12 stands to visit at All4Customer, France's largest salon for Customer Experience, E-Commerce and AI

Vertical AI Agents could be 10X Bigger than SaaS (Y Combinator /Jared Friedman). Is Concentrix Corp (CNXC) the best affordable Tech Stock to buy, according to analysts ? Callity, a Speech Analytics french amazing company, won't assist All4Customer. Why ? 

The customer experience, call centres and digital marketing are all on show next week at All4Customer, the successor to SeCa. It's been a long time since deals were signed, but the show, which takes place from 1 to 3 April, is a stopping-off point for some of the industry's key players. But only some of them, because a few of the sector's most innovative players, or those who will be in the news in 2025, are absent. Why not?

The key issues in our view this year, and the companies that are effective in solving them. And whose words we have been able to verify, which is not the least of our tasks :)

Acquisition theme
Brevo. The ex-Sendinblue is one of the few acquisition marketing players present. Sending emails and text messages, this omnichannel CRM platform, which used to specialise in very small businesses and SMEs, is now targeting major accounts, and has announced that it will be using AI. If you didn't make it to the memorable inauguration of its new premises in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, take a look at stand D35.

When it comes to customer acquisition, the 2 companies Greenbureau and hipto are well worth a visit, on stands D78 and D44. Greenbureau is one of the few French specialists in RCS and the integration of WhatsApp into acquisition processes, while hipto has dusted off the business of supplying intentional leads. The leads it generates are legally compliant. And compulsory opt-in is going to be the order of the day.

If your e-mails and RCS or WhatsApp campaigns trigger requests for information and solicitations, it is likely that your sales teams will need more and more time to contact these prospects by telephone. Hot customers and leads have become unreachable!

Manifone is the telecoms operator that specialises in this area. On stand D30, Lounis Goudjil's team will be presenting a new real time speech analytics tool and offering the 1st book ever written on the history of cold calling: Ne quittez pas, un correspondant cherche à vous joindre. 

Omnichannel theme
In our view, 3 players in the highly competitive world of omnichannel customer relationship platforms are or will be in the news: Ino CX, which has just signed some major deals in South America and recently won one of the biggest tenders from an insurance company (stand E14), Kiamo and Vocalcom. In D40, Kiamo will be explaining the benefits of on-premise. In D20, Vocalcom will be making a major announcement that should be of interest to all its customers.

Simplification, automation, outsourcing
Conversational agents and AI are on everyone's mind. Of course they are, because services and customer journeys can now be automated: Comete.ai has created the 1st AI market place and operates as a broker of suitable tools. Stand F51.

DialOnce, which made a name for itself with its visual IVRs, is also launching into the field of AI agents, and has as its great asset its installed base of satisfied customers: Ratp, Enedis, Les Menuires, Vattenfall.  

Mayday has made an enviable and well-deserved name for itself by automating customer services, thanks to the effective creation of knowledge bases that help telephone advisers find the right information. N26 would do well to equip itself with this technology, which drives its customers crazy. Stand E35.

Volubile.ai (stand C78), led by the dynamic Stéphanie Delestre, installs AI agents in SMEs and ETIs and delights its customers because its solution works and is scalable - a real challenge.  

On stand E26, at Vipp, you'll be able to meet Corinne Schamber, ex-Teleperformance, and newly appointed CEO. Three launches of technological innovations are scheduled on the stand of this well-known African outsourcer, and one of the most innovative. A pioneer in Benin, it has paved the way for many other BPOs in the country.

NB: these twelve companies are French. Eleven of them are still run by their founder or co-founders, who will be present at the show.

What's missing on two key themes?
The former European call centre show is now in its 29th year. On three subjects, we can note and regret a kind of hole in the racket:

-employee experience. At the CNIT, during the first sessions of the show, HR specialists, temporary employment agencies, employee training companies and team members occupied an entire floor. The employee experience and how to nurture and measure it were themes that almost deserted All4Customer. Attracting and retaining the right employees can help to improve the customer experience and build loyalty.

-the voice of the customer, analysing conversations. Eavesdropping on conversations, analysing what is said, automatically summarising it and importing it into CRM systems are major breakthroughs in customer journeys, performance improvement and customer knowledge. The Ministries of the Interior and Justice are also making extensive use of conversation interception, known as court tapping. Chapsvision and Thalès are competing to become or remain suppliers to these two administrations. Read more here. Nice, the world leader, is not for everyone, MyQM has revised its offer, it seems, while Feedae is just starting out and has big ambitions. All4Customer presents a panel of service providers and publishers. However, the two longest-established and, in our opinion, most effective French companies in these fields (Cross CX and Callity) did not attend the show again this year. 

-One category of employee is sorely lacking at the event: the front line (the call centre agent, the counter agent, the salesperson, the home box installer). These are the people who create the customer experience, solve problems and welcome customers.

She appears in films by Ken Loach and Boris Lojkine (L'histoire de Souleymane), but not yet in living rooms. Does she not know how to express herself? Or has she long since realised that she should devote her time and energy to useful, authentic things? For example, a conference on an attractive subject caught our attention, organised by the world's number 1 BPO company, Teleperformance, which has merged with Majorel. Its subject is: more coaching, less reporting. How AI is unleashing the potential of managers and customer advisers. Amina Bendahmane, Teleperformance's Director of Innovation, will be moderating. We'd like to hear from agents and supervisors whose day-to-day lives have been simplified...

I had a dream
All4Customer, like many trade shows, remained an event where exhibitors had to pay for a stand AND then, quite expensively, for electricity AND an internet connection. Where the queue grows every day, at 12 noon sharp, in front of one of the few stands selling sandwiches, the same ones that have been there for years. Setting up an application restaurant there, where you could enjoy a snack made with local produce, must be... very complicated. But the event is dedicated to the customer experience. Once again this year, there will be plenty of people in attendance. The sales departments will be happy to feed their CRM with contacts from prospective customers. Who will then need to be contacted again.

NB: Santiane, an insurance fast growing broker, has adopted Callity, hipto, Intelcia. Read testimony from Pierre-Alain de Malleray. 

Manuel Jacquinet, Chief Editor. 

BPO companies : Concentrix, Foundever, Intelcia, Majorel, TP will attend All4Customer. 

For an overview of all the players in the market, you can also consult Le Bottin En-Contact, the 5th edition of which was recently published: the directory lists the 840 players on the French market who specialise in the subjects covered. It will be available free of charge on the Vipp-Interstis and Volubile stands, while stocks last and subject to certain conditions.