Crack the Customer Code

The 2021 Customer Expectations Report by Gladly is out, and Adam and Jeannie talk about some of the more interesting findings from it. These numbers are bound to influence your business, especially since the findings are significantly different than before, and yes, they are partly affected by the global pandemic. In order to reap the benefits of CX (while simultaneously managing limited budgets and external expectations), the pros need to learn to prioritize. In this report from Forrester, you will learn how to prioritize CX efforts based on three categories: business, customer, and feasibility. Get the free report from our sponsor Alida just for our listeners here: https://www.alida.com/ctcc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ramon Ray talks to us about how important customer experience is for small businesses and why technology is the biggest part of improving the experience today. Ramon explains how to determine which technology you need and gives you some advice he’s learned as a small business owner himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you know how valuable the insights gained from active communities can be? If you don't, then this is certainly the episode for you! Jeannie and Adam will discuss things that haven't been covered before yet are extremely important for CX, especially today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing cultural change is always challenging. Ross Wainwright discusses the processes and hard decisions behind the transformation from Vision Critical to Alida, including the cultural, branding, tech, and product & service changes - all during the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many business leaders are worried that things won’t go back to normal, so Adam and Jeannie have a few interesting stats and opinions that could help you. This episode should have enough useful information to help you gain some valuable insights into the future of CX in the upcoming post-pandemic world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thinking globally but acting locally is an idea that’s rarely discussed in customer experience. This is what we talk about, among other things, with our guest, Steven Van Belleghem. Steven understands the nuances of customer experience and the small details many others tend to miss. He also knows how smaller companies can improve their customer experiences, so there's a lot of value you can gain from his words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI and machine learning are changing the game, and we are bound to see more benefits for the world of customer experience very soon. The current goal is to automate routine interactions and leave humans open to deal with the more complex ones. But there’s so much more to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2020 changed a lot of things for both customers and customer experience leaders. Christine Rimer works with customer experience leaders and knows exactly what troubles them and how to help them. Christine leads SurveyMonkey’s customer experience program, community, and thought leadership to drive growth and innovation. Before SurveyMonkey, she held various CX leadership roles but began her career in enterprise business systems and data management, where she aligned cross-functional teams to deliver measurable business outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crack the Customer Code is back! Jeannie and Adam are back with us again after a long pause since October 2020. However, they weren’t idle, and they bring with them a lot of changes and improvements to the show you’re bound to love! "We are moving to a seasonal model. We'll try being on and off for a while, and this is the beginning of a new season.“ The show is all about helping leaders be better, offer better customer service, and grow together with their customers. The new and improved Crack the Customer Code should help you with all of that, especially with anything new in the world that can affect you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s time for another one of Adam and Jeannie’s famous bourbon summits! What's more, this will also be a very special episode. That's because a significant change is coming for Crack The Customer Code, and this episode will tell you all you need to know before they hit the ground running. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The specific words and phrases you use can be received quite poorly. That's why companies should prepare training for their employees, and leaders should learn in advance what works and what doesn't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James is here to talk about proactive experience recovery and how being proactive in CX matters more than merely fixing the issues your customers have. The results you can provide for your customers by being proactive are astonishing, and James is here to tell us how that can work, and what the exact ROI on this unique form of problem-solving can be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we ready to come back to the office? Or do most of us still want to stay working from home for the time being? You will hear a lot about what the research says and some advice for companies and leaders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Very few of us went to kindergarten, saying, “I want to be a CX professional!” That's why it's fascinating to delve into how some of us went into this business. Clare Muscutt has one of those stories you'll want to know about for its sheer distinctiveness. She is recognized as one of the most prominent and valued millennial voices in CX. She is an international consultant, keynote speaker, and soon to be the author of the book ‘How to be Awesome at CX’’. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, you'll learn how to improve your focus. There are plenty of things that can help you as much as they have helped others, even though you might think they can't. The key is to try and stay persistent for a while, and you could see the benefits very soon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your career should be more than the good old I'm-doing-the-work. It should be about forming real relationships and showing another side of you that's different from the professional side. In this episode, we'll talk a lot about trust, relationships, human connections, etc. They matter more in the realm of business than many care to admit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fact is that there is a lot less business in the retail sector as of late due to the whole global pandemic situation, but there are a lot more viral stories about retail. Many of these stories are negative, but we're not going to delve too deep into that. So, we talk about how leaders can support their retail employees in this angry world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why should we do self-service, how can you do it, and how can you incorporate it into customer experience? These are the things we'll discuss and crack open today, but we'll also cover compliance, as it's not something any of us can afford to ignore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the things that Adam and Jeannie would like to have us all consider is when there are segments of customers who aren't familiar with new software, these customers want to buy, but they can struggle if AR is their only option. How can we think about the customer journey to make sure that they are as comfortable as they can be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Influencer marketing isn’t about getting the Kardashians to post on social media for you. It can be smaller than that, but it’s also about much more than that. Neal Schaffer discusses how to market in a great, authentic way with the aim of building relationships and connecting the dots between employees and the customer experience to create engagement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie is on a solo mission today to help you with some ideas for building cross-functional leadership support. The ideas are bound to fix some gaps in your knowledge and help you reach that CX success every company is looking to get. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Empathy and emotional intelligence mean a lot in business, and they are not the so-called touchy-feely stuff we want eliminated from the realm of business. Alain knows this, and his ideas have helped countless companies, all of which have understood the benefits of emotions in business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are consumer behavior patterns now completely different because of COVID-19? Malcolm Gladwell, the famous author and researcher, talked about how the world will be different because of COVID0-19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We haven’t discussed inclusive customer experience on this podcast, so we are excited to talk to our guest today – Stephanie Thum, as that's one of the main things she specializes in. She is a Certified Customer Experience Professional who started in the CX profession for the B2B market. Many people know her as one of the U.S. Federal government's first agency-level heads of customer experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Companies have already started adding surcharges because of COVID-19. Companies, especially restaurants, are adding these surcharges as they believe it’s a way to recuperate some of their losses. Naturally, some customers are OK with this, but others aren’t. Are these surcharges good or bad for CX? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world has already changed drastically, and the people in the hospitality industry and the entire service sector are completely shifting their views on the careers they have. Michel Falcon has some interesting and some downright astonishing data and findings on where this part of the market is and where it's going to go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The B2B world had already begun to change even before the pandemic, so now is the right time to embrace the new normal and find the right way to deal with it. Even though it seems next to impossible, there are still ways to do it. Jeannie and Adam are here to talk about it and how transparency and proper communication are crucial now more than ever! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Offering the red carpet treatment is not something that companies have never done before. However, Donna has made an effort to give precise advice to many leaders who don't know how to ensure their customers are properly cared for. This is far more important today than it was only a few months ago, so tune in to learn how to roll out the red carpet for all of your customers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are five new considerations in this new world of remote work, and you have to consider them if you want to continue providing an excellent service to your customers. Remember, it's all about the customer experience, but you still need to consider the new norm for your employees. We discuss what you can do to improve the lives of your teams and your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listening is so basic, and is still one of the things we often forget to do as sellers. David Priemer explains how you can get past that. David talks about the generational gap that's preventing so many sellers from being great at their jobs. A lot of what David is saying should be common knowledge in sales teams across all industries, but it isn't, so it's worth listening to if you're going to run a more successful sales team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam have five main lessons they learned from presenting digitally, all of which can benefit any speaker in a virtual environment. The digital stage is still something you have to prepare for, so these lessons are bound to help you create an exceptional virtual event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michel is well aware of the faster pace most companies are opting for to survive these times and advance. She is here to tell us how organizations can change and reach a new level of innovation, the level they only discussed in the past, but never got to the point of putting it into practice. By doing that, they can adopt technologies faster and improve in ways they only imaged. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are five essential basic principles and they never change, so it's crucial to review them and remind your team that, despite the changes in the world, these fundamentals are still valid now more than ever. If everyone in the world of CX were to remember that, the experience our customers get would be much better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The online world has changed a lot since its inception. We now have a world where you can find a like-minded community online, no matter what your interests are. We talk about online communities with Dan Reese, the Chief Customer Officer at Higher Logic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone in CX should know that things are changing rapidly now, customers have new challenges and obstacles, so we need to work on changing their journey maps to help them in the way they deserve. If not that, they certainly know that the journey map is not a static thing, no matter the current state of the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are all individuals, and we are all different, and those differences need to be valued and respected. Bernadette Smith knows that and actively promotes this view, which is why she is here to help us understand what diversity means and how organizations need to handle it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Measurements have somehow become the de facto way of measuring customer experience success. However, the problem with this system is that it doesn’t include insights. We don’t offer enough context for these metrics, which makes them even less useful for the continued improvement of our customers' services. Measurements and the way we measure things have become really important for business leaders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Lester is here to talk about what’s happening with digital transformation, customer experience, and the strange times we’re experiencing at the moment. He knows the importance of caring for the customers but also for the teams that serve them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Shapiro touches upon why so many of us approach problems in the same way, and how you as a leader in customer experience can do it differently. It’s not your job to get the answers, but to ask the questions that allow your team to reach the right solutions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Adam in this short update episode that will undoubtedly be of use to you during these trying times we have collectively found ourselves in as of late. This is the right time to try and serve your customers in the way they deserve! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shep has a lot of good advice he wants to share on this episode, both of his own and some from his newly edited book. Hear more about his amazement theory that can help both your relationship with your customers and your employees. If not that, then you have to hear Adam play the guitar! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie is flying solo in this episode, and she wants to discuss how you can make room for the short term and the urgent things while trying to achieve long-term goals. This is especially important today, in the crazy world we’ve been living for the past few weeks. What’s more, it’s especially true in the world of CX. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's easy to talk about a customer-centric culture; there's no doubt about that. But how do we actually do it in practice? It takes a lot of community building throughout the organization to really succeed at being customer-centric. That's precisely what our guest, Stacey Sherman talks about!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is technology forcing customer service teams to do sales? It’s an interesting question and one that’s becoming increasingly apparent to many companies. If we answer the question positively, that will make team members salespeople as well as customer service workers. Technology is already changing their role anyway, so should we actually change it for good? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Demands are rising, and companies have to keep on evolving. They want to strive to be the 'Amazon's' of their industry and offer stellar customer experience, but it's not as easy as some think. Plus, you need to know how to hire the right people for customer service. Micah Solomon has a lot of intriguing advice and many ideas on how you can improve customer experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes customers are not ready for new technology, nor do they want it. The best example is in customer support, and that's precisely what Adam and Jeannie discuss in this episode of Crack the Customer Code. We've prepared many interesting points about the adoption of new technologies and whether or not everything that can be used should be used. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Among the many things Joe Pine will talk about is the money value of time, a concept you will find more than useful. He'll also discuss his idea of the five economic offerings that help you create engaging experiences that stick with customers – the ones they never forget. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rarely do legacy companies manage to do things like these – to set aside what the shareholders want and put their customers first. And as we can see, it pays off, and it is a win-win situation for all sides involved.  Learn more about what Jeannie and Adam think about this exciting development with the major airline company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeanne knows how important it is to be remembered by the way you made people feel. That's why she's here to talk about how customer experience has changed, how it's supposed to be done, and the mistakes leaders need to avoid making. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most leaders say their company is customer-centric, but their customers rarely feel the same way. If you ask those who are responsible for CX, they usually blame someone else, but the fact remains the same – customers are not as happy as they should be. So, what does all of this information mean? What is the real state of CX today? Join us in this episode of Crack the Customer Code and find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Blake Morgan explains how the customer of the future is already here and how they are getting excellent customer experience from successful, modern companies, and disjointed experience when working with companies that live in the past. Thoughtfulness can solve this problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The beginning of 2020 is an opportunity to rally everyone around the idea that we are doing what we do for our customers. They are the ones we are trying to help with the business we do. There are ways to get everyone in line with that idea on the level of the entire organization, but also the level of each team, and we'll tell you how you can achieve that.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we talk with Annette Franz about her book and how communication is a critical tool for employers and leaders. She has two crucial things to tell us here. However, there is more to it than that. There are ways to extend this newfound communication and keep it ongoing into the future, and Annette and her team help organizations find ways to achieve it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a very special episode of Crack the Customer Code – our 400th episode! For such a special occasion, we thought we would look back at history. It's been so long since we started having conversations over a glass of bourbon, so it's nice to think back and let you know how we changed. We also thought we would play around with the number 400 a bit! Adam did his homework, and he found out what happened in the world 400 days, 400 months, and even 400 years ago! And you'll be surprised by all the numerous exciting pieces of information he has in store for you.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve been through a branding exercise, where you’re trying to come up with a name for a product or service (and you’re still sane!) you really need to listen to this episode because when we talk about customer experience, we don’t often talk about the name and the importance of how that might relate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The customer wins, the company wins, the team wins, everyone wins! That's the beauty of CX, and that's why it's important. In this episode of Crack the Customer Code, we talk about the latest research that suggests that successful CX programs will continue to grow and succeed, while other CX programs will simply disappear altogether. We are very likely to end up in a world that has only two types of businesses – ones with successful CX initiatives and ones with no CX initiatives whatsoever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve is here to talk to us about love in business and customer service and how it has everything to do with them. That’s because customer satisfaction means nothing. When customers love what you’re doing, that’s everything. Love is not something that we are supposed to discard in our professional lives; it's something that we need to incorporate deep into the organizations we work in or lead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie teaches you how to start considering siloes in a different light and not in the usual way we do all the time. So, tune in to this Jeannie-centric episode of Crack the Customer Code and learn how you can bust those siloes and become the next disruptor in your industry! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Marion has a unique position to give us an inside scope of the retention and subscription industry. He talks a lot about how it works and what leaders can do to improve their retention. Companies are much better off today by having a net retention that shows their customers will pay more in a year from now than disappear a year from now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thinking about thinking matters! It's not a weird concept, and it's not a tautology, it's a valid concept which we seem to have forgotten entirely. The world of today is so hectic and distracting that it's no wonder most of us rarely just sit down to think. You can sit to think about what you've done and eventually gain a new look on it, a unique perspective that can help you do it better the next time around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a big part of our world today, and it’s affecting customer experience as well. That’s why we are here today with our guest Antony Brydon to talk about how it affects customer experience, how it’s changing the current game, and how it’s giving us a glimpse into the changes yet to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The freelancer or contractor economy has risen with great might and has started to influence the overall customer experience in different ways. From the way it limits the delivery of excellent customer experience, to how it creates new and vital opportunities. In essence, there are both good and bad sides to this change. However, one thing remains the same: The customers don't care about who's doing the actual work for you – they only care about the outcome for them. And they are right to think like that! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surveys – we all get them. Companies send about a quarter of a trillion of them yearly, which is too much, as we can all agree. With such overwhelming numbers and the fact that most of them are generic, there is this survey fatigue going on. Customers rarely respond to surveys, and if they do, it’s usually because they are either delighted with the service or because they are extremely unhappy with it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode of Crack the Customer Code is a short one. Adam is flying solo at the moment, but he has a lot to say about being customer-centric. Adam shares the three main tactics that you should use more in your company to become more customer-centric. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re not growing, you’re stagnating and on the decline. We are talking about business growth today. 85% of small businesses will hit a growth stall at some point in their business, and a very small percentage of those will recover. Tiffani discusses the importance of knowing and recognizing the growth decline indicators before you hit a stall, so that you can come out the other side. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Companies need to realize that it's counterproductive for them to have a lack of collaboration between the technology teams and the other departments. It's essential to start collaborating to provide the best service for the customers. Join us in today's episode of Crack the Customer Code where Jeannie and Adam will discuss how all of this can work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Stan Phelps, a long time friend, who is once again joining us on the show. We are going to continue our talk about the goldfish series. Today, it's time for the Pink Goldfish, his latest book. But what is the pink goldfish?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the customer journey dead? According to an article in CMS Wire titled The Customer Journey is Over, it is. However, is that truly the case? Is the customer journey surely over, or is the article just an inflated with a catchy title? Or maybe it's something completely different... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode we talk with Bill Guertin, a man known in the sports industry as the '800-pound gorilla of sales performance'. He has experience with more than 100 pro teams across North America and Mexico and has written two successful books about sales, service, and marketing. Bill is here to talk to us about the importance of fan experience and how it's more similar to overall customer experience than you might think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, listen as Jeannie explains why you need to change your attitude and focus on what the customer wants, not what you think they want. Your customers are often satisfied with your service. Sometimes they are even genuinely loving it. However, that only happens because you've fulfilled their need. You've given them the service they expected to get from you. They love that, but never forget that they are not as focused on your brand as you are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the difference between a superfan and a promoter? Promoters promote you, but what does a superfan do? Superfans will make sure you continue to be in the market and will help you stay in the market. Superfans have to be nurtured. Companies must develop a close relationship with its superfans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do organizations overuse acronyms when talking to customers? Using acronyms internally is okay, but what happens when they escape and suddenly, customers use them? We discuss how organizations confuse customers and how organizations can improve customer conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Culture is the main topic of this episode, and we are here with our longtime friend and fellow podcaster – Julie Ann Sullivan.  She focuses on innovative culture, and she has a unique perspective on business culture due to her diverse background. Julie shares about her new book, which has a fascinating and unique case study approach. She will tell us what led her to it and the single most surprising thing she discovered while making it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes we all need to have some fun! Welcome to our third Bourbon Summit! For those not aware, it’s when we simply sit down, take a glass of our favorite bourbon, and relax. We don't know where the conversation will go, but that's precisely where the fun lies!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Timing is everything.” That’s an integral part of the change, the shift in business we talk about in this episode. You need to know when to shift your business if a market change is coming. You need to go along with the flow of the change, or you’ll be left behind.  Allen Adamson is an expert in all disciplines of branding, and he’s had a vast plethora of projects and experiences behind him to back up his teachings. He’s here to talk to us what you need to do to stay ahead of significant changes and shift accordingly.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Crack the Customer Code, Jeannie delivers some great insight and advice about improving customer experience. Every company has an established process when it comes to dealing with customers. When it comes to changing that process, the answer is too often “It’s always been done this way”. This phrase is the killer of innovation. How can we avoid it? Who cares if it’s always been done this way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What we’ve noticed is that people rarely give credit to culture and place it in the category of work experience. Why is that the case? To answer the question, we brought a highly qualified guest – Karen Jaw-Madson –  an organizational expert from Silicon Valley. She has implemented numerous organizational initiatives around the globe through her organization Co-Design of Work Experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this solo episode of Crack the Customer Code, Adam will talk to you about Closing the Loop with Customers, an essential part of offering the best customer experience – something you most certainly want to have with your customers. It goes for any industry or organization, so make sure you follow the steps. Talking about the steps, closing the loop involves five, and each deserves deep consideration if you want to do it right. It doesn’t matter how the interaction went with the customer, good or bad, active or passive – closing the loop is always desirable, and you’ll see why. You’ll learn that even with great customer interactions, you’ll still want to close the loop and reinforce those feelings – all to get more engagements, and more referrals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leena talks us through a fantastic approach; "always treat your employees the way you would want them to treat your very best customer." If we think about our best customers and the way we would want our employees to engage with those best customers, then just evaluate if this is how we are treating our own employees? Consider if we need to make any shifts to treat our employees the way we would want them to treat our best customers. Then we start to create a culture where people are really focused on the behaviors that build loyalty, and they in turn feel loyalty themselves.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this interesting episode, Adam and Jeannie share their differing opinions on whether phone conversations or chat platforms such as Twitter provide the best customer service. On one side it is considered that Twitter conversations are well thought out and more personalized than reading a script on a direct call. Whereas on the 'for phone calls' side, it's argued that we can create better connection with tone of voice and other factors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a difference between customer experience, which is what’s happening today, and loyalty experience, which asks what’s going to happen tomorrow. The real challenge is to bring loyalty programs into the modern marketing age. Are customers looking for more points or more experience? Make sure you’re giving them what they want to keep them with your brand because more points doesn’t always mean more loyalty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do diaper brands and Reebok have in common? Better loyalty rewards. Explore a more experience-based rewards system and experience better relationships with your customers, when you get to know them a little more. Here’s another insightful episode of Crack the Customer Code with the wonder twins of Customer Service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Louis Carter, CEO and president of Best Practice Institute, a benchmark research consortium association and management consulting firm that helps organizations and C-Suite Senior executives achieve their market strategy through talent and change management joins our dynamic duo to talk about the importance of being emotionally connected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share experiences of their service from Delta Airlines, in which they received cards that give customers the opportunity to recognize an employee for a great job. This is a great way for customers to really think about the service being provided and be acknowledged for it. Aside from the pat on the back that this gives the employee, they are also given rewards points, which are not only great incentives but also a motivation for other employees to follow suit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff explains the differences between Human Centered Design and Design Thinking and how these are applied to solving business problems, to find out whether we are truly building something of value for them. We learn how companies can convert insights gained from experiments into actionable data. Jeff believes that the most challenging part this process is taking the risk in making the change needed in implementing these learnings into new customer experiences. Applying these changes initially on a sample population, which reduces the risk, is the key to mitigating these changes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share their experiences to give a public service announcement that’s critical to both companies and customers. Adam shares his concern that all the good work we’re trying to do could be used as a front by scam artists. These scammers are using customer service to collect information to use for fraudulent activity. Customers of brands who have a good track record of customer service could be vulnerable because they could be thinking that it’s just part of their regular support.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Smith stresses the importance putting sales first on your customer journey, saying that the successful and proper use of your product or service is the solution. This is where the salesperson comes in with the human element in giving customers that push. It doesn’t stop there though, getting the best representative means getting the right fit for your company, one who cares about the company, the product and the customers. As Lee puts it, “no one’s gonna listen unless they know that you care”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jeannie and Adam discuss how when we need a connection, we create that connection, even with a car that listens to you! These kinds of connections that people create are becoming more and more prevalent with the rise of technology. Jeannie cites examples of technology that allow us to interact with service providers through avatars, or other types of artificial intelligence. They become powerful tools for humanity to keep an eye on each other more and Jeannie adds that there could be ways we connect with screens in the future that we’re not anticipating today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we focus on gratitude with special guest, Award Winning Speaker, Author, and Chief Appreciation Strategist of Grategy, LLC, Lisa Ryan. Lisa explains how gratitude builds on the basic foundation of human connection through thankfulnes; letting people know that they matter, are seen, and are important to us, promotes loyalty, fulfilment and happiness, with people in the workplace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen as Jeannie shares some highlights from business owners who are really striving for the next level in leading customer culture. Do you really understand the experience you're trying to deliver and are you building the right culture for that? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Crack The Customer Code, we're going to try something a little bit different. We're going to go back and recap a little bit of what we've learned from our 360+ episodes. We’ve previously discussed a lot about technology, where it’s headed and how it's going to impact us all in the customer experience and customer service spaces. In this episode, Adam, recaps on some of the best snippets to come out of 70+ episodes discussing technology and its impact on experience and service; from your employee training to automation to the robots taking over, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the comments that Adam and Jeannie receive the most about the podcast is that people like the banter, the personal stories and the fun! We thought the customer experience and customer service wisdom was the draw. Nope! It’s when Adam and Jeannie mess around! So they’ve decided that once a quarter, unless we get hate mail, they’re going to do a Bourbon Summit, in honor of the story that some of you may know, in which bourbon played a huge part in the birth of the podcast itself! As well as discussing which bourbon they’re drinking, Adam and Jeannie also discuss the great way some companies make their customers feel special by offering them exclusive brand experiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is all about showing up. We dive into a pretty interesting discussion about teamwork and leadership - and how that affects service. Listen as Ryan explains the inspiration behind his book title, Thanks For Coming In Today - and the reason why he still thanks employees for showing up every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who owns what in an experience like travelling? The flying experience, TSA, the lines, the transportation within the terminal, the parking, etc? Adam and Jeannie talk about the forward-thinking Dallas Fort Worth airport, who actually have a customer service command center. This is for people who are working in all different areas of the airport, they all work together in this hub to make sure that they're prepared for various passenger situations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clarity is more important than we think. It’s an interesting topic because we don’t really talk about it because it has everything to do with the success of our business and our customers, so why don’t we talk about it more? We talk with Steve Woodruff about really understanding who we are and what we deliver and how to articulate that so others can articulate that for us. Steve comes at this topic through the lens of referrals. With the idea of having to be clear about yourself, your value, what you do and what you offer first, before others can be clear and refer you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss how to use Customer Service Blueprinting to optimize all the working parts of your overall customer experience, and how Jeannie can train you on this amazing skill today! Fine-tune your customer experience delivery with customer service blueprinting We’ve talked a lot about customer journey mapping and other amazing tools on this show, so it’s time to talk about the next tool in your customer experience toolbox: Customer Service Blueprinting. Taking stock of your behind-the-scenes operations as they relate to the experience delivered is a powerful way to understand not only what’s happening in your customer service, but how it happens, who is accountable, and what needs to happen for the experience to run like a well-oiled machine. "Get that 3D perspective on what’s going on and how to deliver on it!” - Jeannie Walters Customer Service Blueprinting is an amazing way to make these observations and inform critical improvements, so Jeannie has decided to create a LinkedIn Learning course to show you how it’s done. The latest in Jeannie’s ongoing series of customer experience courses, Customer Service Blueprinting outlines the process in easy steps, then leaves you with templates to help you hit the ground running! What’s more, using your Service Blueprint together with Customer Journey Mapping (also a popular topic in Jeannie’s LinkedIn Learning series) adds some serious “ka-pow” for fine-tuning your overall customer experience. Want to learn more about Customer Service Blueprinting, and what to expect in Jeannie’s courses? Then listen in and find out how to get started today! Don't want to wait? Sign up for Jeannie's course now! What is service blueprinting? from Customer Service Blueprinting by Jeannie Walters Related Content Experience Investigators™ by 360Connext post, How to Create the Best Customer Experience Solutions Customers That Stick® post, Adam Toporek’s 3S Customer Service Process Episode 357: Thomas Hollmann, Customer Experience Education Episode 354: Are you neglecting key moments in the customer journey? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam welcome Dr. Thomas Hollmann of Arizona State University to tackle the customer experience education gap between academia and real-world business. Decoding Customer Experience Education for today’s business landscape Customer experience is now a critical focus in business today, so leaders have much to learn about. We learn from conferences, colleagues, webinars, blog posts, podcasts (a-hem!) and many other places. But what about academics? Most of us who have been in business for a number of years will tell you Customer Experience wasn’t much a part of our higher education, if at all. So, as we now have both feet in the Age of the Customer, what has academics done to adapt to this profound shift in focus around what it takes to be successful? Sadly, not much. And customers are not going to wait for your customer experience education to catch up. “Industry is struggling with and looking at totally different topics than the ones that we do when we go to academic conferences.” - Dr. Thomas Hollmann But there’s hope – not just for today’s business leaders, but for the next generation of business students, and new recruits you are training today! Dr. Thomas Hollmann, Executive Director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University, is here not only to teach us how the education system is adapting to this great shift, but what leaders can do in the meantime and in the future. In this enlightening interview, Dr. Hollmann: Brings us up to speed with the current state of customer experience education Identifies the gaps between traditional business education and customer-focused practices Outlines traditional business tools and disciplines you can use to fill these gaps Shares expert advice on how to approach customer experience education for the future “Customer Success is very old. So why is it a new topic?”  -Dr. Thomas Hollmann It may be a while before the academic industries embed customer experience disciplines into their curricula, so it’s critical to fill the gaps for yourself, your employees, and even your executive team. Listen in to learn how! Here are some highlights from the interview: What is the role of higher education in the world of customer experience today, and more importantly, is customer experience represented well? [5:00] As customer expectations change around the ideal experience, so do those of students. How are educational organizations adapting and competing? [7:40] Who is teaching customer experience these days? Dr. Hollmann discusses different professional backgrounds and powerful tools for understanding customers. [9:56] What is a good service culture, and how do the best organizations achieve theirs? [12:50] Customer Success dovetails into service and customer experience in many industries, so how can organizations use it as a framework? [16:20] What do leaders need to do in the future to compete on Customer Experience? Dr. Hollmann answers this burning question then outlines a few tools and key questions to ask. [20:00] About our guest Dr. Thomas Hollmann is a Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing and the Executive Director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University. Thomas’ work experience spans four countries and over 10 years in Fortune 100 companies, including Black & Decker, Xerox, and as an executive at Sun Life Financial. His research interests include Services Science, with a focus on B2B, service analytics, and Relationship Marketing, with a particular interest in relationship outcomes. His research has appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing and several leading marketing and services conferences. He has received research grants and awards. Thomas has consulted with a range of Fortune 500 firms and he received awards for his teaching at Arizona State University and at NC State. Thomas earned a Ph.D. in Marketing from Arizona State University. Connect with Dr. Hollmann LinkedIn ASU Center for Service Leadership Related Content 360Connext® post, What Kind of Customer Experience Leader Do You Need to Be? Customers That Stick® post, How to Get Your Team to Deliver Consistent Customer Service Episode 298: Michel Falcon, Incredible Experience Tips Episode 175: (Tip) How Business Schools Can Add Customer Experience We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the rapid evolution of chatbots across industries and how to make the best decisions around existing and emerging chatbot technology. Chatbots are the new black Chatbots are taking the world by storm! They’ve made their way into foodservice, retail, SaaS, and more. Typically, we catch on pretty fast when interacting with a chatbot. But with Artificial Intelligence making leaps and bounds every day, that could be changing soon! “Our human assets are only as good as the intelligence and the information they have.” -Adam Toporek And it won’t be long before these amazing new capabilities enter the main stream. In fact, kind of technology is becoming more accessible and affordable to smaller companies every day. So, what about your company? To bot, or not to bot…that is the question! “It’s not just the one job or the one role…How does this fit into the journey? And what does this mean? What human controls do we need to put in?” -Jeannie Walters There’s no easy answer to this, but taking a look at how this technology is being used today and how new features and capabilities are rolling out will help you find your answer. Jeannie and Adam have been watching these trends for you, so they’ve dedicated this episode to sharing some of the best and worst ways chatbots have been (and will be) used. Here are a few things they cover: Chatbots have evolved quite a bit in recent years, but does your company need to take advantage? What are some new ways you may leverage chatbot technology in the future? And more importantly, how can you make your chatbots a seamless and satisfying part of the customer journey? Listen in for chatbot do’s and do not’s from two of the most respected names in customer service and customer experience, right here on Crack the Customer Code! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways the Best Brands Do Omnichannel Right Customers That Stick® post, Starting a Culture of Customer-Focused Innovation Episode 265: (Tip) Chatbots and Humans Episode 234: Tips for Customer Service Bots We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie welcome renowned speaker and customer service video training pioneer Lisa Ford to discuss her time-tested approach to achieving customer service excellence. Unraveling the DNA of customer service excellence Great customer service is pleasant, satisfying, and possibly best of all, easy. So easy, in fact, that it may seem simple from the outside. But from the inside, achieving that level of customer service excellence is anything but simple. So, how do the companies known for great service do this? Moreover, how can you achieve customer service excellence for your organization? “Your customer experience is truly a reflection of your culture." -Lisa Ford Lisa Ford has helped some of the best companies in the world achieve outstanding customer service. In fact, she is a pioneer in the video customer service training industry, and she shared her time-tested approach to help you compete on customer service in today’s highly-competitive marketplace. “When you ask where we’re hard to do business with, guess who has the answers? It’s the employees.” -Lisa Ford While providing consistently great customer service is not a simple thing, following some simple rules will go a long way. Lisa has you covered! Here are some highlights from the interview: Lisa says improving customer service means asking and answering tough questions, so she shares a few of her favorites to ask yourself and your team today. [3:10] Improving customer service means eliminating your weakest links, but what if they happen to be human beings? [8:40] Getting your team excited about improving customer service is one thing, but keeping the momentum going is another. Lisa explains some of the best ways to keep that iron hot! [10:30] Once you instill customer-focused principles in your team, how do you keep them engaged? [14:30] Lisa leaves you with some of her tips for achieving customer service excellence in your organization. [19:15] About our guest Lisa Ford is known for her work on customer issues. Her ideas help companies create customer-focused cultures and keeping customers loyal. She is a speaker and author with over 20 years of experience presenting to businesses, associations and government. Lisa is the author of the videotape series How to Give Exceptional Customer Service, the #1 selling DVD series in the U.S. for over 3 years. Lisa designs content personalized to the audience and issues they face. She has also customized numerous videos for clients to use in their ongoing education efforts. Lisa’s experience includes working with Pfizer, Viacom, Edward Jones, CSX, Kaiser Permanente, Morton’s of Chicago, FirstAmerican Title and American Veterinary Medical Association. Connect with Lisa LinkedIn Twitter Website Related Content 360Connext® post, Is Your Mission Customer-Focused, or an Empty Promise? Customers That Stick® post, How to Get Your Team to Deliver Consistent Customer Service Episode 301: Will Experience Be Your Difference This Year? Episode 347: Jay Baer, Talk Triggers We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie Walters CCXP explains how to find and leverage key moments that are typically overlooked, but have a great emotional impact on how customers perceive and remember the customer journey. Are you aware of the key moments in your customer journey? Are you focused on the customer journey? I mean REALLY focused? Most business leaders say they are, but few dive deep enough to uncover the commonly overlooked moments that can punctuate an otherwise great experience with negative emotions. On the other hand, these moments have the potential to delight customers and make a positive impression they’ll remember and talk about. So when you think of customer experience on this scale, the customer journey is filled with these moments. How do you find them? How do you know if they matter? More importantly, how can you make them painless, then take the extra step to make them special? “If your environment is off, so is your Customer Experience” -Jeannie Walters Jeannie has been recognized as the authority on Micro Moments, and she’s got you covered! In fact, Jeannie’s signature keynote on this subject was delivered live at TEDx, and she wants to share some new insights with you! This episode is loaded with powerful tips and examples of how these tiny moments can spell disaster for your customer journey, or create moments of delight with a few simple tweaks. Customer emotions are fragile and fickle. But you have the power to fill the customer journey with positive emotions, every step of the way. Don’t blow it by focusing only on the big stuff. “I want you to sweat the small stuff. I want you to start worrying about details.” -Jeannie Walters via TEDx Share YOUR micro moments! Have you identified any powerful Micro Moments in your customer journey, or as part of an experience you’ve had as a customer? Then share them with Jeannie! She loves hearing your stories and can’t get enough of ‘em! Connect with Jeannie LinkedIn Twitter Website Related Content 360Connext® post,Emotion IS The Experience: Microinteractions Infographic Customers That Stick® post, It’s Never too Late to Win with Customer Experience: The Comcast Turnaround Episode 344: Shaun Belding, The Journey to Wow Episode 333: Don’t Make Assumptions About Your Customer’s Journey We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this powerful interview, globally recognized author Scott McKain shares the secrets behind brands and leaders who go beyond differentiation to become iconic. Does your brand stand out in meaningful ways? Everyone knows iconic brands like Apple, Amazon, and Porsche. They stand out in ways that not only differentiate them from competitors, but make them iconic. But these brands only represent a fraction of those who struggle to make their mark. Is your brand one of them? “Sometimes we need something to shake us up to move us to where we need to be.” -Scott McKain Being different is one thing, but differentiating in ways that have powerful meaning to customers is another thing entirely. It’s not a simple thing that can happen by introducing some gimmick or flashy design. And it’s not something you can come up with by simply researching your competition. It is a delicate and often risky matter with lots of things to consider. In fact, it sends many brands in the wrong direction, and leaves others frozen in sameness. “Familiarity breeds complacency.” -Scott McKain Going beyond differentiation to make your brand iconic is a vexing initiative. But as we love to do on this show, we want to help you crack this code! So we brought in bestselling author Scott McKain to help you understand what really has to come together before transcending that barrier in ways that make your brand a name everyone knows and trusts. “We have to find the strategies that fight these destroyers of differentiation.” -Scott McKain Sharing incredible highlights and spoilers from his new book, Scott uncovers how the most iconic brands bring together all the delicate pieces that matter most to customers to stand out in ways that are simple but powerful. Learn how your culture, your storytelling, and your perspective on the true customer experience can dovetail with the concept of differentiation in ways that get your brand noticed, remembered, and even celebrated! Here are some highlights from the interview: What are the biggest “destroyers of distinction?” [5:00] Scott shares two factors that blind leaders to these challenges, then we discuss great examples of how iconic brands get past them. [9:15] Creating a bold distinction is risky. So, what are some ways to overcome these fears and build confidence, and what should you look out for? [14:20] Spoiler alert! Scott shares generous descriptions of the four cornerstones of distinction from his book. [17:25] How do iconic brands work on being iconic to multiple customer archetypes, and more importantly, staying iconic for repeat business and referrals? [23:38] About our guest Scott McKain is a globally recognized authority on how iconic organizations and professionals create the distinction required to attract and retain customers and employees — and stand out in a hyper-competitive marketplace. His latest book, “ICONIC: How Organizations and Leaders Attain, Sustain, and Regain the Highest Level of Distinction” was recently released to rave reviews. Scott’s expertise has been quoted multiple times in USA Today, the New York Times, Wall St. Journal, and International Herald-Tribune. Arnold Schwarzenegger booked him for a presentation at the White House with the President in the audience, and Scott played the villain in a movie named by esteemed critic Roger Ebert as one of the “fifty greatest movies in the history of cinema,”. With a client list that represents the world’s most distinctive companies – like Apple, SAP, Merrill Lynch, BMW, Cisco, CDW, Fidelity, John Deere and literally hundreds more – Scott McKain was honored with induction along with Zig Ziglar, Seth Godin, Dale Carnegie and just twenty more in the “Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame.” And of course he is also a member of “Professional Speakers Hall of Fame.” Scott is broadly recognized as one of the most iconic platform presenters in the world — moving his hometown of Crothersville, Indiana to recently announce they are renaming the community’s main street as “Scott McKain Way.” Connect with Scott Twitter LinkedIn Website Special offers and more about Scott’s latest book! Related Content 360Connext® post, Is Your Mission Customer-Focused, or an Empty Promise? Customers That Stick® post, How to Get Your Team to Deliver Consistent Customer Service Episode 301: Will Experience Be Your Difference This Year? Episode 347: Jay Baer, Talk Triggers We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss how to prevent valuable knowledge from leaving your company along with superstar employees who are ready to move on. Employee turnover is at an all-time high, so there’s lots of advice out there (and in previous episodes of Crack the Customer Code!) about how to keep employees happy and motivated. But whether you like it or not, some of your best people will still leave you. It’s frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking when your superstars resign, but the financial cost of employee turnover can be staggering. In fact, when an employee leaves, the turnover costs can be between 150% and 250% of their annual salary. Wow.  But here’s the thing: A good part of those costs go into training replacements, and it can be a long, slow, expensive crawl to stardom. “What are some of the ways you can stop that knowledge, experience and talent from walking out with your superstars?” -Jeannie Walters But you can cut these costs considerably simply by retaining the knowledge those employees would otherwise take with them. After all, a good deal of what you’ve invested revolves around gaining the knowledge to become a superstar in the first place! So, what can you do to retain that valuable knowledge and pass it on to the next generation of superstars? It takes more effort than simply having a team that’s willing to help and train others. Retaining that knowledge has to be intentional, not incidental. “The knowledge in their head is a business resource…The skillset goes with them. The knowledge can stay behind.” -Adam Toporek In this episode, we’re diving deep into some of the best ways to keep that valuable knowledge in the house. Jeannie and Adam have lots of tips not only to help you engage those superstars to start sharing their secrets, but to determine who those superstars are. You can’t always keep your best people from leaving, but you can prevent them from taking their secret sauce with them. Listen in to learn how! Related Content 360Connext® post, Are You Making the Most of your Customer Service Superstars? Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 267: 3 Questions for Employees Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Renowned speaker and author Mark Sanborn shares his leadership wisdom to inspire every employee to deliver extraordinary customer experiences, every time. Leadership is not just for leaders...or followers! Leadership has always been a tricky subject, but being a customer-centric leader today is not for the weak of heart. Just knowing what needs to be done and telling your people to do it is far from enough. In fact, leading this way leads to disengaged employees, high turnover, and ultimately, poor customer experiences. “Indifference is the number one killer of relationships.” -Mark Sanborn Great customer experiences come from a team that not only knows what to do and how, but why. They know it’s not about what happens in the customer journey, but how the customer feels about it. And they need to be empowered to take the lead on behalf of customers positive emotions highlight the experience, no matter what. This is how extraordinary customer experiences are created from ordinary roles! “You don’t manage Customer Service. You lead it.” -Mark Sanborn That’s why we’re proud to welcome renowned speaker and bestselling author Mark Sanborn to the show! Mark has written several books about leadership, and he is here to help you connect the dots between leadership and outstanding customer experiences. He outlines what makes a great leader, and how extraordinary leadership inspires employees to own their piece of the customer experience, instead of just going through the motions associated with their job titles. Here are some highlights from the interview: Can’t people just show up and do their jobs without making waves? Mark explains why these “neutral” employees lead to poor outcomes, along with some tips to help you turn that around. [4:00] How can leaders stop leaning on their titles and focus more on creating relationships that inspire true commitment to the customer experience? [7:22] Who is Fred, and how does he turn an ordinary job into an extraordinary experience for customers? More importantly, how can anyone do the same? [9:50] While intentions are good, the customer experience can still suffer. Mark outlines three things leaders and their teams must excel at to close these gaps. [16:10] Mark has another book coming soon! So what is it about? We finish up this interview with key takeaways and some information to help you get your copy. [19:00] About our guest Mark is the president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea lab for leadership development.  He has written or co-authored 8 books and is the author of more than two dozen videos and audio training programs on leadership, change, teamwork and customer service. He has presented over 2400 speeches and seminars in every state and a dozen countries. Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) from the National Speakers Association and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame (CPAE). Mark’s book, The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary is an international bestseller and was on the New York Times, Business Week and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.   Mark is a past president of the National Speakers Association and winner of The Cavett, the highest honor bestowed by that organization. Connect with Mark Twitter Website Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Create the Most Spectacular Customer Service Disasters Customers That Stick® post, How to Get Your Team to Deliver Consistent Customer Service Episode 342: Ruben Ocampo, Service Design Episode 328: Customer Service Phrases that Are a Problem We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie kick off 2019 with some of the best resolutions you can make to continuously improve customer experience and customer service all year long. Are you ready to kick off a customer-focused new year? We made it to 2019. Yippee! We had a long, much-needed break, but we’re so glad to be back. And what better way is there to start the new year than to make meaningful resolutions? Perhaps you’ve already made your resolutions about eating healthier and actually using that gym membership, but we’re here to talk about improving your customer experience as part of your strategy for business success. “Our resolutions are all about customer experience and customer service.” -Adam Toporek So what should you resolve to do for your customers in 2019? Adam Toporek and Jeannie Walters are two of the most recognized and respected names in customer experience and customer service, and they’re here to help you hit the ground running. Not only have they shared some of the most important resolutions you can make on behalf of your customers, but they had a lot of fun doing it! “Resolutions should be about ACTION.” -Jeannie Walters Resolutions may tend to fade over time, but we’ve got a few you need to keep top-of-mind throughout the year. Here’s to an exciting year of focusing on customers for greater business success! Related Content 360Connext® post, What You Need to Know to Reduce Customer Effort in 2019 Customers That Stick® post, The Fusion of Brand and Culture with Denise Lee Yohn Episode 214: Who Drives Customer Experience? Episode 300: Celebrating 300 Episodes (with live guitar) We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam uncover the science behind consistently great customer service with Mark Colgate, author of The Science of Service. Get customer service down to a science The problem with customer service is not making it great, but making it consistently great. It is impossible to make people do, think and feel the same things. What is great for one customer may be terrible for the next, or simply may not work out the same way in every situation. So how can we know our service is always great for every customer? And more importantly, how do we hold employees accountable for this? “You can't tell someone they are accountable. They will reject that." -Mark Colgate However impossible this may sound, Mark Colgate, Ph.D has it down to a science! In fact, his latest book is all about how you can take a scientific approach to delivering consistently great customer service. “There’s a really clear science to service.” -Mark Colgate This episode is chock-full of actionable highlights from Mark’s book, the Science of Service. Not only does he share some of his best tips and examples, but he gives you what you need to develop a framework for consistent service you can use today! “You can even take the science of service and build a community around great customer service.” -Mark Colgate Here’s an overview of what you’ll learn: Not only is consistency important in customer service, but Mark explains why it is the most important. [3:23] Mark shares his F.A.M.E model so you can dig in and develop your framework. [6:53] One big key to consistent service is giving customers cognitive control. Here’s how that works. [9:35] What does this look like in action? Mark shares a first-hand case study and tips for rallying employees. [14:30] Are you ready to get consistently great customer service down to a science for your organization? Then put on your lab coat and listen in! About our guest Mark Colgate is a Professor of Service Excellence at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business. His teaching roles have taken him all over the world, including regular assignments at the China European Business School in Shanghai, the U.K., Ireland and New Zealand. An expert in customer service excellence, Mark has consulted for many service organizations including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, TELUS, Whistler Blackcomb, Kiwi Experience, Sony, Toyota and many areas of the BC and UK government. Connect with Mark Twitter Website Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Create the Most Spectacular Customer Service Disasters Customers That Stick® post, How to Get Your Team to Deliver Consistent Customer Service Episode 342: Ruben Ocampo, Service Design Episode 328: Customer Service Phrases that Are a Problem We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam dust off the crystal ball and have some fun bringing you their expert customer experience predictions for 2019. What are our top predictions for 2019? It’s that time of year again, when we look back at the year behind us and speculate about what’s to come. It’s been an amazing year for trends in business technology, organizational leadership, and customer expectations, so where are we headed based on these?  Here’s a peek at what we’re talking about: 1. Artificial experiences get real Artificial Intelligence has made leaps and bounds in 2018, but we’re not quite ready to let the machines take the wheel in most cases. Is that about to change? We see some exciting things about to happen! 2. Whose role is it anyway? More companies have created executive roles focused on customers, and for the most part, we think that’s a good thing. On the other hand, some have not done a great job at defining those roles. How can leaders avoid creating more of the interdepartmental friction and other side effects of expanding the C-Suite? 3. Is the retail apocalypse still happening? With the exodus of Toys R Us and many other age-old brands, the death of retail has been a hot topic this year, leaving many retailers scrambling for ways to hang onto their customers. Will the older retailers learn their lessons and adapt to the new retail landscape, or will they succumb to the underdogs founded around more experience-focused practices? 4. Going old-school 2018 has seen a resurgence of retro apparel, decor and even food...and the hipsters have been doing that since before it was cool, amiright!? We don’t think they’re going to stop there. In fact, they’re about to amp up their fascination with embracing the old as new and begin demanding retro experiences. Can you and your staff handle it? 5. Bleep, bloop, beep! Customer Experience Maturity has been all abuzz in 2018 as well. But with the flurry of new tech and mind blowing ways to analyze data, we’re challenging what “maturity” really means here in terms of WHY all this fancy tech is being used. 2019 will be a wake-up call of sorts when it comes to leveraging this tech, but it requires a shift in perspective. We had a lot of fun recording this episode, so we hope you’ll have as much fun listening! And here’s a bonus prediction for today: You will download this episode, then rate and review Crack the Customer Code today. (Can’t blame me for trying, right?) Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, What You Need to Know to Reduce Customer Effort in 2019 Customers That Stick® post, The Fusion of Brand and Culture with Denise Lee Yohn Episode 214: Who Drives Customer Experience? Episode 300: Celebrating 300 Episodes (with live guitar) We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jay Baer enlightens us with his powerful and proven approach to strategically creating, controlling and measuring word of mouth with key takeaways from his new book, Talk Triggers. Create amazing word of mouth ON PURPOSE with Talk Triggers When it comes to marketing, nothing is more cost-effective than word of mouth. However, we tend to think of word of mouth as organic. We assume it’s something we can’t predict, measure, and control. Maybe you get lucky, and maybe you don't. But what if you could get customers talking on purpose, in ways that are predictable and quantifiable? "Word of mouth influences between 50 and 90 percent of all purchases.” -Jay Baer Together with co-author Daniel Lemin, today’s guest Jay Baer has written the book on strategically creating and controlling word of mouth for your brand. It’s called Talk Triggers, and not only do we love this book, but we had the privilege of interviewing Jay to bring you some of the biggest takeaways! In this interview, Jay explains not just why you need to strategically create Talk Triggers, but HOW to work then into your operations and customer experience strategy. Through tireless research, inspiring case studies, and good old-fashioned experience with his own client success stories at Convince and Convert, Jay Baer has created a formula for making word of mouth intentional, scalable and measurable. “A Talk Trigger really is a customer experience…it’s a CX dimension.” -Jay Baer Don’t wait for word-of-mouth to just happen or make assumptions about what your customers will want to share with their friends.  With Jay’s approach to creating Talk Triggers, you will abandon the notion that word of mouth is something you cannot control, and consequently, build insane loyalty with a marketing machine fueled by your best customers. “A Talk Trigger allows you to do word of mouth on purpose."  -Jay Baer Interview Highlights The problem of WOM: What makes something a Talk Trigger? [4:29] What are the five different types of word of mouth, and more importantly, are some more important than others? [6:17] Talk Triggers can be a powerful part of CX strategy, but How do you operationalize this concept? [9:42] Jay shares his six-step process for developing, testing, and believe it or not, measuring the success of Talk Triggers! [12:06] Some Talk Triggers may have a short shelf life, but how can we get ahead of this? [15:00] We talk a lot about adding surprise and delight as Talk Triggers, but what about innovations and new features? [21:43] About our guest Jay Baer helps businesses clone their customers. He has created five multi-million dollar companies, and is a 7th-generation entrepreneur. He is the President of Convince & Convert, a consulting firm that helps the world's most iconic brands like The United Nations, Nike, 3M, and Oracle use technology to win new customers, and keep the customers they've already earned. A New York Times best-selling author of five books, Jay is the host of the award-winning Social Pros podcast. He's also an avid tequila collector, and a certified barbecue judge. Connect with Jay Twitter Talk Triggers website Amazing bonus content including worksheets, infographics, and more free resources! Join the Talk Triggers Facebook group Related Content 360Connext® post, Wired Together: Building Customer Loyalty And Word of Mouth Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode Search jay baer 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters Episode 152: Daniel Lemin, Manipurated We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam riff not only on the current state of airline customer experience, but how some airlines are working (or not working) to consider the experience as part of their value proposition. Let's talk about the airline customer experience  Our hosts spend LOTS of time on airplanes, so they can’t help but keep an eye on the industry and make observations about the experiences delivered. But even if you don’t travel as much as Adam and Jeannie, the travel industry is loaded with examples of how customer experience is becoming very much a part of the value proposition.  In this episode, we discuss several of the changes that are happening in the airline industry today, along with some changes many of us are crying for.  While pricing is often relative to experience, that’s not always the case! Could the restrooms get even smaller? Why, yes they can! In fact, it is happening. But why? If there’s one thing about the airline customer experience that could give Jeannie PTSD, it’s this… Customer Experience vs. Employee Experience: Airline employees described their company in 3 words, but the answers are shocking!  Are "average" pricing and experiences disappearing along with the middle class? Why do Jeannie and Adam favor certain airlines over others? They often agree to disagree, and their reasons may surprise you! In an industry so huge, what's considered "great service" is often subjective. What are airlines doing about this?  Not only will this episode help you make better choices if you're a road warrior like Adam and Jeannie, but it's filled with tips you can apply to customer experience transformation efforts in your organization. Listen for more! “When does the product become so much about ‘how am I treated as a customer?’” @jeanniecw Tweet this! “Part of how we experience customer service as customers is just what we do...” @adamtoporek Tweet this! Related Content 360Connext® post, How Micromapping Can Save Your Business Customers That Stick® post, How to Get Your Team to Deliver Consistent Customer Service Episode 226: Let’s Talk About Airline Customer Service Episode 129: TSA Customer Service We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Toporek explains how the Peak-End Rule can make or break a customer experience in surprising ways, and how leveraging it helps you leave a more favorable impression on your customers...on purpose! Ruling customer emotions with the Peak-End Rule One thing we’ve covered a lot on this show is how to “wow” your customers. But we often forget that an overall wonderful experience can be filled with terrible moment-to-moment experiences, and vice-versa. So what are your customers really feeling after the experience you’ve invested so much in? Does all the surprise and delight you add to your customer experience add up to something your customers will really look back on favorably? It seems pretty simple, but it’s a vexing paradox even the best business leaders struggle to get a grip on! “Our memory of the experiences is not the average of how we felt throughout the experiences.” - Adam Toporek This is why business leaders need not only to understand the Peak-End Rule, but to bake it into our customer experience strategies. What do you want customers to remember you for, and are you really approaching this the right way? What are the emotional high and low points in your customer experience, and more importantly, which will customers remember you for? In our last episode, bestselling author Shaun Belding explained there’s more than one kind of “Wow” in customer experiences. So understanding the Peak-End rule goes a long way in helping you make the difference between inspiring customers to say “Wow, let’s do that again!” vs “Wow, that stunk to high heaven!”   Listen in for Adam's expert tips to take charge of these critical emotional tipping points. Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Drive Business Results With The Peak-End Rule Customers That Stick® post, Exceeding Customer Expectations Is Nice but Not Necessary Episode 344: Shaun Belding, The Journey to Wow Episode 321: Jesse Cole, Revolutionizing the Ballpark Experience We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie unlock your potential to create and deliver ever-improving customer experiences with Shaun Belding, CEO of The Belding Group and author of The Journey to Wow. Are you on your Journey to Wow? Leaders everywhere say they want to “wow” their customers. So they create new processes and experiences that look great from within the walls of their organizations. Then they find out customers are saying “wow, that was… awful!” But who hasn’t said that more than once? We all know there are two kinds of “wow,” so why do we forget about this when creating customer experiences? “Customer Experience has a payoff. You have to believe that.” -Shaun Belding Shaun Belding, CEO of the Belding Group, understands how easy it is to miss the mark when creating memorable customer experiences. In fact, his latest book is all about how to create these “wow” experiences without losing sight of customer emotions and what “wow” really means to them. It starts with defining what “wow” really means within the context of your customer experiences, and how that fits into your culture and processes. Then you must realize there’s no end-game where the experience is great, and anticipate the next improvement. "Just because you were great yesterday doesn't mean you're going to be great today." -Shaun Belding In this interview, Shaun breaks down his approach not only to defining the different kinds of “wow” in your experience, but how to put that into a context that’s actually useful, then discover where you need to focus. So we hope listen in then say “Wow, I am so glad I listened to this episode!” “You can’t ask the front lines to be relentless if the CEO isn’t driving it.” -Shaun Belding Interview Highlights What inspired Shaun to write The Journey to Wow in a parable format? [3:00] What’s at stake when leaders seek to create “wow” experiences, and more importantly, how can Shaun’s approach fix that? [6:15] Complacency is a huge enemy of great customer experiences, so how can we get ahead of it? [16:00] About our guest Shaun Belding has been in the customer experience space for 27 years.  (Pretty amazing, since he claims to be only 32 years old…) He is CEO of the Belding Group of companies - an award-winning global customer experience consulting and customer service training company.  He is a bestselling author of six books, published internationally in 12 languages, including the just-released The Journey to WOW. Connect with Shaun LinkedIn Twitter Buy Shaun’s book: The Journey to Wow Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Avoid Hidden Disasters in Customer Experience Design Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode 098: Brian Solis, Where Business Meets Design Episode 329: Be a Customer Experience Change Agent We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the past, present and future of custom subscription boxes and their growing role in the data revolution. Subscription boxes enter the data revolution In the past few years, we have seen explosive growth in data collection methods. As a result, marketers get a better ROI on their campaigns while delivering more personalized products, services, and experiences. And now we’ve seen a growing trend in subscription boxes, where consumers offer much richer information from the start. Services like BirchBox, StitchFix, BarkBox, Blue Apron, and many others, offer custom-tailored boxes based not only on their initial preferences, but their behavior of returning merchandise, upgrading and downgrading service levels, and more. “The data that you CAN get is so much richer…” -Jeannie Walters But now these services are beginning to use Artificial Intelligence to analyze this data, and really leveraging the power of smart algorithms. This serves not only to reduce the costs of keeping stylists and consultants on the ready, but to create richer customer profiles and inform new ways of segmenting. The robots are collecting and acting on information about size, weight, dietary preferences, styling preferences, and many more things marketers wouldn’t have dreamed of having access to in the past. So, this all sounds great, doesn’t it? It’s a win/win where organizations have increasingly powerful data at hand and consumers save precious time knowing someone (or something) is making good choices for them, possibly better than the choices they’d make on their own. “Organizations are using every action we take as a data point to understand us.”  -Adam Toporek However, you might guess that we’ve been wondering if this is sustainable, and we certainly are! What happens when algorithms start sending things they think customers should like, but don’t? Then what happens when customers “settle” for those choices simply to receive incentives for future purchases? In the search for perfect data, marketers and their robots continually open the door for new imperfect forms of targeting, and consequently, imperfect customer experiences. So this growing trend of subscription boxes coupled with the use of AI is rife with potential for disaster! In this episode, we dive into this trend from the customer’s perspective, look back at how it all got started, where it is today, and what it may mean for the future of marketing and big data. Our robots say you need to listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, What’s Missing from your Data Insights? Customers That Stick® post, What Great Brands Do Episode 335: Do You have a Purchase or Usage Brand? Episode 311: Which Retail Touchpoints Matter Most We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forward-thinking designer and strategic facilitator Ruben Ocampo joins us not only to set the record straight about what design thinking really is, but to share his unique, human-centric approach to service design. Do you see service design through a human lens? In this ever-changing world of products and services, we have a major problem with problem-solving. Too often, we approach service design as a means to our own ends. Then, in our efforts to adopt a better approach, we adopt terms like “design thinking” that tend to lose their true meaning through all the buzz. Many companies interpret design thinking as a better kind of brainstorming session, which is only a small part of it. While great ideas may be born this way, they often only live on paper. As a result, companies waste millions launching innovations that don’t solve the problems they intended to solve. In fact, sometimes new problems are created in the process! “Even if we don’t have the title of designer, we’re designing solutions for someone." -Ruben Ocampo But Ruben Ocampo is here to help us understand a more human-centric (and efficient!) approach to service design. He outlines the three major ways of solving problems, how they limit our options, and some keys to keeping our capabilities and limitations in perspective. “It’s all about building empathy through observation." -Ruben Ocampo Service design is not just about innovating around customers to solve problems, or even to deliver better service. Rather, it's about creating experiences that influence customer behavior and evoke positive emotions. So seeing experiences through a human lens is critical! This can be a bigger challenge for organizations that have been operating the same way forever. But Ruben has tackled this not only with businesses, but with cities and government agencies too! Listen in to learn Ruben’s approach to human-centric design, so you can attack service issues head on and move forward with a service design that delights customers and sets your brand apart from the competition. Interview Highlights What inspired Ruben to focus on design thinking, and why did he develop his unique approach? [2:57] There’s a lot of miscommunication around what “design thinking” and “service design” really are, so Ruben explains how understanding what these things mean helps customers and companies alike. [4:48] It’s one thing to solve existing problems, but how does design thinking help businesses prepare for solutions to problems that don’t even exist yet? [8:58] Surely there are constraints to apply to human-centric design, but when should they considered? [12:30] Ruben talks about his work in human-centric design with city innovations in Chicago and Bogota. [15:43] About our guest Ruben Ocampo is a designer and strategic facilitator who helps leaders imagine and enact visionary change by engaging them in a purposeful and meaningful dialogue with customers, workforce, and other stakeholders in the value chain. Having received Master degrees in both business administration and human-centered design, Ruben’s unique approach combines different ways of creating and interpreting shared meaning. Ruben has worked across several sectors, including government, manufacturing, hospitality, health, and financial services. He teaches master's-level courses in management and design and has spoken at design conferences and seminars in the US and abroad. Connect with Ruben LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Conic website trans:form:ed website Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Avoid Hidden Disasters in Customer Experience Design Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode 098: Brian Solis, Where Business Meets Design Episode 329: Be a Customer Experience Change Agent We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the apparent decline in trust of Word of Mouse and how businesses and consumers are navigating the misinformation associated with online reviews. Navigating the new Word of Mouse Positive word of mouth can be very powerful in driving sales and forging loyalty. But because marketers know this, review sites and forums are becoming rife with fake reviews. For example, it’s been said recently that up to one-third of reviews on TripAdvisor are fake. “People are more and more suspect of fake reviews.” -Adam Toporek However, it’s not just TripAdvisor we’re talking about here. There’s a huge market for fake reviews, and some marketers have started using “review farms” and other clever (or not-so-clever) ways to sneak them into giants like Amazon. As a result, customers are trusting word of mouse, or online reviews, less and less. “They are gaming the system to the detriment of those of us who do trust reviews…” -Jeannie Walters So, is word of mouse as a means to influence customers on the decline? Yes and no… As businesses find more ways to exploit customers’ dependence on online reviews, customers are becoming more savvy in determining which reviews to trust. In fact, they’re finding ways to share more trustworthy information on platforms where the businesses in question have less control. In today’s episode, Jeannie and Adam explore what is driving this shift and what it means for your business. How can you approach reviews in the age of fake word of mouse? Will your genuinely fantastic online reviews get lost in the din? Listen in and put your money where your mouse is! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Survive Dangerously Casual Customer Reviews Customers That Stick® post, When Sales Does Service on Social with Phil Gerbyshak Episode 183: Online Reviews More Important Than Ever Episode 152: Daniel Lemin, Manipurated We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author and career futurist Marti Konstant joins us to discuss how an agile career can create a brighter future for you, your colleagues, and your organization. Why career agility is a priority With customer expectations changing constantly, agility is important in today’s marketplace. But how agile is your business, really, if your career is not? How ready are you to take the next step in your project, in your organization, or ultimately, in your career? “… develop talent value for yourself that wouldn’t exist…” -Marti Konstant Marti Konstant created the Career Agility Model not only to help professionals keep one foot stepping towards tomorrow’s success, but to help them bring more value to their organizations today. Having an agile career, as Marti explains, makes you more successful in projects, careers, and personal branding. But it’s not about learning to do anything and everything at once. In fact, focusing on one great thing can be your ticket to leveraging your other strengths in the future. “Become known for one thing, people will engage you on those other skillsets.” -Marti Konstant So as many of our listeners are interested in building their personal brands while being superstars to their own teams, we’re delighted to have this amazing discussion about how both you and your organization can benefit from career agility. Agility is needed on all fronts to succeed in an ever-changing marketplace, and true career agility starts with the amazing insights and actions Marti reveals in this interview. To find out how to use the Career Agility Model, create an Idea Zone to stay on the ready, assemble and leverage your own Feedback Squad, and more, listen in! Interview Highlights What does it mean to have career agility? [2:20] It seems career agility makes it easier to jump ship, so why is it beneficial to organizations and employers? [4:25] What is an “Idea Zone,” and more importantly, how can you create your own? [6:00] How can a feedback squad help optimize your personal branding? [9:12] If I haven’t found my “true north” yet, then how can I approach career agility? [12:07] How can you focus on being known for one great thing but still be agile and ready for what’s next? [14:35] About our guest Marti Konstant is a workplace futurist, career growth analyst, author, speaker, and founder of the Agile Careerist Project™. Her career path includes: artist, designer, brand developer, entrepreneur, technology marketing executive, and investor. Marti delivers keynotes, workshops and training, where future of work and career agility are central themes. Her book, Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change Will Inspire Your Life’s Work, was listed as #1 New Release and Best Seller on Amazon. She earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Connect with Marti Twitter LinkedIn Instagram AgileCareer.com Free Career Agility Guide Newsletter Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Focus Learning Paths on Greater CX Success Customers That Stick® post, Keep Stepping to Succeed with Joy Marsden Episode 136: Jane Anderson, Customer Service for Personal Brands Episode 114: Ron Tite, Branding and Creativity Expert We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie Walters CCXP gives you the 101 on customer journey mapping so you can stop stalling and start making a difference today. Customer Journey Mapping: What’s holding you back? When the subject of customer journey mapping comes up, we often think of gorgeous, robust maps that take forever to complete. Then we think of how much work that must be, how enormous our customer journey is, and ultimately, how we don’t have the time or money for all that. But that’s why many business leaders miss out on the amazing “A-Ha!” moments and opportunities to add delight that only come from a customer journey mapping project. It’s too easy to get hung up on the deliverable itself, when it’s actually the project, the “doing” of customer journey mapping, that makes the magic happen.  “Doing a journey map for journey mapping’s sake…Congratulations, you have a poster, and customers still hate you.” – Jeannie Walters What’s more, customer journey mapping is typically seen as a huge project that takes forever. “How can we map the entire customer journey? It’s enormous! And we have so. Many. Customer Segments…” Stop right there. You don’t have to map the entire journey of every customer. You don’t have to consider every customer at once and create a giant monster that eats up all your time and money. And more importantly, you don’t have to worry about making it pretty.  “The magic of journey mapping is in the process.” – Jeannie Walters In this episode, Jeannie gives you the 101 on journey mapping so you can get started right away, no matter who your customers are or what your situation is. Customer journey mapping doesn’t have to be huge and expensive to spark action that makes a real difference, so don't let the beautiful maps you see online dictate what your map should be like. Listen in to learn more about Jeannie’s fully-adaptable “can-do” approach! Related Content 360Connext® post, Using Customer Journey Maps: Dirty Secrets and Wasted Opportunities Customers That Stick® post, Remove the Weak Links in Your Customer Experience: Part 1 Episode 163: When to Update Customer Journey Maps Episode 287: The Multi-Device Customer Journey We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss how to overcome the pitfalls and challenges of developing a business model around entrepreneurship with Danny Schuman, author of “The Worst Business Model” and founder of Twist. Do entrepreneurs need to have a business model? As entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small business owners, we tend to follow our passions and go with our guts on everything. But sooner or later, we must develop a business model or scaling becomes difficult… or even impossible! “Sometimes it’s hard to get out of our own way.” -Danny Schuman It’s tough to develop standards and policies when thus far, we’ve surrounded ourselves with great people, done whatever we do best, and it’s all been working out. While it can feel like we don’t need a business model, serving more clients and maintaining solid relationships with them becomes incredibly difficult. But how can we develop guidelines and rules without losing touch with the passion that brought us here in the first place? As an entrepreneur who beat the odds, Danny Schuman has been asked this question many times, so it inspired him to write a book! In fact, he dug in and interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs to find the best ways to develop a business model while staying engaged with customers and offering the best possible experiences. “We often do things that work but we don’t really notice them…” -Danny Schuman In this episode, we learn some great ways to stay positive, stay focused, put a method behind our madness, and more importantly, leverage what’s been working for us in ways that are scalable. Interview Highlights Danny’s book is called “The Worst Business Model in the World,” but why do people need to know about that? [2:51] What does UDOT stand for, and more importantly, how does it help entrepreneurs when things go wrong? [6:00] Why dedicate a chapter to hugging clients, and how does it relate to customer experience? [10:14] What does it mean to be unapologetically loyal? [12:59] If it’s really the worst business model, then why on earth do we all do this to ourselves? [16:27] About our guest Danny Schuman is a writer, marketer, and entrepreneur who has spent his career creating ideas to solve challenges. He founded marketing consultancy Twist in January 2009, working with big and small brands to develop successful brand strategy, focus their message, and bring that message to the right people with great marketing materials. Before founding Twist, Danny wrote and creative directed marketing campaigns that helped build iconic brands like Quaker Oatmeal, Coors Light, and Gatorade. He and Michael Jordan started working on Gatorade on the same day. Michael called Danny “Peanut Butter Jelly Boy,” but that’s a story for another time. His #1 best-selling book The Worst Business Model in the World: A New Kind of Guide for a New Kind of Entrepreneur is available on Amazon! Connect with Danny Hey UDOTS on Twitter Hey UDOTS on Facebook Website – Twist Your Thinking Get Danny’s Book Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Tips for Entrepreneurs: Prioritize or Lose Your Mojo! Customers That Stick® post, Keep Stepping to Succeed with Joy Marsden Episode 321: Jesse Cole, Revolutionizing the Ballpark Experience Episode 324: A Good Product Is Not Enough We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie explore the decline of people using the phone for customer service and how to know if chat is better for you and your customers. Why is chat better than phone for some customers? We all know calling a company for customer service is typically time-consuming and frustrating. So with text-based service options like chat becoming more available, many of us are opting not to pick up the phone. “We all have been trained to not pick up the phone…” -Jeannie Walters But is this really better? While chat offers convenience and a better sense of control for the customer, phone conversations capture more of the emotion and urgency of the situation. So even though we save on resources by sending customers through this channel, we miss out on valuable insights that can only be communicated through the spoken word. Perhaps we should not be looking at this as one channel being better than the other. Instead, maybe we should be thinking about what actually serves the customer in the moment. For instance, is chat only preferred because the customer gave up while waiting for a service agent on the phone? “That’s not a problem of the channel. That’s a problem of the execution.” -Adam Toporek This is a hot issue to which there’s no one right answer. In fact, the Washington Post recently published an article encouraging customer NOT to call for customer service. While this idea may sound great for companies hoping to save on resources, it signals a public perception of failure around phone support. So what can you do about this, and what does it mean for customer service in your company? More importantly, what does it mean for the way customers perceive your brand and how you collect those insights? We talk about this and a lot more on the podcast. Listen in! Related Content Washington Post Article, Want better customer service? Don’t call. Text. 360Connext® post, 3 Ways the Best Brands Do Omnichannel Right Customers That Stick® post, Remove the Weak Links in Your Customer Experience: Part 1 Episode 336: Joshua March, Social Media Messaging Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joshua March, bestselling author and Founder of Conversiocial, shares how social media messaging helps create better customer experiences while cutting customer service costs. Customer service efficiency through social media messaging Besides the fact that customers want help via social media messaging, it’s cheaper, faster and more efficient that traditional channels. But most companies have yet to adopt it as a core channel for customer service and communication in general. “If you’re taking a day to respond, then people will just end up phoning” @joshuamarch These channels aren’t going away, friends. In fact, 8 billion business-to-consumer messages are sent via Facebook messenger monthly, and this number has grown 4 times past 12 months. So we invited Joshua March, Founder of Conversocial, to discuss the benefits and challenges of adopting social media messaging as a primary method of communication, both internally and with customers. “You really need to be treating messaging as a semi-real-time channel.” @joshuamarch Josh not only explains why social messaging is important and here to stay, but he shares great examples of companies using social media messaging in ways that provide faster, more efficient customer service while saving big money on communications. For example, one company has moved up to 60% of their customer service communications to social messaging. You can do this too! You can handle customer service more efficiently and consistently via social media messaging than any other. As a result, you will save money, bolster public perception, CSAT, NPS and more. Listen in! Interview Highlights If apps have made so many things easier, then why is customer service is still not where it needs to be? [4:50] What is a "conversational relationship," and more importantly, how can brands create and maintain that type of relationship? [9:05] Messaging is all over the place these days, so what kinds of apps should we be focusing on for today’s customers? [11:32] What are the short-term and long-term pros and cons of making messaging a core method of business communication? [13:15] Having a quick customer service response time has helped many brands with public perception, so Joshua shared his favorite examples of brands who have done this well. [16:31] About our guest Joshua March founded Conversocial in 2009 based on his vision that online communication and customer service were undergoing fundamental shifts, requiring businesses to invest in new processes and technologies to manage the rapidly shifting social landscape. A leading proponent of social media, Joshua previously founded leading social application company iPlatform, one of the world's first Facebook Preferred Developers, which was acquired in 2012.  