Stay ahead of the curve, watch Steven Van Belleghem’s 10 Customer Experience Trends for 2023 Video, packed with tangible take-aways…

Steven Van Belleghem

Steven Van Belleghem  studied applied economics at the University of Ghent. His summers were spent specializing in marketing at UC Berkeley.

His core expertise is the future of customer centricity. The combination between customer-centric thinking, the latest technologies and the human touch is the guiding principle in Steven’s stories.

He is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of inspiration agency Nexxworks and social media agency Snackbytes. As an investor he is also involved in the fast-growing digital agency Intracto and AI scale-up Hello Customer. In addition to his entrepreneurial activities Steven is also a part-time marketing professor at the Vlerick Business School.

Steven has authored four international bestsellers and has sold more than 120,000 books. His work has been translated into seven languages and he is the recipient of a variety of awards (most innovative marketing book, best marketing book, best international business book).

This last decade has been characterized by the introduction of 4G, social media and mobile services. These technologies have given rise to a new minimum in terms of customer experience. Customers expect ease of use, friendly and empathic staff, omnichannel services and competitive prices. In the years to come, customer experience will reach a whole new level. Naturally, technology (5G, quantum computing, robotics and AI) will play a key role in customer expectations, but it goes way beyond that. Invisible and automatic interfaces will become a necessity but the ultimate ease of use will no longer be enough to come out on top. Automation is but the first step. But what if customers start to have expectations that go beyond convenience? In addition, companies will have to play an active role in their customers’ life journey. As a company how can you help consumers’ dreams come true and eliminate the obstacles in their day-to-day lives? And finally, companies have the opportunity to tackle concrete world problems together with the customer. The world is facing unprecedented challenges: climate, healthcare, government budget deficits, mobility… How can a company involve its customers in the solution to these problems? The combination of automation, being a partner in consumers’ lives and solving actual social issues will be the guiding principles for the successful business of the next decade. For consumers, the combination of all these elements constitutes an offer they can’t refuse.