Mr. Koserowski brings nearly 25 years of experience in marketing to his new appointment as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. He was appointed Vice President Digital Product Development and Marketing for the organization in 2011 and upon Ms. Knapp’s appointment to Chief Executive Officer from Chief Marketing Officer in 2019 he assumed leadership of the global marketing team. Mr. Koserowski’s new business and product development remit will expand in his new role. As Chief Marketing Officer he will lead the customer strategy, loyalty program, digital product development, B2C and B2B marketing, customer experience, and new business development and partnerships. Mr. Koserowski will report directly to Ms. Knapp.

Recent Appointments at LHW

Lauren Alba – Vice President Global Marketing and Communications

11 June 2021 — Ms. Alba has spent 15 years developing customer-centric marketing campaigns and communication strategies for global businesses. This highly skilled marketer started at Leading Hotels in 2014, first as the Director of Global Public Relations and Media Partnerships, and then as Senior Director of Marketing Communications.

read more

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Creating a convenient experience for customers cultivates brand loyalty. In today’s digital age, convenience is more accessible than ever before.

This is article is part of a thought leadership article series on Marketing Innovation presented and written by Moxtra, a company that helps businesses deliver client experiences for the digital age.

For clients to remain loyal, businesses must adopt a client experience that achieves convenience. In order to live up to instantaneous expectations, consistent dedication to the client, their experience, and a heavy emphasis on customer convenience are required when establishing and nurturing loyalty.

For any small business owner, CEO, or customer experience leader, knowing the right strategies and staying away from the common missteps can make all the difference.

Being Responsive is Key 

Customer convenience and loyalty, in most instances, are dependent on each other. Generating customer loyalty is all about offering a convenient experience that provides clients with the needs and services they are looking for from your business. Consumers today are highly connected, and they forge an emotional connection with the brands they choose to do business with. This means that optimizing your customer experience and customer journey is key to ensure your client base does not leave for your competitors.

It begins with meeting your clients where they are. Be responsive. Take a look at the market, get to know the pain points, and provide a direct solution to your target audience’s needs.

Digital Technology Drives The Consumer Experience

Business owners today simply cannot expect to generate engagement, build a following, and create loyalty without undergoing digital transformation. Consumers remain ever-connected and ever-dedicated to mobile technology, and that idea shows itself in a number of different ways.

Look at a company like Uber – they were able to help propel the rideshare movement into a multi-billion dollar industry simply by improving the ordinary taxi experience through the use of digital technology in one actionable application. Users can download the app, scan their location, and instantly hire a driver to come pick them up in minutes. They can even pay directly through the app, add a tip, and enjoy the rest of their day all in a single, easy to use mobile application. Similarly, drivers have their compensation deposited right into an account from the app, without having to ask for payment or hang onto cash.

This convenient experience is what makes customers keep coming back – this convenient experience fosters loyalty. At the end of the day, it’s no different than an average taxi ride, but added customer convenience is what helps to generate loyalty to that brand – and Uber has an immensely loyal user base.

Adopt a Strategic Digital Solution

The most optimal strategy for fostering reliable customer loyalty is to offer clients a complete and comprehensive OneStop digital experience. Consumers demand convenience because their entire digital and mobile experience is based around instant access. When a brand doesn’t offer that, or deviates from that path – even slightly – they’ll pass on it and move to the next brand that does offer them the service of customer convenience.

The best way for businesses to meet consumers where they are is to pivot their attention to the digital realm. Embrace the OneStop strategy and determine a solution to offer the level of convenience that consumers demand in all aspects of their mobile-based, digitally-driven lives.

Think about it – how much easier would it be for you if you could control every aspect of your customer journey in one single platform? Having an app, accessible from both mobile and web, is a digital solution for completing high-touch business processes. A OneStop digital experience is what consumers expect in today’s environment.

By deploying a web or mobile app on a platform that is built to scale, businesses can future-proof their service offerings by meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Moxtra powers OneStop Customer Collaboration Portals for businesses, delivering

just-in-time service with an all-in-one suite of interactive features for securely completing business wherever, whenever, in today’s digital age.

