The old playbook for customer vulnerability is officially obsolete.
For years, businesses have treated vulnerability as an “edge case”—a flag to be raised or a specific script to be read. But in today’s reality, vulnerability isn’t an exception; it’s structural. When cost-of-living crises, mental health challenges, and housing insecurity collide with corporate KPIs, the result is often a messy, high-stakes friction that traditional systems simply aren’t built to handle.
UKCCF would like to invite you to join us for our new webinar series: to Vulnerability on the Line – What happens when risk, responsibility and human emotions collide? , a 6-part webinar series chaired by Elaine Lee, Managing Director of Reynolds Busby Lee. For each session, Elaine will be joined by a different industry guest to share their unique perspective and engage in an in-depth discussion on the challenges at hand. Over six sessions, we are moving past the “tick-box” exercise of compliance to explore what happens when risk, responsibility, and raw human emotions collide on the front line.
The Series Roadmap
- Session 1: When Vulnerability Walks In: Stop Pretending It’s an Edge Case
- 18th February 2026 – 12:30pm (45 min session)
- Session 2: The Double Bind: Supporting Vulnerable Customers with Vulnerable Staff
- 15th April 2026 – 12:30pm )30 min sessoion)
- Session 3: Empathy Isn’t Enough: Where Good Intentions Make Things Worse
- 10th June 2026 – 12:30pm (30 min session)
- Session 4: Judgement Calls Under Pressure: What Agents Are Really Deciding
- Date TBC – July 2026 (30 min session)
- Session 5: When Silence Creates Risk: Why Customers Are Failed When Staff Don’t Speak Up
- 23rd September 2026 – 12:30pm (30 min session)
- Session 6: Vulnerability with Backbone: Designing Centres Fit for Reality
- 11th November 2026 – 12:30pm (45 min session)
Part 1 – When Vulnerability Walks In: Stop Pretending It’s an Edge Case
For a long time, customer vulnerability was treated as an “edge case”—an exception to the rule that required a specific script or a one-off policy.
But in 2026, the data tells a different story. With the rising cost of living, housing insecurity, and shifting health realities, vulnerability isn’t situational anymore. It’s structural. If vulnerability is the new normal, why are most systems still built for the “average” customer?
In our upcoming webinar, “When Vulnerability Walks In: Stop Pretending It’s an Edge Case,” we will challenge the traditional leadership approach to customer care.
🗓: 18th February 2026
⏰: 12:30pm (45 min session)
What we will cover:
- The Volume Reality: Why debt, health, and housing insecurity are now core business drivers, not outliers.
- Moving Beyond the “Flag”: The hidden dangers of treating human struggle as a mere checkbox or script.
- The Leadership Blindspot: What decision-makers consistently underestimate regarding the frequency and intensity of customer needs.
- Systemic Redesign: How to stop building for the “average” and start building for the actual.
This isn’t just about compliance or “being nice”—it’s about the structural integrity of your customer operations. When you build for vulnerability, you build a more resilient business for everyone.
