Marketing Insiders Group organized the 15th edition of the most important local customer experience competition, the Romanian Contact Center Awards. The award ceremony took place on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at Biavati Events in Bucharest.
As the business world implements automation with unprecedented speeds, the need for human connection increases. A recent Harvard Business Review study shows that 80% of executives believe empathy and leadership culture are vital for business success. Although AI simplifies processes, redefining operational architectures in the customer care industry, and beyond, customers also need human creativity in interactions with brands, especially in more complex contexts or those involving quick, unconventional decisions. Automation and empathy have become interdependent in the CX area to generate remarkable performance and long-term customer loyalty.
Customer support agents used to spend an average of 20% of their time searching for information, now artificial intelligence takes over multiple tasks from agents and increases interaction efficiency by approximately 35%. From a profitability perspective, each dollar invested in AI generates an average ROI of 3.5 dollars in around 14 months. Over 67,000 AI startups were founded in the last 10 years, and the generative AI revolution is unstoppable. The strategic challenge now is maximizing technology and reducing the professional stress of customer care specialists.
Globally, the customer experience sector has become, without a doubt, the most important business growth tool, transforming into a multidisciplinary field of activity. In the context of the pandemic, digitalization, and the socioeconomic crisis, the difficulty of interacting with customers has grown significantly, along with their demands.
More than 50% of employees who make direct contact with customers have experienced increased hostility since the start of the COVID-19 period. 70% of support teams report being exposed to hostile work events at least two to three times a month. This “virus of negativity” is contagious, and can trigger a collective burnout movement.
Sources: McKinsey & Company, Forbes, Microsoft, Quid, Harvard Business Review – Christine Porath, Beekeeper.
For over two decades, Marketing Insiders Group has been committed to building and expanding growth and collaboration platforms for the European customer service community.
“Globally, 90% of companies rely in some way on frontline employees, all while CEOs spend only 3% of their time engaging with them. 8 out of 10 frontline customer-contact employees resign due to unmet emotional needs. Romania has some of the world’s most talented and efficient customer experience specialists – from top to bottom. This year’s Romanian Contact Center Awards edition was about their extraordinary passion and exceptional results – about effective leadership in uncertain times and identifying practical tools to support CX teams in their day-to-day challenges through organizational culture, innovation, and wellbeing programs. People are fundamentally good if we give them the space to be, whether talking about customers or customer service agents.” – MĂDĂLINA VILĂU, CX advisor, Managing Partner of Marketing Insiders Group.
The 15th ROMANIAN CONTACT CENTER AWARDS GALA took place on Thursday, May 16, at Biavati Events Bucharest, on the second day of the “Customer Care Conference & Expo” niched business event, the industry’s most awaited annual event – which brought to attention and debate topics of great impact and interest, such as: authenticity in the age of “fake news”; the future of personalized interactions; mindfulness – the new superpower of the moment; the relevance of human capital in the age of robots; the impact of posture in everyday life; the latest contact center intelligence (CCI) and generative AI software solutions; how we recognize, prevent, and combat burnout at work; employee experience and levels of engagement – multi-generational perspectives (Y, Z, Alpha) versus ChatGPT’s perspective; organizational well-being through gamification experiences; the action principles of the KAIZEN leadership philosophy for business; problem-solving directions, and emotional intelligence tools in an uncertain world.
The Jury of the Romanian Contact Center Awards 2024 reunited remarkable leaders who bring change around them every day, who inspire action, and shape entire generations of authentic leaders: Mădălina Vilău – CX Advisor, R.C.C.A. Founder, Managing Partner @Marketing Insiders Group, Andreea Szilagyi Ph.D. – Leadership Coach, Career Counselor, University Lecturer @Politehnica University of Bucharest, Raluca Păduraru – CX Business Consultant, Leadership & Team Coach @Marketing Insiders Group, Edmona Popa – Business Consultant & Managing Director, and Mădălina Uceanu – Senior HR & Executive Search Consultant, Managing Partner @CareerAdvisor.
