William Carson

Ascensos

Ascensos has a great story to tell as a fiercely independent customer management and services provider partnering national and international retail and ecommerce brands to support their customer contact focused strategies across the UK, Europe and the World. 

In my role, I support the Board and the Ascensos business by orchestrating and curating the networks of partnerships, connections and communities necessary to ensure that story is heard.

Director of Market Engagement

LDB London

LDB London is a consultancy practice operating in the outsourced customer management and engagement sector. The practice provides support to CXM BPOs across all stages of market engagement - network and pipeline building, social sales enablement, content creation, PR and events (online and live).

Director

New Ways

Responsible with fellow directors to provide sound governance and direction for the mission and operations of New Ways and its development work in Africa.

Global Sourcing Association UK

I will be working with Council members to further the aims of the GSA in support of buyers and vendors of sourcing services.

GSA Council Member 2017 - 21

Project Lockdown

An experiment in virtual music for CX BPO and possibly LinkedIn's first ever virtual band. Think Blue Man Group without the blue paint, bald heads...or money...fame......money, just money.

Musician

CX Club Vlog

Contributor

Concentrix

CX Growth Hacker

Teleperformance UK and South Africa

Brokering key market, partner and client relationships to help drive growth and thereby sustain careers for the more than 10,000 fabulous TP'ers who manage the thousands of daily customer experiences with and on behalf of our clients - major National and International brands, central government and non-departmental bodies.

Bid and Solutions Manager

Conduit

Bid management of major public sector and utilities client tender proposals leading to full contracts.

Head of Bid Management

LDB London Ltd.

Customer contact consultancy supporting clients' customer experience solutions.

I'm the Director of Market Engagement at Ascensos, a fiercely independent customer management and services provider that partners with national and international retail and ecommerce brands. With over 20 years of experience in the customer contact and engagement sector, I am a CX zealot and focus relentlessly on creating and delivering end-to-end business conversations with clients that focus on developing better 21st century experiences for their customers and achieving their strategic goals.

At Ascensos, we help our partners accelerate their business outcomes through creative CX modeling in all its aspects - process, people, platforms, and technology. By identifying, visualizing, and determining right-fit solutions for their customer experience management and contact strategies, we enable them to achieve cost-effective, meaningful, and relevant customer management and engagement. Visit www.ascensos.com to learn more, or message me to discuss how we can help you grow and transform your CX.

𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 CxOutsourcers 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁.

As I prep, I consider my eldest daughter's generation, just coming of age in 2024, that doesn't want to talk to brands, and the mega brands that don't want to talk to them either!

It triggers that perennial conundrum - exactly what 𝘪𝘴 the future for customer care?

The answer of course is efficient, effective, and results oriented CXM operations that are hard-wired to the business objectives of the company.

👉The form that will take could include a premium subscription-based voice channel - think Amazon Prime married to first direct in 1989! 

👉 It will certainly include intelligent automation - the AI genie won't be put back in the bottle!

👉 It will definitely take advantage of the latest consumer-facing smart mobile tech - phones, watches, connected car!

This will be my fourth CxOutsourcers, and going back over the notes from previous years, it will be fascinating to hear from the panel, the keynotes, and around the bar, what the consensus is on how managing brand/customer interactions and relationships over the coming 5 to 10 years will be orchestrated, how CXM outsourcing will continue to evolve to support, and what BPO might even mean in 2034!

Looking forward to digging deeper into all of this with the great and the good at Terminus 330!

#retail #management #strategy

𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝘅𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁!

IKEA will finally open its doors on its new Oxford Street store in the autumn.

In the perennial hunt for increasingly 'experiential' retail customer experiences, perhaps not many would have thought bringing big box retail from 'out of town' to the centre of town could also hit the spot.

As the The Washington Post reports (link below), 'consumers are no longer discovering products by browsing through 100,000-square-foot stores — they’re doing it on social media as well as on the brands’ apps and websites.'

With Macy's and Best Buy joining IKEA in taking steps to reimagine the purpose of the store for 21st century home makers, it will be fascinating to watch how this new direction unwraps over the coming years. 

Will they also host their customer contact centres onsite? Unlikely, but the interdependence of customer instore and remote brand experience does need to be aligned.

Store visits for contact centre colleagues are already the norm at Ascensos for the client brand partners we support to ensure brand immersion, and no doubt this will be increasingly standard across all retail and ecommerce remote customer management enterprises.