Each Moxtra-powered private digital channel acts as a fluid extension of your business, either as a standalone website or mobile app under your brand. Deliver continuous communication to your clients, while maintaining persistent human relationships to your customers with a digitally resilient strategy.

Moxtra’s just-in-time platform powers branded OneStop Apps for customer engagement and collaboration for today’s digital age. Get in touch today to get started with an app for your business.

Written by Moxtra

Originally Appeared Here

While it can be tempting to jump right in and launch your marketing campaign to the world without much in the way of planning (and let’s face it, so many do!), to get the best results, you need to take a more strategic approach.

To help you improve your marketing campaign results, here are the three foundations you need to get right before you embark on a marketing campaign.

Pexels / Pixabay

1. Who

Your customer should always be the hero of your story, so everything must start and end with them. We recommend you ask yourself these questions first before thinking about anything else.

1. Who are the people that our product/service serves?
2. Who in this audience do we want to specifically target through this campaign?

Chances are, you, like so many other businesses, have multiple audiences, so just answering the first question may not be enough. Marketing campaigns that get the best results are targeted and specific.

To drill down further, you need to look at your customer demographics. This will tell you how to find them. Then you look at their needs and the logical aspects they are looking for – information, ideas, features and benefits. Lastly, you need to look at their wants; this is the emotional reason behind the purchase that drives their decision. This is the Holy Grail of marketing and the reason people make true and lasting connections with brands.

I love what investor Mike Markkula, the third partner in Apple alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, penned in The Apple Marketing Philosophy, “We will truly understand their needs better than any company”. Knowing your customer better than anyone else is your most important job in business.

2. What

Next, you need to establish the ‘what’. What is it that you are really selling? And here’s a hint, it’s not the features or benefits. It’s about how the product/service makes your customer feel, what it does to make their life easier or more meaningful – it’s the story of how their life will change for the better.

We always buy on emotion, but we’ll justify our purchase logically with the features and benefits. When you’re clear on what problem you solve and what pain you take away – and can put it into words that a five-year-old can understand – you will see your campaign results increase dramatically.

3. How

Then you need to look at how you will build the desire in your audience to use you. This step requires looking at the strategy behind your customer journey and asking specific questions that will help you bring them through the stages of awareness and interest to make a decision.

For the campaign itself, you may want to ask questions like:

• What does the ad copy need to say to grab our customers’ attention?
• How do we demonstrate how we are better than our competitors?
• What objections are customers going to have, and how can we address them?
• What testimonials do we need to include to get them to see the benefits?
• What do the graphics and landing page need to look like to support the message?
• What is the next step we want them to take, and what do they need to know to make it?

Another essential part of the ‘how’ stage is to determine how you will measure the campaign’s success.

• What does success look like?
• What goals do you want to achieve?
• What business outcomes do you want?
• What metrics do you need to track?
• What reporting needs to be provided, and to who?

Optimising your campaign

Now that you’ve done the groundwork and are clear on the who, what and how of your campaign you need to look at the rules around campaign optimisation. Planning your rules around optimisation before you start your campaign will mean that you prevent wasting unnecessary time and money.

How will you know whether the campaign is working or not? How will you determine when you should spend more or cut back?

An example of this is using financial metrics. Let’s say your target is $50 per lead.

• If you’re campaign is running at $35 per lead, you’ll invest more
• If it’s running at $80 per lead, you might cut bids back to get a better cost per lead
• If it’s running at $1,000 per lead, you stop immediately and figure out what’s going on!

Many a marketing budget has been wasted because the who, what and how of a campaign wasn’t established before it was sent out – don’t let yours suffer the same fate.

