Now in their fifth year, the Irish CX Impact Awards returned to a live event gathering for CX professionals, teams and suppliers. Fifteen trophies were awarded across all key areas of customer experience excellence, drawn form a shortlist of outstanding practitioners.
Notable winners on the night included Siobhan Hennessy, recipient of the CX Leader 2022 Award who made her way to the stage to a full standing ovation from her peers, and Fenero, who took the Grand Prix, CX Champion 22 Award.
Another of the evening’s winners was ESB Networks whose head of customer experience, Dervla Flaherty said: “ESB Networks is transforming how we serve our 2.4 million customers to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Winning the Customer Impact Award is recognition that our customer transformation programme is on the right track in seeking to place the customer at the heart of everything we do.”
Peter Hendrick, chief executive of National Broadband Ireland, one of the finalists, said: “The importance of broadband as a utility makes CX excellence a cornerstone for the industry. As more and more homes get connected to NBI’s reliable high-speed fibre, ensuring the best outcomes for customers has to be a key objective.”
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Joining the winners on stage was Imagine’s head of centralised services, Kate Zanchetta, who said: “Delivering great customer experience goes hand in hand with our goal of connecting rural communities across Ireland, so we’re delighted to be recognised as Customer Experience Team of the Year. Congratulations to all nominees and a massive thank you.”
The NRH was delighted to have been shortlisted in two categories. Olive Keenan, director of human resources said: “It is a wonderful acknowledgement to be a finalist and have recognition for the work of our Positive Environment Working Group in developing the NRH staff wellbeing framework and customer experience.”
Sinead Doherty, founder and chief executive of award-winner Fenero said: “Sustaining success and driving growth means keeping customers and their experience consistently at the heart of all we do. It’s a never-ending evolution for us and always hugely exciting to keep innovating and raising the bar for our customers.”
Another winner was Bank of Ireland Global Markets. Their head of customer group, John Moclair commented: “We believe in building long standing, value add relationships and winning this award reflects our core purpose - to serve our customers brilliantly. While the markets present uncertainties, one thing that remains certain is our commitment to helping our customers manage their financial markets risk.”
They were joined by Rural Wifi whose chief operating officer, Grace Tooher said: “It can be hard competing with the giants this award acknowledges our efforts. We made a massive commitment to ensure the customer is at the forefront of what we do and this award solidifies this commitment. At Rural WiFi the customer is a priority and not a number and that is what sets us apart.” The company’s chief executive Patrick Cotter went on to add: “At Rural WiFi the customer is everything. Evan won the 2022 Rising Star Award for his accelerated commitment to always placing the customer first. He continues to make significant contributions to Customer Success at Rural WiFi and as a small family-run company, and his dad, I couldn’t be prouder!”
McCabes Pharmacy walked away with two trophies. Karen Doherty, their general manager had this to say: “We are delighted to have won the awards for Best Innovation in CX and CX Impact in Retail and would like to extend our congratulations to our fellow nominees in these categories, who have equally worked so diligently to drive CX in their businesses this past year. Our team at McCabes Pharmacy are passionately committed to constantly developing new and innovative ways to deliver the very best customer experience and patient care both in-store and online. The response from our customers to our new vitamin and wellness range and to our online advisor service have been fantastic and we invite you to visit us in store and online to enjoy the experience.”
The awards were judged by a distinguished panel of CX experts and drawn from across the profession.
Judging panel:
1. Agnieszka Anna Jozwiak (judging co-ordinator), customer experience consulting & advisory, CXPA Ireland
2. Paul Allen, head of customer experience, AIB
3. John Carroll, marketing manager, Irish Distillers Brand Homes
4. Ronika Chakrabarti, associate professor in Marketing, Trinity Business School
5. Liam Kenny, chair, CXPA Ireland & manager customer experience transformation, Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail
6. Terri McCarthy, head of customer experience, insights and analytics at Allianz Ireland
7. Jenny McCoy, head of customer experience, Irish Management Institute
8. Ann Marie O’Donnell, global customer strategy director, Actavo
9. Anne-Marie Reen, associate director, European Medical Information, Eli Lilly
10. Jan Richards, head of customer experience, Irish Life
11. Ifah Sivak, head of strategic tooling operations, Meta
12. Maria Svejdar, head of marketing, communications and customer experience (CX), GS1 Ireland
Full list of winners:
Best Innovation in CX
Winner: McCabes Pharmacy
Best Use of Data Analytics in CX
Winner: Smart Energy Insights - Electric Ireland
Digital Impact in CX
Winner: Digital Advice Platform - Bank of Ireland
CX Impact in Technology, Media & Telecoms
Winner: Rural WiFi
CX Impact in Professional Services
Winner: Fenero
CX Impact in Transport
Winner: Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail
CX Impact in Pharmacy/Health
Winner: Theya Healthcare
CX Impact in Utilities & Services
Winner: ESB Networks
CX Impact in Financial Services
Winner: Bank of Ireland Global Markets
CX Impact in Government & Public Sector
Winner: Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail
CX Impact in Retail
Winner: McCabes Pharmacy
CX Rising Star of the Year
Winner: Evan Cotter - Rural WiFi
CX Team of the Year
Winner: Imagine
CX Leader 2022
Recipient: Siobhán Hennessy
CX Champion 2022
Winner: Fenero
