Hi Prem, tell us about yourself and your background?
I am CEO and co-founder of Humanly, an AI platform that screens and schedules job candidates for companies with high applicant volume. Previously to that, I led the product management and design teams at TINYpulse, an employee engagement company that empowers organizations to build world-class cultures with real-time people data. Prior to TINYpulse, I spent 10 years at Microsoft working in a variety of product capacities including within Microsoft’s HR technology department.
In addition to my day job, I love sharing his ideas through writing, as a member of the Forbes Business Council, representing the US as a Peter Drucker Essay Challenge winner in 2013, as well as receiving two “Best of ThinkWeek” awards for white papers aimed at breaking down cultural barriers at Microsoft.
Online commerce was booming in 2020, and so did consumer reviews. – How can brands better utilize this data to improve their customers’ experience?
Consumer (and candidate) reviews are mission critical in delivering the social proof about an organization’s brand, products & services. As early as possible, encourage consumers & candidates to provide feedback on line sites like G2, Glassdoor, Capterra, and many others. Organizations like Humanly.io utilize review data to proactively help guide the product roadmap, while ensuring optimal satisfaction and avoiding churn.
In your POV – What is the ultimate checklist for a good customer experience strategy?
Ask your customers:). There isn’t a one size fits all and it starts with listening.
How much has the role of customer experience changed in the social distancing era – what role digital transformation has in this crisis?
It has further enforced the variety of ways and opportunities we have to connect with our customers outside the physical space. It’s important we continue down this path and connect both digitally and physically with our customers.
What was the biggest lesson you learned in 2020?
Change is inevitable (and so are micro failures) – the key is maximizing time-to-learning and the amount of learning you take from both and adjusting as appropriate.
2020 was the year of webinars and online events; what was your favorite one?
In the fall of 2020, I had the pleasure of participating in my first VR panel for the Global HR Summit to discuss digital privacy and the ethical implications of talent analytics. The year of 2020 presented a lot of challenges, but bringing all events to the virtual world expanded the opportunity to discuss important topics to a broader audience.
It looks like working from home is going to stay with us for the foreseeable future. How should Executives gear up to the changing times?
The biggest thing I’m hearing from executives here is an uneasiness around not being able to keep a pulse on how their employees are doing and how their customers are doing. Execs often want to be “fixers” and want to know what’s going on and what they can fix. I’d encourage leaders to take a step back, get out of fixing mode and get into listening mode. There are tools that can help with employee listening and customer listening like pulse surveys which are now more needed than ever.
The other piece is building a strong thesis around remote interviewing! Find the tools and process that works for you and commit to consistency.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
There are the obvious Customer/Candidate Experience metrics like Ratings and Net Promoter Score. From both the customer and candidate experience point of view, we place most emphasis on “Lifetime Value” as this metric directly connects customer success to organizational revenue, which is the first language of businesses.
