We just concluded the 5th Smarter Services Symposium in Chicago. By all accounts it was our best event yet and sets the bar extremely high for our 2017 Symposium (to be announced here). We're still compiling all of the feedback and will get a final assessment when all results have been tabulated.

There are so many takeaways from all of the wonderful sessions hosted by the folks at Disney, the Ritz Carlton Leadership Institute, KONE, Trane, Schneider Electric, Xerox, Cisco, and more. Here are three initial takeaways that come to mind:

1. Employee Success = Customer Success. All of our keynote speakers spoke of the importance of employee engagement and commitment. In the words of Doug Lipp, Fmr. Head of Training for Disney University, "What happens 'backstage' will end up 'on-stage'." To that end, we see service organizations not only make greater investments in training their front-line service professionals, but also in empowering and engaging their agents to improve customer outcomes.
2. Trust and Transparency Matter. We hosted a unique set of sessions where service providers were joined onstage by their customers. The constant in these customer sessions was the continued desire for trust and transparency in service relationships. Without trust and transparency, customers were unwilling to invest in new services offered or partner in co-innovation programs with their service providers.
3. The Consumerization of Expectations. Service providers are no longer just competing with their direct competitors. Being the Best of the Worst is not a winning strategy. Even B2B service providers are beginning to feel the impact of consumerized expectations from their customers. In essence, these service providers have to answer the question, "If Amazon is doing this, then why cant you?" To that end, we see a great deal of innovation among service providers to offer on-demand information and service experiences to their customers.

As stated, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of takeaways. We will be recapping additional takeaways and findings on a post-event webcast taking place on Tuesday Sept 27 at 11am Eastern. On the webinar, the TSC team will:

• Recap key takeaways from the three days of sessions at the Smarter Services Symposium
• Highlight feedback on the most popular topics and sessions
• Discuss research and coverage additions based on key Symposium takeaways
• Announce the dates and location for the 2017 Smarter Services Symposium

If you were unable to make the Symposium, this is a good way to sample the event. If you were able to attend, this will serve as a good recap. If interested in registering, please visit here.

What were some of your takeaways? Let us know in your comments.