most important will continue to be what we've been focused on, right. Making it easy and simple and integrated for our clients. At the same time, you're maximizing the level of personalization for each client, right? So not making it cookie cutter, making it personal based on what you know about the client and making that experience easy. So that personalization aspect is a category where I would expect we will spend a lot of time in the next three to five years.
Phil: So it seems like then that is a good touchstone for you. That just says easy, simple, integrated is always the right way to go. How do you then anticipate what sort of things are going to make things easier for people. We can look at the process steps and say, I don't, we're taking this 20 process steps to 10, and this is going to be easier for people, but we can't always know how they're going to respond to things. How do you find a way to make sure that you're making that right. decision? That's your, that you're delivering that sort of simplicity and ease of use that you're looking for?
Holly: I go back to client feedback, right? So really understanding number one, what the client journey is right in, in today's environment. Understanding where the pain points in that journey are. And gathering the feedback from clients on a prospective basis. So in addition to what we do with our survey mechanism, right, that's built on our existing 66 million clients on the interactions they're having. We also have more of a blank sheet of paper client panel focused effort to get the feedback from clients. What if we did this? What do you wish we did? How would you like that to work in the future? Are some of the questions that we ask. Pre pandemic, we did this live in person in San Francisco. We were there, Phil, all over the country. We held these client panels. The pandemic obviously brought about some restrictions in person. And so we deployed them virtually and they were actually better than ever, because we were able to get to more people. We were able to have additional leaders from across the business view, participate, ask questions. So, it's a combination of that. Really getting the views of clients. What would you like? How would this be better for you? What don't we do that you'd like us to do? So we do a lot of that as well.
Phil: It sounds like it is an interactive process. Like are we were talking like video conferencing other tools and techniques to be interacted with engaged with them?
Holly: Yeah. We'll sample a group of 30 clients who work with our small business team. So it's a very, it's a small business focused discussion, right. Or we'll take clients who leverage preferred rewards. And so we try to have very focused conversations on specific topics so that we can get the best feedback versus just a cookie cutter, blanket or generic session.
Phil: And how do you measure like the outcome of the session, the sentiment of the client as it comes out of that? And in, in terms of the benefit of the experience, but also the trust in the organization. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Holly: Okay. Sure. so we actually, we share the outputs of those sessions pretty broadly amongst our leadership team. We talk about trust a lot. We talk about both the softer side stuff and the more concrete stuff in those sessions, and we share the feedback. So we'll document the session, what we heard, who we heard it from, what we think it means. And then as a broad leadership team, we use it. When I say leadership team I'm talking about, probably a group of 40 or so people that run the consumer and small business team. So it does go pretty deep, right? The people who we're relying on to develop product or the people who are delivering in our financial center. So we'll share the feedback relevant to all of those different pieces.
Phil: Super. Okay. I guess the last question in this segment, before we go to our wonderful lightening round is talking about going back to internal communications. In an organization so big, there have to be a big functional areas. So how do you break down the silos and communicate across those functions to, to be able to deliver the way you need to?
Holly: Communications from every angle, every medium, whether it's, social media, we have some internal daily communication tools that we use. Clearly leadership and very traditional top down. But we use dozens of communication mechanisms. In person, written, podcasts, video, you name it, we use it as a means to broadly tie our business.
Phil: Okay. And can you share any anecdotes or thoughts about groups that might've been experiencing communication challenges, how to, how you have in the past or might want to recommend changing for the teams?
Holly: Sure. Yeah. I say this to my team all the time, Phil. Communicate communicate, communicate. And when you don't think you've communicated enough, communicate it again. And as a leader, you feel like it's being very repetitive, but what I've learned in such a large organization is that it does take that repetition. It takes consistency and it takes commitment to just keep talking about it so that the group can absorb it. So communicate, communicate, and communicate, use all of the tools that you have. Make sure you're communicating in a very simple, easy to understand way. And I work at a bank, so we have every acronym under the sun and we really try to boil it down so that. So that it's as simple as possible. Right. And you really consider the audience you're talking to. What is most important to them?
Phil: So what if things are constantly changing? We talked a little bit about the events over the past 18 months, right? The situations are constantly changing. World perspectives are constantly changing. Probably executive decisions or adjustment government guidance and regulations. Constant change. Not limited in the ability to you know, to be able to repeat a consistent message. What would you recommend for people who are struggling to find the clear direction and struggling to find the best way to communicate that message? Whether it's because of internal dysfunction or it's external factors that beyond their control?
Holly: Well, I think it's constant touch points, right? sure you have your inner circle so that as the landscape is changing and we all know it changed hundreds of times in the past 18 months. You're there to react. You're reacting quickly and you're communicating immediately. What do we need to change? Why do we need to change it? So, you know, doubling down and making sure your inner circle is in touch with what's changing and you're constantly shifting as you need to. And communicating clearly. And in real time, I think that was used across the company. We have, a lot of touch points even still today to make sure everyone is aware of what's changing and what we need to do to follow the lead there.
Phil: Love it. That is really good stuff. With that, we get to move to the lightning round. We only have a few minutes left and I know you're a very busy woman, so we need to let you get back to what you do every day. So three quick questions, about a minute or so in the answer each. So first off. And I ask everybody the same three questions just so we can get a good feel for This As a customer, can you share an example of one of your favorite experiences?
Holly: My favorite experience is when somebody calls me by name, first of all, they're meeting me eye to eye. They confirm that they know what I need, and then they anticipate what I need next. And they just nail it. They do it quickly and crisply. So that is the best experience for me.
Phil: Awesome. That's pretty cool. I like that. Okay. Second question. If there's one thing you could change about people's perception of the CXO or the role of customer experience in a company, what would it be?
Holly: I would like people to think and know that the CXO has the capability to really shift how the business is done, right. And to really garner the resources from across any company to change how it's done to make it better for the client. It's not just, a fluffy role to talk about client experience. It's a role that is really there to drive change and put the client first. Yes.
Phil: Awesome. Absolutely. Extremely well said. Thank you. Okay. Last one. For our listeners, what one lesson would you want someone to take away from your experience as a CXO? If they're trying to be a super-duper world-class customer experience leader?
Holly: Take feedback. Be honest about the feedback. Build connections within your business that you know have the ability to influence the change in your organization.
Phil: That sounds great. Couldn't have ended on a better set of key points with that I'd like to thank you very much, Holly, for your time. Really appreciate it for you coming out to speak with us.
Holly: Thanks Phil. Thanks very much for having me.
Phil: Very happy to have you. And thanks again, everyone else for listening, and we hope to see you next time on the next episode of The Customer Experience Show, talk to you soon.
Holly’s message is clear. More and more, customers are expecting a personalized experience. And though it may seem impossible for such a big company, there are ways to offer each customer an experience all their own. It’s about empowering them to give honest feedback, and then doing something about it. Like Holly says, CXO isn’t just a fluffy role. It can be a catalyst for change to better serve customers in even the most established companies, if you let it.