Keynote speaker
I am an international keynote and TEDx speaker on customer experience, customer service, employee experience, and marketing strategy.
Combining cutting-edge academic research with real-world business insight, I deliver thought-provoking talks that challenge existing assumptions and translate complex ideas into clear strategic insights, frameworks and recommendations.
What to expect from a keynote?
My keynotes are:
✓ Exclusive: I do only a couple of them every year
✓ Stimulating and engaging
✓ Interactive, with room for Q&A (I love it!)
✓ Evidence-based
✓ Rich with practical tips and recommendations
Inspired organizations
“Rarely have I seen a speaker who combines academic depth with such practical applicability. Yves brings insights you immediately want to implement.“
– Frank Plehiers, Chief Commercial Officer, WEngage
Recent keynotes
Machine Logic or Human Touch: Has AI Taken the Customer Experience Throne?
How can technological efficiency be combined with genuine human warmth? In this keynote, I draw on cutting-edge research and real-world practice to challenge some myths about AI, and show why AI is best understood as a powerful enabler of customer interactions, instead of being viewed as a replacement for human employees.
Why Companies Fail at Customer Experience (And What to Do About It)
Improving the CX is high on the agenda of many organizations. Yet despite good intentions, more than 8 out of 10 CX programs fail to deliver the desired results. Moreover, we observe a striking paradox: the more organizations invest in CX, the worse it often seems to become. In this keynote, I uncover why so many CX initiatives fail, and reveal what true CX leaders do differently to turn CX into a competitive advantage.
Investing in the Customer Experience in Turbulent Times: Completely Nuts?
It is no secret: Challenging economic times put organizations under pressure. The temptation to reduce investments customer experience is therefore strong. In this keynote, I address a key question: does it pay off to invest in CX during a recession? Drawing on scientific research, I share insights to help organizations become stronger.
The Employee Experience:
A black hole?
Improving the employee experience (EX) is high on the agenda in many organizations. Yet the EX appears to be a black hole that consumes resources, but doesn’t show the benefits. In this session, I demonstrate the return on investing in employees, particularly in the age of Artificial Intelligence. During the keynote, several insights are shared. Not based on gut feeling, but on solid academic evidence.
“Yves excels at translating the complexity of CX into clear, practical steps. The insights were not only highly recognizable, but also innovative and immediately applicable to our organization. “
– Monique Reenaers, Innovation Coordinator, Wit-Gele Kruis Limburg
TEDx talk: Why Companies Fail at Customer Experience (2022)
Keynote at the Customer Loyalty Observatory, Parma
Other keynotes
Stop talking to your customers!
Start talking with your customers. Improving the customer experience is a top priority for many organizations, often through Voice of the Customer programs and standard satisfaction or NPS surveys. But is that really effective? In this keynote, I challenge conventional approaches and explores how organizations can truly listen to customers.
The contact center as engine of the customer experience
In this keynote, I explore how the contact center can become an integral part of a broader customer experience strategy. Not just an operational function, but a strategic driver of value. I show how contact centers must be managed differently to truly deliver outstanding customer experiences, aligning processes, metrics, technology, and culture with what customers genuinely need and expect.
Customer success management:
Just another label, or true value creator?
In this keynote, I examine whether Customer Success Management is simply a rebranding of existing practices, or a genuine driver of firm value. Drawing on academic research and business cases, I show what CSM truly entails, how it differs from CRM and CXM, and under which conditions it creates measurable impact on retention and long-term customer value creation.