Author: Ben Hirons

Ben Hirons is the founder of digital marketing agency Due North (www.duenorth.com.au) and a highly experienced digital marketer. Over the last two decades, Ben has helped some of the largest and most iconic brands in Australia develop, execute and manage their marketing strategy, understand their analytics, optimise their… View full profile ›

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Octane Marketing Partners With Human to Provide Human-Only Insights for Automotive Industry

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Pay-TV operator MultiChoice is accelerating the automation of its customer experience, introducing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, the Ultimate Master of Information (TUMI), to answer customer queries about products and services.

TUMI, an in-house creation by the MultiChoice team, interacts in real-time with customers in an online or text-based conversation.

The company says TUMI has advanced natural language capabilities, which means the bot can recognise user questions and provide responses with information related to DStv products and services.

MultiChoice says TUMI, launched on 5 May, can clear decoder errors, check balances, reconnect products, make payments, manage holiday home viewing and change viewing packages.

“TUMI is an evolutionary leap in our service capability. Born and developed right here in Africa, TUMI is a tangible manifestation of our commitment to innovation. This is not innovation for its own sake; the focus is to continue to grow our capacity to give our customers an excellent service experience,” says MultiChoice SA CEO Nyiko Shiburi.

“Thanks to TUMI, MultiChoice is in-step with international technology and customer-service trends. TUMI places us at the forefront of customer interaction, providing DStv subscribers with another channel to connect with us.”

MultiChoice adds TUMI is constantly learning and evolving, which means more functionalities will be added over time through feedback, and customers can also help the bot to learn.

Further, the company says, if TUMI is unable to help customers resolve their queries, they will instantly be transferred to a knowledgeable customer service representative for further assistance.

“TUMI currently lives on the DStv Web site and in time, it will live across MultiChoice’s digital ecosystem on DStv Now (Web site and app), Showmax (Web site and app), and Facebook Messenger. TUMI will also act as a concierge to onboard new customers to MultiChoice online-only service, DStv Streaming.”

The enhanced call centre automation comes after the pay-TV company realigned its customer service delivery model, which saw 2 194 of its customer care employees within the call centre and walk-in centres being retrenched.

At the time, MultiChoice said the realignment was in response to the changing behaviour of its customers, who are increasingly moving away from traditional voice calls and visits to walk-in centres, and adopting new self-service and digital technologies to engage with the company.

“This has not been an easy decision to make but, in a business driven by advancing technologies, we must continue to drive efficiencies, yet be agile enough to adapt to evolving customer needs to ensure we remain relevant, competitive and sustainable,” said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO.

“We must act decisively to align to the change in customer behaviour and competition from OTT [over-the-top] services because if we don’t reposition now, we run the risk of being completely misaligned and we put everyone’s jobs at risk.”

Originally Appeared Here:

From their home offices, these North American banks adapted and met their clients’ needs.

Many companies surprised themselves with just how quickly they could shift to a remote working model during the pandemic. For Citi, this year’s Outstanding Financial Innovator 2021 among North America banks, years of investment in its mobile and digital banking channels prepared it for this exact situation.

“Our investment over the last 10 years enabled us to facilitate the accelerated digitization of customer interactions seamlessly, whether for content, analytics, execution, confirmation or settlement,” says David O’Byrne, global product head of foreign exchange (FX) platforms and distribution at Citi. “Most of our clients had workable solutions in place within a few months—some within weeks. In each case, we were able to offer our clients tremendous flexibility through a set of rich digital channels suited to meet their needs.”

O’Byrne says strategic investment in infrastructure and cloud technologies allowed the bank to innovate more quickly to meet clients’ needs during the pandemic. With more customers executing a greater proportion of their FX wallets electronically in a work-from-home environment, the bank’s mobile trading solution, Citi Velocity Mobile, proved vital, he adds.

Although Citi launched its mobile trading application in 2013, it witnessed a more than 270% increase in mobile transactions at the start of the pandemic last March. Citi staff realized early on that they needed to bring the user experience on the bank’s mobile trading application as close as possible to what FX traders were used to on their desktops.

