It’s a great time to be a CX leader and we here at Walker have had a fun time producing this podcast. But after over 330 episodes speaking with fantastic people from across the globe, covering topics to help you get the most from customer experience, it’s time to put away the microphones. This is the last episode of The CX Leader Podcast, at least for now. And the reason is not complicated: as many companies do, we here at Walker have shifted our marketing strategy and need to devote resources to other activities. But all the great content we’ve produced since 2018 will still be available on our website and you will always be able to rely on Walker as an authoritative source for all things XM. Host Chris Higgins welcomes former hosts Troy Powell, Sara Walker, Pat Gibbons, and Steve Walker for a look back on their favorite guests, topics, and what CX leaders should look forward to in 2025.
Episodes tagged “Steve Walker”
It’s a subject on which we’ve dedicated several episodes: employee experience. And we’ve even covered how to effectively combine CX and EX, a subject for which Walker released a report that you can find on walkerinfo.com. But we haven’t really explored the value of combining employee and customer experience – is it even worth it, and what challenges can I expect? Host Steve Walker welcomes Suzanne Scharer, a product scientist at Qualtrics, for a discussion on why it's worth the effort to combine your customer and employee experience data.
Here's a situation you might have heard about, or even experienced: you’re ready to get going on this CX “thing” – you’re going to revolutionize your company. But you don’t quite have executive buy-in, or you’ve got the buy-in but you just can’t get people to do what needs to be done. It’s a common problem with companies new to customer experience. Host Steve Walker welcomes back Megan Burns, CX pioneer, keynoter, and advisor, for a discussion on how to active customer experience in your organization.
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.
You’ve heard us promote the US Customer Experience Awards several times on this program. If you’re not familiar with them, we recommend you check them out at usacxa.com. In this episode, host Steve Walker had the privilege of welcoming a CX leader that helped earn their company the Overall Winner of the 2023 Customer Experience Awards, in addition to winning gold and silver awards in several other categories. Steve welcomes Riccardo Porta, the Global Director for CX at Dow, the materials and science company, for a discussion on their program and a look into the Advanced Manufacturing CX Consortium (AMCX).
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.
Almost immediately after the first horseless carriages appeared on America's roads, motorists began organizing automobile clubs. AAA formed in 1902 with 1500 members. AAA continues to save the day after a breakdown and making dream vacations a reality for more than 63 million members. The logistics of that aren’t easy, but this episode's guest will provide a glimpse of how the AAA National Office coordinates a complex customer experience program. Host Steve Walker welcomes Bryan Sander, managing director of member experience at AAA and a member of the CXPA board of directors, for a discussion on getting CX work done in a complex environment.
For some people, getting excited about a new project means diving right into the “fun stuff.” Working to fix up that cool classic car you just bought, or painting a landscape that inspired you. The temptation is to pick up the wrench or paint brush and dive in. But even artists and mechanics need a plan, and so do CX experts. And a critical area of planning for customer experience is communications. It’s important to know your audience and why you’re collecting data in the first place and planning your communications should be one of the first things you do. Host Steve Walker welcomes Molly Work, associate vice president in client services at Walker, for a discussion on the importance of communication - internally and externally - to improve customer experience.
In the grand scheme of things, customer experience is still a newer practice. While it’s growing as companies and organizations realize its potential, there are still few options for formal education and training in CX. And that can make things difficult for CX pros trying to engage the entire company in customer experience efforts. So how do you raise the level of expertise across your organization? Host Steve Walker welcomes back Drew Hall, vice president and team lead for advisory and managed services at Walker, for a discussion on expertise building.
Starting a CX program in any organization can be difficult. And one of the more challenging aspects of spinning up a new program is getting your company – especially leadership – to make it a priority. And to make things even more complicated: what areas of customer experience do you prioritize? Do you start with surveys? Closed loop feedback? Journey mapping? Host Steve Walker welcomes Adam Shapourian, associate vice president of experience at United Educators, for a discussion on how to determine your customer experience priorities.