Greenchoice is one of the Netherlands' top five energy providers, serving over 650,000 customers with a strong focus on sustainable energy. A former scale-up turned grown-up, Greenchoice still has a strong sense of ownership across the company—and a culture of autonomy that doesn’t naturally lend itself to top-down change. That made Sirikit’s work both exciting and complex.

When Sirikit joined, CX was fragmented. “There were different customer profiles, different KPIs, and people were calling process maps ‘customer journeys,’” she recalls. Multiple teams were doing good work—but without shared direction.
Adding to the challenge was the company’s culture. With roots in start-up energy, everyone felt ownership. That meant imposing a strategy from above wasn’t an option. “We realized a bottom-up strategy would fit best,” Sirikit says. Her first step wasn’t to announce a grand vision, but to create practical tools that empowered colleagues to get started on their own.

CX frameworks may look great on paper—but they don’t always fit reality. “I’ve learned that the theory behind CX is solid, but the reality is more stubborn,” Sirikit says. “You have to align with the organization’s culture, its timing, and its priorities.”
Her advice to fellow CX professionals?
“Stay close to yourself. Don’t give up. Trust your gut, trust your knowledge—and keep moving toward the places where energy flows.”

FLOX offers artificial flower subscriptions to companies that want stylish arrangements without the waste, hassle, or cost of fresh flowers. The business serves a wide range of clients—from banks and law firms to event spaces and dental clinics. Each quarter, FLOX delivers and swaps bouquets that match the season and the space.
“We offer businesses a bouquet that looks custom, with no effort on their side,” says Marjolein. “They don’t have to think about it—we take care of everything.”
FLOX has found its niche in three key values: sustainability, ease, and cost-efficiency. But over time, a shift occurred. “When we started, convenience was the biggest driver for our customers,” Marjolein shares. “Now it’s clearly sustainability. That’s really changed.”

As FLOX expanded, a key question emerged: how do you maintain the level of personal attention that made you successful in the first place?
“We used to do every delivery ourselves,” says Madeleine. “Now we work with partners, and that means letting go a bit. But people still tell us—it’s most fun when we show up.”
The team recently conducted a customer survey to guide future decisions. It confirmed high satisfaction, but also revealed new opportunities: like offering follow-up messages after deliveries, or giving customers more choice in bouquet design—without adding complexity on the back end.
“Customers love to choose,” Madeleine explains. “So we send a few photo options of seasonal bouquets, and they get to pick. Every time a customer gets a bouquet of their choice, as if they would go the florist. And some customers just like to be surprised.”

One of their biggest learnings? Stay positive. “Your energy matters,” Madeleine says. “Don’t just show up with flowers. Be curious. Listen. It makes all the difference.”
They also emphasize the power of networks. “KLM gave us a massive network—and we knew how corporate buyers think,” says Marjolein. “That helped us get in and connect with the right people.”
Another insight: clarity creates calm. “We used to say yes to everything. Now we’ve learned: say no early, focus, and trust your model.”

KLM and Air France, while part of the same group, have distinct brand identities. Air France positions itself as a premium, poetic brand with a focus on elegance and showcasing the best of France, supported by a "brand book" that aligns all teams around these values. In contrast, KLM is more a Dutch caring travel companion approachable and friendly , with its brand expression that emphasizes clarity, warmth and reliability. Both airlines underwent organizational changes to integrate branding and customer experience, aiming to bridge the gap between brand promise and actual customer journey. This unified approach ensures consistency, with Air France focusing on a "caring attitude" to align employee behavior with its premium brand promise.

Leading the customer experience department at Air France from July 2019 to June 2021 came with significant challenges, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, which began just six months into her role. During this time, the number of passengers dropped drastically, from over 100,000 daily at Charles de Gaulle Airport to just 3,000. Beyond the immediate crisis, Catherine highlights the inherent complexity of the airline customer journey, where Air France lacks direct control over all touchpoints, such as airport security and border control. Collaborating effectively with these external stakeholders to deliver a seamless customer experience demands significant effort. Furthermore, the customer journey itself is extensive, encompassing everything from initial booking to post-flight interactions, including crucial elements like baggage handling and inflight entertainment (IFE).

