Sherrie Austin, Sales Director at MaritzCX, discussed the "omnichannel evolution" and its impact on today's customers during her presentation at the 2015 Customer Care Leadership Forum in San Francisco on Dec. 17. In her presentation, Austin examined what it takes for businesses to learn about the voice of the customer and incorporate it into everyday business decisions.

According to Austin, today's customer service professionals are expected to collect customer data and link it directly to business outcomes. However, doing so can be exceedingly difficult, Austin noted. Fortunately, her company has developed an integrated program, aka the "CX evolution," that has enabled it to collect actionable data across multiple channels and it use to find new ways to connect with its clientele: "You're looking at things cross channel; you have a cross channel team looking at things, so people at the higher end of that range. Those companies report higher levels of financial performance year-over-year and customer retention year-over-year. And we can take that another step."

In addition, collaboration plays an important role in customer service, Austin noted. However, effective collaboration only can take place if an organization deploys reliable leadership, Austin said. And if an organization boasts leaders who are willing to go above and beyond to support employees and customers, Austin noted an organization can use customer service data and technology to its advantage consistently: "It’s about people working together. So think about what makes an impressive program. Oh, having a good software platform; having the ability to rate good surveys. I used to think I want to be able to write good surveys and do data, figure out what the drivers are and that kind of thing. That’s going to make me a good CX professional. Well, not anymore. That helps, but it really takes leadership."