Gesture-based navigation (swiping left and right) for speed and ease of use; streamlined execution times for a trader’s favorite strategies; the ability to execute trades across a wider range of asset classes, including precious metals; and increased ease of monitoring orders on mobile devices were just some of Citi’s additions to make its mobile trading application even better, according to O’Byrne. “Innovating is about having a relentless focus on the user experience,” he says.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank) took a slightly different approach from Citi’s. Instead of a typical mobile-platform release, it responded to an overwhelming increase in Covid-related customer queries at its contact centers during the pandemic by launching a virtual assistant in just three weeks. Working closely with existing technology partner Kasisto, a provider of chatbots using artificial intelligence (AI), TD Bank leveraged its set of pretrained intents and self-serve capabilities to accelerate development timelines and deliver a workable solution, according to bank officials. The virtual assistant was able to answer common customer queries and free up human agents to focus on more value-added tasks.

In its first week of operation, the virtual assistant logged more than 135,000 customer interactions. That number has since climbed to more than 1.7 million, according to TD Bank. The more customers use the virtual assistant, the more it learns, which has helped the bank better understand customers’ needs and intentions. For example, a customer querying card limits using the virtual assistant automatically brings up information on debit or business card limits. With the number of customer calls now handled by the virtual assistant instead of contact center staff, the bank accelerated its digital self-serve customer strategy by two years.

Innovation rarely occurs in a vacuum, even in Silicon Valley, where NEC X—wholly owned by Japanese IT and electronics company NEC—combined its AI and machine-learning accelerator processor with software vendor OppLane’s Cognitive Computing Engine. The result was ID-Redact, a data-privacy management solution that helps make banks’ compliance with an increasing number of federal and state data-governance laws easier.

Historically, this task would have required a sizable number of things; but the NEC X and OppLane solution uses AI algorithms to redact personally identifiable information across a company’s data ecosystem to ensure that it meets data privacy and compliance measures. According to Robbert Emery, director of technology marketing and business development at NEC X, ID-Redact processes data three times faster than existing solutions and with more than 98% accuracy.

 

Originally Appeared Here

Sourced from Tech Central.

MultiChoice is enhancing its digital customer service through an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot.

Called by the tongue-in-cheek name, “The Ultimate Master of Information”, or TUMI, this innovative service is available 24/7 to answer customer queries about products and services.

“TUMI is an evolutionary leap in our service capability. Born and developed right here in Africa, TUMI is a tangible manifestation of our commitment to innovation. This is not innovation for its own sake; the focus is to continue to grow our capacity to give our customers an excellent service experience,” says MultiChoice South Africa CEO, Nyiko Shiburi.

MultiChoice Develops Ai Chatbot

Developed entirely in-house by the MultiChoice team, TUMI interacts in real-time with customers in an online, text-based conversation.

It boasts advanced natural language capabilities, which means that TUMI can recognise user questions and provide responses with information related to DStv products and services.

Right now, customers can ask TUMI to clear decoder errors, check balances, reconnect products, make payments, manage holiday home viewing, and change packages.

However, TUMI is intelligent and is constantly learning and evolving, which means more functionalities will be added over time. Through feedback, customers can also help TUMI to learn.

If TUMI is unable to help customers resolve their queries, they will instantly be transferred to a knowledgeable and friendly customer service representative for further assistance.

TUMI currently lives on the DStv website and in time, it will live across MultiChoice’s digital ecosystem on DStv Now (website and app), Showmax (website and app), and Facebook Messenger. TUMI will also act as a concierge to onboard new customers to MultiChoice online-only service, DStv Streaming.

TUMI has already been hard at work helping customers since it launched on 5 May 2021.

“Thanks to TUMI, MultiChoice is in-step with international technology and customer-service trends. TUMI places us at the forefront of customer interaction providing DStv subscribers with another channel to connect with us,” Shiburi concludes.

Edited by Luis Monzon
Follow Luis Monzon on Twitter
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Originally Appeared Here:

Digital transformation has changed how finance companies operate, but how is it altering the customer experience (CX)? Although the answer might not be straightforward, there has been a palpable shift away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ products and a renaissance in flexible, transparent, and engaging alternatives. This is because, instead of being product or service-centric, companies now have an added layer of agility that enables them to mould deliverables around the end-user.

