Steve continues with the Luminaries of CX series in a discussion with Diane Magers, the interim CEO of the Customer Experience Professionals Association on what skills make the best CX pros and her views on the future of the profession.
A resource for customer experience (CX) and experience management (XM) professionals. 
Full Episode Listing
A complete list of episodes from The CX Leader Podcast.
As CX professionals, we are looking to make a difference, engage our organizations and drive meaningful change on behalf of the customer. The problem is being that catalyst for change in organizations can be difficult. Steve welcomes guest Allison Grayson, a certified CX professional and vice president at Walker, to discuss strategies to help drive meaningful change in your CX program.
Disrupting the status quo can sometimes lead to innovative solutions when it comes to CX, and Steve discusses this trait with Walker senior vice president and customer experience professional Sean Clayton.
Like any other profession, CX professionals need to stay up-to-date on best practices, find new ideas for programs, and learn how customer experience works in other companies. Many resources exist to help - including this podcast - but sometimes you need to meet with like-minded professionals face-to-face. Guest host Pat Gibbons welcomes guests Branden Schossler and Gary Batroff to discuss how they help start local networking groups to help colleagues develop professionally.
Continuing the series focusing on best practices, Steve welcomes Nick Frunzi, chief customer officer at Esri, a world leader in GIS mapping and spatial analytics software, to discuss the importance of empowering cross-functional teams with your company’s customer experience efforts.
We talk about his often on the show and it can be a problem for companies of many sizes: the difficulty in breaking through the walls of corporate silos when trying to execute effective customer experience programs. So, how do we bring down those silos and get everyone on-board with your corporate CX effort? Steve welcomes guests Steve Cox, VP of digital lifecycle journeys, and Thimaya Subaiya, senior vice president of CX solutions, from Cisco to talk about overcoming barriers within the company to make customer experience programs effective.
Building CX programs from scratch is never an easy task. And the endeavor usually starts with the vision of a single person that sees the benefits of CX and agrees – or is appointed – to spearhead the project. And that includes a lot: program planning, gaining support throughout the organization, putting convincing metrics in place, and a whole lot more. It’s a daunting task. Guest host Pat Gibbons welcomes Carol Tesarek from Equipment Depot to highlight how they put all the right pieces together to create an award-winning program.
A discussion on the importance of executive support and for your CX program and how the organization’s culture can make or break your CX efforts. Steve welcomes customer experience leaders Brian Daniell and Chris Lawton from Deltek to discuss how they developed and continue to maintain a successful customer experience program.
There can be many cogs in the machine that is customer experience, and making certain they all align is important if that “machine” is to function correctly. Host Steve Walker and guest Ted Bernard, a managing principal at Invantage Group, discuss how making certain the many pieces of CX, like customer support, align with your overall customer experience strategy.
Relationships are an important part of our lives. Humans are social creatures and it’s important to understand that fact when leading a CX program. But companies sometimes miss the mark on ensuring employees and leaders throughout the company understand how to build and maintain relationships with customers, and each other. Host Steve Walker welcomes John Dijulius, chief revolution officer and president of the Dijulius Group, or a discussion on the importance of building relationships with customers and colleagues.
Senior living is much more than simply providing a service to a customer. Families depend on the care and attention living facilities provide to their loved ones. Steve welcomes Jonathan Ruchman and David Pruett of Brookdale Senior Living to discuss how they manage a CX program that includes over 800 living facilities across 45 states.
There's never been a better time to be a CX professional, and today's episode explores the best the profession has to offer and why customer experience and experience management is critical to a businesses success. Host Steve Walker welcomes guests Sandy Mathis, Rosa Carbajal, and Johnathan Ruchman to discuss why they believe customer experience is such a great profession and how CX can be one of the best investments for a company.
In a regular "check-in" with the Customer Experience Professionals Association, or CXPA, host Steve Walker welcomes Barbie Fink, current chair of the CXPA board, and recent board chair Annette Franz to discuss the organizations accomplishments and challenges during 2020 and what to expect in 2021.
Like most professions, CX pros enjoy the benefits and support of an organization that provides resources and ways to network with other professionals. Steve welcomes the new CEO of the Customer Experience Professionals Association - or CXPA - Greg Melia for a discussion on the organization's benefits and future.
Have you ever been at a business meeting with a client or colleagues and wondered, “should I order wine? What wine do I get? How many should I drink?” Mixing business with alcohol can be tricky and sometimes an awkward subject. Host Steve Walker welcomes guest Jim Schleckser, author of the new book Professional Drinking: A Spirited Guide to Wine, Cocktails, and Business Entertaining," for helpful advice on how to keep it fun AND professional.
It's a common practice in customer experience, and a vital one: closed-loop response to customer feedback. Simply put: you need to make sure you respond to customers in a timely and appropriate way. But, like all things in life, it’s not that simple and if not done well it can actually create poor experiences for your customers. This is why it’s critical to get front line employees engaged in CX and understand the processes set in place that provide the best possible experiences for customers. Guest host Pat Gibbons welcomes Greg Chase, an XM catalyst with the Qualtrics XM Institute, for a discussion on closed-loop feedback response.
In the third of the series "10 Traits of Effective CX Leaders," Steve welcomes guest Kristina Kittle, a consultant at Walker Information, to help explain the importance of communication skills as a trait for effective CX leaders.
Attending concerts, sporting events, conferences, and other gatherings is a big part of our culture and could easily be considered the pinnacle of experience design. But there are so many elements that go into crafting the ideal event experience to make it truly memorable – how do you put it all together to exceed the high expectations of today’s consumers? And how do you plan and manage blockbuster events like the Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours, Olympics, World Cup, concerts from the world’s biggest stars and the most important conferences and tradeshows on the planet? Host Steve Walker welcomes Alex Merchán, chief marketing officer at ASM Global, a leading venue management and services company who hosted the previously mentioned events, for a discussion on experience management for large events.
It's an easy tenet to accept that a lack of conflict translates to a productive workplace. The less H.R. puts out personality “fires” the more people can concentrate on their jobs. But a study published back in 2003 by the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley found that if the traditional rules of brainstorming, which encourage people to not criticize any presented ideas, are replaced with instructions encouraging debate, and even criticism, productive and innovative thinking may improve. Host Steve Walker welcomes Amanda Ono, vice president for customer experience at Resolver, a risk intelligence platform, for a discussion on encouraging a healthy level of conflict in the workplace can increase production and collaboration within your organization.
Continuing the "CX Luminary" series highlighting the "rock stars" of customer experience, Steve welcomes Shep Hyken to the podcast to discuss how he got his start in CX and how making convenience can bring your company a competitive edge.