Having started his career in London, Joshua is now based in New York where he leads the US operations of Conversocial, as well as global strategy. And he is now the author of the new book Message Me, a book on the future of customer service. Connect with Joshua Twitter Conversocial Website Joshua’s book, Message Me, on Amazon Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways the Best Brands Do Omnichannel Right Customers That Stick® post, How Employee Empowerment Really Works Episode 229: Dan Gingiss, Social Customer Care Episode 150: Phil Gerbyshak, Social Connections We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the core distinctions between a purchase brand and a usage brand and how that translates to better customer experiences, and ultimately, greater long-term success. Your customer’s journey is not what you think it is It’s one thing to sell a product or service then call it a success and move on to the next customer... But it’s another thing to continue building a mutually rewarding relationship with that first customer. As it turns out, engaging, educating and celebrating existing customers leads to increased loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. “How can we make sure that that usage part is amazing?” - Jeannie Walters Simply put, to create a brand that inspires loyalty and advocacy, you need to focus on creating an experience that lives beyond the sales phase to inform and encourage the way customers use your product or service. Top brands like Sephora and AirBNB create lasting relationships around usage instead of pouring all that money and energy into traditional marketing, and the results have been incredible! But don’t take my word for it! In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share great examples and comparisons to show you why these two concepts really can’t coexist. You’ll learn about brands that are focused on purchase, brands that focus on usage, and even some brands that have had great success making a switch. “Any company can do this if they shift their focus.” -Adam Toporek So which kind of brand are you, the kind that focuses on promotion, or the kind that focuses on advocacy? If you’re thinking you can do both, according to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review that inspired this episode, you must choose! But don’t worry, Adam and Jeannie are here to help you make that distinction and decide if you’re on the right path. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Using Customer Journey Maps: Dirty Secrets and Wasted Opportunities Customers That Stick® post, Remove the Weak Links in Your Customer Experience: Part 1 Episode 289: Transitions and Gaps in CX Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview author and speaker Melissa Agnes about how preparing beyond traditional crisis management can make your brand invincible. Will Crisis Management save your brand? Most brands have a Crisis Management plan, typically as a large volume to refer to for guidance when a situation arises. Unfortunately, these plans rarely pull through during a real crisis. And what’s more, they serve only as reactive tools. So, what good is that when bad PR has already gone viral or your partners are backing out of a deal to prevent risking their own reputation? “If you think about crisis management when a crisis strikes, you are behind. You’re doomed, really.” -Melissa Agnes Speaker and author Melissa Agnes is here to tell us there’s a better way to approach crisis situations. In fact, she knows how your brand can become invincible by getting ahead of these situations, instead of just reacting to them! “When you have those unbreakable relationship, you also gain the benefit of the doubt” -Melissa Agnes In this episode, find out how you can create a culture that is prepared to: Detect risk Assess the impact Manage in a way that strengthens relationships Come out of any crisis stronger than before! Whether you’re a small retailer, a B2B company, or an entrepreneur, your next crisis is around the corner. Listen in to make your brand invincible! Interview Highlights Melissa’s book is about Building an Invincible Brand, so how is that different from Crisis Management? [4:20] If a crisis is not the same as an issue, then how can we differentiate the two to respond appropriately?  [7:37] Where do customer experience and crisis management intersect, and more importantly, how do culture and training fit into creating an Invincible Brand? [14:14] B2B issues rarely go viral, but they can still become crises! So how can we prepare for a crisis with a partner or B2B relationship? [19:35] Melissa’s book outlines a formula for managing a crisis around controversy, but she decided to share it with our listeners! [24:45] What about those “grey” situations where it’s not totally clear a crisis is developing, but one may be possible? [27:26] About our guest Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection.  Agnes is a coveted speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today's leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. As a strategic advisor and keynote speaker, Melissa Agnes has worked with NATO, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, financial firms, technology companies, healthcare organizations, cities and municipalities, law enforcement agencies, global non-profits, and many others. Agnes is the editor of the Crisis ReadyBlog, a contributor to Forbes, and a go-to source for the press, with recent coverage including the Wall Street Journal, VIBE Magazine, USA Today, and many others. Connect with Melissa Twitter LinkedIn Website Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Leadership Biases that Hinder Success in Business Customers That Stick® post, How to Treat Customers: With Respect Episode 309: Common Leadership Biases in Your Way of Success Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from the National Speakers Association’s Influence 2018 conference, Adam and Jeannie take the mic (and camera!) to make 2 strong cases for mapping your customer’s journey more thoroughly. Your customer’s journey is not what you think it is Too often, brands elect not to map the entire customer journey because they think they know all about what happens. Unfortunately, this sense of understanding is typically based on assumptions around the ideal journey, not the actual experience. As a result, customers experience unnecessary friction, frustration, and broken promises. “If someone makes me a promise…then I should be able to rely on that.” -Jeannie Walters We have 2 cases in point: While in Dallas, TX for the National Speakers Association (NSA) Influence 2018 conference, Adam and Jeannie noticed a few hiccups in their own journeys as customers. So they put on their customer experience hats to show you what can go wrong when your customer journey is viewed only from the inside out. “We’re using this as a teachable moment.” -Adam Toporek But it’s not just about the journey they have as your customer. As you’ll learn in this episode, considering where your customer was before they reached your brand and how they reached you can reveal critical distinctions! Many brands still don’t take this step towards greater understanding. Therefore, we urge you to listen in (or watch!) this episode, where Adam and Jeannie analyze these experiences from the customer’s perspective. Related Content 360Connext® post, Using Customer Journey Maps: Dirty Secrets and Wasted Opportunities Customers That Stick® post, Remove the Weak Links in Your Customer Experience: Part 1 Episode 289: Transitions and Gaps in CX Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss an innovative approach to resolving collaboration issues and working together harmoniously with Alan Schaefer, CEO and Founder of Banding People Together. Take collaboration to the next level, then ROCK it! If you work as part of a collaborative team, then you know collaboration can be rough. But don’t beat yourself up! Even when there’s a solid process, collaborating effectively is rarely an effort that just falls into place. “There are no collaborative rules of the road” - Alan Schaefer It’s easy to think putting more heads together means cranking out better results more efficiently. But having faced incredible collaborative challenges as a band member, Alan Schaefer understands why collaboration poses additional challenges and causes friction among team members. So Alan decided to change this for organizational teams. He has developed his own methodology to not only help them collaborate better, but to do so in a way that’s repeatable. And you’re not going to believe how he achieves this! “It’s really bridging that gap between people that are ‘heart-wired’ and ‘hard-wired’" - Alan Schaefer Through collaborative songwriting exercises, Alan helped large organizations strengthen corporate teambuilding, gain a better sense of self-awareness, and direct different types of thinkers towards collaborative roles where their contributions are most effective. Using Alan’s own Collaborative Harmony Index, organizations assess their strengths and weaknesses, then learn how to work together better. They discover how to be more efficient, productive, and most of all, be a part of a culture that creates better customer experiences. “To get to that external engaged customer state you’ve got to do the work inside first.” - Alan SAchaefer We’re talking about ways everyone can work towards rapid alignment between leadership, goals and team-members here, but in ways you've never heard of. But the best part is that you don’t have to record a hit single to put Alan’s amazing insights to work for you today. So if you want to create a healthier, more effective approach towards collaboration, this episode will be music to your ears! Interview Highlights Alan explains the challenges of collaborating in a band, then how he applied that to helping big brands increase performance. [4:55] Songwriting is a powerful tool for helping teams collaborate, but how does it work? [7:05] If Alan’s methodology helps teams work better internally, then can it be applied to working better with customers too? [11:26] There’s always an overzealous participant in any group, so how does Alan keep them in check? [14:55] What is the Collaborative Harmony Index Diagnostic, and more importantly, how can listeners use it? [16:16] Alan recommends a songwriting skill we can all apply to increase success not only of collaborative efforts, but our own sense of harmony. [20:00] About our guest Alan Schaefer is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Banding People Together, a super group of behaviorists, strategists and rock stars who teach people how to be their best selves when working with others.  He created Banding’s True Collaboration® framework and methodology which includes a behavioral instrument called The Collaborative Harmony Index.  He has been described as “a maestro of human capital excellence” and brings his unique perspective as a successful entrepreneur, author, recording artist, songwriter and consultant to his current work.  A few of Banding’s global clients include NASA, Netflix, Cisco, ADP, Hilton, ESPN and Verizon. Connect with Alan Twitter LinkedIn Website Take the Collaborative Harmony Index Assessment! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Leadership Biases that Hinder Success in Business Customers That Stick® post, How to Treat Customers: With Respect Episode 309: Common Leadership Biases in Your Way of Success Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam report live from the National Speakers Association’s Influence 2018 conference to discuss what it means to do customer experience right. What’s the best way to “do” customer experience? We get this question a lot! In fact, our hosts recently attended the National Speakers Association (NSA) Influence 2018 conference in Dallas, TX, and several of the amazing speakers approached them to ask this same question. “When we introduce this idea of #CX, people ask ‘what does that mean?’ or ‘how do you start?’” -Jeannie Walters Being away from their studios, Adam and Jeannie decided to answer this popular question on camera for attendees then bring those tips home for you! There are a lot of strong opinions out there, but before you take one of them as gospel, please listen in and decide for yourself. “Every organization has a different DNA and a different cultural code you need to crack.” -Adam Toporek So, what is the best way to “do” customer experience, and more importantly, where should you start? Can you be the next Zappos, and is that even something you should be trying to do? Find out in this special “live, not live” video edition of Crack the Customer Code! Related Content 360Connext® post, Why Your Customer-Centric “Breakthrough” Is Not Working Customers That Stick® post, What Great Brands Do Episode 253: (Tip) Situational Awareness in Customer Service Episode 298: Michel Falcon, Incredible Experience Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and renowned speaker Jess Pettitt flips diversity training on its head to help us check our biases and stereotypes to not only reduce friction, but to leverage them for better experiences and greater business outcomes. Turning diversity training upside-down with Jess Pettitt When the idea of “diversity training” comes up, we often think it’s about making people feel more comfortable at work, and ultimately, avoiding situations that cause trouble. But today’s guest is here to explain that we have it all wrong. “People have been to so many bad diversity trainings they're also burned out.” -Jess Pettitt Training to operate in a diverse environment shouldn’t just be about “getting along” and avoiding friction. In fact, when diversity is approached properly, we create situations that are conducive to creativity, innovation, and meaningful relationships. “If you can’t try, you can’t be creative, you can’t innovate…” -Jess Pettitt In this interview, Jess outlines the pitfalls in diversity training and how we can all approach diversity in a healthier, more holistic manner. More importantly, we discuss many ways this approach creates amazing opportunities to learn, grow, and better understand the connections that lead to success. A few things you can expect from this episode: Grasping a modern but healthier understanding of diversity Taking control of your biases and dealing with the biases others may act on How stereotypes can be understood more respectfully then leveraged to deliver better customer experiences Lots of laughs! “Professional devastation will lead to great innovation.” -Jess Pettitt Are you ready to own your biases and stereotypes for a more productive workplace culture? Then it's time embrace diversity as a tool for success instead of treating it like another set of challenges to overcome.  Interview Highlights Jess has worked to flip the way diversity is approached, so what does that mean, and how can we better define it? [3:00] Jess shares her views on the impact unconscious biases and more importantly, the antidote! [6:24] What can you do to strengthen your awareness of your own positive and negative biases to deliver better experiences? [11:13] Jess has been playfully referred to as “the white guy whisperer,” but all joking aside, what does that mean, and how can stereotyping be a good thing? [13:23] Jess tells the amazing and humorous story about connections botched by biases and how they inspired her to write her book. [18:45] What does Jess want YOU take away from this episode, and moreover, her book title, “Good Enough NOW?” (Spoiler: It can change the world!) [20:43] About our guest Jessica Pettitt, M.Ed., CSP, pulls together her stand up comedy years with 15+ years of diversity trainings in a wide range of organizations to serve groups to move from abstract fears to actionable habits that lead teams to want to work together. With a sense of belonging and understanding, colleagues take more risks with their ideation, converse precious resources through collaboration, and maintain real connections with clients over time. She is the author of Good Enough Now, How Doing the Best We Can With What We Have is Better Than Nothing. Connect with Jess Twitter LinkedIn Website Jess has freebies for you, because you’re AWESOME! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Leadership Biases that Hinder Success in Business Customers That Stick® post, How to Treat Customers: With Respect Episode 309: Common Leadership Biases in Your Way of Success Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares the best ways to become a powerful force for positive change in your organization as an in-house customer experience change agent. Who is the customer experience change agent for your organization? Organizational change is not easy, especially when it involves becoming customer-centric. While leaders mean well by making this the focus of a town hall meeting or a banner on the wall, business as usual takes precedence and these great ideas fade into the background. “Half the time we do not do it…. simply because we have too much to do.” -Jeannie Walters Finding different ways to make the announcement is not enough. In fact, when organizations try this over and over, teams stop taking it seriously and therefore, stop trying. Your next round of “let’s become more customer-centric” may do more harm than good! You need a customer experience change agent. You need a superstar who will advocate for customers in meetings. More importantly, you need someone who will evangelize for customer-focused practices through challenging times. And since you care enough to listen to this podcast, there’s a good chance that someone is you! “YOU have to be the change that you want to see.” -Jeannie Walters But you’re just one person. What can you do on your own to get the ball rolling? Jeannie is here to get you started with three big themes: Go big! Find quick CX wins Gather your champions “If you are the customer experience superhero I know you are, it’s time to own it.” -Jeannie Walters It’s a tall order, but you can do it! You’re the force your organization needs for positive change, but you need to roll up your sleeves and own it. Listen in to learn how! Related Content 360Connext® post, 4 Ways to Change Organizational Perspective on Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Remove the Weak Links in Your Customer Experience: Part 1 Episode 144: Eddie Turner, Facilitating Change Episode 319: Jeanne Bliss, Is Your CX Mom-worthy? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie offer customer-centric alternatives to common customer service phrases that seem innocent but tend to trigger negative emotions. Are these customer service phrases causing unnecessary friction? Communication can be difficult, especially in customer service situations. But we know this, so we try hard to maintain a positive tone for customers. However, there are many words and phrases we hear in customer service situations that may not always be interpreted the way we expect. “Some of these phrases really are hot buttons for people!” -Adam Toporek When you stop to think about them, some of these words and phrases are annoying, nonsensical, vague, patronizing, judgmental, or simply just poor choices of words. However, many of them have become so ingrained in our culture, we often take for granted that they’ve lost their literal meanings. As a result, what you're trying to communicate can be completely different than how it makes your customer feel, creating unnecessarily negative emotional responses. So it’s important to identify these poor phrases and eliminate them from your service vocabulary. “...these things are really ingrained and we don’t even realize we’re doing them.” -Jeannie Walters In this episode, Jeannie and Adam identify a few of common “rogue” customer service phrases that seem deceptively positive. More importantly, they have tips to help you change your behavior and leave customers feeling as good about the interaction as you intend.  Related Content 360Connext® post, Do Your Communication Tactics Undermine Your Intentions? Customers That Stick® post, 3 Psychological Triggers to Prevent in Telephone Customer Service Episode 217: Jill Schiefelbein, Dynamic Communication Episode 278: Stacey Hanke, Communicate with Influence We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author and global speaker Jeff Toister returns to the show with amazing tips and actions for creating and executing on your vision for an outstanding service culture. What’s your vision for a solid customer service culture? If you want to deliver outstanding customer service that inspires loyalty and positive word-of-mouth, then you need a customer-focused service culture. But while many leaders think they provide excellent service, they have an unrealistic vision of what that means. As a result, business strategies continue to cause conflicts that make maintaining a customer-focused culture an uphill battle. “It’s a journey that takes long-term commitment.” -Jeff Toister That’s why we’re delighted to have Jeff Toister on the show! In fact, Jeff joined us in the early days of Crack the Customer Code for a great discussion around the root causes of customer service failures. But now he’s back to help us create and execute a vision for customer service excellence. “You can’t just declare ‘from now on we’re going to move from a toxic culture to a service culture…’” - Jeff Toister Jeff has helped many leaders create realistic, scalable service visions, so the wisdom he brings to this episode is priceless. Not only does he share where many great leaders go wrong, but through great examples and actions you can take today, he shows us some simple ways to get on the right track. Good things come in threes! Here are some of the core disciplines and exercises Jeff gives you in this episode: 3 characteristics of a good service vision 3 rules for leaders to shape a customer-focused service culture A 3-question assessment for your service training Jeff explains all of these in detail, so you’ll know exactly what to do next. And as a bonus, he tells you where to find additional free resources to power up your transformation. Are you ready to create a service vision that motivates employees, delights customers and brings measurable results? Then listen in! Interview Highlights There are many parts to a good service vision, but what are the 3 most important characteristics? [4:10] Why is it so important to balance aspiration with reality in your service vision? [9:10] There’s a popular belief that culture is built from the bottom up. However, Jeff has a different take on this. [13:20] Training plays a huge role, so Jeff shares how you can assess how well employees are aligned with your service vision. [17:00] Want to do better at creating a service vision? Then Jeff has vital tips and a free resource to get you started! [21:40] About our guest Jeff is the best selling author of The Service Culture Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Employees Obsessed with Customer Service. More than 140,000 people on six continents have taken one of his video-based training courses on LinkedIn Learning (a.k.a. Lynda.com). Jeff was named one of the Top 30 customer service professionals in the world by Global Gurus. He was also named one of the Top 50 Thought Leaders to Follow on Twitter by the International Customer Management Institute and Feedspot has named his Inside Customer Service blog one of the Top 50 customer service blogs on the planet. Jeff brings an adult learning background to his customer service work and holds a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) certification from the Association for Talent Development. Connect with Jeff Twitter Sign up for Jeff’s Customer Service Tips of the Week Download Jeff’s Service Culture Handbook Toolkit Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 014:  Handling Pressure, Jeff Toister, and The Customer as Hero Episode 222: (Tip) Instilling Culture Throughout the Organization We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips and insights around succeeding with, rather than just dealing with, difficult customers. Plus, we’re introducing Adam’s new course to help you become a pro at this!   If you're dealing with difficult customers, that's your first mistake. Dealing with difficult customers properly has always been one of the biggest challenges customer service teams face. In fact, it’s a sensitive issue that vexes leaders and employees throughout many organizations.  “This is the area that I see everyone struggle with, from the front lines to the c-suite…” -AdamToporek But what if dealing with difficult customers wasn’t an issue? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in your organization understood the neuroscience and biology behind what makes them difficult in the first place? Then the emphasis could be on succeeding with them, instead of just reacting and neutralizing their pain (and yours!)  “Biologically, we are not designed for reactive service.” -Adam Toporek That’s why we’re delighted to introduce Adam’s upcoming course, “How to Deal with Difficult Customers.” Adam has dug deep into the neuroscience and biology behind customer emotions, so he can teach you and your team to rock these negative situations. More importantly, you’ll gain such a great understanding of what makes a difficult customer difficult, your team can focus more on proactively ushering difficult (or would-be difficult) customers into a mutually-successful experience. “It’s important to think of yourself in the customer role…” -Jeannie Walters So in this episode, Adam and Jeannie decided to give you a sneak peek under the hood and highlight what Adam’s course is all about! They’ve shared great tips and insights you can use today, plus exclusive details about the course and what’s inside. Are you ready to stop “dealing with” difficult customers and create a strategy that helps differentiate your brand and retain more customers? Then you’ll want to listen to this episode, and take advantage of the early sign-up discount! You’re entitled to 50% off! That’s right, if you sign up early to get notified when Adam’s course launches, you’ll pay only half, and there’s no immediate obligation. So why wait? Sign up and claim your discount now! Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Focus Learning Paths on Greater CX Success Adam's Book, Be Your Customer's Hero Episode 285: When to Disclose Bad News to Customers? Episode 253: (Tip) Situational Awareness in Customer Service We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss how lack of transparent pricing harms your business and what you can do to stop feeding into the “norm” of hidden fees without jeopardizing your sales. Better customer experiences through transparent pricing Have you ever paid way more than you expected at the end of an online purchase? Or perhaps you’ve received an invoice with vague or unexplained fees that blew your budget to shreds. Doesn’t this drive you bananas? Well, we’ve got news for you: Your customers don’t feel any better about it than you do. “They keep it from you because it makes it look like they have the lowest price available…” -Kelsey Brown While we all know hidden fees make for a terrible (and costly!) experience, misleading practices around pricing are everywhere. In fact, customers resent these sales tactics, and they’ve had enough.  “What most people want in most areas of their life is to be told the truth.” -Kelsey Brown So we’re delighted to bring Kelsey Brown to the mic! The Outreach Manager for People for Honest Pricing, Kelsey says hidden fees and dishonest pricing doesn’t just hurt customers. In fact, these widespread practices lead to high churn rates, abandoned shopping carts, and eventually, a poor brand image. What’s more, the companies that suffer the most are the ones who’ve found ways to justify their lack of transparency and claim their hidden fees aren’t hidden at all. Kelsey is here to share ways to eliminate hidden pricing from your customer experience and build a better business around honesty.  But you must understand what hidden pricing really is, and why it exists in the first place. We cover all of this and more in the interview! “Create a conversation about these hidden fees that isn’t taking place right now.” -Kelsey Brown Bonus: We know you’ve been duped by dishonest pricing before, so what can you do as a consumer to fight back? Kelsey shares 4 easy ways to let companies know this is not OK and help pave the way for a more transparent future. Listen in! Interview Highlights Most organizations would claim they have no hidden fees, so what’s the definition of hidden fees? And why are they so nefarious? [3:15] What is the basis for hidden fees? Moreover, why do companies get away with this? [5:10] Changing how we do business is one thing, but how can we fight back as consumers?  Sometimes we need to change or add fees in a short time. What are some best practices for that? [14:15] I’d like to be more honest about pricing, so how can I start an evaluation process? [15:45] About our guest Before joining People for Honest Pricing, Kelsey was a marketing professional at a software company creating content for their online presence. Armed with a degree in journalism and several years of digital marketing experience, she made an industry switch from software to the world of e-commerce where she now leads the public relations and outreach strategy for a promotional products company. Kelsey met the Co-Founders of People for Honest Pricing after beginning her new role and quickly realized they shared a mutual frustration regarding hidden fees. It didn’t take much time for her to be brought on board as the Outreach Manager for People for Honest Pricing where she is now spreading the word about their cause. The goal of People for Honest Pricing is to start a conversation about pricing transparency when it comes to shopping online. Business owners may also apply for their free certification program where a team of volunteers evaluates their pricing strategy, and upon approval, supplies the applicant with a free badge to display on their website. By displaying this certification badge on their website, business owners are showing their customers that they’re more than just a number. Connect with Kelsey Twitter Facebook Honest Pricing Certification Duped by hidden fees? Share your story! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Happiness Lessons for Any Company, Courtesy of Zappos Customers That Stick® post, What Great Brands Do Episode 317: Anne Bahr Thompson, Do Good Episode 127: Is Transparency Effective? We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam tells a customer experience horror story about a good product surrounded by a nightmarish customer journey. The scary part is that your brand could be doing this to customers! Your good product won’t save the day Your product is an absolute dream. Bravo! But what about the experience around it? Is your really good product or service good enough to forge loyalty on its own? Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Perhaps in the old days of having limited choices, a new choice that saves a few dollars or a few minutes would have had customers sold for life. But nowadays, customers typically have lots of choices. As a result, they’re demanding better experiences from the brands that deliver these products and services. “Nowadays, a great product simply isn’t enough.” - Adam Toporek But don’t take my word for it! Adam has a special story to share with you, and you’re not going to believe the horrible experience surrounding the great product that was delivered. In fact, this experience left him wishing he had spent the extra time and money doing things the “old way.” As you push for innovation, higher quality or filling unmet needs, what about the other needs customers have? More importantly, are you creating experiences that negate the convenience or the “ooh-aah” factor you’ve set out to cash in on? Listen to Adam’s story and tips to prevent you from creating experiences that make customers want to sleep with the lights on. Related Content 360Connext® post, It’s Time to Be Honest About the People in Your Experience Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 086: Dr. Adrienne Boissy, The Patient Experience Episode 319: Jeanne Bliss, Is Your CX Mom-worthy? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview Neen James, global speaker and bestselling author, to expose the difference between intentional and transactional attentions, and how that difference is vital to your success. Are you paying attention where it really counts? Tracking attention is big business these days. In fact, companies are investing a lot into learning how customers scan web pages, walk through stores, and more.  But what is your attention worth? Moreover, what is your attention worth to customers? We like to think we give our customers the attention they need and deserve, but are we really giving them the attention that makes them want to come back and bring friends? “Many businesses are getting left behind because they're not realizing the value of attention.” -Neen James It’s not quite as simple as making sure the customer journey is smooth and enjoyable, so Author and Speaker Neen James is here to help us understand the difference between transactional attention and intentional attention. And more importantly, she shares the many ways it pays to give meaningful human attention to those you interact with. “..the customer feels like THE most important person we’ve talked to all day.” - Neen James But we also need to consider how much we’re asking people to pay attention to. Sadly, we have websites chock-full of calls to action, stores loaded with deals and “outgoing” sales people, and when we connect one-to-one, we want to tell them everything. And in this digital age, it’s getting harder to see and hear meaningful messages above the din. Are we creating environments where customers CAN pay attention?” - Neen James And this isn’t just about business! In fact, Neen goes on to explain that we’re at a time when paying intentional attention is critical to our social well-being, our goals in the community, and the state of our global environment. “This conversation is vital right now.” - Neen James Using great examples and the best highlights from her book, Neen shared invaluable insights into how to use our energy more wisely when engaging on all fronts – for a better business, a better staff, a better life, and a better world. So we really hope you’ll listen in (and pay attention!) Interview Highlights What is the commercialization of attention, and more importantly, what does it mean when Neen says “Attention Pays?” [3:27] How can we design employees’ attention and focus into the customer journey? [8:47] Being attentive is very nice, but what does it mean for business results? [11:00] We ask people to do things for us, but how can we make sure they’re still in the moment with us, so attention continues to pay? [16:58] About our guest Neen James is the author of Folding Time™ and Attention Pays™. In 2017, she was named one of the Top 30 Leadership Speakers by Global Guru because of her work with companies like Viacom, Comcast, and Abbot Pharmaceuticals among others. Neen has boundless energy, is quick-witted and always offers powerful strategies for paying attention to what matters so you can get more done and create more significant moments at work, and home. Neen is the kind of speaker that engages, educates, entertains, and delivers the real-world solutions that apply in your organization, your home, and your community. She also provides one-on-one consulting in a variety of leadership topics and loves serving her audiences. Connect with Neen Twitter LinkedIn Website Buy the book: Attention Pays Related Content 360Connext® post, Bad Feedback Is the Best Feedback. Are You Listening For It? Customers That Stick® post, Be Attentive, but Don’t Hover Over Customers Episode 263: Merit Gest, Sales Engagement Episode 168: Nate Brown, Service Center Engagement We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts! Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss facts and insights around emerging customer service tech in the retail and foodservice industries. The service machines are coming to get us! They really are! But maybe it’s not such a bad thing if those machines coming to get us really, well, “get us.” Jeannie and Adam have recently found facts and evidence that new service tech is about to take us by storm. In fact, devices like self-service touchscreen ordering kiosks are popping up all over the place, and that’s just the beginning.   “We’re creating our own disruption…” -Adam Toporek Brands like McDonald’s and Wendy’s are making huge investments in this kind of tech, along with many others. As a result, many worries are coming to the surface. For example, a large portion of the American workforce is worried big companies will eliminate their jobs. Then smaller brands are worried they won’t be able to keep up with the latest technology or rising labor costs. In addition, consumers are worried the less tech-savvy among them will slow the lines down. The list of concerns goes on and on… But don’t panic! Adam and Jeannie see lots of good things coming from this service revolution, and many of them are centered around delivering a better customer experience. For example, Jeannie is among those who felt more confident placing and reviewing her own order at a McDonald’s. Moreover, real-life human interaction was not eliminated, but redirected towards being more attentive to guests. (We’d call that a win, wouldn’t you?) “Automation isn’t something to be afraid of...” -Jeannie Walters So what will happen when this tech not only becomes common in your industry, but expected by your customers? Will the workforce shrink, or will it simply be redirected? And what if your small business can’t invest in this technology? Will you be able to compete? We cover these questions and more in this episode, and the answers may surprise you! In fact, this revolution can mean good things for all of us if we look ahead and make the right choices. So here’s a good choice to get you started: Listen to this episode today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Is Your Customer Experience Technology Helpful or Creepy? Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service Episode 316: Can Toys R Us Survive? Episode 311: Which Retail Touchpoints Matter Most We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole, whose transformation of the ballpark experience has turned an underdog sports team into a booming business. What can you learn from this amazing ballpark experience? Have you ever felt like the underdog in your industry, having a smaller brand that barely gets noticed?  Then we have an inspiring interview that proves you can still be the underdog while building a loyal following of customers and fans. In fact, our guest is living testimony that HUGE things do come out of small packages. Meet Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas. What, you’ve never heard of them? Well, most people haven’t… but that’s not stopping them from breaking records with ticket and merchandise sales! The Savannah Bananas often sell out tickets to their seasonal games and have a fan base that’s engaged year-round. So how do they do it? “Baseball is long, slow and boring…but can we be the BEST experience for the fans?” –Jesse Cole Jesse has found amazing ways to build a culture around a “fans-first” mentality that lives in every corner of the organization. As a result, the team has found clever ways to neutralize the pain points typically associated with baseball. But it gets better… Those previously dull or frustrating moments are now filled with moments of delight, bringing a unique, entertaining and endearing experience to every moment of every game. Tied together with a culture of outstanding customer service and innovative ways to proactively engage fans, the internal experience of the Savannah Bananas is just as outstanding (and outrageous!) as the fan experience. In fact, due to Jesse’s innovative approach at hiring, training, and compensating them, employees are just as loyal as the fans! “In 3 years, since we started the Savannah Bananas, we’ve had zero turnover.” –Jesse Cole Would you like to build a culture and experience that turns your small business into a huge success? Then you need to listen to some of the crazy but powerful ways Jesse has knocked small business success and fandom way out of the park. Interview Highlights Jesse went from living on an air bed to owning a multi-million-dollar team in one year! So, how did this happen? [4:20] Jesse explains how a “low-level” college summer baseball team like the Savannah Bananas can outsell higher-profile events. [7:20] How does Jesse execute on the “love your customers more than you love your product” mentality? Moreover, how has he “cracked the customer code!?” [10:20] How does Jesse find and train the right people to build a culture that turns up the volume on emotional connections? [13:27] Savannah Bananas employees rock the “fans first” mentality, but what about the players? [17:40] So, which came first – the Savannah Bananas name, or Jesse’s yellow tuxedo? [19:27] What’s the #1 thing any business can learn from Jesse and the Savannah Bananas? [21:25] About our guest Jesse is the Owner of Fans First Entertainment, who owns and operates the Savannah Bananas and the Gastonia Grizzlies. Cole and his teams have been featured on MSNBC, CNN, and multiple times on ESPN. Cole is an in-demand speaker and author of “Find Your Yellow Tux- How to Be Successful by Standing Out” released in January 2018. The Savannah Bananas have sold out 32 straight games, broke the league attendance record, Savannah attendance record and have a waiting list in the thousands for tickets for the 2018 season. The Bananas have won Organization of the Year back to back years, Entrepreneur of the Year and were CPL Champions in their first year. Cole believes to be successful you need to Stand Out and Be Different. He writes a blog, hosts a podcast and releases daily videos on FindYourYellowTux.com. He is passionate about creating attention, loving your customers more than your product and loving your employees more than your customers. Cole’s mantra is “Whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite.” Connect with Jesse Twitter LinkedIn Podcast & Blog Get the book! Related Content 360Connext® post, Sports Lessons – How to Turn Customers into Fans Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode Episode 028: Holacracy, Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall, and Fine Print Episode 071: The Fan Experience Goes Digital We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam explore the innovative retail experience created by STORY and how you can surprise your own customers with unexpected value in the real-life shopping experience. Is your retail experience a welcome surprise? As we’ve mentioned before in this show, retail as we once knew it is in peril. Shoppers enjoy 2-day shipping and the ability to browse a colossal selection from wherever they are, so it’s no surprise retailers like Kmart and Toys R Us are nearing the end of their days.   But what is a surprise is that brick-and-mortar retail is not truly dead for innovative companies that find ways to add extra value for those who are still willing to gas up and make the trip. “Retail is not necessarily completely dying…”-Adam Toporek This kind of shopping is full of surprises like “Oh, my…These lines are long” or “Oh, snap! This is the last one and it’s broken!” But what if we add surprises that really make customers WANT to come see us in person? That’s what brands like STORY are doing, and the results have been incredible. So incredible, in fact, that asked their Founder Rachel Schectman was asked to help bring these surprises to the shopping experience at Macy’s. They know that to secure a future in IRL shopping, the physical retail experience has to offer something you just can’t get online. But this kind of evolution is not easy! What would it mean for your store’s footprint, and how will that affect things like rent, building and fire codes, or zoning laws? More importantly, how will the new experiences fit in with the digital experiences you offer? Then how will people even know these exciting changes are happening? “This is what’s so challenging for these older legacy brands in retail…” -Jeannie Walters  Do you like surprises? More importantly, what kind of surprises will make your customers want to come back and bring their friends? Join us today as Jeannie and Adam explore bold opportunities to create a surprising retail experience your customers will want to get dressed and hit the pavement for. Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Let Customers Guide Your Greatest Innovation Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode Search toys 316: Can Toys R Us Survive? Episode 311: Which Retail Touchpoints Matter Most What is STORY? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview 35-year customer experience pro Jeanne Bliss about her new book “Would You Do That To Your Mother? The ‘Make Mom Proud’ Standard For How To Treat Your Customers.” Does the way you do business make mom proud? If it doesn’t, then 35-year customer experience pioneer Jeanne Bliss, (or as co-host Jeannie Walters calls her, “the Fairy Godmother of Customer Experience,”) says you have a lot to think about! “There are still things we do that make customers nuts.” -@JeanneBliss As Jeanne explains in this fun and enlightening interview, we’ve come so far with customer experience, having added many new practices and technologies, we’ve actually lost our way. So she wrote a book to use as a guide for getting back to the heart of the matter by doing things your mother would be proud of. It makes a lot of sense! We’re giving you exclusive highlights from Jeanne’s book, which is not only a fun, enlightening read, but a set of tools you can keep and share. She covers surprisingly simple ways to understand the customer experience, bring clarity, drive conversations in your organization, and more importantly, take action! "Trust the front line to extend grace. Let policy and the golden rule collide." -Jeanne Bliss Each chapter of Would You Do That To Your Mother includes 4 key elements that serve as a toolkit to help you better focus on the customer and simplify your efforts, then put that insight to work in the real world. Here’s a quick peek at what each chapter includes: Comic – Here’s what’s happening to the customer…so, do we get it!? Case study – Here’s what other brands have done, and more importantly, how to make it operational. Mom lens – How would your mom view this situation, and what would she have you do? Summary and quiz – Let’s make sure you get it! Take the quiz, then evaluate your understanding on a five-point scale. “Have you embedded this value and behavior of honor and time and your customer’s life into your operation?” -Jeanne Bliss We can’t possibly cover everything from this amazing book, but we certainly tried with this interview! Packed with case studies, expert tips, and lots of fun extras, this episode is one to keep in your back pocket, take notes on, and share with colleagues. Wouldn’t it be great to know everything you do in business would make your mom proud? Then for the last time, get your feet off the coffee table and listen in!  Interview Highlights Why did Jeanne write this book, and more importantly, why should we be making our moms proud? [3:08] “Removing the bar of soap moments from our customers’ lives” is an edgy chapter title, and there are more like this! So why did Jeanne theme the book this way? [5:05] What would make mom proud in business, and especially in customer experience? Jeanne shares favorite examples [8:00] If they’re equally important, then how do you balance empowerment with customer-centric guidelines? Jeanne defines some guide rails for you! [12:04] Jeanne rolled many great comics and visualizations into her book, so how can we use these as tools along with the book? [18:20] About our guest Jeanne Bliss pioneered the role of the Chief Customer Officer, holding the first ever CCO role for over 20 years at Lands’ End, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker and Allstate Corporations. Reporting to each company’s CEO, she moved the customer to the strategic agenda, creating transformational changes to each brands’ customer experience. She has driven achievement of 95 percent loyalty rates, improving customer experiences across 50,000-person organizations. She is now the President of CustomerBliss, where she guides the C-Suite and Chief Customer Officers around the world on earning business growth by improving customers’ lives. Her clients include: AAA, Johnson & Johnson, Brooks Brothers, Bombardier Aerospace, and Kaiser Permanente. She is a sought after speaker and thought-leader, the author of three best-selling books, and co-founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. Connect with Jeanne Twitter LinkedIn Website (Don’t miss the special offers!) Related Content 360Connext® post, The 5 Customer Leadership Competencies Every CCO Must Embrace Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode Episode 031: Customer Experience Managers, Jeanne Bliss, and Netflix Episode 086: Dr. Adrienne Boissy, The Patient Experience We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie Walters CCXP shares expert tips for engaging former customers and insights on how to treat those who are leaving you. How can your brand flourish by focusing on these parts of the journey? Do you choose to have former customers, or lifetime friends? We’ve mentioned before on this show that the true customer journey extends well beyond the actual time they spend as customers, from the time they realize they need your product or service to when they leave you and beyond. So, have you ever considered the experience of former customers? It’s more important than you think! “We need to rethink not only what it means to lose a customer, but how to win them back.” -Jeannie Walters CCXP Too often, brands think of former customers as “lost prospects” they’ll never hear from again. But even when they know there’s a chance to win them back, marketing campaigns are sent offering special deals but don’t properly acknowledge the existing relationship. Simply put, treating former customers like strangers and enticing them with new customer rewards when they know the reality of an ongoing relationship with you is no way to win them back. “At any phase throughout the journey, a customer can leave you.” -Jeannie Walters CCXP In fact, those who’ve left for neutral reasons, such as simply no longer needing your product or service, will now have a negative impression they’ll share with friends. After all, how does it make you feel when someone you’ve given your money to acts like you’ve never met before? If you want to create positive word of mouth for your brand while keeping the door open for former customers, you must think beyond the numbers you see now and consider how what you do today paves the way for the future. That said, you need to think about how you’ll create the ideal experience for your former customers and think of this phase as a vital part of their journey. "The numbers respond in a positive way when you treat those exiting in a positive way as well.” -Jeannie Walters But how can you do that? We’ve got you covered! In this episode, Jeannie Walters CCXP explores what typically goes wrong when brands try to hang onto exiting customers or win them back. But Jeannie isn’t just here to tell you what you’re doing wrong! She has expert tips to help you develop a better strategy for engaging former customers in ways that inspire them to act as loyalists and advocates – even if they never come back. Jeannie has 3 important questions to ask yourself. And if you answer them honestly, then you’ll have a much clearer picture of the ideal former customer journey and how to maintain valuable relationships that lead to referrals, return customers, and a more positive brand image overall. Listen in to get started! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways to Engage and Understand At-Risk Customers Customers That Stick® post, How to Calculate Customer Retention Rate Episode 115: Do Loyalty Programs Still Work? Episode 167: Signs You’re Losing a Customer We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the concept of social responsibility with Anne Bahr Thompson, author of Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit. Customers today expect a lot more from brands, but it’s not just about transparency and great service. Brands are now expected to be socially responsible when it comes to social, political and moral issues. But being socially responsible is much more complicated and sensitive than you may think. Although it’s great for a brand to say they support a certain cause or take a stance on a political issue, customers can easily access information that contradicts what the brand has said publicly. “In a social world, declaring your position really places you in control of your own reputation.” -Anne Bahr Thompson It’s easy to alienate customers by taking a stand, but when we don’t, customers will do their homework to find out what’s going behind the scenes then fill in the blanks for themselves. In fact, they will even judge your brand based on things like who your suppliers are and how they stand on a certain issue. “Trust is really hard to gain today because people are really savvy.” -Anne Bahr Thompson But it’s not all about avoiding bad publicity, or even creating any publicity, for that matter. Taking a stand and developing a sense of social responsibility leads to stronger company culture, happier, more productive employees, and better profits overall. “Building a corporate culture that’s about trust will actually make you more profitable in the long term, no matter what you’re doing.” -Anne Bahr Thompson So how does your company view corporate citizenship? Perhaps you’d like to take a stand but aren’t sure how to align it with your strategy for success. Or maybe your customers are asking questions you’re afraid to answer. Whatever the case is, customers want to do business with brands that do good, and they want proof. Whatever you’re doing, don’t miss this interview with Anne Bahr Thompson, author of Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit.  Listen in to learn how your brand can strike the right balance. Interview Highlights Doing good is a simple idea, but why is it more complicated for brands? [2:47] Social responsibility builds trust, so we asked Anne to outline the 5 steps to building trust and identify which are the most important. [6:45] It’s easy for brands to go too far (or not far enough) politically, but some strike just the right balance. How do they do it? [9:40] Brands are now in positions where they’re forced to take a stand, but what about those who just want to stick to business? [16:30] About our guest Named Trust Across America 2018 Top Thought Leader in Trust, Anne Bahr Thompson has been inspiring business leaders to use their brands as a motivating force for change for many years. With more than 25 years of experience as a global brand strategist, Anne is the author of DO GOOD, which explains her pioneering model of Brand Citizenship® – and the cultural dynamics that led to the creation of the model. A former executive director of strategy and planning and the head of consulting at Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, Anne is the founder of Onesixtyfourth, a boutique consultancy that helps companies align purpose and profit by integrating cultural shifts and a social conscience into brand development. Connect with Anne LinkedIn Twitter Website Learn more about Anne’s book and how to order Related Content 360Connext® post, How are Marketing and PR Setting Your Customer’s Expectations? Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode 083: Cause Marketing Done Well Episode 118: David Williams, Make-A-Wish We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the looming demise of Toys R Us and how a focus on customer experience innovation could make all the difference. Toys R Us succumbs to innovative retail experiences Whether you were a child, glaring in wonder at the aisles and aisles of toys, or an adult achieving hero status by scoring the hottest toy at a discount on Black Friday, who doesn’t have fond memories about Toys R Us? Unfortunately, memories may soon be all that’s left, as Toys R Us is on the brink of closing their 735 stores and putting 30,000 people out of work. It’s sad news for pretty much everyone, but where the customer experience is concerned, this sadness points to nostalgia more than anything else. “They didn’t really innovate…until it was almost too late” -Jeannie Walters With Amazon selling at a loss and other online retailers stepping up their game with shipping, who wants to fight the crowds these days, only to find out the item they needed happens to be out of stock? While some may say the demise of Toys R Us was inevitable and bound to happen someday, we’re not so sure we agree. Many retailers have managed to adapt to the digital age by offering experiences you simply can’t get online. Furthermore, others who invested early in their digital experiences and have seen phenomenal returns. “The second thing Amazon went into after books was toys." -Adam Toporek So why are things playing out so differently for Toys R Us? Surely the retail giant could have seen this coming and invested in modernizing the experiences they offer. In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at Toys R Us and their place in the retail landscape. What could they have done differently, and is there a chance they can still survive? More importantly, what lessons can we learn from this as retailers and business leaders in general? There’s more to this story than you think, so we’re giving you a bit of history and sharing expert insights to help you not become the next Toys R Us. Spoiler: It’s all about the experience, folks! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Let Customers Guide Your Greatest Innovation Customers That Stick® post, Will You Compete on Customer Experience in 2018? Episode Episode 006: Mobile Customer Experience, Tabitha Dunn, and Sephora’s Mobile Integration Episode 311: Which Retail Touchpoints Matter Most We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview award winning speaker and author Joey Coleman to discuss how the first 100 days is critical to increase customer retention and ultimately, lifetime profit. The untold truth about customer retention You may know that just a 5% increase in customer retention leads to a 25% - 100% increase in profits, but did you know the first 100 days of a customer’s lifecycle is when the magic really happens? Unfortunately, this first 100 days is typically filled with paperwork, payments, and other boring, company-focused “onboarding” experiences. “It’s the most important time period of the entire relationship.” –Joey Coleman If this phase in the customer lifecycle is so critical, then there’s got to be a better way. And there is! In fact, we know there are at least 46. Meet Joey Coleman, whose latest book is packed with 46 case studies and loads of research about companies who have turned onboarding (yawn) into a customer-centric “welcoming” experience, leading to amazing, measurable results. “If we can get them to day 101, in the typical business, they’ll stay for 5 years.” –Joey Coleman In this episode, Joey shares highlights from his most memorable case studies, so you can get a better idea of how to make the first 100 days more memorable for your customers. From web development firms to pop singers, anyone can turn this typically boring phase into an invaluable opportunity to build solid relationships, create loyal fans, and inspire advocates. “I get it…you want me to feel. But how do I explain that to our #CFO when we need a check?” –Joey Coleman What’s the first 100 days of your customer’s lifecycle like? Onboarding customers is expensive, so why not get more measurable ROI from the resources you put into it? Listen in for great tips, exciting stories, and compelling facts to get you started. Interview Highlights Why is the first 100 days of a customer relationship so important? [3: 00] Onboarding is typically a dull process, but Joey turns it into an “invitation.” [5:35] How do you make those first 100 days more meaningful? [8:30] Joey shares some of his favorite case studies, including Taylor Swift! [14:50] But what’s the real ROI of enhancing the first 100 days? [21:00] About our guest Joey Coleman helps companies keep their customers. An award-winning speaker, he works with organizations around the world ranging from small startups to major brands such as Deloitte, Hyatt Hotels, Zappos, and Whirlpool. His First 100 Days® methodology fuels the remarkable experiences his clients deliver and dramatically improves their profits. In his upcoming book, Never Lose a Customer Again, (scheduled for publication April 2018) he shares strategies and tactics for turning one-time purchasers into lifelong customers. When not speaking to audiences around the globe, Joey enjoys spending time with his amazing wife and two young sons in the mountains of Colorado. Connect with Joey LinkedIn Twitter Website Download 3 free chapters of Joey’s Book, Never Lose a Customer Again Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Rules for Investing in Good Relationships with Customers Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode 263: Merit Gest, Sales Engagement Episode 286: Anthony Iannarino, Commitments Are for Closers We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Toporek reveals how lack of employee empowerment creates unnecessary challenges for growing businesses and shares how you can empower your staff to deliver better experiences. Empowerment is power! When you were starting out as a business leader, what would have given you more power to succeed? What do you wish you had known then? Adam was recently asked a similar question in an interview, and it has inspired him to share some tips about employee empowerment. You see, Adam started his business in the era of “command and control,” long before employee empowerment became the buzzworthy concept it is today. But while there’s something to be said for running a tight ship, this level of control led to unnecessary friction both in the employee and customer experiences. “We’re causing bad employee AND customer experiences, and for what!?” -Adam Toporek Don’t get me wrong… Rules and processes exist for good reasons! But when customers and employees fret and squabble over trivial things for the sake of staying in compliance, businesses suffer from diminished value on both fronts. So how did Adam turn this around? Listen in to hear how Adam knew it was time for a change, and what he did to fix it. What about you? What do you wish you knew when starting out as a business leader? Adam and Jeannie would both love to hear about it.  Your input can help start some great conversations and could even be the focus of an upcoming show, so tell us now! Tweet to Adam Toporek - @adamtoporek Tweet to Jeannie Walters - @jeanniecw Email us - thecustomercode@gmail.com Related Content 360Connext® post, Are Your Employees Engaged to Tell You the Truth? Customers That Stick® post, Why Self-Confidence Matters in Customer Service Episode 39: Does Employee Empowerment Work? Episode 233: (Tip) Beware of Organizational Conformity We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts  Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the innovative approach of AmazonGo and how it may foreverchange the retail customer experience. Will AmazonGo change retail forever? Have you heard of AmazonGo? It’s an amazing new prototype store for Amazon shoppers in Seattle, Washington. But being an Amazon store is not the what makes it different. Through an intricate system of cameras, a rotating stock and a special footprint, AmazonGo shoppers can pick up what they want and leave without going through a checkout. “If you don't have to stand in a line at #AmazonGo...it's a win.” -Adam Toporek It’s not just about being cashier-less. If fact, everything a shopper picks up (and puts back) at the AmazonGo store is tracked in real-time through a mobile app and charged to their Amazon account accordingly. But don’t let the absence of cashiers fool you. Eliminating the need to fill this role means AmazonGo employees are present where customers need them the most. This technology could signify an amazing leap in the retail customer experience! However, this will also pose a huge hurdle for retailers trying to compete. If customers come to demand this kind of shopping experience, colossal challenges and investments lie ahead for retailers everywhere. "AmazonGo is a step beyond just being cashier-less…” -Jeannie Walters Keep in mind that this is only a prototype, and the store in Seattle is the only one of its kind. In fact, Amazon has made no comments about what it plans to do with this technology in the future, so we have some time to explore this idea and what it means for our own businesses. Today, Adam and Jeannie are exploring the advantages and drawbacks of the AmazonGo system, both to retailers and to customers. Can this technology scale, and if so, how soon? What challenges does it pose to the store owner, and in what ways will it change the shopping experience? We explore all of this and more, including some possible non-retail applications. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Mobile Innovation Is Not About Your Phone! Customers That Stick® post, Self Service Should Never Mean Solo Service Episode 305: Supporting Your Team in the Retail Apocalypse Episode 311: Which Retail Touchpoints Matter Most We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the Green Apple concept and how personal interests make us better professionals with Green Apple podcast host and CPA turned comedian, John Garrett. John Garrett, the Green Apple concept, and… Furbies!? Okay, maybe Furbies don’t have a whole lot to do with this podcast, but they make some of us happier and more interesting, and that’s the point! We’re often told to keep personal interests out of the workplace. In fact, this idea is so ingrained into our culture that most of us don’t even need to be told. So as we strive for success, we focus more and more on our jobs and less on the things that make us happy as people. “You weren’t this shell of yourself when you were 20-22 years old. What happened!?” -John Garrett While this may demonstrate a dedication to our jobs and our professions, letting go of our hobbies and interests, or just leaving them out of our professional lives, actually works against us. That’s why we’re delighted to welcome fellow podcaster, Recovering CPA and comedian John Garrett to the show. “It’s a shame that #professionalism doesn’t let us bring all our skillsets to the office.” -John Garrett John explains how staying in touch with the things we feel passionate about personally not only makes us happier people but makes us better professionals too! In this enlightening and fun episode, we dig into the Green Apple concept and why keeping a sense of self is important both inside and outside of the workplace. Filled with anecdotes and a bit of neuroscience, John brings real-world inspiration to this interview, so you and your team can be happier and more successful all around. “Their expertise is not just their college degree and their certifications.” -John Garrett Listen in to learn about the Green Apple concept, and you’ll leave with great ideas about how to reconnect with and celebrate the things that make you and your team interesting. Don’t leave out this vital ingredient for being more successful at work, leaving a lasting impression, creating better relationships, and just living better all around. Interview Highlights What is the Green Apple concept, and why is it important? [3:25] How do personal interests impact the employee and customer experiences? [6:00] How does professionalism work against us over time? Better yet, how can we do better? [9:00] John shares expert advice for leaders to help employees leverage their individuality to avoid burnout at work. [15:00] Most cultures don’t actively support sharing of personal interests, so what should you do? [21:00] Bonus: How can a Furby collection save your company $150K? [22:30] About our guest John Garrett, “The Recovering CPA,” is on a mission to help firms develop a culture where professionalism doesn’t suffocate your personality. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with an accounting degree before starting at PwC and earning his CPA. He then became a professionally-touring comedian, has a comedy album on SiriusXM, is an Emmy-nominated writer, hosts The Green Apple Podcast and most importantly, really enjoys ice cream and college football, especially at the same time. He also has a book coming out in the fall of 2018. Connect with John LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Green Apple Podcast Website   Related Content 360Connext® post, What’s Your Culture Code? Customers That Stick® post, Why Self-Confidence Matters in Customer Service Episode 304: Arnie Malham, Innovating Culture Episode 223: Mo Gawdat, Engineering Happiness We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Toporek shares research and expert insights for discovering which retail touchpoints are most important to your customers. How to prioritize your retail touchpoints In retail, we’re told that every touchpoint matters. And although that may be true, it’s not very helpful when you need prioritize and make a difference your customers will applaud today. In that case, you need to discover which retail touchpoints matter the most. “We simply are always in triage." - Adam Toporek But that’s a tall order when you consider how all customers are different. What’s more, the most profitable of your customers may have different priorities than the majority. So, how do you look for touchpoints that bring you the most ROI? These decisions will never be easy to make, but you’ve got some help! Today, Adam has some surprising data to share about retail customers and which touchpoints they say matter most to them. As it turns out, they don’t care as much about some of the touchpoints you might rank high on the list! Some healthy food for your retail thoughts! “While every touchpoint matters, some touchpoints matter more than others.” -Adam Toporek However, Adam points out that what customers say they want may not speak for how they respond to improvements they didn’t ask for. So balancing these ingredients is tricky work! The right mix of improvements may lead to a measurable uptick in customer satisfaction, while the wrong mix could just blow up in your face. So step into Adam’s lab and discover the right concoction for your retail customers. (No safety glasses needed!) Related Content Synchronicity Financial's Retail Customer Experience report 360Connext® post, How to Create Your Punch List for Quick CX Wins Customers That Stick® post, 3 Examples of How to Easily WOW Customers Episode 305: Supporting Your Team in the Retail Apocalypse Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the shifting landscape of storytelling in journalism with L.A. Times VP of Strategy and Development Clint Schaff. The L.A. Times and the shifting landscape of storytelling in journalism Today’s consumer demands high quality content, delivered where they want it, when they want it, and with context that suits their personality. As a result, brands are constantly pushing to tell their stories in different ways on many platforms. With the rise of social media, blogging, artificial intelligence, storytelling in journalism has taken on staggering complexity in terms of serving different kinds of consumers. Gone are the days when the newest stories were only delivered via newspaper or TV. Consumers get their news through text messages, social media, blogs, YouTube videos, and more. What’s more, they are now able to engage with the stories – sharing their own opinions and sparking debates amongst themselves. “If Mark Twain were born today, he may not be an author. He’d probably have a YouTube channel…” –Clint Schaff So how can your brand approach storytelling for the changing masses? What’s the experience you’re trying to deliver, and what channels should you use? We thought it would be great to take some lessons from a brand that’s in the business of storytelling! So we’re thrilled to bring you Clint Schaff, VP of Strategy and Development at the L.A. Times. “People expect more of the news media.” –Clint Schaff In this interview, Clint shares the many ways the L.A. Times navigates the changing landscape of journalism to deliver news on many platforms to different kinds of audiences. They’ve found amazing ways to inform and engage people around stories they may have already heard. In fact, they give readers a chance to share their own take on the stories that continue to develop while having their voices be heard. “If we’re covering things in a way that is not viewed as fair…it will be known.” –Clint Schaff It’s an amazing time for journalism, no doubt! But it’s also an amazing time for YOU – whether you’re a writer or a brand telling stories to engage customers. Whatever industry you’re in, telling your story in ways different people will identify with is incredibly powerful in the digital age. Listen in for tips from a leader in the storytelling business. Interview Highlights How is the L.A. Times adapting to the changing media landscape and serving customers in new ways? [5:15] Some people want hard news while others want sensational and entertaining news. So how does the L.A. Times address balance these two very different audiences? [11:40] What do we need to change to tell better stories for today’s ever-diversifying audiences? [13:50] Clint gives us a peek at what’s new for the 2018 Festival of Books, the world’s largest literary event. [17:00] If the L.A. Times does so much aggregating to tell more meaningful stories, then how do they cut through the noise? [24:35] About our guest Clint Schaff is an executive, educator and entrepreneur that builds community through marketing communications and advertising content. In 2016, Clint joined the Los Angeles Times as its VP of Strategy and Development, and is developing innovative content platforms and utilities in areas including premium branded entertainment.  Prior to that, he had built and led agency teams for The Wonderful Company, GroupM, Golin, Edelman and Vision7. His work at Edelman with Activision's Call of Duty won a Grand Effie, a Gold Effie and a Gold Sabre.  Early in his career, Clint took on leadership roles within labor unions and for political campaigns, and served as a White House intern. Clint also serves as an adjunct professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.   Connect with Clint LinkedIn Facebook Twitter   Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Tips to Make You Overcome Fear of Disruption Customers That Stick® post, What Great Brands Do Episode 306: Eric Porres, Personalized Video Experience Episode 140: Bryan Kramer, The Art of Shareology We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie Walters CCXP shares tips to help you recognize and overcome some of the most common and counterproductive leadership biases. Check your leadership biases! As humans we all have biases. Things like where we’re from, what we’ve been through and what has worked (or not worked) in the past all shape the lens through which we view the world. But when these biases affect the way we lead customer service teams and customer experience initiatives, employees suffer, and customers suffer along with them! “It’s too easy to lean on the success of the past.” -@jeanniecw In business, leadership biases have a negative impact on every layer of your organization. In fact, they create an illusion of well-being in every aspect of your business – from your internal culture to your content marketing strategy, and everything in between – sometimes even when the experiences delivered are clearly defunct! “If we’re creating something beautiful, it has to serve the customer.” -@jeanniecw In this episode, Jeannie explains why none of us is immune to biases and how they create friction in business. However, there are ways to recognize these biases and attack them head on! While Jeannie admits she’s been guilty of most of these biases, she’s also found amazing ways to address them. “Employees are giving 110% and yet…our competitor cuts into a share of our market.” -@jeanniecw Are your biases keeping you from seeing things for what they really are? More importantly, are leadership biases hampering the culture and overall success of your organization? Listen in to hear about the most common leadership biases and how to overcome them. Related Content 360Connext® post, Destructive Leadership Practices: Is Your CEO in Denial? Customers That Stick® post, How Employee Empowerment Really Works Episode 254: Rocky Romanella, Tighten the Lug Nuts Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie explore the Future of Work with Futurist, Keynote Speaker, & Best-Selling Author Jacob Morgan. What is the Future of Your Work? The what, when, why and how behind work itself used to be dictated by business owners, but this is changing quickly! In fact, developments in technology, social media and generational values are creating new behaviors every day that will indeed affect the way we and our employees work in the future. Are you in control? More importantly, what should you still be in control of? “…a lot of this power is shifting to employees.” -Jacob Morgan Tied directly to the customer experience, providing a frictionless and rewarding employee experience is now more important than ever. We’ve discovered that employees communicate differently than before – sometimes in ways we used to prohibit within the workplace. “I’m a big believer in as much flexibility as you can give employees.”  -Jacob Morgan So with all these new behaviors and more on the way, how should we perceive and prepare for the Future of Work, not just in our industries, but in our own workplaces? And how can we maintain a healthy level of control while letting employees work in the ways they feel most productive? “What should work be, and how do we build what we want it to be?” -Jacob Morgan Futurist, Keynote Speaker, & Best-Selling Author Jacob Morgan is here to answer some of these questions for us, then help us answer the rest of them for ourselves. Gleaning from insights Jacob uncovered while doing research for his latest book, we discuss the current state of work and how it has evolved, then take a fascinating trip into the future! So why not jump into our time machine (aka press the play button) and discover how to future-proof the work environment you create? Interview Highlights Jacob discusses the Future of Work in most of what he does, so why is this topic so important? [3:30] Jacob talks about 5 work trends that influence the future, but there’s one we’re really intrigued by! [4:45] How are new behaviors affecting the way we look for jobs or hire new employees? [6:25] If employee experience slips, then so does customer experience. What are the cues leaders should look out for? [9:00] Open office floorplans have become popular, but what is the right environment for your organization? (This is kind of a trick question!) [14:00] We know there’s great value to employee empowerment, so how will we define empowerment in the future? [19:10] About our guest Jacob Morgan is a three time best-selling author, keynote speaker and futurist who explores the future of work and employee experience. His latest book is The Employee Experience Advantage, which came out in March of this year. Jacob is the creator of The Future of Work University and The Future IF Community. Connect with Jacob Twitter LinkedIn The Future If - Facebook Group Explore Jacob's books on Amazon   Related Content 360Connext® post, What’s Your Culture Code? Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Episode 160: Blake Morgan, More is More Episode 304: Arnie Malham, Innovating Culture We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Something important needs to be done and employees say, “It’s not my job!” This happens a lot! In this episode, Jeannie and Adam explore why this happens and how to fix it. “It’s not my job!” Chances are, you’ve heard this refrain from employees when asked to step outside the confines of their job description. And while responsibility creep and role creep are very real issues employees may need to watch out for, it becomes a problem when your team isn’t willing to pitch in for the greater good. This becomes an even bigger problem during times of change. When leaders need their teams to pull together for the sake of creating better experiences, then receive nothing but pushback or even outright refusal to cooperate, the notion of positive change can seem like a pipe dream. After all, it’s not written into their job descriptions! As a leader, what can you do!? “You have to be the most #customer-centric person in the building.” -Adam Toporek It’s great to have superstars who love to jump in and help with whatever needs to be done. But in our experiences, those superstars are typically few and far between. But what if everyone on your team could be a superstar? What if they all saw the value of jumping in to work for a greater good? “If your mission isn’t aligned with #custexp ...people are not going to work towards that.” -Jeannie Walters Today, we’re looking at the cultural, organizational and emotional triggers behind “not-my-job-itis.” More importantly, we’re exploring some of the best ways to build a culture that instills a sense of ownership that makes your superstars, well, super! Creating better experiences should be everyone’s job. Listen in to make that happen in your organization. Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Amazing Customer Service with Shep Hyken Episode 304: Arnie Malham, Innovating Culture Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Eric Porres to discuss the new age of personalized video and how personal data is rolled in to drive serious engagement. What IS a personalized video experience? What is video anymore? Video used to be a “one-to-many” medium for communication, but brands have discovered the power of creating personalized “one-to-one” video. I know, you may be thinking of a video you’ve received from a brand where your name was plopped in at the beginning or end… But what we’re talking about here is quite different. “There’s a distinct difference between #personalization and BEING personal.” -Eric Porres As marketers, many of us have accustomed to using merge tags and placeholders to personalize content and communications. But as Eric Porres explains, this is not true personalization. In fact, recent advances in video technology allow us to create “smart videos,” where rich customer data can easily be used to create content that drives the customer’s next best action. As we can see from some of the cases Eric tells us about, smart videos have amazing power to drive engagement, loyalty, and more. And forget about keeping it short and sweet! While it may be true that customers have a short attention span when it comes to content consumption, the average customer engages with smart videos for a whopping 108 seconds, and some are even longer. “A smart video is as long as it needs to be to help customers drive that next best action.” -Eric Porres So, how are you using customer data, and how does it affect the way you engage via video? Eric has amazing insights on how you can bring more personal data into videos that drive action. Want to learn how it’s done? Listen in! Interview Highlights How important is personalized customer experience in today’s world? [2:50] What is a “smart video?” [ 7:30] Providing data-based content is one thing, but how does storytelling fit in? [9:15] How can general data among all customers help inform content for specific customers? [15:15] What does Eric see in the future for personalized experiences, especially where they intersect with tech? [19:00] About our guest Eric Porres, is chief marketing officer of SundaySky. Previously, Eric was the CMO for Sailthru, a provider of personalization software, and CMO for Rocket Fuel, where he helped scale revenue and complete an IPO. Eric was a founding partner of Underscore Marketing, and built the organization into a recognized Inc. 5000 company. He also founded Pericles Consulting, a political marketing firm. Eric has held management positions at AOL Time Warner, Agency.com, Lotame and LiveTechnology. He is an active angel investor and adviser to several startup companies, and graduated from Duke University. Connect with Eric Website Twitter Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Mobile Personalization Tweaks to Keep Customers On Track Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Episode 172: (Tip) Personalizing the Customer Experience Episode 147: Private Social Media for Customer Service We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss ways to inform your team and keep them motivated through the retail apocalypse. Retail apocalypse: Who thinks the end is nigh? Rumor has it we’re in the Retail Apocalypse…have you heard of this? With increased competition and ever-increasing customer expectations, the evidence is all around us. The internet is all abuzz with what this means for businesses on the macro level, but what about the actual people in your organization? Your employees see the evidence too. Stress is at an all-time high for many retailers, and that stress trickles down into your staff. So, are you addressing this? “Nobody wants to tell their staff the ship is sinking, because then it will just sink faster.” -Adam Toporek Although it’s hard to talk to employees about hard times, it’s much worse to leave them to their own securities. They’re not blind to plummeting stocks, negative sentiment in reviews... not to mention those customers who bring these things up to them! “If people do not have information, they will fill in the blanks with the most negative scenario…” -Jeannie Walters While they plug away at their jobs, employees who once felt secure are now asking questions in their heads, like “How long will this last?” “Will I still have a job tomorrow?” If you’re not talking to them about this, then there’s a good chance they’re planning their escape. So, what can you do about this? How do you support your team and tell them the truth without creating a panic? Adam and Jeannie have some great tips for not only starting these tough conversations, but for keeping your team motivated and sending them home feeling good about what they’ve done. Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Destructive Consistency Issues You Need to Overcome Now Customers That Stick® post, Is Your Customer Service Consistent? Episode 286: Anthony Iannarino, Commitments Are for Closers Episode 219: (Tip) Consistency Across Multiple Brands We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Arnie Malham to uncover his secrets to innovating culture for a better overall customer experience. Innovating culture for better experiences all around When starting a new company, we have a vision of how we want to be different – to have a great culture and a memorable experience. It’s easy to believe that if we hire the right people and train them well, then everything will fall into place. “I’m going to have a company where people are proud to put us on their resume.” -Arnie Malham But what happens when business gets challenging and stressful? What is your default mode of culture, and how does it affect your business? Without actively creating a culture that benefits everyone, what we thought was a solid culture succumbs to stress. Teams lose touch with the “why” and relationships suffer for the sake of getting things done. That’s why we’re thrilled to bring Arnie Malham to the show. Through painful trial and error, Arnie had discovered a highly innovative approach to creating and maintaining a healthy, more profitable culture. “Bad cultures get what they deserve which is typically not a long business model.” -Arnie Malham Arnie explains how he’s leveraged transparency and engagement for a culture that not only creates a happier, more productive workplace, but reaches out to employees’ families and captures the hearts of clients. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the spouses of your employees sent you thank you notes for sending their loved ones home happy and full of energy? How about creating cultural milestones that not only impress clients, but demonstrate your devotion to delivering a great experience? Arnie has shared lots of tips and secrets with us! And the best part is that these strategies can be used in any industry. Listen in! Interview Highlights What got Arnie focused on culture? [4:25] Why did Arnie start paying his team to read books, then eventually, create BetterBookClub.com? [7:05] How is Arnie recognizing employees and helping them recognize each other? [14:10] If Arnie is so big on recognition, then what’s with the “no birthday cake rule?” [16:42] Arnie takes cultural transparency to the next level – not just with the team, but with clients! [21:00] About our guest Without a clue as to how to run a company, Arnie Malham repeatedly “got it wrong” when it came to hiring, firing, and everything else related to building a business. Malham then stumbled upon a bold, culture-first approach that gave his fledgling company the momentum it needed to become a success. By putting culture first, cj Advertising grew to become the largest full-service brand-building agency in the country, exclusively for law firms. Malham has since leveraged his cutting-edge culture to launch two other successful businesses, Legal Intake Professionals and BetterBookClub.com. Connect with Arnie Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website Related Content 360Connext® post, Common Mistakes in Organizational Culture Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 180: John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution Episode 222: (Tip) Instilling Culture Throughout the Organization We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares expert tips for building brand trust through truly consistent customer experiences. Consistency and brand trust Brand trust is one of the cornerstones of customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, trust is hard to earn and easy to destroy. And you may know customers can trust you, but do they know? So, it’s imperative to think of ways to deliver an experience that earns trust for the long term. There are many building blocks to trust, but today we’re focusing on one of the most important ones: Consistency. But truly consistent customer experiences go well beyond consistently creating delight at a given touchpoint. In fact, those touchpoints need to be consistent with one another. “Consistency means living that promise on every channel, every time.” –Jeannie Walters Does your great shopping experience lead to a checkout that’s from another planet? Or does your personalized service end with a bill that’s anything but? “When it’s time to hand over the money, the experience can be a total let-down” –Jeannie Walters These are some of the things you should be looking at. But on this scale, it’s easy to overlook inconsistencies that loom within your customer journey. Can you find them? Join us today as Jeannie Walters outlines a few great ways to check your own customer journey for this kind of inconsistency. Is your experience truly reflecting brand trust to your customers? Listen in and find out! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Destructive Consistency Issues You Need to Overcome Now Customers That Stick® post, Is Your Customer Service Consistent? Episode 286: Anthony Iannarino, Commitments Are for Closers Episode 219: (Tip) Consistency Across Multiple Brands We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the incredible transformation and enhancement of Comcast customer service with Tom Karinshak, Comcast's Executive Vice President of Customer Service. Comcast customer service and game-changing innovation When we ask people about their worst customer service experiences, cable and communications providers often top the list. And years ago, Comcast may have been the first company to come to mind. But this is changing fast! Customers now demand better experiences from all the companies they do business with, so they no longer grin and bear it with cable companies. They’re fed up with the typical experiences, so they’ve taken to social media and other feedback platforms, and Comcast has indeed been listening! Since Tom Karinshak became Executive Vice President of Customer Service for Comcast Cable, the company has made incredible strides in improving and enhancing not just the customer experience, but the employee experience as well. “I'm a firm believer that you can’t have a great customer experience without a great employee experience” -Tom Karinshak, Executive VP of Customer Service at Comcast There are many factors at play behind Comcast’s success in improving the customer experience, but you'd be surprised at how far-reaching their efforts are. In fact, they've changed the game with strategic partnerships, feedback mechanisms, software and apps, and both internal and external communications. What’s more, they’re redefining what omnichannel customer support really means. “How do we simplify it for the customers? Meet them where they want to be met.” -Tom Karinshak, Executive VP of Customer Service at Comcast Comcast continues to smash the mold for cable customer experiences, and they’ve already made amazing improvements nobody expected.  We’re lucky to have Tom join us today and discuss some of the ways Comcast has transformed their experience. But it's not just about cable! We uncover many ways any company can get started creating a competitive customer experience in their industry. Listen in! Interview Highlights What CX goals did Tom take on first with Comcast, and how did he view those challenges? [3:35] Products can be very complex, so how can we go about simplifying the touchpoints connected to them? [6:44] How does Comcast communicate to embed CX enhancements, especially across different parts of the organization? [11:10] We’ve heard of Net Promoter Score, but how does Comcast focus on the Net Promoter SYSTEM?” [13:40] What is it like to roll out CX enhancements in a large company like Comcast? [17:00] What is the first step any company can take to start rolling out customer experience enhancements? [24:30] About our guest Tom Karinshak serves as Executive Vice President, Customer Service for Comcast Cable. In this role, he and his team work to ensure Comcast is delivering an excellent customer service experience. Tom oversees call center operations including phone, chat and social media agents, in addition to other key touch points and service channels with their customers. Before joining Comcast in November 2010, Tom served as Managing Director and Customer Experience Director for Barclay’s Bank of Delaware, where he designed and built a top talent customer experience, marketing, and operations organization. Prior to Barclays, Tom was at AOL where he held a variety of senior leadership roles across marketing and operations. Tom has 20 years of leadership experience with multi-service providers and leading consumer brands. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army for six years as a Combat Engineer Captain. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.S. in Engineering Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Service & CX Leaders Make the Best Magic TOGETHER Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 301: Will Experience Be Your Difference This Year? Episode 298: Michel Falcon, Incredible Experience Tips We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares expert advice for making customer experience your competitive advantage in 2018. Customer experience is THE competitive advantage Welcome to 2018! To start off the new year, we’d like you to think about customer experience as your competitive advantage. Because unless you plan to compete on price, providing a customer experience that is both frictionless and memorable is the best way to differentiate your brand this year. But many brands fall into a trap when trying to differentiate on experience! While they create perks and gimmicks to entice customers, competitors are drilling down into the customer journeys to focus on the moments that matter most to their customers. What you do to differentiate doesn’t have to make a big splash. In fact, many of the experience initiatives brands make a huge deal out of chalk up to little more than clever marketing campaigns. And while they may generate in influx in sales, things taper off when customers realize these changes are only skin deep. “When you think about competing on customer experience, don’t just think about your experience as a whole…” -Adam Toporek So what do you say? Competition is fierce in 2018, and while many companies offer a similar product or service, your customers are looking for their ideal experience. To kick off the new year, Adam is sharing tips and ideas to help you examine your customer journey for critical touchpoints with the potential to create a competitive advantage in your industry. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Top CX Trends For Survival in the Age of the Customer Customers That Stick® post, Will You Compete on Customer Experience in 2018? Episode 298: Michel Falcon, Incredible Experience Tips Episode 282: Stephen Shapiro, Innovating Customer Experience We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam celebrate 300 episodes by sharing outrageous predictions for the distant future of customer experience and customer service. 