As customers themselves become more technologically sophisticated, the necessity of accommodating unmet needs will become central to competitiveness. The business case for doing so is clear: banks, for example, can expect to gain a 27.5% growth rate via this relatively subtle cultural transformation.

To help us determine the best path for optimising CX in modern financial services, we spoke with Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer at Zopa, and Allison Humphries, VP of Strategy at Appnovation.

Refocusing around the customer

Recognising the shift towards more customer-centric operations is an important step, but understanding why is essential. “As finance becomes generally more fragmented and physical money is replaced by digital transactions, automatic payments, and more; people are inherently craving more control over their individual finances,” explains Humphries. Herein lies the value: digital technology is handing power back to the consumer; FSIs are now the facilitators of that empowerment and their CX must reflect this.

Yet, for many, legacy infrastructure and convoluted systems and processes impede progress. However, this must be remedied as soon as possible – for the modern customer, what Appnovation called the ‘digital consumer’ in a recent study, the digital experience is everything:

• 84% hope that brands will adopt digital solutions and subsequently develop new products and services
• 53% consider themselves already totally at ease with touchless tech, with a further 22% indicating that they will become likewise following longer exposure
• 67% felt that a digital experience in banking and financial management was extremely or very important to them

Humphries is of the opinion that “a willingness to lead with empathy” on the matter is what FSIs must demonstrate. Simply meeting expectations is conforming to the status quo; companies must push beyond towards a more “value-based experience that has the potential to address the unique financial needs of each customer.”

Gambardella explains that this has always been Zopa’s approach to CX: “As our product set has grown, we have evolved our structure to ensure a customer-led approach which delivers greater ease and consistency. As a result, customers know what to expect from us, for example a rigorous approach to removing unnecessary fees. It also allows Zopa to reapply learnings and capabilities quickly across different areas and create greater efficiency versus a more siloed approach.”

Deloitte: CX is part of finance’s future

In its article ‘A higher bottom line – The future of financial services’, Deloitte listed a new approach to CX as being among its six accelerating forces for change in the sector. 

“Delivering against an ‘average customer’ will not sustain profits, let alone boost them. New capabilities, including technology tools and systems and an augmented workforce, will empower financial services players {… ]in ways that are more direct, personalised, and socially responsible.”

Eliminating silos

To effectively replace silos, FSIs must recontextualise how the separate aspects of their business interact. Instead of just focusing on one specific part of the customer journey, such as POS, companies must re-evaluate how the end-to-end experience can be optimised for maximum customer engagement, retention and return.

“When it comes to CX,” states Humphries, “it’s imperative to define a ‘north star’ strategy that leans to the future, yet anchors marketing, product, sales, and technology to a common path forward with shared goals.” In effect, the north star establishes how every aspect of a company is organised, which in practice grants greater levels of overall consistency and value for customers. As such, CX becomes an integrated and collaborative project consisting of separate but interconnected strands. “Personalisation, content, SEO, marcom, as well as the data and technology that enables the experience, should all be aligned to the same overarching plan,” she adds.

Technology itself also has an important role to play in reducing CX friction. AI (artificial intelligence) and omnichannel communication are important new tools, but Gambardella opts to highlight another: Open Finance. Capable of forging a more direct relationship between customers and the FSIs serving them, the broader implications of Open Finance could be revolutionary. Regarding Zopa’s specific use of Open Banking, she said, “In some cases, it can be used to reduce complexity and friction, such as verifying a customer’s income. We can now do this in seconds when previously it would require bank statements and other documents to be submitted for review. In other cases, Open Banking helps us to improve customer’s access to credit by augmenting their credit record data.”

