At CRS Scottsdale, CX leaders from YETI, Mercedes-Benz, Carrier Enterprise, and Cresta examined what consumers expect from customer care and how organizations are responding. During CX Livewire: Consumer Voices, Real-Time Reactions, panelists, in partnership with Cresta, explored findings from Execs In The Know’s 2026 CX Leaders Trends & Insights: Consumer Edition report, alongside live polling that captured the CRS audience’s perspectives.
Moderated by Jim Von Seggern, Director of Research and Insights at Execs In The Know, the discussion brought research findings and practitioner perspectives together. As panelists interpreted the data through the lens of their own organizations, audience responses added another point of comparison, giving attendees an opportunity to benchmark their thinking against their peers.
Four areas of research framed the conversation: CX influence, AI use cases, customer loyalty, and agent training.
The Panelists
Jim Von Seggern, Director of Research and Insights at Execs In The Know, moderated. He was joined by:
- Stephanie Stafford, Senior Director, Customer Experience at YETI
- Chad Anderson, Vendor Manager, Roadside and Customer Care, Customer Excellence at Mercedes-Benz
- Michael Luyster, Director, Customer Experience at Carrier Enterprise
- Antony Passemard, Vice President of Customer Strategy at Cresta
What Consumers Expect from Customer Experience
The panel explored four sets of consumer findings from the report, including shifts in sentiment from 2024 to 2026. The data provided a starting point for examining consumer expectations, while the panelists shared how they interpret those expectations and how they approach them within their organizations.
The Influence of CX
In 2026, 55% of consumers said it is very important for customer care and customer experience (CX) organizations to have influence within a company, up from 50% in 2025. Another 35% said it is somewhat important, bringing the total to 90%. Meanwhile, neutral responses dropped from 18% to 9%.
These findings underscore how important consumers view CX’s role within a business. The discussion explored what that influence looks like in practice, including where CX has a voice in organizational decisions and where teams still need to demonstrate their value.
AI for CX Use Cases
Consumer comfort with AI varies by task. Fifty-six percent of consumers said they would use an AI-powered solution to make a general inquiry about an order or purchase, and the same percentage would use one to get product or service information.
Comfort levels were lower for more complex or consequential interactions: 34% would use AI to correct an issue, 32% to make a purchase or schedule something, and 31% for an account update.
The findings offered a basis for discussing how organizations approach AI adoption and where consumer expectations intersect with implementation decisions. Panelists brought their own organizational perspectives to the conversation, considering how these preferences shape AI’s role in customer service.
Customer Loyalty
The relationship between customer care and loyalty remains significant. Sixty percent of consumers said a positive customer care experience is very likely to increase their loyalty, up from 56% in 2025. Another 30% said it is somewhat likely to do so.
For CX leaders, the findings raise an important business question: How can organizations translate the connection between customer care and loyalty into measurable outcomes? The discussion explored the importance of understanding that relationship and demonstrating its value across the business.
Bonus Topic: Agent Training
Consumers also shared where they believe companies should prioritize agent training. Clarity of speech and accent neutralization ranked first at 37%, up from 30% in 2025. Product and service knowledge followed at 21%, then speed and efficiency at 18%, listening at 12%, empathy at 9%, and company policies at 3%.
These priorities gave panelists another point of comparison, inviting discussion about how consumer expectations align with organizational training priorities and how companies decide where to invest more.
Key Takeaways
Across all four topics, the research showed what consumers value, while the panel discussion explored how those expectations translate into organizational decisions.
The findings point to several considerations for CX leaders:
- CX influence matters. Nine in 10 consumers consider it at least somewhat important for customer care and CX organizations to have influence within a company.
- AI adoption requires judgment. Consumer comfort is higher for routine inquiries than for issue resolution and other more consequential tasks.
- Customer care has a measurable business connection. Consumers recognize the relationship between positive service experiences and loyalty, reinforcing the need to understand and demonstrate that impact.
- Training priorities deserve continued attention. Consumers ranked clarity of communication and product knowledge highest on their list of agent training needs.
The combination of research findings, panelists’ organizational perspectives, and live audience polling gave attendees multiple ways to consider the same questions: What do consumers expect, how do those expectations compare with the approaches CX organizations are taking, and where might there be opportunities to respond differently?
That exchange is central to the value of CX Livewire. Rather than treating research as isolated statistics, the session gave CX leaders space to interpret the findings, compare perspectives, and consider how consumer expectations should inform their decisions.
You can download the 2026 CX Leaders Trends & Insights: Consumer Edition report here.
See CX Livewire on the Mainstage in Dallas
Missed it in Scottsdale? You’ll get another chance. CX Livewire is coming to the mainstage at CRS Dallas, March 10–12, 2027, with new consumer data, fresh reactions from CX leaders, and plenty of room for the audience to weigh in.