Here are the customer experience leaders with exceptional results this year, the ROMANIAN CONTACT CENTER AWARDS 2024 WINNERS:
“PEOPLE” CATEGORY
- “Excellence in Leadership Award”: Schneider Electric Romania – Paulina Chruszewska
- “Best Support Center Team Manager”: Samsung Electronics Romania – Florina Laura Radu
- “Best Team Manager – External”: Valoris Center – Anca Gabriela Boia
- “Customer Care Champion Award – External”: Ascensos Romania – Radu-Paul Nichiforov
- “Customer Care Champion Award – Internal”: Schneider Electric Romania – Tamara Popescu
- “Technical Support Champion Award”: Schneider Electric Romania – Carlos Miguel Pinto Vieira Jarni dos Santos
- “Support Champion Award”: Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) – Steluța Nicoleta Pitu
- “Complaints Champion Award”: Samsung Electronics Romania – Oana Tănase
- “Complaints Management Award”: Allianz Partners – Andreea Bogatoniu
- “Passion for Customers”: Schneider Electric Romania – Zdenko Boric
- “Best Contact Center Team Manager”: Schneider Electric Romania Romania – Lytra Magdalini
- “Learning Champion Award”: Valoris Center – Cosmina Ezer
“BRANDS” CATEGORY
- “Innovation in AI”: RepsMate
- “Best SMALL Internal Contact Center”: Pluxee Romania
- “Most Data-Driven Contact Center”: eMag
- “Best Use of Customer Insights Award”: Samsung Electronics Romania
- “Tech Impact Award”: Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR)
- “Excellence in Learning & Development Award”: Allianz Partners
- “Best SMALL External Contact Center”: Samsung Electronics Romania
- “Best LARGE Internal Contact Center”: ING Bank Romania
- “Best MEDIUM Internal Contact Center”: BRD Groupe Société Générale
- “Best LARGE Support Contact Center”: eMAG
- “Best MEDIUM Support Contact Center”: Tazz by eMag
- “Best SMALL Support Contact Center”: TradeVille
- “Best Complaints Team”: Samsung Electronics Romania
- “Social Media Mastery Award”: eMag
- “Operational Efficiency Award”: Pluxee Romania
- “Best Workplace Award – Internal”: ING Bank Romania
- “Best Workplace Award – External”: Ascensos Romania
- “AI Insights Award”: RepsMate
“PARTNERSHIPS” CATEGORY
- “Tech Innovator Award”: Mediatel Data & Autonet
- “External Impactful Collaboration Award”: Mediatel Data & Orange Business
- “Customer-First Partnership Award”: Ascensos Romania & Spectrum Brands
- “AI-Powered CX Award”: Mediatel Data & Regina Maria
Aryana Popescu – General Manager and Consultant @Interpersonal Connections, the moderator of the conference and the awards ceremony, captivated the audience and created a space of emotion, joy, and passion on the R.C.C.A. Gala Stage.
“Customer Care Conference & Expo” 2024 was possible with the vision and sponsorship of Mediatel Data, as a PLATINUM PARTNER.
DAN MAZILU, Founder & CEO of Mediatel Data: “Beyond state-of-the-art technologies, the future is built through partnerships with big ambitions, and with even bigger people. Together with the Customer Care Conference & Expo team we are on a mission to create new CX standards in the contact center industry. We are grateful for the collaborative spirit of the Marketing Insiders Group community, the dedication and trust of our partners – and we will continue to innovate with the same determination as before.”
Customer Care Conference & Expo 2024 benefited from the valuable support of top brands such as: Blue Point, Reps Mate, Genesys, Intrarom, and Spitch – as SUPPORTING PARTNERS, as well as the inspiring involvement of Wellnessentially, Fiziosport Therapy, and Rookeyz – Wellbeing Partners.
The business conference was strategically supported by: Mystery Shopping Agency, Future Station, Design Thinkers Academy, Portal HR, Contact Center Magazine, Conference Arena, and was promoted by Media Partners ProTV.ro and VOYO.
More information about the business event is available on customers.ro, conference-arena.com, as well as in our social media channels. For future partnerships at Conference Arena business events you can contact us via alexandra.cozma@market-insiders.com.
ABOUT MARKETING INSIDERS GROUP
For Customers. With Customers.
Group of multidisciplinary consultants that support people and companies in cultural and operational development through innovative customer-centric programs and solutions.
NUMBERS AND FACTS | 5 international benchmarking studies in customer experience, 10 countries served on 2 continents, 21 targeted industries, 91 international customer partners, 124 organized business conferences, 200 covered cities, 205 generated research reports, 760 graduates of customized CX and leadership programs, 3500 mystery shoppers nationally, 55500 mystery shopping evaluations in Romania.
BRANDS | ConferenceArena.ro, Mystery Shopping Agency, ContactCenterMagazine.ro, PatientExperience.ro, Romanian Contact Center Awards, Customers.ro
More information is available via www.market-insiders.com and on our social media pages.