300 episodes and counting…Celebrate with us! When we started this podcast back in 2015, the idea of having even 100 episodes seemed so far away. But sine then, we’ve celebrated 100, 200, and now (drumroll, please) 300 episodes! This reminds us of how not so long ago, customer experience was something most leaders had never heard of, and excellent customer service just meant being speedy and polite. But now customer experience is a must-have focus in business, and excellent customer service is experience-driven and baked into the DNA of our favorite companies. “We learn from our guests, we learn from our listeners, and we learn from each other.” -Adam Toporek So we’re taking this opportunity to think ahead. Like, way ahead! What will customer experiences be like 1oo years from now? And how will leaders design and deliver those future experiences? We’re looking at things that may seem impossible today, but given the rapid pace at which business technology and customer-focused practices have grown, don’t seem so far-fetched after all! “We’re talking about #custexp in the same way that back in the 90’s we talked about the internet.” -Jeannie Walters We’re so glad you’re able to join us for this celebration! Listen in for fun predictions, and a surprise addition from one of our multitalented hosts. Related Content 360Connext® post, The Best CX Leaders ROCK at These 3 Things Customers That Stick® post, A Guide to Customer Service Higher Education Episode 100: Customer Service 100 Years Ago Our Special 200th Episode - This is a MUST-LISTEN if you haven't yet! We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for making new channels a seamless part of the overall customer experience from the inside out. Working new channels into your DNA Customers are engaging with brands on more channels that ever before. It’s staggering how quickly a new channel can change the way customers buy, engage, and just live their lives. As a result, smart leaders put a lot into developing those channels quickly to have a presence wherever heir customers are. But in the age of smart watches and virtual assistants, it's a tall order! And who knows what’s next!?  “2 years ago, we were not talking to devices in our living room…” -Jeannie Walters Just providing and managing new channels for your customers is only part of the work.   What about the internal aspect? When new channels put a strain on internal processes and resources, or just aren’t considered, the experiences delivered through them tend to fall short or fail altogether. Even big companies who invest heavily in diversifying their multichannel experience leave customers scratching their heads or just plain angry. “If you own it, then can you operationalize it?” -Adam Toporek New channels are being rolled out at a rapid pace! Are you prepared to integrate them into the experiences you deliver? More importantly, how can you ensure these new channels will thrive within the ecosystem created by your internal processes? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Your Process Flows Don’t Know Jack! Episode 287: The Multi-Device Customer Journey Episode 277: 5 Digital Experience Offenses We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Michel Falcon to explore employee and customer engagement strategies that lead to amazing experiences that scale. Leveraging culture for amazing experiences If you want to deliver outstanding experiences, then you must have an amazing culture to match. Today’s guest, Michel Falcon, is an expert at creating employee engagement strategies that lead to amazing customer experiences, and he has some great tips to share with you today! First off, Michel explains that proper engagement starts with recruiting. In fact, it should start before you even consider hiring! As part of a special process Michel shares with our listeners, you can cut significant overhead by frontloading much of the work and starting off right. “We need a certain type of individual who has a customer-centric DNA” -Michel Falcon But it’s not just about hiring the right people and training them right. You need a solid ongoing engagement strategy. Michel shares some innovative ways he gets new hires engaged right from the start and keeps them engaged for the long term. So, how does all of this relate to the customer experience? Michel’s strategies for hiring and engagement is only part of what we cover here. We hear amazing stories and tried-and-true experience strategies that can only work if your culture and hiring process are aligned with the ideal experience. “If you aren’t ready to compete on customer experience, don’t even show up…” –Michel Falcon Packed with scalable tips for hiring, training, designing experiences, and keeping engagement high on all fronts, this is a must-listen episode for leaders in any industry. You won’t believe some of Michel’s strategies actually work, but the results have been amazing. So, what are you waiting for? Listen in! Interview Highlights Michel outlines his innovative process for hiring the right people. What are some key questions? [3:30] What is the $2o indulgence question, and why is it such a powerful tool – not just for recruiting, but ongoing engagement? [7:20] Confession: Michel “stole” this strategy from John DiJulius…because it’s awesome! [12:30] Michel has a special budget for “micro experiences,” but what are they, and how does his Experience Coordinator manage them? [16:35] How does Michel use video as a customer experience tool? [22:00] About our guest Michel Falcon is an entrepreneur, advisor and international keynote speaker who leverages customer experience and employee engagement strategies to grow businesses. He has been hired by multi-million and billion-dollar companies across dozens of industries to improve their customer experience and employee engagement and has traveled to countries like Canada, USA, Israel, Austria, Australia, Nigeria, Germany. Michel has worked with and spoken to companies like McDonalds, Verizon Wireless, BlueCross BlueShield, Alfa Romeo, Electronic Arts and many others. As an entrepreneur, Michel is a partner in a hospitality company based in Toronto, Ontario that owns and operates restaurants that earns more than $10,000,000 in yearly revenue and has over 100 employees. Connect with Michel Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Website Related Content 360Connext® post, The Best CX Leaders ROCK at These 3 Things Customers That Stick® post, Introducing a New Guide to Customer Service Higher Education Episode 180: John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss how to balance your performance and resources with the promises you make to customers. Is your brand making meaningful promises? Broken promises chalk up to bad customer experiences. As a result, many brands set low expectations regarding call time, hours of operation, and many other things. On the flip side, brands need to differentiate themselves by making bold promises. And yet many create customer service nightmares and harm their brand image by making promises they can’t always keep. “If you don’t deliver, that’s a bad #custexp…” -Jeannie Walters Balancing resources with performance and tying these things to a promise that is both realistic and meaningful to customers is a tall order for most businesses. How can you strike a balance that keeps customers happy while keeping your resources in check? There’s no easy answer, and it’s different for everyone. For some, this may mean making big changes or additional investments. But for others, a few simple tweaks can make a world of difference! “There’s 2 sets of expectations…” -Adam Toporek Today, Adam and Jeannie are diving into ways you can set more reasonable expectations with customers, regardless of what resources you have. So before you decide you’re doing the best you can without turning things upside-down or pushing the limits of your budget, we have some great tips you can use today. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Service & CX Leaders Make the Best Magic TOGETHER Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service CustomerThink post: AIMIA, Aeroplan, Air Canada and the meaning of loyalty Episode 266: Chip Bell, Innovating Service Episode 209: (Tip) Do You Have the Resources for Service? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discover how to attract your ideal customers with Jeffrey Shaw, author of LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language. Jeffrey Shaw and the power of the customer lingo As an entrepreneur or growing business, it’s critical to differentiate yourself and get noticed. But too often, brands get noticed by the wrong prospect. And to make matters worse, it’s very difficult to turn down the “wrong” customers. So, how can you attract the “right” customers while diversifying your clientele? “You don’t have to say ‘no’ if only the right customers are showing up.” --Jeffrey Shaw There are many ways to do this, but too often, it amounts to wasted time and resources going above and beyond to appeal to less-than-ideal customers. have you considered the language you use as a driving force? “The people they jumped through hoops for and went crazy over tend to be the least profitable.” -Jeffrey Shaw Today’s guest, Jeffrey Shaw, has unlocked the power of the customer lingo. Through experience, he has discovered that by narrowing down the language we use, you can not only make better connections, but also expand your audience. “Once you own that space, you realize you actually expand your audience.” -Jeffrey Shaw A big part of this is about turning inward to better understand your own language and differentiator. Jeffrey shares some great ways to discover and develop your own customer lingo. Through powerful anecdotes and inspiring stories, he tells us how this concept can make a huge difference. So, how about attracting more of the “right” customers, expanding your audience, and creating better experiences for everyone through a better understanding of your own unique customer lingo? Listen in and you can start today! Interview highlights Before committing to a client, what’s Jeffrey’s strategy for gauging if they’re a good fit? [3:00] How can we start aligning our company’s identity with the language of our customers? [5:00] Jeffrey tells us his own story of Cracking the Customer Code - aka -  discovering the power of customer lingo! [8:12] What's Jeffrey's unique approach to the 80/20 rule, and more importantly, why we must do better? [9:45] Jeffrey shares a prime example of a brand getting on the customers’ wavelength. [13:30] "What is the “New Niche?” Moreover, why is Jeffrey standing on his head!? [15:00] We’re in what’s widely known as “the age of specialization.” So How does Jeffrey’s concept of customer lingo fit in with what? [20:30] About our guest Having a keen eye isn’t just for what one sees, but also for what one senses. Jeffrey Shaw, the LINGO guy, has been the go-to portrait photographer for an exclusive clientele for 30+ years. His portraits have appeared on The Oprah Show, CBS News, in “O” Magazine, People Magazine and New York Family Magazine. Jeffrey is also the host of the popular business podcast Creative Warriors and a featured speaker on The Moth. Now Jeffrey uses his honed intuition to see and sense to help businesses stand out, attract their ideal customers, and create brand loyalty that supersedes price. His book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible helps business owners and entrepreneurs understand their ideal customers on a deeper level, increasing engagement and profits. Connect with Jeffrey LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Jeffrey’s website Creative Warriors podcast Check out the free download just for CTCC listeners! Related Content 360Connext® post, Do Your Communication Tactics Undermine Your Intentions? Customers That Stick® post, 10 Lessons from 200 Customer Service Podcast Episodes Episode 266: Chip Bell, Innovating Service Episode 86: Anthony Iannarino, Commitments Are for Closers We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam share tips and ideas to make the holidays more meaningful and less stressful for customers and employees alike. A quick leadership guide for the holidays The holidays are not only about spreading extra cheer, but also about giving thanks. It's one thing to say "thank you" to customers and employees, but showing them you appreciate them is another.  Does your gratitude shine through in the way you do business? This time of year is more stressful for just about everyone. So what can you do to make sure your gratitude is felt throughout the holiday season? Adam and Jeannie have some great ideas to share! Special segment We really appreciate the feedback we receive from listeners to help us keep improving the show. In fact, we have a special shout out for one of you, plus a special message for all of you. Thank you for listening, and Happy Thanksgiving! Related Content 360Connext® post, The Best CX Leaders ROCK at These 3 Things Customers That Stick® post, A Guide to Customer Service Higher Education Episode 175: (Tip) How Business Schools Can Add Customer Experience Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss an innovative approach to the education experience with Katy Lynch, Co-founder and CMO at Codeverse. Codeverse and innovations in education Educating the next generation on coding the things that keep our lives going is critical. But traditional schools don’t provide an environment where kids can excel at coding while keeping parents up to speed with what’s happening and why. Moreover, there are a lot of myths about what an education in coding is really about, and who it’s for! “I can’t think of a more exciting time to be in the coding industry than now.” -Katy Lynch Katy Lynch set out to create a highly engaging environment where young children can dive into the world of coding. Through tireless research, interviews, and LOTS of testing, Katy discovered what does and does not work. As a result, Codeverse was founded and built around a highly innovative learning experience. “A high-quality education, just like a high-quality product, speaks for itself.” -Katy Lynch At Codeverse, students use a proprietary SaaS platform called KidScript™ to communicate, control the environment, and more.  In fact, they get to interact with cool things like robotic arms and laser cutters! So not only do they learn how to code, they also see the real-world impact of their work. But this is just one of the fascinating ways Codeverse offers an enhanced learning experience. Katy and the folks at Codeverse understand that education is about more than what happens in the classroom. Besides the coding itself, Codeverse is also grooming students to become thought leaders on technology and coding. What’s more, they help students and their families develop healthy relationships with technology and prepare for the future. “They ask us questions BEYOND the Codeverse experience.” -Katy Lynch Katy brought lots of great insights to this interview for leaders in any industry. We discuss amazing ways to gather feedback, consider different layers of customers, and innovate the experience for everyone involved. Listen in! Interview Highlights Kids don’t usually pay tuition, so how do you balance CX for students with those paying? [4:05] Codeverse takes a different approach at STEM, so how did Katy explore what would and wouldn’t work before launch? [5:40] Why create a physical environment for digital training? [10:20] As a leader, how does Katy understand when things aren’t working as expected or need tweaks? [12:24] Katy explains many ways Codeverse helps students beyond the curriculum, including an exciting program to groom kids for thought leadership. [13:37] About our guest Katy Lynch is the Co-founder and CMO at ">Codeverse, the world's first full interactive coding school and educational tech platform for kids that was founded on the mission to teach one billion children to code. Prior to Codeverse, Katy was the CEO of Techweek, the nation's largest traveling technology festival, as well as the President and Co-founder of SocialKaty, a full service social media marketing agency. In 2014, SocialKaty was acquired by award-winning digital agency, Manifest. Katy has appeared on FOX, NBC, Inc, Huffington Post, and Today.com, amongst others. Connect with Katy Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Codeverse Website Katy's Website Related Content 360Connext® post, The Best CX Leaders ROCK at These 3 Things Customers That Stick® post, Introducing a New Guide to Customer Service Higher Education Episode 175: (Tip) How Business Schools Can Add Customer Experience Episode 291: LinkedIn Learning for Customer-Focused Leaders We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share updated insights on what and how millennials buy and what that could mean for your industry in the future. Are millennial trends destroying your industry? We discuss millennials quite often on this podcast because new trends are developing so fast! This time, we have fascinating (and scary?) new insights because they’re reaching a new phase of adulthood. As it turns out, millennials are different in more ways than we ever imagined. And it’s not just about skinny jeans and fad diets. For instance, millennials are not buying much beer. (What!? That’s blasphemy!) Another example is how millennials are waiting longer to get married and not buying starter homes. But these are just a couple of the trends that have hit the news lately. Millennials are making new waves in every industry at a rapid pace, and executives are crying out in their wake! So, what does that mean for your industry? Will your offering become a fading memory while millennials push forward and shape their world? Well, that’s up to you! “We really have to think about that ecosystem in the experience of millennials.” -Jeannie Walters While many companies are suffering, others are using these trends to innovate and create experiences that not only resonate better with millennials, but make things better for everyone else. That means if you pay attention and think ahead, you can have your kale and eat it too. “Sometimes the answer is not right in front of you….” -Adam Toporek Today, we’re discussing what adulthood means for millennials as consumers, and how these trends beg a shift in our priorities and the experiences we deliver. With great examples from forward-thinking companies, Adam and Jeannie have great ideas about how to adapt and move forward in this multi-generational business landscape. Related Content 360Connext® post, Obsessing over CX for Millennials Ruins It for Everyone! Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service Episode 220: Future Customer or Present Customer? Episode 142: Anna Liotta, Unlocking Generational Codes We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Mark Podolsky about keeping customers happy while maintaining a passive income. Can happy customers and passive income coexist? Earning a passive income is a dream most of us have, but so few of us can do this in a sustainable way. How can you automate most of your workflow while still delivering a great customer experience? Today’s guest not only survived, but triumphed over the real estate crash of 2008. Instead of closing shop like so many others, he used the changing landscape as an opportunity to break the mold and connect with customers in better ways. “I’ve automated as much as I can, but then I’ve given that personal touch.” - Mark Podolsky A recognized thought leader in maintaining passive incomes, Mark shares some great tips for entrepreneurs and leaders who want to earn a passive income while focusing more on what matters most to them in life. Find out how Mark balances automation with personalization and how they tie to his bold philosophy of “Happy Customers Guaranteed.” Plus, he clues us in on some of the best automation tools he uses to help personalize the experience, outlines some of the vital traits of successful leaders, and ties them together with inspiring stories. Listen in! Interview highlights Mark gives us some background, then explains how he guarantees happy customers. [3:13] Why is Mark known as The Land Geek? [7:08] What has changed since the real estate crash of 2008, and more importantly, how did Mark survive it? [9:20] How does Mark balance automation with personalization for better overall customer experiences? [15:00] Mark shares some of the common threads among the many successful leaders and entrepreneurs he’s interviewed on his own podcast. [19:00] About our guest Mark J. Podolsky (AKA The Land Geek) is widely considered the Country’s most trusted and foremost authority on buying and selling raw, undeveloped land within the United States. He has been actively investing in Real Estate and Raw Land since 2001 and has completed over 5,000 unique transactions. Mark’s company, Frontier Equity Properties, LLC, is an A+ rated BBB real estate company. Mark has achieved this level of success largely due to his core business philosophy – “Happy Customers Guaranteed.” Mark is the host of one of the top rated podcasts in the Investing Category on iTunes aptly titled The Best Passive Income Model and The Art of Passive Income. He is also the host of the Land Geek Podcast- Work Smart. Earn More. Learn How. Connect with Mark Twitter LinkedIn TheLandGeek.com Related Content 360Connext® post, Do Your Communication Tactics Undermine Your Intentions? Customers That Stick® post, 10 Lessons from 200 Customer Service Podcast Episodes Episode 266: Chip Bell, Innovating Service Episode 86: Anthony Iannarino, Commitments Are for Closers We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the content and creation process behind Jeannie’s new customer experience course on LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn is not just for networking, and Jeannie’s wisdom is not just for podcasts! We have a special announcement for you!   Have you ever heard of LinkedIn Learning? Formerly Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning offers video courses to sharpen a vast range of business skills and learn new ones. In fact, LinkedIn Learning is adding new content every day from industry experts sharing the latest tips and insights – some of which are too new to learn in school. So it’s a great way to stay on the cutting edge, no matter what your brain is thirsty for. But it gets better! Our co-host Jeannie Walters has a new LinkedIn Learning course, called Creating a Positive Customer Experience. She has worked tirelessly over several months to develop this course, which includes tips and exercises for journey mapping, setting the right expectations with marketing, building trust, retooling your sales process, and more. But before I give it all away here, Jeannie has more details about the course and the creation process in this episode. Plus, she shares fun stories about her adventures in creating the course, recording in a LinkedIn learning’s high-tech studio, and some surprising details about how it’s all done. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, The Best CX Leaders ROCK at These 3 Things Customers That Stick® post, A Guide to Customer Service Higher Education Episode 175: (Tip) How Business Schools Can Add Customer Experience Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Check out the intro for Jeannie's new LinkedIn Learning course! Welcome from Creating a Positive Customer Experience by Jeannie Walters   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview global customer experience professional Ian Golding to conquer the challenges of operationalizing customer experience. Turning CX wisdom into action with Ian Golding Leaders all over the world are making the connection between customer experience and business success. While that’s a good thing, just talking the talk is not enough! If you read the right blogs and know the right people, all the wisdom and best practices are there for the taking. But few know how to put all that wisdom to work. “Too few organizations are aligning customer perception with operational performance.” -Ian Golding So what’s missing? How can leaders embed customer-centric thinking into business processes, ultimately turning that enthusiasm into action? Today’s guest is a world-renowned customer experience professional, and he’s here to share some of his best ideas for operationalizing customer experience. Drawing from his experience working with CX professionals all over the world, Ian gives us a snapshot of the global CX landscape. What are the common threads among successful leaders worldwide, and where do we need to improve the most? “The main attribute of all, beyond even the skills and competencies, is courage.” -Ian Golding Ian is a phenomenal customer experience professional with a unique perspective, and we’re lucky to have him join us today!  Listen in to learn the hard truths about customer experience leadership, how we use data, why we still execute poorly, and more. Interview Highlights We must “operationalize” customer experience to make a real difference, but what does that mean and how can you get started? [3:30] What’s globally common about the approach to CX, and what’s different? [6:30] What are the most important attributes of customer experience professionals? [10:50] Ian comically says customer-centric leaders need 3 bones in their body, so what are they? [13:50] How is data used in CX for developing countries, and are they as obsessed with it as we are in the US? [15:45] About our guest A highly influential freelance CX consultant, Ian Golding advises leading companies on CX strategy, measurement, improvement and employee advocacy techniques and solutions. Ian has worked globally across multiple industries including retail, financial services, logistics, manufacturing, telecoms and pharmaceuticals deploying CX tools and methodologies. An internationally renowned speaker and blogger on the subject of CX, Ian was also the first to become a CCXP (Certified Customer Experience Professional) Authorised Resource & Training Provider. Connect with Ian Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website Related Content 360Connext® post, Which Comes First? Customer Experience or Sales? Customers That Stick® post, The Best CX Leaders ROCK at These 3 Things Episode 282: Stephen Shapiro, Innovating Customer Experience Episode 255: (Tip) Your Org Chart vs. Your Customers Ian's post, Customer Experience 2017 Reality Check – Evolution or Revolution? We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie exposes unexpected gaps in CX created by transition processes and procedures within the customer journey. Are you creating unnecessary gaps in CX? Who has not had a great experience do a complete 180 somewhere along the way? This often happens during transitions in the customer journey. In fact, experience gaps in these transitions are often invisible from within the organization. Do you know where they are? A great overall experience means not only delivering excellence during every phase in the customer journey, but also zeroing in on the transitions. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you have them all tightened up! This is where gaps in CX are often only visible from the customer’s perspective. “I bet there’s a #CX transition YOU control that you can fix quickly!” -Jeannie Walters Whether transitioning from freemium to premium or sales to usage, happy prospects find themselves scratching their heads and having second thoughts at critical moments. That said, it’s important to understand what’s really happening to them at these turning points! What typically goes wrong, and more importantly, how you find and close these gaps? Don’t make happy prospects lose their enthusiasm over something that can easily be avoided. Jeannie has some classic examples of transitions that cause gaps in CX, so you can find and start fixing them today. Listen in!  Related Content 360Connext® post, Your Process Flows Don’t Know Jack! Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 255: (Tip) Your Org Chart vs. Your Customers Episode 120: Jim Kalbach, Experience Mapping Expert We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview creativity and innovation expert Amy Climer, Ph.D. to discover how to foster creativity in your team. Creativity is not just for “creatives” Creativity is a necessary trait for teams from the c-suite on out to customer service. Much of what we do in business requires creativity- from innovation to general problem-solving. But many of us don’t think of it this way! When we’re not prepared for the creative process in these situations, we get bad ideas, push-back from some team members, and the silent treatment from others. So, how can we put a process around creativity? Today’s guest, Amy Climer Ph.D., is here to help us develop a solid creative process for our teams, no matter what they do!  You’ll learn about creative techniques, tools, and ways to foster creativity in many kinds of environments. Amy outlines amazingly simple ways to create strong team dynamics, encourage honesty, build trust, and ultimately, create the best ideas possible. Learn to manage conflict, give your team purpose, measure your success, and more! Interview highlights What are the three elements teams need to be innovative and creative together, according to Amy’s Deliberate Creative Team model?  [3:30] Amy explores a few unusual examples of creative thinking in high-stakes situations. [7:30] What are the challenges and opportunities of a diverse creative team? [12:10] How can you measure your team’s creative power and more importantly, foster greater creativity in your culture? [14:00] What is the creative problem process, and how can you get started today? [19:00] About our guest Dr. Amy Climer teaches teams to be creative and innovative. She is a speaker, trainer, and coach in creativity, innovation, and team development. Through her company Climer Consulting she teaches research-based practices, tools, and techniques teams can use to innovate on demand. Amy has a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University and a Master’s degree in Outdoor Education from the University of New Hampshire. She is trained or certified in Creative Problem Solving, Immunity to Change, and the FourSight Thinking System. She developed the Deliberate Creative™ Teams Scale to help teams understand how to increase their creativity. Amy is the host of The Deliberate Creative™, a podcast and blog designed to teach others how to facilitate innovation in teams. In 2016, she won the Karl Rhonke Creativity Award from the Association for Experiential Education. Learn more about Amy and her work at climerconsulting.com. Connect with Amy Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Silent Issues that Destroy Customer-Focused Innovation Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional Episode 266: Chip Bell, Innovating Service Episode 114: Ron Tite, Branding and Creativity Expert We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss today’s multi-device customer journey and share tips and ideas for optimizing your omnichannel experience. What’s your multi-device customer journey really like? Offering a multi-channel customer experience is nothing new. In fact, it’s now expected. So we test our websites on iPhones, Android tablets, and different operating systems. We develop what we think is the best experience for PC users, for Mac users, etc. Then, when we determine the experiences are optimal for each of those channels or devices, we cut the ribbon and call it a win. However, today’s tech-savvy customers continue to drop out of the journey. Freemium customers never upgrade. Paid customers don’t renew. Customers who once reported being satisfied jump ship. So what is going on here? “It’s not really about ONE mobile journey.” -Jeannie Walters Too often, journey mapping becomes an exercise in channels, not the entire experience. Today’s tech-savvy customers use multiple channels to get things done. So what happens when a customer starts a project on a Mac and returns to tie up a loose end via the Android app? While those two channels are optimized on their own, hidden gaps often lie between them that cause unexpected challenges or derail the journey entirely. “By the time you figure out yesterday’s problem it is YESTERDAYS problem.” -Adam Toporek Today, we take a closer look at how customers move from one device to another, and what happens to the experience when they get there. Are your amazing device-specific experiences still amazing to customers who depend on more than one to get things done? Listen in for ways to find out and hear some of the best ways to close these gaps. Related Content 360Connext® post, Mobile Innovation Is Not About Your Phone! Customers That Stick® post, Interview: GetApp’s Top 25 Customer Service Apps Episode 277: 5 Digital Experience Offenses Episode 264: (Tip) Mobile Potential We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview bestselling author and leading sales expert Anthony Iannarino. Closing in on meaningful relationships with Anthony Iannarino Automation is great, but it makes creating lasting relationships with sales prospects much harder. What’s more, dated sales tactics drive what we don't automate. So that personal attention we’re giving often chalks up to wasted energy where both salespeople and customers are concerned. While automation and dated closing tactics may lead to better sales for the short-term, they lack the Customers today are smarter, busier, and demand more meaningful engagement from the companies they do business with. “You only need 2 things to be a trusted advisor: You need trust, and you need advice.” -Anthony Iannarino Not only to close more sales, but to create better long-term value from clients and prospects, we need to become “trusted advisors” to our customers, not just salespeople. So in this ever-connected, fast-moving world, that means finding the right balance between technology and one-on-one engagement. It’s not an easy thing to do! “The end close where I ask you for your business is either the easiest thing to do in the world or the most difficult.” -Anthony Iannarino We’re lucky to have leading sales expert Anthony Iannarino to help us sort these things out! In fact, we found that most of us could benefit from a better approach. In this episode, Anthony shares his world-class sales experience and tips from his bestselling books. He shares his very best advice on building trust, using automation, researching prospects, amazing closing techniques, and more! Interview Highlights What piqued Anthony’s interest in helping others produce better sales results? [4:40] Anthony outlines modern challenges in becoming a trusted advisor to customers, rather than just a salesperson. [7:10] Researching sales prospects online helps start relationships on a more meaningful level, but Anthony has an interesting take on this. [9:20] Anthony shares tips for balancing automation with human interaction, and how to anticipate when a distinction is necessary. [14:00] Anthony shares highlights from his book The Lost Art of Closing to help us understand better closing techniques. [17:20] How can we counsel salespeople to not only make reasonable, meaningful promises, but always deliver on them? [21:40] Many sales professionals believe in the concept of “under-promising and over-delivering,” but Anthony has a better idea... [26:10] About our guest Anthony Iannarino is an international speaker, bestselling author of two books, and a sales leader. Anthony is the Managing Director of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, a coaching and consulting firm he started in 2007. Anthony has worked for—and spoken to—global giants like Accenture, Abbot Laboratories, IDEXX, NetJets, Novo Nordisk, BAE Systems, Toro, TransUnion, Wells Fargo, General Electric, RR Donnelly, Wells Fargo, and CH Robinson. Anthony graduated from Capital University with a summa cum laude dual major in Political Science and English Literature. He then attended Capital University Law School on the Dean’s Academic Scholarship. He also attended Harvard Business School, completing their Owner President Manager Executive Education program. Anthony is internationally recognized as a thought leader in sales and leadership, with his award winning The Sales Blog being read by 65,000 people each month. His Sunday Newsletter reaches 80,000 people each week. Anthony has been named one the 50 most influential people in sales by Top Sales World. He was also named one of the 25 most influential people in sales and marketing by Open View Partners. In addition to writing daily at The Sales Blog since 2010 and posting a daily vlog on YouTube, Anthony is also a contributing editor at SUCCESS Magazine and ThinkSales Magazine. He also writes an occasional column for Selling Power Magazine and Forbes Magazine. Anthony’s first book, The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need, released in October, 2016 is a national bestseller. His second book, The Lost Art of Closing: Winning the Ten Commitments That Drive Sales was released on August 8th and immediately shot up to number 1 in new releases in sales and selling. Anthony’s books have already been translated into two forms of Chinese, Italian, Polish, Arabic, and Indonesian. Connect with Anthony Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Website Related Content 360Connext® post, Which Comes First? Customer Experience or Sales? Customers That Stick® post, 5 Lessons Salespeople Can Teach Customer Service Professionals Episode 263: Merit Gest, Sales Engagement Episode 104: Pat Helmers, Sales Babble Podcast We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the Equifax data breach and how to decide when it’s right to disclose issues to customers. To disclose, or not to disclose? Not everything you need to tell customers is good news! Are you prepared to deliver the bad news when the time is right? Take the recent Equifax data breach, where it was months before customers became aware of the problem. As you may know, the news caused quite a panic! Why did Equifax withhold the information for so long, and why did they release it when they did? “How will you deal with this proactively moving forward?” -Jeannie Walters Delivering bad news is often a case of weighing your company’s best interests against your customers. So when you have bad news to disclose, are you protecting your customers, or covering your own butt? “Maybe it’s better to control the crisis a little bit for the customer’s sake.” -Adam Toporek Disclosure and transparency are not just buzz words! In fact, customers are demanding these virtues by name. If you haven’t had to deliver bad news to your customers, your time is going to come. How can you minimize damage to your brand’s reputation? Adam and Jeannie are here to help you make this call. Listen in! Content 360Connext® post, No Longer a Buzzword: Customers Redefine Transparency Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 127: Is Transparency Effective? Episode 067: Customer Security – It’s More Than Digital We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam smash the myths about customer support software and remote collaboration with HelpScout CEO and Co-founder Nick Francis. How HelpScout customer support makes a difference We’ve come a long way with the ways we offer customer support, but are we shooting ourselves in the foot with the tech we use? More specifically, with the rise of help desk software, customer support has grown cold and sterile - lacking the emotion and the personal touches we get from 1:1 communication. This is bad news for those of us who need to maintain meaning customer relationships. (Hello, everyone!?) “Moving from email to a “help desk” was actually a big deterioration of the customer experience.” -Nick Francis That’s why we’re delighted to welcome HelpScout CEO and Co-founder Nick Francis to the show. Because as a small business owner, Nick always saw help desk software as too robotic to meet his own standards for engaging customers in need. Therefore, he founded HelpScout to continue using his more human approach...but with tools to help deliver that quality, personalization and speed on a larger scale. “I always saw customer support as a way to differentiate myself…" -Nick Francis What’s more, how we measure success in our customer support efforts makes a huge difference too! Nick helps us understand how HelpShout balances and monitors both qualitative and quantitative metrics for a snapshot of real-time performance as well as long-term success.  In this episode, we discuss not only what’s missing from most help desk software, but how to create a support team that delivers consistently. With Nick’s help, we’re smashing the myths about customer support, remote collaboration and more.  Interview highlights HelpScout brands itself as a more human and personalized help desk platform. Why  is there need for this approach? [3:40] Nick shares expert recommendations for those hiring customer support staff. [5:50] How does HelpScout measure customer support beyond numeric metrics? [8:50] What is the  “happiness score, and how does HelpScout track it? [13:15] Remote support pros have highest salaries... What does it say about the preconceived notions many leaders have about hiring and collaboration? [14:20] About our guest Nick Francis is Co-founder and CEO of Help Scout, where he is on a mission to make every customer service interaction a more human one. His two passions — technology and entrepreneurship — led him to start a web consultancy soon after college. For several years, he learned how to craft user experiences with his partners, Denny Swindle and Jared McDaniel. In 2010, the trio founded Help Scout and left their hometown of Nashville to join the TechStars accelerator program in Boston. That program, along with the Boston startup ecosystem, helped transform Help Scout into something real — a successful, remote company now serving more than 8,000 customer support teams around the globe. Nick lives and breathes product design, customer experience, and building a thoughtful, thriving company. He feels lucky to wake up every day and work alongside people who challenge him to grow and do great work. Connect with Nick Twitter HelpScout.com Email nick@helpscout.com Free resources at HelpU Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways One-on-One Customer Communication Builds Loyalty Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 279: Is Efficient Customer Service Best? Episode 117: CXPA Live, The Voice of the Customer We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam explores real-life situations that exemplify commonly wasted retail opportunities in brick-and-mortar customer service. Are wasted retail opportunities looming in your store? While online retailers like Amazon continue to grow, those who maintain physical locations have a tall order! They need to give customers a real reason to visit, instead of shopping a competitor online. Many customers still prefer to speak to a sales associate, examine the merchandise, and browse the aisles. Real-life visitors give retailers an amazing opportunity - not just to upsell, but to offer experiences customers simply cannot have digitally. But many are wasting these opportunities! Flailing processes and inattentive staff don’t balance the equation when customers can shop nearby competition from their smartphones in the meantime. “Many retail workers are adept at studiously avoiding eye contact…” -Adam Toporek Sadly, these situations are quite common! Customers using in-store pickup or seeking knowledge from a professional are mission out on the benefits of leaving their comfy chairs to seek these real-life experiences. Meanwhile, retailers are losing sales and earning bad customer service reputations. Today, Adam shares real-life stories of brick-and-mortar shopping experiences gone awry, along with great tips for making these experiences worth the extra effort from customers. Don’t lose another customer to unprepared or misguided staff and disconnected processes! Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Episode 254: Rocky Romanella, Tighten the Lug Nuts Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Master of Innovation Stephen Shapiro for a better approach to innovating customer experience and more. A better approach at innovating customer experience Customer needs and expectations change, so it stands to reason that we must continue innovating customer experience. However, too many companies have the wrong idea about what innovation is and how to get game-changing ideas! “People have a confused notion of what innovation is…” -Stephen Shapiro The best innovations solve a problem, and we get there by asking the right questions. But it’s not just what you ask but how. Stephen shows us some simple but critical ways to reframe the questions we ask – not only to drive more innovative thinking, but to get more positive results. Even the most successful companies can miss the mark when the next big innovation is needed. Stephen explains what they typically do wrong, and more importantly, how to not follow in their footsteps. “Their past success led to their future failure.” -Stephen Shapiro We love to talk innovation here, so we’re very proud to have the Master of Innovation on our show today! Tying together many of the themes we’ve touched on in previous episodes and more, Stephen connects the dots between innovation, culture, the rehiring process, and how we communicate. Adam and Jeannie took notes themselves, so you won’t want to miss this amazing interview. Listen in! Interview Highlights How can leaders frame questions differently to get more innovative responses, and what is the “one-word switch?” [2:30] AS Stephen explains, asking for ideas is weak! So how can leaders inspire their teams to solve problems more efficiently? [10:30] Many companies aim to “innovate everywhere” while those with hyper-focused innovation efforts get greater value! Stephen explains. [13:25] Stephen breaks down the three main types of company activity and how to prime them for innovation. [15:00] How does Stephen convince leaders to give up a little control and innovate to differentiate? [16:35] What are some keys to staffing for innovation, and what are the best traits to look for? [17:45] What exactly is innovation? Many companies get this wrong on a fundamental level! [20:40] Stephen outlines the three main mistakes companies make when approaching the idea of innovation. [22:00] Stephen tells us what it’s like to offer his expertise in a business-focused reality TV show. [23:30] About our guest For over 20 years, Stephen Shapiro has presented his provocative strategies on innovation to audiences in 50 countries. During his 15-year tenure with the consulting firm Accenture, he led a 20,000-person innovation practice. He is the author of five books, including “Best Practices Are Stupid," which was named the best innovation book of 2011. His Personality Poker® system has been used around the world to create high-performing innovation teams. In 2015 he was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. Connect with Stephen LinkedIn Twitter Website Play Personality Poker! Girl Starter (reality TV show) Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Let Customers Guide Your Greatest Innovation Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional Episode 133: Tesla and the Infrastructure of Innovation Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam break down some common CX clichés and unoriginal thoughts that stifle truly customer-centric thinking and doing. Are CX clichés hampering your progress? For those situations when you couldn’t have said it better yourself, we have clichés. And while they sometimes represent "a fundamental truth” as Adam says, but sometimes these clichés are used as an excuse not to think deeply say what really matters. Sadly, in the customer experience space, we hear a lot of them. “It can become a form of generalization that doesn’t apply, that actually can mislead you…” -Adam Toporek Many of these unoriginal thoughts have invaded the customer experience space, and it’s preventing some of us from facing critical truths in how to interpret and approach customer experiences. It’s not just about words! In fact, core customer experience practices and popular examples of the companies that implement them have been grossly misrepresented or used to death. While these examples roll nicely off the tongue, they often fail to represent what’s possible in most businesses. And sometimes, we have trouble verifying the information that’s been copied, pasted, and presented over and over. “You need to back it up with actual process…accountability…metrics…” -Jeannie Walters Today, Adam and Jeannie are breaking down some of the worst clichés, overused examples and platitudes commonly used in the context of customer experience. So how can you stop meaningless generalizations from glazing over what’s really important? Listen in to find out! (I get to keep saying that, because it never loses its meaning here!) Content 360Connext® post, Challenges of Understanding the Customer Journey End-to-End Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 264: (Tip) Mobile Potential Episode 227: (Tip) Majoring In the CX Minors We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special edition CX Day episode, Adam and Jeannie interview Lesley Lykins, Executive Director of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. Happy CX Day! Customer experience has come a long way, and the whole world is celebrating on this 5th annual CX Day. Celebrating along with us today is Lesley Lykins, Director of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.) Lesley in particular is very excited to celebrate CX Day this year, and we’re delighted to have her on the show! First, Lesley talks about how widespread the global CX Day celebration is, giving us a little history and a rundown of the many ways to celebrate. A lot goes into it! “It feels like a New Year’s celebration for customer experience!” -Lesley Lykins But we’re not just talking about events here. Why celebrate? Lesley tells us how much customer experience has grown and spread throughout the world, as companies continue to create more and more customer-focused roles. She shares some amazing stories of what it’s like for a company to be on the road to CX maturity and succeed. Expert Tip: “You can’t just throw out a journey map and think that all of a sudden overnight you’re going to change your company’s culture.” - Lesley Lykins For those of us who work in customer experience, it has been an amazing journey. Years ago, it was something nobody heard of. And now, we live in an age when we can call it a true discipline. With more than 600 Certified Customer Experience Professionals (CCXPs)  and growing, Lesley is proud to be a part of what makes this possible. What does it take to be a CCXP? Lesley outlines the 6 core competencies for being certified. It’s serious business, but you can do it! We’re delighted to celebrate success in business through creating better experiences. And thanks to Lesley and the CXPA, we have much more to celebrate about and so many great people to celebrate with. Listen in and celebrate along with us! Interview highlights What is CX Day, and why do we have it? [2:25] Lesley shares exciting examples of how organizations are transforming their experiences, and as a result, achieving CX maturity. [4:30] Turning CX into a discipline: What are the 6 Competencies of a CCXP? [9:30] How will CX grow in the coming years, and how will CX professionals need to adapt? [14:00] How can we keep Customer Experience from losing its meaning among tangential business practices? [16:15] About our guest Lesley has been with CXPA for the past six years and has been instrumental in building both the community and member programming available to CX Professionals. Prior to joining CXPA, she served as an officer in the U.S. Navy doing a variety of things from driving warships to standing up the Navy’s social media.  She remains in the Navy Reserve. She and her husband live in Ohio with their four children. Lesley will be the first to tell you there is no better community in the world than that of CX professionals – people naturally inclined to help others in a positive and practical way. Connect with Lesley Website: Cxday.org Email: info@cxpa.org Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Top CX Trends For Survival in the Age of the Customer Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 274: Nienke Bloem, Gamifying Customer Experience Episode 117: CXPA Live, The Voice of the Customer We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam question the meaning of efficiency and uncover hidden and unnecessary challenges to providing efficient customer service. The hidden challenges of efficient customer service When we think of efficient customer service, the emphasis is typically on what’s happening at the front lines. Then we look at things like “time on call” and other specific metrics to gauge efficiency. However, there are many other factors that play into front-line efficiency, and how they affect the actual experience is not always straightforward. So what we see as efficient from our perspective may not be delivering the experiences that are needed most from customers in the moment. “What is the relative output to the inputs you put in?” -Adam Toporek In this episode, Adam and Jeannie explore the concept of efficiency and how it is perceived through different lenses. From internal processes to equipment and software put in place with the purpose of making things efficient, they uncover hidden challenges that inadvertently create terrible customer experiences or lousy customer service. “No matter how much you smile…it’s hard to overcome these inefficiencies.” -Jeannie Walters Is your customer service as efficient as you think? You may already know it needs some work… but before you blame your staff, listen in for clues to help you get to the heart of the problem. Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Stacey Hanke, influence expert and author of Influence Redefined…Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be. Is your influence as strong as you think? The ability to influence others is critical to the success of any business or entrepreneur, and there’s a lot of content out there about becoming an influencer. However, many leaders don’t truly understand the chemistry that turns communication into true influence. We often equate our titles, as well as proven success in our fields with influence… but this is where we go wrong. And we often think social networking and technology can fill in the gaps, but unfortunately, depending on these things too much actually widens them! “Sometimes, the technical gadget is not going to be the best medium.” -Stacey Hanke Today’s guest, communications and influence expert Stacey Henke, says influence is not something you can turn on and off like the gadgets we now use to get our messages across! She’s worked with thousands of leaders to help them walk the talk of being true influencers.   “When I talk about influence, I mean it’s Monday to Monday.” -Stacey Hanke In this episode, we discover not just what it takes to be an influencer today, but how to keep our one-on-one communication skills sharp while relying on tech more and more for communication. Stacey shares lots of great tips and inspiring stories to help you make your message stand out above the noise. Listen in! Interview Highlights Stacey talks about her background in communications, and what changes she’s passionate about making for organizations. [3:25] How has influence changed in recent years, and what old practices still work? [5:55] Stacey shares great advice for balancing technology with face-to-face communication, and how that relates to generational gaps. [9:20] What cultural impact will the decline of face-to-face communication skills have on the future? [14:30] Do you take way too long to write emails? Well, you’re not alone! Stacey has tips for putting better messages together. [16:46] Stacey calls out some of the big lies leaders tell themselves about their own influence. [19:45] How can you tell when you’re communicating with someone who will never be receptive? [21:35] Stacey shares tips for accepting feedback that’s hard to hear, but necessary to consider. [22:50] How does weak communication hold back an otherwise strong business? [24:35] About our guest Stacey Hanke is author of the book; Influence Redefined…Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday®. She is also co-author of the book; Yes You Can! Everything You Need From A To Z To Influence Others To Take Action.  She has trained and presented to thousands to rid business leaders of bad body language habits and to choose words wisely in the financial industry to the healthcare industry to government and everyone in between. The Stacey Hanke, Inc. client list is vast from Coca-Cola, FedEx, Kohl’s, United States Army, Navy and Air Force, Nationwide, Pfizer, GE, and General Mills. Her team works with Directors up to the C-Suite. She has inspired thousands as a featured guest on media outlets including; The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur, SmartMoney magazine, and even the Lifetime Network! She is a Certified Speaking Professional—a valuable accreditation earned by less than 10% of speakers worldwide. Connect with Stacey Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Website Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Start Improving CX in the Real World Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 075: Can You Gamify Customer Experience? Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares her expertise in digital experience evaluation with 5 sales-killing offenses even the best of us should look out for and tips to make good on them. Digital experience offenses are still everywhere! Are you guilty? Umm… probably. It’s easy to say what you don’t like about another company’s digital experience, but what about your own? Because you know where everything is and how it’s all supposed to work, finding pain points in your own digital experience is not as straightforward as you may think. So when customers are so close to making a purchase, your polished-up website or mobile app may be letting them down in those critical moments. Those would-be customers are dropping out over things that cause confusion, frustration, mistrust…even to the point of publicly hating on your brand! Jeannie Walters has been conducting qualitative analyses on digital experiences since before they really became a “thing,” and now, she sees digital experiences make and break once-successful brands every day. Jeannie's top 5 offenses are causing widespread cart abandonment and tossing qualified leads right out of sales funnels everywhere. However, you can find those pain points and turn them into opportunities. Customers want to buy from you, but your digital experience may be giving up on them! Listen in for tips to save them from giving up on you. Related Content 360Connext® post, Challenges of Understanding the Customer Journey End-to-End Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 264: (Tip) Mobile Potential Episode 227: (Tip) Majoring In the CX Minors We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam explore hiring and new employee processes from the candidate's perspective with Undercover Candidate™ Nora Burns.  HR Undercover A good team is critical to the success of any business, so why is it so hard to attract and keep good talent? It seems most organizational leaders think their hiring processes are solid - while most job candidates have horror stories about their experience.  You’ve heard the horror stories from friends and colleagues... In fact, you probably have horror stories of your own. So what's really happening during your own hiring and new employee experience processes? And more importantly, how does it affect your ability to hire right for the experiences you want to deliver? Because how you hire, not just whom you hire, can have a big impact on your brand. “You’ve not only lost me as potential talent, but you’ve also lost me as a consumer…” -Nora Burns That's what today’s guest Nora Burns wanted to find out, so she invested years in finding out! Nora is with us to day to share some of her insights from 200+ job interviews as The Undercover Candidate™, and 15 months working on the front lines of 5 Fortune 500 companies as The Undercover Employee™.  Nora shares unbelievable stories about how easy it was to land interviews and even job offers based on fictitious qualifications! What’s more, you’ll be shocked to hear how very common inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and wasted opportunities loom around the typical hiring process. “I was offered jobs you should NEVER EVER offer me…” -Nora Burns So what are we doing wrong, and how can we do better? How can we stop shooting ourselves in the foot with inadequate (and sometimes destructive!) hiring processes? Nora has collected amazing insights and tips for you in based on real-world experiences. She’s so good at going undercover, we had to verify that we have the REAL Nora Burns! Expert tip: “Your employment brand is your bread and butter when it comes to recruiting and retention. If you’re destroying that little by little, nick by nick, you’re going to be in a world of hurt.” -Nora Burns Interview highlights: How did Nora come up with the idea of going undercover as job candidates? [2:30] What are the most common issues with how organizations handle the hiring process, and how can they do better? [6:50] Nora and our hosts discuss different ways internal processes and timelines disrupt access to great talent. [10:20] Interviewers are NOT paying attention. You won’t believe these inconsistencies that were overlooked! [14:00] Nora went undercover as a hired employee, and you won’t believe how these employers handled it! [16:55] What can we all do to improve the hiring process, and how can we hire best to serve our customers? [20:35]   About our guest Since stepping into the world of human resources more than two decades ago, Nora A Burns, SPHR has interviewed and on-boarded thousands of candidates and new hires for positions ranging from file clerk to executive vice president. Along the way, she decided to study and evaluate the hiring process from a different perspective, by participating in job interviews across the country. She did this not in her usual role of interviewer or hiring consultant, but as a candidate for administrative, supervisory and managerial roles. As The Undercover Candidate™, Nora has participated in over a hundred interviews to gain insight into the hiring process from the candidate’s perspective. Professional curiosity then took her a step further as she recognizes that effective hiring is only the first step toward building a great workforce, Phase two of her research involved spending a year working “undercover” for a variety of large, well-known organizations as a customer-facing employee in entry-level positions.  Nora shares insights learned through speaking engagements while continuing to experience and oversee interviews and on-boarding processes of client organizations who looks to HR-Undercover, LLC to “mystery shop” their employee experience. Nora is passionate about helping associations and corporations hire and develop top talent to advance their overall mission and strategy. Her engaging, no-nonsense style and sense of humor has captivated retreat, workshop and conference audiences across North America. She tailors every keynote, workshop and session to her client’s specific needs.  A strong believer in community involvement, Nora is an active volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and The Gathering Place.  Originally from the Midwest, she lives in Denver, CO with her exceptionally cute labradoodle, Bella. Connect with Nora Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Website Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, The Importance of Onboarding Employees Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should you avoid all negativity in customer service training? Adam shares research data, case studies, and expert advice Do you avoid negativity in customer service training? Pop psychology says negativity in customer service training could be harmful and should be avoided. The idea is that focusing on negative situations begets more negative outcomes. However, real customer service situations don’t always go well. In fact, it’s safe to assume that even with the best teams, something will eventually go wrong or just be poorly executed. We all have bad days! Real life customer service is NOT all unicorns and rainbows.” -Adam Toporek So how can you address the negative possibilities and still have positive overall outcomes with your training initiatives? It’s not an easy question to answer, but Adam has you covered! He has surprising facts, valuable case study insights, and expert advice to share with you. Listen in for tips to help you strike the right balance! Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview Nienka Bloem, Certified Customer Experience Professional and creator of the Customer Experience Game. Are you learning the customer experience game? Learning about customer experience is becoming a must for business leaders worldwide, but many still don’t really know what that means. For instance, what if you live in a place where customer experience is just taking off? What are your options? It turns out, in some cases, there aren’t many! “The momentum is here in Europe, where everybody’s talking about customer experience…” -Nienke Bloem So today’s guest, Certified Customer Experience Professional Nienka Bloem, created the Customer Experience Game to help bring this wisdom to continental Europe and beyond. In a time when those who wanted to learn about CX had to attend boring conference sessions in hopes of taking away some CX wisdom, Nienka changed the game- both literally and figuratively! “Listen, analyze, report, and act!” -Nienke Bloem A pioneer in customer-centric practices in Europe, Nienka shares her amazing story of implementing CX strategies to quickly transform an organization with a poor NPS. More importantly, we learn the inspiration behind the Customer Experience Game, how it works, and how it has helped leaders worldwide develop their own CX aptitude. Don’t miss this fun and inspiring interview, which happens to be our first officially international episode! Interview Highlights How did Nienka fall into customer experience in the early days in Europe, and what was it like? [2:30] What is Nienka’s Customer Experience Game, and how does she use it? [8:20] Nienka outlines her 3 pillars of CX strategy, and how they relate to certain topics leaders need to learn more about. [10:15] Who are Nienka’s heroes symbolizing 2 ways of looking at customer experience, and the change process? (And which way should you choose?) [12:40] About our guest Nienke Bloem MBA CCXP is often called the Customer Experience Guru. She is a keynote speaker and inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. Besides a public speaker, she is a trusted advisor for boards and guides organizations in their leadership journey. With her 20 years’ experience in strategic change management positions within telecom, Customer Experience, financial and IT businesses, she knows how large corporate organizations work. She is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) and an Authorized Resource and Training Provider of the CXPA. She also founded the Customer Experience Game which is an engaging and fun way to experience CX. Connect with Nienka LinkedIn Twitter TheCustomerExperienceGame.com Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Start Improving CX in the Real World Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 075: Can You Gamify Customer Experience? Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for defining, finding and optimizing every moment of truth within your customer journey. What exactly is a moment of truth? While every touchpoint in your customer journey deserves attention, some are more critical than others. In short, a moment of truth is a critical touchpoint that can drive your customer to the next level, or chase them away. “Not every piece of the customer experience is AS important…” -Adam Toporek And you may think you already know where these moments of truth are, but that’s how many leaders go wrong! It’s too easy to focus on things that seem pivotal from the inside while moments that have a greater effect on the outcome are glossed over.  “Some moments in the customer journey will drive loyalty more than others…” -Jeannie Walters In this episode, Adam and Jeannie help you understand where the REAL moments of truth are in your customer journey. Want to eliminate pain points that derail customers from their path to conversion, loyalty or advocacy? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Challenges of Understanding the Customer Journey End-to-End Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 163: When to Update Customer Journey Maps Episode 248: (Tip) 3 Moments of Truth We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview Kristina Quinones, head of customer experience at MeetEdgar, about amazing growth through a unique approach at customer service. Explosive growth and the MeetEdgar customer service approach Thanks to its unique approach at customer service, MeetEdgar has grown from 2 to 30 employees in three years. So we're proud to interview their head of customer experience, Kristina Quinones. Kristina shares how to use the same approach at your business! The customer service team at MeetEdgar has struck a magical balance between customer service and customer experience. Not only do they deliver the best service possible, but they go beyond when customers need a little extra help. So what is their secret? “There are situations where we should be doing more…mostly because we can.” -Kristina Quiones It’s not just about solving problems, answering questions, or eliminating friction. But rather, it’s about making that interaction a highlight in the customer’s day. “…be the bright spot in a customer’s day” -Kristina Quiones However,  it’s trickier to create a great service experience that scales. So MeetEdgar has established a culture where everyone is heard and included. This helps keep known issues out in the open, consequently creating opportunities to improve and innovate. “We do want people on the team to step on each other’s toes…” -Kristina Quiones So how can you create a customer service approach that not only solves issues, but makes customers’ days? Listen in to learn how MeetEdgar’s customer service approach makes amazing growth almost inevitable! Interview highlights We hear “customer service is everyone’s job” a lot, so why is this not the case at MeetEdgar? [2:25] What about Kristina’s background has inspired her great passion for customer experience? [5:45] Kristina shares a common situation where everyone (even you!) can go above and beyond to make a customer’s day. [9:10] What cultural role does transparency play at MeetEdgar, and more importantly, how does that affect customer experience? [12:00] What’s one lesson any organization can learn from MeetEdgar’s approach at customer service? [16:10] About our guest Kristina Quinones leads the Customer Experience team at MeetEdgar, a social media management tool that keeps your updates from going to waste. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and their three sons. Her favorite thing about working at MeetEdgar: The level of ownership and autonomy every single team member is entrusted with. The team is designed with people who can get stuff done and work well with others. So Kristina is always 100% impressed with how well our team operates! Connect with Kristina Twitter MeetEdgar.com Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, The Importance of Onboarding Employees Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss the pros and cons of Tesla’s new strategy for escalating customer service issues. Escalating customer service: Can Tesla’s new strategy work for you? Customers demanding that a service issue or complaint be escalated is often the worst nightmare both for front-line staff and their leaders. While service agents aren’t anxious to admit they couldn’t make the customer happy on their own, team leads and are typically not happy or prepared to take those calls! Now imagine if those calls went straight to the c-suite… “… things get escalated so that you don’t have that level of frustration again.” -Jeannie Walters Tesla has announced a new program where their automotive customers can bypass the front line and take their issues straight to an executive. While this sounds like a great move for customers, the prospect of willfully escalating customer service raises a lot of questions about accountability, perception, and allocation of resources. Could your organization benefit from a program like this? If so, then how would you know and how could you make it work? “Sometimes serving one customer makes you serve 20 other ones badly…” -Adam Toporek Adam and Jeannie have a lot to say about this, but they don’t agree on everything! In this short but powerful episode, they address the pros and cons of escalation, what messages it sends to customers and staff, and many other things to consider. You don’t want to miss this one! Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Episode 133: Tesla and the Infrastructure of Innovation Episode 266: Chip Bell, Innovating Service We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview karmaCRM founder John-Paul Narowski about smarter ways to manage and nurture customer relationships. Enhancing customer relationships with tech If you’ve user Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software before, then you may know these systems tend to be either lacking the features you need or overcomplicated with features you don’t. Either way, leaders find themselves investing in tools they’re not using to their best potential. “We paid for these tools and I see him putting a sticky note on his monitor…” -JP Narowski Today’s guest, John-Paul (JP) Narowski found himself in a similar situation with his own company, so he set out to create his own CRM tools. Bearing all the common challenges and pitfalls in mind, JP created karmaCRM for a customer-centric approach at managing relationships. But it’s not just about which tools you use. It’s about how you use them, and whether or not you’re committed. “If you had the right commitment…you would make that system work.” -JP Narowski In this episode, JP helps us understand how to better approach CRM as a means to build and nurture relationships, to stay committed to the system, and to integrate it into a customer-focused culture. Are you new to CRM, or just tired of investing in tools that don’t really help the way you expected? Listen in to learn how to make CRM work for you, once and for all! Interview Highlights What inspired John-Paul to create karmaCRM? [2:40] How does John-Paul go about putting the “R” back in CRM, and what does that mean to him? [5:20] How can startups and entrepreneurs approach customer service when they’re not sure who their customers are? [10:15] What can leaders do to overcome lack of commitment to using CRM and related tools? [13:30] John-Paul sums up how CRM will evolve to better assist businesses and leaders in the future. [17:30] About our guest John-Paul Narowski has been bootstrapping businesses since he was 16. His years of startup experience have made him into a full-stack developer, globalization junkie, and serial entrepreneur. Devoted to passionate entrepreneurship and growing businesses for the common good, JP founded karmaCRM, a simple web-based CRM built with small businesses in mind. Connect with John-Paul Linkedin Twitter karmaCRM Related Content 360Connext® post, Which Comes First? Customer Experience or Sales? Customers That Stick® post, Interview: GetApp’s Top 25 Customer Service Apps Episode 237: Peter Friedman, Customer Service Messaging Apps Episode 246: Chase Clemons, Basecamp’s Customer Service Ethic We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our latest evergreen webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie at a time that works for you for some serious mythbusting and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie announce exciting changes to our show inspired by feedback from our our fans, friends and listeners. We’re listening to you too! We’d like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for listening, but we want you to know we’re listening too! We thrive on your feedback to continue making Crack the Customer Code better and better, and we get many great ideas from you. As a result, we’ve seen some common themes in what our listeners think would improve the show.  Today we’re announcing another change that we think you’re going to love! We’ve been working on ways to deliver more of what you like the most while making it easier to keep up with us. Listen in to find out what Adam and Jeannie have planned! This is YOUR show. We're so grateful for the valuable feedback, comments and suggestions from our communities. We're always looking for new topics, exciting guests, and suggestions for improving the show. Have comments, suggestions or questions? What are you waiting for? Get in touch with us! Email: thecustomercode@gmail.com Phone: (470)223-CODE Tweet to Jeannie Walters Tweet to Adam Toporek Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss microchipping employees with RFID devices and how this tech may affect culture and the customer experience. Microchipping employees RFID tags are everywhere, from the microchips that help deter theft in retail settings to those that help us locate lost pets. But employers are taking this technology to another level by microchipping employees. And although it’s a voluntary procedure (for now?) many employees are opting in for the conveniences that come with having this tiny bundle of circuits injected beneath the skin. “We exchange convenience for privacy all the time…” -Adam Toporek And as this tech continues to develop, we are faced with the possibility of requiring customers to allow microchipping as a condition of doing business. This raises many questions… While Adam and Jeannie see very much potential for RFID technology, they also have big concerns about how this may affect the customer experience as well as company culture. “It’s not just with them in the office!” -Jeannie Walters What do you need to know about RFID technology as an employer, and what questions should you ask yourself before exploring the options that are available today? More importantly, what does an RFID-enabled workplace mean for the future? Take off your tin foil hat for 15 minutes and listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Is Your Customer Experience Technology Helpful or Creepy? Customers That Stick® post, 6 Steps for Rolling Out New Technology to Frontline Staff Episode 067: Customer Security – It’s More Than Digital Episode 089: Will Companies Demand Your Phone Records? Three Square Market We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares 3 powerful questions to assess and improve employee engagement for better business outcomes. How engaged are your employees? Employee engagement has a direct impact on critical business outcomes. Poorly engaged or actively disengaged employees lead to high employee turnover, subpar service, and terrible customer experiences. On the other hand, highly engaged employees have an amazingly positive impact on workplace culture, better-informed business decisions, and customer satisfaction. What’s more, they are emotionally invested in delivering great customer experiences and reporting back to leaders when those experiences fall short. “Strengthen your focus on the customer experience through your employee experience.” -Jeannie Walters But busy leaders often fail to detect an employee engagement problem before it spirals out of control. While subtle warning signs loom deep within the workplace, it’s easy to blame a dip in sales, renewals and conversions on more superficial things. So, what can you do to find out how engaged your employees really are? Correcting poor engagement can be a lot of work! However, there are some simple ways to find out if you have a problem and get clues on where to focus your attention first. Today, Jeannie is sharing 3 simple questions you can ask employees to better understand their engagement level.  Engage your employees to connect with your company and customers on a higher level! Listen in to find out how, then start asking! Related Content 360Connext® post, Are Your Employees Engaged to Tell You the Truth? Customers That Stick® post, An Interview with Kate Nasser: Better #PeopleSkills Episode 093: Why Employee Engagement Matters Episode 168: Nate Brown, Service Center Engagement We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our upcoming webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie August 22nd at 11:00 am Central for some serious mythbusting, live Q&A, and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  If you can't make it on August 22nd, don't worry! You'll miss the live Q&A, but you'll still have access to the recording 24 hours after the live presentation.  Sign Me Up!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview bestselling author Chip Bell to discover how the best brands are innovating service to create value-unique experiences. Winning customers' hearts with value-unique experiences We all want customers talking about their experience with our brand, but providing great service isn’t enough. And though we hear a lot about the power of adding value, it's easy to weigh the experience down or simply waste money on freebies. You need to add emotional value through unique experiences. “People don’t go out and talk about good service anymore. it’s got to be unique!” -Chip Bell So what can you do? Fortunately, we had the privilege of interviewing one of the most prolific customer-focused authors to date! And he's here to explain how your brand can be the next one people are talking about. Chip Bell coined the term “value-unique,” which describes service experiences that provide more emotional value. Through amazing examples and heart-warming stories, he explains how the best companies create experiences that leave lasting impressions customers want to talk about. And it all comes back to culture! It takes a creative culture to deliver value-unique experiences. Moreover, delivering value-unique experiences also creates a more valuable connection among employees. “Empowerment doesn’t mean unlimited license. It means responsible freedom.” -Chip Bell So how can you create a culture around adding emotional value to the service experience? And how can you begin innovating your service to create these value-unique experiences? Chip has some great tips and examples we can all relate to and learn from. It was a great pleasure and privilege having Chip on the show, so listen in! Interview Highlights Why is innovation crucial for customer service and customer experience, and why don’t most organizations understand this? [2:54] Chip explains how we lose our emotional connection with customers efforts to provide more consistent experiences. [9:25] Chip shares amazing examples of how Hotel Monaco wins by creating unique experiences vs. adding value. [11:15] How does creating value-unique experiences relate to workplace culture? [17:00] What can you do to start down the path of innovating service to create more unique experiences? [20:25] About our guest Chip R. Bell is a renowned keynote speaker and author of several best-selling books including… Take Their Breath Away Managing Knock Your Socks off Service The 9½ Principles of Innovative Service, and Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experiences through Innovative Service. His newest book is the bestselling Kaleidoscope:  Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles released in February, 2017. Dr. Bell has appeared live on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, CNN, ABC, CBS, NPR Marketplace and his work has been featured in Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, Businessweek, Entrepreneur Magazine, CEO Magazine, Money Magazine, and Fast Company.  Connect with Chip LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube ChipBell.com Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Lead Your Team to Customer Experience Victory Customers That Stick® post, How Employee Empowerment Really Works Episode 246: Chase Clemons, Basecamp’s Customer Service Ethic Episode 242: Jason Forrest, The Power of Customer Certainty We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our upcoming webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie August 22nd at 11:00 am Central for some serious mythbusting, live Q&A, and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  If you can't make it on August 22nd, don't worry! You'll miss the live Q&A, but you'll still have access to the recording 24 hours after the live presentation.  Sign Me Up!     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam share research and expert tips for getting chatbots and humans to work together in harmony. Are chatbots and humans working well together? Chatbots are here to stay, and new research says we love them! However, we have a long way to go before they can fully operate on their own. For instance, bots are great for answering simple questions, but real humans do need to step in to answer the tough ones. “Not all chatbots are created equal not are all humans.” -Adam Toporek Even the best chatbots can create experiences that frustrate customers, and eventually, chase them away – especially when real human contact is not within reach. So how can we use chat bots in ways customers will always appreciate? More importantly, how can we use them to reduce effort where it counts without alienating customers? “AI and bots have the potential to make things better for your customers…” --Jeannie Walters Inspired by new research, Adam and Jeannie are sharing expert tips for fine-tuning your chatbot to deliver excellent service when it can, and keeping it human when they can’t. What should you rely on chatbots for, and what situations are better left to humans from the start? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, #SXSW: Emerging AI with a Focus on Greater Experiences Customers That Stick® post, 3 Questions to Ask Before Launching Live Chat for Customer Service Episode 234: Tips for Customer Service Bots Episode 174: Robert Scoble, Augmented Reality and the Fourth Transformation We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Start creating a successful CX strategy Are you ready to build a customer experience strategy on a solid foundation for the long term? We’re shattering the top 5 CX strategy myths in our upcoming webinar. You will learn: How to avoid the 5 so-called “Customer Experience Strategies” that aren’t strategies at all What drives a winning customer experience strategy and examples of companies that “get it” How to create a foundation for a customer experience strategy that works for the long term Join Jeannie August 22nd at 11:00 am Central for some serious mythbusting, live Q&A, and a head start on creating a customer experience strategy that works!  If you can't make it on August 22nd, don't worry! You'll miss the live Q&A, but you'll still have access to the recording 24 hours after the live presentation.  Sign Me Up!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips to unlock your full mobile potential and deliver what customers need most in the moment. What’s your mobile potential? We talk about mobile a lot on this show, but that’s because capabilities and expectations are always changing! Are you keeping up? Because there are many ways to leverage mobile technology to make it easier to do business with you. “Ask yourself, ‘What does a customer really want via mobile?’” -Jeannie Walters There are many ways mobile can be used to create a more rewarding, seamless and effortless customer experience, and we bet there are some you haven’t thought of! So we’re sharing some tips and ideas to help you create the best mobile experience possible. “What people are really looking for is fast information in most cases…” -Adam Toporek Is your mobile experience living up to its full potential? More importantly, are you sure you’re delivering the mobile experience your customers need most? Listen in to find out and learn some tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Mobile Innovation Is Not About Your Phone! Customers That Stick® post, Interview: GetApp’s Top 25 Customer Service Apps Episode 262: Ecommerce Still Not Getting It Right Episode 237: Peter Friedman, Customer Service Messaging Apps We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Merit Gest to discuss powerful sales engagement and onboarding strategies for customer-focused sales teams. Onboarding for outstanding sales engagement Sales is often treated as separate from the customer experience. Consequently, sales staff is often not trained to deliver a customer-focused experience from start to finish. Even when customer experience principles are included, typical sales training falls short on empowering sales professionals to deliver great experiences throughout the entire customer journey. “Onboarding continues…through the entire sales cycle…” -Merit Gest Merit Gest joins us today to help onboard and train sales staff the right way. She explains that the onboarding process should continue through the entire sales cycle, not just through the initial closing. Therefore, training a customer-focused sales team requires much more time and attention than most of us may think. First of all, it’s critical to let trainees know they’re being welcomed into a customer-focused team. Next, they need to stay motivated through a long and sometimes frustrating onboarding process. “People are going to need to have some wins along the way.” -Merit Gest Above all, sales teams need to have the emotional intelligence to understand the experiences they are delivering from the customer’s perspective. Furthermore, the individuals in that team need to know they will have the support they need to keep at it. “Whether or not you say, ‘We’re about team,” it should be obvious.” -Merit Gest Does this sound overwhelming? You’re in luck, because Merit is here to help you develop an onboarding and training process that is both highly engaging and rewarding for your sales team and yourself! As a result, you'll build a sales team that delivers amazing experiences throughout the entire sales cycle. Listen in to amp up your sales engagement today! Interview highlights How can a better sales process set the stage for a better overall customer experience? [2:20] Merit outlines the tiered onboarding structure she recommends to clients. [5:02] How can we motivate sales staff through a long onboarding process? Merit shares 3 actions to keep them focused and efficient. [8:30] What are the most important things professionals should keep in mind as the sales landscape changes and evolves? [13:30] About our guest Merit Gest has more than 20 years of experience working with companies to grow revenue, increase profitability and reduce turnover. She is President and Founder of Merit-based Consulting; a Denver based firm specializing in getting top performers in the door and ramped up fast.   Merit is one of a small handful of specialists in the world certified in both Emotional Intelligence and Cultural Transformation, giving her a unique perspective for hiring, onboarding and retaining top talent.  An active member of The National Speakers Association and now a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and author of Myth Shift: Challenging The Truths That Sabotage Success, Merit engages audiences with content, connection and comedy by day as a popular keynote speaker and by night as a stand-up comedian. Connect with Merit LinkedIn Twitter MeritGest.com MeritBasedOnboarding.com Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, The Importance of Onboarding Employees Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie explore recent research about prevailing ecommerce experience pet peeves and offer creative solutions. How does your ecommerce experience stack up? Ecommerce experiences have come a long way since the 90’s, but recent research shows that we still have a long way to go. Customers are still having problems with navigation, personalization, functionality, and just plain poor user experiences. “It’s still not really about the customer at the end of the day…” -Jeannie Walters  After great leaps in technology and design, would you believe some of the same pet peeves have prevailed through the years, or even decades? Why are customers still being blamed for “user errors” or just not getting things done? And these problems are not exclusive to retail. Qualified customers everywhere are shopping elsewhere for software, insurance, telecom services and more due to age-old experience gaps. We can do better! Today, Adam and Jeannie explore some of the top prevailing ecommerce pet peeves and what how to fix them. What drives you away from ecommerce sites? What about your customers? “Embody these principles as much as possible even if you cannot change them.” - Adam Toporek Listen in to say goodbye to the most common ecommerce experience nightmares!   Related Content Infographic: The Biggest Pet Peeves of Ecommerce Websites 360Connext® post, 5 Reasons your Website Users are SO Frustrated Customers That Stick® post, Omnichannel Customer Service with the Human Touch Episode 046: Tom Schwab on Inbound Marketing Episode 130: Chloë Thomas, Customer Manipulation We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares surprising statistics about first contact resolution, why it’s important, and tips for putting this knowledge to better use. First Contact Resolution (FCR) is not always customer-centric How many steps must a customer take before resolving an issue? More importantly, how does the customer feel about the experience of making contact? Because speediness for speed’s sake tends to harm the way customers perceive the experience. First Contact Resolution (FCR) is a common metric in call centers. Resolving customer issues quickly is very important! However, a narrow focus on FCR can misrepresent the experience the customer is having and lead to undesired results. “How can an issue be resolved, but not REALLY be resolved?” -Adam Toporek It’s common to think a service interaction has been a success if the issue was resolved at the first contact. Consequently, the experience around that first point of contact tends to suffer in favor of boosting FCR. Above all, customers need service that is not only fast, but leaves them feeling confident and satisfied. How can you balance customer effort with overall experience at the first point of contact? Today, Adam shares compelling statistics around FCR, why it’s important and what you can do to help your staff better understand this metric. Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Your Data Is Only as Good as Your Perspective Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics Episode 208: Can You Predict Customer Behavior? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview podcaster and employee attitudes expert Julie Ann Sullivan live from the NSA Influence 2017 conference. Employee attitudes vs overall success While you may have a solid business strategy and great employees, you may still struggle with engaging your workforce to deliver the best experiences possible. Do your employees WANT to come to work? Even more important: Is their attitude conducive to a healthy and engaging culture? Because policies and and skill sets aside,  a healthy attitude is critical to success in business. “What’s happening with the attitude of their workforce bleeds into everything else.” -Julie Ann Sullivan Julie Ann Sullivan helps business leaders understand the best ways to truly engage their people. As a result, customer satisfaction and loyalty improve along with workplace morale and better communication. In this interview, we discuss the keys to proper employee engagement, and how they affect the experiences delivered. Julie Ann shares some of the creative ways her clients have turned their cultures around to communicate better, motivate their employees, and consequently, improve business outcomes. “It’s really education first, then figuring out where the gaps are.” -Julie Ann Sullivan So how does Julie Ann educate business leaders, and see them through to creating an environment where employees not only believe in what they do, but become advocates for the company? We have a lot of great tips and examples you can follow in this fun episode, so listen in! Interview Highlights Julie Ann explains not only what she does for companies that need to be educated on employee engagement, but why. [2:20] What does that education process look like? Julie Ann shares real stories about different scenarios. [3:55] Julie Ann, Adam and Jeannie discuss ways to create environments where employees feel safe to share their most honest feedback. [9:20] What stops companies from creating more engaging environments and moving forward with a better culture? [12:55] About our guest Julie Ann Sullivan works with organizations that want to create a workplace environment where people are productive, engaged and appreciated. Julie Ann is a professional speaker, trainer and Inspired Leadership Coach.   As the Founder of Learning Never Ends, her purpose is to create a more positive culture, one person at a time.  She has a diverse educational background which includes a BA in Psychology and an MBA in Accounting.    Julie Ann was a CPA and spent decades involved in the financial industry and the corporate world.   As a Professional Speaker, she has spoken for companies and organizations such as, McDonald's USA, the City of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Howard Hanna Financial Services and Bayer US. In addition, she's currently a podcast host of Mere Mortals Unite and Businesses that Care. Connect with Julie Ann Twitter Facebook YouTube Website Podcast Related Content 360Connext® post, Are Your Employees Engaged to Tell You the Truth? Customers That Stick® post, How Employee Empowerment Really Works Episode 252: Alison Herzog, Dell Customer Experience Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission, for free! Make your mission statement meaningful, both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employeesnot only meet, but exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission, and positive change Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free, and check out more free webinars!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss creative ways predicting behavior and risk without investing in advanced technology. Predicting behavior is not a new thing Predictive analytics is amazing as it sounds, and the technology is improving rapidly. Machines can now analyze data to predict customer behavior, calculate risks, identify who is likely to upgrade or buy more… The list goes on. But what if you don’t have the budget and resources to take advantage of this amazing technology? “You can find behaviors in your customer data without a fancy computer or predictive analytics.” -Adam Toporek Business leaders have been predicting behavior and risk for many years, without the aid of advanced technology. In fact, you may already have what you need. How a suggestion or question is framed can tell you a lot about what someone is considering.” -Jeannie Walters Today, Jeannie and Adam are sharing some old-school ways to gain the insights many now believe to be out of reach without a supercomputer and outrageously expensive software. You’ll have to roll up your sleeves a little, but you’ll be surprised how much actionable data is already there. Listen in to start predicting the future today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Your Data Is Only as Good as Your Perspective Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics Episode 208: Can You Predict Customer Behavior? We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Adam and Jeannie share tips for helping employees understand, align, and stay motivated to achieve goals. You’re setting goals, but are they setting in? Everyone sets goals to drive their business forward… But teams, departments, and the individuals within them have goals of their own. Keeping all those smaller goals in tune with the greater mission of an organization is challenging! “We are what we focus on.” -Adam Toporek It’s critical to make sure employees understand what their mission is and what their specific goals have to do with company-wide goals. They need to stay connected not only to the actions that lead to success, but to the why. “It’s not about just watching the numbers go up.” -Jeannie Walters Today, Adam and Jeannie are sharing expert tips on articulating goals, aligning them with the company mission, and keeping employees emotionally invested in achieving them. Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Killer Mid-Year Review Questions You Need to Ask Now Customers That Stick® post, 5 Qualities of Great Customer Service Managers Episode 254: Rocky Romanella, Tighten the Lug Nuts Episode 236: (Tip) Customer Experience Sprints We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts   Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview author and medical liability expert Pat Iyer live from the NSA Influence 2017 conference. Nurse your business to health! Stakes can be high in any business... but imagine if you had legal and medical issues thrown in the mix! Today’s guest achieved amazing results turning the experience around in the high-stakes medical liability industry. Dealing with lawyers, patients, and issues that require legal intervention, it’s no doubt medical liability is a touchy subject! But Pat Iyer built a million-dollar business by offering experiences that stand out in her industry. “Everything in our business had to be done well and with excellence.” -Pat Iyer Make no mistake- Your customers are touchy too! Are you prepared for those moments when things don’t go as planned, expectations are unclear, or tension is expected? Pat shares amazing insights into growing a business with a customer-focused approach – no matter what industry you are in. Listen in for great advice on creating better experiences in high-stakes situations, and smoothing things over when tension is at an all-time high. Interview highlights Pat talks about how she increased sales and loyalty by offering a unique experience in her high-stakes business. [1:20] How can we defuse tense situations like those which arise around legal and billing issues? [4:45] Pat shares tips for forming your business objective around creating standout experiences. [7:55] What are some great ways to prepare for and recover from hiccups in a high-stakes experience? [10:00] About our guest Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC is a medical liability expert, professional speaker, author and coach. She works with healthcare providers who want to reduce risks and improve patient safety. LNCC is the certification granted by the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants and is the only legal nurse consulting certification which meets the standards of the American Board of Nursing Specialties. It is awarded to experienced legal nurse consultants who meet a practice requirement and pass a rigorous exam. In 1989, Pat established Med League Support Services, an independent legal nurse consulting firm. As a result of reviewing thousands of medical records and talking with attorneys about thousands of cases, she developed deep expertise in the concepts of medical liability and patient safety: from the labor and delivery site to the nursing home, from the emergency department to the ICU, from the outpatient surgery center to the dialysis center, and everywhere in between. She served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants including one year as national president. She sold Med League in 2015 and now devotes her time to coaching, writing and professional speaking. Pat is the author or editor of over 800 books, chapters, case studies, articles or online courses. Her publications have been read by thousands of people and translated into Japanese, Spanish, and the Indonesian language. Pat presents onsite programs, virtual presentations, and podcasts. She is the moderator of podcasts for the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health and Safety. Connect with Pat LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Website Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Boost Your Customer Service Listening Customers That Stick® post, The Importance of Listening in Customer Service Episode 245: Vicky Smitley, Business Plans and CX Episode 211: Marcus Sheridan, They Ask, You Answer We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam know how difficult it is to hire right. Often, organizations feel tremendous pressure to fill open roles, and too often, these rushed hires are poor hires. In this episode, Jeannie and Adam share tips for hiring well you're under the gun. One way to maintain hiring standards when you don't have time is to compress the hiring process. Make sure to not short the process by eliminating steps but to find a way to execute the full hiring process in a shortened window. Check out the full episode for Adam and Jeannie's other tips on hiring well when you're desperate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares 3 tips to prevent organizational structure from negatively affecting the customer experience. How organizational structure creates bad experiences A solid organizational structure is essential to delivering great customer experiences, creating new ones, or solving issues. But too often, we send customers on a journey through our internal org charts instead of a direct path to success – especially when there’s an issue. While it is important to establish accountability, customers don’t care who in your organization is responsible for solving an issue, so long as the experience is quick and painless for them. And yet, customers often find themselves at the mercy of internal processes when trying to get things done. “If there’s a customer champion in any organization, it should be in leadership.” -Jeannie Walters What is meant to keep things organized on the inside can easily spell disaster on the outside- while customer experiences suffer, customer satisfaction drops, and loyalty disappears. Where does your org chart create nightmares for customers? Jeannie has some expert tips to help you tighten things up and keep them on a rewarding journey. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Destructive Consistency Issues You Need to Overcome Now Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 39: Does Employee Empowerment Work? Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam interview Rocky Romanella, author of Tighten the Lug Nuts:The Principles of Balanced Leadership. Achieving balanced leadership Leadership in business means gearing not only yourself, but those around you for success. Too often, overwhelmed leaders become more focused on the goals of their business than the people and things that make success possible. How can you achieve consistency in the way you lead, motivate or mentor your people? How do you balance your goals with keeping those around you in a state where they feel valued? “They want to follow you because you’re that leader with consistency.” -Rocky Romanella Today’s guest, Rocky Romanella, literally wrote the book on achieving balanced leadership. Through amazing examples and highlights from his book, Rocky shares key some principles of balanced leadership with our listeners. (Spoiler: Leadership skills are not just for managers, politicians, or others we typically consider leaders!) “Each of us touches an influence in other lives.” -Rocky Romanella  In this interview, we learn how leadership skills touch those who follow, and core principles to instill in them for an overall successful team. “You have to believe in your people until they’re ready to believe in themselves.” -Rocky Romanella Rocky brought some great energy into this interview, and he’s excited to share with you the secrets behind his own success as a leader. Want to sharpen your own leadership skills while inspiring team members, colleagues and partners? Join us! Interview Highlights What's the concept behind “Tighten the Lug Nuts,” and why are leadership principles important to everyone? [2:30] Hear the simple, universal wisdom that got Rocky on the right path to leadership at UPS.  [6:35] Rocky shares key questions for overwhelmed listeners to achieve laser focus on customer needs.  [9:50] How do leaders avoid creating situations where the “highs are too high” or the “lows are too low?” 14:45] Rocky shares examples of how empowered employees can achieve balance and “tighten their own lug nuts.” [17:45] About our guest Rocky Romanella, an experienced executive, CEO and Director, keynote speaker, trainer and adviser is founder and principal of 3SIXTY Management Services, LLC. He most recently served as Chief Executive Officer and Director for UniTek Global Services, after retiring from a 36-year career with UPS, the largest shipment and logistics company in the world. Rocky successfully launched one of the largest rebranding initiatives in franchising history, The UPS Store, which revolutionized the $9 billion retail shipping and business services market. In addition to leading the global strategy of all U.S. and international retail channels, he was an integral part of the integration of many acquisitions, which became UPS Supply Chain Solutions with responsibilities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and South America and led UPS’s entry into the healthcare industry as part of their supply chain logistics strategy. Connect with Rocky LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Website Related Content Rocky's book, Tighten the Lug Nuts: The Principles of Balanced Leadership on Amazon 360Connext® post, Destructive Leadership Practices: Is Your CEO in Denial? Customers That Stick® post, How Employee Empowerment Really Works Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership Episode 087: The Next Generation of Customer Experience Leaders We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission, for free! Make your mission statement meaningful, both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employeesnot only meet, but exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission, and positive change Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free, and check out more free webinars!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam report live from the National Speakers Association’s Influence 2017 conference to discuss the power of situational awareness in customer service. Employees aren't really empowered without situational awareness Are your employees empowered to provide consistently great customer service, no matter what? Giving employees the freedom to act off-script is great, but without situational awareness, that power is not being utilized to its fullest. “You want to proactively anticipate CS issues and head them off.” -@Adam Toporek Being aware of situations that happen outside of the normal customer journey, or beyond the scope of their training, gives employees the power to solve problems proactively – before customers get angry or just leave you without a word! To consistently provide great customer service, reps must be aware of possible inconsistencies in the experience and surrounding context, then get ahead of them. “The best contact centers are run with very situationally aware employees.” -Jeannie Walters Today, Adam and Jeannie would like to tell you more about what situational awareness is, and how to integrate this principle into your customer service strategy. If you’d like your customer service team to be situationally aware, then listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Destructive Consistency Issues You Need to Overcome Now Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 39: Does Employee Empowerment Work? Episode 249: How Customer Service Training Goes Wrong We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Alison Herzog, head of global social business strategy at Dell, about "deep listening" on a large scale. The art of “deep listening” in social business One of the most important elements to designing experiences is listening to customers. That sounds simple enough, but it’s easy to assume we understand what they’re trying to tell us when we really don’t! “Are we listening to really understand our customers, or are we listening to react…?” - Alison Herzog Our customers’ true intentions and the emotions behind them can be grossly misunderstood by humans and machines alike. So what happens when customers engage on so many channels that we need algorithms to sort it all out for us? To engage in meaningful ways, a socially active business needs more that the right software, qualified staff or a willingness to listen. Today’s guest, Alison Herzog, knows what it takes to connect all these things to a culture of “deep listening.” “If we don’t care about the person we are serving, then we don’t understand what our purpose or our mission is.” -Alison Herzog Alison gives us great insight and real-life examples of how Dell balances technology, data, and real-life human interaction to bring listening to a higher level. With more than 145,000 employees, Dell serves customers in a vast range of B2B and B2C products and services. But they've achieved a culture where deep and empathetic listening are not just practiced, but a part of the DNA. You can "hear the smile in [Alison's] voice," as Jeannie puts it, while she shares Dell's amazing approach. If a company as large as Dell can win at social intelligence, you can too! Interview highlights What's it like leading the global social business strategy for a large company like Dell? [1:45] Alison explains how she puts her ethos of “doing right by customers” into day-to-day operations. [3:50] How do the capabilities and restrictions that come with multi-channel engagement affect the ability to listen deeply to customers? [8:20] Alison explains how Dell listens in ways that help them better understand customers who straddle multiple segments, products, services and channels. [12:05] How does a company as diverse and far-reaching as Dell embed a universal ethic around social intelligence into their culture? [16:30]   About our guest Alison Herzog heads global social business strategy at Dell. As part of her role, she recently led integration of all social business strategy and operations in the largest tech acquisition in history. Alison has been featured as one of 50 influential women in digital marketing twice by TopRank, featured by the American Marketing Association, LinkedIn, and most recently celebrated as one of 7 women shaping digital marketing by IBM. She is passionate about doing what is right, by the customer, and the people she works with, and focuses on data and deep listening to guide her actions and results. Connect with Alison LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 237: Peter Friedman, Customer Service Messaging Apps Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam explore critical customer segments that typically get ignored when designing customer experiences. Are you overlooking critical customer segments? Creating customer segments is a great way to help deliver an easier, more personalized, and more relevant experience for different groups of customers. But in many cases – especially in B2B – the customer journey is much more complex than it seems, and simplifying it is not always an option. Those moving through your customer journey are not the only people to consider when designing experiences. People who never interact directly with your brand are affected in big ways, and they are also a part of the decision-making. Have you considered these other stakeholders, besides those going through the actual motions and making payments? Who is the customer behind the customer, and what is influencing their actions? “There’s an impact with other groups we might not consider as end customers.” -Jeannie Walters The person you’re dealing with, though pleased as they may be with the experience, isn’t necessarily calling the shots. So who is? Understanding these elusive segments is a powerful way to create an experience that resonates not only behind the scenes, but beyond the journey itself. “Other stakeholders are affected by the #customerexperience and are a part of it.” -Adam Toporek Today, Adam and Jeannie are exploring ways to design experiences with all stakeholders in the journey- not just those at the wheel. Listen in for 3 hidden segments you need to start considering today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Expand Customer Experience Consciousness Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 172: (Tip) Personalizing the Customer Experience Episode 197: (Tip) Using Customer Personas We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares 7 ways to deliver a faster customer experience without sacrificing quality, vital details, or personalization. Who doesn’t want a faster customer experience!? With more on their plates and fewer resources, customers are busier than ever before. So in most customer experiences, time is of the essence. But nobody wants to feel rushed through a transaction, left without direction, or treated in a cold, impersonal manner. Whatever you’re selling, the pressure is on you to deliver better, more personalized experiences... and in less time! What can you do to create speedier experiences without making them less memorable and rewarding? “The need for speed is no longer an option.” -Adam Toporek Believe it or not, you can make a huge difference with little or no additional investment, and in many cases, using (or losing) resources you already have. Today, Adam has 7 (yes, seven!) tips you can use today to start saving time for yourself and your customers, while actually improving the overall experience. Do you have 10 minutes to save countless hours for your customers? Get your notepad ready and listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customers Want Convenience on Their Terms, Not Yours Episode 045: The Customer Effort Score Episode 151: Bringing the Experience to the Customers We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss several ways customer service training goes wrong, how that impacts the customer experience, and what you can do to fix it. Customer service training done right Companies talk or even brag a lot about the ways they train, mentor, and educate their employees. But for all their efforts, many of them are still doing it wrong. It’s easy for leaders to think that dedicating the right amount of time and resources ensures all the right ground is covered... so please don’t fall into this trap! “Great intentions do not always lead to great results!” -Adam Toporek It’s not just about following procedures, using available tools and software correctly, and simply helping customers get what they need. Truly great customer service training instills a customer-focused mindset, then works it into company’s DNA. It leaves employees with a greater understanding of customer emotions, a sense of ownership for the experience delivered, and a sense of empowerment to always do what’s right. “You have to know what kind of experience you actually want to deliver first…” -Jeannie Walters How do you tackle customer service training in your organization? Is it really doing as much good as you think, or are your employees (and customers) missing out? Some of the most common training practices are weak, ineffective, or even harm the customer experience! Listen in to avoid common mistakes and deliver the best service possible. Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, 9 Customer Service Training Ideas That Work Episode 091: How to Find Time for Training Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie explore some universal customer tipping points, or moments of truth in the customer journey, for you to examine today. 3 Powerful moments of truth in every customer journey Where are your customers when they decide whether to stay on board or jump ship? When do they decide to explore your competition instead of becoming loyal or advocating for your brand? These are powerful moments of truth, and every customer journey is filled with them. “Any journey has that moment of truth as a point of decision-making.” -Jeannie Walters While you may have a keen eye on tipping points around deal closings, renewals and upgrades, many moments of truth which can be just as powerful go unnoticed. “How are you reassuring them and making sure they know you’re there?” -Adam Toporek Every customer journey is different and has many unique tipping points, so finding them all is hard work! Where should you start!? To zero in on the moments that matter most to your customers, start with these moments of truth Adam and Jeannie have observed in just about every industry. Tip the scales in your favor by examining these 3 universal moments of truth today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Reasons Your Brain Won’t Let You See the True Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Negativity Bias and Customer Service Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips Episode 227: (Tip) Majoring In the CX Minors We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares 3 powerful questions to get actionable feedback from customers. Powerful innovation starts with powerful questions Honest customer feedback is the key to maintaining a strong culture around delivering great experiences, but customers have a lot more to tell you than what you’re asking about in surveys! Sometimes you must pick up the phone, go beyond the surveys, and ask some one-on-one questions. “If you reach out and ask directly, you can listen for the nuance of the answers.” -Jeannie Walters But who has the time for this, and what should you really ask?   It could be one customer or a handful of them… but if you put aside a few minutes once a week or month for this, you’ll uncover amazing insights. What can you learn from your best customers, or the ones who’ve just left you – without wasting a lot of your time or theirs? Keeping these conversations short and sweet is the key, and Jeannie is here to help you get the most impact in the shortest time. Listen in for 3 powerful questions you can ask customers today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Improve the Experience by Asking the Impossible Questions Customers That Stick® post, 5 Empowering Questions to Create a Customer Service Mindset Episode 239: Customer Survey Mistakes Episode 218: (Tip) Lessons from Former Customers We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss Basecamp’s customer service ethic and tackle some of the top challenges faced by support professionals. Fine-tuning your customer service ethic If there's one thing customer service leaders need support with, it's connecting with, understanding, and  supporting their own customers! Today’s guest, Chase Clemons, hears all the challenges faced by businesses of varied sizes, then helps them make the right decisions. He’s made it part of his mission to help them help their own customers, and he's sharing some of his best insights today. “I wish more people knew the customer team was one of the core strengths of your company.” -Chase Clemons Not only does Chase help Basecamp customers use the product, but he helps them find ways to innovate around the support customers need. He shares fascinating stories, relatable examples, and powerful tips you can use in your organization. “When you make a solid hire, you don’t need a lot of processes in place.” -Chase Clemons Providing great service is not about processes, and it’s certainly not about how much you’ve invested. It’s about setting realistic expectations, hiring right to deliver on them, and scaling to fit. “When you act your size, you’re going to get all the advantages of being a quick and nimble team.” -Chase Clemons If you’d like to improve the outcomes of your own customer programs, sharpen your pencil, because you’ll want to take notes on this episode! Interview highlights What is Basecamp, and why are thy known for customer support? [2:35] Chase describes some of the most common challenges Basecamp customers have in delivering great support. [5:25] Chase shares examples of how empowered employees supersede policies to drive great experiences and amazing support. [8:35] What are some inspiring ways companies are innovating around customer service? [12:20] What do leaders need to know about customer support organizations like Basecamp? [17:15]   About our guest Chase Clemons, a support lead at Basecamp with his own customer service podcast, who devours lessons from brands as varied as Wegman’s, Nordstrom’s and Amazon, as well as his own 5+ years of experience, to continually enhance Basecamp’s customer service program. Chase’s industry knowledge is deep and wide, and he’d love to share customer service best practices with your readers so that they can easily improve outcomes for their own customer programs. For example, he often helps users with questions unrelated to Basecamp - chiming in on why their Outlook isn't working or why their Twitter messages aren't coming to their phone. I’d also be able to put you in touch with Jason to talk about why the C-Suite needs to care more about customer outcomes than any other operational effort. Connect with Chase Twitter Support Ops Basecamp Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 237: Peter Friedman, Customer Service Messaging Apps Episode 204: (Tip) Customer Service Leadership We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special edition “live” from C-Suite Network conference, we discuss the importance of including customer experience in business plans with Vicky Smitley, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Hearthside Food Solutions. Why is customer experience missing from business plans? Many business leaders feel that if they have rock solid business plans, then a great customer experience will follow. But few think of creating a culture around customer experience as part of their business plan. Customers are calling the shots! If your growth engine is not focused on them, the experience you deliver will not stand out among the competition. “…without customers, a business does not survive.” – Vicky Smitley At Hearthside Food Solutions, Vicky Smitley has become a customer advocate to really bring customer experience to the center of the business plan. By improving the employee experience, they have developed special programs to bring customer-focused thinking from the C-Suite on out to all employees. “In order to have a great customer experience, you have to have a great employee experience.” -Vicky Smitley How can you make customer-centric culture part of your business plan, and incorporate it in your strategy? Listen to this special interview to learn how a Billion dollar company does it, and how smaller companies can do the same. About our guest Matt Dixon is Executive Director of the Financial Services practice and Customer Contact Leadership Council at CEB.  In this capacity, he has management responsibility for the membership programs serving front office and back office financial services leaders and their teams, as well as the programs serving customer contact executives across industry. Beginning in quality assurance 25 years ago, Vicky Smitley has built a career working for and with many of the world’s largest and finest food companies, mainly in business development roles. Today she serves as vice president of sales and marketing for the $1.3B Hearthside Food Solutions, the industry’s largest contract manufacturer. During that time, Vicky has witnessed tremendous change, innovation and consolidation. Factoid: Vicky never actually changed jobs. Rather, the company she worked for was bought and sold multiple times. Each time Vicky was retained as a leader or coleader of the business development function. Vicky also is the current president of the Contract Packaging Association, an organization she joined in 2001 in an effort to expand her personal network and to help drive industry evolution. During her tenure as president of the CPA, Vicky has focused on expanding the mission of the organization, raising the profile of contract packaging and closing the talent gap by helping groom tomorrow’s leaders. Vicky attributes her commercial success to always being an advocate for the customer. Understanding what the customer wants and needs, then finding creative ways for the organization to sell for those needs while generating a profit has proven a successful formula for Vicky and the sales organizations she has led. About Hearthside Food Solutions Hearthside Food Solutions, founded in 2009, is the industry’s largest contract manufacturer with 24 food production and food packaging facilities in the US and Europe. The company is the largest producer of snack, energy and protein bars, and one of the largest producers of cookies, crackers and other baked snacks. Headquartered in Downers Grove IL, more information can be found at hearthsidefoods.com Connect with Vicky earthside Food Solutions Contract Packaging Related Content 360Connext® post, What Can You Do to Reduce Customer Effort Today? Customers That Stick® post, The Effortless Experience: An Interview with Matt Dixon Episode 045: The Customer Effort Score Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Read "Kick-Ass Customer Service" and more by Matt Dixon in Harvard Business Review We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares his thoughts on the importance of 1-to-1 experiences as we hand parts of the experience over to technology. 1-to-1 or 1-to-none? Customers interact with your brand on many channels at countless touchpoints, whether there’s a human on the other end of the experience or not. And with the power of technology to help deliver these experiences, it’s easy to get caught up in experience design and optimizations. “…the idea of #CustomerService is still as relevant and important as ever.” -Adam Toporek This is especially true for experiences that are mostly or fully automated, like purchases made on Amazon. What happens when customers seek the help of a live person? Who is stepping in, and are they helping or harming the experience? “…an excellent product or service can almost never compensate for an unpleasant service rep.” -Adam Toporek 1-to-one interactions are still the experiences customers remember, talk about, and come back to. Where are the humans behind the experiences you deliver? Adam explains why investing in them is still a priority. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Why Customer Service Technology Can’t Replace Humans Customers That Stick® post, Omnichannel Customer Service with the Human Touch Episode 234: Tips for Customer Service Bots Episode 202: Customer Service Tech We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie explore how corporate myths affect culture and customer experience, ways to identify them, and what you can do to set things straight. Corporate myths create bad experiences for your customers. It may sound silly, but organizations and the teams within have their own corporate myths and legends. We’re not talking about inside jokes like the goblin that lives inside the copy machine. Employees accept corporate myths as truths and perpetuate them in ways that cause problems internally until they harm the customer experience. “If this one person believes it, then other people will too.” -Jeannie Walters All it takes is one misunderstood communication, one bad interaction, or one “seasoned” employee to uphold and spread an untruth that affects your culture and the experience you deliver. “The most important first step is making sure you know what these myths are…” -Adam Toporek It’s up to leaders in your organization to identify, debunk, and correct these myths before they become a cancer within your organization. In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share some of the most common ways these myths get started, and some classic examples you'll recognize. Listen and learn how myths around processes, internal engagement, and customer perception get started and how to nip them in the bud. Related Content 360Connext® post and Slideshare, 10 Myths that Stifle the Truth about Customer Experience Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture Episode 168: Nate Brown, Service Center Engagement We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special edition live from C-Suite Network conference, three-time Stevie Award winner Jason Forrest unlocks the power of customer certainty. Customer certainty and the keys to loyalty We talk a lot about the correlation between sales and customer experience, but now we get to hear it from an award-winning sales coach and expert. Jason Forrest, CEO and Chief Culture officer at Forrest Performance Group, is a three-time Stevie Award winner for Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year. “I believe that when certainty is lost, all is lost.” -Jason Forrest It’s well-known that sales costs more than customer retention. For a company that’s sustainably profitable, loyalty is where it’s at! And Jason says if you’d like to increase loyalty, then you need to instill a sense of certainty in your customers. “Customers leave you when the experience is different than what you sold them as a prospect.” -Jason Forrest How do you treat your existing customers, and how does that differ than the treatment you give to prospects? Giving your customers a sense of trust and certainty is the best way to combat buyer’s remorse, customer churn, and more. Listen to this exciting interview with Jason “live” at the C-Suite Network conference, where he shares his holistic approach. Interview Highlights Jason explains how trust and certainty in the customer experience are essential to sales. [2:22] Why think of every customer as a prospect? [5:22] Jason tells a fun story about the difference between being treated like a customer vs a prospect. [6:44] Jason shares the 6 keys to customer loyalty and retention. [8:45] About our guest As a sales professional, author, speaker, and coach, Jason’s job is to empower professionals and executives to unleash their human performance and master their leadership skills in sales, management, culture and service; for the purpose of increasing profit through people. Jason grew up under the influence of his father who was a business owner and professional salesperson, his mother, a persuasive speaking professor and Zig Ziglar, his Sunday school teacher and world-famous salesperson/motivational speaker. Jason learned how to drive profit through doing rather than observing. These influences and experiences shaped him into who he is today – a salesperson first, a behavioral change expert, a national speaker and a coach who pushes organizations to become highly profitable while creating a “best place to work” culture. Every year, Jason delivers approximately 92 keynotes/seminars and conducts 850 group coaching calls with sales teams, managers, and executives. Connect with Jason Forrest Performance Group Twitter Related Content 360Connext® post, How Do You Define Loyalty in YOUR Organization? Customers That Stick® post, Leaning Into Customer Loyalty with Adrian Swinscoe Episode 097: The Best Customer Loyalty Metrics Episode 058: Jill Griffin, The Loyalty Maker We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission, for free! Make your mission statement meaningful, both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employeesnot only meet, but exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission, and positive change Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free, and check out more free webinars!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares tips for understanding customer touchpoints from the customer’s perspective and taking action. Understanding customer touchpoints for what they really are is essential to mapping and evaluating the true customer experience. But common definitions don’t give us an understanding we can act on, and there’s a lot of bad information out there! A watered-down customer touchpoint definition may fit nicely on a page for the general public, but it won’t help you understand what’s really happening with your customers. "Put yourself in the customer’s shoes as much as you can…” -Jeannie Walters Today, Jeannie is giving you her expert definition so you can identify those moments that matter most to customers and take action. User her tips to get started today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Touchpoint Mapping: Discovery, Enlightenment, and A-HA! Moments Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 222: 120: Jim Kalbach, Experience Mapping Expert Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author and customer service expert Matt Dixon to uncovers surprising facts and common misconceptions about delivering low-effort service. Think you’re delivering low-effort service? It seems so simple: Reduce customer effort, then you’ll have more loyal customers! But don’t be fooled by that kind of simplicity. Customers perceive effort in different ways than you think! Today’s guest, bestselling author Matt Dixon, has researched and written extensively on how to deliver a truly effortless experience. Today, he’s sharing many facts that will surprise you, and make you rethink your approach. “The average service interaction is actually not a loyalty-building experience. It’s actually a loyalty-destroying experience.” -Matt Dixon Conventional customer service wisdom (yes, even the more current stuff!) has customer service reps doing all kinds of things that sound great, but harm customer perception. Companies are investing a lot into delivering better experiences, but they’re investing in the wrong resources. “…we actually make it worse during the course of trying to solve the problem. - Matt Dixon What’s more, companies are responding to this conventional wisdom by creating an environment that invites the wrong types of people into customer-facing roles. Meanwhile, the ones who have what it takes aren't empowered to make a difference. “What they want is an org where they’re liberated to use their own judgment…” -Matt Dixon If you want to deliver effortless customer service, then you must understand how customers perceive their own efforts and hire, train, and organize accordingly. What kinds of people do you need on your team, and how can you attract, retain, and provide them with the right environment to deliver? Matt’s going to tell you how to do all of this, so listen in! Interview highlights Matt talks about his extensive research into customer effort and the traits of a “low effort” customer service rep. [4:16] How has customer expectations changed, and what do they want from customer service reps today? [8:00] Matt shares surprising facts about hiring for balance between personality types in a low effort service environment. What types perform best? [13:50] How can you go about finding and keeping the right mix of talent to deliver the low-effort service experience? [22:30] About our guest Matt Dixon is Executive Director of the Financial Services practice and Customer Contact Leadership Council at CEB.  In this capacity, he has management responsibility for the membership programs serving front office and back office financial services leaders and their teams, as well as the programs serving customer contact executives across industry. A seasoned research leader, Matt has overseen dozens of original quantitative and qualitative research studies on topics ranging from customer service strategy to sales effectiveness. In addition to his management responsibilities, Matt is a noted business writer.  His first book, The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation was a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He’s been published multiple times in the Harvard Business Review­­, he is a frequent contributor on sales and customer service topics on a number of blogs, and his book on customer service, The Effortless Experience was released by Penguin in September 2013. Matt holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh as well as a B.A. in International Studies from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he graduated summa cum laude.  Matt currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland with his wife and four children. Connect with Matt Twitter LinkedIn Related Content 360Connext® post, What Can You Do to Reduce Customer Effort Today? Customers That Stick® post, The Effortless Experience: An Interview with Matt Dixon Episode 045: The Customer Effort Score Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Read "Kick-Ass Customer Service" and more by Matt Dixon in Harvard Business Review We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share common customer survey mistakes and how to avoid them to get thoughtful responses. Losing our way with customer survey mistakes Customer surveys are great for getting the feedback we need, learning how to improve our experiences, or finding out where we need to invest. Recent studies show that most customers ignore surveys, most of those who do fill them out don’t do so thoughtfully, and many who start surveys never finish them. And the survey feedback we DO get? It’s only from the customers who felt very strongly enough to put in the time, so your average customer may not be represented in the results. We will remember things that are dramatically emotional either way, more than any part of the experience, so if we’re reporting back on something, it’s because we’ve had a dramatic moment of emotion, either good or bad” “...if we’re reporting back on something, it’s because we’ve had a dramatic moment of emotion...”- Jeannie Walters What are we doing wrong? Today, Adam and Jeannie are sharing eye-opening facts and their expert opinions of why customers don’t respond to surveys. They’ve helped clients develop surveys that customers want to respond to, and they’re sharing that wisdom with you. “How representative is our sample? How representative are the surveys we’re getting?” -Adam Toporek You can still use surveys to get powerful feedback that leads to action, but you must approach them carefully. Are you asking too many questions? The wrong questions? Find out today and deliver surveys that matter to your customers. Related Content 360Connext® post and ebook, 10 Ways to Get Actionable Feedback from Customers (part 1) Customers That Stick® post, Your Data Is Only as Good as Your Perspective Episode 228: (Tip) All Customers want These Things Episode 017: Customer Feedback, Mohamed Latib, and Progressive Insurance We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips for embracing showrooming to compete with online retailers. Showrooming is not your worst enemy If you’re a brick-and-mortar retailer, it’s likely that showrooming is becoming a big, if not the biggest. Every day, you open your doors to customers who just want to check out the merchandise in real life before ordering from a virtual retailer. And since you may not be able to compete on price and convenience with online retail giants like Amazon, Overstock, and many others, what can you do about this? “…when they drop the ball on personal customer service, that is when they truly do become Amazon’s showroom.” -Adam Toporek Showrooming is not the end, and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing! When customers physically come to you, they are looking for an experience they can’t get online. This can present many new opportunities, but many retailers are dropping the ball. Today, Adam shares a personal story about showrooming, and how the experience begged him to complete his purchase with the competitor online. Are you wasting time and effort on would-be showroomers, or are you using that real-life power to win them over? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Losing Customers to Showrooming? Customers That Stick® post, 7 Cool Technologies and Takeaways from Future Stores Episode 222: Episode 030: Convenience, AT&T’s Diane Magers, and Department Stores Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam interviews Peter Friedman, CEO of LiveWorld, a social customer experience company, about the changing landscape of customer service messaging. The age of messaging Today Peter Friedman, CEO of LiveWorld, joins us for a fascinating update on the present and future of customer service messaging. Large brands like Walmart and American Express are leveraging new technology to engage customers like never before. Through powerful apps, businesses now engage customers every day, wherever they are, to build more meaningful relationships. “Convergence of smart phones, social media and messaging puts the point of customer experience in your hand.” -Peter Friedman But this isn’t just for big brands! Customer service messaging, as Peter explains, is helping to level the playing field. Small and medium businesses are now able to take on the big guys, but only if they’re willing to use these capabilities wisely. It’s not just about helping customers when they need you, or offering omnichannel support. It’s about creating relationships where customers are more committed, then inspiring them to become advocates. “The best experience anywhere becomes the minimum experience expected everywhere.” -Peter Friedman How will customer service messaging help create more meaningful relationships for your customers? Listen in to find out! About our guest Peter Friedman is a social media visionary and veteran with more than 30 years of experience in the space. He is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of LiveWorld, a trusted social media partner to the world’s largest brands, including the number-one companies in retail, CPG, pharmaceutical, and financial-travel services. He’s provided multiple global brands with strategic social media guidance and delivered hundreds of social media programs for them in multiple countries and languages. Prior to LiveWorld, Peter was Vice President & General Manager of Apple’s Internet Services Division, overseeing the creation and management of social media services such as AppleLink, eWorld, AOL, and Salon. During his 12-year tenure at Apple, his responsibilities also included managing Business Systems Marketing and product line management in the Macintosh division. He is also the author of “The CMO’s Social Media Handbook, A Step By Step Guide For Leading Marketing Teams in the Social Media World”—a practical tool kit and crash course in social-media-theory that helps big-brand marketing leaders learn how to strategize and execute a long-term social media plan in order to create dialogue and deepen customer relationships.  Connect with Peter Twitter LiveWorld website Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways Everyone Wins with Proactive Social Media Engagement Customers That Stick® post,When Sales Does Service on Social with Phil Gerbyshak Episode 150: Phil Gerbyshak, Social Connections Episode 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission, for free! Make your mission statement meaningful, both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employeesnot only meet, but exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission, and positive change Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free, and check out more free webinars!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share 3 powerful ideas to make quick progress with customer experience sprints. Streamline your goals with customer experience sprints Have you heard of business sprints? The idea is to put most long-term goals aside, then focus exclusively on one goal for a predetermined period. This concept has been taking off lately in business and in government, because it works! Sprints are a great way to bring departments together to work for a common goal, and get results quickly. Set your calendar for 30, 60, or 90 days, and nip one of those goals in the bud! With so many goals piling up in your business, it’s easy to put customer experience goals aside in favor of sales and other goals or issues. It’s common to put customer experience aside for another day, then another, until that day never comes. So why not try using customer experience sprints? Adam and Jeannie are here to help you get started! They’re sharing 3 great customer experience sprints you can start today, and some tips for making them work. Any business can use these sprints, so grab a note pad, jot them down, then put them in your calendar right after the show. Related Content 360Connext® post, Take Customer Experience Action with these 7 Questions Episode 235: Customer Experience Touchpoint Tips Episode 228: (Tip) All Customers want These Things We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is a customer experience touchpoint? Jeannie shatters common myths and shares tips for a more customer-centric and actionable approach. How does a CX pro define "customer experience touchpoint?" Customer touchpoints make up your customer’s journey, but many business leaders don’t truly understand what this means. They are often not understood from the customer’s perspective, and the popular beliefs about how to identify them lure us into a narrow view of the customer experience. Don’t be deceived by the way-too-simple customer touchpoint definition you find in google search, of fall into the trap of thinking your quest for understanding is that simple. Jeannie has been helping organizations understand their true customer journeys for more than 20 years, and she’s here to share the professional approach with you! “Think of a touchpoint as any and every interaction a customer has with your brand...” -Jeannie Walters The customer journey is more far-reaching than you think, and your customers are depending on you to understand it from end to end.  How can you do this? Listen in to shatter they myths and start using Jeannie’s tips today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Touchpoint Mapping: Discovery, Enlightenment, and A-HA! Moments Customers That Stick® post,Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 120: Jim Kalbach, Experience Mapping Expert Episode 163: When to Update Customer Journey Maps We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you using customer service bots? So much can go wrong! With Adam and Jeannie to help, you can use them to save time AND deliver better experiences. Customer service bots create customer service nots! If you’ve been a regular listener, then you know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay. (Check the related content below to catch up!) One way AI has already entered our daily lives is through customer service bots, or chatbots. Though they’ve recently made some great leaps and actually become helpful, these bots are still designed to merely assist humans, not replace them. Are you still in there someplace? “If the bot can’t get it done or is going down the wrong path, that can get very frustrating very quickly…” - Jeannie Walters We’re decades, if not centuries away from creating bots that can take over completely and still consistently deliver great experiences on the personal level... So what do we need to know before we put one of these in front of our customers? Brands like The Cosmopolitan and Capital One have found brilliant ways to leverage this technology for better, faster, and more personalized customer service- without making it difficult to solve more complex problems or contact a real live person. So can you! “Make sure your bot has a little personality and fits with your brand.” -Adam Toporek Today, Adam and Jeannie are sharing great examples from these brands along with pro tips to help you use bots wisely. Why not leverage the power of bots to not just lighten your load, but also raise the bar on your ideal customer experience? Listen in, human! Related Content 360Connext® post, #SXSW: Emerging AI with a Focus on Greater Experiences Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Episode 222: 179: (Tip) Staffing Automated Customer Service Episode 174: Robert Scoble, Augmented Reality and the Fourth Transformation We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam explains the neuroscience behind different types of organizational conformity, how they help or harm your business, and how to strike a good balance. Organizational conformity: The good and the bad Adam says, “the impetus to conform is strong for many,” and that’s typically a good thing in business. Organizational conformity is necessary to create consistent customer experiences, adhere to regulations, and maintain a stable workplace. But it’s not just about following necessary rules and procedures, or maintaining a sense of order. Before you say it’s great for employees to conform in every way, imagine the innovation process with nobody sharing ideas. What if everyone just followed the rules, even when it didn’t help the customer in the moment? What if your employees took on a “mob mentality” adopting dissenting ideas? “…the conformity is subconscious and almost frighteningly instinctual.” -Adam Toporek In this episode, Adam explains the different types of conformity, and how to recognize and differentiate them. Is conformity helping your business grow, or harming your customer experience? How would you know? A winning team plays by the rules, but is also empowered to make judgment calls, speak their mind, and share insights that help you grow as a business. How can you strike a healthy balance with organizational conformity? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Powerful No-Sweat Customer Experience Quick Fixes Customers That Stick® course, Don’t Let Conformity Stifle Ideas Episode 222: (Tip) Instilling Culture Throughout the Organization Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss neuroscience and new study data to better understand the emotional impact on CX. Understanding your impact on CX We hate to be a downer, but improving customer experience isn’t all about thinking positive. As you push forward, adding moments of delight to the customer journey, are you paying enough attention to those tiny pain points? “As leaders, we have to take the rose-colored glasses off.” -Jeannie Walters A new study from InMoment reveals that negative emotions last longer than positive ones, so those tiny negative moments dominate the otherwise great experience you create! What’s more, executives typically perceive a watered-down version of the negative emotions customers experience. So as our brains are constantly seek out the negative stimuli that spoil our overall experience, the data decision-makers act on typically downplays their impact.  “Until you resolve those feelings of disrespect, nothing else matters.” -Adam Toporek Join us today as we explore staggering facts from InMoment and findings from Adam’s own study, digging into the neuroscience behind customer emotions. It’s heavy stuff, but Adam and Jeannie are here to help you make sense of it all, then get ahead of it. Listen in for a better understanding of customer behavior plus some tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Destructive Consistency Issues You Need to Overcome Now Customers That Stick® course, Mastering the 7 Service Triggers Episode 194: (Tip) Taking Negative Interactions Personally Episode 097: The Best Customer Loyalty Metrics We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie attacks customer experience lip service head-on with tips for turning customer-centricity into action. Undercover bosses in the real world Are you familiar with the CBS television show Undercover Boss? CEOs literally go undercover as employees to discover broken rules and processes, workplace culture issues, and more. (Can you tell why we love this?) “Culture in customer experience has to be bought in at the top.” -Adam Toporek While it’s important for leaders to understand what’s going on behind the scenes, you may not be able to go incognito amongst your employees. But there are ways to get to the truth without a disguise or a bad dye job! Today Adam and Jeannie are sharing some stealthy ways any leader can uncover hidden truths about your customer experience, and the people who make it happen. “The further up the corporate ladder we go, the further away from customers we often get.” -Jeannie Walters You don’t need a fake mustache, but go ahead and wear one if it makes it more fun. The important thing is that you listen in and start using these tips today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Becoming Customer-Centric: 5 Ways to Walk the Talk Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 203: (Tip) B2B vs. B2C Customer Experience Episode 167: Signs You’re Losing a Customer Undercover Boss on CBS We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie attacks customer experience lip service head-on with tips for turning customer-centricity into action. Walking the customer-centricity talk Business leaders talk a lot about being customer-centric, but honestly, most of them are just talking. It often starts with a big rally or town hall meeting where it’s declared, “we’re becoming customer-centric!” It may make its way into a few emails and become the focus of a new campaign, but this rarely inspires change that leads to true customer-centricity. So what are they doing wrong, and are you falling into the same trap? Do you really want customer-centricity to drive your organization, or is it just sexy to say it does? “We are going to make sure that every interaction with our customers is focused on them.” -Jeannie Walters It’s time to start walking the talk.  Becoming customer-centric is real work that affects your entire organization, and remaining so is a project that never ends. You’ll need to: Think big Keep talking (what!?) Invite customers into the process What do these mean, and how can you apply them to your ongoing experience strategy? Jeannie explains with some tips you can use today. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Becoming Customer-Centric: 5 Ways to Walk the Talk Customers That Stick® post, Creating a Customer Service Culture with Jeff Toister Episode 193: Amy Downs, Customer Success Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Dan Gingiss, author of Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Design Engaging Experiences on Social Media. It's time to own social customer care Providing great customer service is important, no matter what channel is being used. But when it comes to engaging with customers on social, many companies are reluctant to invest where it counts. They fear opening up social channels will also open up the floodgates for serial complainers, trolls and negative word-of mouth. They fear their team isn’t large enough, interesting enough, or knowledgeable enough to do it right. And with recent PR nightmares in the airline industry, who could blame brands for being hesitant to engage on social? Customers need you on social, and they expect social customer service as part of the omnichannel experience your competitors already deliver. It’s time to overcome those fears! Dan Gingiss is here to help dispel the myths around social customer care. Sure there are risks, but there are also opportunities a forward-thing company can’t ignore. You can give customers what they expect on social, and you can turn unhappy ones into a brand advocates. You’ll want to take notes today, because Dan is explaining what it takes for a company of any size to provide excellent social customer care. Backed by real-life examples from large and small companies doing it right, this episode is loaded with simple but powerful tips for hiring, engaging, strategizing, and maximizing your ROI. Grab your notebook and listen in! About our guest: Dan Gingiss’s 20-year career has consistently focused on delighting customers, spanning multiple disciplines including social media, customer service, marketing, and digital customer experience. Dan has hands-on experience as an executive at multiple Fortune 300 companies, having served as Head of Digital Customer Experience at Discover, Head of Digital Marketing at Humana, and currently Head of Global Social Media at McDonald’s. Dan is the author of the new book, Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Design Engaging Experiences on Social Media, which is available on Amazon. The book includes a Foreword by Jay Baer and is endorsed by several other notable social media and customer service experts. Dan also hosts the Focus on Customer Service podcast, where he interviews brands which are renowned for outstanding customer service in social media, garnering tips and best practices. The podcast was recently named one of "The 50 Best Customer Retention Podcasts to Help You Attract, Engage and Retain Customers" by NGDATA. A frequent conference speaker (Social Media Marketing World, Social Shake-Up, Corporate Social Media Summit, The Customer Service Summit, The Secret Service Summit, and more), Dan has also been named to several notable industry lists, including: "The 30 Most Influential People in Social Customer Service" by Conversocial "The Top 15 NPS & Customer Service Thought Leaders to Follow in 2017" by CustomerGauge "50 Social Media Marketing Influencers to Follow" by TopRank Marketing "Behind the Brand: 30 Influencers That Drive Social Media for the Brands We Love" by Leadtail and Purematter "Mover and Shaker" by The Social Shake-Up Conference 2017 "The Top 10 Service Cloud Influencers" by Traackr Dan holds a B.A. in psychology and communications from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. in marketing and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He resides in Chicago with his family and is an avid Cubs fan. Connect with Dan Twitter LinkedIn Website Podcast Dan’s book on Amazon Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways Everyone Wins with Proactive Social Media Engagement Customers That Stick® post,When Sales Does Service on Social with Phil Gerbyshak Episode 150: Phil Gerbyshak, Social Connections Episode 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission, for free! Make your mission statement meaningful, both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employeesnot only meet, but exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission, and positive change Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free, and check out more free webinars!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share three things all customers want from the experience, regardless of what they do or do not ask for. What do customers want from your experience? All customers are different, have different goals, and may run into different issues through their journey. We’ve talked about many great ways to find out what customers want, including social listening, co-creation sessions, and different feedback mechanisms. These are all great ways to uncover opportunities to innovate around their needs. What are those things customers may not be asking for, but still want? -Jeannie Walters But these methods don’t reveal what all customers want. And while it’s typically not a good idea to bank on assumptions, there are a few critical things they’re probably not asking for, and Adam and Jeannie want to share those with you today. “Customers are depending on you to innovate for them!” - Adam Toporek So regardless of your strategy for improving the customer experience, or even if you don’t have a strategy yet, you can’t go wrong by examining and improving these three things. What can every organization improve for guaranteed wins? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Surveys Results are Great, but What About the “Untold” Feedback? Customers That Stick® post, Customer Information Form Basics: What You Need to Know Episode 196: Innovating with Customers Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips for preventing small details from spoiling an otherwise great overall customer experience. Small details are a big deal! We usually perceive the phrase “majoring in the minors” as a bag thing, but it’s different when we’re talking about customer experience. Both consciously and unconsciously, the small details have a huge impact on how customers perceive the overall experience. The best companies obsess over these small details – not only to remove pain points from the customer journey, but to add delight and differentiate the brand. "The things we saw made us wonder about the things we did not see!" - Adam Toporek Today, Adam shares real-life examples where little things added up to a lousy overall experience with a brand that usually delivers great customer service. What went wrong, and how could they have done better? Are you majoring in the CX minors? How many not-so-great experiences must your customers step over during their journey, and will they make it through? And more importantly, will they come back? Related Content Jeannie's TEDx video, Microinteractions Lead to Major Engagement Customers That Stick® post, In Customer Service, Is Ordinary Now Extraordinary? Episode 158: Christoff Weihman, Excellerate Service Episode 110: Mike Ganino, Guest Experience Expert We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share some lessons we can all learn from recent airline customer service disasters. What can we learn from airline customer service? There’s been so much in the news about airline customer service, it’s time we talk about it here on Crack the Customer Code! Including, but not limited to the customer who was dragged off his United flight, we’re not sure any airline has been left unscathed. “This was so visceral that I think people did respond in a very emotional way.” - Jeannie Walters It’s not news that airline customer service a long way to go, but more common issues are getting more public attention in the wake of these high-profile incidents. Clearly, there’s a theme of processes and regulations superseding the customer experience. Even United CEO Oscar Munoz has come right out blaming not his people, but the outdated processes they’re chained to. “There are people there that know better, so why are their voices not heard?” - Adam Toporek Today, Adam and Jeannie share their take on what’s happening with airline customer service, what’s causing the biggest problems, and why we’re seeing little improvement. What can you learn from airline customer service? Find out how airlines’ processes, regulations, corporate politics, and poor culture prevent them from doing right by their customers. Could this happen to you? Listen in to find out, then take action! Related Content 360Connext® post, This Is What an Epic Customer Experience Fail Looks Like Customers That Stick® post, Southwest Airlines: A Service Recovery Surprise Episode 215: (Tip) Losing Control of the Customer Experience Episode 123: CXPA Live, Regulated Industry Challenges We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for gauging your organization’s CX success. If you’re joining us today, your organization is either customer-focused or taking steps to deliver a better overall experience in the future. But there’s no universal road map, itinerary or outline to get you to true customer-centricity. And while they are certainly a part of it, CX success is about much more than simply eliminating bad experiences, creating better ones, and sprinkling in a few moments of delight. It’s not about creating a catchy mission statement and repeating mantras like “our customers come first!” A truly customer-centric organization walks the talk, from the c-suite out to the front line and beyond. Is your organization creating landmarks on the path to customer-centricity, or simply reveling in positive points of interest that don’t improve the overall experience? There are many twists and turns along the way, and many stops to make, but Adam and Jeannie are giving you a compass to keep you from losing your way. Listen in for 3 tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Make Customer Experience Magic with Co-Creation Sessions (part 1) Customers That Stick® post, How Employee Empowerment Really Works Episode 193: Amy Downs, Customer Success Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares tips for recognizing and eliminating CX-defeating phrases from your organization. Is your team infected with CX-defeating phrases? One of the things we love about customer experience is that subtle changes can make a big difference. Have you considered the language your team uses around the workplace? Cursing invites its own set of problems, but common everyday phrases we don’t notice can tear our customer experiences apart at the seams. Today I ask you to look and listen for the things that defeat us in our own organization." -Jeannie Walters There are many CX-defeating phrases that slip right into normal communications, causing emotional distress, negative outlooks, and normalizing poor experiences. A cancer in your workplace culture, they snuff out your efforts to improve customer experience, offer better service, and maintain a winning team. Are these CX-defeating phrases infecting customer interactions or internal communications? Jeannie has some tips to help you recognize these phrases, address them, and replace them with language that’s conducive to the great experiences you want to deliver. Related Content 360Connext® post, Do Your Communication Tactics Undermine Your Intentions? Customers That Stick® post, Customer Communication Should Be for Customers Episode 217: Jill Schiefelbein, Dynamic Communication Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss engineering happiness for true success with Mo Gawdat, author of Solve for Happy. Engineering happiness for true success We often think to ourselves that if we get what, where or who we want in our lives, we’ll be happy. We look to successful individuals, and they seem so happy to us! “You’re happy when the events of life meet your expections of how life should be.” -Mo Gawdat But correlation is not necessarily causation where success and happiness intersect. Why is it, as humans, we’re never quite as happy as we thought we’d be once get what we want? As an engineer, our guest Mo Gawdat sought to research, understand and solve this problem after a tragedy involving his son. He observed that we often look to outside factors, the things we can’t control, to evaluate our own happiness. To make matters worse, we often cling to things we can control, like worries, sadness and emotional pain. “Happiness is inside you. It’s never to be found outside you.” -Mo Gawdat Through touching stories and extensive research, Mo shares how he overcame his own sadness and used it as a catalyst for positive change. What is your equation for happiness? How can you apply this to the intersection of success and happiness for your customers? Listen in to bring success to your happiness, and happiness to your success. Highlights from the interview: How does an engineer end up writing a book about happiness? [3:15] Why must we solve happiness, rather than simply find it? [6:00] How does Mo’s approach inspire innovation, and ultimately, happiness, for customers? [8:15] How does social comparison factor into the happiness equation? [11:15] Mo describes how his tragedy became a catalyst for positive change. [14:45] Mo reveals ways we unconsciously choose to sabotage our own happiness. [18:30] What’s the purpose behind the #10MillionHappy hashtag? [21:30] About our guest: As Google [X]’s Chief Business Officer, his team is responsible for exploring “moonshot” dreams like the much-lauded self-driving car and providing global internet access by using sub-orbital balloons. For being at the top of a "dream team" though, Mo realized in 2001 that he was miserably unhappy and spirits were far from sailing above the clouds. So he did the one thing he knew how to do better than anything: he put his engineering experience to work and, by using data and research, he created an algorithm and “solved” happiness. Thirteen years later, Mo’s algorithm would be put to the ultimate test. After the sudden, senseless death of his son Ali, Mo and his family turned to his equation which saved them from the depths of despair. With a new sense of purpose and a drive to honor his son's memory he began the #10MillionHappy Mission designed to make at least that many people realize that happiness is within their control.  Connect with Mo YouTube Facebook Mo’s Book, Solve for Happy Related Content 360Connext® post, Why Enlightened Leadership Is Key to Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Keep Stepping to Succeed with Joy Marsden Episode 138: Becky Spohn, Professional Confidence Builder Episode 164: Doug Sandler, Nice Guys Finish First We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie report from Medallia’s Experience-17 conference to discuss common challenges and benefits of instilling culture throughout organizations. Instilling culture throughout big brands Creating or shifting culture is not easy in any company, and in larger organizations, it’s an enormous feat. But as we’ve learned from amazing sessions at the Experience-2017 conference, (for which Adam and Jeannie were provided tickets by Medallia,) this is changing! "Changing the organization to be better for customers is a huge culture shift." - Jeannie Walters Big brands like Delta, Comcast and more, are realizing culture (or lack of) shows through processes, manuals, and policies, and has a direct impact on the experience delivered. "Culture is going to tell when there’s no playbook.” - Adam Toporek In this special on-location report, Adam and Jeannie share takeaways from brands who get it and what they’re doing about it, along with a few tips you can use today. Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Unlock Your Outstanding Service Culture for Good Customers That Stick® post, Turning a Customer Service Culture Medallia’s Experience-17 Conference Episode 193: Amy Downs, Customer Success Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips for leveraging the wisdom of your team as internal consultants to gain powerful customer-focused insights. Activate your internal consultants There’s no doubt that gaining the true outside-in perspective often means bringing in a consultant, but what if you can’t do that right now? What if you’re not sure where to start? Your team has more insight to share from the customer’s perspective than you may know, and they’ve got lots to tell you. Why not tap into the wisdom of your team to uncover common challenges, high impact experience gaps, and more? Your team may not be able to give you a complete outside-in evaluation, recommendations, training, or action plan like consultants such as our hosts, Adam and Jeannie…but the insight needed to uncover and fix some of your customers’ biggest challenges may be right under your own roof. With a little elbow grease, you’ll have a whole new outlook on your customer experience and your organization. Use these insights to make improvements your customers will notice right away! (And, doing some internal investigative work will help maximize your ROI when you do decide to bring in a consultant.) How can you activate your internal consultants? What should you ask them about, and how can you follow through with the initiative? Adam has some tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Where Are Your Customer Advocates Hiding Out? Episode 182: (Tip) Advocating for Customers Episode Episode 007: Communicating Internally, Stan Phelps, and The Audience Experience We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss balancing innovation around the needs of the future customer with those of the present customer at Medallia’s Experience-17 conference. Is your future customer more important than today’s? Brands are investing a lot in tailoring future customer experiences for the new generation, and we saw many examples at Experience-17. Millennials are the larger of the current generations, so this is important! But millennials aren’t the only group to consider, and they do things much differently than previous generations. What works for them may not work as well for Gen X’ers, and may not work at all for Baby Boomers.   The best brands find ways to create experiences that make younger customers more comfortable while still offering the experiences older generations are accustomed to.  Can you innovate around the future customer without alienating the current customer? Should you? Thanks to Medallia for providing tickets to Experience-17, we bring you fresh examples, pro tips and fun facts from the conference.  Related Content 360Connext® post, Mobile Innovation Is Not About Your Phone! Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service Medallia’s Experience-17 Conference Episode 155: Don’t Forget the Baby Boomers Episode 142: Anna Liotta, Unlocking Generational Codes We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie report from Medallia’s Experience-17 conference to bring you insights from MGM’s outstanding multi-brand consistency. Multi-brand consistency creates multi-brand loyalty We talk a lot about how to close the gaps between the experiences we offer, but what about the experience gaps we create between connected brands? Each brand may consistently deliver an excellent experience on it own, and that’s great!  However, brands like MGM have achieved amazing results from creating consistency across multiple brands. And, thanks to Medallia for providing tickets to Experience-17, Adam and Jeannie are delighted to bring you insights from some of these great leaders. Today, we're sharing secrets from top brands who have mastered the art of multi-brand consistency. Whether it’s a family of companies under the same ownership, or a group of affiliated organizations, bridging the gaps between them helps customers take their loyalty to a higher level. What does it take to unify the experiences between your brands, or affiliates? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Emotion Wins the Battle: Why Branding Still Matters Medallia’s Experience-17 Conference Episode 130: Chloë Thomas, Customer Manipulation Episode 036: Goodsnitch, Jennifer Maldonado, and Customer Experience Gaps Featured in the show: MGM Resorts International Mentioned in the show: Lettuce Entertain You We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares tips for using insight from former customers to improve the experience for current and future customers. What can we learn from former customers? We thrive on customer feedback to continue improving service and the overall experience, but what about those who are leaving us? Whether it’s because we don’t like to think about them, or because we don’t see the value in communicating with those who will not pay us, we lose sight of former customers. Those former customers are still valuable, but it’s not because we can try to win them back. They can provide a wealth of insights into why customers are leaving, where the customer journey needs more attention, and how to innovate for the future. “Dig in and see what’s going on before losing more customers for the same reasons.” - Jeannie Walters Have you considered the value of your own former customers, or are they just out of the picture? Why not leverage this resource for feedback, suggestions, and insights for improving the experience for current and future customers? To get the most out of what former customers can offer, Jeannie has some tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Surveys Results are Great, but What About the “Untold” Feedback? Customers That Stick® post, Understanding the Other Side of a Bad Customer Experience Episode 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters Episode 167: Signs You’re Losing a Customer We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Change your perspective and approach at communication with Jill Schiefelbein, author of Dynamic Communication. Dynamic communication for dynamic experiences We communicate a lot in business, and in many ways, business is actually built on communication. But in our efforts to craft the right message while transferring the right information, our communications work against us. “Unless my words are producing direct action or change, I don’t think they’re successful.” - Jill Schiefelbein All day long, we’re communicating with customers, prospects, colleagues, and bosses. So what should we communicate, how and when? How can we communicate in ways that not only convey information, but lead to action? “People do not make decisions based on information. People make decisions based on knowledge.”-Jill Schiefelbein Today’s guest Jill Schiefelbein explains her amazing approach at communication, and how you can use it to inspire real action. Sharing highlights from her book and real-life stories, learn how Jill’s principles can turn your words into action. You'll never communicate with your boss, your co-workers, or your customers the same way again. Listen in! Highlights from the interview: What is dynamic communication, and how is it different? [3:30] Jill explains the Uncertainty Reduction Theory, and how it impacts the customer experience. [ 5:30] What does the word “panopticon” have to do with the customer experience? [10:45] How does the Listening Matrix apply to sales and customer service? [15:35] Jill explains how to level the power field to communicate up, down, and laterally. [21:10] About our guest: Jill Schiefelbein is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and recovering academic. She taught business communication at Arizona State University for 11 years before venturing into entrepreneurship. Jill’s business, The Dynamic Communicator®, helps organizations increase sales and create consumer advocates. Jill runs the Dynamic Accelerator program, helping solo- and micro-entrepreneurs accelerate business growth. Her latest book, Dynamic Communication: 27 Strategies to Grow, Lead, and Manage Your Business hit stores in March of 2017. Connect with Jill LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Order Jill’s book, Dynamic Communication Related Content 360Connext® post, Do Your Communication Tactics Undermine Your Intentions? Customers That Stick® post, Communication: The Most Important Skill in Customer Service Episode 211: Marcus Sheridan, They Ask, You Answer Episode 168: Nate Brown, Service Center Engagement We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss how to get the best results when you complain as a customer. What do you gain when you complain? We talk a lot about how to handle customer complaints, but we’re switching it up a bit today! We’ve all had those experiences that leave us so steamed, we just want to unload a verbal clip on the next employee who comes our way. But there’s a big difference between getting actual support and just getting your way from service reps, managers and supervisors.  Though most of us prefer to do business with companies that “get it,” sometimes it’s not practical to stop patronizing the drug store right around the corner or the cable provider we’re contracted with. If the overall experience still works for us, there are ways to make the parts that don’t more bearable, or even inspire positive change. The sad truth is, not every company we deal with is as customer-focused as we are. So how can we get the best results, without making a bad experience worse? How can we stand up for ourselves without creating tense relationships for the long-term? We don’t need to walk on egg shells with companies that don’t provide a good experience, but applying a few customer-centric practices to advocate for ourselves can help them see the value in listening to us and maintain healthy relationships. Working towards better experiences for everyone is sometimes a two-way street, and just expecting reps to “take it” from us is not part of the recipe. Adam and Jeannie have some great tips to help you complain in ways that help create better experiences all around. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Win Big When Customers Are Furious Customers That Stick® post, How to Be a Good Customer: 16 Ways to Not Be a Jerk Episode Episode 001: Apple Store Lady, Jackie Huba, and Heathrow Airport 198: (Tip) No Cost Ways to Please Unhappy Customers We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips for keeping your customer experience consistent with third parties or subcontractors. Keeping customer experience consistent in a gig economy Consistency is a key element to customer experiences that drive loyalty, but that can be tough when dealing with third parties. What happens when we hand the experience over to subcontractors, essentially giving up control? Does that mean we will lose control? The incident with United Airlines, which recently went viral, is a great example of what can happen when a company loses control of the experience. And while your customers may not be at any risk of injury, with the experience in the wrong hands, your brand may still face an emergency!  As more and more companies bring in temps, subcontractors and freelancers, the risk is very real. Are you using third parties to deliver experiences to your customers? Chances are, you will have to at some point. Will you hand the experience over with confidence, or will you lose control of it? Adam’s here to help you plan ahead, make better choices, and avoid disasters. Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 4 Ways to Change Organizational Perspective on Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Who Owns the Customer Experience? Episode 191: (Tip) Outsourcing Customer Service We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie clear the hype and buzzwords to really find out who drives customer experience in your organization, and how. Who drives customer experience? Chief Customer Officer, Chief Experience Officer, Customer Success Officer, Chief of Customer Service…The list of possible high-level customer experience titles is as long as your imagination. But what do these titles really mean in your organization and who drives customer experience in your organization? “The only way to drive customer experience is for people to step up and drive it themselves.” -@adamtoporek Too often, companies create these customer experience roles with the best of intentions, but they end up being focused more on metrics. And while data does help determine where changes are needed, a truly customer-focused organization needs someone who can turn that insight into action. “It’s not going to work unless it’s part of the DNA, part of the #culture…” - @jeanniecw So, who is in charge of customer experience in your company? Are they simply using data to pinpoint your shortcomings, or are they driving actual change? However you name that role is up to you, but make sure they are prepared to help bake customer-centric practices into the DNA of your organization. Related Content 360Connext® post, 4 Ways to Change Organizational Perspective on Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Who Owns the Customer Experience? Episode 206: (Tip) The Role of the CX Evangelist Episode 087: The Next Generation of Customer Experience Leaders We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share simple but effective tips for calculating customer experience ROI. The elusive customer experience ROI Calculating the return on any investment can be challenging. And when it comes to the ROI of customer experience, many leaders don’t know where to start. It’s not easy to put a numeric value on the intangible results of a customer experience initiative, but it is possible!  “If you churn, your profits burn!” -Adam Toporek How do you know if your investment is paying off- for your organization and your customers? There are a few simple metrics you can use to not only help calculate the ROI of customer experience, but also figure out where to invest next. “Your best customers tell others, who become your next best customers.” -Jeannie Walters Are you getting a return on your customer experience investment? Adam and Jeannie face this tough question often, and they’ve got some tips you can use today. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Experience ROI: Why Not Investing can Sabotage Your Success Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 Episode 177: The ROI of Customer Experience We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Free Webinar On Demand Jeannie is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has held highly engaging Customer Experience Mission workshops for larger audiences, and customized ones for clients with outstanding results. Sign up to learn how to start your own Customer Experience Mission for free! Make your mission statement meaningful both to customers and employees Ensure customer-facing employees meet and exceed expectations Turn ordinary processes into a conduit for your mission Steps for creating a mission your team will be proud to get behind Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free and check out more free webinars.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares tips for innovating when and how it’s needed the most, despite what the competition is doing. Are you innovating for the greater good of your customers? Competition is fierce! So it’s easy to think it’s necessary gauge customer experience against that of the big disruptors like Zappos and Netflix. Too often, companies focus on making a big splash with their next innovation, without digging in to see what that actually means for their customers. "Are envy and rationalization about the darlings of CX working against you?" -Jeannie Walters Innovating take a lot of hard work and resources, so it’s important to keep your customers in perspective. Are you innovating out of necessity, or envy? Before you say you need to be the Zappos of banking or the Netflix of nursing, Jeannie has three challenges for you! Listen in for tips you can use today. Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Let Customers Guide Your Greatest Innovation Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional Episode 133: Tesla and the Infrastructure of Innovation Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marcus Sheridan, author of They Ask You Answer, shares powerful, proven ways to build trust and increase sales through content. Marcus Sheridan, Sales Lion You want to increase sales, but you don’t have unlimited funds for advertising… What can you do? Believe it or not, this may put you at an advantage. Today’s guest, Marcus Sheridan, isn’t just a sales expert. He is a “Sales Lion!” And he’s here to tell you how content marketing can not only save your business, but push it towards exponential growth. “We can either make the rules…or we can watch our competitors make the rules…” -Marcus Sheridan Maybe you don’t know the first thing about content marketing, or maybe your strategy isn’t getting the results you want. Don’t fret! Marcus started from scratch as a last effort to save his business after the market collapse of 2008, and he’s seen phenomenal growth ever since. Today, we cover how to get started with content marketing, how to determine what customers need the most, and how to marry this up with long-standing sales techniques. This episode covers so much ground, so get ready to build trust like never before. “When all is said and done, the only thing that really matters is trust.” -Marcus Sheridan You’re going to have things to do after this episode, so sharpen your pencils and listen in! Highlights from the interview: Marcus explains how the philosophy of “They Ask, You Answer” saved his business. [2:50] Why is trust so important in sales and marketing, and how can content build that trust? [7:15] If 70% of buying decisions are made before customers meet us, how can we get through the vetting process? [10:40] What is the “ostrich marketing strategy,” and why is it so effective? [15:00] How can we “disarm” customers, or get them to let their guard down and be receptive to communication? [16:40] Marcus shares best practices around sharing prices (or not) on company websites. [24:00] About our guest: Called a “web marketing guru” by the New York Times, the Story of how Marcus Sheridan was able to save his swimming pool company, River Pools, from the economic crash of 2008 has been featured in multiple books, publications, and stories around the world—and is also the inspiration for his newest book, “They Ask, You Answer,” which was dubbed the #1 marketing book to read in 2017 by Mashable. Today, Sheridan has become a highly sought after global speaker and consultant in the digital sales and marketing space, working with hundreds of business and brands alike to become the most trusted voice of their industry while navigating the ultra-fast rate of change occurring within consumers and buyers today. Connect with Marcus LinkedIn Twitter Website Email: marcus@thesaleslion.com Related Content 360Connext® post, No Longer a Buzzword: Customers Redefine Transparency Episode 205: Colin Shaw, The Intuitive Customer Episode 104: Pat Helmers, Sales Babble Podcast We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for educating customers to increase customer success and reduce support issues. Educated customers are return customers! Have you ever been really excited to try a new product or service, then realized it’s way more complicated than you expected? (For those of us working in the digital world, that can be a daily conundrum!) No matter how useful and robust your product or service is, customers are not likely to make the next purchase, upgrade or renewal if they find it confusing. And while FAQ’s and help desks are useful, they typically fall short when customers need step-by-step guidance. “Sometimes the best way to learn is through show and tell.” -Jeannie Walters The best companies understand how and when help is needed the most, and offer it proactively to keep customers active and confident.  It’s all about using the right medium at the right time to keep customers on the path to success. Don’t let your content stop at marketing.” - Adam Toporek Do your customers have the guidance they need to use your product with confidence? Don’t leave it up to them to search for answers. They may just find an exit on their way instead. Adam and Jeannie are here to help you decide the best way to retain your customers while reducing your support load through product education. Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Challenges of Improving the SaaS Experience Episode 139: The Role of Content in Customer Service Episode 209: (Tip) Do You Have the Resources for Service? We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips to make sure you have adequate resources for service that’s consistently great. Do you have the right resources for service? We know what kind of service experience we want to deliver, but sometimes don’t consider the resources needed to make it happen. And it’s not just about making sure we can deliver great service today, but about being prepared with the resources we’ll need tomorrow. “…all great customer service begins with having the adequate resources in place.” - Adam Toporek Are you ready to consistently deliver a great service experience? Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Free Customer Experience Resources Customers That Stick® post, Great Customer Service Begins With Adequate Resources Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Episode 053: Preparing for Worst Case Customer Scenarios We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share unconventional but powerful ways to predict customer behavior. Can you predict customer behavior? We often look to past behavior to predict customer behavior for the future. However, we often have little past behavior to build from. Can we predict the behavior of new or future customers? The short answer is yes… “Past behavior is no indication of future behavior…or, is it?”- Adam Toporek One way to do this is with predictive analytics. But unless you’re a huge company, predictive analytics is not yet economically feasible. And while it can be valuable, demographic data is not sufficient for making truly informed decisions when creating future experiences. How can we know how customers will behave in the journey we’re putting in front of them if we don’t have enough data? You have more useful data than you think, so why not start using it proactively? “Customers more often drift away silently than storm out…”-Jeannie Walters No matter what little data and insights you already have, there are ways you can take them to the next level. Today, we’re discussing great ways to predict customer behavior with little or no history and without expensive software. Stop relying on demographics as your only option. Adam and Jeannie have some tips you can use today, and examples of great companies who have put them to work. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Leadership Biases that Hinder Success in Business Customers That Stick® post, When Does Your Customer Experience Start? Episode 043: When Is it Okay to Hack Customer Behavior? Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips and best practices for when you need to turn away customers for the greater good. Have you ever had to turn away customers? Maybe there was a time you really should have! When you’re over capacity or getting dangerously close, the obvious reaction is to think about scaling up and hiring more people. However, these things can take time. So what do you do in the meantime? This is something most of us don’t want to think about, but sometimes it’s just necessary to turn away customers. We know it hurts, but the fact of the matter is this: Your customers shouldn’t have to suffer from your own growing pains! Don’t sacrifice the quality of your current customers’ experience just to make another sale, because it’s not worth it in the long run. Don’t bring in new customers at a time when you can’t give them as much attention as they deserve. So, how can you turn away customers without spoiling potential relationships or making your company look bad? Adam and Jeannie have some tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Infographic: Are You Still There for the Customer? Customers That Stick® post, 6 Ways to Keep The Sucky Service Snowball from Rolling Downhill Episode 088: Richard Shapiro, The Endangered Customer Episode 148: Randi Busse, Workforce Development We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares expert tips for becoming a CX evangelist or hiring the right person to fill this role in your organization. Do you need a CX evangelist? Customer experience roles are evolving and expanding like never before. Leaders know customer experience is important, but not always top-of-mind for everyone.  So many struggle to internalize customer insights, get buy-in from multiple departments, and educate those teams. Whether it’s a partial role or a dedicated one, an effective CX evangelist can blur the lines between silos and help unify your organization to work for the customer. But what is needed most from this role, and how can you go about finding the right person for the job? “Aim to make all your teams promoters of customer experience.” -Jeannie Walters Today, Jeannie is sharing expert advice to help you determine what traits are needed most, and what to expect from a CX evangelist- even if that happens to be you. Don’t wait to fill the title, because your customers are counting on you. Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Why Enlightened Leadership Is Key to Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Turning a Customer Service Culture Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Episode 087: The Next Generation of Customer Experience Leaders We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we transcend the plateaus of current customer experience understanding with Colin Shaw, founder of Beyond Philosophy and co-author of The Intuitive Customer. Creating loyalty with The Intuitive Customer So many companies are focusing on customer experience, yet so many are getting it wrong! That’s why as practitioners in the customer experience field, we’re delighted to interview Colin Shaw to discuss his new book, The Intuitive Customer. We put so much effort into understanding the rational side of the experience, such as time on call and product delivery, we often neglect the irrational side, which is centered on emotion. Unfortunately, this is the side of the experience customers will remember, and what will ultimately influence their decisions. “Paying sole attention to a rational experience,” says Colin, “is at the root cause of why organizations are getting this stuff wrong.” In this interview, Colin shares many of our favorite highlights from The Intuitive Customer. He explains how new academic research and psychology play a critical role in delivering great customer experiences, and how to connect the two. He drills down to the root causes of the general lack of real understanding companies have about their real customers. “The only way to build customer loyalty is through customers’ memories.” -Colin Shaw It’s not just about creating great experiences, but about creating good memories. You can deliver an outstanding customer experience, and yet still be remembered for the one low point in the journey. What do you want to be remembered for? “We go to the bank and they put pens on chains, which says, ‘We don’t trust you.” -Colin Shaw How can you use psychology and research to create memories that customers will want to return to? How can you transcend the common pleaters of customer experience understanding today? In this episode, we cover this and much more than we can list here. Listen in! Highlights from the interview: What inspired The Intuitive Customer, and why is now the perfect time to read it? [4:15] Why is academic research so important to customer experience practitioners? [6:50] Colin explains how lack of understanding manifests itself as poor customer experiences. [9:15] How can telecom companies, for example, better connect emotionally with customers? [11:10] How can you leverage customers’ memories to create customer loyalty? [13:30] What’s the single biggest thing Colin has learned in the past 10 years? [18:20] Why are small, seemingly trivial customer touchpoints, or microinteractions, so important? [21:10] About our guest: Colin Shaw has been recognized, by others, as a Thought Leader in Customer Experience. LinkedIn bestowed him the accolade of being one of the ‘World's Top 150 Business Influencers’.  As a result, Colin now over 242,000 followers on LinkedIn. Brand Quarterly readers also voted him one of the 'top 50 Marketing Thought Leaders Over 50' for the last two years in a row.  Colin has written six bestselling books on Customer Experience. He has made many appearances on TV and radio including CNN, BBC and NPR. He is Founder & CEO of Beyond Philosophy, one of the world's leading Customer Experience companies. Connect with Colin Twitter LinkedIn Beyond Philosophy Colin’s books Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Drive Business Results With The Peak-End Rule Customers That Stick® post, The Peak-End Rule and Customer Experience Episode 054: Marilyn Suttle, Co-Author of Who’s Your Gladys Episode 177: The ROI of Customer Experience We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares expert tips for the most effective customer service leadership in any industry. Achieving world class customer service leadership Effective leadership is more than just telling people what to do, especially if you want a team that consistently delivers exceptional customer service. Your team is unique, so there is no magic solution that applies to everyone. “There's no magic #management fairy dust that applies in every situation.” -@adamtoporek" However, there are some best practices that can make anyone more successful at leading customer service teams. Adam has helped customer service leaders in many industries develop their leadership skills, and he has identified some common threads among those who have been the most successful. Listen in for a few of Adam’s best tips any customer service leader can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Leadership Biases that Hinder Success in Business Customers That Stick® post, 9 Customer Service Training Ideas That Work Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Episode 110: Mike Ganino, Guest Experience Expert We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss key distinctions to handling B2B vs. B2C customer relationships. B2B vs. B2C customer experience Customer experience is all about people, regardless of whether it’s a B2B or B2C relationship. Core customer experience practices still apply in both cases. But there are a few critical distinctions, and each can come with its own set of challenges. “B2B is not just about faceless organizations. It’s about people too.” -@jeanniecw Much of the great customer experience advice out there does not outline best practices for B2B vs. B2C customer experience. Today we’re covering some key distinctions around gathering feedback, innovating, getting buy-in, and more. “The advantage of co-creation with another business is that they have a lot invested…” -@adamtoporek So, are you B2B, B2C, or a combination of the two? How you answer can make a big difference in how you approach and nurture customer relationships. Listen in for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, 7 Ways to Mystery Shop Your B2B Experience Episode 167: Signs You’re Losing a Customer Episode 099: B2C vs. B2B Customer Experience We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie look at customer service tech from the past, present and future to help you take the risks out of upgrading. Customer service tech: Helpful or harmful? Businesses of all kinds are implementing artificial intelligence and other cutting edge technology to make customer service faster, more accurate, and more efficient. Customer service tech has taken some great leaps, but is it taking over completely? Not so fast! From chat bots to supermarket self-checkouts and beyond, customer service tech has taken quite a bit of the human element from some of our day-to-day experiences. But it has not come without a cost. Larger companies have taken big risks by rolling out new tech that resulted in unforeseen challenges, lost productivity, and customer pushback. Most of us can’t afford to risk losing customers while we test out our new tech. So how can we implement this new technology without creating gaps in the customer experience, or alienating customers when they need you the most? Adam and Jeannie share some great examples of customer service tech gone wrong, and what could have been done to make it right from the start. What new tech are you implementing in your business? We’re here to help you look before you leap. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Why Customer Service Technology Can’t Replace Humans Customers That Stick® post, Self Service Should Never Mean Solo Service Episode 153: Training for New Customer Service Technology Episode 174: Robert Scoble, Augmented Reality and the Fourth Transformation We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares tips and distinctions for delivering an excellent overall customer experience to those who your digital products and services. User experience vs, customer experience: Is there a difference? Your rock star dev team has created an excellent user experience, so why are customers still dropping out on you? If the product or service you offer is digital, you might say “all our customers are users,” so it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking user experience covers it all. But while they can be similar, there are some critical distinctions!  “A good customer experience model will take every part of that journey into account, including the digital." -@jeanniecw” We’ve seen this many times: digital products that deliver an excellent user experience, while the experience around it needs lots of work! So maybe it’s time to take your developers out of the hot seat and look elsewhere for the answers. Want to make sure your user experience is conducive to the overall experience you envision for your customers? Jeannie is serving up some answers to help you keep these parts of the experience in perspective, and some great tips you can use today! Sponsor Message: Free Webinar March 21st Align your brand promises with customer perceptions and the true experience delivered.   Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We will help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. Jeannie Walters and the 360Connext team help companies across industries and around the globe develop unique and scalable customer-focused missions. And now they're offering the same set of actions to their community for free!   You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience, and a way to break down the silos that are in your way. Develop a mission around consistently delivering excellent experiences, and make your employees proud to be on board. Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free. Related content 360Connext® post and video, User Experience and Customer Experience: What’s the Difference? Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 120: Jim Kalbach, Experience Mapping Expert Episode 025: Customer Journey Maps, Justin Zacks, and Amazon 2-Hour Delivery   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie celebrate our 200th episode by sharing actionable takeaways and thought-provoking quotes from some of our most inspiring guests. 200 strong and growing! We’re thrilled to announce our 200th episode, so we thought we’d bring you highlights from some of our prominent themes and inspiring thought leaders! From robots taking over the world to driving customer-focused change, we’ve worked hard to bring you guests and topics to help facilitate your success in today’s business world.  Content is king One of our favorite subjects, we just couldn’t share enough with you! Content marketing is all the rage, but it’s not just about pumping out compelling ads. It’s a vital part of the customer journey, and when misunderstood, it can damage customer relationships. We’ve brought you some of the very best minds in content creation and marketing, so you can produce and share content that provides instant value and connects seamlessly with your true customer journey. “Empathy is the most valuable marketing skill.” – Andy Crestodina Customer-focused innovation and tech Technology is taking over a lot of our tasks in business, but make no mistake- successful innovation is driven by customers’ needs. From artificial intelligence to the user experience, we’ve interviewed some of the best names in understanding what customers really need from tech, and what they’ll want next. Where does your tech intersect with customer service, and how does it affect the overall customer experience? “It's coming! …you can wait, or you can get in now and do it at a comfortable pace…” – Robert Scoble Culture, team-building and change Your customers keep changing, so to stay (or become) successful, your organization must change along with them. But how do you know what to change, and when? How can you facilitate change without turning your culture upside-down, alienating customers, and succumbing to pushback from employees? We’ve interviewed leading change experts, as well as customer service and customer experience revolutionaries, to help you take a smarter approach to customer-focused change. These guests have led some of the most successful teams in the world into change initiatives that get measurable results. Take advantage of their success stories and time-tested processes! “…the order of priority: Help your customer; Help your co-worker; Do your job.” -Amy Downs Thank you! We’d like to thank all our guests for making Crack the Customer Code a success! We’re sad we couldn’t feature more of our favorites, but that would be an immense download! They have all brought us unforgettable insights and immeasurable value.  And many, many thanks to our listeners, for sticking with us through our own changes, offering your great comments, support and suggestions. Let us know who you’d like us to interview, and what you’d like to learn about next! Sponsor Message: Free Webinar March 21st Align your brand promises with customer perceptions and the true experience delivered.   Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We will help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. Jeannie Walters and the 360Connext team help companies across industries and around the globe develop unique and scalable customer-focused missions. And now they're offering the same set of actions to their community for free!   You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience, and a way to break down the silos that are in your way. Develop a mission around consistently delivering excellent experiences, and make your employees proud to be on board. Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free. Featured episodes Customer-focused content 001: Apple Store Lady, Jackie Huba, and Heathrow Airport 140: Bryan Kramer, The Art of Shareology 027: Customer Experience Fragmentation, Ann Handley, and #1 Cochran Automotive 019: Writing for Machines, Andy Crestodina, and Personalized Robots 023: Creating Community, Mark Schaefer, and Keurig K-Cups Innovation and tech 174: Robert Scoble, Augmented Reality and the Fourth Transformation 116: Terry Brock, Growing Your Business with Tech 032: Cable Customer Service and Luis Serpa Team-building and change 193: Amy Downs, Customer Success 144: Eddie Turner, Facilitating Change 180: John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graeme Newell, co-author of Red Goldfish, returns to share the secrets of building a brand following through social purpose. Building loyalty with social purpose Graeme Newell is back to talk about a growing trend with businesses today, which is getting involved with social purpose. Especially with millennials, companies are building a powerful affinity through charity groups and community efforts. Having a strong social purpose can be very powerful for building customer loyalty, shareholder value, and better relationships across the board. “[#Millennials] want to be with companies that match their own values and their own priorities.” - @gnewell" It’s common for companies to tout their involvement with a certain charity or local effort, but what today’s customers are looking for is not that simple. They’re looking for companies that are walking the talk day after day, not just paying lip service. Graeme’s latest book, Red Goldfish, is all about building a brand following with social purpose. Together with co-author Stan Phelps, Graeme Newell researched more than 250 companies that started with a passion that ripples out to customers. “Sure, you make great stuff, but so do 9 other people. I want to see what you stand for.” -@gnewell" In this interview, we discuss highlights from Red Goldfish, along with some of the best ways to find a greater social purpose and see it through. Graeme share some inspiring examples of companies that execute this beautifully while building profitability! Graeme covers the many benefits of being a company that wants to make a positive impact in the world. What’s your greater purpose, and how can you see it through in ways that make others proud to connect with your brand? Listen to this fascinating interview with Graeme Newell to find out! Highlights from the interview: What is social entrepreneurship? [3:30] Eliminating some of the risks to taking a stronger stance on social issues  [5:30] How is social entrepreneurship profitable? [7:00] Are traditional charities in on this, and how is it affecting them? [8:30] The power of expressing company values through storytelling [12:30] What are the common threads among companies that are successful with social purpose? [14:40] Want to get started today? Graeme has some recommendations for you! [16:50] About our guest: Graeme Newell is President of 602 Communications, a marketing research and consulting firm that specializes in emotional connection. Graeme and his team of emotional attachment experts show companies how to change complacent customers into passionate groupies. Graeme has delivered more than 400 speeches at events in 25 countries around the world. He is known as the example king.  His presentations are loaded with cutting-edge techniques used by the world’s most passionate brands. He has compiled an extensive emotional connection video library with more than 50,000 examples. He uses this library to teach leaders how to build deep lasting friendships with their customers. Graeme Newell has done speaking, research and consulting for corporations across the globe, including: GE, Disney, Sony, CBS, Madison Square Garden, Comcast, and Universal Studios. Graeme lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Annette. Connect with Graeme Website Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Related Content Episode 106: J V Crum, Social Consciousness in Business Episode 118: David Williams, Make-A-Wish and Episode 083: Cause Marketing Done Well Graeme Newell's book, Red Goldfish PurpleGoldfish.com Sponsor message: Free Webinar March 21st Align your brand promises with customer perceptions and the true experience delivered. Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We will help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. Jeannie Walters and the 360Connext team help companies across industries and around the globe develop unique and scalable customer-focused missions. And now they're offering the same set of actions to their community for free! You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience, and a way to break down the silos that are in your way. Develop a mission around consistently delivering excellent experiences, and make your employees proud to be on board. Visit CXWebinar.com to sign up for free.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips to please unhappy customers without breaking the bank. What do unhappy customers really want from you? Customers may accept and even appreciate perks and comps as part of an issue resolution, because who doesn’t like free stuff!? Gifts and discounts may help soften the emotional state of the customer in the moment, but they don’t solve any problems or strengthen relationships for the long term. ”The most powerful and universal #custserv technique is completely free.” -Adam Toporek Don’t be so quick to put a dollar value on your customers’ time, patience, and loyalty. In many cases, you can save money by giving customers what they really came for! Adam is sharing no-cost ways to not only resolve customer service issues, but turn them into customer success stories. Build customer loyalty while reducing superfluous overhead you may use for improving the experience and growing your business. Listen now for tips you can use today! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Personas Need To Get Real Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode Episode 18: Brand Personas, Rod Brooks, and Small Moments We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get amazing insights from customer personas by creating and using them better with expert tips from Adam and Jeannie. Getting the most from customer personas Customer personas are typically used as a heuristic to understand customers in a sales funnel. But did you know good ones can help you understand customers throughout the entire journey? There are many great uses beyond the sales phase, if you’re creating and using them properly. “A good #persona is a deep one.” -Jeannie Walters But before you fall in love with the idea of using customer personas, be advised: Bad ones can disconnect you from the true overall experience! So, what makes a good customer persona? “Heuristics are only helpful when the model itself is strong.” -Adam Toporek How well do you know your customers? Personas help you know them better, if you know how to dive in deep while keeping them in perspective. This episode is full of tips for creating better personas, getting more value out of them, and avoiding costly mistakes. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Personas Need To Get Real Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode Episode 18: Brand Personas, Rod Brooks, and Small Moments We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss ways of innovating with customers to deliver the experiences they need the most. Are you innovating with customers? When we think of innovation, we generally think of huge product launches and paradigm-shifting technology that gets a lot of attention. We rarely think this way about smaller changes in things we’re already offering. But small changes can have a profound effect on the true experience delivered, and your customers are crying for them. Are you listening? “Not everyone is Steve Jobs," says Adam. "We remember his successes, we don’t remember his challenges.” Some of the best innovations are simply around improving a small part of the customer journey, but how would you know those things need improvement? How would you find the most meaningful solutions, or know when to make those changes? It’s time to think about innovating with customers, not just for them. As Jeannie puts it, you need to “get them talking about how they use your products and services and what they feel is missing, and that will actually lead to those innovative ideas.” Today we’re discussing some great ways to bring customers into the innovation process, and to zero in on the changes they need the most. Your next innovation may not make a big splash in the media, but putting customers in the driver’s seat will bring amazing value. Episode highlights What is co-creation? Jeannie and Adam explain. [1:00] When should we bring customers into the innovation process? [4:15] Warning: Innovation is a double-edged sword. [6:00] Real-life customer-driven innovations: Small changes that made a huge impact [7:20] Keys to experience-driven innovation [12:20] Related Content 360Connext® post, How to Make Customer Experience Magic with Co-Creation Sessions (part 1) Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us Episode 072: Matt Phillips, Innovation Expert We’re on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares expert tips and guidelines for building a customer experience team that scales efficiently and aligns with organizational goals. Building a customer experience team When it comes to building customer experience teams, leaders often struggle to decide what is needed from those new roles and when. What do those jobs entail? When is best to hire, and how? “Not one person can do the heavy lifting for an entire customer experience team.” - Jeannie Walters A lot goes into building a solid team! And with so many questions unanswered, it’s easy to jump into reassigning employees or posting a series of job opportunities to cover all the bases. But starting out right is crucial in building a team efficiently. You need a team that brings positive change today and aligns with bigger goals for the future.   Don’t waste precious time and resources building a team that grows into something that doesn’t make it happen. Jeannie has some tips to help you identify the capabilities needed the most now, while creating a solid team-building strategy for the long term. Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Lead Your Team to Customer Experience Victory Customers That Stick® post, 9 Customer Experience Statistics to Refocus Your Team Episode 176: (Tip) Hiring a Customer-Centric Employee Episode 193: Amy Downs, Customer Success We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share quick tips and a little neuroscience to keep negative interactions from causing poor service and employee burnout. Are your agents emotionally trained to handle negative interactions? From dealing bad tempers to outbursts and emotional meltdowns, our customer-facing employees see the worst in people – sometimes daily. It’s a natural human reaction to take on some of the negative emotions we’re exposed to. For employees, that could lead to lashing out at customers, taking it out on co-workers, and general burnout. And many other issues can stem from employees just being unhappy at work. "The key is not to not have a reaction, but to remember how to control the reaction." -Adam Toporek How can we stop our agents from taking these interactions too personally? To stay focused, employees need to understand what’s actually happening in their brains when exposed to these emotions. They need to know how they can keep their emotions under control despite the negative emotions swirling around them like demons looking for a way in. "Give them the tools they need in training so they feel like they’ve been there before..." -Jeannie Walters Today, Adam and Jeannie are sharing a little neuroscience along with tips to help your agents take control and stay focused on the service. They cover some ways to not only recover from emotional distress, but to proactively prepare for these situations or prevent them from happening again. Would you like to prevent burnout, ensure a consistent service experience, and keep a healthy atmosphere at your workplace healthy? Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Workplace Psychology and the Curse of The Cursed Customers That Stick® post, Save Your Customer Service Team from Vampire Customers Episode 173: (Tip) Resolving Customer Service Issues Episode 161: How to Approach Customer Threats We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chief Customer Success and Happiness officer Amy Downs of Lifesize outlines her strategic path to a 79-point increase in Net Promoter Score. Customer success and happiness: A mini case study Customer experience is gaining traction! But when we think about how the slightest increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a cause for celebration in most organizations, we realize there’s still a long way to go. Thankfully, we have inspiring leaders like today’s guest who have proven that success is within reach, even for those of us who’ve fallen way behind. With their NPS looming at -4 and customers already “screaming,” making necessary changes to the service model at Lifesize was creating even more tension. But as the Chief Customer Success and Happiness Officer at Lifesize, Amy Downs quickly turned these challenges into opportunities. While the company was on its head, she brought customer obsession into their culture, core values, functional processes, and communications. And now? Their NPS currently shines at 75. You can do this! Amy’s story is more like a mini case study, where she outlines all the crucial steps behind Lifesize’s transformation.  “If you don’t have that level of engagement from your employees, your customers will never feel it, says Amy. And with a 79% increase in NPS, you know everyone feels it! Listen in to make this your story too. Highlights from the interview: How Amy’s title of Chief Customer Success and Happiness Officer speaks of her day-to-day work  [2:50] Quick customer experience wins make room for more ambitious goals! Here’s what Amy tackled first [5:50] The key traits of a customer-obsessed company are… [9:40] Embedding customer-obsessed cultural values across functional leadership and down into everyday processes [12:40] The impact of communicating progress and insight organization-wide, and great tools that help make it happen [18:10] How is internal customer service affected by customer-obsession? [21:10] About our guest: Amy Downs is the Chief Customer Success and Happiness Officer at Lifesize, the connected video conferencing company, and is responsible for ensuring that customers are at the epicenter of everything the company does. From support, service and training, Amy drives the strategy and execution of programs that help Lifesize customers and partners bring successful video collaboration to their companies. Prior to joining Lifesize, Amy spearheaded Voxeo’s industry-leading customer support and service organization and oversaw all post-sales interaction with customers. Connect with Amy LinkedIn Amy on Lifesize.com Email addowns@lifesize.com Related Content 360Connext® post, 4 Ways to Change Organizational Perspective on Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Turning a Customer Service Culture Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed Episode Episode 014: Handling Pressure, Jeff Toister, and The Customer as Hero Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips and best practices for understanding and providing great customer service through a focus on internal customer service. Internal customer service matters. A lot. Be they co-workers, vendors or partners, others are depending on you to execute their own responsibilities. Do you know who your internal customers are? Have you ever considered the importance of delivering great customer service? Just because they are not buying your product or service doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice good customer service skills with internal customers. Poor internal service can breed frustration within your organization, and that frustration will ripple out to your external customers. "Good internal customer service is an important component of good external customer service, " says Adam Toporek. “Poor internal service is a poison to any organization!” If you want to provide consistently excellent customer service, then it’s important to turn some of your focus inward. Make sure those internal transactions are as smooth and pleasant as those you deliver to paying customers. What are some great ways to do this?  In this episode, Adam is sharing expert tips you can use today! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, What Is an Internal Customer? Episode Episode 007: Communicating Internally, Stan Phelps, and The Audience Experience Episode 180: John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for outsourcing customer service without outsourcing your integrity and values. Outsourcing customer service Outsourcing has an ambiguous reputation, often being mentioned in negative context. But whether your company needs to scale quickly or has cost restrictions, sometimes outsourcing customer service just makes sense. How do you connect with an outsourcing partner that delivers the right experience to your customers? Can you make sure your customers are receiving the level of service and care you envision? Putting customer service in someone else’s hands is one thing, but making sure they are the right hands is another! With the tips and suggestions Adam and Jeannie are sharing today, you can find an outsourcing partner that works for you and your customers. Listen in! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service 360Connext® post, Are you SURE you’re Hiring the Right person? Episode 168: Nate Brown, Service Center Engagement Episode 179: (Tip) Staffing Automated Customer Service Episode 050: 50 Pieces of Customer Service Advice We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share facts and stories to help you decide how and when to engage on social media with colleagues and customers. Social media with colleagues Are you Facebook friends with co-workers? What about clients, or your boss? Should you be? Some companies have rules against it, while others encourage or expect it. But in many cases, it’s left up to the individual to decide. So, what is your policy for social media with colleagues? Whether you’re trying to develop a policy for yourself or for your employees, there are many factors to consider. We wish there could be one simple, flat rule! But there isn't... and how you decide could impact the relationship either way. On one hand, engaging on social can help strengthen customer relationships and workplace culture. On the other hand, colleagues can use social media to get information to use against you. Then on the other hand, you don’t want to offend anyone. Wait, that’s too many hands! (See, I told you this could get confusing!) This subject is getting trickier every day, so Adam and Jeannie are dedicating this episode to helping you sort it out. They share enlightening research and true stories to help you weigh the pros and cons, make the right choices, and enjoy it! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways Everyone Wins with Proactive Social Media Engagement Customers That Stick® post, Social Media Customer Service with Jay Baer (Video) Episode 150: Phil Gerbyshak, Social Connections Episode 122: Tema Frank, People Shock We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts :) Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares quick tips for gathering intelligence to better understand your competitor's customer experience and how yours measures up. Have you evaluated your competitor’s customer experience? Customers are certainly judging your customer experience. But did you know they’re also judging the experience your competitors provide? Never assume your customers will always be satisfied with the experience you provide. You need to gather some competitive intel! So how do you know if your customer experience is keeping up with competitors? It’s easier than you think, and Jeannie is here to make it even easier for you with some tips you can use today. Not only will you find things your competitors are doing better, but you will also uncover hidden differentiators you can use to beef up your marketing. Ready to find some quick wins? Your customers WANT you to gather competitive intel. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Your Journey Map is Incomplete without Competitors Customers That Stick® post, How to Build Customer Loyalty through Consistency Episode 088: Richard Shapiro, The Endangered Customer Episode 180: John DiJulius, The Customer Service Revolution We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts :) Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special Valentine's Day edition, Adam and Jeannie share simple ways you can show your customers the love! Show customers some love! If you’re listening today, that must mean you love your customers. Where would you be without them!? A great experience may be baked into your processes, but how about going beyond the usual routine to show your customers the love? Today, Adam and Jeannie have some great tips for surprising customers with a little extra something to show your appreciation. Don’t underestimate the power of these little things you can do today! They can go a long way towards forging solid relationships, loyalty, and even brand advocacy. Related Content 360Connext® post, Why New Customer Rewards Stink For The Rest Of Us Customers That Stick® post, Infographic: What Your Customers Wish You Knew About Them Episode 070: Giving Thanks to Your Customers Episode 090: How Can You Show Customers Love? More to love: We're on C-Suite Radio! Check it out for more great podcasts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Jacqueline Jasionowski about how improving customer experience at BMW is breaking the car-buying mold and differentiating the brand. Improving customer experience to stay on top BMW has a long record of success as “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” But even they recognize that we’re in a paradigm shift when just having a great product isn’t enough to stay on top. “…everybody sees that the customer experience landscape is the battleground for customer loyalty,” says today’s guest, Jacqueline Jasionowski. And she has played a huge role in helping BMW differentiate their brand by improving customer experience. Focused more on sales that customer experience, the car-buying experience is typically very stressful and time-consuming. By focusing on the customer experience and weaving it into their culture and training, BMW has climbed the ranks as customer-focused automakers. They have brought relationship-building experience strategies down to the store level where it makes the most impact. With Jacqueline’s help, BMW has broken the car-buying experience mold. That comes with great risks for any industry, but BMW has already taken a great deal of these risks for the sake of creating a scalable customer-centric experience. Today, Jacqueline shares great tips and insights for what has worked and what hasn’t so you can break your own industry’s experience mold with less risk. Whether you’re a high-end brand, a budget brand, or something in between… Improving customer experience on an ongoing basis is critical to surviving this paradigm shift. Listen in to hear how BMW is rocking it and how you can apply that to your business! Highlights from the interview: How does BMW discover what matters most to their customers? [3:30] Learn how BMW achieved a 24 point increase in satisfaction with the sales experience. [6:20] Jacqueline weighs training on product against training on soft skills. [10:10] Hear how BMW measures customer experience standards against existing standards around the products [13:20] What’s wrong with the typical car-buying experience from the customer’s perspective, and how is BMW changing that? [17:00] How does BMW sales staff let customers know right away they’re in for a different kind of experience? [19:50] About our guest: Jacqueline Jasionowski brings creativity, passion and enthusiasm into every day as she continues her 15+ year career in Automotive. Responsible for driving programs to achieve a 24-point upward movement in Sales Satisfaction, as measured by JD Power in 2014, she combines storytelling and analytics to convey to her audience that embracing change is required to move forward. Jacqueline’s program development and main focus is to connect the mind and hearts of her dealers to create real and sustainable transformation for the benefit of the customer. Jacqueline led the all-new 2016 7 Series BMW Ultimate Benefits team to create program recognition around dealer implementation and customer benefits. Connect with Jacquelyn LinkedIn Related Content 360Connext® post, Six Ways to Improve Customer Experience Now Customers That Stick® post, Turn Your Customer Experience Inside Out Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed Episode 177: The ROI of Customer Experience Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss building culture that drives both revenue and a great working environment with author Bobby Albert, author of Principled Profits—Outward Success Is an Inside Job. About our guest Bobby Albert, who led a small, local family business to a nationally recognized leader in its industry, explains how it happened in Principled Profit—Outward Success Is an Inside Job. In this inaugural book, an in-demand speaker/consultant pinpoints specific principles that, in practice, can supercharge any enterprise. The book hits the shelves in 2017, but Bobby is here today to explain how he went from a humble start to good to great in his business - and how any leader can leverage the same principles and practices in his or her own organization. Connect with Bobby Twitter LinkedIn Facebook BobbyAlbert.com Is creating culture around customer delight really profitable? We talk a lot about what’s in it for the customer when we create experiences, but it is certainly important to raise the question: “What’s in it for my company?” Culture isn’t just about having a fun, friendly work environment where everyone communicates well. A strong, profitable culture accomplishes this while focusing on the true customer experience. Bobby explains how these connect directly to profitability by sharing true stories about how his own small company grew big and strong with an inspiring culture at its core. So what makes a strong culture, anyway? It’s a tough question! Bobby has made some daring moves to make his company’s great culture better and more profitable. Today he’s sharing what works and how you can get started strengthening your own culture. Listen in! Episode highlights Bobby explains how “Outside Success is an Inside Job.” [2:15] What are the two Super Objectives? [3:45] Learn Bobby’s “Triple E” for driving a profitable culture. [6:20] How does a strong culture come to the rescue when things go wrong? [10:10] Hear tips for connecting different departments by communicating a common cultural thread. [13:00] Related Content Customers That Stick® video, What Is an Internal Customer? 360Connext® post, Common Mistakes in Organizational Culture Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares some of the best ways you and your employees can stand up for yourselves when customers cross the line into unacceptable behavior. Customers’ needs come first, until they cross the line... Customers may say some unpleasant things when they’re not happy, but what happens when they cross the line? Whether their behavior makes employees fearful or just extremely uncomfortable, it’s never OK to let customers get away with it. Are your frontline teams prepared? You need happy employees who consistently deliver excellent customer service, and part of that is knowing you have their backs when they’re in peril. Whether it’s a customer who is getting too friendly, grossly inappropriate, or downright abusive, Adam has some tips you can use today (but hopefully you won’t have to!) Don't be caught off guard when customers cross the line into different kinds of harmful behavior. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, What’s Your Culture Code? Customers That Stick® post, 5 Ways to Handle Unreasonable Customers Episode 173: (Tip) Resolving Customer Service Issues Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share helpful tips for quickly turning cold calls into opportunities to spark meaningful relationships. Cold calls: Must they be so cold!? Sometimes making cold calls is still necessary. The idea is usually to start a new relationship, but it can be difficult to start anything this way! It doesn’t have to be so hard, and your reps don’t have to strike out so often. A slightly better understanding of the customer journey can make an amazing difference. If you take just a moment before each call, there are a few things you can do to get it started right. Just remember these pointers from Adam and Jeannie to warm things up right away while helping prepare for more personalized experiences later. Your reps will be happier right from the start, and so will your customers! Related Content 360Connext® post, You called Me. Please Don't Ruin My Day. Customers That Stick® post, Sales, Customer Service or Operations: Which Is Most Important? Episode  Casey Carpenter, Sales Breakthrough Coach Episode Search helmers 104: Pat Helmers, Sales Babble Podcast Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've learned some startling facts about how online reviews affect the decisions your customers make, so we're sharing tips on how to take action today. Your customer journey includes online reviews Adam and Jeannie have been researching online reviews, and they’ve found some interesting facts they can’t wait to share. 2016 was a big year for online reviews, but 2017 will be bigger. Are you ready? Studies show we rely more on customer reviews to find what we need than ever, and this is especially true for local businesses. It behooves leaders to understand how this trend affects the decision-making process of their own customers, yet many still don't. We’re here to help!   Are you paying attention to what customers are saying? More importantly, do you know how to interpret and interact with them? There will always be trolls and bad apples, but knowing the impact of even the positive reviews is not always as simple as you might think. Your customers are writing reviews, and they'll continue with or without you. Not only is it important to respond, but your business can leverage these reviews to help drive sales while improving the overall customer experience.  We’re sharing key study data and tips to help you get your finger on the pulse, so get ready! Episode highlights Hear some crazy figures about the impact of mobile reviews as a driver for decision-making. [3:00] As a business owner, what can you do about negative online reviews? [4:50] What’s the biggest action item for local businesses, and what should they focus on first? [6:30] Consider the reviews themselves as part of the customer experience. [8:15] Hear some quick tips for keeping a prosperous relationship with online reviews. [9:50] Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Survive Dangerously Casual Customer Reviews Customers That Stick® post, Social Media Customer Service with Jay Baer (Video) Infographic: 50 Stats You Need to Know About Online Reviews Episode 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters Episode 152: Daniel Lemin, Manipurated Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares a few simple ways advocating for customers can greatly improve overall experience and what any organization can do to get started. “Who’s advocating for customers in your organization?” No matter how buried you are in day-to-day processes, or how scarce your resources are for customer experience, this is the one question you should be able to answer. Who in your company is speaking with decision-makers on behalf of the customer? Integrating customer advocacy into your business means great things for your culture, satisfaction scores, and overall customer experience. What’s more, it doesn’t require a costly, labor-intensive initiative you just can’t pull off right now. Jeannie hears a lot from bootstrapped leaders looking for the number one thing they must do to improve customer experience. She has helped them find simple but powerful ways to advocate for customers in their organizations, and she’s sharing some of her best tips today! Learn to sprinkle some customer advocacy into the way you do a few things, and the impact it has on your overall customer experience will be incredible. Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Advocacy is Not What You Think Customers That Stick® post, To WOW Customers, Listen and Care Episode 074: Denise Lee Yohn, Brand-Building Expert Episode 154: Adrian Swinscoe, How to Wow Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss tips for dealing with outrageous customer demands the right way. I’m sorry, you want what? When!? People are sometimes just irrational… Or, are they? Sooner or later, you’ll eventually be faced with outrageous customer demands. Emotions can run on overdrive in these situations, so it's important to keep yours in check while staying sensitive to your customer's! How do you handle these situations without losing your cool, or without losing a customer? If you haven’t already, soon you will have a situation where it seems impossible to deliver what a customer is asking for. Are they out of line, or just having trouble expressing their needs and concerns? Before you decide there’s nothing you can do to make them happy, first consider these tips from Adam and Jeannie. These three steps can help you keep things in perspective for yourself and your customer. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Confronting Your Customer Engagement Challenges Customers That Stick® post, 5 Ways to Handle Unreasonable Customers Episode 173: (Tip) Resolving Customer Service Issues Episode 161: How to Approach Customer Threats Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author John DiJulius shares what it takes to join the Customer Service Revolution and differentiate your brand with world-class service. Will you survive the Customer Service Revolution? In today’s connected world, the traditional ways of serving customers are no longer serving anyone. We’re in the middle of a Customer Service Revolution, and today’s guest, John DiJulius, is here to help us understand what that means and rock it. John has worked with leading revolutionary customer service disruptors. What do they have in common, and what does it take to be among them? As John explains, “It’s a radical overthrow of conventional business mentality designed to transform what employees and customers experience…” It’s not just about hiring nice people! You need to bring a meaningful purpose to all customer service interactions with a Customer Service Vision. John shares some of the best ways to do this and some great examples of companies that get it right. Making it through the Customer Service Revolution means having a high Customer Service Aptitude. Does your organization have what it takes? John outlines how you can test and improve yours. “It’s not the employee’s responsibility to have a high service aptitude, it’s the company’s to give it to them.” Join the Customer Service Revolution! Use John’s processes and evaluations to find your strengths and weaknesses, bring a meaningful purpose to customer service, and make more money. Listen in! Highlights from the interview: What does John mean by creating a Customer Service Revolution? [3:30] What is a Customer Service Vision Statement and how does it differ from an organization’s mission? [5:30] Great ways to communicate the Customer Service Vision within your organization [10:10] How can you evaluate Service Aptitude at the organizational level? [13:20] Hear about the toughest lesson John learned in customer service [17:20] John and our hosts discuss training and culture vs. hiring for world-class customer service. [23:50] John gives us vital advice for balancing technology with customer experience. [29:00] About our guest: International consultant and best-selling author of three Customer service books, his latest book, The Customer Service Revolution, instantly hit #1 on Amazon. John works with world class companies like The Ritz-Carlton, Lexus, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Nestlé, Marriott Hotels, PwC, Cheesecake Factory, Progressive Insurance, Harley Davidson, Chick-fil-A, and many more. John isn’t just talking about it, he lives it, as a very successful entrepreneur of two businesses. John Robert’s Spa, a chain of upscale Cleveland locations, has been repeatedly named one of the top 20 salons in America; and The DiJulius Group, a consulting firm focused on changing the world by creating a Customer service revolution. John will demonstrate how we can make our Customer service our single biggest competitive advantage and make price irrelevant! Connect with John Twitter Facebook John’s website Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, For Great Customer Service, Treat Policies Like Plaque Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service  Episode 081: Walking the Talk of Improving Customer Service  Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares tips for using automated customer service while keeping in tune with customers and preventing disasters. Preventing automated customer service disasters Automated customer service can help to create a smoother, more convenient process for customers while freeing up company resources. Ideally, it’s a win/win situation. But sometimes technology creates terrible experiences for customers, even while we think everything’s working well. Does your strong service culture work when #custserv technology doesn't?  Whether they take us by surprise or silently add more friction to the experience, technology failures will happen. But must they also be customer service failures? Sometimes it's not the tech itself that fails in the end, but the processes we create around it. How well you know what’s happening and prepare for what may happen on the other end of those circuits makes all the difference. You can prevent disasters and deliver great service no matter what’s happening with your technology. Listen to these great tips from Adam you can use today. Related Content 360Connext® post, How Micromapping Can Save Your Business Customers That Stick® post, Three Big Picture Ideas for Introducing New #CustExp Technology Episode 153: Training for New Customer Service Technology Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for creating employee incentives that don't break the bank.  No budget for employee incentives? You have great employees who need to feel rewarded, but don’t necessarily have a budget for bonuses and pay increases. If you don't do something, engagement and morale could start slipping any time. We have good news for you: Your hands are not tied! What motivates a rock star employee, anyway? Though bonuses and raises certainly do help, it’s not just about the money! There are plenty of ways to make employees feel recognized and appreciated.  Join us today as Adam and Jeannie discuss non-financial employee incentives and share tips for keeping your staff highly engaged with little or no budget for extras. Related Content 360Connext® post, What’s Your Culture Code? Customers That Stick® post, 6 Can’t Miss Ways to Reinvigorate Your Customer Service Team Episode 157: Employee Incentives and Unintended Consequences Episode 039: Does Employee Empowerment Work? Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share tips for calculating the ROI of customer experience improvement in your organization. Show us the numbers! Convincing executives to invest in customer experience improvement can be tricky, and you may need some convincing yourself. Is it really worth it? How can you predict the ROI of customer experience for your organization? Today we have tips to not only help you calculate the ROI of investing, but also calculate the loss of not investing. You can use the data you already have to get the answers executives are looking for. Need simple but reliable resources for calculating the ROI of customer experience, plus some examples to prove how they work in real life? Adam and Jeannie are bringing these to you today, plus a bonus tip and some compelling statistics. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Customer Experience ROI: Why Not Investing can Sabotage Your Success Customers That Stick® post, The Greatest Customer Service Statistic in the World Episode 149: Customer Service and Technology Investment Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie shares expert hiring tips to avoid costly mistakes and bring in a truly customer-centric employee who is a great addition to your team. What makes a customer-centric employee? Picking a candidate with the right skillset is important. However, if you want to deliver outstanding experiences, it’s not everything. Most skills revolve around a set of tasks rather than people. So if you’re not careful to hire customer-centric employees, watch out! Because the most “qualified” individual on your team may actually be a detriment to your customer experience. It's not just a customer service thing! Employees who don't interact directly with customers can prioritize their own processes over the very people those processes are built to serve. Some even come out looking like rock stars for being so on top of those processes. Meanwhile, customers suffer! So how do you avoid making this mistake? How do you balance skillset with gut to bring truly customer-centric employees into your team? Today, Jeannie has some important team-building tips to help you define what traits you are really looking for, and how to recognize those traits in your candidates. Learn how to look beyond the skills so you can answer this question before you make a big mistake: Are they qualified to put my customers first? Related Content 360Connext® post, Are you SURE you’re Hiring the Right person? Customers That Stick® post, 7 Customer Service Qualifications Everyone Must Have Episode 051: Jobr and Hiring Innovation Episode 166: Justin Deese, Blue Collar Service Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? Your team must become a force for positive change, and a customer-centric mission is the fuel they need. 360Connext specializes in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop customer-focused missions that are both unique and scalable. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience. You need to break down the silos and get to the root of what's holding you back! We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie are Champions from the customer-centric school of Hard Knocks, and they’re sharing a few things that are missing from the typical curriculum at business schools. What’s missing from business schools? Business schools traditionally do not teach us how to become customer-centric in the real world, so many of today’s business leaders like Adam and Jeannie have had to combine business training, years of real-life experience, and their own tireless research to learn this the hard way. If you’re joining us today, you know your customer service and overall customer experience can have a huge impact on business outcomes. Can you honestly say business school has taught you everything you need to know? It seems most of us could stand to learn more about understanding customers and creating lasting connections. Today we’re naming a few subjects we’d add to the curriculum to help the next generation of leaders succeed in the age of the customer. Did you learn any of these in business school? You may want to catch up with some independent studying after the show! Related Content 360Connext® post, Class Trip: Defining Customer Experience Investigation® Through A Day in the Life Customers That Stick® post, Introducing a New Guide to Customer Service Higher Education Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed Episode 160: Blake Morgan, More is More Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss the business impact of augmented reality now and in the future with technology titan and "The Fourth Transformation" co-author Robert Scoble. Augmented Reality: Coming to a business near you “It’s clear that the world is going toward augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality,” says technology titan Robert Scoble. This means lots of challenges and opportunities for business as AR and artificial intelligence become a part of our daily lives. In this interview, Robert shares defining highlights from the three past tech transformations, and how they have impacted business and daily life. He says recent developments in AR have marked the beginning of “The Fourth Transformation.”  What does this mean for business, and how can we be a part of it? Should we be? Through each transformation, some of the biggest companies have disappeared as innovative mavericks have taken their place. Staying educated and thinking ahead to your customers’ needs are the keys to surviving this transformation! Join us as we dive into surprising ways AR is already being used, and how forward-thinking companies are preparing themselves for the day when mixed reality experiences are expected. “It’s gonna come!” says Robert, “…you can wait, or you can get in now and do it at a comfortable pace…” Highlights from the interview: What were the first three tech transformations, and what has brought us into the fourth? [5:15] Does Apple have anything up its sleeve to compete with predominantly PC-based systems we're hearing about? [13:25] Which businesses are looking closely at leveraging AR, and who is already using it? [15:38] How do we define goals around responding to a customer need vs. having the latest, sexiest tech? [20:00] What new privacy, security and social issues may come with the rise of VR? [29:10] About our guest: As entrepreneur in residence at Upload VR , Scoble travels the world looking for what's happening on the bleeding edge of technology. He's interviewed thousands of executives and technology innovators and reports what he learns in books ("The Age of Context," a book coauthored with Forbes author Shel Israel, has been released here), YouTube, and many social media sites where he's followed by millions of people. They have worked together on a new book about AR and AI, called "The Fourth Transformation" which you can order on Amazon here. As entrepreneur in residence at Upload, he spent 2016 working with the virtual reality ecosystem to figure out what media and conference businesses Upload needs to build next. He'll also be assisting startups in the Upload Collective (a coworking space) in their efforts to get to market. He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. Connect with Robert Facebook Twitter Related Content 360Connext® post, Magic Mirror Reflects Major Innovation for the Connected Consumer Customers That Stick® post, 5 Ways to Handle Unreasonable Customers Episode 143: How Augmented Reality is Changing Customer Experience Episode 103: Will Virtual Reality Make Customer Service More Real? Robert Scoble’s podcast, Inside VR & AR   Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe. Developing and internalizing unique and scalable customer-focused missions has been crucial to their success. Want to compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences? You need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam shares best practices for resolving customer service issues and a simple time-tested process you can share with your front-line associates. Rocking your worst customer service issues Many customer-facing employees benefit greatly when there's a shortcut to remember how to handle the trickier customer service issues with finesse. If you’re listening today, your employees and customers are in luck! You're about to learn a special process from Adam's book, Be Your Customer’s Hero, called the CATER process. If you’re thinking CATER is an acronym for something, you are right, but you’ll never guess what these letters stand for. One of them is something we’re typically told NOT to do!  We argue it makes a huge difference when it’s done right. Want to make handling unhappy customers less stressful while ensuring better outcomes? Find out what the CATER process is all about! Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways to Rock your Worst Case Customer Experience Scenario Customers That Stick® post, 5 Ways to Handle Unreasonable Customers Episode 161: How to Approach Customer Threats Get your copy of Adam’s book, Be Your Customer’s Hero (and preview the first 3 chapters for free!) Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie share a few valuable tips about personalizing the customer experience. Taking the experience personally With so many great ways to access and leverage customer data, companies are getting creative about personalizing the customer experience. But do customers really want to be where everyone (and every thing) knows their name? Some companies personalize as many parts of the experience as they can, but that’s not always a good thing. Be careful! Personalizing for personalization’s sake can harm some experiences. So what should you know? Are you personalizing too much? Too little? Perhaps you need to take a different approach. In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share a few quick but vital personalization tips everyone should know. Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Mobile Personalization Tweaks to Keep Customers On Track Customers That Stick® post, The Greatest Customer Service Statistic in the World Episode 019: Writing for Machines, Andy Crestodina, and Personalized Robots Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you ready for 2017? Adam and Jeannie share some announcements about what’s coming to Crack the Customer Code this year. Announcing exciting changes for the new year! We’ve had a long holiday season, but we’re back! And to kick off the new year, we’re announcing some changes to our podcast. Don’t worry - we’re still the same podcast you know and love… but better! We’ve been listening to our fans, and we’ve decided to bring you more of what you like and some new things you've been asking for. Adam and Jeannie have been working hard to bring you an exciting lineup of guests, expert tips and more. What else is changing this year? We couldn’t wait to tell you about it, and we recorded a special episode to fill you in. Listen in! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, 3 Areas to Focus your Customer Experience in 2017 360Connext® post, 3 Powerful No-Sweat Customer Experience Quick Fixes Episode 100: Customer Service 100 Years Ago Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss exciting new changes to make your favorite customer-focused business podcast even better in 2017. What’s happening next for Crack the Customer Code? We’ve had an exciting year on the podcast, and we’re so thankful you’ve been listening to us twice per week. Thank you! As we head into 2017, it’s time for us to look back on the last 169 episodes to see what has worked well and maybe a few things that didn’t. You may see changes in our format, frequency, website, and images. Most importantly, we want to know what works best for you! Let’s start the new year with more of what you love about our podcast, less of what you might not love as much, and an overall better experience for all our listeners. What do you find the most valuable in a customer-focused business podcast? What changes would you like to see in 2017? Listen in and let us know! We'd love your feedback and ideas! Email us: thecustomercode@gmail.com Call us: (470) 223-CODE Tweet to Adam: @adamtoporek Tweet to Jeannie: @jeanniecw Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss how the results from the recent US Election Day betrayed the projections made from massive amounts of data. Every day is Election Day in business In the months leading up to the recent US election, tens of millions of dollars were spent analyzing the data to predict the outcome… and we all got it wrong! The data did not reflect the emotional state of the electorate, leading to false predictions. We see this happening a lot in business. Data often fails to show the emotional state of our customers. And when we look at data in simple “A vs. B” terms, we underestimate the power of entire groups where data was either not collected or not considered significant enough to make a difference.   Much like voters, customer sentiment can change very quickly. What customers say today is not always indicative of how they will feel tomorrow, or how they will act on these emotions. And many business leaders fall into the trap of thinking they have an advantage where sentiment appears neutral. What else can business leaders learn from the recent election? In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share three big lessons about customer data, customer sentiment, and predictive analytics. Listen in! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Your Data Is Only as Good as Your Perspective 360Connext® post, What’s Missing from your Data Insights? Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we explore ways to create outstanding service center engagement with renowned speaker and HDI certified Support Center Manager Nate Brown. Redefining service center engagement Call center processes are ever-complicating. And customer expectations are getting higher while their patience gets shorter. How can you create a service experience that works better for customers? Nate Brown explains the difference between a “call center,” where the experience is based on processes, and a “service center,” where the experience is created around a customer-focused culture. “It’s really about putting technology in the right place.” –Nate Brown Properly engaging your team is a huge part of this. A team that is customer-focused, happy working together and communicates effectively can make all the difference. This can mean a huge shift in mindset and execution! Today we explore some of the ways you can go about facilitating these changes. “There is nobody in the organization that is closer to the customer, and to the products and services of the business. It’s amazing the opportunity to really represent the brand, be the voice of the business to the customers. There’s nobody that gets to do that like customer service does... If it’s a sad place, that’s a cultural thing, and that ultimately stems back to leadership…” –Nate Brown Are you ready to create a customer-focused service culture and stop letting processes and technology define the experience? What performance metrics should you be looking at to help guide your next actions? Listen in and with Nate’s help, we’ll get you started. About our guest Nate Brown has had an outstanding day when he is able to help customers.  He is on a quest to improve the agent experience and the customer experience through creativity, knowledge, and hard work.  Nate is an HDI certified Support Center Manager, VP of Communication for the HDI Music City Chapter, and a well-known speaker in both the ICMI and HDI communities.  He is also the founder and primary author for the customer service and leadership blog CustomerCentricSupport.com. Connect with Nate Twitter Facebook Nate’s blog Related Content Customers That Stick® video, An Interview with Matthew Dixon of The Effortless Experience 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture Episode 153: Training for New Customer Service Technology Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we explore proactive ways to tell when you’re losing a customer. Can you recognize the warning signs? Losing a customer: It doesn’t have to be this way! You’re lucky if customers explain why they’ve left you. That feedback can save future customers from jumping ship! But while you read this, there’s a good chance you’re in the process of losing a customer. Now is your chance to throw out a lifeline and keep them on board. Retaining individual customers can be very tricky, especially when they’re not directly sending you distress signals. And in many cases, processes and technology designed to help manage customer relationships actually hide critical warning signs. So how can you get ahead of this? Those warning signs may be subtle, but if you know how to look for them, it can be painfully obvious when the relationship is in peril. In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share real-life examples and different ways customer relationships could have been saved, had the right proactive measures been taken. Don’t wait for that exit survey! Listen in to save those relationships before it’s to late. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, The Importance of Listening in Customer Service 360Connext® post, How Micromapping can Save Your Business Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the challenges and benefits of instilling customer-centric thinking in service technicians with Justin Deese, CEO of The Blue Collar Business Group. About our guest CEO Justin Deese is a highly sought-after business strategist, visionary, and self-made entrepreneur. He simultaneously built three flourishing in-home service companies in multiple states, is a certified E-Myth Business Coach, and is an expert at helping fellow business owners structure and manage their companies for maximum profitability. Justin has extensive working knowledge regarding all aspects of operating a successful in-home service business, including (but not limited to) sales and marketing, recruitment, systematization, and human resources. He has helped numerous business owners revitalize their companies and become true business owners, not just operators. Justin has a distinct talent for helping entrepreneurs recognize growth opportunities, remove what’s hindering their success, and develop customized strategies based on their personal goals. Re-thinking the in-home service experience It’s bad enough to have a poor customer experience at the checkout or on a call, but how about inviting a poor experience into your home? Sadly, that’s the reality for many customers who receive in-home service- from repair technicians, installers and more. Focused on their skills and qualifications, technicians in these industries are typically not trained on delivering great overall experiences. Today’s guest explores the importance of customer experience training for service technicians and why it can make a huge difference. “80% of what’s going on is before and after the sale.” –Justin Deese What kind of experiences are your technicians delivering to in-home customers? Being an expert in a certain trade does not make someone an expert in interacting with those customers. And seasoned technicians are likely to subscribe to the idea that since they’ll only be there once, it doesn’t matter. Justin shares some great tips for training technicians to be more customer-focused, even the long-time experts who feel the old ways have served them and their customers well. Many find that learning to be more customer-focused has made their jobs easier and more rewarding. So how can you inspire your technicians to create a better in-home service experience? Listen in! Connect with Justin Justin’s website LinkedIn Facebook The Blue Collar Success Group Related Content Customers That Stick® post, The Best Way to Make a Customer-Facing Team More Effective 360Connext® post, Customer Experience Rockstars: A Snapshot of ModTimber Episode 148: Randi Busse, Workforce Development Episode 091: How to Find Time for Training Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss ways many companies fail to get ready for the holidays, and how you can start preventing customer service disasters today. How much time do you have to get ready for the holidays? Think about that for a moment... Count the days, then cut that number in half! You and your staff have parties, shopping, kids off from school, and many other things standing in your way. And the holiday season is famous for exposing hidden pitfalls and inadequacies in the customer experience.  If you have not thought about the holiday season, this is your wakeup call!  Things you can't control like bad weather, server overloads, and supply shortages can cause huge problems. Now's the time to prepare for the things you can control, including how you respond and react to those things you can't.  There's no way to be sure what the holiday season will mean for your business, but we have some tips to help you prepare for the unexpected. Listen in!  Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Infographic: What Customers Experience Holiday Shopping  360Connext® post, ‘Tis the Season to Find Pain Points in Your Customer Journey  Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Customer engagement thought leader Doug Sandler joins us to discuss highlights from his bestselling book, Nice Guys Finish First. About our guest Doug Sandler has over 30 years of business experience as an entrepreneur and leader. His book, Nice Guys Finish First is a #1 ranked Amazon Best Seller.  As a podcaster, Doug has interviewed Arianna Huffington from HuffPost, Dan Harris from Good Morning America, Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff and dozens of celebs. He specializes in teaching others the "how-to's" of building relationships and strengthening connections. Doug is a nationally recognized speaker and writer.  His weekly posts reach hundreds of thousands of readers. Doug has been titled by a leading social media marketing company in the top 100 of Social Media Thought Influencers to follow. “You can only be a human being in business. You cannot be a sterile machine…” Connect with Doug Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Doug’s website Related Content Customers That Stick® infographic, 8 Ways to Be Your Customer’s Hero 360Connext® post, 3 Rules for Investing in Good Relationships with Customers Doug’s free ebook, Providing Great Customer Service B’moreBiz Conference Episode 038: Bob Burg, Author of The Go-Giver Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re sharing tips and best practices for keeping customer journey maps current and making them more useful. Just when you think your customer journey map is finished… Changes are happening in your organization, your products, or your customer’s expectations while you work on your customer journey map. Essentially, it's always out of date! A real, working customer journey map is never “finished.” So, when and how often should you update yours? This can depend on the size and structure of your organization, what you’re using it for, and if you’re even using it at all. The customer journey mapping process may be different for everyone, but it’s never easy. It takes lots of time and patience, and it can be quite painful. When the time comes to update, are you going to scrap all that hard work and start over? Protect that invest!  We have expert advice for not only when to update, but how to approach the process to create a customer journey map that drives results. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, The Magic Number in Customer Experience Is Two 360Connext® post, 5 Customer Journey Mapping Mistakes that Lead You Nowhere Free webinar: Demystifying Customer Journey Mapping Episode 120: Jim Kalbach, Experience Mapping Expert Episode 025: Customer Journey Maps, Justin Zacks, and Amazon 2-Hour Delivery Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss leadership skills that drive customer experience success with international change advocate and author of Keep Stepping, Joy Marsden. About our guest Joy Marsden has over 20 years business experience in technical textile design, Marketing, Customer Service and Area Sales Management working with blue chip companies including Marks and Spencer, Mars, Next PLC and Avon Cosmetics.  Today as an influential change advocate, Joy works internationally using her uniquely designed Keep Stepping!® program, which focuses on key principles that must be mastered when going through challenge and change. She is an author of the book “Keep Stepping! Essential ways to lead yourself and others through challenge and change.” Joy works with leaders and their teams in both the public and private sector and some of her clients include, PepsiCo, Michelin, BBC, Aon, Chartered Institute for Personal Development, Police Superintendents’ Association, Oracle and National Institute of Health & Research. Episode highlight “If a leader really wants to be successful in bringing an organization successfully through change, successfully through challenge, successfully through difficulties that they may be facing, they’ve got to be open to seeing things differently. And seeing things differently has to start with you. "It has to start with the way you see things: Your own self-awareness, your own ability to reflect on situations, and your openness to ask questions to people throughout the whole of the organization, including the person that sits on the customer service desk… You have to know what your people are going through, and they have to see you.” - Joy Marsden Connect with Joy Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Joy’s website Related Content Customers That Stick® Post, An Interview with Kate Nasser: Better #PeopleSkills 360Connext® post, Destructive Leadership Practices: Is Your CEO in Denial? Episode 144: Eddie Turner, Facilitating Change Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has a customer ever left your employees shaking in fear? Today we discuss ways to diffuse customer threats and protect our brands and ourselves from the worst. Is your front-line prepared for customer threats? We’ve turned the tables a bit today! Instead of advocating for the customer, we’re talking about protecting our staff, and our brands from customer threats. A lot of time and energy goes into training customer-facing employees. But few leaders train their people specifically on how to respond when customers behave in a threatening manner. Sometimes they will only threaten your brand reputation, but if you’ve worked in retail like Adam, you know some customers will threaten bodily harm. What is your protocol for handling a customer who has gone from irate to downright scary? Where do you draw the line between customer service issues and personal safety issues? If you've never had to ask a customer to leave or file a police report, don’t be so sure it won’t or can’t happen in your industry. How you respond can make all the difference for keeping customers, employees, and your brand happy and safe. In this episode, Adam and Jeannie share some real-life stories of customer service issues that have escalated to potentially harmful situations. Listen in for tips and great examples for preventing, responding to, and recovering from extreme customer meltdowns. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, How to Handle Customer Threats 360Connext® post, 4 Things to Keep You from Losing Your Mind over Customer Behavior Episode 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we interview author and customer experience expert Blake Morgan to discuss the future of customer experience and her new book, More is More. Excellent customer experience as a differentiator Over the past decade, there has been a huge emphasis on customer experience in the business world, and we’ve come a long way. But today’s guest says we still have a long way to go. “Very few companies execute perfectly on customer experience and it’s a hugely missed opportunity,” says Blake. So why are many companies still failing? From social customer care to the importance of creating a better employee experience, Blake shares highlights from her groundbreaking new book, More is More. It’s all about leveraging the many overlooked opportunities to differentiate your brand through excellent customer experiences. Where do many self-proclaimed “customer-centric” companies go wrong, and how can we prepare for the best possible customer experience in the future? This episode covers a lot of ground. Listen in! About our guest Blake Morgan is the author of More Is More: How The Best Companies Work Harder and Go Farther To Create Knock Your Socks Off Customer Experiences (Routledge 2017). She is an advisor, speaker, podcast host and the President of SOCAP's Northwest Chapter. She is a former customer service practitioner having worked with and advised companies such as Intel, Verizon Wireless and many more. She lives in Alameda, California with her husband and their baby girl. Connect with Blake Blake’s podcast, The Modern Customer Twitter YouTube Blake’s website Related Content Customers That Stick® post, 6 Can’t Miss Ways to Kickstart Your Customer’s Experience 360Connext® post, Document THIS! Betrayed by Customer Experience Documentation Episode 154: Adrian Swinscoe, How to Wow Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss ways you can make noticeable improvements when there’s little or no budget for customer experience initiatives. No customer experience budget? We hear this from great leaders in large and small organizations who see the long-term value of investing in the experience. “Where do we get the resources? How can we convince other leaders? We have no budget!” Of course, the more money and resources you have to work with, the more options you have. But make no mistake: Money isn’t everything. In fact, expecting things to work out simply because a lot of money has been thrown at the issue is one of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen. Larger companies who aim to become customer experience leaders end up shooting themselves in the foot by assuming larger investments will yield greater returns. So whether you have a huge customer experience budget or no budget at all, we urge you to forget about the money for a moment and focus more on what really matters to your customers. Take the opportunity to look at your current resources from a different perspective and really put your best foot forward. With a little elbow grease, you can leverage those resources to make huge improvements one step at a time. We have some great tips for leaders in small and large companies to get started, gain support, and make customer experience improvements on a daily basis, regardless of budget. Related Content 360Connext® post, So You Have No Customer Experience Budget… Now What!? Customers That Stick® post, Upgrade Your Customer Service Technology on a Budget Episode 105: Onstage vs. Offstage Customer Experience Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christoff Weihman, bestselling author and coordinator of the Excellerate Service 2016 conference, shares his secrets to 5-star service in the hospitality industry. About our guest Throughout his career, Christoff Weihman has served in various capacities-as a server, bartender, wine sales rep, catering sales manager, event planner, and banquet service manager. He has worked for Wolfgang Puck in Hollywood; Darden Restaurants, as well as other establishments in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and at the Hyatt in Guam and Nikko Hotel in Saipan. He has spent many years in Sales & Business Development, as well, including in the automotive industry as well as Staffing and Recruiting. Christoff believes that regardless of the type of restaurant or establishment, 5 Star Service should always be the goal. He is a life-long learner, an avid reader, and passionate about personal development. He writes a weekly blog about Customer Service entitled Soupfly which has readers in 108 countries.  He is currently working on his 2nd and 3rd books. Christoff Co-Hosts a weekly online Blab show on 5 Star Customer Service. Connect with Christoff Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Christoff’s blog, Soupfly Christoff’s book Related Content:  Customers That Stick® Post, 5 Principles for Great Restaurant Customer Service 360Connext® post, A Road Warrior’s Cry: Micro Matters in The Guest Experience Episode 065: Restaurant Customer Service Episode 110: Mike Ganino, Guest Experience Expert Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss employee incentives and how they can actually work against our long-term goals. Employee incentives gone rogue! It’s very common for companies to incentivize goals like sales quotas, new customer acquisition, and more. And while it’s great to reward employees for reaching these goals, the way we do it can create huge problems. Take Wells Fargo, who is facing multiple lawsuits due to the creation of millions of fake accounts resulting from years of aggressive acquisition quotas. While this is an extreme case, the problems created by your incentive program can go unnoticed until there’s a huge problem. The biggest problems we hear of stem from focusing on metrics rather than experience outcomes. For instance, your report may show a significantly reduced call time, but it will not tell you how many calls were hastily and poorly executed. It won't say how many customer service issues were ignored to keep those calls short. Will your employees turn against each other to reach your new sales goal? Will your loyal customers suffer due to an emphasis on acquisition? From making undeliverable promises to creating deeply embedded culture issues, your long-term goals and reputation could be at stake. Listen in to learn how the best companies think ahead by aligning employee incentives with experience outcomes.   Related Content 360Connext® post, How Metrics Hide Serious Customer Experience Problems Episode 141: When Customers Don’t Want Your Help Episode 104: Pat Helmers, Sales Babble Podcast Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss Wow Marketing and the power of adding value for customers with JD Dwyer, founder of The Institute of Wow. About our guest John Dwyer (known as “JD” to most) is an Australian entrepreneur, marketing and business coach. He’s the founder of The Institute of Wow, company that helps entrepreneurs and small business owners attract more customers and boost sales through the Wow factor. The list of professionals that have collaborated with JD includes popular comedian and actor Jerry Seinfeld, who JD convinced to be a spokesman for a Small Australian bank – a campaign that resulted in the bank tripling its home loan market share in just 24 months. Connect with John Twitter LinkedIn Facebook JD’s website, The Institute of Wow Related Content:  Customers That Stick® Post, Sometimes WOW Only Takes 5 Seconds 360Connext® post, LOVE: Microinteraction of the Month Episode 007: Stan Phelps, Founder of 9 Inch Marketing Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s short but sweet episode, we discuss the importance of considering Baby Boomers when designing products and improving experiences. Are you turning your back on the world's third largest demographic? We’ve talked a lot about Millennials and Generation Z, but the Baby Boomers are a HUGE market demographic, and they have more spending power than anyone! So you’re missing out big time if you’re not paying attention to what they need. Designing experiences with Baby Boomers in mind can make the experience easy for everyone. This can mean huge opportunities for business across many industries, including startups. What about your customers? Can you target Millennials while making the experience better for all generations and vice-versa? Smart companies are doing just that. Listen in for examples and fun anecdotes from our hosts. Related Content 360Connext® post, Obsessing over CX for Millennials Ruins It for Everyone! Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service Episode 142: Anna Liotta, Unlocking Generational Codes Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview bestselling author and Forbes columnist Adrian Swinscoe and discuss highlights from his latest book, How to Wow: 68 Effortless Ways to Make Every Customer Experience Amazing. About our guest Adrian Swinscoe is a customer experience consultant and advisor, and has been growing and helping develop customer-focused large and small businesses for 20 years. He has previously worked with Shell, FT and The Economist Group and has advised and consulted to numerous large and smaller businesses helping them engage with their customers, build their customer retention and improve their service and customer experience. Adrian is a huge fan of organizations that do great things for their customers and their people. He enjoys using research, stories and human insights to help create change and better results for his clients. Overall, he's a lover of simplicity and an advocate of the human touch with some really useful technology thrown in. Adrian has an MBA from Cass Business School, City University as well as an MA in Economics. He’s also recently published a new book: How to Wow: 68 Effortless Ways to Make Every Customer Experience Amazing (Pearson). Connect with Adrian Twitter LinkedIn Adrian’s blog Adrian’s Forbes column Adrian’s book, How to Wow Related Content:  Customers That Stick® Post, Exceeding Customer Expectations Is Nice but Not Necessary 360Connext® post, 8 Ways to Understand Your Customers’ Expectations Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the ways we approach great new customer service technology often create unnecessary rifts in the customer experience. What should you know before you upgrade? New customer service technology wins and fails What happens when we adopt great new customer service technology, but the front-line staff isn’t trained for it? We’ve all been in that situation where a customer service rep has to tell us, “Uh, this is new. Gimme a minute.” Before you blame the employee, there are several reasons this can happen. Among them, these are the most prevalent: The staff is resistant to change. The staff did not receive adequate training or instructions. The new technology isn’t set up properly. Whatever the reason, unnecessary frustration and wasted time for customers is the real problem. How do the best companies get ahead of this? If you’re rolling out new customer service technology for your organization, your next step can be critical to your customer experience. Listen in and learn from some of our best and worst examples. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, 6 Steps for Rolling Out New Technology to Frontline Staff 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Episode 091: How to Find Time for Training Episode 149: Customer Service and Technology Investment Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re uncovering what every small business owner needs to know about online reviews with Daniel Lemin, reputation expert and author of Manipurated. About our guest Daniel Lemin is a respected authority on the reputation industry. An early Google hire, Lemin was one of the first pioneers to realize the importance, impact, and power of online ratings and reviews on businesses and the ongoing struggle business owners have with their online reputations. Daniel is the head of consulting for Jay Baer’s Convince & Convert consulting team, and he’s a regular contributor to the Convince & Convert marketing blog, rated the number-one content-marketing blog in the world. Connect with Daniel Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Slideshare Daniel’s Book: Manipurated Related Content:  360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Survive Dangerously Casual Customer Reviews Episode 096: Jay Baer, Hug Your Haters Episode 036: Goodsnitch, Jennifer Maldonado, and Customer Experience Gaps Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the growing trend of integrating customer experiences with experiences people are already having in their daily lives. On-the-spot customer experiences For the busy consumer, making a purchase is often hinged on convenience. People want things when and where they need them! Potential customers may not have time to add another experience to their daily regimen. So what about bringing the experience to them? Consider morning commuters who may be in a rush but want a cup of coffee or a snacks for a meeting. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has developed the Columbus Circle subway to include an underground market, Called TurnStyle, that brings customers what they need where and when they need it, without having to take much time out. The success of such an initiative is about much more than speed and convenience. In this environment, the experience needs to be simplified to save time and space, and that could mean eliminating certain choices. And what about those customers who aren’t so rushed? How does the MTA make this simplified experience preferential to making the extra trip? Carefully considering the clientele and the environment, the MTA and the merchants at Columbus Circle worked together closely to bring the right products and experiences together. And though not everyone is impressed, the initiative has been a huge success. Listen in to find out how the MTA and TurnStyle merchants have struck the right balance between convenience and selection. Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Customer Convenience Considerations Customers That Stick® post, Why Amazon Will Swallow Almost Everyone New York Eater article, 5 Things to Know About TurnStyle, Columbus Circle's Subway Food Hall Debuting Tonight Episode 030: Convenience, AT&T’s Diane Magers, and Department Stores Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author and global speaker Phil Gerbyshak shares his energy and passion for creating powerful social connections with customers. About our guest Phil Gerbyshak believes in the power of social selling and connection. With a unique speaking style—part sales expert, part entertainer—Phil keeps his audiences awake and engaged while providing actionable steps to bring in more leads, more referrals, and more business. If he’s not traveling, speaking, or making new connections, Phil writes. He’s published 5 books, including 10 Ways to Make It Great and #TwitterWorks, more than 2,500 articles, and been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Financial Times, and more. Connect with Phil Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube PhilGerbyshak.com Related Content:  Customers That Stick® Post, The Future of the Social Purpose Corporation (Video) 360Connext® post, 5 Ways Everyone Wins with Proactive Social Media Engagement Episode 140: Bryan Kramer, The Art of Shareology Episode 019: Writing for Machines, Andy Crestodina, and Personalized Robots Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Must customer service and technology fail at the same time? Today we discuss how to prepare for tech failures and prevent them from creating nightmares for customers. When customer service and technology fail To invest, or not to invest? It's a tough question, but not always the most important one. Enormous breakdowns in customer service can occur whether the latest and greatest technology fits your budget or not. Where will you be when your hobbled old tech finally takes a dive? Where will your staff be when your shiny new system stops responding to customers in distress? And where will your customers end up when your app or website can’t help them through their journey? These are all very serious concerns that seem to surface when it’s too late. Time and time again, we see customers in peril when technology is outdated, being upgraded, or simply just not working. Consider the madness that ensued when 2,000 Delta flights were recently grounded due to an overloaded system. Don't question if, but when your tech goes on the fritz. Can you keep your customers happy in the midst of a system failure? Listen in for tips on preventing customer service nightmares during your next technological crisis. Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Ways to Rock your Worst Case Customer Experience Scenario Customers That Stick® post, Organizational Management: The Doomsday Preppers Edition Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss customer-centric workforce development with author, speaker, and Workforce Development Group president and founder, Randi Busse. About our guest Randi Busse (Bus-ee) is a Customer Service Speaker, Trainer and Author of "Turning Rants Into Raves: Turn Your Customers On Before They Turn On YOU!" She is the President of Workforce Development Group, Inc., a training and development organization that specializes in improving the customer experience, increasing customer retention, maximizing revenue and creating a culture of ownership among employees. Randi is a dynamic speaker with the ability to make audiences listen, nod, laugh … and connect the dots between their own experiences as a customer and how their behaviors and the way their employees treat customers affects their bottom line. Connect with Randi Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Related Content:  Customers That Stick® Post, Turning a Customer Service Culture 360Connext® post, Common Mistakes in Organizational Culture Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture Randi’s book, Turning Rants into Raves Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Direct messaging and chat are growing as part of social customer service. Omnichannel may soon mean much more than you thought! Are you ready? Customers expect more from social customer service Social platforms have been growing and evolving as a means for customers to provide feedback and resolve issues. We often think of these as public channels, but customers are discovering new rules and features that allow them to contact you directly via Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and more. As this trend continues to grow, it’s becoming a whole new responsibility. Do you have the time or resources to respond fast enough? Is your staff prepared to handle one-on-one chats? You may not be offering live chat on your website, but your customers may still be expecting it on Twitter! Don’t start scrambling for ways to turn off these features just yet. How you handle omnichannel customer service can have a huge impact on satisfaction and loyalty, good or bad, and private channels are no exception. Listen in as Adam and Jeannie discuss how to turn these new challenges into opportunities. Related Content 360Connext® post, 5 Reasons Social Customer Service is Still Subpar Customers That Stick® post, Social Media Customer Service with Jay Baer (Video) Episode 136: Jane Anderson, Customer Service for Personal Brands Episode 035: Ramon De Leon, Word of Mouth Supergenius Sponsor message: EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 promises to be an inspiring, engaging, & educational 2-Day conference focused on & dedicated to 5-Star Customer Service! In addition to the amazing content you will receive over the 2-day event, you will also be contributing to our larger vision of raising funds for Three Square Foodbank, a subsidiary of Feeding America, who serve food insecure residents in Southern Nevada.   EXCELLERATE SERVICE 2016 is all about customer service and service to a broader community. If you have a passion for service excellence and a heart for service, then this event is for you!   