Empowerment and innovation

A by-product of customer empowerment through this new approach to CX, Gambardella continues, is placing more onus on FSIs to prove their service’s superiority. That consumers in the digital age are homogenising their expectations based on experiences with other tech leaders (Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Uber, etc) across several industries is becoming an unassailable argument. “Customers are more likely to shop around and future innovation will need to deliver CX that’s faster, in the channel of their choice, and in a way that integrates more intuitively into their lives.” Zopa is embracing this way of thinking in several ways:

• Enabling customers to apply for a loan or credit card in minutes, as well as providing eligibility checks that don’t affect one’s credit rating
• An app that provides users with easy management tools, including spend breakdowns, credit limits, and payment methods
• Convenient-to-contact customer service agents and product FAQs

“We are always listening to our customers and turning those insights into better products,” states Gambardella. This, agrees Humphries, should be the finance industry’s approach to CX going forward. “FSIs who choose to focus on their customers will see increased customer satisfaction, increased customer retention, and will open the door for more personalised up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.” 

Furthermore, utilising customer insights won’t stymie a business’ creativity or be the proverbial ‘tail wagging the dog.’ On the contrary, bringing disparate data streams together will create a more complete and actionable profile from which FSIs can work. “With customer insight comes a much greater opportunity for innovative thinking and experimentation,” concludes Humphries. “To facilitate experimentation is an imperative foundation for any customer-centric FSI experience.”

 

Meet our commentators…

Allison Humphries, Vice President Strategy (Americas), Appnovation

 

Appnovation is a global full-service digital consultancy that helps clients navigate constant change by placing customers first and creating innovative digital experiences that are derived from human truth.

“I am responsible for leading a team of strategic planning and insights professionals across North America who are committed to delivering positive outcomes for our clients’ businesses and their customers.”

 

Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer, Zopa

 

“I lead a number of teams all focused on providing the best customer experience, including our Operations team, Marketing and Communications, Product Design and our app and web offering.   

“Zopa wants to make customers feel good about their finances and this means delivering better value products, in a way that is simple to use and understand. We focus on products like loans, cards and savings which have a significant impact on customer’s financial wellbeing and where we believe the customer offering can be most dramatically improved.”

Originally Appeared Here

 

Shriram Properties Limited by effectively utilising technology platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been able to assess home values, take decision faster, and also find and connect suitable buyers for quick sales.

“The company in addition to sales has implemented technologies for the execution and management of projects. So far, we have implemented SAP as our enterprise resource planning tool and have successfully integrated it with Salesforce, our CRM tool,” Jajit Menon, Director – Sales, Marketing & CRM, Shriram Properties told BusinessLine.

“We have been effectively using tech platforms during the pandemic and it has changed the way we realtors approach the home selling and purchasing process. Our SAP and Salesforce system implementations have been successful and all our projects have been migrated on to this stabilised ERP platform,” he added.

The use of technology during the ‘new normal’ has made this process seamless, and it is allowing us to ensure the safety of our customers and employees. By understanding this, we have taken a digital first approach in terms of marketing, sales and client servicing, Menon said.

Cost efficiency

On cost efficiency, Menon said “In terms of cost efficiency, the entire customer journey and the value chain can be monitored in real-time, considerably reducing the decision-making time, making it easier to check on the project’s progress and allowing course correction. The second aspect is a multitude of analytical data checked to map the future course of action for any marketing activities or any projections made on the project and construction-related activity. In the past, organisations worked on part-tech/part-manual processes, so now the tech adoption has enhanced the ability to make accurate projections and suitable investments.”

Without sharing financial benefits, Menon said “The tech adoption has had an impact on our sales and service. Both our CRM and enterprise resource planning applications are integrated and adopted throughout the enterprise to ensure efficient project management – in terms of cost, quality and delivery, streamlining processes, improving sales and customer experience, better vendor and procurement management, increasing profitability, imparting transparency and enhancing internal controls.”

“Effective control on project cost is constantly maintained through budgeting and monitoring in the interest of customers. The business intelligence tools of SAP help the management in accessing timely information for quicker decisions,” he added.

Declining to share cost benefits on property sales, Menon said “Currently, a major portion of our sales can be attributed to our digital channels, as most of the shortlisting and decision-making process is done online. Only after this stage, we will see customers visit the physical site to survey the location, experience the product, and make the final decision.”