And what of IKEA Edmonton? 

It's now a banging club called Drumsheds which can host up to 15'000, across a multiplicity of versatile spaces that needed very little done to transform it. A nice handover that retained use and jobs with positive impacts on the local economy!

The Washington Post Article: https://lnkd.in/eqnEbecT

#retail #management #strategy

𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀?

Customer contact centre colleagues are as much if not more in the direct line of fire from those individuals that are intent on abusing retail staff, whatever the reason or complaint.

This ruling from the UK Government is welcome, albeit perhaps a sad reflection on elements of a broader societal malaise.

It is heartening too for instore workers that retail leaders have spent over £1BN on preventative measures in 2022/23 according to Drapers magazine - but again, what about those dealing remotely with such abuse in the customer service or complaints team?

Of course inhouse and outsourced CXM centres have evolved fantastic initiatives to support colleagues - at Ascensos we provide access to 24/7 counselling as well as a well-being centre that supports staff more broadly.

There is no doubt there are further measures and mechanisms that could be utilised effectively in the contact centre, it would be fantastic to be part of the dialogue with the British Retail Consortium to ensure remote retail workers are not overlooked.

#retail #management #business

drapersonline.com • 1 min read

Retail worker abuse to be made standalone criminal offence

⭐𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 #theAteam 𝗮𝘁 Ascensos 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮!⭐

Absolutely delighted that our colleagues in Cape Town are waking up as champions this morning after winning gold (twice) last night, at the  Contact Centre Management Group (CCMG) Awards 2024.

🏆𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲
🏆𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

To be recognised as the top performer in the dynamic SA contact centre industry is an outstanding achievement and one which reflects the incredible progress we have made in South Africa, supporting many of the best-loved UK and international retail and consumer brands.

Well done to all our incredible A-players and especially our SA leadership team, Tanya Phillips, Lyle McLean, Rudi Jansen, and Vancyon Van Zyl, who represented us at the ceremony in Johannesburg, and of course all the team at our sites in the Mother City!

#retail #management #southafrica

𝗧𝗲𝗺𝘂 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝘂? 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻!

It looks like the Temu is heading into rough waters in the West, with the EU and US both considering online content regulations be imposed on the fast-fashion ecommerce platform.

I flirted briefly with Temu at Christmas for stocking fillers - and while these were perfectly adequate, its clear the 'fast' aspect to the TEMU model means the descriptions of what is on offer can leave a lot to the imagination!

Along with the recent TEMU campaign to pay customers to pass on their details to personal contacts in an effort to grow their customer base, there is a growing unease with the tactics of the platform, in the West at least, or are we simply staring into the future of retail 'Bladerunner' style and just not quite ready to admit it yet?!

#retail #management #business 

reuters.com • 2 min read

Temu likely to face tougher online content rules as EU users soar

𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠!

𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟬'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱.

I was surprised to learn it's 70 years old this year. That's a lifetime ago for many.

It was particularly interesting watching the trailer as a marketing mechanism from 70 years ago, as well as the content, and realising that very little has changed - from the bombastic delivery, to the urgency of the characters - its no different today.

Similarly, how we manage customers now is little different to back then - because it is essentially a social enterprise. The products and consumables have changed for sure, but that social connection which was more common in the pre-internet/call centre customer service experience, has not gone away.

Take coffee shops. I can make a perfectly respectable coffee at home. But daily I take myself down to the local favourite, for the self-same product, and pay more than the cost of a jar of instant for the pleasure! It's a social thing.

In the US, the coffee shop market is expected to grow from $83BN in 2023 to $112BN by 2030, by which time (in the UK) coffee shops will outnumber pubs! 

Yes, we have an amazing opportunity now to harness tech power to customer management to drive better end-to-end experiences, thereby improving brand reputation, customer retention, and effective use of budgets.

But we forget the 'social connection' we make to brands at our peril. 

The brands that work hard to balance the tech/social aspect to customer management, and who work with partners that can help achieve this, will be the ultimate winners in 21st Century customer engagement.

Don't make a horror show out of conjecture about the efficacy of unproven models, work with experts who have the experience to deliver the business outcomes and objectives you need.

Full trailer here: https://lnkd.in/ewr3uMvZ

#retail #strategy #business

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