"As much as you can in your business, empower people," said Heather Farley, COO of Access Intelligence, kicking off SIPA's energizing and packed Best Practices Conference on Customer Onboarding and Retention. "People are also happier that way. Their stress level is lower. [It's saying,] 'I trust you, I trust your judgment to make the right decisions and handle situations.'"

"Improving customer experience may be more a product of increasing collaboration between functional silos, or breaking them up completely to align with the customer journey."