Alain Thys - Shall we talk about transformation?

Ready to drop the customer charades?

The experiences that aren’t

The transformations that fizzle

The race towards Artificial Irrelevance

Then let’s build a business worth choosing.

Deliver premium profit by enriching customer lives and allowing teams to score

Even when technology erodes every easy competitive edge

Start the conversation

Or steal my thinking here.

Adidas · Audi · Barclays · Bekaert · Bordeaux Wines · Bridgestone · BNP Paribas Asset Management · Brightfish · Coca-Cola East-Japan · Deloitte · Etex · Gemalto · Generali Group · Grant Thornton · ING · Kinepolis · Lantmännen Unibake · Lexus · MCE · Mercedes-Benz · Mondi · Nationale Nederlanden · Oriflame · Philips · Pontes · Reebok · Sanoma · Teijin Aramid · Toyota · Vodafone · Wabco · Weber-Stephen · Wireco

Selected cases below

Alain Thys looking out of the window

Hi, I’m Alain

I’ve been around the customer block.

Big programmes. Global standards. Top-decile NPS results.

With my teams, we touched 500m+ customers and 1m+ employees. From automotive to steel wires to wine. Hundreds of millions in value.

I’m proud of what we did.

But something never sat right.

I saw too many ‘experts’ obsess over metrics. Settle for ‘meh’ experiences. Think they could ‘cascade’ teams into caring.

So I stepped outside my business bubble.

I learned from neuroscientists, theatre makers and systems thinkers. Tarot readers taught me the power of narrative. Nepalese monks threw rice in my face. A dominatrix explained the power of seduction. Explained. Nothing more.

  • We turned McFunerals into meaningful farewells

  • Reimagined the idea of work

  • Helped teams embrace AI

It made me realise that real value comes from offering customers and teams a future worth wanting. And building a business that helps them get there.

This insight became The Transformation Code

A deceptively simple way to make your business worth choosing

And make transformation real

For your customers. Your teams. And yes, even yourself.

The Transformation Code by Alain Thys: How to really transform your customers, your organisation, yourself.

The Transformation Code

Δ = Story × Resonance × Flow

It took me seven years to get to the essence of transformation, and when I was done, it all became deceptively simple.

Transformation is the result of three multiplying factors:

  • Story: A new way to see who your customer and business could become

  • Resonance: Building the desire for that future among all involved

  • Flow: The freedom, tools and conditions to act

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Selected Cases

​I’ve been involved in too many projects to list, but these cases give a first flavour. I'll happily discuss limited case details and other credentials in a personal conversation (subject to NDA). 

  • ​For a crematorium group, I am leading a project to transform McFunerals into meaningful farewells.

    Deliverables:

    • Three customer resonant farewell experience scripts

    • Design guidelines for new facilities opening in 2029

    • A new resomation ritual

    • 150+ innovation opportunities

    • The start of an industry movement

  • I helped a global non-food retailer align its AI-first ambitions with what mattered to their teams

    Deliverables:

    • A clear AI narrative within the corporate strategy.

    • A motivating positioning of AI towards all employees.

    • A programme to make AI relevant to store staff.

    • A movement plan for positive AI engagement..

    • Deeper strategic questions and recommendation.

  • ​For over a decade I’ve helped design and deliver the experience that made Lexus the undisputed NPS leader in most European markets.


    Deliverables

    • An intuitive customer promise

    • Rigorous experience standards

    • Staff training & immersions

    • A total measuremen system

    • Continuous improvemet

  • Over the years I have supported ING Insurance (and later NN) on number of strategic customer projects.

    Delverables:

    • An internationally unified set of customer promises and experience standards.

    • A detailed “gap-closing” programme leading to #1 NPS position in all but one market.

    • An organic change movement with hundreds of initiatives across all offices.

    • A move towards interest-led lead generation.

  • Over the years I've assisted Grant-Thornton in multiple client relationship programmes.

    Delverables:

    • A globally aligned client journey

    • A set of client experience standards

    • An experience capability development roadmap

    • A global client experience implementation programme

    • Practical (NPS) ClientVoice programme improvements

  • For the Generali Group, I led the development of global customer experience standards​ to make insurance effortless and caring.

    Deliverables:

    • A global customer experience manifesto

    • Purchase, claims, service and renewal journeys for motor, home, life and health insurance

    • Minimum and differentiating experience standards for each journey stage

    • People, technological and organisational capability requirements to deliver on the experience ambitions,

    • 12 avenues for experience innovation

  • I helped Philips International’s marketing teams develop the capabilities to become more customer-centric.

    Deliverables:

    • one of the world’s first global, cross-functional Net Promoter implementations.

    • significant increase in customer-led marketing capabilities.

    • better alignment of marketing, sales and technology agendas.

  • Some other projects include:

    • Creating and implementing international experience standards at Oriflame, Vodafone, Bridgestone, …

    • Implementing customer-centricity programmes at Bekaert, Deloitte, Weber-Stephen, Mercedes, McLaren, …

    • Developing and introducing new value propositions at MCE, Lantmännen-Unibake, Sanoma Group, …

    • Implementing customer voice, strategy and employee programmes at Toyota.

    • Setting up a global advocacy programme for Bordeaux wines (tasty!)

    • and so on …

What others say about me

  • Alexandra de Greck

    "​With his collaborative, commercial and hands-on approach, Alain sparked a fire for customer experience across the company from the moment he started."

    Alexandra de Greck
    ​Chief Operations Officer 

    Oriflame

  • James Wallman

    From our first interactions, I thought: "Wow, this guy's sharp - super smart & also super honest. He exemplifies the concept of radical candour."

    James Wallman
    CEO

    World Experience Organisation

  • Nikolaas Tahon

    For the first time in my life, I got a more structured way of thinking about customer experience and client satisfaction.

    Nikolaas Tahon
    ​Global Board Member

    Deloitte

  • Dominik Endler

    Alain helped define and form our customer-centricity program. His skill to listen, understand and bring everything into the context of his client is amazing.

    Dominik Endler ​
    VP Customer & Commercial Excellence and CMO 

    Bekaert

  • Paul English

    Alain has worked with us on our CX agenda from the beginning. He brings clarity, relevance and a commercial mindset to engage a diverse and international audience.

    Paul English
    ​Global Leader - Markets & Clients 

    Grant Thornton International

Are you ready to make your business worth choosing?

Enrich the lives of your customers. Allow your teams to care.

Let's meet for a virtual coffee