Boardrooms Tackle Customer Loyalty in the Digital Era

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- What does it take to be customer-centric as even the most "analog" industries are going digital? How do companies balance learning their customers' needs with concerns around privacy and security? How can companies incentivize long-term customer care amid short-term cost pressures?

These and other customer loyalty challenges are the topic of a new boardroom briefing from the WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD) Foundation and KPMG's Board Leadership Center: What Directors Need to Know about Customer Loyalty and Shared Value. "Customer engagement is demanding greater attention than ever from boardrooms today, and directors need to know how all the touchpoints with customers affect their bottom line now and down the road," says Susan Stautberg, chairman and CEO of WCD.

"Issues of data collection, data privacy, and customer values can vary dramatically across borders and across generations, and directors can help guide their management teams to ask the right questions and encourage agility," says Kapila Anand, Lead Director of WCD, former partner of KPMG LLP, and director at Extended Stay America. Anand led a panel on customer loyalty at the WCD Foundation Global Institute in May, from which many of the insights in the board briefing were drawn.

Designed for corporate directors and company leadership, the briefing focuses on four key themes: "Be Smart about Collecting and Analyzing Data"; "After You Know Your Customers, Then What?"; "Incentivizing Customer-Centricity"; and "Data Privacy – Going Beyond What's Legal to What's Right." Additionally, WCD and KPMG include a checklist for directors – Questions Boards Should be Asking about Customer Engagement and Loyalty – advising boards of the top questions to pose to their management teams.

In addition to Anand, the briefing includes insights from other panelists, including:

• Dr. Cheemin Bo-Linn (United States), President and CEO, Peritus Partners, Inc.; former Vice President, IBM Corp.; Director, Violin Memory Inc. and Evena Medical Inc.; 2015 "Hall of Fame for Women in Technology" Inductee; WCD Member
• Jannice Koors (United States), Managing Director, Pearl Meyer; WCD Member
• Jyoti Narang (India) Director, Au Financiers Ltd. and Calderys India Refractories Ltd; former Chief Operating Officer, Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces India; WCD Chapter Chair
• Tim Theriault (United States), Director, Wellmark, Falcon Insurance Company and Vitamin Shoppe; former Executive Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance; former President of Corporate and Institutional Services, Northern Trust Corporation
• Anka Wittenberg (Germany), Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, SAP SE; Supervisory Board Member, Westfalen AG; CEO, World Childhood Foundation, Germany; WCD Member

"Ultimately, customer engagement efforts have to reflect company values," says Anand. "Boards have an important role in helping management look at the long-term risks and trade-offs, keeping customer growth aligned with the overall vision of the company and its leadership."

This WCD board briefing is the fourth in a series, which also includes:

• "What Directors Need to Know about the Next Marketplaces and Business Models" (Issue 3)
• "The Growth and Management of Megacities" (Issue 2)
• "Where Economic Growth Will Come From in the Americas" (Issue 1)

For more information about WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation and WCD programs for directors, please contact Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected].

About WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc.

The WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. (WCD Foundation) is the only global membership organization and community of women corporate directors. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the WCD Foundation has 74 chapters around the world, including recent launches in South Korea, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. The aggregate market capitalization of public companies on whose boards WCD Foundation members serve is over $8 trillion. In addition, WCD Foundation members serve on numerous boards of large private and family-run companies globally.

The WCD Foundation has 74 global chapters, located in Arizona, Atlanta, Austin, Beijing, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Chile, Cleveland, Colombia, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Delhi, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greater Colorado, Greater New Mexico, Guatemala, Gulf Cooperation Council, Hanoi, Hawaii, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kansas City, Kenya, London, Los Angeles/Orange County, Malaysia, Melbourne, Mexico, Milan, Minnesota, Mongolia, Morocco, Mumbai, Netherlands, New York, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern California, North Florida/South Georgia, Panama, Peru, Philadelphia, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Quebec, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, San Diego, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore, South Africa, South Florida, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sydney, Tampa, Tennessee, Toronto, Turkey, Uruguay, Washington, D.C., and Western Canada. For more information visit www.womencorporatedirectors.com or follow us on Twitter @WomenCorpDirs, #WCDboards.

About KPMG's Board Leadership Center

The KPMG Board Leadership Center champions outstanding governance to help drive long-term corporate value and enhance investor confidence. Through an array of programs and perspectives—including KPMG's Audit Committee Institute and Private Markets Group the Center engages with directors and business leaders to help articulate their challenges and promote continuous improvement. Learn more at KPMG.com/BLC.

SOURCE WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc.

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