• Customer insight as the guiding light: She describes the customer insight department as an "open window for all those CX that we had in front of us or with us". A key initiative involved developing worldwide customer segmentation, personas, and "demand spaces," providing a foundation for tailoring the customer journey to specific needs across diverse markets. This involved comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research across 13 key markets to deeply understand specific customer needs.
• Closing the customer feedback loop: A critical element was establishing robust mechanisms for gathering and acting upon customer feedback. This included a "Preferred Customer Club," an online community, and physical meetings facilitating direct engagement with customers for testing and feedback. Additionally, they implemented a brief, three-question survey at the conclusion of customer contact center calls, with feedback immediately shared with the agent to facilitate performance improvement.
• Fostering cross-functional alignment: Recognizing the necessity for alignment across the organization, Catherine integrated the brand and communication departments within the CX structure. This strategic move aimed to bridge the divide between the brand promise and the actual delivery of the customer experience, ensuring a unified understanding and communication across all teams.
• Navigating crisis with agility and purpose: The "Air France Protect" program during the COVID-19 pandemic serves as an example of adaptability and focused action. Catherine took a leading role in implementing sanitary measures across the entire customer journey, aiming for and achieving a prestigious five-star COVID-19 Skytrax award.
• Strategic organizational restructuring: To enhance efficiency and promote collaboration, Catherine reduced the number of direct reports from 14 to 8, helping create a more efficient and flexible decision-making process within the team.

Catherine offers valuable insights for fellow CX professionals:
• Understand the ripple effect: The cornerstone of a customer-centric approach lies not just in accommodating every customer request, but in fully understanding the consequences of every decision on the customer experience.
• Balance short-term and long-term vision: Having both immediate and strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for effectively guiding and measuring CX efforts.
• Embrace customer empathy: Truly step into the shoes of the customer and resist a purely "production-minded" perspective. Seek inspiration and best practices beyond your immediate industry.
• Engage stakeholders through shared narrative: To gain buy-in from critical stakeholders, make them integral to the customer's story and support their role in delivering the overall experience. Provide a broader perspective to help them understand their contribution to the larger picture.
• Empower frontline staff with feedback: Value the insights of frontline staff, including pilots and cabin crew, by providing them with direct customer feedback loops to facilitate immediate improvements and cultivate a sense of ownership.

Catherine Villar's journey at Air France KLM shows the transformative power of a deeply embedded customer-centric approach. Her leadership in navigating complex integrations, responding to unprecedented crises and fostering a culture of continuous improvement through customer insight and feedback provides invaluable lessons for CX professionals across industries. Her emphasis on understanding the customer's perspective, aligning the entire organization around a shared brand promise, and empowering all employees to be active participants in the customer's story highlights the crucial elements for achieving exceptional customer experiences.

Techcombank is Vietnam’s fourth-largest bank. With 13 million customers and a bold digital vision, the company is at the forefront of redefining banking in Southeast Asia. It operates like a traditional bank—with branches and call centres—but it’s also seen as a Fintech pioneer because of the way it leads the digital agenda in Vietnam.

Techcombank’s customer experience results speak for themselves. The retail banking achieved the highest NPS to date. “It’s the result of very hard work by multiple teams,” Ilko noted. NPS is embedded in KPIs across various roles, ensuring everyone shares accountability of the customer experience.

In addition to NPS, the bank tracks usual metrics like completion times, error, retention, and conversion rates. “Experience design is notoriously tricky to measure exactly, but we’re continuously integrating the voice of the customer end-to-end, being data and insight driven in every step of the way.”

Ilko’s story is one of thoughtful leadership and cultural impact. “I don’t think I’ve ever operated with a bigger sense of legacy than I do in my current role at Techcombank,” he reflected. “My main focus is to elevate the team and build the necessary foundations to enable local leadership. There’s a palpable excitement about this experience - I have often been part of banking transformation journeys but never before part of the transformation of a nation - this happens once in a lifetime.”

