Interview with Dr Peter Pirner, CX-Talks "You can't manage customer experiences in a targeted way if you don't know customer needs"

As part of succeet22, there will be the CX-Summit again – this year for the second time. What topics can be expected? And what skills do market researchers usually lack when they want to move to the CX side? marktforschung.de talked with CX expert Peter Pirner, who will host the CX-Summit for the first time at the Munich trade show in October.

Interview with Dr Peter Pirner, CX-Talks

"You can't manage customer experiences in a targeted way if you don't know customer needs"

As part of succeet22, there will be the CX-Summit again – this year for the second time. What topics can be expected? And what skills do market researchers usually lack when they want to move to the CX side? marktforschung.de talked with CX expert Peter Pirner, who will host the CX-Summit for the first time at the Munich trade show in October.

For the second time, there will be the CX-Summit at the succeet in-person trade show in Munich. What exactly awaits those interested in CX?

Peter Pirner: First of all, there will definitely be many exciting presentations and the opportunity to discuss the topics in more detail with the speakers afterwards. That was the special attraction for me last year and that is a big difference to online-only events.

 

You are one of the best-known CX experts in Germany and you will host the CX-Summit this year. To what extent can we expect Peter Pirner's signature on the two days in Munich?

Peter Pirner: It is important to me that we put the discussion and the topics on a broad basis.

CX has so many facets that both market researchers and technology providers, pure analysts or consultants will find their place. Research and analytics are of course set. You can't manage customer experiences in a targeted way if you don't know customer needs.

For me, however, CX is not a science. CX management means first and foremost concrete implementation. How to deal successfully with insights and technology is best shown in exciting best-practice contributions, of which I hope we will see a few.

I would like to contribute to this well-rounded picture. And I am also looking forward to a number of new vendors and speakers at the CX-Summit who share this vision.

 

It is probably too early to preview the agenda. But which CX topics should not be missing in Munich in your opinion?

Peter Pirner: We have to deal intensively with the state of the art in practice. What new technical solutions are there? What role does artificial intelligence actually play in data collection and analysis? How are methods of qualitative research used to meaningfully complement quantitative data, e.g. in the area of UX? What contribution can analytics make in customer journey orchestration?

But this also includes background information. Where do insights into customer needs actually find their place in the core processes of companies? How do successful companies organise their innovation processes?

For me personally, innovative and at the same time practical approaches are particularly important. And I know that there are many promising ideas and concepts in all disciplines that deal with customer experience management. That's why I would like to see as diverse a field of providers as possible, in order to be able to consider the whole range of solutions.

 

There is always talk about whether CX is a part of market research or not. You know both sides very well. What exactly is the relationship between market research and CX?

Peter Pirner: 

In CX management, the problem of silos in companies is often seen as the biggest barrier to success. Market research was stuck in its own silo for many years. 

I too was convinced that I had a complete picture of CX tasks. Fortunately, that has changed both for me and in the industry.

CX management primarily means "doing": in automated marketing processes, in optimal customer services, e.g. based on self-learning bots, or more generally in the cultural and organisational transformation of companies. Especially a transformation to more customer proximity can be made perceptible and tangible across the board through communities or qualitative processes.

I have to know customer needs before I can shape them in a meaningful way. Research is therefore one of the most important enablers for true customer experience management – no more and no less.

 

If market researchers want to switch sides: What skills should they acquire to be able to survive in the CX environment?

Peter Pirner: I know many market researchers who have switched to the client side to work in customer experience management. They often succeed because they know their craft, collecting and analysing customer feedback. Many CX methods are built on this. Moreover, these people are not afraid to deal with technology and professional project management.

In the new environment, however, it is becoming more important to turn feedback into real insights. By this I mean information that actually supports decisions effectively at the right time and in the right format. When the decision-makers grasp it, then you have achieved this goal.

To do this, you have to know the context of other departments, learn to speak their language, be accepted as a relevant contact by different interest groups. Only then will you be involved in decisions when the time is right.

Becoming an internal trusted advisor or even a CX manager is much more than delivering a research project. And it is probably the biggest leap you can only make with openness, empathy and strong communication skills.

 

There are now 58 episodes in your podcast "CX-Talks". Who is still at the top of your wish list to talk to?

Peter Pirner: I started CX-Talks because I have always been interested in people and learn best from conversations. I wanted to continue that after my time at Kantar. CX-Talks is therefore the ideal format to satisfy my own curiosity. In the podcast, I also want to bring topics that are close to my heart to a large crowd in an easy-to-understand and entertaining way.

I actually always start with the topic I want to explore and then move on to the guest. But there has to be the right chemistry with the guest, otherwise you don't like to talk. That's how many interesting people with the most diverse topics have come together. In my view, that's what makes the format so charming.

That's why at the top of the wish list are fascinating, sociable and competent people from all areas of customer experience management who are passionate about sharing their topic with the community are at the top of the wish list.

 

And will there be a live podcast on site in Munich?

Peter Pirner: What there will certainly be is a CX-Talk in the form of a panel discussion with several top experts. That is also a logical addition to the original format. In a podcast, however, many speakers are very exhausting for the listeners because you have to match voices. I have had rather bad experiences with this.

As a solution, I see a future addition to the podcast with a kind of CX-Talks.tv for exactly such content. Here, one could also imagine topics that absolutely need visual support. I thus think that we prefer to record the CX-Talks discussion at succeet22 and make it available online. I would also be pleased if as many people as possible would enjoy this exchange of ideas as a live experience on site at succeet22 in Munich.

 

 For more information on the CX-Summit, which will take place at succeet22 from 20-21 October, click here.

 

ABOUT 

Dr Peter Pirner is a renowned thought leader in the field of customer experience management. As host of the most successful German podcast for CX management "CX-Talks", he regularly reaches a large audience of professionals. Previously, he worked in various roles for Kantar (formerly TNS Infratest), one of the world's largest research and consulting companies, for almost 25 years in the field of CX Management, both nationally and internationally. As a consultant and speaker, Peter advises companies and organisations on issues related to CX management. He is also a partner at Institute for Customer Experience Management (i-CEM), a consulting partner and member of the advisory board of Accelerom AG and a partner at Petlando.

 

 This interview was published in German at marktforschung.de on April 27, 2022 - here

 
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