To learn more, go to http://www.excellerate2016.com/   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the overlap of sales and customer experience with author and sales coach, Casey Carpenter. About our guest An introverted, shy wallflower turned dynamic business-builder, Casey knows this: Anyone can improve her sales skills with the right training and the right mentor. Casey founded The Sales Breakthrough Coach for organizations that want to exponentially improve their sales, communication and leadership skills, and close more deals. She designed and delivered customized online learning content for the Productive Environment Institute, and recently led sales and leadership- boosting workshops for Believe, Inspire, Grow, Women in Health Management, and the Association of Image Consultants International. Casey served as a sales expert panelist at Montclair State University’s Women Entrepreneurs Week. She recently joined the Forbes Coaches Council, an invitation-only community for leading business coaches. She is also the author of the brand new book, “Introverts in Sales: Turn Your Peaceful Power into a Profitable Selling Machine.” Connect with Casey LinkedIn Casey’s website Related Content:  Customers That Stick® post, 5 Lessons Salespeople Can Teach Customer Service Professionals 360Connext® post, 3 Ways Your Small Business Can Clobber the Big Guys Download Casey’s free book! 3 Simple Steps to Win The Sale Episode 104: Pat Helmers, Sales Babble Podcast Episode 038: Bob Burg, Author of The Go-Giver Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss how the wrong perspective on bad customer service blinds us to the vital insight we need to make improvements where they are needed the most. Zooming in on bad customer service Too often, customer service is pushed into its own corner. We see this a lot on surveys, where bad customer service is separate from things like long lines at the store, or even rude employees. When we speak in such general terms about poor service, we cheat ourselves out of the opportunity to get to the root cause of the problem. Before asking customers to rate their customer service, we challenge you to ask this question: “What does bad customer service really mean to the customer?” It’s often something very specific that leads a customer to report a bad service situation. But unless we take the time to ask more specific questions, we never get the insight needed to make significant improvements. Are you ready to uncover the truth about why your customers are unhappy with the service they receive? Listen in!   Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Infographic: What Customers Experience Holiday Shopping 360Connext® post, “Such Poor Customer Experience!” 3 Industries I Hear About Every Day Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Episode 081: Walking the Talk of Improving Customer Service Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie join veteran change agent Eddie Turner to discuss his innovative methods for facilitating change smoothly and effectively. The holistic approach to facilitating change Change is often difficult for individuals. But for organizations, it can be disastrous if the process for facilitating change is not carefully planned and executed. Today’s guest, Eddie Turner, has mastered the art of change management in many industries. Eddie explains some of the common challenges around organizational change. It’s not just about adopting new processes. It’s also about employees and stakeholders leaving their comfort zones to learn new skills. And for many employees, this can even bring job security into question. Eddie walks us through the four main stages of change facilitation: Denial, Resistance, Exploration, and Commitment. It’s critical to understand what your employees are feeling during all these stages, and honest communication is key. Are stakeholders in your organization in denial about necessary changes? Are you afraid your changes will face resistance among employees? Through Eddie’s careful approach, you can open up the lines of communication in an environment where “all titles are checked at the door” and the most valuable input comes to the surface. Move your change initiative from denial on through to commitment and beyond. Listen in! About our guest Eddie Turner is a change agent who has worked for several of the world's “most admired companies."  Eddie has extensive experience in information technology and teaching.  He now leverages those skills in his work as a leadership development practitioner. Eddie is an International Certified Coach. He practices executive coaching as a member of the International Coaching Community, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and the International Coach Federation. Eddie is an exceptional virtual and face-to-face facilitator.  He facilitates global workshops, strategy sessions and high level meetings.  He is a member of the International Association of Facilitators and certified as a Competent Facilitator by the International Institute for Facilitation. Eddie is a graduate of Northwestern University where he studied Leadership and Organization Behavior. He is also an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he completed the “Art and Practice of Leadership Development” executive education program. Connect with Eddie Brian’s website Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Related Content 360Connext® post, Destructive Leadership Practices: Is Your CEO in Denial? Episode 122: Tema Frank, People Shock Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed ThinkTank app Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss some of the ways augmented reality (AR) can enhance marketing and overall customer experiences. Augmented reality is not just for games! According to Wikipedia, “Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.” Using GPS data to add graphics to real-life environments, Pokemon Go is a perfect example of this technology. But AR is not just for fun and games! Companies are learning how to use AR technology to help customers visualize changes and make better choices. Adam and Jeannie discuss some ways AR is already changing the customer experience in industries like fashion, beauty and interior design. Companies are leveraging this technology to eliminate a lot of the footwork, guesswork and ultimately, disappointment for their customers. As this technology continues to develop, we see many opportunities for retailers, designers, educators and more. But there will also be some challenges for companies that rely heavily on real-life experiences. AR may threaten to make those experiences unnecessary or redundant! Can you leverage AR technology to enhance your marketing strategy and create better experiences for your customers? Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, What do Trends from SXSW 2016 Mean for Customer Experience? Episode 103: Will Virtual Reality Make Customer Service More Real? Episode 140: Bryan Kramer, The Art of Shareology Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie have a fascinating and entertaining discussion with Anna Liotta, author of Unlocking Generational CODES. About our guest Anna Liotta, MA, CSP is an award-winning speaker, business consultant and author with a deep understanding of how generational demographics and dynamics can affect the landscape of business. Early in her consulting career, Anna noticed a common theme:  a fundamental lack of understanding between different generations within an organization that hindered trust, alignment and long-term success.   Further, this generational misinterpretation or breakdown, was occurring across many different industries from high-tech to manufacturing, wealth management to legal services, and medical care to, insurance solutions.  Anna chose to make alignment and understanding across generations her mission.  The founder of The Generational Institute™ and author of Unlocking Generational CODES Anna leverages her Generationally Savvy Communication Solutions™ programs to help clients develop strategies for optimal communications across generations.   Anna’s clients range from consulting with the PGA of America to the NBA, from Amazon.com to Mayflower. Anna holds a Master’s degree in Interpersonal Communication and has more than fifteen years of experience in the field of intergenerational inclusion, communication and leadership.  Anna is an adjunct faculty member in the University of Washington’s Executive MBA program, and she also serves as the chair of the institutional advancement committee on the board of trustees at Antioch University, as the President of the Columbia Tower Club and as a National Board Member for the National Speakers Association. Connect with Anna Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube com Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss how customer service situations turn bad or worse when the customer is refusing help offered by front-line employees. Why is your customer refusing help? While salespeople are typically trained to handle rejection, many other customer-facing employees are not. We train our staff to deliver the best experience possible, but sometimes they try a little too hard, creating tension in the customer experience. This often takes the form of help offered when the customer doesn’t really want it. In many cases, the employee is trying to make the experience better while the customer is perfectly happy how things are. But when the customer is refusing help, there’s usually a good reason. Are your star employees really listening, or are they creating awkward experiences by forcing what they perceive as better service offerings on customers? Related Content 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Customers That Stick® post, 9 Customer Service Training Ideas That Work Episode 137: Culture and Customer Service Episode 081: Walking the Talk of Improving Customer Service Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we join bestselling author and TEDx speaker Bryan Kramer to discuss the power of sharing to drive customer engagement and create lasting human connections. Viral content and the art of Shareology From sharing content to sharing rides, humans are hard-wired for sharing. But before we can share content and ideas customers will want to engage with, we must first understand why people share things in the first place. How does it relate to our brands? How does it relate to our customers’ goals? Bryan Kramer has it down to a science. Bryan gives us some valuable insights from his extensive research into the science of sharing, and how it has changed over the generations. It’s still different for everyone, so beware the tendency to assume all members of a given segment or generation share and interact with content the same way! As humans, Bryan explains, “we want to connect in ways that stands out. We want to be a part of something greater than ourselves.” The best brands strike a great balance between automation and personalization to stay efficient while forging mutually-rewarding relationships. Before you share anything else, please consider the four common elements to highly-engaging content that goes viral. Brian lays them all out for us and compares some real-life success stories from brands that get it. About our guest Bryan is an author of the recently released bestselling book There is No More B2B or B2C: It’s Human to Human #H2H. Bryan is a Social Business Strategist and CEO of PureMatter where he’s led his agency to consistent growth over the last 13 years earning a spot as one of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing private companies by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Bryan recently delivered a TED Talk for TED@IBM. He has also been listed as the 43rd most talked about marketer by global senior marketers in a report study via LeadTail, The Top 50 Social CEOs on Twitter in the world by the Huffington Post, and was identified as a Top 25 Influencer to follow by Forbes. And most recently listed as one of The 100 Most Influential Tech People On Twitter by Business Insider. Connect with Bryan Brian’s website Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Related Content Customers That Stick® post, VIDEO: Social Media Customer Service with Jay Baer 360Connext® post, The Beautiful Intersection of Content and Customer Experience Episode 128: Christianne Harder, Fan Engagement Episode 114: Ron Tite, Branding and Creativity Expert Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from the National Speakers Association’s Influence 2016 conference, Adam and Jeannie discuss ways to use content in customer service and improve the overall experience. Beyond marketing: Content in customer service Sharing valuable content is now an essential part of a successful digital marketing strategy. Companies have had to pick up new skills and tools, or even create new departments to keep up. So now that we’ve got our content hats on, let’s talk about using those resources to improve the customer experience. Forward-thinking companies have used content as an alternative to sending customers through the usual processes to get the help or information they need. Adam and Jeannie share some great examples, and some ideas on how content can become a key asset in moving customers smoothly through their journey. Content isn’t just for marketing anymore. Many don’t realize the content they create is already a part of the customer experience, but it is! You’ve got great content, so why not take it a step further? You can create content that reduces customer effort and creates frictionless customer service experiences. Listen in! Related Content Related Content 360Connext® post, When Content is Just for Marketing, Everyone’s Missing Out! Episode 085: Proactive Customer Service and Worst-Case Preparation Episode 040: Robert Rose and The New Era of Marketing Episode 019: Writing for Machines, Andy Crestodina, and Personalized Robots Episode 045: The Customer Effort Score Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from the National Speakers Association’s Influence 2016 conference, Adam and Jeannie tackle the challenges women face in building professional confidence with expert and speaker, Becky Spohn. About our guest Becky Spohn is an Inspirational Speaker and Trainer with over 25 years in the industry. She uses her unique style of tough-love, humor, and compassion to educate, entertain, and inspire audiences of corporations, associations, and individuals across the country. As Founder of Confidence Concepts, LLC., Becky directs seminars, workshops, and retreats focused on building both personal and professional confidence. Becky is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, the American Society of Training and Development, and the International Facilities Management Association. She is co-author of the forthcoming book “Hard-Hats and High-Heels {Lessons Learned from Women in Facilities Management}”.  Connect with Becky LinkedIn Facebook Becky’s website, Confidence Concepts Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporting live from the National Speakers Association’s Influence 2016 conference, Adam and Jeannie discuss the connection between culture and customer service excellence. Create lasting impressions with proactive service To provide satisfactory customer service, you must be there for customers when they need you. But if you’d like to be known for great service, you must reach out to customers before they need you. A strong customer-focused culture that empowers employees to connect on different levels can create huge opportunities to proactively build loyalty and trust. Don’t overlook your chance to shine with customers who never had a problem or asked for anything special. JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, AZ creates a lasting impression of outstanding service for guests who never call the desk.  We hope this little story from our stay at JWM inspires you to reach out to your customers in an unexpected, memorable way! Related Content Customers That Stick® post,  Turning a Customer Service Culture 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Episode 081: Walking the Talk of Improving Customer Service Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview personal branding expert Jane Anderson live from the National Speakers Association's Influence 2016 Convention. Personal brands have more personal customers “When you’re in a personally branded business, you are far more connected to your customers than ever,” says personal branding expert Jane Anderson. That said, relying on big-brand customer service experience in a personal brand setting can be a huge mistake! Jane outlines some of the key distinctions for us and shares some great examples of how this can go wrong. It’s crucial to consider everything from how you dress yourself to how you train your staff. Jane explains the three main elements of excellent customer service for clients in a personal brand setting. What’s the best way to approach unhappy customers as a personal brand? Here’s where making the right distinctions and your personal connection to clients can make the biggest difference. Listen to Jane’s story of how she turned a terrible customer service situation into a highly-valued relationship. As a bonus, Jane shares some great tips for personal brands using LinkedIn for marketing. The wrong approach to presenting your brand and interacting on social networks can spell disaster for your reputation. Jane has helped thousands of personal brands create an outstanding presence on LinkedIn. What else can you learn from Jane to polish up and optimize your personal branding? There are lots of vital tips and considerations packed into this special episode. Listen in! About our guest Jane Anderson is a Personal Branding Expert with over 20 years of experience. She has worked with over 12,000 people on having more impact and influence in their careers and businesses. She holds one of the top 1% viewed profiles on LinkedIn and is the host of the number 1 ranked iTunes podcast “Jane Anderson Brand You Show.” Jane is also a mentor on the Thought Leaders Business School, Australia’s leading program for experts in their industry. She is a certified speaking professional. Less than 10% of speakers globally hold this certification. Jane’s clients include Virgin Australia, Ikea, Lego, Mercedes Benz, Cisco, Australian Medical Association and University of Australia. Jane has been featured in BBC Online, Management Today, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Courier Mail, Marie Claire and Today Tonight. She was a nominee for the Telstra Women’s Business Awards for 2014 and 2016. Connect with Jane Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Jane Anderson.com Related Content Episode 114: Ron Tite, Branding and Creativity Expert Episode 084: Sylvie Di Giusto, Why First Impressions Matter Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss claims of company longevity as a sales point and whether or not they still have a positive marketing impact on today’s consumers. Is company history still a viable sales point? We’ve all seen marketing copy that says things like “America’s favorite widget for 50 years!” or “Building whirligigs since 1942.” In generations past, these claims held a lot of water for consumers looking to do business with brands they can trust. But in today’s world, technology changes overnight and products and services we’ve never thought about are turning new brands into household names. And connected customers have too much power to assume you offer the experiences thy want simply because you’ve been around forever. They look for social proof of experiences that fit into their modern, digitized lives. Empowered consumers have turned innovative companies like Amazon and Netflix into giants in a relatively short time, leaving leading brands like Borders and Blockbuster with little more than their “impressive” histories to speak of. What about your company history? Maybe you’ve been around for 40 years, but Adam and Jeannie have their doubts about whether today’s generation would care. Does your company history make you sound like an expert, or a dinosaur? Perhaps the newness of your startup can actually give you an advantage with millennials… It’s all about your customers and what matters most to them. Related Content 360Connext® post, Why Claims of History Fail to Impress Today’s Customers Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service Episode 130: Chloë Thomas, Customer Manipulation Episode 040: Robert Rose and The New Era of Marketing Episode 012: Millennial Consumers, Anna Bell, and NFL Customer Experience Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie tackle customer experience challenges in many industries with Curtis Kopf, Vice President of Customer Experience for Premera Blue Cross. Behind-the-scenes customer experience challenges A great customer experience is an easy one. But there is often great complexity involved in making those experiences happen. Curtis Kopf has a long history of working with customer-focused organizations that are driven by strong missions. These companies have become leaders in their industries by hiding that complexity, or simplifying internal processes and training programs to remove that complexity from the equation altogether. For many companies, the challenge is not so much about understanding their customers as it is about executing the actual solutions to their challenges. We often feel powerless to neutralize known pain points due to internal processes, industry regulations, legal obligations and safety practices. Sometimes the best improvements come from pushing those perceived limitations and even finding creative ways to work with external agencies that are closely tied to the experience. Curtis explains some of the innovative ways Premera, Amazon and Alaska Airlines have created viable customer experience solutions that were previously considered impossible. Would you like the inside scoop on how these companies have set industry standards with the incredible experiences they create? Listen in! About our guest Curtis Kopf is Vice President of Customer Experience for Premera Blue Cross. Curtis is a visionary leader and digital innovator who has built industry-leading customer experiences.at Alaska Airlines, Microsoft and Amazon.com. As Vice President of Customer Innovation for Alaska Airlines, Curtis built award-winning mobile apps and customer feedback programs, as well as pioneered such innovations as online bag-tags and the use of biometrics. Future Travel Experience named Curtis in June as one of 25 global innovation leaders in the airline industry and Alaska’s mobile app was named by Fortune as the best travel app in America in 2015. Curtis has held a variety of leadership roles in his career - from serving as Amazon’s first General Manager in the UK to developing curriculum and teaching at the UW’s Mobile Business Strategy Certificate Program. He has an undergraduate degree in English from Brown University and a master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins. He is Vice Chairman of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound Board. Connect with Curtis Twitter LinkedIn Related Content Customers That Stick® Post, Customer Experience: At the Edge of a New Discipline 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Add Magic to your Customer Service Training Episode 123: CXPA Live, Regulated Industry Challenges Episode 039: Does Employee Empowerment Work?   Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss infrastructure and the ability to fit into the customer ecosystem as key factors behind the success of any game-changing innovation. Brilliant innovation is still just one step towards the next great thing Tesla Motors plans on making their amazing electric cars more attainable and affordable for the masses. This sounds great, and they certainly have the technology to create the product. But what about the infrastructure? Currently, it can be challenging to find a charging station for these vehicles, and Tesla hasn’t said much about how they are addressing this. This news hearkens back to the early days of the automobile itself. It was many years before it actually made sense for most people to own one, as the fuel as a commodity was less accessible than the vehicles themselves. Perhaps the same fuel companies that (eventually) grew around the gas-powered auto industry will evolve to accommodate the electric cars. Perhaps not, but Tesla seems willing to take that risk and move forward. What about your next innovation? Can you afford to take big risks like Tesla and boldly go into the future? If you can’t, you must consider how your concept will fit into today’s customer ecosystem. Is there an infrastructure in place to support the use of your product? If not, you may find yourself at the mercy of other organizations, or time itself, to see it through to success. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Innovation is No Longer Optional 360Connext® post, 5 Silent Issues that Destroy Customer-Focused Innovation Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us Episode 077: Crowdsourcing Innovation with Customers Episode 072: Matt Phillips, Innovation Expert Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest shares how Columbus Metropolitan Library creates an environment that’s attractive, comfortable, and relevant to today’s rapidly-changing needs and lifestyles. Columbus Metropolitan Library: Creating a community around knowledge To remain relevant and attractive in today’s world, organizations of all kinds need to rethink the ideal customer experience often. And in some cases, they must rethink the way they do business. Libraries are no exception. But sadly, most have not changed much with the times. Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) has maintained impressive membership and attendance rates in spite of a growing belief (currently about 66% of Americans) that libraries aren’t important to their lives. Why visit a physical library in today’s connected world? As Chief Customer Experience Officer, Alison Circle has brought a wealth of marketing and customer experience wisdom to CML. By tuning into the changing needs of members and the communities they serve, libraries like CML are providing comfortable and rich experiences that can’t be delivered through your laptop. For CML, customer-centric thinking creates an environment that inspires and strengthens communities by answering to their rapidly-evolving quest for knowledge. Alison shares some of the ways innovative architecture, engagement, and processes have brought a sustainable experience strategy to an age-old industry. Listen to Alison’s fascinating story and learn what CML has done to differentiate their experience from traditional libraries. About our guest Alison Circle, Chief Customer Experience Officer for Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML), has more than 25 years marketing experience. For 13 years she was National Marketing Director for Garrison Keillor and "A Prairie Home Companion.” Following that she was Creative Director and Account Director at Jack Morton Worldwide, a global branding agency. In 2004 she joined CML as Director of Marketing and Strategic Planning. In that capacity she rebranded the organization and won over 20 national and international awards for her work. In 2010 that work was recognized with the Library Journal’s Library of the Year and in 2011 she was named a Library Journal “Mover & Shaker.” She is an in-demand speaker on issues of libraries, customer experience and design. In 2012 she was promoted to Chief Customer Experience Officer where she serves on the Executive Leadership Team and oversees 23 library locations, Marketing and all programs and products.  She leads programming, experience and design for the library’s building program for 10 buildings, including the Main Library. Most recently she has launched a Customer First philosophy to lead CML to a new level of customer experience. Explore and connect with the Columbus Metropolitan Library Twitter Facebook Instagram Pinterest YouTube Columbus Metropolitan Library website Related Content Customers That Stick® Post, What the Gainesville Police Officer Teaches Us About Customer Service 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Let Customers Guide Your Greatest Innovation Episode 125: How Environment Impacts Experience Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Think Closing Libraries Wouldn’t Impact Them, Their Families Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss the impact different methods of payment have on customers and the way we do business. Methods of payment and the experiences around them We admit payment methods aren’t a sexy topic like unboxing or social media engagement. And that’s why this part of the customer experience is so often overlooked! But trust on this one: It’s huge. So how does method of payment fit in, and how much of an impact does it have on your customer experience? Would you know? From those holding up the line writing old-fashioned checks to those throwing a fit because they can’t use their AMEX, it’s typically your front-line staff that takes the heat. Have you thought of your payment methods as a driver for attracting or losing your best customers? For larger companies, it’s easier to provide numerous payment options to help provide the best experiences for everyone. But many smaller and growing companies need to choose. It means striking the right balance between customer demands and making a realistic assessment of the resources you have to deliver. You also need to consider how it affects your staff, especially in hospitality-based businesses where employees thrive on tips. Is it worth the time, resources and risks involved to continue accepting cash, checks or special cards? And how can you keep customers happy if you decide to make changes? Maybe there’s an app that will help eliminate some of your biggest challenges around payment. Listen in and decide (carefully) for yourself! Related Content 360Connext® post, How Stripe Features the End-User Experience to Enhance B2B Sales Customers That Stick® post, On Keeping the Customer but Losing the Business Episode 115: Do Loyalty Programs Still Work? Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Chloë Thomas, author of Customer Manipulation. Why call it "customer manipulation?" Many businesses struggle because they refuse to think of it this way. But in reality, it is our jobs as marketers to manipulate customer behavior. We use whatever tools we can to attract customers, to get them to spend more, then send new customers our way. So how can we keep a handle on customer behavior, without being pushy or feeling guilty? Chloë explains how to use the customer conversation as the “global term for all interactions customers have with your business. A prevalent theme in Chloë’s book, it’s not just talk. It’s about building trust through consistency, great customer service, and getting customers to share their positive experiences with others. Can you stay in control of your own customer conversation? Listen in! About our guest Chloë Thomas is an eCommerce expert focused on eCommerce strategy and marketing, to help eCommerce people make better decisions as they build their path to success. Author of 4 books, keynote speaker, and host of the eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast. Her latest book is currently riding high in the Amazon rankings – Customer Manipulation: How to Influence your Customers to Buy More and Why and Ethical Approach will Always Win. Connect with Chloë Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Chloë’s site, eCommerce MasterPlan Related Content Customers That Stick® Newsletter, The Customer Conversation, plus a Free Gift 360Connext® post and Slideshare, Changing Customer Behavior: Your Brain Loves a Story Episode 043: When Is it Okay to Hack Customer Behavior? Chloe’s book, Customer Manipulation Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss recent issues with the TSA check-in process and how many of the customer experience nightmares that emerged around it could have been avoided. TSA Customer Service Customer service in government security… Dare we use these phrases in the same sentence? In many cases, TSA agents have done an excellent job providing good customer service while staying firm with security regulations. There are many people doing great work in the organization! However, the TSA has been in the news a lot lately due to increasing wait times and other poor experiences. Travelers have taken to Twitter using the hashtag #hatethewait to vent the frustrations about long lines and ill-prepared staff. This could happen to any organization that doesn’t look ahead, see trends, or react quickly enough. What’s really wrong here, and how could these situations be avoided? Adam and Jeannie discuss their own experiences with the TSA to uncover how they could leverage resources they already have to ease frustration, avoid bottlenecks, and improve the overall experience. Related Content 360Connext® post, How Micromapping Can Save Your Business Episode 123: CXPA Live, Regulated Industry Challenges Episode 022: TripIt’s Amy Jackson Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest discusses the digital fan engagement strategy behind the Copa America Centenario, one of the world’s largest soccer tournaments. Fan engagement in the digital age There’s much more to the modern fan engagement than getting the crowd excited at the stadium. Today, fans are engaging on social media, websites, mobile apps and email lists. Die-hard fans are looking for more information and a deeper connection to the game, while newcomers and guests are just hoping to figure out what it’s all about. Christianne discusses the techniques used for reaching out to all kinds of sports fans via digital channels. Through a carefully-engineered digital strategy, fans are able to engage with other fans, their favorite teams, and even the players themselves. It’s not just about having the information available on the web and mobile devices. It’s about discovering how fans engage differently per channel, and offering experiences on those channels that are unique yet well-connected. Going mobile with fan engagement is much like going mobile with any organization. If you’re not providing an experience that offers something different than your website, why bother with a mobile app or social media? Christianne shares how the mobile app for Copa America Centenario helps enrich the experience and connect fans with their favorite teams and players on a more personal level. Why not do this for your organization? Listen in to learn how to connect with your customers and turn them into fans. About our guest Currently overseeing digital for the upcoming Copa America Centenario on behalf of U.S. Soccer, Christianne Harder is a long-time athletics communications strategist. Starting off in college football in team operations and recruiting, she now focuses on how fans interact with web, mobile, and social media. A graduate of UC Berkeley (Go Bears!), Christianne also earned her Master in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership from the University of Washington in 2010. Connect with Christianne Twitter Instagram  Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Omnichannel Customer Service with the Human Touch 360Connext® post, Sports Lessons – How to Turn Customers into Fans Episode 071: The Fan Experience Goes Digital Episode 063: How to Create Frugal Customer Experiences (River Plate Soccer Club) Episode 028: Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam discuss transparency in business, and what it means for customers, employees and stakeholders. Seeing through the concept of transparency How much information do you really need to share, and with whom? This is an age-old conundrum, but the digital age has brought about new challenges. Transparency has become a hot buzzword in recent years, and with good reason. Customers, employees and stakeholders are demanding more information than ever before. This is especially true for millennials, and they are using the many new tools available for digging up information companies don’t offer up-front. Adam and Jeannie share some stories about transparency gone wrong. When is it too much information for customers? For employees and stakeholders? Before you lay it all out on the table, you need to strike the right balance between protecting sensitive information and offering disclosure.  Where or how you share the information can also make a huge difference. Should the onus be on customers to dig in and find out what they’d like to know about your company? Dig into this episode and find out! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, 5 Millennial Traits to Improve Customer Service 360Connext® post, No Longer a Buzzword: Customers Redefine Transparency Episode 100: Customer Service 100 Years Ago Episode 083: Cause Marketing Done Well Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss the challenges of creating a culture around patient empathy with Sven Gierlinger, Chief Experience Officer for Northwell Health. Embedding patient empathy into process and culture Healthcare workers are indeed heroes. With sensitive tasks and complicated registration processes at hand, creating experiences that make patients feel safe and comfortable is a tall order. With a background in hospitality at Ritz-Carlton, Northwell Health Chief Experience Officer Sven Gierlinger looks at patient experience through a different lens. Like the hospitality industry, as Sven explains, healthcare “puts heads on beds and gets paid for it.” And his own past experiences as a long-term inpatient helps him amplify the need for healthcare organizations to embed a focus on service and empathy into clinical processes. Thanks to forward-thinking patient experience experts like Sven, we’ve come a long way. But there’s still a lot of work to be done! Listen in as Sven shares some of the best ways to create a culture around patient empathy. About our guest As Chief Experience Officer for Northwell Health, Sven is responsible for creating a superior and consistent service experience for patients, visitors and employees. Prior to his current position he was Vice President of Hospitality and Service Culture at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. In that role he established a culture of service excellence through development and implementation of standards, system-wide rounding, and training programs for all employees ranging from first impressions to leader coaching. He was a driving force in creating excellence and consistency in the patient experience. Connect with Sven Twitter LinkedIn Related Content Customers That Stick® post, When Bad Systems Happen to Good People 360Connext® post, The Intentionality of Patient Empathy Episode 086: Adrienne Boissy, The Patient Experience Episode 121: CXPA Live, Healthcare Experience Observations Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss how the Cleveland Clinic uses environmental design as an integral part of the experience. Environmental design: An integral part of the experience The Cleveland clinic is world renowned as a pioneer in improving the patient experience. But aside from focusing on patient empathy and access, they are also using art and design to help create an environment that’s conducive to the experience they want to deliver. In this episode, Jeannie and Adam share observations from their visits to the Cleveland Clinic, and how they use structural and artistic elements to create a feeling of tranquility and well-being. How does the environment you create impact the experiences you deliver?  Related Content 360Connext™ post, The Intentionality of Patient Empathy Episode 098: Brian Solis, Where Business Meets Design Episode 121: CXPA Live, Healthcare Experience Observations Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie interview Brian Andrews, VP of Customer Experience at Sprint, at the 2016 CXPA Insight Exchange. Brian Andrews, Pioneering NPS at Intuit and Sprint Before there was a playbook or a Harvard Business Review article on the practice, Brian was adopting Net Promoter Score at Intuit. Adam and Jeannie had the chance to discuss Brian’s challenges and triumphs during the early days of using NPS. Brian is now the Vice President of Customer Experience at Sprint. Under his direction, they have adopted NPS with great success. With more than 6,000 retail locations, Sprint is using NPS as part of a holistic customer experience program to deliver exceptional experiences through a highly-engaged, well-enabled staff. Thinking of adopting NPS in your organization? With Brian’s help, customer experience powerhouses like Intuit and Sprint have laid the groundwork. Listen in and learn how NPS can help fine-tune your customer experience. About our guest Brian Andrews joined Sprint in February, 2015 to lead Sprint’s Customer Experience transformation and install Sprint’s Net Promoter System (NPS.) Prior to Sprint, Brian held executive roles at Compaq/HP and Intuit, where we pioneered process improvement, customer experience, and loyalty efforts. While at Intuit, the company became the FIRST to adopt NPS! Brian also is a charter member of the CXPA and has been actively involved. Connect with Brian LinkedIn Twitter Related Content 360Connext® post, Are Your KPI’s Leading You to a Disaster? Customers That Stick® post, Customer Service: What Does Good Look Like? Episode 097: The Best Customer Loyalty Metrics Episode 046: Tom Schwab on Inbound Marketing Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the fourth and last episode in a series of live reports from the CXPA Insight Exchange, Jeannie and Adam explore the challenges of improving customer experience around industry regulations. Industry regulations are no excuse! Companies in heavily-regulated industries like airlines, banks and insurance agencies have to make sure everything’s up to code and in compliance. (And with good reason!) But strict regulations often give rise to interactions that seem impossible to work into customer-focused experiences. Forward-thinking companies are rejecting the notion that experiences bound to legalities concerning safety, liability, and ethical codes don’t count when it comes to creating a better overall experience. With help from customer experience professionals, companies like Virgin, Capital One and Humana have found clever ways to add a human touch to the regulated parts of their experiences. They’re winning customers over by adding delight in places previously considered too risky to get creative with. What parts of your customer journey do you think are “off limits” for improvement due to industry regulations? Another look at them can reveal huge opportunities to set yourself apart from competitors. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, A 3-Point Checklist for Reducing Customer Hassle           360Connext® post, 4 Ways to Prevent Lawsuits Through Customer Experience Insights Episode 117: CXPA Live, The Voice of the Customer Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics Episode 121: CXPA Live, Healthcare Experience Observations Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tema Frank discusses her latest book, People Shock, and how to balance technology with process and people for a better customer experience. Connecting people with process As we rely more on technology, we acquire new processes. And those processes often don’t translate to the ideal customer experience. “IT does not think like customers,” says today’s guest, Tema Frank! And the evidence is all around us. Today, the best of intentions can lead to customer service disasters, simply because a set of processes has taken precedence over human interaction.  Tema shares many ways you can help your own organization find the balance between people and process where tech is relied on heavily. She outlines a time-tested three-step process from her book, People Shock, to ensure your technology remains conducive to a terrific customer experience. How can you inspire senior executives to help keep your processes connected to the people they are designed for? Tema knows what it takes to strike a harmonious balance. How vulnerable will your organization be when the next underdog decides to “uberize” the experience in your industry? Listen in to keep your processes connected to the people who bring you profits. About our guest Tema Frank has worked in customer-experience related fields for over three decades. In 2001 she founded Web Mystery Shoppers Inc., the world’s first company to assess omnichannel customer service: web, phone, chat, email and in-store. Using social media techniques in the days before social media existed, she built a database of 75,000 “mystery shoppers” worldwide. Her clients have included Bank of America, the Royal Bank of Canada, ING Direct, Expedia, and many government and other organizations of various sizes. Her industry-leading research has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Globe & Mail and other business and academic publications. A best-selling author, her second book, PeopleShock: The Path to Profits When Customers Rule, comes out this fall. Based on interviews with over 150 executives, entrepreneurs and experts, it combines case studies, data and practical action steps for customer experience and business success in the digital era. Her podcast, Frank Reactions on Customer Experience, can be found in the usual places and at http://frankreactions.com/show Connect with Tema Tema’s podcast, Frank Reactions Twitter LinkedIn Related Content Pre-order Tema’s new book, PeopleShock: The Path to Profits When Customers Rule Free Download: First chapter of People Shock Free Download: Tema’s 33 Ways to Scare Off Customers (& how to WIN them instead!) Customers That Stick® post, 6 Steps for Rolling Out New Technology to Frontline Staff 360Connext® post,  Tearing Down the Customer Process Road Blocks Episode 116: Terry Brock, Growing Your Business with Tech Episode 111: Analog Customer Experiences Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the third episode of a series of live reports from the CXPA Insight Exchange, Jeannie and Adam discuss new challenges and opportunities around the healthcare experience. Decoding the healthcare experience At this year’s CXPA Insight Exchange, our co-host Jeannie Walters took to the stage with Jackie McAtee to share and evaluate a personal journey through the healthcare system. But they weren’t alone! Healthcare experience was a more prevalent theme than ever at this year’s event. Leaders in the healthcare industry are realizing the experience is not just about appointments and exams. With a greater focus on empathy, they’re addressing healthcare as a service much like we approach customer experience. What’s next? Adam and Jeannie share some exciting news about innovations in the healthcare experience. Great new tech is being used in tandem with a better understanding of the patient journey, and the result could transform how we all experience healthcare. Listen in! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, When Bad Systems Happen to Good People 360Connext® post, The Intentionality of Patient Empathy Episode 117: CXPA Live, The Voice of the Customer Episode 119: CXPA Live, Predictive Analytics Episode 086: Dr. Adrienne Boissy, The Patient Experience Episode 004: Healthcare Customer Service Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experience mapping expert and author Jim Kalbach shares little-known but powerful secrets to leading and executing a successful mapping project. The holistic approach to experience mapping Thinking of creating a customer journey map, process diagram or strategy map for your organization? These can be invaluable tools for growing your business and improving your customer experience. So how can you create useful maps and visualizations that actually help you understand and optimize your processes and strategies? In this in-depth interview, Jim Kalbach outlines the key benefits of creating visuals versus lengthy reports and boring PowerPoints. It is through this understanding that a successful mapping project is executed. Too often, mapping projects become all about the end product. We just want to finish it! But is a true journey map ever done? The success of any mapping project, as Jim explains, is about the process- not the finished product. It is through this process that successful mapping projects lead to critical discoveries, improved communication and exciting opportunities for innovation. Would you like to start a mapping project that gets results? Jim has some great tips on how to get started, get the most out of the process, and use your maps as the tools and resources they were meant to be. About our guest Jim Kalbach is a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently the Head of Customer Success at MURAL, a leading online digital whiteboard. Jim has worked as a design leader with large companies, such as eBay, Audi, SONY, Elsevier Science, LexisNexis, and Citrix. Jim plays jazz bass in jam sessions and combos in Jersey City, where his currently lives. In 2007 Jim published his first full-length book, Designing Web Navigation (O’Reilly). His second book, Mapping Experiences (O’Reilly) was release in 2016. He blogs at experiencinginformation.com and tweets under @jimkalbach. Connect with Jim Jim’s blog Twitter LinkedIn Related Content Jim’s Book, Mapping Experiences Customers That Stick® post, The Magic Number in Customer Experience Is Two 360Connext® post, 5 Customer Journey Mapping Mistakes that Lead You Nowhere Episode 068: Annette Franz, Customer Journey Maps Get Real Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second episode of a series of live reports from the CXPA Insight Exchange, Jeannie and Adam discuss predictive analytics for getting way ahead of customer service issues. Predictive analytics for proactive customer service We just love technology that helps gather and analyze data, don’t you? The problem with data, though, is that it’s all in the past. It’s great to have a solution at hand for a known customer service issues, but that means a customer has already had a mishap with your brand. And by the time the data is analyzed and reported, it could mean many more customers are having the same issue. Oops! If you’re a regular listener, you’re probably ready to own the issue like a superstar and wow the customer with your recovery. But what if you could avoid the need for those stellar feats of customer service heroism? Some companies are leveraging new technology to see well into the future with immense amounts of data from different sources. They’re using this data to generate possible outcomes, both good and bad, and they’ve been at it long enough to know the accuracy is startling! At the CXPA Insight Exchange, the crowd was abuzz about predictive analytics. Could this be the holy grail of proactive customer service? Our hosts were live on the scene to tell you what it’s all about. Listen in! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, What Do We Know About Big Data? (Infographic)           360Connext® post, Performance Metrics Are Great, But Always Late Episode 117: CXPA Lice, The Voice of the Customer Episode 097: The Best Customer Loyalty Metrics Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Williams, CEO of Make-A-Wish®, shares his expertise in delivering incredible experiences to a highly complex customer base in the nonprofit sector and beyond. Who are nonprofit customers, and are they any different? We talk a lot about showing the human side of a brand to create an experience that customers connect with on an emotional level. To help accomplish this, many corporations are looking to nonprofit partners to help promote their brand and build anticipation. Make-A-Wish® is one of the most successful nonprofit organizations of our time, both in accomplishing their goals and creating outstanding cause marketing initiatives. Why do so many companies choose Make-A-Wish® for their cause marketing campaigns? CEO David Williams shares the story behind this hugely popular organization. Unlike most companies, nonprofits have a complex multidimensional customer base. It’s not easy to keep the many moving parts behind corporate sponsorships working in harmony while delivering outstanding experiences for donors, recipients, and the many chapters within the organization. David also shares some of the secrets behind keeping an engaged workforce. Just like paid employees, volunteers need to feel appreciated and know they are making a difference. Make-A-Wish® has a unique culture where there’s a huge emphasis on fulfillment for volunteers. Whether you’re a local nonprofit or a global retailer, David has some universal tips for you. Learn how Make-A-Wish® builds anticipation and humanizes brand experiences while creating a culture around delivering on big (really BIG!) promises. About our guest As president and chief executive officer, David Williams leads the national staff and 62 chapters of Make-A-Wish® in its simple, heartfelt mission: granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since 1980, the world’s largest wish-granting organization has granted the wishes of more than 250,000 children in the United States. Under his leadership, the national office annual revenue has nearly tripled to $90 million, distributions to chapters have increased five-fold to $56 million, and overall revenue including chapters has increased by over $100 million to $300 million. Before joining the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Williams spent 11 years at Habitat for Humanity International, rising to executive vice president and chief operating officer. He lives in Arizona with his wife Martha. They have two grownchildren, Kate and Carson. Connect with David Make-A-Wish® Twitter Facebook YouTube Related Content Jeannie’s post via Social Media Club, How Many Slacktivists does it Take to Raise $14Million? Customers That Stick® post, Why Customer Service Is Important For Nonprofits Episode 083: Cause Marketing Done Well Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first in a series of live reports from the CXPA Insight Exchange, Adam and Jeannie discuss new trends for hearing the real voice of the customer. Are you hearing the real voice of the customer? A few years ago, the buzz amongst customer experience professionals was all about the data. With so much new technology for gathering and analyzing it, voice of the customer initiatives suddenly became more viable than ever. And yet, CX leaders report there’s still a profound emotional disconnect between customers and organizations. The real customer is still not being heard! At the CXPA Insight Exchange this month, Jeannie and Adam uncovered new ways to go beyond the data and bring the real voice to executives and make sure it’s heard throughout the organization. What’s next for VOC? Listen in! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, To WOW Customers, Listen and Care 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Boost Your Customer Service Listening Episode 036: Jennifer Maldonado, Voice of the Customer Expert Episode 029: (CXPA Special) Insights from Top Customer Experience Pros Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest shares ideas on how you can grow your business using technology and time-honored principles. Growing Your Business with Tech Growing a business today is fundamentally the same as it’s been for generations, in that it’s all about building relationships. Today, technology brings us many new advantages for building those relationships. But that same tech can put you at a disadvantage if you’re using it the wrong way. Terry Brock explains how social platforms and new communication technologies are revolutionizing customer engagement. But the different options can be overwhelming, and it’s about much more than just getting your message out to more people. Growing businesses strive to build a brand presence and gain influence through social media, but they also must know their audiences and learn the soft skills necessary to communicate effectively with them on these different channels. Much like getting dressed appropriately for a fancy dinner or bringing the right supplies for an outdoor activity, Terry explains that you must be prepared to contribute to and respect the protocol of the environment. New communication tools are being developed rapidly, and communities are building around them right now. Do you know how to find the right audience? Will you know the best way to engage that audience when you get there? Terry gives us some clues about what to watch out for and how to be prepared. About our guest Terry Brock is an internationally recognized (37 countries and counting!) business resource in the areas of marketing and technology. He is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He is also the past Chief Enterprise Blogger with Skype and former Editor-in-Chief for AT&T’s biggest blog. Terry shares practical ideas that business people can use with technology to build solid, profitable relationships. He is currently a syndicated columnist with Business Journals (43 papers across America with 11 million page views monthly.) Connect with Terry com Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Facebook YouTube Related Content Terry’s TED Talk, How to overcome overwhelmed Blab 360Connext® post and Slideshare, Is Your Customer Experience Technology Helpful or Creepy? Customers That Stick® post, Don’t Forget the Connection in Interconnection Episode 106: J V Crum, Social Consciousness in Business Episode 020: Social Selling, Tom Martin, and Tinder Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traditional customer loyalty programs aren’t performing nearly as well as they used to. How can we forge loyalty with the next generation of customers? The next generation of loyalty programs Punch cards, reward points and other incentives have helped companies forge customer loyalty in the past. But these methods have lost a lot of ground! Customers are using technology to help them shop with hundreds, if not thousands of competitors. The advantages of saving up points or checking emails for short-lived discounts don’t seem as sexy to today’s consumers. A new trend in customer loyalty is really taking off, especially with the next generation of consumers. Smart companies like Amazon have discovered a demand for pay-to-play loyalty programs. (In case you haven’t noticed, Amazon Prime has gotten HUGE!) This is great news for everyone involved. Customers now know what to expect for their loyalty, and the companies who offer these programs see an immediate return on their investment. From a business owner’s perspective, this sure beats waiting forever and a day to see if those customers actually ever return! But it’s not just big brands that are using similar strategies to create rock-solid relationships with customers. And if you’re still using a traditional model for your loyalty program, we’ve seen a lot of evidence that shows it may not be generating the loyal following your brand deserves. There may be a better way! Would your customers make an up-front financial commitment with the promise of continuing value? Adam and Jeannie share some new ways companies are gaining an impressive following by innovating around the needs of today’s customers. How do they make it work? How did they know it was time for a change? Listen in and find out! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Customer Loyalty: Winning Hearts and Minds 360Connext® post,  3 Themes for Driving Loyalty Infographic: The Science of Customer Loyalty Episode 097: The Best Customer Loyalty Metrics Episode 058: Jill Griffin, The Loyalty Maker Episode 057: Customer Loyalty Trumps Industry Disruption Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest shares his secrets for tying creative principles into brand experiences. Unleash your inner artist! Creativity is the driver behind groundbreaking ideas and memorable brand experiences. And solving unforeseen customer service problems requires a level of finesse nobody can get from a script or rule book. In many ways, these things require the work of an artist. However, those creating brand experiences often work in a typical corporate environment, where artistic thinking is easily stifled and forgotten. A true artist, as our guest Ron Tite explains, does not worry about ROI, competition or sales quotas. Sound scary? Maybe, but companies like AirBNB have found success in truly creative solutions to real-life problems, and their competitors never saw it coming! So how can you stay ahead of the next AirBNB in your industry? How can you BE the next AirBNB? Fear not. You can still find your inner artist! Join us as we discuss how to create an environment that’s conducive to creative thinking. Ron shares tips for channeling your inner artist to deliver groundbreaking innovation, truly valuable content, and game-changing customer service solutions. About our guest Trained at Toronto’s legendary Second City, Ron was named one of the “Top 10 Creative Canadians” by Marketing Magazine. He’s been an award winning advertising writer and Creative Director for some of the world’s most respected brands including Air France, Evian, Fidelity, Hershey, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Intel, Microsoft, Volvo, and many others. He is founder and CEO of content marketing agency The Tite Group, Executive Producer & Host of the Canadian Comedy Award-winning show Monkey Toast, and is a featured marketing expert on the new Mark Burnett-produced business reality show, Dream Funded. He has written for a number of other television series, penned a children’s book, and wrote, performed, and produced the play, The Canadian Baby Bonus. In demand as a speaker on innovation, branding, content marketing, and his own take on modern business, “The Expression Economy”, Ron has spoken to leading organizations all over the world. His upcoming book, Everyone’s An Artist (Or At Least They Should Be), will be published by HarperCollins in 2016. Connect with Ron Twitter Linkedin Facebook Instagram Related Content Simon Sinek’s TED talk, Start with Why Adam Grant’s TED talk, The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers Customers That Stick® post, To WOW Customers, Listen and Care 360Connext® post, 5 Silent Issues that Destroy Customer-Focused Innovation Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us Episode 106: J V Crum, Social Consciousness in Business Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What makes a great mobile app stand out from the majority that never get used? Today we share some of our favorites and what makes them home screen essentials. The magic of our favorite apps Companies are quickly bridging the cross-channel gaps to deliver enhanced experiences through mobile technology. From apps like TripIt that help organize travel details to retail apps that use geolocation to help customers find the products you need most, Adam and Jeannie talk about their own favorite apps. Both having extensive backgrounds in customer-focused practices, an app has to be really great to stand out to customer experience pros like our hosts! After all, only 16% of mobile apps get used more than once! And why do most of them fail? Many companies create apps simply because someone in a high place has set a goal to have one. And while there are a number of reasons an app might fail, it’s often because they are created without considering the goals of the actual user. So do your customers need an app? Before you jump in and design a mobile experience, Adam and Jeannie share the secret sauce behind some great apps that truly drive loyalty through improved experiences. Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Interview: GetApp’s Top 25 Customer Service Apps 360Connext post, 5 Mobile Personalization Tweaks to Keep Customers On Track Episode 098: Brian Solis, Where Business Meets Design Episode 006: Mobile Customer Experience, Tabitha Dunn, and Sephora’s Mobile Integration Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You have 5 seconds to win the customer in a retail setting. How can you use neuroscience and smart package design to jumpstart the customer experience? The science of package design Marketing your brand in a retail setting today is more competitive than ever. The decision to buy is now based on much more than just quality and pricing. Brand packaging, as our guest Terri Goldstein explains, used to be an afterthought- often left in the hands of the ones printing the labels. Today, executives understand they have five seconds to win the customer over many other brand choices. Savvy marketers are using neuroscience to tap into customer emotions and influence choices. Smart package design is much more than just making the product stand out. Brands need to consider whom they are reaching out to. How do those customers want to feel? How will they use the product beyond its intended use, or as an expression of their own tastes and values? Package designers like Terri use a visual vocabulary based on neuroscience to create packages that call to us at the store. These designs connect with us on a subconscious level so we want to bring them home, live with them, and be seen with them. So how can you create packaging that speaks to your customers? Terri shares some standout examples of highly successful package designs, and how they create connections strong enough to negate pricing preferences and break old habits. About our guest Terri Goldstein is the CEO and founder of The Goldstein Group. At The Goldstein Group, Terri and her veteran team of writers, structural engineers, graphic designers, and production specialists generate iconic package designs that truly make a difference to trade, consumers and the clients that she serves. Under Terri’s direction, The Goldstein Group has created brand imagery systems for: Aqua Net, Bayer Aspirin, Cutex, Rolaids, Allegra, Nasacort, Phillips’ Colon Health, Carmex, Selsun Blue, Panasonic Women’s Shavers, Balmex, Gentle Naturals, Little Remedies, Cortizone •10, Heinz Brands, Gulden’s, PAM, Hills Bros., IcyHot, MoonPie, and One-A-Day to name a few. TGG is also active in the global arena with USP/Pharmacia in Poland, APR Research in Italy and HRA Pharma in France. Connect with Terri The Goldstein Group Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Related Content 360Connext post, 5 Key Questions for Designing Your Ideal Customer Experience Customers That Stick® post, Tell Marketing: The Customer Experience Begins with Them  Episode 098: Brian Solis, Where Experience Meets Design Episode 025: Justin Zacks, Design Thinking at Citrix Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You need rules and processes to keep things running smoothly. But do the resulting analog customer experiences give rise to serious pain points in your customer journey? Analog customer experiences Artificial intelligence, customer service scripts and chat bots can be life-savers for your customer service team. It’s great when we find new ways to streamline and automate our processes, and even better when we find the solutions that are “just right.” So what happens when we put those analog experiences on auto-pilot? What is actually happening? Beware of the feeling that you’ve found the solution to all your problems! Scripted responses tend to become the experience when employees are not empowered to use their judgement. And when we rely on technology that literally has no sense of judgement, we create experiences that make no sense to the customer in the moment.   Analog experiences often inadvertently ignore real service issues. And meanwhile, support tickets are being closed, and the “right” boxes are being checked off. Everything looks great from your perspective when customers are left feeling ignored or misunderstood. Pay attention to what happens around those processes, or your analog experiences will eventually miss the mark and turn a customer who just needs a little help into a former customer. Related Content Huffington Post article, The Best Customer Service Reps are the Ones Who Pretend to be Thor 360Connext® post, Do Your Communication Tactics Undermine Your Intentions? Customers That Stick® post, Putting the Customer Ahead of the Customer Service Checklist             Episode 049: Are Canned Customer Greetings a Good Idea? Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest discusses how he helps big hospitality brands improve the guest experience and forge better connections with their customers, resulting in explosive growth. Growth hacking with an excellent guest experience Mike Ganino shares how he helped companies like Potbelly and Protein Bar grow from small companies with only a handful of locations to beloved household names. Wouldn’t you like to do this for your brand? It all comes back to culture and leadership. Mike explains how he helps companies overcome the organizational challenges that have an impact on the customer experience. News flash: it’s not just training, or the tools and resources. People in leadership roles need to understand the impact they have on the customer experience, and then understand the impact they want to have. And though many leaders already know this, they struggle to decide where and how to get started. That’s where Mike steps in! Need to improve the service experience and grow your brand? Mike outlines the process that helps his clients transform their experiences and keep them consistently remarkable as they scale. Listen in! About our guest Mike Ganino is a hospitality industry expert, global keynote speaker, and author of the upcoming Culture Kitchen: Recipes for Building a Great Brand. He is the former Chief Operating Officer at one of the hottest fast casual 2.0 brands (Protein Bar). Mike is a leading expert on building a brand that everyone wants to be part of by creating a captivating culture. He has worked with a number of category-leading brands like ChowNow, Uber, US Foods, Pressed Juicery, Protein Bar, Yum! Brands, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Connect with Mike Mike's website www.mike.tips Twitter LinkedIn Snapchat Instagram Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Faces of Customer Experience: Erin Archuleta 360Connext® post, A Road Warrior’s Cry: Micro Matters in the Guest Experience Episode 074: Denise Lee Yohn, Brand-Building Expert Episode 065: Restaurant Customer Service Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission To Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss how the most innovative leaders in the fashion industry are responding to ever-increasing pressure to innovate quickly. Tougher customer expectations inspire rapid innovation Today, fashion demands can change as fast as your Pinterest boards. Keeping up with these demands poses many challenges for retailers. Burberry and Tom Ford are now promising the hottest new runway fashions will be available immediately, not six to eight months from now, which is the norm. How can retailers keep up without killing their margins with overstock and clearance sales? Innovative retailers like Zara have proven traditional methods of inventory management and gathering feedback may be obsolete. They leverage the scarcity principle and real-time communication to streamline their inventories while staying on the cutting edge of fashion and building customer anticipation. What will this mean for larger retailers and discount outlets that carry a huge selection or high-end retailers that thrive on exclusivity? Will customers demand rapid innovation in your industry? Adam and Jeannie have some tips to get you ready! Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional 360Connext® post, 5 Silent Issues that Destroy Customer-Focused Innovation Episode 107: Extreme Customization Episode 101: How the Innovation Process Fails Us Episode 084: Sylvie DiGiusto ,Why First Impressions Matter Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guests discuss their new book, Blue Goldfish, and how companies can bridge the gap between people and technology in a world where human-to-human interaction is disappearing from the customer experience. Solving the riddle of frictionless digital commerce  According to Gartner, 80% of B2B transactions will occur without human-to-human interaction by the year 2020. That’s a pretty big game-changer! While technology is creating some amazing opportunities to personalize the B2B experience, many companies are lagging behind in their efforts to leverage this technology to create a frictionless experience. And customers don’t care what’s going on behind the scenes to make the process impersonal and clunky.  Companies like Amazon have managed to use technology to make it easy to do business with no human interaction whatsoever. How can we bridge the gap like they do? Stan and Evan’s new book, Blue Goldfish, was written by crowdsourcing hundreds of great examples to help you understand how the best companies are staying on top of customer relationships while creating easy, innovative and memorable experiences. Our guests share a few of their favorite examples and explain the secrets behind their success. Listen in to hear what’s next for digital customer experience, some exciting news about Stan and Evan’s upcoming books, and tips for making your digital experience frictionless. About our guests Stan Phelps is the founder of 9 INCH, a consultancy that helps brands win the hearts of employees and customers. He has more than 20 years of global marketing experience with IMG, adidas, the PGA, and Synergy. An IBM Futurist, TEDx speaker, and contributor to Forbes, he has written four books: Purple Goldfish, Green Goldfish, Golden Goldfish, and Blue Goldfish. Stan lives in the Containment Area for Relocated Yankees in Cary, NC with his wife Jennifer and two boys, Thomas and James. Connect with Stan 9 Inch Marketing Stan’s books Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Google+ Evan Carroll is an author, speaker, and experience architect at Evan Carroll & Associates. His career spans roles in user experience, marketing, and product management for leading agencies and technology companies such as IBM, Capstrat, and Channel Advisor. He’s the author of two technology books: Your Digital Afterlife and Blue Goldfish. A North Carolina native, Evan has a BS and MS from UNC Chapel Hill and lives in Raleigh. Connect with Evan Evan Carroll & Associates Evan’s books Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Related Content Customers That Stick® post, Don’t Forget the Connection in Interconnection 360Connext® post, Testing Digital Experiences: How You’re Doing More Harm than Good Episode 007: Communicating Internally, Stan Phelps, and The Audience Experience Episode 071: The Fan Experience Goes Digital Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss cutting-edge new levels of customization and how they are making life better while changing how many companies do business. Redefining customization We’ve talked a lot about the importance of personalization for customers. Typically, that applies mostly to how we communicate. Innovative ways of collecting and managing customer data have helped a great deal. So what happens when highly-specialized customer data can be applied to advances in 3D printing and the Internet of Things? The word “customization” is about to take on a whole new meaning. Adam and Jeannie  discuss new ways physical products can now be highly specialized to suit the  individual customer. For instance, ear buds can now be custom made to fit the  unique curves of someone’s ears, and customers are saying it’s well worth the extra few dollars and wait time. With these new capabilities, there are many exciting opportunities on the horizon. But they certainly won’t come without new challenges! How can this level of customization be delivered on a larger scale? And what happens to large and small manufacturers when we have cheaper 3D printing capabilities at home? We’re right on the edge of a huge change in the way we perceive and execute customization. What could this mean for your own business? Listen in! Related Content Beatport News article, These game-changing earbuds won SXSW’s top tech innovation award 360Connext® post, 5 Silent Issues that Destroy Customer-Focused Innovation Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional Episode 077: Crowdsourcing Innovation with Customers Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest shares the principles of social consciousness in business, and how he made millions providing intrinsic value. Building a great company with social consciousness Are you in business to solve real problems for people, or are you in business to put money in your pocket? This is a question today’s guest J V Crum would really like to ask yourself. At the core of building a great company today, J V explains, you must approach business from a consciousness perspective. J V gives us some highlights from his book and introduces the concept of Second-Stage Capitalism, where it’s just as much about the success of everyone involved- including the customer- as it is for the success of the business or business owner. Take it from a self-made millionaire: The days of making a sustainable fortune by marketing another useless gadget are over. To succeed in today’s business world, you need to provide intrinsic value. You need to understand how your product or service and the experience around it brings your customers and society as a whole to a better state. J V also explains the importance of strong customer experience principles in building and maintaining any business today. By combining social consciousness and excellent customer experience, J V has built a solid reputation and a strong foundation for doing good business. (Did we mention he made millions??)  Listen in and learn his secrets! About our guest J V Crum III, JD, MBA, became a self-made entrepreneur millionaire in his twenties. He is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, certified business coach, licensed attorney, serial entrepreneur, Huffington Post Columnist on conscious business, and is host of the #1 Ranked “Conscious Millionaire Podcast”, which is broadcast M-F. He is the Founder and CEO of Conscious Millionaire Institute LLC, a global entrepreneur business coaching, training, and wealth-product business. Connect with J V J V’s Site and podcast, Conscious Millionaire LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Related Content Check out J V Crum’s books 360Connext® post, 5 Ways to Instill Customer Focused Values Throughout your Organization Episode 102: Jim Rembach, Fast Leader Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To create a great customer experience, we need to peel back the layers of the organization and look at what happens far behind customer-facing parts of the journey. How does offstage customer experience affect your customers? Offstage customer experience is vital to your overall strategy Well-trained customer service reps are a lot like onstage actors- as great as they are, the audience will not rave about the show if the seats are uncomfortable or the microphones don’t work! Many companies neglect to connect offstage employees to the actual customer experience. When companies become customer-centric, they often focus on the parts of the journey customers make direct contact with but overlook backstage processes that make a huge difference. Just like in a theater production, your onstage employees can’t deliver a stellar performance if offstage employees don’t understand how their own roles affect the customer experience. Are your front-line employees truly able to deliver the experience you want to provide for your customers? Don’t let a disconnect with wardrobe or lighting spoil your show. Listen in! Related Content 360Connext® post, Tearing Down the Customer Process Road Blocks Customers That Stick® post, Sales, Customer Service or Operations: Which Is Most Important? Episode 094: Joseph Michelli, Becoming Customer-Obsessed Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat Helmers, host of the Sales Babble podcast, discusses the intersection of sales and customer experience. Driving sales with great experiences Sales is tough! And driven by the need to close the sale and move onto the next customer, sales teams often don’t understand how the sales process relates to the overall customer experience. The best salespeople see the value in building lasting relationships with customers rather than focusing on transactional outcomes. How can you get salespeople to build customer relationships for the long term when short-term sales goals seem more important? A happy customer is a return customer who will rave about their experience with friends and colleagues. Wouldn’t you like them to help remove some of the heavy lifting from your sales initiatives? Pat explains how optimizing the sales process with customer experience and customer service principles can lead to increased loyalty and referrals. Pat has some great tips for hiring and training a sales team that builds a great rapport with customers. Listen in to learn some of the best ways to qualify and nurture sales leads for long-term success in the modern sales landscape. About our guest Pat is the author of the Selling With Confidence sales system. He believes great sales is based on having the mindset “I’m here to help and add value”.  He believes that anyone can become a skilled seller with their current personality. By drawing upon their passion for their business, they too can become a master seller.  Pat is the host of the weekly Sales Babble podcast. He is a former Bell Labs software developer, inventor, account executive, and Vice President of Sales for two start-up technology companies.  Connect with Pat Pat’s website Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Related Content Sales Babble Episode #104: How to Be Your Customers Hero with Adam Toporek Selling with Confidence Sales System Customers That Stick® post, Customer Loyalty: Winning Hearts and Minds 360Connext® post, The B2B Sales Experience: Reps Need to Do Their Homework Episode 020: Holistic Marketing and Sales with Tom Martin Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virtual reality is hitting the markets hard, but it’s mostly just for gamers. Will that change? Today we discuss some surprising possibilities for customer service applications. Is virtual reality more than just fun and games? Virtual reality (VR) has been a hot topic among geeks and gamers for many years now, but it was all the rage at South by Southwest Interactive this year. Are we on the cusp of a new era when VR tech will have more practical applications? Adam and Jeannie discuss the different ways companies and customers alike struggle to decode communications and content, and how VR can help bridge the gap. So what are some ways VR can make its way into customer service? While entertainment and gaming applications were quite prominent at SXSW, a closer look revealed some innovative uses that could prove useful in the business world. What can we learn from VR applications on the table with cutting-edge organizations like NASA? Virtual reality is advancing quickly. And before you say “we will never need to tap into that technology,” remember how many leaders were saying the same thing about social media and mobile just a few years ago. Will you be ready to connect this way when your customers are? Listen in to find out how virtual reality could soon make customer service virtually awesome. Related Content 360Connext® post, What do Trends from SXSW 2016 Mean for Customer Experience? Special Episode: SXSW Interactive Predictions Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest helps us understand emotional intelligence to bridge the gap between employee engagement and improved customer experiences. Emotional intelligence creates great customer experiences What is the connection between employee engagement and improved customer experience? Jim Rembach shares some of the most important ways true employee engagement helps the overall experience. It comes down to emotion, and the need to train for it is more important than ever. Improving emotional intelligence, as Jim explains, is the key to proper employee engagement. And it’s not just for workplace environments that revolve around a product or service that’s particularly emotional. All workplaces are emotional!  What can business leaders do TODAY to make their organizations more customer-centric from the inside out? Jim draws from real-life experience and shares some great stories of employee engagement successes and failures. It all points back to improving emotional intelligence, folks. And Jim has some great tips for getting started. Listen in and bridge that gap! About our guest Jim Rembach is a strategic and tactical adviser and coach who specializes in using analytics for leadership, organization development, employee engagement, and customer engagement to improve customer experiences. Jim is a certified Emotional Intelligence practitioner, Empathy Mapping Expert, a Certified Contact Center Auditor, An Even Better Place to Work Certified Expert, and an Employee Retention Specialist. Jim holds a U.S. trademark for the Servant Teamwork leadership and organizational transformation methodology. Jim is a speaker and author of nine books on contact center quality, employee engagement, customer experience, and leadership development. Jim is an Advisory Board Member for Customer Value Creation International, the talent development software company ResultPal and an expert for the Customer Experience Professionals Association and host of the Fast Leader Show podcast. Connect with Jim Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Facebook Jim’s website, Beyond Morale Jim’s podcast, Fast Leader Related Content FastLeader episode 019: Jeannie Walters Customers That Stick® post, Turning a Customer Service Culture 360Connext® post, Creating Epic Customer Connections: 6 Win/Win Employee Engagement Tips Episode 042: John Murphy on Emotional Intelligence Episode 054: Marilyn Suttle, Author of Who’s Your Gladys Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam and Jeannie discuss why most innovations fail to effectively address the changing needs of customers and how the innovation process itself can shut out the best ideas. The problem with “best practices” and customer experience innovation Innovation is more important than ever in our connected, omnichannel world. And yet, it’s rarely done well. So many innovations have come and gone while the ones that really make a difference are so few. Why is that? Too often, innovation is created from the wrong perspective – either because it’s borne of outdated “best practices” for the creative process or because the ideal experience is viewed from the wrong perspective altogether. How can you keep up with the ideal experience your customers will want tomorrow? In many cases, the best resources for innovative ideas go untapped. Have you considered how many great ideas and valuable insights are hiding behind cubicles or mentioned in passing in the break room? Adam and Jeannie talk about how you can expand your horizons for innovation by fostering an environment that encourages creativity, then making sure those unheard ideas make it through the right channels to spark the best customer experience innovations. Jeff Bezos can do it, and so can you. Find out how! Related Content NiemanLab article, How The Washington Post built its tool to “re-engage” the attention of distracted readers on mobile 360Connext® post, The 5 Deadly Sins Against Customer-Centric Innovation Customers That Stick® post, Innovation Is No Longer Optional Episode 098: Brian Solis, Where Business Mets Design Episode 077: Crowdsourcing Innovation with Customers Episode 072: Matt Phillips, Innovation Expert Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special 100th episode (yippee!) Adam and Jeannie recall some of the great (and not so great) moments in customer service history. Like it or not, you are making customer service history! Have you ever thought about what people will be saying about your customer service in 100 years? Probably not, and we’re guessing some of the brands mentioned in this episode didn’t make their ideas sustainable like Maxwell House did in the ad below. A look back in time reveals that we’ve come a long way with transparency in our marketing and customer service strategies. Just look at these ads! A lot has changed! Customers now see past this type of marketing. Have your strategies joined this new era of enlightenment? Sadly, there are some archaic practices still used today – and some of them are nothing short of cringeworthy! Let’s get up to speed with the trends that matter to real-life customers and lock those flash-in-the-pan advertising tactics up in the time capsule for good. Join us as we make our own history with the 100th episode of Crack the Customer Code. We wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you! Related Content Boredpanda post, 23 Vintage Ads That Would Be Banned Today 360Connext® post, Do Marketing Stereotypes Kill your Customer Experience? Customers That Stick® post, Tell Marketing, The Customer Experience Begins with Them Episode 082: Katie Driscoll, Lessons on Customer Perception Episode 050: 50 Pieces of Customer Service Advice Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the difference between B2C and B2B customer experience? IS there a difference? Adam and Jeannie discuss in today’s episode. B2C vs. B2B Customer Experience: What’s the difference? This may sound like a trick question, but it comes up a lot! Many B2B companies don’t believe it’s important to invest in customer experience, and some even believe it doesn’t apply to them at all. So is customer experience more important in a B2C environment? On one hand, you might say companies that sell directly to customers need to make a stronger emotional connection and therefore, have to worry more about the experience. On the other hand, a poor B2B service experience could put a whole lot more at stake at a given time. It can be challenging for a B2B company to create connections while the relationship is largely process-based. But when played right, B2B companies can see huge returns from investing in customer experience. So what’s the best way to approach customer experience in a B2B company? Luckily, both of our hosts have helped many B2B companies create experiences that strengthen lasting connections. Listen in for tips on how to approach customer experience in your business environment. Related Content EngageCustomer article, Service Failures Have Harsh Consequences for B2B Companies 360Connext® post, 3 Ways Your Org Chart Creates B2B Nightmares Episode 029: Insights from Top Customer Experience Pros Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A well-known thought leader and futurist, today’s guest barely needs an introduction! Brian Solis discusses his new book and what it means to be entering an experience-driven business world. The future is all about experience 3.5 years in the making, Brian describes the arduous process of writing his groundbreaking new book, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design. Brand interactions exist within mobile apps, cloud-based services, social media, content marketing, and traditional communication in today's world. Experience is so much more than the buzzword it's become, and how to incorporate the right experiences into your customer's journey is what Brian has studied. The word “experience, as Brian explains it, has attached itself to many problem-solving ideas, but the solutions are often isolated fixes that fail to tie the overall journey together. Brian shares some of the reasons why companies fail to accomplish this. Do you share Brian’s sense of urgency to unify all of those isolated touchpoints? Therein lies the recipe for breakthrough innovation. It’s time to bring about the radical changes your customers need now more than ever. With the right perspective and a few tweaks in the way you communicate and gather insight, you have the power to be the change agent that brings experience and design together to usher your company into the experience-driven future that’s already upon us. Be a true disruptor. Find those elusive moments of truth where experience meets design. You can start by listening to this episode. About our guest: Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders, keynote speakers, and best-selling authors in innovation and digital transformation.  His new book, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, explores the importance of experiences and how to design them for customers, employees and human beings everywhere.  As Principal analyst at Altimeter Group, a Prophet Company, a digital anthropologist, and futurist, he also studies disruptive technology and its impact on business and society. More so, through his reports, articles and books, he humanizes technology's effect to help people see people differently and understand what to do about it. Specifically Brian studies digital transformation, customer experience and culture 2.0 and "the future of" industries, trends and behavior. Connect with Brian Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Brian’s website Altimeter Group Related Content Check out Brian’s new Book, X: The Experience Where Business Meets Design Customers That Stick® post, Don’t Let Conformity Stifle Ideas 360Connext® post, Stop Looking at Channels for the Best Omnichannel Experience Episode 072: Matt Phillips, Innovation Expert Sponsor Message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a lot of debate over which customer loyalty metrics tell the real truth. So what’s the answer? Adam and Jeannie discuss the different types of metrics and why they don’t necessarily work for everyone. Are your customer loyalty metrics providing real insight? Customer loyalty is elusive and difficult to determine. And many business leaders are obsessed with settling the debate over which metrics really tell the real truth about customer loyalty. Looking for indicators of what we really want to know, which in many cases is largely unknowable, has led many professionals and business owners into a whirlwind of data that doesn’t seem to do them any good. How did all of this start? People have been boasting about their satisfaction rates for decades, then came the groundbreaking Net Promoter Score (NPS) which many companies swear by. But is this really an accurate way to measure customer loyalty? We’d love to give you a solid answer! But when you’re dealing with customer emotions, there is no black and white and the success of tracking these different metrics varies from company to company. So what can you do about this? Listen in and find out how to uncover the actual behavior behind these metrics so you can determine what you should really be tracking and take action. Related Content UserVoice blog, The Numbers Zappos Looks At       iScoop blog, Customer experience metrics and measurement – beyond CSAT and NPS 360Connext® post, Performance Metrics Are Great, But Always Late Customers That Stick® post, Your Data Is Only as Good as Your Perspective Episode 045: The Customer Effort Score Episode 046: Tom Schwab on Inbound Marketing Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can you leverage customer complaints? Today’s guest shares highlights from his new book, Hug Your Haters, and additional insights from the extensive research it’s based on. Understanding the science of complaint What if you could survey thousands of individuals to find the “who, what, where, why and how” of customer complaints? Jay Baer has partnered with Edison Research to do just that, and he has written his new book “Hug Your Haters” based on intensive study of thousands of consumers. Jay Baer discusses the concept he calls “the Hatrix,” which breaks complainers down into categories. Jay also shares some shocking facts about what complaining customers expect by channel, and how the outcome can change depending on which channel is used to answer a complaint. How does the technology your customers use affect the outcome of their complaints? The differences can be more profound than you think. The findings from Jay’s research far exceed what he was able to fit in his new book. But you’re in luck! Jay shares some of his unrevealed findings in this episode, along with some valuable insights about embracing and leveraging customer feedback. Jay says customer complaints are a source of “free market research.” The best part is that the insights come from your own real customers. Are you ready to tap into this valuable resource? Listen to this episode to find out where to start. About our guest Jay Baer is a digital business expert, global keynote speaker, and the New York Times bestselling author of Youtility. He has advised some of the most iconic brands and organizations in the world, including Nike, Best Buy, and The United Nations. He is also a contributor to Inc., Entrepreneur, and Forbes. His Convince & Convert Media division produces the world's #1 content marketing blog, and multiple award-winning podcasts. For more information see www.hugyourhaters.com. Connect with Jay Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Jay’s website Convince & Convert Related Content Hug Your Haters book website (Check out special promotions on Jay’s book!) Edison Research Customers That Stick® post, Why Do People Take Pleasure in Customer Service Horror Stories? 360Connext® post, Hug Your Haters: A Groundbreaking New Book by Jay Baer Episode 001: Apple Store Lady, Jackie Huba, and Heathrow Airport Episode 017: Customer Feedback, Mohamed Latib, and Progressive Insurance Sponsor Message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know the customer onboarding process should be as simple and satisfying as possible, but what about offboarding? The experience customers have when they leave you can have a huge impact for the long term. The customer journey does not stop when they’re leaving you. In an ideal world, we would never have to say goodbye to customers. So we don’t like to think ahead to customer offboarding. It’s really easy not to think about! But churn rate is all too real. Do you understand the offboarding process as part of the customer journey? Many companies have a very narrow-minded view of this critical part of the journey – from making it difficult to cancel to treating customers poorly. Are you turning the relationship sour when customers leave you? Like it or not, customers are going to remember you by what happens last. What would you like them to declare to their thousands of Twitter followers? Even if you’re sure they will never return, customer offboarding is NOT the end of the journey. How can you make it a part of the otherwise excellent experience you provide? Adam and Jeannie share some helpful tips in today’s episode. Related Content 360Connext® post, Should It Be Painful for Customers to Cancel? Customers That Stick® post, From the Archives: Losing Customers Means… Episode 037: Experiences Rule, Ben Blakesley, and Fraudsters Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Becoming a customer-obsessed organization can seem impossible for many well-established companies. Fortunately, today’s guest has had a front-row view of some astounding transformations. Is it time for a customer experience overhaul? Today’s guest has made a name for himself exploring some of the world’s greatest customer experience brands and giving an insider’s view of how they have successfully turned their customer experiences around. Joseph Michelli tells some amazing stories of companies that have adopted and mastered the art of “customer-obsession.” These brands have given Joseph exclusive access to various stages of their experience strategies and allowed him to document their transformations. In his exploration of Mercedes-Benz USA, Joseph identifies the challenges of instilling a customer-centric mindset within an organization that has been largely successful as a product-focused entity. How can you get buy-in from executives who don’t want to risk an already-satisfactory and seemingly stable bottom line? How can you convince independent dealers and franchisees that these changes will lead to greater success for the long-term? Brands like Mercedes Benz, Zappos, The Ritz-Carlton and Starbuck’s have paved the way with their own trials and errors, and Joseph Michelli has the inside scoop on what has worked for them. If they can do it, so can you! Want to learn how these customer experience champions have secured phenomenal returns on investing in customer experience? You’re one click away. Listen in! About our guest: Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., CSP, is an internationally sought-after speaker, consultant, and best-selling author of business books about companies offering superior customer experiences, such as Starbucks, The Ritz-Carlton, Zappos, and most recently Mercedes-Benz USA, in his newest book Driven To Delight. Connect with Joseph Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Joseph’s blog Joseph’s podcast Related Content Joseph’s book, Driven To Delight 360Connext® post, 5 Success Lessons from Top Execs at Alibaba and AMEX Customers That Stick® post, On Keeping the Customer but Losing the Business       Joseph’s guest post on 360Connext®, You Can’t Microwave Customer Experience Excellence Episode 081: Walking the Talk of Improving Customer Service Sponsor Message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeannie and Adam put the hype and buzzwords aside to discuss what employee engagement really is so you can create a highly-motivated team around a great customer experience. Employee engagement: Have we got it all wrong? Employee engagement has been a buzzphrase for the past few years, and with good reason! It’s no secret that positively engaged employees are vital to a strong workplace culture, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. But Adam and Jeannie have some sad news: Despite all the buzz, a national study from Gallup reveals employee engagement was actually no better in 2015 than it was in 2014. What are we missing? Our hosts discuss some of the common ways companies miss the mark when trying to improve employee engagement. Many just don’t know where to start, or more importantly, how to create engagement that actually has a positive impact on internal culture and overall customer experience. It’s not easy, and it’s different for every company. But if you’re willing to invest your time into building rewarding relationships internally, the difference will become evident in the experience your customers are having. Find out how to ditch the hype and create an employee engagement strategy that gets long-term results. Related Content Download Gallup’s report, State of the American Workplace 360Connext® post, Contamination Alert! How to Purify a Toxic Workplace Culture Episode 073: Hacking Your Workplace Culture Sponsor message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have the advantage of working with 5 generations of business leaders. How can we break the technology barriers and build solid business relationships? It’s all about people, not systems. The 21st-century mindset: People over process An expert on forward-thinking leadership and new ways to work, Ayelet has identified 4 traits for 21st-century leaders, and she shares them with us. Ayelet’s explanations about what they are and why they are important will have you re-thinking the way you communicate, the way you anticipate feedback and changes, the way you look at community, and ultimately, the way you work.  