The company recently has filed a draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for its proposed initial public offering.

Originally Appeared Here

Source/Disclosures

Published by:

Source:

Canto-Sims D, et al. EYE2EYE Series: Removing barriers between you and your multicultural patients. Presented at: Vision Expo East; Orlando, Florida; June 2-5, 2021.

Disclosures:
Arango is an employee of LTA Vision. Conto-Sims is an employee of Bueno Vista Optical and La Vida Eyewear. Ngoddy is an employee of Anwuli Eyewear. Segovia is an employee of Transitions Optical. Tsai is an employee of Line of Sight Vision.

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ORLANDO — A panel of women entrepreneurs, led by Diana Conto-Sims, OD, discussed the importance of eye care providers recognizing and removing barriers to differences in language and culture among their patients, here at Vision Expo East.

Canto-Sims is the co-owner of Bueno Vista Optical, brand ambassador and designer for La Vida Eyewear, and a member of the Vision Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force.

The panelists, who Conto-Sims said practice in areas considered to be cultural melting pots, included:

• Arlene Segovia, marketing manager of trade communications at Transitions Optical;
• Lina T. Arango, OD, an independent doctor with LTA Vision;
• Jennifer Tsai, OD, founder and owner of Line of Sight Vision; and
• Nwamaka Ngoddy, OD, CEO of Anwuli Eyewear.

Canto-Sims asked the panel to discuss the importance of cultural competence to quality eye care.

“It is so important to attain a certain level of cultural competence in the practice solely because you can provide an exceptional patient-provider experience,” Segovia said. “It does not mean that you need to be well-versed in all Hispanic subgroups, but it would be beneficial for you and your patients if you’re familiar with the patient profile that’s walking in. It goes beyond language; it’s about customs.”

She added that, in Hispanic culture, you aren’t meeting one or two patients, but a family unit, and if you are located in an area with a high Hispanic population, you might need to rethink what the customer journey looks like.

“It’s also important to have great cultural competence in your practice because it improves compliance,” Ngoddy said. “As a doctor, you’re making recommendations, and if the patient feels that you understand where they are coming from, they are more likely to connect with you and comply.”

Segovia and Canto-Sims also noted the importance of recognizing language barriers and making accommodations in office and marketing materials.

“You need to have that conversation as a group, with your employees, to expand understanding,” Tsai said. “It provides you with more empathy and more compassion and allows you to build a better connection with your patients. If you have patients that do not speak the same language as you, having a translator — even Google Translate — can be tremendously helpful.”

Arango advised that even without learning a full language, learning some key words and differences in dialects among local languages can help patients better understand instructions and products. Ngoddy said that while she does try to hire bilingual staff, she also learned some basic Spanish to make sure patients, “feel invested in the outcome of their exams.”

The panel next addressed cultural blindness — the belief that race and culture make no difference in how service is provided — and how it shows a lack of personal interest.

“With cultural blindness, you’re making the assumption that everyone is the same,” Ngoddy said. “But what I find in our profession is that people’s stories matter. When you consider everyone the same, what you recommend may not be appropriate for their lifestyle or work, and you may be causing them future issues.”

“That’s the beauty of diversity, to be able to understand that we are all different,” Arango said. She said while all patients should expect the same quality of eye care, professionals should recognize that not everyone is the same and may have different eye care concerns based on race or cultural lifestyle factors.

The panel also spoke about the benefits they have experienced from adapting their multicultural patients’ customs. One benefit they all expressed was the number of referrals they receive because of family ties. Each panel member shared personal anecdotes in which they recognized patients regularly visiting from other countries such as Mexico or Nigeria because of referrals.

“If you’re looking to grow your practice, word of mouth is a beautiful, very cost-effective way,” Canto-Sims said.

She concluded by advising physicians to take stock of policies and procedures that may be offensive or could repel the different cultures you may wish to see as patients.

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Vision Expo East

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