From re-imaging design practices in one of the most progressive Asian banks to opening new spaces for insight and collaboration, Ilko is demonstrating what truly means to lead by design.

Springboard Capital operates in the financial services sector, providing microfinance lending to a diverse clientele. Their customers range from high-net-worth individuals and small to medium-sized enterprises to startups and individuals at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Unlike traditional banks, Springboard Capital aims to offer accessible financing solutions for business capital, assets, and development projects, catering to those who often face stringent criteria and lengthy waiting times.

When Carolyne joined Springboard Capital, she identified a critical gap: the absence of a dedicated customer service or customer experience department. The organization had established pillars for finance, human capital, credit, and governance but lacked a cohesive, customer-centric approach. This deficiency manifested in several challenges:

• A high volume of legal cases stems from miscommunication and a sense of customers feeling unheard.
• Debt collection processes that often resorted to harsh repossession tactics, damaging customer relationships.
• A need to transform the internal behavior of employees, particularly in finance and credit, who did not fully appreciate the value of customer experience.
• An existing company strategy that lacked a customer-focused pillar.

Carolyne spearheaded a series of strategic initiatives to embed a customer-centric culture within Springboard Capital:

• Creating a customer experience team: She successfully advocated for the creation of a customer experience coordinator role, which evolved into a team comprising customer experience executives and officers, supported by a mini-call center.
• Implementing a code of conduct: A simple yet effective code of conduct encompassing 15 key principles such as professionalism, politeness, and punctuality, was introduced. The team concentrated on one principle each month, incorporating feedback from internal customers and celebrating positive changes.
• Revising company strategy: Carolyne championed a revised company strategy that featured a dedicated customer-centric pillar named "Patronage," which encompassed customer experience excellence. This pillar focused on actively listening to customer feedback, honoring customer promises, providing comprehensive team training, and establishing a contact center.
• Partner alignment: Engaging partners, such as auctioneers, to ensure they treat customers with courtesy, dignity, and respect during repossession processes.
• Leadership by example: As CEO, Carolyne personally welcomed customers, distributed her business card, and made herself readily accessible, setting a powerful example for the entire staff.
• Involving everyone in strategy: Before engaging a consultant, Carolyne involved all employees in brainstorming sessions to gather diverse feedback and ideas.
• Fun and engagement: The strategy launch was designed to be engaging and fun, incorporating competitive quizzes and surprises. Objectives related to customer experience were integrated into performance reviews.

• People are everything: Emphasize the importance of affirming and valuing team members, creating an environment where their voices are heard and appreciated.
• Start from the ground up: Initiate customer experience initiatives from the ground up, demonstrating a willingness to "bootstrap" and engage with the details.
• Voice of the customer matters: Prioritize listening to customer feedback, ensuring that their needs and concerns are at the forefront of every decision.
• Leadership buy-in is crucial: Secure support from leadership, as their backing is essential for customer experience initiatives to have a significant impact.
• Persuade early and often: Advocate for customer experience early and consistently, engaging the board and top management from the outset.
• Mental health is key: Take care of your well-being and avoid emotional exhaustion, ensuring you have the capacity to advocate for both internal and external customers.
• Be knowledgeable: Develop a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of the organization beyond the customer experience, enabling you to influence effectively and communicate with different teams.
• Find your tribe: Connect with other CX professionals to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and learn from each other's successes and challenges.

Carolyne Gathuru's experience at Springboard Capital serves as an inspiring example of how a customer-centric approach can drive profound positive change, even when faced with budgetary constraints and challenging financial circumstances. By prioritizing people, starting from the ground up, and placing the voice of the customer at the heart of every decision, Springboard Capital achieved remarkable financial results and earned national recognition for its exceptional CX strategy. Carolyne's insights underscore the significance of continuous learning, collaboration, and self-care for CX professionals in today's demanding business landscape.