A complete list of episodes from The CX Leader Podcast.
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.
Think about a time when you visited someplace that’s meaningful to you: a special museum, the distillery of your favorite beverage, a presidential library – you walked away from that exhibit or tour with a heightened understanding and appreciation for that particular interest. Or possibly gained a deeper understanding of something new. That experience was likely designed to better connect you with the product, person, and/or brand. Host Troy Powell welcomes Christian Lachel, chief creative officer at BRC Imagination Arts, for a discussion of discovering the interests and needs of your audience and designing experiences that tell your brand story.
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.
Think of some of the best experiences you have had as a customer. What made it great? Did you feel like the experience matched the company’s identity? Did any of it feel like it wasn’t meeting the company’s brand promise? Great experiences are consistent: you know what to expect when you interact with an organization that reflects their brand through their CX efforts. Host Sara Walker welcomes Chelsea Reynolds, marketing manager for YuMOVE, for a discussion on keeping experiences consistent with your organization's brand.
When did customer experience come into existence? If you’ve listened to this show for a while, you’ll know there was no definitive “big bang” event for CX. It evolved from various other disciplines into the “ethos” of customer centricity that it is today. And there’s no stopping it – customer experience is here to stay, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future. Host Steve Walker welcomes back Megan Burns, a world-renowned author, keynoter, and CX expert, for a discussion on the past, present, and future of customer experience.
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.
Companies often get stuck between the data gathering and discovering meaningful insights into how they can better their customer’s experience. Especially when you’re talking about qualitative data – conversational, open-ended data that can be difficult to quantify. But there are tools that will allow a CX pros to utilize the vast amounts of "conversational data" that companies collect. Host Steve Walker welcomes Matt Dixon, chief product and research officer, and Ted McKenna, SVP for product at Tethr for a discussion on how customer experience leaders can take advantage of the vast amounts of qualitative data typically collected by companies.
Managing your money is already a stressful task, and it's sometimes difficult to intentionally think ahead about what happens when we retire. Luckily, there are some very smart people in the world of personal finance who can help with that aspect of life. But what does the customer experience look like in that field? Continuing our look into the winning programs at the 2023 US Customer Experience Awards, host Pat Gibbons welcomes Jenny Schmidt, vice president for strategic initiatives at Prudential Financial, to discuss their many awards from USACXA, including the 2023 CX Team of the Year.
Data is everywhere! And CX pros have structured ways to keep it all organized. But what about all the UNstructured data your customers provide? While there are some challenges in using unstructured data, it has the potential to bring a rich set of insights about your customer experience efforts. Host Steve Walker welcomes Ellen Loeshelle, director of product management, XM Discover at Qualtrics, for a discussion on how customer experience professionals can take advantage of the tools available to extract the value from unstructured data.
Customer experience pros know that one of the many indicators of a successful CX program includes how many promoters you have among your customers – often measured using the Net Promoter Score. The more promoters you have, the more likely your customers will recommend you to others, right? And that’s it - we typically don’t think there’s something better than “promoters.” However, there are ways in which CX pros can create “superfans” – customers that not only recommend you to others, but become serious advocates for your business. Host Steve Walker welcomes Brittany Hodak, an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and customer experience speaker, to discuss her new book, "Creating Superfans: How to Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Advocates."
Businesses and organizations are facing a new operational reality that affects customers and employees, and as a CX professional, you and your company need to be prepared to effectively manage crisis situations. Host Steve Walker welcomes Jennifer Dzwonar, a partner at Borshoff, a PR agency known for their work in crisis and community relations, and discuss how CX professionals can help communicate with customers during difficult times.
Companies regularly hire experienced professionals from outside their organization. But they can’t tell from a resume how good of a culture fit the new leaders will be. And employees frequently find that to grow their skills, they need to go to another company – often leaving a company that is a good fit for them. So how can you solve both problems at once? Host Steve Walker welcomes Jeff Epstein, founder of Onboard.io, for a discussion on creating the right culture for employees which ultimately creates better customer experiences.
Exploring another topic on intersections with customer experience, Steve welcomes Dave Duke, an expert in customer success management and is the co-founder and chief customer officer of MetaCX, for a discussion on customer success and its relevance in customer experience.
Continuing in our User series, Steve welcomes Sharon Bislich and Carolyn Bodkin to discuss how Medxcel, a medical facilities management company, incorporates customer experience into their training programs.