Full Episode Listing

Even in an era where self-service options are becoming essential to many companies’ customer experience, the contact center is still a large part of many organizations’ frontline efforts. But how has call center technology adapted to accommodate customer experience, and how aligned is your company's culture to providing the best possible experience for your customers? Host Steve Walker welcomes Steve Bederman from NobleBiz for a discussion on how contact center technology and culture can have a large impact on customer experience.

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In a conversation on customer experience in the healthcare industry, Steve welcomes Robert Tangeman, director of customer experience at Exactech, a healthcare manufacturing company. They discuss the complexity of navigating CX in the healthcare space and how Robert was able to develop a program from scratch.

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There are so many times on this show that our guests have described their customer experience efforts as living within their marketing department, and there are good reasons to practice CX in that structure. But what if we made the case that CX should exist on its own: an independent CX practice capable of working with all aspects of the organization, thus improving the customer experience at all levels? Host Steve Walker welcomes Amanda Flashner, Chief Experience Officer at LendingPoint, a financial technology platform, for a discussion on why their company invested in a separate CX function to improve the customer experience.

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Continuing the Best Practices series, Steve welcomes the chief customer experience officer for the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Alison Circle, for a discussion on CX within the not-for-profit space and how the organization has adapted to disruptions in the normal model for libraries.

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Host Steve Walker welcomes the CEO of Customer Think Corporation and the founder and editor-in-chief of CustomerThink.com Bob Thompson to discuss how he started in the customer experience industry and his thoughts on the future of the CX movement.

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This episode features a more open-ended conversation on one of the host's favorite topics: the differences between B2B and B2C, but focusing on what it is like for a CX professional to transition from B2C to B2B, or vice-versa. Steve Walker welcomes guest Stuart Gilchriest, director of CX strategy at UKG, a technology company providing solutions for HR, payroll, and workforce management technology.

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For almost a year now many companies have had to work remotely - changing the way in which their employees interact and some companies had an easier time absorbing that change than others. Knowing that the employee’s experience can have a direct effect on the customer experience, it’s important to explore all aspects of how CX can be improved. Host Steve Walker welcomes Shelly Langona, president of RJE Business Interiors, and Sam Julka, the president and founder of DORIS research, to discuss their recent study on workforce collaboration and productivity and how it can be affected by the workplace environment.

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Several years ago, many companies made predictions on the state of the customer experience industry. Walker was no exception, having published a widely referenced report, “Customers 2020.” Now having reached that milestone year in CX, guest host Pat Gibbons and CX thought-leader and Walker’s vice president of strategy and analytics discuss what was covered in that report, highlighting predictions that came true, those that didn’t, and covering what was missed altogether.

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While there is some historical debate on this, Aristotle is widely recognized as one of the early inventors of the scientific method – the way in which we observe, hypothesize, experiment, and gather data. Experimentation is key to logically understanding our world. And just like any other business practice, experimenting with CX can help you gain insights on what works best for your organization in delivering an amazing experience. Host Pat Gibbons welcomes Gabs Dracopoulos, head of global customer success at Intuit, for a discussion on CX experimentation.

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In early March of 2023, thousands of experience management professionals from across the globe gathered in Salt Lake City to take part in the 2023 Qualtrics X4 Summit. Featuring keynote speakers like Martha Stewart, Malala Yousafzai, and Chip and Joanna Gaines, the X4 Summit succeeded in creating a memorable experience, while providing opportunities for XM professionals to connect. Host Steve Walker invites Lauri Jones, Sarah Walker, and Pat Gibbons back to the show to recap what they experienced at this year's X4 Summit.

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In the second part of a two-part series on the basics of experience management, or "XM," Steve welcomes back Aimee Lucas from the Qualtrics XM Institute to discuss the six competencies CX leaders need to have to maximize their experience management efforts: lead, realize, activate, enlighten, respond, and disrupt.

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Experience Management, or “XM”, is a newer term in the area of customer experience and CX professionals will certainly be hearing more about how XM will impact their programs. Steve welcomes Aimee Lucas from the Qualtrics XM Institute to provide an overview of experience management and how it impacts CX professionals’ efforts within their companies.

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In the second of this 10-episode series, Steve welcomes back guest Melissa Meier, a certified customer experience professional and vice president of Walker Information, to discuss the importance of being knowledgeable in your field as a CX leader.

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Let’s face it: not every person is well-suited to be, quote, “customer-facing.” Whether it’s their personality, their specific job requirements, or just their preference or personal talents, some people do better on the “behind the scenes” aspects of the company. And it’s easy to assume a mentality that they don’t necessarily need a customer-centric focus in their work. But an organization’s employee experience can impact not only their perspective of why they do what they do for the company, but also the customer experience. Host Pat Gibbons welcomes AJ Schneider, president of Wheaton World Wide Moving, for a discussion on why it's important all employees - regardless of their interactions with customers - know they are important to CX.

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Data is flying everywhere and CX pros are always striving to gobble-up whatever insights they can get about their customers. It’s easy to look at an average support call time, or NPS scores to get an idea of how things are going. But what about the things that are more difficult to quantify? How do find a hard number for something like customer service? Host Steve Walker welcomes Nathan Bobay, director for Consumer Service at Delta Faucets, for a discussion on quantifying the value of service.

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According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, the majority of workers in the U.S. say that focusing on DEI in the workplace is “a good thing.” With so many organizations adopting ways to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion, it seems that we, as CX professionals, should explore ways we can incorporate this important work into our efforts of improving customer experiences. And my guest on this episode has already made progress in incorporating DEI into CX and EX programs. Host Sara Walker welcomes Victor Udoewa, service design lead at the CDC, for a discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion in CX metrics and programs.

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Conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusiveness have been happening in many companies in the U.S., and healthcare is no exception, especially when it comes to the care patients receive. And listening to patients’ needs and concerns is vital to providing doctors, nurses, administrative staff, and leadership with the insights required to providing equitable care for all their patients. But what does it mean to be “equitable” versus “equal” in the care providers give to their patients? Host Sara Walker welcomes Ariel Davis, head of healthcare provider solution strategy for Qualtrics, and Nicole Richendollar, vice president in our client services at Walker, for a discussion on providing equitable care to patients.

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Providing the tools and resources for employee success seems like a "no-brainer," but companies often overlook the systems and processes that can create friction in the customer experience. And if the employees struggle to provide seamless experiences, then you can bet that customers are feeling their pain as well. In the fourth episode of our "CX Now: Eight Essential Themes Driving CX Evolution," host Steve Walker welcomes expert Georgetta Parisi, Ph.D., for a discussion on employee enablement.

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Competitive retail electricity markets give consumers a choice of who will supply their electricity. Only 18 states in the U.S., including Washington D.C., have introduced these types of markets, giving consumers a choice in who generates their electricity. This, of course, has a significant impact on how a utility company approaches customer experience. Host Steve Walker welcomes guests Suzie Dieth and Scott Burns from Reliant Energy, an NRG company and electric utility headquartered in Houston, Texas, to discuss how customer experience works in a retail utility market.

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In the fourth episode of the CX technology series, Steve discusses the perspective from the technology provider with Kirk Baetens who is a global partner manager for Qualtrics, a world-class provider in experience management software and Walker’s technology partner.

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