Contact Center Keynotes | ICMI Contact Center Keynotes | ICMI

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Dallas, TX | October 12-14, 2020
Dallas Sheraton

On the Main Stage Last Year in 2019

Contact Center Connections Keynote

A powerful keynote lineup of thought leaders presenting educational and inspiring messages that address the importance of creating high-quality connections with customers and internal teams.

Morning Welcome: Focus on the customer experience with AI and Automation

Tuesday | 8:05 AM – 8:25 AM
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Clement Tussiot

The new State of Service research shows that 72% of service agents say their interactions with customers are moving beyond transactional to become relationship-oriented. Learn how you can leverage technology and AI to allow agents to do truly what they do best: focus on that human side of service.

Clement Tussiot

Salesforce, Senior Director of Product Management

Clement Tussiot is a Senior Director of product management for Salesforce Service Cloud. He manages the product development lifecycle for Service Cloud and is specifically focused on how AI and machine learning can improve customer service.


Keynote Address with Brad Cleveland

Tuesday | 8:25 AM – 8:45 AM
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Brad Cleveland

Brad Cleveland

ICMI, Senior Advisor and Founding Partner

Brad Cleveland is often cited as one of the world's foremost leaders and thinkers in customer service and contact centers. He has worked in over 60 countries, has advised numerous governments, and counts many of today's service leaders Apple, HP, American Express, and others among his clients. Brad is author/editor of eight books, including Call Center Management on Fast Forward , which won an Amazon.com best-selling award and is used in universities and corporate training programs around the world. One of the initial partners in and former President and CEO of ICMI, Brad grew the firm into a global industry leader that is now part of United Business Media (London: UBM.L). He now serves as a Senior Advisor to ICMI, and is an in-demand author, speaker and consultant. His current research is focused on the future of customer service.

Featured Keynote: Many Communicate, Few Connect

Tuesday | 8:45 AM – 9:30 AM
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Colette Carlson

The common denominators of the most successful people are the ability to effectively communicate and connect, regardless of the situation or audience. In a competitive world filled with a global workforce, numerous communication challenges, and daily digital distractions, getting your message heard has never been more challenging. Clear, concise communication is no longer enough to get results: connection must be part of the equation. Productivity decreases, collaboration stalls, accountability suffers, and conflict and stress escalate when even the simplest of miscommunication occurs. Without connection, these outcomes are only heightened. Join Colette as she shares how to connect and communicate on a deeper level to form crucial relationships that drive productivity, engagement and collaboration.

Colette Carlson

, Human Behavior Expert

Colette Carlson is a human behavior expert and CPAE Hall of Fame motivational keynote speaker who inspires organizations and individuals to connect and communicate in real and relevant ways. With wit, humor and sincerity, each of Colette’s presentations weaves together real-life lessons on genuine connection and the tools to leverage those connections for personal and professional success.

With a Master’s Degree in Human Behavior, a fascination with communication trends, and over 20 years of experience in the personal development industry, Colette guides audiences and clients along the fine line between the trendy topics that keep us relevant and the timeless truths that lead to meaningful achievements and relationships.

A Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a designation held by fewer than 10% of the members belonging to the International Federation for Professional Speakers, Colette has shared her insights, observations and research with thousands of people throughout the world. In 2017, Colette was inducted into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame, a recognition that honors professional speakers who have reached the top echelon of career excellence.

Her articles on connection, stress management, sales and leadership have been featured in Success, Business Management Daily, and Working Mother magazines. Clients include Boeing, Microsoft, Cisco, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Shell, Great Clips, Davidson Hotels, the and United States Government.

Connect with Colette to inspire and entertain at your next event, training or meeting, as she shares the keys to forming and sustaining authentic connections that drive productivity, engagement and collaboration.

Morning Welcome: Scaling a Customer Centric Culture

Wednesday | 8:05 AM – 8:20 AM
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Randy Littleson

It has never been more important to create highly personalized connections with your customers -- and connect with them more frequently than ever. Failure to do so will likely push your best customers into the arms of your competitors. But there are only so many hours in the day, so how do you scale a highly connected, customer centric culture on your budget? Randy will reveal 4 key ingredients to transform your contact center with new technology and new approaches to scale a customer centric service approach.

Randy Littleson

NICE inContact, CMO & SVP of Global Expansion

Randy Littleson is Chief Marketing Officer and Senior VP of Global Expansion at NICE inContact. In this role, Randy is responsible for the direction, strategy and overall management of NICE inContact’s marketing efforts. Randy has amassed over 28 years of executive-level marketing experience within the software industry, most recently as Senior Vice President of Marketing with Flexera Software. During his time with Flexera, Littleson was a senior member of the executive team with global responsibility for marketing, product management and corporate development. Randy brings a wide range of marketing experience in the enterprise software space to NICE inContact and a progressive track record of accomplishments. He has held executive level roles with product management and marketing responsibilities at Kinaxis, Interface Software, InstallShield Software, Spyglass, Inc., and Palindome. He holds an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University and a BS in Computer and Communication Sciences from the University of Michigan.

Keynote Address with Fancy Mills

Wednesday | 8:20 AM – 8:40 AM
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Fancy Mills

Fancy Mills

, Group Training and Content Director, ICMI

As the current Director of Training and Content, Fancy brings over twenty years of experience specializing in consulting, training and human resource development. Her main area of focus has been working with service and support centers and contact centers across various industries to optimize their performance. As a former ICMI Business Associate she has certified thousands of service and support professionals, managers, directors, analysts, agents, technicians, and corporate trainers around the world in virtual and classroom environments. In addition to training, she has developed and facilitated customized curriculum, training and consulted for Fortune 500 companies in the areas of customer service, customer experience, quality management, workforce management presentation, communication, and time management skills. Fancy has also served as a session speaker for various industry conferences and events such as Fusion, HDI and ATD.

While at HD/ICMI she served as a chair for International Certification Standard Committees, served on certification testing committees, conference committees, as well as published articles for Support World Magazine. In 2017 Fancy received her Masters in Human Resource Development with a specialization in Adult Education from Texas A&M University. While at Texas A&M University. Fancy is a published author on generational conflict strategies and was a featured speaker at the 2016 TEDx TAMU speaking on The XYZ Strategies for Succeeding in a Multi-Generational World. She served on the Texas A&M Graduate Advisory Board and the Steering Committee for The Academy for Future Faculty and was awarded the 2016 Senior Fellow. She was also selected to serve as the Student Representative Commencement speaker for graduation.

As a fifth generation Texan, she lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Kevin, son Mills, and their tabby cat Sparky. She's an avid sports fan and enjoys rooting for all Dallas sports teams but her favorite team is anyone that her son is playing on!

Featured Keynote: Hug Your Haters - How to Connect with and Keep Your Customers

Wednesday | 8:40 AM – 9:30 AM
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Jay Baer

Haters aren't your problem … ignoring them is. If it feels like there are more complaints than ever, and that you're spending more time and money dealing with negativity and backlash, you're right. But the rise of customer complaints is actually an enormous opportunity. In this eye-opening presentation, Jay reveals brand-new, proprietary research into The Science of Complaints – why and where your customers complain, and how to turn customer service into a marketing advantage.

Jay Baer

, Inspirational Expert on Marketing, Word of Mouth and Customer Service

Jay Baer is a Hall of Fame Speaker, New York Times best-selling author of six books, internet pioneer, entrepreneur, and the most inspirational expert on marketing, word of mouth, and customer service.

Jay spent 20 years in digital marketing, consulting for more than 700 companies during that period, including 30 of the FORTUNE 500. His current firm – Convince & Convert – provides social media and content marketing advice and counsel to leading companies such as Oracle, Salesforce.com, California Tourism, Billabong, Hardee's, DOLE and more.

His second book, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype, was #3 on the New York Times business best seller list, and a runaway #1 Amazon bestseller. Jay speaks numerous times per year worldwide, and shows how to use technology as an unfair marketing and customer service advantage. As a result, audiences will rethink their approach to marketing and customer service, helping them gain more customers and keep those they've already earned.

Jay's Convince & Convert blog was named the world's #1 content marketing blog by the Content Marketing Institute and is visited by more than 200,000 marketers each month. Jay also hosts and produces the Social Pros podcast, which is downloaded 25,000 times monthly.

A fixture in social media, Jay draws attention to interesting and useful articles, videos, blog posts and events via following on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google Plus, which number more than 100,000. He is also an active venture capitalist, and is an investor or advisor to more than a dozen early-stage technology and social media companies.

Convince & Convert is the fifth multi-million dollar company Jay has started from scratch. Before his move into digital marketing in 1994 he was a brand marketer and a political consultant, with major roles in state, federal and presidential electoral campaigns.

Befitting his roots in Arizona, Jay is a tequila collector and maintains his allegiance to the teams of his alma mater, the University of Arizona. He lives in the idyllic college town of Bloomington, Indiana, with his wife and children, and travels from Indianapolis to speaking opportunities world-wide.