With so much buzz around transparency, it seems to mean something different to everyone. Ayelet shares the importance of having a shared purpose in order to achieve the level of transparency that keeps business relationships healthy and productive. She believes we can eliminate the need to “manage” people in this century if we create and maintain trusting relationships. How will you engage with peoples’ hearts and minds as their priorities shift? How can you regain common sense when it comes to business? Listen in and bring the human spirit back into your organization. Ayelet Baron: author, speaker and activist for the human spirit Ayelet works with 21st-century leaders to create new ways of working and helps them create a new path for business as a force of social good. Ayelet believes that in the human-to-human purpose driven and experience era, more people are shifting from the myth of work-life balance to LIFEworking. Prior to co-founding CreatingIs, Ayelet was a senior executive with Cisco Systems and an innovator in Residence at Roche/Genentech. Her new book Our Journey to Business Common Sense will be released soon. Connect with Ayelet Twitter LinkedIn Ayelet’s website Related Content About Ayelet’s new book, Our Journey to Business Common Sense 360Connext® post, 3 Rules for Investing in Good Relationships with Customers Customers That Stick® post, Don’t Forget the Connection in Interconnection Episode 088: Richard Shapiro, The Endangered Customer Sponsor Message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Training customer-facing employees becomes even more challenging as we scale our businesses. What happens when they need re-training? Can this be done without shutting down? Is re-training your staff an option? As companies grow, it becomes harder to be sure employees are connected to the brand values and mission. Chipotle, Starbucks and others have gone public about temporarily closing their doors for the purpose of re-training their customer service staff or reconnecting with their missions. How can they be sure it’s worth the inevitable losses?  Adam and Jeannie discuss some great ways to approach a customer service reboot, and how to make one worthwhile and sustainable. Could you afford to hit the brakes for a day or two and do the same? Many organizations don’t have the budget or resources for a sweeping customer service reset. What if, for any reason, you CAN’T shut things down for a day or two? How can you keep all those dots connected as your organization grows and changes? As busy as things are, you can do this on limited resources without turning customers away. Adam and Jeannie share some powerful ways to “hack time” so you don’t have to put your business on hold to re-train your employees. Related Content The Street article, Why Chipotle Closing All Its Restaurants on February 8 Is a Really Smart Move Business Insider post, Closing 7,100 Stores For An Afternoon Was The First Step To Saving Starbucks Customers That Stick® post, 10 Best Productivity Hacks for Customer Service [SlideShare] 360Connext® post, 3 Ways to Lead Your Team to Customer Experience Victory Episode 087, The Next Generation of Customer Experience Leaders Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You love your customers, but do they know it? Adam and Jeannie have dedicated this special Valentine’s Day episode to showing customers love. Do you love your customers? Let's make sure they feel it! There are many ways people define love, but we’re focusing on what it means to love your customers. The word “love” is used a lot in the context of customer experience, and we’re finding it means different things to different organizations. So what is customer love? Some may say it’s about delivering those “wow” moments, but Adam and Jeannie think it’s about much more than that. Showing your love for customers can be simply delivering a consistent customer journey, where your love for customers is reinforced every step of the way. In this episode, we explore some real examples of great ways to show your customers the love. Related Content CustomerThink post, The Conflicted Rhetoric of Marketing and Sales Gottman Institute post, The Positive Perspective: Dr. Gottman’s Magic Ratio! 360Connext® post and Slideshare, Changing Customer Behavior: Your Brain Loves a Story Customers That Stick® post, Never Underestimate the Power of Consistent Customer Service Episode 089, Will Companies Demand Your Phone Records? Episode 070, Giving Thanks to Your Customers Sponsor message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Financial institutions may be starting to review how you use your smartphone to help determine credit-worthiness.   Adam and Jeannie discuss what all this could mean for mobile privacy on the customer level. Would you hand over your phone or sign off on your usage records? Are organizations trying to redefine mobile privacy? We use our smartphones for many things nowadays, from banking to shopping to checking our work schedules. Our devices are collecting more data about us than we think! And financial institutions might be accessing that data to judge the credit-worthiness of loan applicants. Certain startups have discovered that there are correlations between certain mobile behaviors and a person’s likelihood to repay a loan – even something as basic as how often you charge your phone can say something about you to a bank. How would you feel about bank employees having the ability to access and record your notes, social media posts and email accounts, then deciding whether or not you could get a mortgage based on that data? This may be reality one day, and when you think of how much data you are actually storing in your mobile records, it can be frightening! What does this mean for the future of banking? What about marketing? Adam and Jeannie share some surprising statistics to help you prepare for the potential major shift in mobile privacy. Listen in! Related Content Rough Type article, You are your phone Customers That Stick® post, On Keeping the Customer but Losing the Business           360Connext® post and Slideshare, Is Your Customer Experience Technology Helpful or Creepy? Episode 067, Customer Security: It’s More than Digital Sponsor message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Customer retention and loyalty are critical to the success of your business and maintaining relationships is a key to both. Today’s guest shares 27 years of wisdom to help us create personal connections with customers, no matter how big our organizations grow. Customer retention: Are your customers an endangered species? Richard gives us a brief history of his experience working with successful companies, and how their success is largely attributed to customer retention. Drawing from 27 years of experience, he explains the importance of recognizing customers as people. Knowing their expectations and how they like to do business is not enough. One of the biggest challenges in scaling any business is finding a way to create lasting relationships with customers. If your company were to become huge, could you still interact with your customers as individuals? Richard explains how businesses of any size can create valuable personal relationships with customers. If you’re willing to invest in those relationships through personalized communications, the ROI can be tremendous. Richard says, “There’s never been more competition than there is today.” The need for building relationships with customers is critical. With a strong focus on the idea of repeat business, Richard explains the principles behind his book, The Endangered Customer: 8 Steps to Guarantee Repeat Business.  Based on extensive research, these 8 steps are geared towards giving you the ingredients for connecting with customers on emotional and psychological levels. How do your customers feel after the transaction is over? How will you know? Listen to this episode to learn how to create relationships so strong, your customers won’t imagine leaving you for a more enticing offer. Richard Shapiro, Bestselling author and veteran customer retention strategist Richard R. Shapiro is Founder and President of The Center For Client Retention (TCFCR) and a leading authority in the area of customer satisfaction and loyalty.  For 27 years, Richard has spearheaded the research conducted with thousands of customers from Fortune 100 and 500 companies amassing the ingredients of customer loyalty and what drives repeat business.  His first book was The Welcomer Edge: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business and The Endangered Customer: 8 Steps to Guarantee Repeat Business, will be available February, 2016. Connect with Richard The Center For Client Retention Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Related Content Richard’s blog, 8 Steps to Guarantee Repeat Business for E-commerce Sites Richard’s bestselling book, The Welcomer Edge: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business Richard’s new book, The Endangered Customer: 8 Steps to Guarantee Repeat Business 360Connext® post, 5 White Glove Tests to Maximize Customer Retention Customers That Stick® post, Faces of Customer Experience: Richard Shapiro Episode 058: Jill Griffin, The Loyalty Maker Sponsor Message: Develop your customer experience mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you pursuing a customer experience leadership role? Maybe you’ve found yourself defaulted to a customer-focused role within your organization… Now what? Adam and Jeannie share expert advice for emerging leaders in the field. What do emerging customer experience leaders need to know? Adam and Jeannie discuss how they came into their customer experience and customer service leadership roles. Did they dream of becoming experts in these fields in their youths? We’re guessing this was not your first choice of career paths but have found yourself fascinated and excited by the idea.  Or maybe you’ve been plopped into these roles by the organization you work for. How can you really OWN it like Adam and Jeannie, or like many of our guests? Customer experience education is often a mere day in the very long journey of business training. Today’s customers need more from you. Typically, customer experience leaders emerge from diverse and surprising academic and professional backgrounds. There are very limited ways to get certificates and degrees with a focus on customer experience, but Adam and Jeannie know the best ways to move forward. Listen in for tips on how to lay the groundwork for a career in creating outstanding customer experiences. Related Content Huffington post article, Ernst & Young Removes Degree Classification From Entry Criteria   Customers That Stick® post, Customer Experience: At the Edge of a New Discipline 360Connext® post, Challenging Your Focus on Customers CXPA resource, Become a Certified Customer Experience Professional Episode #010: Customer Experience Titles, Ingrid Lindberg, and Steamboat Springs Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Ardienne Boissy of The Cleveland Clinic, one of the first organizations to create C-suite responsibilities around the patient experience, shares highlights from her 12 years of leading an enormous shift in how the healthcare system perceives and engages patients. The Power of Words in the Patient Experience It’s one thing to possess the wisdom and skills to help patients heal and recover, but understanding how the patient actually feels – not just in regards to their ailments – but in regards to their many experiences as they move through the healthcare system. Adrienne describes the challenges of explaining how to teach respected professionals who are very good at their jobs that there are better ways to communicate. Some of them are looking for answers, but what about those who aren’t? The traditional health care system is generally not set up to give patients access to the resources and information patients need. Adrienne highlights some of the resulting challenges and shares some ways to overcome them. As Chief Experience Officer of Cleveland Clinic, Adrienne helped pioneer their patient experience work. Listen in as she shares some of the key learnings from leading one of the first official patient experience departments. Dr. Adrienne Boissy, Patient Experience Pioneer Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA, is Chief Experience Officer of Cleveland Clinic Health System and a staff neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. In this role, Dr. Boissy leads the Office of Patient Experience and its initiatives to address and improve every aspect of a patient’s encounter with the Cleveland Clinic Health System—from their physical comfort to their educational, emotional and spiritual needs. Dr. Boissy chairs the Empathy and Innovation summit, the largest independent summit on patient experience in the world. She also guided the development of patient advisory councils across Cleveland Clinic Health System and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Patient Experience. Connect with Adrienne Twitter Cleveland Clinic website Related Content Adrienne’s TED talk, Seeing and Being Seen: A Call For Healing 360Connext® post, 5 Ways to Improve the Patient Experience in 2016 Customers That Stick® post, When Bad Systems Happen to Good People Episode 062: Shel Israel, Cross-Disciplinary Communicator Sponsor Message: Do you need a keynote speaker to ROCK your next event? Did you know that you can hire Adam to speak at your next conference or meeting? Adam’s keynote speeches on customer service and customer experience are designed to energize and inspire your audience, and to provide actionable takeaways that teams could use to immediately deliver hero class customer service – whether to an audience of business leaders or front-line employees, Adam’s talks explore how we interact with customers using some of the latest research in customer experience, psychology and neuroscience. Your audience will leave energized, enthused and ready to take action. If you want to rock your next event, go to keynotespeaker.rocks    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is it so hard to be prepared for the service failures that every organization experiences from time to time? Today we explore proactive customer service and how to be ready when things blow up. What's your customer service doomsday plan? No matter how great your customer service team is or how thoroughly you’ve mapped and improved the customer journey, something will go wrong. Are you prepared for the situation that turns it all upside-down? You need to consider two things: A proactive customer service strategy that allows for worst-case scenarios A “doomsday plan” for how you will recover from a customer service disaster Adam and Jeannie share some great stories about customer service gone awry and how some brands were not prepared. Mistakes will happen. Are you prepared for the worst? A great recovery can actually help strengthen customer loyalty. So the next time something goes wrong, will customers rave about your stellar response or will they publicly hate on your brand?  This episode explores great ways to prepare for and recover from those moments. Listen in to turn those mistakes into opportunities to show your dedication to creating outstanding experiences. Related Content BuzzFeed article, This Guy Hilariously Live-Tweeted A Huge Customer Service Fail Boston Globe article, The Globe can’t take its base for granted 360Connext® post, 3 Steps to Avoid Customer Service Disasters Customers that Stick® post, Organizational Management: The Doomsday Preppers Edition Customers that Stick® post, Understanding the Other Side of a Bad Customer Experience Sponsor message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You only have one chance to make a first impression with a potential customer or client. Sylvie Di Giusto is an expert on personal branding and making great impressions that last. The science of first impressions The average person makes about 3,000 impressions per day. How is that possible!? Our guest Sylvie Di Giusto explains the many ways we can make an impression when we don't even know it's happening. Are you ready for this? What can you do to turn those fleeting impressions into advantageous connections? Sylvie explains that 11 crucial judgments are made in about 7 seconds when you make a first impression. What's the one thing people remember about you? What will they remember about your organization? Sadly, they are much more likely to remember the things you don't want them to. And you don't just need to make a first impression that is good, you must make one that also stands out. Sylvie says, "You never know who you're going to meet, or who you're going to be next to..." So how can leaders like you create an image that's ready for first impressions at personal, team, and organizational levels? Sylvie shares some great tips with our listeners. People Packaging is what she does! Sylvie di Giusto helps individuals and organizations to explore how people make up their minds very quickly about them, their leadership potential, or their company, and either open the door or slam it shut. Twenty years of corporate experience and her ability to empower people to influence the success of their own careers has led to her launching Executive Image Consulting, based in New York City. It’s where she uses her extensive corporate expertise as a professional speaker, corporate trainer and image consultant for professionals, politicians and companies who place great importance in themselves and their powerful appearance. Sylvie is Austrian by birth, French in her heart, Italian in her kitchen, German with her work ethic and American by choice. Connect with Sylvie Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Facebook YouTube Sylvie's site, Executive Image Consulting Related Content Article, 8 ways to look like a millionaire, even if you're not Sylvie's book, The Image of Leadership Episode 074: Denise Lee Yohn, Brand-Building Expert Sponsor Message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cause marketing is a broad, nuanced topic. But when it’s done well, it can create a rewarding experience for customers and forge great relationships with your brand. What makes cause marketing effective? Adam and Jeannie share some great examples of companies that are raising awareness for and donating to nonprofit cause on behalf of their customers.  From car dealerships to online merchants, companies across industries are leveraging the power of cause marketing. But cause marketing has become very common. So common, in fact, that many cause marketing campaigns go unnoticed by customers and rendered essentially ineffective. Can cause marketing still help your brand forge customer loyalty and help improve your brand image? The answer is yes! But you have to be willing to put your heart into the project and go beyond the generic “10% of proceeds goes to [worthy cause]” banner on your product or website. Adam and Jeannie outline the key elements of a cause marketing campaign that grabs attention and becomes part of a memorable experience customers will want to talk about. What are smart brands doing to create outstanding cause marketing campaigns? Listen in and learn from the best! Related Content Tom’s Shoes, Improving Lives Brawny Community page 360Connext® post, How Stripe Features the End-User Experience to Enhance B2B Sales Episode 62: Shel Israel, Cross-Disciplinary Communicator Episode 82: Katie Driscoll, Lessons on Customer Perception Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Customer perception is a difficult thing to understand, and even harder to change. Do customers see themselves in your brand image? Lessons on Changing Customer Perception Are your real customers properly represented in your marketing? What if 13% of your qualified customers never noticed your brand simply because they can't identify with how you present who your customers are? Customers will buy from those who create an emotional connection, and one of the first steps is making sure they see themselves reflected in the marketing materials you present them. Katie Driscoll's organization, Changing the Face of Beauty, has combated the idea that people only want to see "traditionally" beautiful people in advertising. She has had a tremendous impact on the way some major brands represent their customers, particularly those with disabilities. A viable segment of just about any market, children with disabilities are a prime example of a group that tends to be grossly under-represented. Katie shares how inclusion can make a world of difference for your marketing reach and your bottom line. Image courtesy of Katie Driscoll and Changing the Face of Beauty We talk a lot about inclusion in the workplace these days, but how does the concept of inclusion impact your marketing strategy? Does your audience see themselves in your brand? Listen in to learn how to find and inspire many more of your potential customers. Katie Driscoll, Leader in Changing Customer Perception Founder and President of Changing the Face of Beauty (nonprofit), Katie Driscoll, believes media and advertising can change perceptions and open opportunity for people of all abilities. She is also a photographer and writer.  Katie has been featured on the Today Show as well as interviewed by Huffington Post, People Magazine, and other media publications.  She believes media and advertising can change perceptions and open opportunity for people of all abilities. Connect with Katie Twitter Facebook Instagram Katie's site, Changing the Face of Beauty Related Content CNN Article, 4-year-old model with Down syndrome melts hearts, barriers Customers That Stick® post (a different topic but explores how important marketing communication can be), Marketing Domino’s: Should an Ad Campaign Tell Customers NO? 360Connext® post, Do Customers See Themselves in your Brand Identity? Episode 021: PR Customer Experience, Shonali Burke, and The Walking Dead Sponsor Message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s EASY to talk about improving customer service. It's a lot harder to actually do anything about it! Why is it so hard to create a real strategy around putting the customer first? Are you really improving customer service? Making a big deal about becoming "customer–centric" through new options and features but neglecting to deliver what customers actually need to be happy is not really walking the talk. Jeannie and Adam see this happening in many industries, and a few companies are getting away with it (for now). But let's face it: Many organizations don’t have the luxury of cornering consumers with hefty contracts and limited competition -- like cable or utility companies can. Most organizations have to compete, and few have developed raving fans so loyal that they are willing to tolerate subpar customer service and frustrating experiences. It's dangerous to assume the complacency of your customers translates to loyalty, or that your revolutionary product or service alone will keep customers from exploring alternatives. Adam and Jeannie share some timely examples of companies that continually fail to deliver on their promises, and how it's catching up to them. How and why does this happen, and how can you avoid making the same mistakes? Learn from great stories about organizations that are walking the talk. Discover what's standing in the way of delivering standout service experiences that create a sustainable customer-focused culture. Related Content Article, Comcast Wants Customer Service Reps to Sell Users on Data Caps Article, Comcast customer discovers huge mistake in company’s data cap meter Customers That Stick® post, Turning a Customer Service Culture 360Connext post, Turning the Tables on Bad Customer Service Episode 058: Jill Griffin, The Loyalty Maker Sponsor message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mana Ionescu, President of Lightspan Digital, shares tips and insights on keeping up with the changing landscape of social customer care. Social Customer Care with Purpose In today’s marketplace, as Mana explains, few organizations can thrive and compete without a presence on social media. But what does that mean for customer care? Mana shares some valuable insights for smaller organizations who need to provide a better level of care on social channels without a dedicated social media team. Many organizations are making the same mistakes over and over again. Mana outlines some of the common pitfalls of social customer care and what to watch out for.  Are you ready to tackle customer care on your social channels? Are you sure!? Listen in and Mana will help you decide what your organization can realistically do TODAY to provide top-notch social customer care without breaking the bank. Mana Ionescu, President of Lightspan Digital Mana and her team focus on driving traffic to clients’ websites and building profitable connections through social media and content marketing. Mana believes in digital marketing done with purpose. With her practical and hands-on approach, Mana has been busting social media myths and showing measurable results are possible. A sought-after speaker, she’s been sharing digital marketing knowledge as Kellogg Executive Education faculty and via numerous conferences, from Techweek to SES, from Social Media Week to MPI TechCon, from 312Digital to Marketing Profs University and Pubcon. A staunch STEM education supporter, Mana serves on the Board of the Illinois Math and Science Academy Fund. In March 2014, Mana was awarded the “Chicago Woman Making History” Outstanding Entrepreneur Award by the City of Chicago Treasurer’s Office. Connect with Mana Twitter LinkedIn Lightspan Digital Related Content KLM blog, What Has KLM Learned From 5 Years of Social Media Service? Jeannie’s post, 5 Ways Everyone Wins with Proactive Social Media Engagement Episode 020: Social Selling, Tom Martin, and Tinder Customers That Stick® Post: 4 Ways to Get Good Social Customer Service Sponsor Message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2016 is going to be a wild but shaky ride. Hold on tight! Where’s the next hairpin turn for your organization? Adam and Jeannie have some customer experience predictions to help keep you in your seat. Customer Experience Predictions The landscape of customer experience improvement has changed a lot over the past year. New tech means more robust service solutions and new ways to connect with customers. Hooray! But be warned: It’s a two-way street. Better tech also means greater expectations from customers. They will put that new tech to the test, expecting better service, seamless cross-channel experiences, and unprecedented levels of customization. And as social customer care goes mainstream and loses its status as an “alternative” form of communication, customers have more power than ever to tarnish your brand when things go awry. Did you know that 89% of companies are expected to compete mainly by the experience they provide for customers this year? That’s a tall order if you’re not looking ahead to what customers want next. We’ve got you covered! Adam and Jeannie have been looking ahead for you. What’s next for customer experience? Listen in and get ready for an exciting year. Related Content Jeannie’s free webinars at CXWebinar.com Gartner blog, Why Customer Experience is the Next Big Thing Episode 078, 2016 Customer Service Resolutions Episode 069, Embedded Customer Care Sponsor message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What will you do to make 2016 the best year yet for your customers? New Year. New Customer Service Resolutions. Adam and Jeannie discuss some of the resolutions they believe every organization should have to make 2016 better for all their customers through improved service and proactive experience design. Destroy the silos! Make things easier! They sound so simple. Get some inspiration to improve your customer’s experience today and throughout the year. Related Content Jeannie’s post, 5 Ways to Create a Better Customer Experience for 2016 Adam’s post, You Need Customer Service, No Matter How Good Your Experience Episode 050, 50 Pieces of Customer Service Advice Sponsor message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crowdsourcing is one way companies are reaching customers before developing products or services. What do you think about this modern way of including customers? Is crowdsourcing the way to innovate? Crowdsourcing: Tapping into the collective knowledge, creativity and in some cases, funding, from the community. What happens when you let your customers into the process before you are ready to introduce new products/services? You get ALL the ideas, and that has its own set of challenges. What are the best ways organizations are crowdsourcing innovation? Is crowdsourcing the answer for you? Adam and Jeannie discuss the pros and cons of soliciting ideas from the community and transparently sharing what might work and what might not. Related Content MyStarbucksIdea.com IdeaStorm community Jeannie’s post, The 5 Deadly Sins Against Customer-Centric Innovation Episode 072, Matt Phillips: Innovation Expert Sponsor message: Develop Your Customer Experience Mission Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Walker, veteran entrepreneur, has built his business around mentorship and used his vast experience to mentor leaders in many industries. Aaron has a great story and shares how he walks the talk, while leading others to do the same. Expert Advice on Growing Your Business Aaron tells us the exciting story of his background in entrepreneurship, which started at the age of 13. (What!?) That’s right! We don’t want to spoil this amazing story for you, but building businesses has been Aaron’s passion for decades, and in this episode, he passes on some of the leadership skills he has accumulated during his years of experience. How do business leaders and managers become great coaches and mentors for their people? Aaron shares key points from his time-tested process with us.  What dreams do you have for your team? Aaron explains why it’s OK to dream big, and how boosting morale can translate to measureable results. Aaron also gives us some expert advice for entry-level professionals and front-line employees. How can the next generation of professionals gain the confidence to be outstanding leaders? What makes Millennials different? Learn how to accept and leverage the ups and downs of customer service. Strike the right balance between instant gratification and long-term success. Listen in so you can grow your brand! Aaron Walker: Veteran Entrepreneur Aaron Walker is, without question, a veteran entrepreneur. Starting his first business at 18, and selling to a Fortune 500 company nine short years later, demonstrates Aaron’s passion for success. Unwilling to rest on past success alone, Aaron started, bought, and sold eight successful companies over the past 36 years. Having a strong desire for personal development has kept Aaron in a weekly mastermind group for more than a decade with Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Ken Abraham, and seven other notable “Nashvillians.” Aaron has enjoyed a 35-year marriage with his beautiful wife, Robin. Today, Aaron spends the majority of his time helping men grow in success and significance as President and Founder of View from the Top, a premier life and business coaching resource. Connect with Aaron Twitter Facebook View From The Top The Community LinkedIn Related Content Bonus for our listeners, courtesy of Aaron Walker!Aaron has three special gifts for you! Check out his Personal Assessment, his 30 question document, “What Do I want?” and “Steps to a Productive Day,” all designed to help you get the unique results you need. These are premium downloads Aaron is offering you for free, just for joining us for this podcast. Download them here! Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Jeannie’s post, Learning by doing: A Growing Experience Episode 053: Preparing for Worst Case Customer Scenarios Sponsor Message: Give your team the customer service training they deserve Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who doesn’t like playing games, and winning!? Companies across many industries are learning how to gamify the experience for their customers. How can gamification improve the experience for your customers? Can You Gamify The Customer Experience? Gamification: applying the principles of games like variable rewards and real-time engagement. Can you use this to improve the customer experience? Gamifying your customer’s experience can be rewarding for both the customer and the company. Fitness wearables have helped gamify personal health data. Coca-cola recently rewarded customers for recycling and encouraged the behavior they wanted. MIT gamified the ice cube! It’s everywhere. Reward the behavior you want to get from your customer, and they connect your brand with a sense of accomplishment and gratification. Win/win! Can you gamify the experience in a meaningful way? Is it always the answer? Adam and Jeannie have a lively discussion about how gamification could be the answer to boring interactions. Related Content Article, Interaction Design within the Internet of Things Article, Gamified Recycling Programs Starbucks loyalty program Jeannie’s post, The Gamification of Experience Episode 006, Mobile Customer Experience, Tabitha Dunn, and Sephora's Mobile Integration Sponsor Message  360Connext—Customer Experience Mission Development Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Denise Lee Yohn, author of  Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do, discusses the concepts of restaurant and retail stand-out experiences. Unique Opportunities in Restaurant and Retail Experiences Denise has researched and made sense of what really makes an experience profitable, sustainable and special in retail and restaurant environments.  The best brands stand for some people, but not for others. Shoring up emotional loyalty and advocacy is an important piece of the proactive experience, especially before a crisis happens. Using examples from Red Bull, Chipotle and others, Denise discusses the best ways to provide something special for customers in these environments. Denise Lee Yohn, Brand-Building Expert Denise is the author of the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest (Jossey-Bass). She frequently appears in national media including FOX Business TV and USA Today. She is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and Forbes and her talks have inspired and taught thousands of CEOs, CMOs, and entrepreneurs around the world.  Connect with Denise deniseleeyohn.com Twitter Related Content Denise’s book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest Jeannie’s blog, Retail Trends: How to Build Customer Confidence Episode 30, Convenience, AT&T’s Diane Magers, and Department Stores Sponsor Message Want to bring game-changing customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you don’t have a budget for lots of perks to create a positive workplace culture? Are there ways to hack culture to make the workplace positive and fun? Hacking Your Workplace Culture Money is often the fourth motivator for workers. The Workforce 2020 report shows how workers today want non-traditional benefits as well. A great culture with happy employees is a key component of delivering the right experience for customers. So how can workplaces today compete with innovative employers like Zappos, when the budget is not necessarily at a Zappos-level? Decide what is universal and what needs to be personalized for each employee. Adam and Jeannie discuss the best ways to listen to employees and what they want and also how to deliver small but powerful perks to keep employees happy and excited to deliver a great experience. Related Content Workforce 2020 Report, Do men and women value the same benefits and incentives at work? Bestselling book, DRiVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us Episode 39, Does Employee Engagement Work? The Ultimate Starter Guide to Employee Empowerment Sponsor Message  360Connext—Customer Experience Mission Development Do you know how to deliver the superior customer experience you visualize? We can help your team become a force for positive change, starting with a customer-centric mission. The Customer Experience Investigators™ at 360Connext specialize in helping companies across industries and around the globe develop and internalize unique and scalable customer-focused missions. To compete with the other 89% of companies staying afloat by providing better experiences, you need a compass for making astounding changes in the customer experience while breaking down the silos that are holding you back. We offer evaluations, workshops, and roadmaps to keep your wheels firmly planted on the road to a customer-centric future. Join us on our mission to Create Fewer Ruined Days for Customers™ today. Visit us at 360Connext.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Phillips is the President of management consulting firm, Phillips and Company. Matt helps us all understand breakthrough innovations and experience. Innovation Improves Customer Experience What is expected in the experience offered to customers and what should be unexpected? These are some of the questions Matt poses when considering innovation. Matt talks about luxury hotel experiences, futuristic customer service robots, and ice swimming in Finland.  What are the best ways to innovate? Matt has been tackling this question for more than a decade, and he has great stories to share. Listen in to hear how the future is changing, and how you can innovate for it. Matt Phillips: Innovation Expert Matt Phillips is president of management consulting firm Phillips & Co. Launched in 2003, their area of expertise is Breakthrough Strategy - the development of innovative new products, services and experiences. Their clients include Paramount Pictures, Dell, Hyatt, Bath & Body Works, SC Johnson, major ad agencies and innovation-driven mid-sized companies. Matt holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and is a graduate of The Second City’s advanced program in improvisation. In addition to consulting, he has given keynote addresses on the creation of breakthrough experiences around the world. Connect with Matt Phillips & Co. LinkedIn Related Content Soho Grand Betabrand Best Made Sponsor Message  Want to bring “mind-blowing” customer service training to your team? CTS Service Solutions offers a half-day in-person workshop designed to motivate and educate your customer-facing team members. Using energy, excitement, and interaction, our workshop helps frontline teams embrace a customer-centric outlook, then — using the principles from our book Be Your Customer’s Hero — gives them the skills and confidence they need to handle any service interaction. Don’t leave your frontline team hanging… Give them the training they deserve. Learn more at customerheroworkshop.com, that is customerheroworkshop.com.                  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seeing the game live used to be enough for sports fans. Now, stadiums are designed to be a multi-screen experience. How are experiences changing for sports fans, and how are the champions delivering victories? Connected Fans Mean More Experiences What is the product of sporting events? With millennial fans desiring connectivity as a key part of the sports event, modern stadiums have to deliver an experience for those fans who are as interested in uploading selfies as connecting with their favorite team online. Is this an indicator of what people want next for their experiences? 1 in 3 college students claims Internet connectivity is as important to them as air, food, or water! Delivering a connected experience is critical to providing a superior customer experience. There is a 50/50 split on uploading and downloading, meaning it’s just as important to participate in the game in a different way, such as viewing instant replays on mobile devices, as it is to upload photos to social networks. Are you delivering what your fans want? Adam and Jeannie discuss what this trend means for all businesses.  Related Content Article, How sports teams are scrambling to keep millennials coming to games Official site, Amway Center Jeannie’s blog, Sports Lessons – How to Turn Customers into Fans Episode 28: Holacracy, Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall, and Fine Print Sponsor Message 360Connext—Customer Experience Webinar Join us each month for an informative customer experience webinar. After hosting webinars and courses for PopExpert, Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Marketing Profs, and others, 360Connext is now offering webinars to our community. Sign up to explore different topics each month, like how to measure customer experience success, how to write your customer experience mission, and other important and actionable ideas. Register at www.cxwebinar.com.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Thanksgiving, we’d like to share what we’re thankful for in this episode of Crack the Customer Code! We hope we can inspire you with some great stories of how some unique companies have thanked their own customers. From bold and big acts of gratitude to simply saying the words “thank you,” expressing appreciation is always timely, no matter the season. The Power of Gratitude Giving your customers something unexpected is a wonderful way to say "thank you." Listen in to hear how organizations ranging from property managers to online auction sites have delighted customers simply by saying “thanks.” And THANK YOU for listening, sharing, and being a part of our Crack The Customer Code community. We’re lucky to have you! Related Content Adam's blog, 7 Inspirational Customer Service Stories Adam’s book, Be Your Customer’s Hero Jeannie's blog, 5 Customer Appreciation Tweaks Customers Will Gobble Up! Jeannie’s blog, Several Ways to Thank Your Customers    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the things customers hate about customer service is finding it. How can customer care be embedded into the entire customer journey? Adam and Jeannie discuss the innovations that are making this more of a reality for customers and companies alike. Offer More by Embedding Service Instead of forcing customers to hunt for the right phone number, the right support department or the right email address, what if the right customer support option was just waiting for the customer where and when they need it? Like Amazon’s pioneering Kindle Mayday video support, there are many ways to offer this type of embedded experience. But what does that mean for customers and their feeling of control? Many won't want strangers popping up on video on their screen! Adam and Jeannie discuss the pros and cons of this type of innovative customer service. Gartner reports 100 of the 500 largest global businesses will introduce video-based chat for customer-facing interactions by 2018. This is definitely the future, are you ready? Related Content Article, Mayday, Mayday…Is Video the Future of Customer Experience? Official site, Samsung Smart TV Video, Microsoft shows how its 3D holographic tech will work in your living room Video, United Bank Improves Customer Experiences with NCR Interactive Teller Sponsor Message 360Connext—Customer Experience Webinars Join us each month for an informative customer experience webinar. After hosting webinars and courses for PopExpert, Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Marketing Profs, and others, 360Connext is now offering webinars to our community. Sign up to explore different topics each month, like how to measure customer experience success, how to write your customer experience mission, and other important and actionable ideas. Register at www.cxwebinar.com.    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annette Franz, creator of the CX Journey blog, gets into the nitty gritty of what makes a customer journey map a powerful tool for any organization. Customer Journey Maps Get Real “Do I need to track all thousand steps?” Different customers have different customer journeys, so what are the best ways to really map their journey? Annette Franz tackles the complex process of customer journey mapping by simplifying it. In this episode, Adam, Jeannie and Annette discuss the changing ways organizations can get the best information about their customers, so impactful changes can be made. There are quick wins to be had, but you have to know how to find them! There are so many different frameworks for journey mapping, how do you know where to start? Annette dissects ways to explore the customer’s journey and to learn about who your customers really are. Are you ready to dive in? Listen in to hear many great tips to start or continue your journey mapping. Annette Franz: Customer Experience Expert Annette Franz blogs at CX Journey, where she shares her passion for helping companies understand the importance of the employee experience and its role in delivering an exceptional customer experience, as well as how to transform their cultures to ensure the customer is at the center of every conversation. She was recently recognized as one of “The 100 Most Influential Tech Women on Twitter” by Business Insider and has been recognized by several organizations as a top influencer in Customer Experience. She is an active CXPA member, as a CX Expert, CX Mentor, and a SoCal Local Networking Team Lead; she also serves on the Board of Directors. Connect with Annette @annettefranz   @cxjourney  LinkedIn  Facebook Related Content Annette’s blog post, Journey Maps: Not an Exercise in Futility Annette’s blog post, 5 Basic Journey Mapping Principles Jeannie’s blog post, 5 Customer Journey Mapping Mistakes Adam’s blog post on Convince and Convert, 7 Tips to Get Started with Customer Journey Mapping  Sponsor Message  Be Your Customer’s Hero: Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Front Lines is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers. Be Your Customers Hero covers customer service from beginning to end. In HERO, you will learn some of Adam’s favorite tips and tricks for winning the mental game of service, for communicating in ways that set you up for success, and of course, for working with difficult customers. Get a copy for yourself or for your whole team. Bulk discounts are available. Learn more here.                  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Providing a secure environment for customers is more than just protecting data. What can we do to help everybody feel secure with every transaction throughout the entire journey? Customer Security as a Service Security is often overlooked as part of the true customer experience, but it’s a critical part to consider. Consider not just handling the minimum level of security to avoid liability. Consider how to help your customers feel reassured they are secure. If humans don’t feel secure, everything else is ignored. It’s impossible to enjoy an experience if you don’t feel safe. Digital experience has its own set of challenges, and reassurance is key. In many restaurants around the world, the restaurant patron never watches his or her credit card walk away with the server. Instead, the server brings the card reader to the table. This is the moment in the journey when providing this reassurance assuages fear of credit card fraud. Find out what Virgin Hotel did to help women business travelers feel secure going to their rooms. Have you ever felt insecure in a parking lot? Jeannie and Adam both share stories. How can you provide more security and communication to your customers and employees around personal security? Listen in to hear more and then share your stories with us! Related Content Jeannie's blog post, Customers Redefine Transparency Video: Technology Is Set to Invade a Restaurant Near You in 2015 CTS Blog: Delta Airlines Makes Safety a Good Experience Episode 37: How Fraudsters Affect the Customer Experience Episode 34: Virgin’s Flagship Hotel Wins for Women Business Travelers Sponsor Message 360 Connext—Emerging CX Leader Program Maybe you’ve been told to become more “customer-centric” or to lead the charge on journey mapping for your organization. We know leaders (who don’t necessarily have customer experience in their titles) are being asked to develop customer experience programs. We can help. Join us for our Emerging CX Leader Program. We will walk you through how to make real change and take daily, weekly, monthly actions without breaking the bank. Register at http://www.cxcourse.com/    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jill Salzman, creator of The Founding Moms, joins us to discuss global networking and the inception of the world's first and only online and offline meet-up and resource network for mothers. Real Women Making a Difference When asked why membership community building is so important, Jill replies that it's a matter of identifying the need in a community and attempting to fill it. While Founding Moms' meetings began in person with just a few participants, the demand was so great that Jill has expanded to both offline and online group meetings, providing the opportunity for participants to pool resources, network, and offer advice as they build their businesses. As the creator of the only networking community that invites members to bring their children as they learn more about optimizing their business, Jill has built an accessible, loved, and trusted brand. Tune in to hear her customer service advice, network design, brand story, and how to juggle life as an entrepreneur. Jill Salzman: "Helping Moms Get Down to Business" In addition to connecting mom entrepreneurs from all over the globe, Jill has also started a music management firm, founded a jewelry company, and authored a book titled, "Found It: A Field Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs." Jill earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and after that attended law school. She co-hosts the podcast Breaking Down Your Business, and she hosts a video series called Tip Top Tips For Entrepreneurs. Nicknamed "Mommy Mogul" by CNN Money, "One of Ten Cool Mom Entrepreneurs We Love" by MSN Live, and the creator of one of Forbes' "Top Ten Business Websites," Jill also has a TED Talk, loves to bake, and rocks out in a band.  Connect with Jill LinkedIn Twitter www.foundingmoms.com www.foundingmoms.com/fmc Related Content "Found It: A Field Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs" Breaking Down Your Business Tip Top Tips For Entrepreneurs Jill's TED Talk www.foundingmoms.com/fmc Sponsor Message  Be Your Customer’s Hero: Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Front Lines is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers. Be Your Customers Hero covers customer service from beginning to end. In HERO, you will learn some of Adam’s favorite tips and tricks for winning the mental game of service, for communicating in ways that set you up for success, and of course, for working with difficult customers. Get a copy for yourself or for your whole team. Bulk discounts are available. Learn more here.                  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With so many options on the market, it is easier than ever for customers who've had a poor dining experience at one restaurant to take their loyalty and hard earned cash to a different venue. That's a lot of pressure on restaurant staff to create positive customer experiences, every time. So, what is the key in the dining industry to keeping customers loyal? Expectations of Excellence The short answer is that everything in customer experience is an expectations game. Almost everyone has eaten out at one point or another, and in each case, we come in with certain expectations for the dining experience. This is contingent on the type of experience the customer is seeking, which often dictates where they choose to dine. Linen tablecloths, for example, tell a different story than a drive-through window. With so many moving parts and human touchpoints occurring in a very short time frame, one interaction with a rude sommelier within a three hour event may ruin the entire evening. How can the restaurant industry tackle customer service triggers, exceed expectations, and beat the competition? Tune in! Related Content Jeannie's blog post, Customers Redefine TransparencyPortillo's RestaurantCulver's Frozen CustardLou Mitchell'sChick fil A  Sponsor Message 360 Connext—Customer Experience Webinar Join us each month for an informative customer experience webinar. After hosting webinars and courses for PopExpert, Word of Mouth Marketing Association and others, 360Connext is now offering webinars to our community. Sign up to explore different topics each month, like how to measure customer experience success, how to write your customer experience mission, and other important and actionable ideas. Register at www.cxwebinar.com.                Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shep Hyken, the Customer Experience Expert and Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations, joins the podcast to talk about fusing disparate elements of customer service into one holistic whole. Realistic Customer Amazement Shep’s advice for a stellar customer experience? Foster moments of customer amazement grounded in realism. Any company can do this, Shep says, and you don’t have to create clever, fantastic, or over the top productions. “The amazing companies are just a little above average—all of the time.” In his book The Amazement Revolution, Shep outlines some of his favorite strategies to create those ‘wow’ moments. Want a taste? Shep’s favorite strategy is to foster a membership mentality, like a gym or country club membership. Create loyalty, Shep says. Create that VIP experience for your customers. Know who they are. Call them by name. Add personalization and connection. This will bond your customers to your brand and create loyalty. How can you shift the culture of your company to a customer-centric model? Want more strategies, case studies, and tools to create a dynamic customer experience? Tune in! Shep Hyken: The Man, The Myth, The Legend of Customer Experience Experts Not only is Shep the Customer Experience Expert and Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations— he's also New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, and an inducted member of the National Speakers Association’s Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the Speaking Profession. Shep works with companies and organizations of all sizes who want to build loyal relationships with customers and employees. His books include Moments of Magic, The Loyal Customer, The Cult of the Customer, The Amazement Revolution, and Amaze Every Customer Every Time. He founded Shepard Presentations in 1983 and since then has been known for his high energy presentations that always include humor and a little bit of magic. Connect with ShepLinkedInTwitterwww.shepondemand.comwww.hyken.com Related Content Shep's books:Amaze Every Customer, Every TimeThe Amazement RevolutionThe Cult of the CustomerThe Loyal CustomerMoments of Magic Be Your Customer’s Hero: Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Front Lines is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers. Be Your Customers Hero covers customer service from beginning to end. In HERO, you will learn some of Adam’s favorite tips and tricks for winning the mental game of service, for communicating in ways that set you up for success, and of course, for working with difficult customers. Get a copy for yourself or for your whole team. Bulk discounts are available. Learn more here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Superior customer experience is a non-negotiable facet of maintaining a thriving customer base. But how can you deliver an exceptional customer experience without an exceptional budget? Keeping Costs In Line Do you know what you want the experience to deliver? Do you have the team in place, and are they empowered to do the right thing at the right moment? Adam and Jeannie recommend connecting with your team on the front lines to ensure that they are able to communicate effectively with customers and create “small wow moments.” Allowing your customers to feel ownership in your brand doesn't have to involve distributing merchandise or other gifts heavy on the budget. Try crowd-sourcing or other options to reach out to loyal customers, turning them into willing ambassadors for your brand. Especially if you have a customer base already, efficiently tapping into that resource will induce low costs and high benefit. Listen in to hear how a historic soccer club in Argentina used clever experiences to build loyalty in new ways. Want to learn more about creating a fantastic customer experience on a budget? Related Content Adam's blog post, Sometimes WOW Only Takes 5 SecondsJeannie's blog post, Focusing on Customers: Lessons from MedellinJeannie's blog post, How to Turn Customers Into FansVideo and article of River Plate team members delivering jerseys to fansKarma GoBetabrand, crowdfunded clothing communityWhat's Your Purple Goldfish, by Stan PhelpsEd Debevic’s Diner in Chicago Sponsor Message Customer Experience Webinar Join us each month for an informative customer experience webinar. After hosting webinars and courses for PopExpert, Word of Mouth Marketing Association and others, 360Connext is now offering webinars to our community. Sign up to explore different topics each month, like how to measure customer experience success, how to write your customer experience mission, and other important and actionable ideas. Register at www.cxwebinar.com.                Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Superstorm of Change Shel’s latest book, Lethal Generosity, borrows its name from the concept that when a company is incredibly generous to their customers, competitors’ efforts to hijack the customer are preempted. Customers have more power than ever. Technology has put customers “in their rightful place at the heart of an organization, rather than on the outside”, and has created, as Shel puts it, a “superstorm of change”. Social media has empowered consumers to demand the experiences they desire. What does this mean for the future—of companies, communication, and the world? The future belongs to millennials, says Shel, and it is in their hands to make reparations and "fix the world." They are the first generation of ‘digital natives’ coming of age to a planet that has a lot of problems, and the technology at their fingertips will be the tool they use to network and solve problems. Shifting Business Models This limitless power of connectivity and communication offers millennials seemingly infinite resources for collaboration. Shel introduces the topic of Keiretsu, a Japanese practice of forming and sharing networks and resources to gather power and problem-solve. Many companies around the world are now building keiretsus, and these teams are going on to shift the traditional business model to a newer, more sustainable format. This phenomenon is evident in cause-marketing efforts from brands like TOMs, Warby Parker, and more. Shel Israel, Cross-Disciplinary Communicator Shel Israel is a best-selling author concerned with technology and the impact it has on business and life. He has been a keynote speaker “on all continents not covered by ice” and a contributor to Forbes, Fast Company, Business Weekly, and Business Insider. He began his extensive career as a newspaper reporter, then moved on to become a PR executive in Silicon Valley; he rounded out his career by working as a publicist. He currently writes and speaks full time. He brings his cross-disciplinary viewpoint to the podcast today to discuss the future of company identity and branding. Connect with ShelLinkedInTwitterwww.shelisrael.comRelated ContentAdam's blog post, Age of Context, Future of ExperienceLethal GenerosityAge of Context Naked ConversationsKeiretsuBe Your Customer’s Hero: Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Front Lines is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers. Be Your Customers Hero covers customer service from beginning to end. In HERO, you will learn some of Adam’s favorite tips and tricks for winning the mental game of service, for communicating in ways that set you up for success, and of course, for working with difficult customers. Get a copy for yourself or for your whole team. Bulk discounts are available. Learn more here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know that customer service is an essential aspect of customer experience can often be disconnected from profit. How can you improve customer experience while maintaining the health and profitability of your organization? Three Dimensional Customer Experience Everyone loves profit; the point of having customers is to have a viable, thriving organization or business. But the math behind how customers feel about your organization is often messy and doesn’t always make sense. It may be hard to judge why you have a high percentage of customers dropping off, and if you focus on the numbers alone you may miss the intuitive element of customer experience. You must take into account both the human, emotional aspect and the critical data when designing and delivering a customer experience strategy. “Identify the pressure points,” advise Adam and Jeannie, "and invest resources into the ones that matter, the ones that drive retention or defection." Bear in mind that these may become long term strategies. And it’s not just the negative points in a process you should pay attention to. What positive aspects of your customer experience could be amplified? These often get overlooked and thus stay isolated, pleasing only a small amount of customers instead of improving retention, loyalty, and profitability. How can you improve customer experience today instead of exclusively focusing on fixing the numbers? There’s a lot that can be done within the confines of regulations and profit restrictions. Tune in to find out more. Related Content Adam's blog post, All Customer Service Is Subject to the Abuse Exception Sponsor Message Customer Experience Webinar Join us each month for an informative customer experience webinar. After hosting webinars and courses for PopExpert, Word of Mouth Marketing Association and others, 360Connext is now offering webinars to our community. Sign up to explore different topics each month, like how to measure customer experience success, how to write your customer experience mission, and other important and actionable ideas. Register at www.cxwebinar.com.                Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While you may think of call centers as a customer service vehicle of the past, new and improved ‘contact’ centers are alive and well. As technology trends direct customers and businesses to mobile, email, and chat platforms, how are these contact centers evolving to best suit both client and customer needs? Can You Hear Me Now? Call or contact centers are an essential customer service arena, but they tend to have a bad rap. The offshoring of call centers has had a negative impact on many centers’ reputations; but with updated technology and more robust, multidimensional offerings of communication, contact centers are weaving cultural understanding into customer experience. Jeremy’s company, FCR, operates entirely from onshore customer service locations based in Oregon. By approaching the work from a standpoint of culture, Jeremy has created a capable team that is fully equipped to tackle tough customer issues, and to fight for the customers that they work with. FCR prides themselves on their ability to match their own mission and identity with that of their clients. Understanding the culture of the organization allows them to match the customer service appropriately. This creates identity and excitement among his own service team. Speaking of service teams, Jeremy’s rule of thumb for top notch customer service? Train and value your colleagues and employees. Create meaningful work where they are able to solve problems in real time and see action being taken. This will create a culture of empowerment where colleagues feel that they and their work are valued, which in turn motivates team members to create those ‘wow’ moments for customers. Speaking of service teams, Jeremy’s rule of thumb for top notch customer service? Train and value your colleagues and employees. Create meaningful work where they are able to solve problems in real time and see action being taken. This will create a culture of empowerment where colleagues feel that they and their work are valued and they will seek to create those ‘wow’ moments for customers. Want tips to ensure your customer service team is operating like a well-oiled machine? Tune in to learn more! About Jeremy Watkin Jeremy Watkin is the Head of Quality for FCR, the most disruptive and respected outsource provider.  He is also the co-founder of CommunicateBetterBlog.com; a blog dedicated to observing both good and bad customer experiences with the intent of providing awesome customer service.  He has been recognized by ICMI, Huffington Post and MindTouch as a top customer service influencer and thought leader. He joins the podcast today as one of Adam and Jeannie’s favorite bloggers in the customer service blogosphere. Connect with Jeremy LinkedInTwitterwww.CommunicateBetterBlog.com Related Content www.communicatebetterblog.comwww.gofcr.comAre You Making the Most of Your Customer Service Superstars?                  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As customer experience experts, we have to focus on innovation in ways that others don’t. Our Customer Hero today has created a fantastic model to evolve, innovate, and better suit customer needs. Customization with Innovation and Ease Based in Brookline, Massachusetts, Pantry Market borrows the model of the curated meal from their online counterparts such as Blue Apron and Plated. However, Pantry shifts the principle to a brick and mortar location. They provide a recipe card and grocery list for a “curated shopping experience” in which ingredients are pre-portioned and pre-selected—and each recipe comes with suggested wine and beer pairings. This reveals fantastic innovation around tailored customer experience. Many of us want to cook and eat healthier meals and Pantry Market is filling this niche as well as considering ease, time, affordability, and creating less waste. So what is the intrinsic value proposition that gives Pantry Market an edge against their online competitors? Related Content www.PantryMarket.com   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High Expectations Customers are getting more and more savvy about what loyalty means to their preferred businesses, so expectations are high. What can businesses do to ensure that they maintain their most loyal customers and win the loyalty of new ones? First, Jill encourages companies to identify how their specific customers define value and then setting up products and services in those terms. This is not as easy as it sounds because customer value definitions are in constant flux, however, Jill points out three types of value: Basic ValueExpected ValueUnanticipated ValueIf you are unable to deliver on the first two of these value promises, you will have trouble hanging on to customers. In fact, advises Jill, unless you incorporate all three of these value systems into your business identity, you will be unable to engender long term customer loyalty. In today’s world, not only do you have to take into account a customer’s definition of value and their mindset, you must spark some emotion in them. It’s this combination that bonds a customer with a brand. Need some readily actionable tools to boost your brand’s conscious implementation of customer loyalty practices? From Jill’s “Worth It” test that customers can use to evaluate your brand, to her spot-on advice for creating lasting customer loyalty, this episode has it all. About Jill Known as “The Loyalty Maker”, Jill Griffin is an Independent Public Board Director, an internationally published Harvard “Working Knowledge” Author, a noted Corporate Advisor on Customer Loyalty, the author of a series of customer loyalty videos on www.Lynda.com, a recipient of the 2005 Distinguished Alumna award from the University of South Carolina where she earned her Bachelor of Science and MBA degrees, the founder of a Loyalty Consulting Firm, and the author of four books with a new one out soon. Jill has been working in the field for over 20 years and she joins us today to share her expertise on maintaining customer loyalty. Connect with JillLinkedInTwitterwww.theloyaltymaker.comwww.publicboarddirector.com Related ContentJill Griffin on Lynda.comJill's booksJeff Toister on Lynda.com Sponsor Message Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards establish the Global Benchmark for Service Excellence. Developed by Service Strategies, in cooperation with approximately 50 leading service and support organizations from around the world, the Service Capability & Performance Standards have enhanced the capabilities and performance of service and support operations worldwide since 1998. Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Success Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While it may be fun to be a disrupter, it’s not so fun to be the disruptee. What happens to organizations that have their entire industry shaken up? What can these businesses do to prepare for and respond to disruption? Jeannie and Adam tackle industry disruption, customer experience, and loyalty. We've Got a Remedy for That Having a happy, loyal, dedicated customer base is one of the best remedies to industry disruption. While customer loyalty alone won’t save a brand from sinking, coupling it with infrastructure and technological improvements may, and this strategy is better in the long term than seeking legislation to hold onto your once glory days (we’re looking at you, cable). Your competitors are setting customer expectations in your industry. If your business can’t deliver on the newly-formed expectations stemming from innovation in the industry, you will find customers increasingly more likely to defect. If your industry is being disrupted there are many things customers do to keep competitive advantage, but cultivating customer loyalty is the strategy that lasts. So how can you implement customer loyalty strategies to protect your business from industry disruption? Related Content Uber vs. Lyft vs. Taxis, referred to in the episodeIn The Age of Disruption, Customer Love Is More Important Than EverHow Customer Service Can Save Cable Sponsor Message Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards establish the Global Benchmark for Service Excellence. Developed by Service Strategies, in cooperation with approximately 50 leading service and support organizations from around the world, the Service Capability & Performance Standards have enhanced the capabilities and performance of service and support operations worldwide since 1998. Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Success Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good customer service can give your company a competitive financial edge. Lori Jo Vest, co-author of Who’s Your Gladys joins the podcast today to identify key customer service strategies to take your company from simply stable to thriving and prosperous. Customer Service Gives You a Cutting Edge Advantage The key to growth through customer service, says Lori, is referral and repeat business. By creating an exceptional, thoughtful experience for your customers, those people will make sure that they reward your efforts by making you their go-to for repeat business. They will also encourage their friends and family members to support you based on their experience, creating dedicated zombie loyalists, if you will. Thus, instead of stable sales, your business will experience an increase in sales. But how do businesses make customer service a part of their company identity and manage this advantage long-term? Join Adam, Jeannie and Lori to find out. About Lori In addition to being the co-author of the best-selling, Who’s Your Gladys, Lori Jo Vest is a Customer Service Expert, a Sales Master and Coach, an Emmy award winning television producer, a Social Media Specialists, and a consultant. She joins the podcast today to shed some light on the macro view of handling customer interactions and how this can be a competitive advantage to companies large and small. Connect with Lori LinkedInTwitterFacebookwww.lorijovest.comwww.whosyourgladys.com Related Content Clear Vision Optical, referred to in the episode. Sponsor Message Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Success Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You will learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Changing your brand identity? You’re not alone. Jeannie and Adam tackle how to identify when the time is right to rebrand, but watch out! This week they're taking on a customer zero. Evolution vs. Revolution Jeannie and Adam have noticed a trend. When companies rebrand, they often imply that this indicates an evolution in their customer experience as well. Changing the logo of your company is a useful, sometimes necessary move—a reflection of research in usability or color studies, an evolution in brand identity, etc. However, rebranding does not automatically solve ingrained customer service issues. How can marketers invest more time and resources in customer service and identify when it’s an appropriate time to rebrand? Related Content Jeannie's Blog post, Customer Experience Isn't Marketing  Sponsor Message Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marilyn Suttle is an expert on customer service culture change and developing emotional intelligence to foster breakthrough success. Her book, Who’s Your Gladys, reveals key methods to change the psychology around handling difficult customers. What's a Gladys? A Gladys is a demanding customer who has high expectations and may pose a challenge for you or your team. Despite these potential difficulties, these customers can give valuable feedback or illuminate aspects of your service that may need to be revamped. We've all encountered a Gladys at one point or another, and the situation can be emotional. After all, your company is your baby and criticism can be difficult to hear. How can you and your team take in the experience in a constructive way? Marilyn suggests reminding yourself that hearing criticism is a necessary part of customer resolution. Examine the psychology of the situation. What triggers does this Gladys present that bother your team? Do they appear to be demanding or cold? Recognizing the judgment allows you to find the compassion in the situation. Instead of cold, a customer may simply be slow to warm up. Therefore the tactic to communicate with them changes. Marilyn and her co-author, Lori Jo Vest detail more triggers and customer service solutions in Who's Your Gladys? and their upcoming book, Taming Gladys: How To Tame Your Most Difficult Gladys. And as a special offer, they're giving a bonus gift to today's listeners. Tune in to the episode to find out more! About Marilyn Suttle Marilyn Suttle has an incredible track record. She is the President of Suttle Enterprises, a bestselling author and keynote speaker, and a Human Potential Expert, enhancing leadership and social interaction within business teams. She trains and consults for Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, and universities and manages emotional and professional development. She has been featured in The U.S. News & World Report, Ladies Home Journal, and Inc. Magazine. She joins the podcast today to share her expertise on turning upset customers into loyal fans. Connect with Marilyn LinkedInTwitterFacebookwww.MarilynSuttle.comwww.whosyourgladys.com Related Content Marilyn's book, Who's Your Gladys? How To Turn Even The Most Difficult Customer into Your Biggest FanA bonus gift for our listeners, www.whosyourgladys.com/bonus_gift Sponsor Message Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Intelligent and compassionate entrepreneurs often get caught in the magical world of the ideal customer experience. But what happens when things go wrong? Join Adam and Jeannie as they discuss how to be prepared for worst case customer scenarios. Fewer Ruined Days You’ve created the ideal customer experience, your business is ready to roll. Suddenly something happens: your technology fails, a child gets lost in your store, someone vomits on your roller coaster. Do you have a plan? What do you spend your time and resources preparing for? It sounds like a deceptively simple issue, but dealing with worst case customer scenarios gracefully is essential for a successful business model. After all, according to the Peak and End Rule, if a customer's last memory of your service is a bad one, they probably won't return. If you’re concerned with high probability and high impact issues, this is the podcast episode for you. Join Adam and Jeannie as they take on customer experience and worst case customer scenarios to find out how you can “create fewer ruined days for your customers.” Related Content Jeannie's Blog post, Is Your Mission Customer-Focussed or an Empty Promise? Sponsor Message  Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inadequate customer service keeps rearing it’s ugly head. The good news is that any company of any size can do something immediate to make their service better. Enter Peter Shankman, the New York Times dubbed “PR all star”, to discuss how being super-excellent may be as easy as “being a little better sometimes”. It's Nice to Be Nice Peter attributes his success to “trying to be nice”. In today’s customer service economy, many people expect to be treated “like crap”. Since customer experience is trending as the main thing driving revenue, ensuring that your customers truly feel like they are a part of the company and taken care of must be a driving goal. Peter’s latest book, Zombie Loyalists takes this idea and runs with it. A zombie loyalist is someone who is in love with your product and who drives much of your business by fighting for your brand. By consciously creating a single positive experience for that customer, you have created a loyalist. They will stick with your brand and fight to refer you, bringing their friends along with them. And since customer service tends to be so bad that consumers expect poor service, the simple act of treating people “a little better than normal” can go a long way. As Peter points out, customers generally don’t mind when a company screws up, they mind when the company doesn’t respond to fix the problem. "The only thing that’s worse than a hater is someone who used to be a lover”, says Peter, so ensure that your customers stay loyal by treating them right. After all, it’s nice to be nice—and it's nice to be able to pay the mortgage. Looking for easy, actionable tips on how to maintain your customers’ loyalty and create a brand that people will love? Tune in! About Peter Shankman Peter Shankman is a worldwide connector, presenting radical new ways of customer service thinking. He is a corporate and conference keynote speaker, a consultant for a number of Fortune 100 companies, an Adjunct Professor of Public Relations at New York University, and an author of four books. In his spare time Peter runs a series of business masterminds (not to mention marathons and triathlons). He was one of the founders of the AOL Newsroom and Help A Reporter Out (HARO) and has been dubbed by the New York Times as the “public relations all star on everything about new media”. Peter has been featured on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and The Wall Street Journal. As if that wasn’t enough, he also advises NASA. Connect with Peter LinkedIn Twitter Instagram www.shankman.com peter@shankman.com Peter's Business Masterminds, www.shankminds.com Related Content Peter's book, Zombie Loyalists: Using Great Service to Create Rabid Fans Help A Reporter Out, www.helpareporter.com SCOTTeVEST, mentioned in the episode Sponsor Message  Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Job seeking is a necessary process that we've all experienced but is there anything that can relieve the stress or helplessness of submitting your resume, as Jeannie puts it, “into the black void of eternity”?  With mobile marketplaces taking over a significant portion of the job market, the short answer is, yes. Today on the podcast we have an innovative Customer Hero, an app called Jobr. Jobr is based on the Tinder model of swiping left or right, and connects potential talent with employers seeking to build their company culture with like-minded, qualified individuals. The innovation of Tinder and other similar models is gaining footing in the mobile marketplace, especially with qualified millennials seeking employment. The way in which employers attract talent has a huge impact on recruitment methods and HR, and thus, on the type of talent that responds and business leaders are seeking talented employees who will deliver on their enterprise’s customer promise and will do so long term. This is easier to facilitate when you can filter prospective employees and connect with those that match your company’s culture. But while all of this innovation sounds like a great idea, are there any pitfalls in this model? Tune in to find out! What You'll Hear In This Episode Innovations in job hunting for millennials and employers. The app, Jobr. New tactics for working and hiring in the mobile marketplace. Ingenious models to connect talent with employers. Sponsor Service Strategies offers a wide variety of Consulting Services for Support, eService, Field Service and Professional Services operations for technology companies. We have helped industry leading service and support operations enhance operational efficiency and drive world class levels of performance, while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Join Service Strategies at their Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. As part of the event, an informative Customer Success Workshop will be held on October 27th. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Related Content Jobr Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell Jeannie's post, Job Postings and the Total Customer experience Jeannie's post, Recruiting: The First Touchpoint Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of the 50th episode of Crack the Customer Code, we've selected 50 customer service sound bites across a wide range of concepts. From designing and delivering great customer experience to overused clichés, these tips run the gamut, and we are excited to share them with you! What You'll Hear In This Episode 50 fantastic sound bites of customer service wisdom and advice. Sponsor Service Strategies offers a wide variety of Consulting Services for Support, eService, Field Service and Professional Services operations for technology companies. We have helped industry leading service and support operations enhance operational efficiency and drive world class levels of performance, while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Join Service Strategies at their Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. As part of the event, an informative Customer Success Workshop will be held on October 27th. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Related Content Adam's blog, www.customersthatstick.com Jeannie's blog, www.360connext.com Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve all encountered scripted customer greetings at one point or another in our lives. Are these greetings an effective strategy when crafting customer experience? The Benefits of Customer Greetings Customer greetings are the introduction to your business and a reminder of excellent service as a customer leaves. As we all know, first and last impressions are fantastic points of reference for customers when calling your business to mind. These greetings can offer consistency and identity for your brand. In addition, customer greetings add structure and guidance for your team, allowing them to understand your customer experience mission and how to interact with consumers in a way that supports rather than detracts from your company identity. The key to the effectiveness of a greeting lies in it’s purpose, context, and sincerity. As Adam points out, "put the customer ahead of the customer experience checklist." Want to learn the methodology of crafting customer greetings that support your brand promise and key into the exact type of customer your company caters to? What You'll Hear In This Episode Adam's blog post, Put The Customer Ahead of the Customer Experience Checklist. Moe's Southwest Grill; mentioned as a great example of a customer greeting. AAA; mentioned in the episode. Aveda, mentioned as an example of an excellent customer experience. Sponsor Service Strategies offers a wide variety of Consulting Services for Support, eService, Field Service and Professional Services operations for technology companies. We have helped industry leading service and support operations enhance operational efficiency and drive world class levels of performance, while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Join Service Strategies at their Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. As part of the event, an informative Customer Success Workshop will be held on October 27th. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Warrillow, the founder of the Value Builder System and bestselling author, joins the podcast this week to introduce strategies entrepreneurs can use to create loyal customers based on subscriptions. How can business leaders identify their subscription models? Millennials are more concerned with acquiring the rights to products and services rather than stock-piling assets. With the advent of the sharing economy and services such as Netflix and Spotify ruling the online subscription world, how can business leaders get customers to bed in with a specific company subscription? In addition, how can business leaders determine the subscription model that best suits their needs? With both business to business product models and business to consumer product models, entrepreneurs have very specific options, and the wrong model may hurt projected outcome. John is a strong advocate of a subscription’s ability to change a customer’s behavior. By implementing subscription models, businesses build relationships based on trust, creating long-term, deeply invested customers. Want to implement these strategies and discover which model is best for your business? Learn how by tuning in today. About John Warrillow Recognized by Fortune and Inc. Magazines, John Warrillow is the author of the "Best Business Book of 2011," Built To Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You. His new book, The Automatic Customer hit shelves in February and has already been recognized as a "Best Book of 2015". Connect with John LinkedIn Twitter Sponsor Message  Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Related Content The Value Builder System Built To Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You www.theautomaticcustomer.com                Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Customer satisfaction ratings haven’t improved since the 1970’s, in fact, they've declined. With so many tools and resources at our disposal, why does customer service still stink? In a recent study performed by Consumer Reports, 80% of people surveyed had some issue with a recent transaction—they had returned merchandise, questioned a bill, or simply left the store without making their intended purchase. Now digital sales present a new round of challenges for marketers. Customer experience on mobile devices or an entrepreneur’s website can lead to devastating statistics (for example, 60% of users abandon their intended purchase when a website’s load time is too slow). Metrics may reveal an issue, but not the basic fabric of why the issue exists, and in our fast paced, social media based world, customer expectations are evolving quicker than ever. How can entrepreneurs keep customer empowerment at the forefront while identifying potential customer satisfaction issues before they are blown out of proportion? Listen to today’s episode to learn how smart, savvy leaders create ideal scenarios for their customers and for themselves. What You'll Hear In This Episode Actionable tips and resources to help you understand your customers' perspectives Implementing customer service and satisfaction on a digital platform Using metrics to identify a customer service issue before it erupts Sponsor Service Strategies offers a wide variety of Consulting Services for Support, eService, Field Service and Professional Services operations for technology companies. We have helped industry leading service and support operations enhance operational efficiency and drive world class levels of performance, while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Join Service Strategies at their Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. As part of the event, an informative Customer Success Workshop will be held on October 27th. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Schwab describes how business leaders can implement NPS and inbound marketing to focus on customer satisfaction and offer them the products and services they need. Tom Schwab: Inbound Expert Tom Schwab is an entrepreneur, a consultant, a writer, a Navy Vet, and an expert at inbound engineering and strategy. He empowers business owners to implement and understand digital tools, build sales, and create marketing machines that amplify their business model by taking them beyond a single efficient transaction to building a lifetime brand. Connect with Tom: LinkedIn Twitter www.tmschwab.com/ctcc www.tmschwab.com Listen To This Episode! [iframe style="border:none" src="http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/3751156/height/25/width/320/thumbnail/no/theme/standard-mini" height="25" width="320" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Sponsor Message The Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards establish the Global Benchmark for Service Excellence. Developed by Service Strategies, in cooperation with approximately 50 leading service and support organizations from around the world, the Service Capability & Performance Standards have enhanced the capabilities and performance of service and support operations worldwide since 1998. Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Success Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Inbound, Outbound. What Does It All Mean? Today Tom Schwab gives us a lesson in ecommerce. What exactly does your NPS or Net Promoter Score say about your business and it’s future success? Should you implement inbound or outbound marketing strategies? The terms are often tossed around but what do they truly mean and how can business leaders implement them to effectively build sustainable relationships with their customers? Outbound marketing is often composed of interruption-based ad promotions; email promotions, ads on the highway, these are all outbound. Outbound marketing tends to be annoying and invasive to customers. On the other hand inbound marketing is composed of content that answers questions. Blog posts and social media content, this very podcast, all are fine examples of inbound marketing that seek to help customers by offering advice or a product or service. This approach builds a sustainable, life-long relationship with customers based on trust. Want to learn how to implement inbound marketing strategies combined with your Net Promoter Score to convert detractors to lifelong, valued customers? Listen to this episode of Crack the Customer Code to find out how. Related Content www.NetPromoter.com, where you can learn more about Net Promoter Score Take care of yourself, and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all love metrics, and that’s what this episode of Crack the Customer Code is all about. In particular, it’s about one metric - the Customer Effort Score - and whether or not it’s the best customer experience metric to track. Do you know what the Customer Effort Score is?The Customer Effort Score, measures how much perceived effort your customers experience trying to get an issue resolved. The more effort they have to put in, the less satisfied they are. The less effort, the more satisfied.Listen in as Jeannie and Adam discuss the CES and whether or not it’s a reliable metric to use in evaluating customer experience - on this episode of Crack the Customer Code.Why no ONE metric is enough… not even this one!Even though Adam and Jeannie are devoting this entire episode to the discussion of one metric,  the Customer Effort Score, it’s not the only metric you should be considering because no single metric can tell you everything you need to know to manage your customer experiences. Why? Well… that’s why they recorded this episode, so hit the play button to find out!WHAT YOU’LL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE[0:10] Introduction to the topic: The Customer Effort Score as a metric. [1:53] Business folks can be passionate about their metrics, but no ONE metric is enough.[3:00] What is the Customer Effort Score?[3:42] Why “surprise and delight” don’t matter if the experience is bad.[4:50] Do you understand how “The Hassle Factor” plays a role?[5:58] The importance of knowing what to DO with your metrics.[7:28] An example of how one metric alone is not enough.[11:14] Each company needs to track its own particular metrics…do you know which ones YOUR COMPANY should be tracking?[13:36] How context informs the metrics.[15:50] Metrics are a spotlight to help companies understand their processes and clients. Sponsor Service Strategies offers a wide variety of Consulting Services for Support, eService, Field Service and Professional Services operations for technology companies. We have helped industry leading service and support operations enhance operational efficiency and drive world class levels of performance, while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Join Service Strategies at their Service Industry Summit event, which brings together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. As part of the event, an informative Customer Success Workshop will be held on October 27th. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Caraher tells us how intergenerational workplaces can succeed despite the perceived great divide between Millennials and earlier generations like Boomers. Are Millennials really that different from earlier generations? People talk about intergenerational conflict today like it's something new, but it's not. Humans have always been informed by their generation (in addition to many other factors), so it's no surprise that Millennials have a different perspective of the world than the GenXers before them, and the Boomers before them, and so on. A company today could have as many as three or four different generations working together. And within the Millennial group, there are three subgroups to consider: Ages 28–35, who entered the workforce after 9/11. Ages 22–28, who entered the workforce after the economy crashed in 2008. Ages 15–21, who will enter the workforce having grown up with technology from the start, including in school.   How do these subgroups perceive themselves and the world around them? And how can people from such different perspectives get along in the workplace? Listen to this episode of Crack the Customer Code to find out. About Lee Caraher Lee Caraher literally wrote the book on Millennials in the workplace. Lee is a Boomer whose company hired their first Millennial in 2010 and realized quickly that they were in for a change. By the end of the year, they had hired six more Millennials, all of whom failed within their first three months. Lee was disturbed by this high rate of failure and tried to figure out what happened. She found that a Google search of "Millennials in the workplace" turns up over 2.5 million negative entries. As someone with her own business and a ways to go until retirement, she decided, "I cannot be negative about the generation that’s going to make my future possible. So I threw everything out and we figured it out for ourselves.” In figuring it out for her business, she also ended up helping many of her clients figure it out for theirs, which eventually led to her authoring "Millennials & Management: The Essential Guide to Making it Work at Work."   