The COVID-19 pandemic compelled brands to speed up their digital transformation that led to vast improvements in brand experiences for customers, according to the publication Customer Strategist, which also covered the way industries responded to the global health crisis as they attempted to improve business.

In the most recent edition of the publication, the summer 2021 issue, the journal interviews industry executives and reports their responses to various aspects of the global health crisis.

For Sushant Sahani, vice president for portfolio & offer marketing, brands are realizing they need to change their approach and deliver differentiated experiences. “Customer expectations are on the rise when it comes to service and support: They want easy, omnichannel options; and quick, seamless resolutions to problems when they rise,” she said in the journal’s article “The business upside of CXaaS,” referencing the acronym for the term customer experience as a service.

Meanwhile, employees are quitting their jobs in “The Great Resignation,” which is the term economists and management professionals are using to describe the ongoing trend, dating from the spring of 2021 to the present, of employees leaving their jobs voluntarily in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many companies are scrambling to find workers because of The Great Resignation, according to Heather Younger, CEO and founder of Employee Fanatix, who was interviewed in the article “How to retain employees during the Great Resignation,” which explains why employee engagement and retention are more critical than ever during this time.

“Lean into what employees need and then be consistent in serving those needs. When employers do mess up, it’s about admitting their mistake and asking, what can we do to make the experience better? It’s the exact same interplay, whether it’s the external customer or the internal customer,” Younger says.

And in the article “What to expect from the post-COVID customer experience,” Don Peppers, founding partner, Peppers & Rogers Group, CX Speakers, cites how the pandemic served as inspiration for lasting CX advancements. “The pandemic dramatically accelerated every business’ rush toward digital solutions, as they searched for better, more efficient connections with customers—customers they could no longer serve via in-person interactions,” said Peppers. Customer Strategist is published by TTEC Holdings, the global CX technology and services company headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, which also delivers operational CX orchestration at scale through its proprietary cloud-based CXaaS platform. The journal’s stated goal is to provide executives with insight that leads to innovative strategies for building more profitable customer relationships.