Connect with Lee: www.leecaraher.com Sponsor Message  Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Related Content Millennials & Management, Lee's book Malcolm Gladwell's Keynote Speech at Postback '15 Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Businesses hack customer behavior all the time; the real question is, are they using their powers for good or evil? Join Adam and Jeannie as they discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of hacking customer experience. It is ever okay? Is Customer Hacking Okay? Adam says the intention behind customer hacking is everything; after all, companies have been practicing hacking in one form or another for ages—narrowing options so you know which product to buy, optimizing prices, etc. Our biological make-up drives us towards the conservation of energy, or, as Adam puts it, our natural state is that of a couch potato. In a world where customer convenience has become the most valuable commodity, how do we overcome this? How do we hack ourselves? How can businesses help customers make the best choices—the healthiest choices—for both the organization and the customer's benefit? Listen in and find out! Related Content Hooked, by Nir Eyal The Intervator The Balance Lamp Sponsor Message Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Murphy discusses how emotional intelligence can be a driver of success across metrics as you learn how to engage with your team, your clients, and your customers. How can business leaders engage their team in the company vision? "Emotional intelligence is absolutely fundamental to the growth and development of an organiztion," says John Murphy, the founder of John Murphy International, "and strong leadership is the [vehicle] for this sort of engagement." By creating an emotional connection, leaders are able to fully engage with their clients and employees and help them to invest in the business and the product, thereby creating a dedicated and empowered team. 4 Universal traits of successful leaders Successful leaders are very emotionally aware—both of their own internal environment and of those around them. They are continuous learners and have an attitude that allows them to be very open to learning new skills and to be honest about it. All successful leaders have daily rituals that feed them emotionally, spiritually, physically, or intellectually. Great leaders have a passion for helping their clients and their team develop and grow as both people and workers. Want to know how leaders develop and enforce powerful habits at an organizational level? What about how emotional intelligence can help your business stand out across a wide variety of metrics? Listen to the episode to find out! About John Murphy John is an Emotional Intelligence expert and the founder of John Murphy International, where he specializes in Executive Coaching, Business Strategy, Team Coaching, and Business Implementation. His expertise has led him to coach business leaders, senior executives, CEO's, and management teams at large companies such as Johnson & Johnson, ITC, Rothco, and many more. He also hosts a podcast where he interviews top authors and business leaders and offers advice to ensure that your company operates seamlessly. Connect with John: LinkedIn Twitter Email johnmurphyinternational.com Sponsor Message  Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adding "Surprise & Delight" to your customer service strategy, while an incredible opportunity to build a dedicated consumer base, is harder to execute than you may expect. Adam and Jeannie discuss the trend of “Surprise & Delight” (or S&D, as some have started to dub it). Quite a few business leaders have been using a Surprise & Delight strategy to create joy and lasting memories among customers. But is it an effective strategy? The most effective? Loyalty programs often disappoint; customer dependency may cause dissatisfaction. How can a company implement this strategy to ensure customer satisfaction and cost benefit? While it is difficult to come up with a pertinent system to measure it, Surprise & Delight is a great reinforcer for both long-term and new customers. Why? Because it builds brand loyalty and trust. What are you really asking your people to do when you ask them to surprise and delight your customers? Listen in and find out! Related Content AirBnB Hotel Indigo Zappos Sponsor Message Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Interview with Robert Rose   Robert introduces some of the principles taught in his latest book, Experiences: the 7th Era of Marketing, which he co-authored with Carla Johnson.     After briefly summarizing the previous six marketing eras, Robert explains how the next one signifies a profound paradigm shift where customer experience intersects with marketing through the content we produce.     According to Robert, we have moved beyond the age of just describing the value of products and services in marketing and entered an age when we must actually deliver value as a vital part of that marketing before a purchase is considered.     As businesses shift into this new era, Robert has observed that the content marketing strategies of many businesses are still not well-adapted. Content production has, in many cases, been tacked onto the normal duties of professionals in many departments and areas of expertise.     Fear not! As Robert explains, this change is not as hard to adapt to as you may think. He and our hosts discuss great examples of companies that have adapted beautifully, and how they are doing it.     Has your company entered the new era of marketing? This episode will help you decide how to develop your content marketing strategy as part of an overall great customer experience.     SPONSOR MESSAGE     Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.       About Robert Rose     Robert is in the business of helping marketers become stellar storytellers.     As a strategist, Robert is the Chief Strategy Officer for the Content Marketing Institute, and Senior Contributing Consultant for Digital Clarity Group. Robert helps develop content marketing and customer experience strategies for large companies such as Oracle, Allstate Insurance, Staples, Hewlett Packard, and AT&T. As an author, Robert’s new book Experiences: The 7th Era Of Marketing has been called a “treatise, a call to arms and a self-help guide” for “creating the experiences that consumers will fall in love with.”  He co-hosts the podcast This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi.     Robert is a frequent keynote speaker and web marketing expert, advising top professionals in the successful strategy of content marketing and customer experiences.   Connect with Robert: LinkedIn Twitter RobertRose.net Read the first three chapters of Robert’s new book  for free at seventheraofmarketing.com Related Content     Chief Content Officer Magazine What’s Next for Content Marketing? By Robert Rose The Lego® Build Workshop at the Chicago Architecture Foundation         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SPONSOR MESSAGE Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.   Employee Empowerment: Is it a Fad or a Winning Strategy?   Employee empowerment is a term we hear a lot these days, but how do you define it? The answer can make a huge difference for your business.    Adam and Jeannie discuss how true employee empowerment means more than just giving employees a budget and a set of rules. How easy is it for employees to actually use that power? Culture plays a huge role!    Adam shares a story about cutting out some of the barriers employees needed to get through before actually resolving customer service issues, and the impact it had on his own business. This is real-life evidence of how a few small changes can make all the difference!   Hear Adam and Jeannie discuss how empowered employees can deliver solutions that actually increase customer loyalty, rather than just resolving an issue. Companies like the Ritz-Carlton, Zappos, and JetBlue have developed winning strategies for employee empowerment, and Jeannie clues us in on why those strategies work so well.   When approached from an idealistic point of view, employee empowerment can be just a “buzz phrase” no more effective than a motivational poster on the wall. But Adam's concept of “smart empowerment” can lead to enormous customer service success.   What’s the difference between employee empowerment and “smart empowerment?” Adam and Jeannie have some powerful examples.    Listen in to cut through the hype and see how empowerment can work for your organization!   Episode Resources The Ultimate Starter Guide to Employee Empowerment Common Mistakes in Organizational Culture The Ritz-Carlton’s Famous $2,000 Rule     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bob Burg, Author of The Go-Giver   SPONSOR MESSAGE     Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more.       Bob Burg: Go-Giver, Bestselling Author and Global Speaker     We are honored to kick off our new format with a guest of Bob’s acclaim!     Bob Burg shares the principles of his seemingly counterintuitive yet surprisingly powerful new strategy for selling in today’s economy. He explains how a shift in focus from acquisition to providing as much value as possible can be the catalyst for long-term loyalty and amazing customer value.   Bob tells us why it’s so important to understand value is relative, and shares some great ways to stay in touch with what customers value most without letting our own perceptions of customer value interfere with providing the best customer experience.     Bob says, “You can’t make the sale, but you can create the environment where that person chooses to buy, and you are there to receive the sale.” Can you be a “Go-Getter” and a “Go-Giver” at the same time­—increasing customer value for yourself while creating that environment for your customers?     Listen in and find out how to give customers what they really want without losing your edge!             People, Places, and Things from the Podcast     Guest Speaker / People     Highly acclaimed speaker and national bestselling author, Bob Burg is one of the world’s elite authorities in the field of relationship marketing. Through his Go-Giver methodology and Endless Referrals system, Bob teaches business and sales professionals how to leverage their everyday contacts into a never-ending stream of A-list, highly-qualified prospects. Combining humor and entertainment along with hard-hitting, immediately-applicable, “how-to” information, Bob equips attendees with both the skills and confidence to develop their own army of Personal Walking Ambassadors and multiply their referrals—exponentially! Connect with Bob: LinkedIn | Twitter Learn more about Bob at Burg.com Browse Bob Burg’s Bestselling Books   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.         Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few fun changes for Crack the Customer Code! SPONSOR MESSAGE Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. What's Happening at Crack the Customer Code? One of the best parts of podcasting is the flexibility of the medium. We're making some changes here on the podcast to improve the listening experience. Tune in for a short, bonus episode on what's happening.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Product vs Experience: Selling and maintaining emotional connections Ben Blakesley, Sr. Manager, Global Social Media, Reebok Customer Zero: How scam artists are ruining the experience for the rest of us SPONSOR MESSAGE Customer Experience is hot… but are you taking advantage of its huge potential to make your services business more prominent and profitable? Join Service Strategies for an informative Customer Experience Workshop in San Diego on October 27th. You’ll learn how to create customer success while generating profitable revenue for your services business. The workshop is part of the Service Industry Summit event, which bring together leaders from companies like Cisco, Dell and others to discuss the challenges of a changing service landscape. Visit servicestrategies.com to learn more. Product vs. Experience: How Sweet Emotional Connections turn Sour A hot topic touched upon by Fast Company and investigated further by author Gretchen Rubin, Adam and Jeannie discuss the idea that it’s not really products that we aim to sell to customers, but the experiences and emotional connections facilitated by those products. While many companies go above and beyond to sell customers on the experiences delivered by the products themselves, they often drop the ball when it comes to the overall customer journey. Jeannie and Adam discuss some of the ways companies can carry that emotional connection beyond marketing and maintain it through the total customer experience. Discussion begins at 01:33 Ben Blakesley, Sr. Manager of Global Social Media at Reebok Special guest Ben Blakesley shares how to truly define success in social media. He explains that companies need to determine how social media serves their business needs, rather than simply ”doing” social media. Ben explains some of the ways Reebok creates a mutually-beneficial social environment by creating and maintaining emotional connections on social channels while staying aligned with business goals. Ben shares some inspiring stories around Reebok’s strategy of featuring the challenges and victories of everyday athletes instead of pro sports figures many customers could never realistically compare themselves to. This sets the stage for a very strong culture within Reebok that is centered on helping customers and employees be the very best they can be. Listen to hear the many ways Reebok is walking the talk! Discussion begins at 10:40 Customer Zero: How Fraudsters Affect the Customer Experience across Industries Credit card companies bear the brunt for most credit card fraud in the U.S today… but that’s about to change! Adam and Jeannie talk about things like Chip-and-PIN technology and the coming shift in fraud responsibility. Retailers and vendors will soon need to be more vigilant about protecting themselves from credit card and gift card fraud. Adam and Jeannie discuss several ways the coming changes can affect the experience honest customers are having with your brand. Discussion begins at 24:01  People, Places, and Things of the Podcast: Ben Blakesley is the Senior Manager of Global Social Media at Reebok, and formerly Marketing Manager for Vanguard. Ben is also the author of the book Get Social: A practical Guide to Using Social Media for Business. Connect with Ben: LinkedIn | Twitter Reebok The Science Of Why You Should Spend Your Money On Experiences, Not Things Gretchen Rubin   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goodsnitch, the “Anti-Yelp”: Snitches don’t end up in ditches! Jennifer Maldonado, Sr. Business Analyst & Voice of the Gamer program owner at Activision Customer Hero: Middle School Entrepreneur fills a Huge Customer Experience Gap     SPONSOR MESSAGE     Did you know that by 2016 eighty-nine percent of companies will compete mainly by the customer experience they provide? How are you preparing for this? Your survey data and customer journey map only tell part of the story.     Get your whole organization started on the right foot with a CXI® Touchpoint Inventory Workshop. 360Connext uses a trademarked method that’s designed to transcend silos and tell the whole story from the customer’s perspective. These workshops are proven to help companies across many industries align their priorities, strengthen a customer-centric culture, and make improvements where they are needed the most.     2016 is right around the corner! Visit 360connext.com to get started today!     Is this new “Anti-Yelp” company starting a revolution in gathering customer feedback?     Adam and Jeannie talk about Goodsnitch, a new company that allows businesses to gather honest customer feedback on a private basis.     Would customers rather contact you directly than “light you up” on Yelp or other public channels? Goodsnitch could make the difference for customers seeking real solutions instead of retribution, and for business owners who want a fair chance to make things right.     Discussion begins at 01:45     Jennifer Maldonado, Sr. Business Analyst & Voice of the Gamer program owner at Activision     Jennifer discusses how she implemented her Voice of the Customer expertise in the new Voice of the Gamer program at Activision. Is the approach to customer experience different in the video game industry?     Jennifer stresses the importance and benefits of handling customer issues in-channel as opposed to the traditional model of sending the customer to another channel, like a web page or phone number, or even another company, to solve an issue.     Jennifer also explains new ways to request customer feedback, and how rewording survey questions can make a huge difference when generating Customer Effort Scores.     Discussion begins at 07:13       Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Pint-Sized Entrepreneur Fills a Huge Customer experience Gap     Have you heard of Franklin Barbecue in Austin? They are so popular that customers flock in from all over the country and have to wait in long lines to get their food.     Desmond, a middle school student, has the answer for these long lines. You won’t believe what this young genius has done to help fill the customer experience gap for this popular take-out restaurant.     Desmond’s venture has inspired Adam and Jeannie to discuss the “add-on” customer experience. Can third parties that step in to improve upon the experiences we provide give us clues about our next innovations?     Discussion begins at 24:28       People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Guest Speaker / People   Jennifer Maldonado has served and dedicated Voice of the Customer and Customer Experience roles for seven years. She recently launched Activision's Voice of the Gamer program and manages the company's Customer Service Analytics team. Jennifer places a heavy focus on process redesign and foundational work enabling trustworthy data and actionable insights, as well as on fostering a client-centric culture by way of storytelling and socializing the Voice and the Customer. LinkedIn | Twitter Goodsnitch Activision Franklin Barbecue BBQ FastPass     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Keurig brews social backlash, recent innovation goes back in the grinder Ramon DeLeon, Global Business and Social Media Keynote Speaker Customer Hero: Disney Cruise Line’s unbelievable dedication to details     SPONSOR MESSAGE   Confident, in control, successful... Is this how you feel when you work with customers? If you answered "no" you're not alone. Customer service can be incredibly difficult. Adam’s new book, Be Your Customer's Hero: Real World Tips and Techniques for the Service Front Lines is here to help. Be Your Customer's Hero is designed to help you and your teams gain the mindset and skills needed to create hero class customer experiences. Go to beyourcustomershero.com to get your copy today.     Keurig’s attempt to box in customers backfires     Jeannie and Adam discuss how Keurig’s customers react to a recent innovation designed to force the use of proprietary supplies.     Customers have spoken up, and Keurig has listened! But is it too late? How will they address customers who can no longer use the product their own way?     Discussion begins at 01:23     Ramon DeLeon, Global Business and Social Media Keynote Speaker, Word of Mouth Supergenius     Ramon explains the fundamental principles of connecting with customers, and how his mother’s marketing finesse, coupled with what he learned from delivering pizza, helped prime him to become the globally recognized marketing consultant he is today.     Ramon flashes back to the 90’s and how he helped Domino’s leverage the power of connecting with customers digitally before most of us even knew that was “a thing.” (Can you remember when ICQ was the way to stay connected online?)     To create loyalty, as Ramon explains, it’s important to get customers to know you, to like you, and to trust you. Whatever industry you’re in, take a page from Ramon’s book and find ways to use whatever tools you have at hand to create strong impressions and lasting connections.     Discussion begins at 05:10       Customer Hero, Customer Zero: How Disney Cruise Line Stays Anchored in our Favorite Memories     It’s no secret that Disney is legendary for creating magical customer experiences, but did you know they actually have a customer experience institute?     Adam explains how Disney worked with the US Coast Guard just to get one minor, but nonetheless delightful detail, just right for Disney Cruise Line travelers.     Both of our hosts agree, it’s just one of the countless ways Disney pays scrupulous attention to the little things that touch our hearts and live on in the memories guests will share for years.     (Plus, Jeannie gets some trivia points for knowing her Disney characters!)     Discussion begins at 17:51         People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:     Guest Speaker / People   Ramon Deleon is a global keynote speaker who started with Domino's pizza in Chicago as a delivery driver in 1986. 27 years later, Ramon ended his tenure with the brand as the marketing mind of a six-store Domino's Pizza franchise in Chicago. His career has given him the opportunity to work in Mexico as a Business Development consultant for Domino's Pizza, and speak all over the world. He's been using social media for his business since before the word existed, and is now known as a Word of Mouth Supergenius, Social Strategist, and Customer Evangelist. More about Ramon | LinkedIn | LinkedIn | Twitter | Tumblr | YouTube | Instagram         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pros and cons of obsessing about data Raj Sivasubramanian, Senior Manager, Global Customer Insights, eBay Marketplaces Virgin’s new hotel is a Customer Hero!       SPONSOR MESSAGE   Please support our fantastic sponsor, Touchpoint Dashboard!     Are you mapping your customer journeys but struggling with how to derive value from your maps? Touchpoint Dashboardis a powerful web-based journey mapping platform that makes visualizing, collaborating, and sharing maps so easy to do. Touchpoint Dashboard was purpose built to ensure that your journey maps meet your goals and become the catalyst for change that they were meant to be. Sign up for a free 15-day trial to see how Touchpoint Dashboard can help you understand - and transform - your customer experience.     Does measurement really lead to action?     Jeannie and Adam discuss how the desire to measure things sometimes leads to action. But what if it doesn’t?     Are we obsessed with big data, dashboards and quarterly reports? It’s important to track things, but why?     Discussion begins at 1:20.     Raj Sivasubramanian, Senior Manager, Global Customer Insights, eBay Marketplaces     Raj discusses how eBay went from being too metric-centric to becoming a truly customer-centric organization. Do you know if your organization is too metric-centric? Listen to this insightful interview to find out.     Raj highlights how producing a series of dashboard with trending metrics really doesn’t necessarily drive results. Are your metrics driving change?     Plus, hear about the strangest thing Raj has heard of being posted on eBay!     Discussion begins at 6:55.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Virgin’s Flagship Hotel Wins for Women Business Travelers   Instead of starting with what the hotel experience has always been, Virgin redesigned the room experience from the ground up.     Jeannie is impressed with the small touches especially for women business travelers. So many great small moments!     Discussion begins at 21:54.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Guest Speaker / People   Raj is a Senior Manager in the Global Customer Insights team at eBay Marketplaces. Over the last few years, he has been focused on enhancing eBay’s existing NPS program specifically around shifting the focus of the NPS team from just trending NPS results to delivering actionable insights that are used to improve the customer experience. Prior to eBay, Raj was a consultant advising clients on various aspects of building and sustaining VoC programs. eBay | LinkedIn The Hawthorne Effect Virgin Hotel Pictures       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Target Canada’s “supply chain disaster” Erin Wallace, Global Manager, Customer Experience, John Deere Poor customer satisfaction is a slippery slope for Wal-Mart!     SPONSOR MESSAGE   Please support our fantastic sponsor, Touchpoint Dashboard!     Are you mapping your customer journeys but struggling with how to derive value from your maps? Touchpoint Dashboard is a powerful web-based journey mapping platform that makes visualizing, collaborating, and sharing maps so easy to do. Touchpoint Dashboard was purpose built to ensure that your journey maps meet your goals and become the catalyst for change that they were meant to be. Sign up for a free 15-day trial to see how Touchpoint Dashboard can help you understand - and transform - your customer experience.     Going global? Tread lightly.     Jeannie and Adam discuss the challenges of going global! Target Canada is a recent example of an unexpected failure. What went wrong?     Jeannie and Adam discuss some of the issues with going big and crossing borders.     Discussion begins at 1:29.     Erin Wallace, Global Manager, Customer Experience, John Deere     Erin shares how John Deere, a multi-generational brand in the United States, gets to know new local markets all over the world. Hear about how the color green is not always welcome, how they partner with their dealer partnership to make meaningful connections, and lessons learned over the last two decades of introducing this iconic brand around the world.     Erin’s honest and candid conversation is a must-listen for anyone challenged with going global in today’s marketplace.     Discussion begins at 6:39.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Wal-Mart’s concerning customer satisfaction trends     While Wal-Mart is the case study, this is really a warning cry for any organization that doesn’t pay attention when customer satisfaction rates are dropping!     Wal-Mart’s customer satisfaction rates are the lowest they’ve been since 2007, plus their sales growth has stalled.     Hear how Jeannie & Adam see this as a warning to companies of all kinds.     Discussion begins at 20:42.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Guest Speaker / People   Erin’s a B2B/ B2C CX leader, focused on enabling John Deere & it’s dealers to deliver a distinctive customer experience that earns customers for generations. A farm girl at heart, she enjoys working hard and playing harder with her husband & children in Kansas City. Connect with Erin: LinkedInTwitter John Deere Target Canada Closes Stores       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to our sponsor, Touchpoint Dashboard!       Does customer experience trump brand in acquisition? Luis Serpa UL (Underwriter Laboratories) Principal, Digital Experience at Underwriters Laboratories Customer Zero: The Cable Industry!     Does customer experience trump brand in acquisition?     Is customer experience more important than brands for long-term success?     A study about what’s more important, customer relationships or brands, reveals customer relationships became more important in the last decade.     Jeannie & Adam discuss how customers have new tools to evaluate the customer relationship, so it’s not just about buying the brand they know.     This conversation brings in all sorts of questions. What do you think? Are brands as important as they used to be? Or do customer relationships trump all?     Discussion begins at 1:30.     Luis Serpa, Principal, Digital Experience, IT Customer Solutions, at UL (Underwriters Laboratories)     Jeannie & Adam talk to Luis Serpa, who Jeannie describes as “brilliant and crazy” when it comes to user experience. (Jeannie & Luis worked together for a number of years!)     Hear how Luis had to address an over-engineered environment and simplify both how and why to develop better experiences for users.     This is a must-listen for anyone interacting with the digital experience of customers!     Discussion begins at 5:21.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: The Cable Industry (Yes, The Whole Industry!)     The Temkin Group ranked Internet Service Providers (let’s just say cable industries) as dead last in their last report on customer service.     Why does the cable industry struggle so much with customer experience? It’s complicated, and Adam and Jeannie have lots of thoughts...     Discussion begins at 23:36.       People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Sponsor: Touchpoint Dashboard   Are you mapping your customer journeys but struggling with how to derive value from your maps? Touchpoint Dashboard is a powerful web-based journey mapping platform that makes visualizing, collaborating, and sharing maps so easy to do. Touchpoint Dashboard was purpose built to ensure that your journey maps meet your goals and become the catalyst for change that they were meant to be. Sign up for a free 15-day trial to see how Touchpoint Dashboard can help you understand – and transform – your customer experience.     Guest Speaker / People   Luis Serpa is an award-winning user experience professional with 25 years of experience across various areas like Marketing, Advertising, Digital Strategy, Innovation, Information Architecture, Software Engineering, Research, IT and Business Consulting.  He joined UL in 2009 with the challenge to establish, lead and grow a User Experience Design practice within the Information Technology division to help improve the perception, use and acceptance of its solutions. Connect with Luis on Twitter | LinkedIn UL  Temkin Group Report listing Internet Service Providers as experience laggards How Customer Service Can Save Cable HBO Now #CuttingTheCord Hashtag used to celebrate ditching cable!       How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor           Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you need a customer experience manager? Best-selling author Jeanne Bliss How Netflix became a Customer Hero SPONSOR MESSAGE Are you mapping your customer journeys but struggling with how to derive value from your maps? Touchpoint Dashboard is a powerful web-based journey mapping platform that makes visualizing, collaborating, and sharing maps so easy to do. Touchpoint Dashboard was purpose built to ensure that your journey maps meet your goals and become the catalyst for change that they were meant to be. Sign up for a free 15-day trial to see how Touchpoint Dashboard can help you understand - and transform - your customer experience. Do you really need a Customer Experience Manager? Jeannie and Adam discuss the pros and cons of adding a specific role around customer experience. Is it really necessary to make change? Or is it just adding to the bureaucracy?  What’s happening in the C-Suite?  Discussion begins at 1:19. Jeanne Bliss, Author, Chief Customer Officer 2.0 Jeanne discusses the 5 Competencies for a Customer-Driven Growth Engine which she outlines and explains in her new book. Jeannie asks Jeanne about what it really means to honor a customer. This is a great discussion about what really makes an honorable experience for customers and companies alike. Jeanne’s been a Chief Customer Officer for organizations like Land’s End and Allstate, so hearing her perspective is a unique opportunity to understand how this role continues to evolve. Discussion begins at 5:09. Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Netflix moved from Zero to Hero A soldier’s complaint to Netflix about charges while he was overseas led to a really awful response from a customer service representative. It was a terrible viral story about how this serviceman was treated so poorly. Netflix turned this incredibly disappointing situation around by reaching out directly to the customer, dismissing the customer service rep and offering long-term solutions. Jeannie & Adam discuss how swift action can help organizations recover. Discussion begins at 16:52. People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:  Guest Speaker / People Jeanne Bliss pioneered the role of the customer experience executive, or Chief Customer Officer, as she held the first ever CCO role at Lands’ End, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker and Allstate Corporations, reporting to each company’s CEO. She now leads CustomerBliss, where she guides the C-Suite and Chief Customer Officers around the world on earning business growth by improving customers’ lives. She is a sought after speaker, the author of two best-selling books, and co-founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. Customer Bliss | Twitter | LinkedIn | Chief Customer Officer 2.0 Chief Concerns – This is an article in Stores Magazine about the proliferation of C-level titles. Jeannie is quoted. Starbucks manager viral video CTCC Holocracy Episode  Metrics are Great, but Always Late! This is the blog post mentioned in the interview    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is everyone driven by convenience? Diane Magers, from AT&T, discusses making change in a huge organization Why department stores need to catch up     How important is convenience for customers?   Determining how to make things easier and more convenient is all about understanding your customer’s real goals. And what about the impact on society if everything becomes TOO convenient?     Convenience is about offering choices. But what about business decisions that may have a negative impact on a small group of customers?     Discussion begins at 1:20.       Diane Magers, Office of the Customer, AT&T     Diane Magers has more than 20 years of building and growing CX focus.  Diane’s demonstrated leadership abilities helps organizations design and execute strategies to drive customer obsession with targeted business results.  Currently with   AT&T’s Office of the Customer, she is building and executing programs to drive change in their culture, systematically embed CX, and strategically drive CX innovation.       Diane shares some of the unique challenges of balancing the pressures of finance and customer-centric mindsets at a global and massive organization like AT&T.     Listen in to hear how Diane and her team are shifting minds and hearts. It’s sure to inspire anyone who feels their executives don’t “get it.”     Discussion begins at 8:58.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: The Demise of the Department Store     Jeannie rants about why the department store experience needs to catch up. They’ve lost their luster and sales are declining even as retail numbers are increasing.     Nordstrom is leading the pack because of their personalized service, but the others need to realize it’s not shopping of yesteryear, it’s a new experience today!   Then Adam has the nerve to disagree with her!     Discussion begins at 21:17.         People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Sponsor: The Customer Experience Investigation™ team at 360Connext is offering free, monthly webinars on all sorts of topics around customer experience. Topics include social customer care, micromapping the customer journey, and how to walk in your customer’s shoes. Join us by signing up at www.cxwebinar.com.       How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor           Guest Speaker / People   Diane Magers holds an M.S. in Clinical Psychology and an MBA.  She is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP), and Promoter Score (NPS), Voice of Customer (VoC) and Customer Experience Management (CEM) certified.  Additional affiliations include CXPA (founding member), LUMA Institute, Board member for CXPA Certification and active volunteer for the Autism Society of America, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Heart Association.   She resides in Dallas with her family. Connect with Diane on TwitterLinkedIn   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Thanks to our sponsor, the Customer Experience Professionals Association! Please find more details about the CXPA for individual or corporate members.       What’s the Future of Customer Experience?     Before sharing the insights gathered from the customer experience leaders at the CXPA Insight Exchange, Jeannie challenged Adam with the same questions.     What is the future of customer experience? And why, after so many years of discussing customer experience as a priority, are so many organizations still getting it so wrong?     Will we have a better understanding of omnichannel? Will we figure out the right way to incentivize the right behavior? These are some of the questions Adam and Jeannie discuss.     Discussion begins at 1:25.     Insights from Customer Experience Leaders     While at the Customer Experience Professionals Association Insight Exchange, Jeannie asked several business leaders about their thoughts for the future of customer experience and the ways we’re still not getting it.     Listen in for some unique perspectives from several leaders, including:     ·      Lesley Lykins, Director of Member Engagement with the CXPA   “It’s hard. I think it’s challenging. It takes passionate people. Not everyone is going to have that passion when they come into a company.” “Everybody knows it’s the right thing to do.”   ·      Mohamed Latib, CCO at PeriscopeIQ   “Start building a fabric with all the different threads…”   ·      Parrish Arturi, Senior Vice President for Integrated Service, Fidelity Investments   “There’s a difference between aspiration and making it happen…”   ·      Tabitha Dunn, Vice President of Customer Experience, Concur, an SAP Company   “It’s all about change, change, and more change!”   ·      Bruce Temkin, Managing Partner & Customer Experience Transformist, The Temkin Group   “The future is bright!”   ·      Barbie Fink, Principal Customer Experience Transformation Leader   “What is it customers are going to need next?”   “Humans are completely complex!”   ·      Jennifer Maldonado, Senior Business Analyst, Activision   “You can never overcommunicate.”   ·      Michelle Morris-Freet, Associate Director of Client Experience, Crowe Howath   “I see a big boom in tying client feedback with business intelligence.”   ·      Kim Proctor, Customer Experience Consultant   “We are still living in a very old business model.”     Discussion begins at 5:11.       Thank you to all of the pros who shared these valuable insights with me at the CXPA Insight Exchange!           Sponsor: CXPA The Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) is a global non-profit organization positioned to guide and enhance the growing field of customer experience management. CXPA brings together like-minded professionals focused on advancing the practice of customer experience management and creating career growth by establishing customer experience management as a recognized and admired professional discipline.       Individuals, their companies and other organizations are welcome to join and participate.       Sponsor: Be Your Customer’s Hero Adam’s new book, Be Your Customer’s Hero, Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Frontlines, is available now! This is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers.       How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor           Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to our sponsor, the Customer Experience Professionals Association! Please find more details about the CXPA for individual or corporate members. Zappos innovates again with holacracy Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall invigorates the baseball fan experience Why we hate fine print! Will Zappos win with non-traditional management? Zappos is in the news once again for implementing a management concept called holacracy. This concept throws out the idea of managers as decision-makers. Decision making is distributed through self-organizing teams instead of a traditional pyramid hierarchy. Adam wonders about how this will be handled from a human resources perspective. Jeannie raises lots and lots of questions about this idea, including how different generations might respond to this. And finally…how will this affect the customer experience? Discussion begins at 1:12. Derrick Hall, President and CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks Jeannie has a special interview with Derrick Hall, one of the most innovative and respected leaders in Major League Baseball. Derrick sat down with Jeannie at the CXPA Insight Exchange in San Diego in May, where he was one of the keynote speakers. Jeannie asks Derrick about why all leaders have to fail, how to help employees push the envelope and take chances, and still meeting business needs. Listen in to hear this unique opportunity to hear about innovation, talent management and the customer experience in one of the world’s most popular sports. Huge thanks to Derrick for making time for us at the Insight Exchange!  Discussion begins at 5:40. Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Fine Print Is Never a Hero Adam graciously says fine print is a necessity, but the way it’s used is the problem. Jeannie says it’s misleading and hiding things from customers! Hear about some of the times Jeannie & Adam have been frustrated by the tiny words!  Discussion begins at 17:26. People, Places, and Things of the Podcast: Sponsor: CXPA– The Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) is a global non-profit organization positioned to guide and enhance the growing field of customer experience management. CXPA brings together like-minded professionals focused on advancing the practice of customer experience management and creating career growth by establishing customer experience management as a recognized and admired professional discipline. Individuals, their companies and other organizations are welcome to join and participate. How to Sponsor www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor   Guest Speaker / People Considered by many to be among the leaders of the game, D-backs President & CEO Derrick Hall has turned the organization into a model franchise within the sports industry and throughout the business world during his nine years at the helm of the club. Hall focuses the organization's efforts in five areas he has called the "Circle of Success" - fan experience, performance, community, culture and financial efficiency - each of which has seen tremendous growth during his tenure. Connect with Derrick on Twitter | Instagram Fine Print Is Inevitable; Bait and Switch Is Not Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Will customer experience become as fragmented as marketing An interview with Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes And our Customer Hero is #1 Cochran Automotive     Will Customer Experience Become as Fragmented as Marketing     Jeannie and Adam discuss whether or not customer experience will become as fragmented and specialized as marketing and other developed industries like accounting and law.     Adam argues that increased specialization is the natural progression in any developing industry.   Jeannie warns against having too broad a job description and describes how specialization has benefited her.     Discussion begins at 1:40.   Interview with Ann Handley, Author of Everybody Writes     Jeannie and Ann discuss how they first met at South by Southwest, in pedi-cabs.     Ann tells us that she wrote Everybody Writes to empower people who feel they are not good writers and to provide a call to arms to create better content.     Ann discusses how she focuses on the substance of writing over the mechanics and that one of her pet peeves is people and organizations that just push out content.     Ann says that the era of the marketing generalist is done, and marketing will become more specialized. She also notes that many companies still see content and social as bolted on instead of as a central component of marketing.     Ann points out that tone of voice can help organizations define who they are and help them better communicate with their customers.     Interview begins at 6:35.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: #1 Cochran Automotive     #1 Cochran Automotive is making waves by shifting to a more customer-centric approach to selling cars. They realized that their customers were not the types who wanted to haggle but the types who preferred a better experience.     Jeannie says that most of #1 Cochran Automotive’s numbers have gone up, and Adam tells a story about a bad car buying experience.     Discussion begins at 24:35.       People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Sponsor:   Be Your Customer’s Hero– Adam’s new book, Be Your Customer’s Hero, Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Frontlines, is available now! This is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers.     How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor           Guest Speaker / People   Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the world’s first Chief Content Officer. Ann speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category.  Twitter (Marketing Profs) | Twitter (Ann) | LinkedIn #1 Cochran Automotive         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uber Disrupts and Chicago Cabbie   Uber and Lyft disrupt a long-standing and regulated industry   How Rashid Temuri, aka @chicagocabbie, has earned loyalty through providing exceptionally great service!   Rashid, Adam and Jeannie discuss big questions around safety, regulation and experience     How Did Uber and Lyft Disrupt the Long-Standing Taxi Industry?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how services like Uber have completely disrupted an entire industry. They argue how the customer service bar was too low (and still is) for the regulated services. Customers were willing to switch because the experience offered was so much better.     But is there room for both? And is perception what creates the customer experience or does customer experience drive perception?     Discussion begins at 1:50.     Rashid Temuri, aka Chicago Cabbie, the social media driver     Buckle up for a great discussion…Rashid Temuri created a loyal customer base by getting to know them (and letting them get to know him) through social media.  His unique approach to customer service earned his Twitter stream a story on CNN!     Rashid, Jeannie and Adam discuss the tension between the regulated taxi industry and the unregulated services like Uber.     Is there a way these alternative transportation services can co-exist? And what does the disrupter mean to the cab drivers?     Discussion begins at 7:31.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero We will be back next week in the interest of your time!     People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:     Sponsor: 360Connext– Jeannie recently updated her popular TEDx talk on Microinteractions and is ready to keynote for your conference or organization! Find out more at www.360Connext.com     How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor         Guest Speaker / People   Rashid Temuri is known as @ChicagoCabbie. He has been driving professionally for over 20 years and started his social media cabbie career 4 years ago. Thank to social media, mainly Twitter, Rashid has his own car service now.  Connect with Rashid on Twitter | About.Me         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Customer journey maps How Citrix’s Justin Zacks uses design thinking in customer experience How Amazon Prime Now is changing the game (again)     Customer Journey Mapping Pros and Cons     Jeannie lays out what customer journey mapping is, and Adam and Jeannie discuss the ways this important tool can be used to better understand your customers.    Asking what the customer goes through today in reality versus the ideal journey you’d like them to have can be enlightening! But creating a beautiful and compelling visual representation of a customer journey map is sometimes not enough to lead to real action.      Discussion begins at 1:57.     Justin Zacks, Customer Experience Design Team Leader at Citrix Justin discusses how design thinking and other user-centered design processes can lead to better customer experiences.     Justin & Jeannie discuss how empathy can help you understand your customers and their actual problems. Justin shares how design thinking is now integrated into new hire trainings and employee training programs. How do you drive and enact real business results from outside-in thinking?     Find out how competitive journey mapping created really positive results for Citrix, but also quite an awkward moment with a competitor!     Discussion begins at 8:00.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Amazon Prime Now offers delivery in as little as two hours!     How can they do this? Adam brings up the laws of physics!     Hint: It’s not drones…yet. But it’s shaking up the marketplace again.     Discussion begins at 19:26.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Sponsor:   13th Annual SCORE Conference:   The Industry Forum on CEM Best Practices in Creating Customer Loyalty and Retention Strategies. If you are a CEM professional, you need to attend the SCORE Conference, the 13th customer service industry annual event taking place on May 20-22, 2015 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. For more information, check out www.omegascoreboard.com     Be Your Customer’s Hero– Adam’s new book, Be Your Customer’s Hero, Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Frontlines, is available now! This is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers.   How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor         Guest Speaker / People   Justin Zacks is a serial intra-preneur and customer experience expert.  He builds successful teams, programs, and products that help people work better and live better.  He is passionate about user-centered design techniques like design thinking, journey mapping and lean.  He currently leads a customer experience design team at Citrix, based out of a virtual office in beautiful Boulder, CO. TwitterLinkedIn Customer Journey Maps 101 What IS a Customer Touchpoint? How Micromapping Can Save Your Business Citrix Amazon Prime Now         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we have a special episode. Adam’s new book Be Your Customer’s Hero launched this week, and Jeannie turns the table on Adam and places him in the interview hot seat for the entire episode! Be Your Customer's Hero Interview Here are some of the highlights from the interview: Why did Adam write Be Your Customer’s Hero? Adam shares a story about watching an employee mistreat a customer and how his passion to change that eventually grew into the book. Why mindset is so fundamental to customer service, why ex-Disney employees have a leg up interviewing with him, and how even good people can deliver bad service when they haven’t been given a customer-centric mindset. Why the right customer service language must be coupled with a genuine effort to serve. Why astronauts have competence and confidence and how frontline employees can get it, too. How to handle challenging customers, emotional reactions in difficult service situations, and why picturing your customer running down the street being chased by a bat can be effective. What is “Smart Empowerment,” why it’s important, and how Adam empowered his employees and changed his service delivery significantly. What it means to be your customer’s hero and how it’s not about creating viral-worthy experiences. Interview begins at 1:15. Bonus Section Also, as a special bonus, Adam shares the results from CTS Service Solutions’ recent survey of 425 retail workers and some of the crazy answers to the question, “what is the meanest thing a customer’s ever said to you?” Also, find out what Patrick Swayze has to do with customer service. Bonus begins at 14:33. OUR SPONSORS 13th Annual SCORE Conference: The Industry Forum on CEM Best Practices in Creating Customer Loyalty and Retention Strategies. If you are a CEM professional, you need to attend the SCORE Conference, the 13th customer service industry annual event taking place on May 20-22, 2015 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. For more information, check out www.omegascoreboard.com CXWebinar.com Each month Jeannie explores a new concept like creating a customer experience mission or journey mapping. Go to http://cxwebinar.com. Also, interested in having Jeannie speak at your organization? Go to http://360connext.com/speaking/.     How to Sponsor www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Adam Toporek is the author of Be Your Customer's Hero: Real-World Tips & Techniques for the Service Front Lines (2015), as well as the founder of the popular Customers That StickTM blog and co-host of the Crack the Customer Code podcast. He is the owner of CTS Service Solutions, a consultancy specializing in high-energy customer service workshops that teach organizations and frontline teams how to deliver Hero-ClassTM customer service. Adam has an MBA from UNC Charlotte and a Certificate in Customer Experience from the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University. Connect with him on Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube. Be Your Customer’s Hero Book Trailer How Do You Handle Angry Customers? Patrick Swayze Style!   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does every organization need a community? How Mark Schaefer, marketing expert, handles the influx of content today Customer Zero: Keurig tries to mandate customer loyalty     Does every organization need a community?     It seems the term “community” is tossed around a bit as a necessary part of building a business. But does every type of business require a customer community?     Adam & Jeannie discuss the merits of building a community for the blogger, the local coffee shop and the auto parts distributor. Or is customer service enough? Listen in to hear if they come up with an answer to this challenging question!     Discussion begins at 1:17.     Mark Schaefer, Marketing Expert, Author and Speaker     Mark discusses the idea of “content shock,” and how more content available actually makes it more difficult to communicate with customers. (The amount of information on the web is expected to increase 500%!)     Hear more about Mark’s perspective on the power of “content that moves” and his new book, The Content Code. It’s a lively conversation about the challenges of marketing today, social transmission and how Twitter brought Mark & Jeannie together back in the day!     Discussion begins at 5:34.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Keurig     Keurig is a Customer Zero for attempting to force loyalty with machines that only worked with their branded coffee pods, K-Cups.     Customers started posting video tutorials on how to hack the system almost immediately!   Discussion begins at 20:36.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:   Sponsor: Be Your Customer’s Hero– Adam’s new book walks through customer service beginning to end, including how to deal with difficult customers. Order today!       How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor       People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:     Mark W. Schaefer is a globally-recognized author, speaker, educator, and business consultant who blogs at {grow} – one of the top marketing blogs of the world. He teaches graduate marketing classes at Rutgers University and has written four best-selling books including The Tao of Twitter (the best-selling book on Twitter in the world) and Return On Influence, which was named one of the top business titles of the year by the American Library Association. His clients include Dell, Adidas, and the US Air Force. His most recent book, The Content Code, is available now! Twitter | Facebook | Google+  | LinkedIn Keurig Coffee Brewers & K-Cups           Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A rockin’ episode about financial services and a live interview from SXSW Interactive… Financial services may have a few things to improve in their digital experiences How TripIt’s Amy Jackson listens to customers Updated Van Gogh exhibit helps patrons feel closer than ever to the artwork Customer Experience Rates Drop Worldwide Thanks to the 8th Annual World Insurance Report from CapGemini, we learned how the service experience is declining worldwide. Specifically, the digital and mobile experiences in financial services are simply not keeping up with customer expectations around these channels. Listen in to hear about how the in-person channel is also failing omnichannel expectations.  Discussion begins at 1:44.  Interview with Amy Jackson of TripIt Amy Jackson, Senior Director of Brand Strategy and Consumer Marketing, TripIt from Concur (interview from the TripIt Lounge at South By Southwest Interactive!)  Amy discusses how listening to customers who use their product on an almost daily basis helps TripIt improve their product using the most important insights. Amy and Jeannie also hypothesize about what’s next for the travel experience. (It’s all about making it easier for the traveler!) Find out how the philosophy of “traveler first” also helped develop permission requirements and a new partnership between TripIt and the Auckland airport could lead to more ease for the traveler. Discussion begins at 5:51. Customer Hero, Customer Zero Interactive art exhibit Van Gogh Alive! shows off Vincent van Gogh’s artwork in ways that are new and breaking attendance records! Discussion begins at 16:25. People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Sponsor: 360Connext– Micromapping is a way to investigate one part of your customer journey (like mobile and digital) to improve your customer’s experience immediately. Find out more and how it can fit into your customer journey. How to Sponsor www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor    Guest Speaker / People World Insurance Report Farmers Insurance commercials Amy Jackson is the senior director of brand strategy and consumer marketing for Concur's TripIt and ExpenseIt products. Amy is also a frequent traveler and a reward point geek. She’s especially passionate about mobile apps that make life easier, 5-star hotels and local cuisine.TwitterLinkedIn Save The Bros from Organic Valley Van Gogh Alive!  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How PR & Marketing set up the customer experience What Shonali Burke, PR maven, has to say about the intersection of PR and experience Customer Hero: AMC creates a rich and interactive experience for The Walking Dead viewers and fans   How Public Relations and Marketing Set Up the Customer Experience     The messages created about products, services and brands set expectations for customers. This can go both ways in helping brands over-deliver or under-deliver on the experience.     Adam & Jeannie discuss the high-brow movies of Die Hard and Snakes On A Plane as illustrations of setting expectations.     Discussion begins at 1:58.     Shonali Burke, President & CEO of Shonali Burke Consulting     Shonali discusses what to do when a terrible customer service story results in horrible PR. She covers why we’re all reporters now, how fast everything moves and why saying sorry is vital to recovery.     Find out about Shonali’s approach to social PR to build a team of champions who are engaged and motivated to share your brand through word-of-mouth. And what do you think about modern day publicity stunts? Shonali has some great opinions about how these can be done well (or not.)     It doesn’t hurt that Shonali has a lovely accent!     Discussion begins at 5:39.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: AMC’s multi-screen approach to their show The Walking Dead is a Customer Hero!     AMC is producing an interactive experience with every episode. With their Story app, a show after the show to discuss the show, and including fans throughout the journey! Using lots of interactivity, AMC is creating a very rich experience for viewers AND this serves their goals, too.   Discussion begins at 20:24.     People, Places, and Things of the Podcast   Sponsor: Be Your Customer’s Hero– Adam’s new book walks through customer service beginning to end, including how to deal with difficult customers. Order today!   How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor         Shonali Burke was named to PRWeek’s inaugural top “40 Under 40′′ list of US-based PR professionals, considered one of 25 women that rock social media, and is the 2015 recipient of AWC-DC’s Matrix Award. As President & CEO, Shonali Burke Consulting, Inc., she uses measurable social PR to take your business communications from corporate codswallop to community coolTM. Shonali teaches at The Johns Hopkins and Rutgers universities, publishes the popular PR and digital media blog, Waxing UnLyrical, and is founder and curator of the #measurePR hashtag and Twitter chat. A foodie who loves shoes, she defies you to dislike Elvis, ABBA or cricket. Twitter | Facebook | Google+  | Waxing Unlyrical Blog   Lawyerist This blog covers many legal topics, including legal issues around social media Customer complaint data Jeannie referred to Why Public Relations Should Remember Customer Expectations – Adam’s guest post on Shonali’s blog TD Bank Gift ATM WestJet buys passengers presents The Walking Dead Story app Nerdist Scandal         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode you will hear: How social selling doesn’t work for Generation Z How Tom Martin, author of The Invisible Sale, encourages seducing instead of selling on social How a dating app based on snap judgments is a Customer Zero, but not for the reasons you might think Social Selling for Generation Z Jeannie schools Adam on Generation Z, which doesn’t stand for zombies! This group rejects advertising and traditional marketing like no other generation. Smart brands are connecting in creative ways. Listen in on how brands like Disney and Marriott are tapping into this market by empowering their peers with very few rules! Discussion begins at 1:13.  Tom Martin, Author of The Invisible Sale Tom addresses social selling and how most brands aren’t getting it right! With illustrations like Dilbert cartoons and Whack-A-Mole, Tom discusses seducing instead of selling. If you want to know about social selling, Tom’s got the answers. (And hear why Jeannie starts the conversation with a very sincere thank you for Tom’s book!) Find out why you need to pack your patience for both long car trips and social selling. Discussion begins at 6:51. Customer Hero, Customer Zero Tinder the dating app is a Customer Zero, but not for the reasons you might assume! They rolled out a premium model called Tinder Plus with more features, but their pricing strategy is driving Jeannie to call them out! They are charging for the same features but charging more for people 30 or older. Listen in to hear Adam ask if this is discretionary or discriminatory. Discussion begins at 19:58. People, Places, and Things from the Podcast CX Webinar Join Jeannie & 360Connext in these free, monthly webinars about all sorts of customer experience topics like social customer care, customer experience missions, and more. Sign up at www.cxwebinar.com or www.360Connext.com How to Sponsor www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor   Guests and Links Tom Martin is a no nonsense, straight-talking 20-year vet of the ad business who favors stiff drinks and good debates. Tom Martin is a founder of Converse Digital, and author of The Invisible Sale | Twitter |LinkedIn Tinder is the dating app based on swiping right or left based on snap judgments.  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode you will hear:     How writing for Google instead of your customers can start the relationship off on the wrong foot How Andy Crestodina, co-founder of Orbit Media, creates content designed to deliver what customers want How robots might be used to actually make the customer experience more personal     Writing for Google     Adam and Jeannie discuss how the practice known as “keyword stuffing” and other nefarious SEO tactics is really rotten for customers.     Listen in to hear how the best brands write in a human way to provide the right information customers are seeking.     Discussion begins at 1:50.     Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder of Orbit Media     Andy discusses strategies for content marketing, and the pros and cons of using content as a long-term strategy. Andy also shares how to measure real business results from digital marketing, including social media and targeted search terms.     And Jeannie makes a somewhat indecent proposal on behalf of her blog.     Find out why empathy is the greatest marketing skills.     Discussion begins at 4:45.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Handwriting robots!     That’s right, robots are taking over. For good or evil? Listen in to decide if organizations can leverage this technology from Bond to personalize the experience or if it’s too much technology to be human.     Discussion begins at 15:41.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Sponsor: http://www.beyourcustomershero.com– Adam’s new book walks through customer service beginning to end, including how to deal with difficult customers. Order today!     How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor   Guest Speaker / Links   Andy Crestodina is a co-founder of Orbit Media, an award winning, 35-person web design company here in Chicago. Andy has written hundreds of articles on topics like email marketing, search optimization, social media, analytics and content strategy. He is also the author of Content Chemistry. TwitterLinkedIn   Bond is technology for thoughtful companies.         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to Jeannie and Adam discuss Jeannie's trip to the NextGen Customer Experience conference and takeaways from last year's conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this podcast you will learn –   -        How to personify your brand   -        Rod Brooks of PEMCO Insurance   -        How to create moments of delight around your product     Create Customer Personas   When Jeannie visited the PEMCO office, she was blown away by how they have created quirky profiles around their customers such that they can relate to them better.   Listen in to know more about creating personas around your customers.   Discussion begins at 2:00   Rod Brooks of PEMCO Insurance   Rod shares his story of how customer research helped PEMCO understand its neighbors and key insights on how to serve them better.   Find out more about how they created a mass campaign by creating moments of joy for their customers which resulted in 25,000 photo uploads and live engagements with 43,000 people.   Rod tells us how they create memorable moments for any visitor that came to their office.   They wanted people to have an interaction with these touch points by staying true to their quirky persona.   Listen in as Rod tells us how we can do innovative work to build a customer centric company.   Discussion begins at 4:50.   Customer Hero Customer Zero: Small Moments   Have you wondered how small businesses can create big moments for their customers?   Listen in to hear Jeannie talk more about “Pad & Quill”, which uniquely packages their product to create delight moments for their customers.   Discussion begins at 19:15.   People, Places and Things from the Podcast   Sponsors   www.360connext.com – They help leaders improve their customer brand experiences by evaluating what the true experience is and suggesting steps to improve it.   How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor     Guest Speaker / People   Rod Brooks, VP and Chief Marketing Officer at PEMCO Insurance. He helmed its marketing division in 1999 and in 16 years he has transformed PEMCO into a market-driven, customer centric business. Connect with Rod – Personal Website, Twitter, LinkedIn   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode…     Gathering Customer Feedback Can Be More Than Difficult Than It Seems! Mohamed Latib, COO of PeriscopeIQ Customer Hero? Letting Your Auto Insurer Follow You Around     Gathering Customer Feedback: Why Is It So Difficult?     There are so many ways to gather customer feedback, but do any of them work better than others?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how each organization needs to understand their goals in gathering feedback and how to best leverage the resources available. Listen in on how Adam and Jeannie view anecdotal feedback – they have strong opinions!     Discussion begins at 1:59.     Mohamed Latib, Co-Founder and COO of PeriscopeIQ     Mohamed discusses how to collect the best feedback from customers. Hear how Mohamed constructs efficient methodologies to get the best insights. Once all the data is collected, how can an organization understand what it means to be a “satisfied customer?”     Listen in to hear how Mohamed defines this and why Adam wants us to just flip a coin!     Interview begins at 5:45.   Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Progressive Insurance And OnStar Track Drivers for Discounts and Data     Jeannie defends why she is calling this program a Customer Hero. Progressive Insurance is allowing customers to opt in to this tracking program, opt in to when data is shared with Progressive and reward customers. What do you think?     Discussion begins at 13:06.     People, Places, and Things of the Podcast   Mohamed Latib, PhD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of  PeriscopeIQ. As COO, he provides leadership in strategy, business development and client relationships. His primary role is to position the company in thought leadership in the areas of employee and customer engagement to help companies drive business outcomes to achieve market leadership, growth and profitability. Prior to this position, Dr. Latib was a Professor, Dean and Vice President at various academic institutions. PeriscopeIQ| LinkedIn Adam’s blog: Anecdotal Customer Feedback and the Problem of Uncle Jimmy Jeannie’s blog: Ignoring Anecdotal Evidence and Your Customer Experience Will Suffer The Road To Customer Frustration is Paved With Good Intentions Progressive & OnStar Offering Rewards For Tracking Driving Data       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A special episode where Jeannie and Adam discuss Jeannie's predictions for what will be hot at the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  In this episode…     Phase 2.0 of Digital Deniers: Your Customers’ Digital Lives An Interview With Blagica Bottigliero of Metaverse Mod Squad A Product Discontinuation Becomes a Customer Problem     Phase 2.0 of Digital Deniers: Your Customers’ Digital Lives     Are there still people who don’t believe their customers are truly digital?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how leaders need to understand their customers’ digital lives – social, mobile, etc. And how there’s no point in denying it!     Discussion begins at 1:40.     Interview with Blagica Bottigliero Blagica is Vice President of Digital Media for Metaverse Mod Squad.     Blagica discusses digital engagement in a 24/7 world, who owns the digital customer experience and how customer service fits into that world. Hear how organizations make certain mistakes with social media when serving customers.     Interview begins at 4:04.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Discontinuing a Product The Wrong Way     Adam and Jeannie discuss the pervasive theory of maximizing shareholder value and how there’s a backlash when it doesn’t serve customers. Listen to how Adam and Jeannie break this theory down into why short-term returns might not be worth long-term loyalty. And how bad profits don’t add up!     Discussion begins at 10:04.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:   Blagica Bottigliero is the Vice President of Digital Media for Metaverse Mod Squad. She's spent 17 years seeing the web grow and enjoying the ride along the way.  Connect with Blagica here: Twitter | www.blagica.com | www.metaversemodsquad.com Scholastic     Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode…     When Bad Customer Service Can Still Yield Good Business Results An Interview With Matt Ward of E&J Gallo Winery An NFL Team Makes an Impact with One Customer     Can Bad Customer Service Still Deliver Good Business Results?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how certain industries without as much competition don’t have to deliver great customer service but may need to change that in the near future.     Discussion begins at 1:37.     Matt Ward, Host of Art of the Kickstart Podcast and Blog     Matt works as a consultant, helping entrepreneurs and startups grow.     Matt discusses with Adam and Jeannie how successful crowdfunding campaigns involve customers early and often and how bigger companies can learn from them. Listen in to hear how crowdfunding helped open a butcher shop in Jeannie’s hometown. (And Matt offers some great freebies and discounts to Crack The Customer Code listeners!)     Interview begins at 3:52.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: What Is the Goal? Maximizing Shareholder Value     Adam and Jeannie discuss the pervasive theory of maximizing shareholder value and how there’s a backlash when it doesn’t serve customers.     Listen to how Adam and Jeannie break this theory down into why short-term returns might not be worth long-term loyalty. And how bad profits don’t add up!     Discussion begins at 13:02.     People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:     RyanAir invests in customer experience: Guardian article Matt Ward is Host of Art of the Kickstart, a podcast and blog geared towards crowdfunding success, Matt Ward works as a Kickstarter and business consultant helping entrepreneurs and startups grow. He also just released his $16 MILLION Crowdfund Academy course, a step-by-step proven Kickstarter framework on Udemy and is offering $250 OFF to any listener looking to launch a successfully crowdfunded company. Go here for Matt’s special offer or connect with Matt on TwitterFacebookGoogle+       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode…     Handling Pressure in Customer Service An Interview With Jeff Toister of Toister Solutions The Customers are the Heroes     Handling Pressure in Customer Service     Jeannie and Adam discuss why the ability to handle pressure is so important for frontline customer service reps. Jeannie tells a story of a problem flight that was handled well by the team at Southwest Air.     Adam recalls a story about his wife’s experience with a frontline rep who completely folded under the pressure of a crowded store.     Discussion begins at 1:50.     Interview with Jeff Toister of Toister Solutions     Jeff discusses how employees are often not the most common reason for service failures. Jeff discusses 2014’s viral Comcast call, the cultural problems he found underlying it, and some background to the story.     Jeff points out the importance of attention and how many impediments there are to customer service reps being able to give customers their full attention. Jeff also points out the important distinction in customer service between emotional and rational needs.     Tune in to find out what Jeff thinks about how mental fatigue affects customer service agents.     Interview begins at 6:45.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: The Customers are the Heroes   Adam shares the heartwarming story of Shirley Ratliff, whose customers loved her so much that they bought her a car.     Tune in to hear Adam and Jeannie discuss this incredible story and what all customer-facing professionals can take away from the story!   Discussion begins at 18:12.     People, Places, and Things of the Podcast   Jeff Toister is a consultant who helps customer service teams unlock their hidden potential. He’s the author of Service Failure: The Real Reasons Why Employees Struggle with Customer Service and What You Can Do About It. Connect with Jeff : Toister Solutions | Twitter Southwest Airlines Shirley Ratliff’s Story (video included) Bruegger’s Bagels       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… The Millennial Customer An Interview With Anna Bell of E&J Gallo Winery An NFL Team Makes an Impact with One Customer The Millennial Customer Adam and Jeannie discuss how Millennials are different (and aren’t) and how customer experience needs to take into account some of their unique behaviors. Discussion begins at 1:25. Anna Bell at E&J Gallo Winery Anna is a marketing director with E&J Gallo Winery, managing a number of spirits brands.  Anna talks to Jeannie and Adam about how to manage a customer experience when you sell a product but don’t directly interact with the end user. They look at how consumer brands can succeed when shaping the customer experience indirectly and how Gallo works with its distributors and sellers. Interview begins at 7:45. Customer Hero, Customer Zero: An NFL Team Makes an Impact with One Customer Adam and Jeannie discuss the story of a young boy who sent a letter to every NFL team asking them why he should choose them as his team. Only one team responded and showed the power of building raving fans one person at a time. Discussion begins at 14:40. People, Places, and Things of the Podcast Anna Bell has held global corporate careers in both finance and marketing in a variety of industries including adult beverage, food and home care.  She is currently a marketing director with E&J Gallo Winery, managing a number of spirits brands.  She is also actively involved in her community in California, serving on the board of the Center of Human Services, a non-profit organization focused on providing critical crisis care to families in the central valley.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two young boys  and is an avid cook, wine enthusiast and beginning skier. E&J Gallo Winery Cade Pope’s Story National Football League Carolina Panthers   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  In this episode…     How Our Brains Work Against Us An Interview With Mike Wittenstein of Storyminers Meet Me at Starbucks     How Our Brains Work Against Us     Jeannie and Adam discuss why it is often hard for people to accept feedback. They explore cognitive dissonance and how it is difficult for people to accept evidence that is contrary to their beliefs.     Adam mentions that confirmation bias is a similar principle in reverse.     Jeannie explores how Starbucks specifically sought out feedback and used it to create its new loyalty program.     Discussion begins at 1:35.     Mike Wittenstein of StoryMiners     Mike explores how the store of the future is like a concept car, where new technologies are exposed to customers and vetted by customers to be rolled out to the market.     Mike advises that a mid-market firm might get started with a store of the future using private Pinterest boards to explore concepts. Mike advises “starting where you are” and focusing on incremental steps.     He says to implement store of the future, everyone should be on the team. He also shares some of his favorite retailers that are leading the store of the future movement.     Interview begins at 6:24.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Meet Me at Starbucks     Adam and Jeannie discuss the Starbucks video, Meet Me at Starbucks. They review their go-to coffee orders as well as how Starbucks has been able to create an entire cultural experience that powers its brand even more than the actual coffee they sell.     Discussion begins at 14:47.     People, Places, and Things of the Podcast     Mike Wittenstein runs Storyminers, a design firm that helps service brands improve their experience, their service, and even their business designs. Mike is also a world-class expert who has helped over 400 companies in 25 countries. By his own admission, he’s a designer who can’t draw… Connect with Mike at mikewittenstein.com, Twitter, SlideShare, or LinkedIn. Burberry Hointer Apple Rebecca Minkoff Meet Me at Starbucks       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Should We Emulate the Service Greats? An Interview With Jon-David aka Mafia Hairdresser People Who Don’t Tip Should We Emulate the Service Greats? Jeannie and Adam discuss the service greats and if others should emulate them. Jeannie says this kind of imitation can be a false way to present your organization. Instead, she thinks an organization should follow the path service greats like Zappo’s take and evolve with the marketplace and the customer. Listen in to hear Adam discuss how The Ritz-Carlton $2,000 principle, not the number, can be useful. Discussion begins at 1:12. Interview with the Mafia Hairdresser,  Jon-David Jon-David, also known as Mafia Hairdresser, is a Chicago hairdresser who wrote a book about his job with the Mob. He now consults using his eBook marketing and social media skills as well as his salon experience.  Listen in to hear Jon-David discuss his one-of-a-kind Social Media Salon and how he got to know his customers through social media.  Interview begins at 5:41. Customer Hero, Customer Hero: Customers Who Don’t Tip Adam and Jeannie discuss customers who don’t tip in industries where it’s expected. Jeannie shares a personal experience she had in the past with a customer that didn’t tip and how it can affect the server’s ability to deliver a great experience to the next customer. Listen in to hear Jeannie and Adam’s thoughts on industries that are changing how they tip. Discussion begins at 14:04. People, Places, and Things from this Podcast: The Ritz-Carlton’s Famous $2,000 Rule Jon-David aka Mafia Hairdresser, a Chicago hairdresser who wrote a book about his job with the mob. He now consults using his eBook marketing + social media skills as well as his salon owner & customer service experience. Jon-David can be reached at MafiaHairdresser.com | Social Media Salon    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Discussing CX Leadership Roles Interview with Ingrid Lindberg Towns Creating Improved Customer Experiences for Visitors A Conversation about Customer Experience Leadership Roles Adam and Jeannie discuss the many different customer experience leadership titles in organizations right now. Listen in to hear their thoughts on why it’s important for organizations to have a specific role focused on and dedicated to the customer. Discussion begins at 1:15. Interview with Ingrid Lindberg Ingrid is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at Prime Therapeutics. Ingrid shares with us how she manages her busy workload and her position as a Customer Experience Officer. Listen in to hear what she believes needs to change to get the C-Suite to become more customer focused. Interview begins at 5:10. Customer Hero, Customer Zero: How Competitive Retailers Cooperated to Improve Customer Experiences in Steamboat Springs Adam shares with us what the ski resort town Steamboat Springs Colorado did to promote a positive experience for visitors. Listen in to hear how the town got together to invest in a better experience for their visitors. Discussion begins at 13:15. People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: How To Expand Your C-Suite Without Creating Silos Ingrid Lindberg: As chief customer experience officer at Prime Therapeutics (Prime), Ingrid C. Lindberg is responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of the enterprise customer experience strategy, which addresses all matters related to how Prime engages and serves its customers. Her role within Prime is the first of its kind within the pharmacy benefit management industry and has been created to ensure Prime’s customers have the best pharmacy experience possible and that the voice of the customer is a driver within the decision making processes at Prime.  Twitter | LinkedIn Steamboat Springs Colorado Seattle Seahawks 12th man   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Chipotle puts quotations on cups and bags Interview with Rachel Happe A good Samaritan abuses the Olive Garden Pasta Pass   Chipotle’s Cup and Bag Quotations Jeannie shares with us an interesting set of microinteractions Chipotle has invested in. She says that Chipotle has paid really good writers to write very short stories on their paper cups and paper bags. Listen in to hear Adam and Jeannie weigh in on whether the ROI is worth the cost of the microinteraction.  Discussion begins at 1:01. Interview with Rachel Happe Rachel co-founded The Community Roundtable to support business leaders developing their community and social business strategies. Rachel enlightens us on who our community leaders are and their roles in business. Listen in to hear to hear where Rachel finds the resistances on making community management a priority, and how she sees community management fitting in to the overall customer experience. Interview begins at 4:37. Customer Hero, Customer Hero: Abusing the Olive Garden Pasta Pass Jeannie shares a story with us about Olive Garden. Listen in to hear about an incredible thing a man did with his never-ending Pasta Pass, and Olive Garden’s heroic response to his actions. Discussion begins at 14.27.   People, Places, and Things from this Podcast: Chipotle Short Stories Cultivating Thought Rachel Happe co-founded The Community Roundtable to support business leaders developing their community and social business strategies. Clients including SAP, Aetna, BASF, CA, H&R Block, and CSC benefit from Rachel’s ability to make sense of abstract trends and her ability to see the implications that technical and operational decisions can have on people and processes. LinkedIn | Twitter Olive Garden Pasta Pass Random Acts of Pasta    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  In this episode…     Stalking the Customer Interview with Joni Williams Customer Hero, Customer Zero: A Tale of Office Space     Stalking the Customer   Adam shares that he has an entire chapter in his upcoming book Be Your Customer’s Hero based on the idea of being a ‘helicopter rep’.     Listen in to hear some of the tips Adam and Jeannie share to avoid stalking the customer.     Discussion begins at 1:23.     Interview with Joni Williams     Joni is President of Kelly Scott Madison/ KSM and KSM South in Texas.  Joni shares with us where she sees media going and how that fits into customer experience.     Listen in to hear what Joni has to share about over-promising and under-delivering.     Interview begins at 4:24.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: A Tale of Office Space   Jeannie shares with us a customer zero she’s experienced.     Jeannie says, “It’s a great example of how if you don’t think about the entire experience, you could really miss out on really important interactions that your customers have.”   Discussion begins at 11:04.   People, Places, and Things from the Podcast NBC poll prefer self check out Joni Williams – Joni is president and one of three active agency partners at KSM Media. She specializes in new client relationships. Her enterprising ability and leadership qualities have forged lasting partnerships with a long list of vital clients as she continues to be the catalyst behind much of KSM’s continued growth.  Connect with Joni here: KSM Media | Twitter | Facebook Seinfeld Episode: Elaine orders Chinese food American Express Office Space 360 Connext: How Micromapping Can Save Your Business     Take care of yourself and take of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode…     Communicating internally and its effect on customers Interview with Stan Phelps The audience experience       Communicating Internally and its Effect on Customers   Jeannie discusses how an experience with a company she worked with made her realize that the way an organization communicates internally can affect the way an organization communicates externally to customers.     Listen in to hear Jeannie share three ways that will help people understand how they are communicating.     Discussion begins at 2:28.       Interview with Stan Phelps     Founder of 9 Inch and author of three books on customer service and employee engagement.     Stan shares the inspiration for the goldfish theme and the meaning behind the three different colors of the goldfish, which his books are titled after.     Hear Stan discuss the idea of lagniappe and ways you can provide your customers little extras.     Interview begins at 6:41.       Customer Hero, Customer Zero: The Audience Experience     Stan Phelps sticks around to talk about the audience experience.     Listen in to hear Adam, Jeannie, and Stan discuss audience experience as a metaphor for customer experience and to hear some of the tips presenters can adopt to make the audience experience better.     Discussion begins at 14:16.         People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:     Stan Phelps: 9Inch Marketing | Twitter Kimpton Hotels Lagniappe       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode…     Mobile customer experience and how businesses are succeeding or failing with it Interview with Tabitha Dunn, Customer Experience leader at Citrix and Concur Discussion about Sephora’s mobile integration       Mobile Customer Experience and How Businesses Are Succeeding or Failing with it   Jeannie shares examples of organizations and industries that need to jump on the mobile bandwagon. She says customers are looking for something very specific when we are using our mobile phone to access websites.     Listen in to hear how Jeannie and Adam think organizations can improve the mobile customer experience.     Discussion begins at 1:53.         Interview with Tabitha Dunn     Tabitha shares how she’s been able to build a customer experience organization within a large organization when there was not a lot of buy-in, as well as the challenges of  adopting customer experience best practices.     Listen in to hear one piece of advice she would give to someone who is trying to improve customer experience within his or her company.     Interview begins at 4:46.       Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Sephora’s Mobile Integration     Jeannie shares with us how Sephora has reacted to how customers want to shop nowadays by embracing mobile integration.     Adam points out the challenges of mobile integration conflicting with traditional incentive structures.     Discussion begins at 13:03.         People, Places, and Things of the Podcast:     Panera Bread Citrix Sephora Tabitha Dunn – LinkedIn       Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Wearables and the future of customer experience Interview with Gini Dietrich What to do when your CEO does not believe in customer experience   Wearables and the Future of Customer Experience Adam and Jeannie share what wearables they are currently using—or not using, the future of Wearables, and how they will affect our experiences as customers. Jeannie and Adam agree that the future of customer experience includes these gadgets! Discussion begins at 1:27.   Interview: Gini Dietrich Founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, lead blogger at Spins Sucks and author of Spin Sucks the book. Gini discusses the future of PR and customer experience and how they blend. She says now the focus for PR is about making customers loyal through customer experience. Listen in to hear about Gini’s barista boyfriend (don’t worry, her husband is totally okay with it.) Interview begins at 5:38.   Customer Hero, Customer Zero:  When Your CEO Does Not Believe in Customer Experience Jeannie shares her thoughts on what to do when your CEO does not believe in customer experience. She says she had an experience with a CEO of an organization who didn’t foster a customer-centric culture in his company. Listen in to what Jeannie and Adam say you should do when you’re working for an organization whose leader doesn’t believe in customer experience. Discussion begins at 14:14.   People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Fitbit – One of the wearables Jeannie uses. Google Glass – Another one of the wearables Jeannie uses. Lowes Robots A Customer Service Robot Lands a Job (blog by Jeannie about the robots) Hointer Jawbone Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, an integrated marketing communications firm. She is the lead blogger at Spin Sucks and is the founder of Spin Sucks Pro. She is the co-author of Marketing in the Round and co-host of Inside PR. Her second book, Spin Sucks, is available now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… We discuss why Borders Bookstore failed and why others can learn from it Interview with Bill Cusick (Jeannie’s brother) and author of All Customers Are Irrational Healthcare customer service   Why Borders Bookstore Failed Jeannie and Adam talk about why Borders Bookstore failed and how other businesses can learn from its mistakes. Jeannie says the biggest mistake Borders made was that they were not keeping up with the times. When the e-book began to take hold, Borders thought its customers would remain loyal. Jeannie makes a point that customers are loyal—until they aren’t. Adam explores a different angle. Listen in to hear why Adam thinks Borders should have actually made part of its customer experience more difficult. Discussion begins at 1:06.   Interview: Bill Cusick Vice President of Customer Service at Zurich, North America. In their interview with Bill, Adam shares how Bill’s book, All Customers Are Irrational, played a part in Adam’s upcoming book on frontline customer service. In fact, Adam says that he based an entire chapter on the idea of customer irrationality. Listen in to hear Bill explain to listeners what customer irrationality is, how organizations should adapt to this mindset, and how to measure customer satisfaction. Interview begins at 7:06.   Customer Hero – Customer Zero: Healthcare Customer Service Jeannie discusses how the healthcare industry is dropping the ball on the patient experience.     People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Borders bookstore Bill Cusick, Zurich North America All Customers Are Irrational Just Sit There and Bleed: A Tale of Healthcare Customer Service  Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Dealing with crazy customers Interview with Mari Luangrath, owner of Foiled Cupcakes How Southwest Airlines is listening to customers   Crazy Customers Adam and Jeannie talk about crazy customers and how to work with them. Adam says one of the things you need to look out for is making it worse. Don’t say the wrong thing, listen to what is really bothering the customer, figure out what really matters, and then depersonalize. Listen in to hear why Jeannie thinks customers are crazy to begin with and the rest of Adam’s tips for handling these customers. Discussion begins at 2:09.   Interview: Mari Luangrath Mari shares with us how she started her cupcake business with no storefront and built it solely using social media – a strategy which continues to this day! Mari tells how she uses social media as a competitive advantage and finds her target market using social media. Listen in to hear exactly how Mari does this and how you can order some of her delicious cupcakes!  Interview begins at 7:04.   Southwest Airlines Jeannie discusses a new listening center Southwest is using to listen to what customers are saying and how Southwest is using it to more immediately respond to customers. Listen in to hear about an experience Adam had with Southwest and how the company used a proactive approach to correct an issue he had during his flight. Discussion begins at 18:14.   People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Contact Mari Luangrath via Foiled Cupcakes,Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Southwest Airlines listening center    Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… An interview with Graeme Newell, expert in emotional marketing and President of 602 Communications. Can you have great customer service but still have a bad customer experience? And what about the opposite? Interview: Graeme Newell Graeme is an expert in emotional marketing. Graeme looks at the best advertisements being done all over the world and indexes those ads by emotional drivers that move people to love brands. In the interview, he shares some samples from his extensive library of advertising clips and analyzes how and why they work. Listen in to hear the samples Graeme shared with us and to see if you can pick out the emotions the advertisement is trying to stir inside of you. And hear why Jeannie LOVES Sephora and Adam and Graeme were gloating about Black Friday! Interview begins at 1:24.   Customer Hero, Customer Zero Adam and Jeannie discuss a very important question organizations should be asking themselves: Can you have a great customer experience if you don’t have a great customer service or vice versa? Listen in to find out what Adam and Jeannie think about giving great customer service but a not so great customer experience and vice versa. Discussion begins at 16:54.   A Game for You Can you spot the anachronism? An anachronism is something that is out of place in historical time, like when you see a character in a movie about the old west wearing a digital watch. Perhaps in this December 4th episode you will hear the Black Friday shopping day referred to in the future tense? Perhaps that is because we prerecorded this episode and then pushed our launch date. We’re not saying any of those things happened, but then again...   People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Graeme Newell: Researcher, speaker, and consultant who shows companies how to build fanatic customer loyalty. He is president of 602 Communications, a marketing, research, and consulting firm that specializes in emotional marketing. Click here to learn more about Graeme Newell and 602 Communications.   Nike Gatorade Sephora A company Jeannie said she is loyal to (and check out this post to understand even more why she loves them! CXI Case File: Sephora) Amazon A company Adam said he is loyal to   Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Why customers are so frustrated An interview with Jackie Huba, author of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics Customer Zero – Can you tell someone customer service is easy while giving bad customer service?   Why Are Customers so Frustrated? The Apple Store lady, as the media labeled her, is a lady that was extremely upset, slamming her hand on her baby stroller because her expectations were not met when arriving to the Apple store. In the video you can hear her shout, “I was told by Apple Care that I could walk in the store and get my part.” Jeannie and Adam weigh in on why she embodies how we all feel.  Jeannie shares that in any customer forum we see the same thing over and over “you promised” and a lot of what we as people want is to feel heard when the promise is not delivered. Discussion begins at 03:42.   Interview: Jackie Huba Jackie shares with us that she was inspired to write Monster Loyalty first because of Lady Gaga’s music. But after looking past her music and noticing what she does with her fans, Jackie started adding Lady Gaga into her presentations and received really great feedback. When we asked Jackie what businesses can learn from Lady Gaga, her answer was simple, “make your customers feel like rock stars!” Moreover, she advises  businesses to focus on their “one percenters.” She says businesses have to focus on keeping the customers they have and get them talking about how they are doing a great job.  Make sure to listen in to find out what Jackie is doing with drag queens! Interview begins at 07:21.   Customer Hero, Customer Zero In this segment, we discuss organizations or people who are either Customer Heroes or Customer Zeroes. Today, we have a Customer Zero. Find out what happened when Jeannie traveled to London for a customer experience conference and had a not so good customer experience at Heathrow Airport. Discussion begins at 15:20.   People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:  The Apple Store Lady – The viral Vine video of an upset lady when visiting an Apple store. Jackie Huba – Jackie Huba is the author of Monster loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics. Connect with Jackie on her website, Twitter and Facebook. Heathrow Airport – Where Jeannie experienced a customer zero experience.   Take care of yourself, and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode… Listen in to Adam and Jeannie’s discussion of why they should start a new podcast – or not. It takes some wrangling, but Jeannie eventually convinces Adam to start a podcast with her. (Not exactly a spoiler – you already knew that!) What makes this podcast different? Adam and Jeannie bring unique lenses to the idea of customer service and customer experience. The blend of Adam’s real-world focus and Jeannie’s big picture view will prove a potent combination for listeners. Jeannie and Adam decide that the podcast will… Provide actionable content. Be fun! No 19 point checklists. Include interviews with innovative leaders of all kinds Be short, usually 20-25 minutes in length. Who has time anymore? People, Places, and Things from the Podcast: Customers That Stick Blog: Adam’s customer experience blog 360 Connext: Jeannie’s customer experience blog. Take care of yourself and take care of your customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices