Podcasts about Customer experience

When Andrew Blackmon couldn't find a rental tuxedo that actually fit, he didn't just start a company—he rebuilt the entire formalwear supply chain from scratch, turning a strip-mall industry into a nine-figure business with seven flagship stores and showrooms in more than 40 Nordstrom locations. For more on The Black Tux and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

This episode was brought to you by Rayon. As retail brands open stores across new markets, from New York to Paris, keeping design consistent while moving fast gets harder. Rayon is a collaborative, browser-based platform built for people who design spaces, helping retail teams create layouts, documentation, and standards in one place, so every new location stays on-brand without slowing the rollout. Visit rayon.design and sign up for free today.----Veronica Beard has become one of fashion's most admired brands by taking a very different path to growth. In this episode of OFFBounds, Paula Macaggi sits down with CEO Stephanie Unwin to explore how the company built a loyal community before opening stores, expanded thoughtfully from New York to London and Paris, and created a brand that women genuinely connect with. From retail strategy to international expansion, Stephanie shares the decisions that shaped Veronica Beard's remarkable journey.The conversation also dives into leadership, entrepreneurship, and the future of retail. Stephanie explains why profitable, long-term growth beats chasing rapid scale, how AI should enhance—not replace—human connection, and why understanding your customer remains the foundation of every successful brand. This episode offers timeless lessons on building a brand that lasts.

MoneyMonday Topic: How happy are South Africans with their insurers and investment firms? Guest: Professor Adré Schreuder-Head of the Industry Chair in Customer Experience at UP

Can the space around you influence your happiness, creativity, and success? In this episode of Everything Is Personal, Len May sits down with Steve Griggs, founder of Steve Griggs Designs, to discuss entrepreneurship, creativity, outdoor living, leadership, business growth, and how thoughtful design can shape everyday life. Steve shares lessons from more than four decades of building luxury outdoor spaces, growing a successful business, working with high-profile clients, and creating environments that inspire people to live better. The conversation also explores resilience, customer experience, creative thinking, branding, and what it takes to build a lasting reputation. EndoDNA: Where Genetic Science Meets Actionable Patient Care EndoDNA bridges the gap between complex genomics and patient wellness. Our patented DNA analysis platforms and AI technology provide genetic insights that support and enhance your clinical expertise. Click here to check out to take control over your Personal Health & Wellness   Connect with EndoDNA on SOCIAL: IG | X | YOUTUBE | FB Connect with host, Len May, on IG     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to Build the Teams That Make Customer Experience Stick Episode 262 of the Customer Service Revolution Podcast Launching a customer experience initiative is one thing. Building the internal structure that keeps it alive is another. In this episode of the Customer Service Revolution Podcast, John DiJulius continues his conversation with Dave Murray, Vice President of The DiJulius Group, about the stakeholders required to successfully launch and sustain a customer experience transformation. They focus on two groups that can determine whether a CX initiative becomes part of the culture or quietly disappears: the customer experience steering committee and CX ambassadors. Dave explains who should serve on a CX steering committee, how often the group should meet, what responsibilities it should own, and why representation must extend beyond customer-facing departments. John and Dave also explore how frontline employees can become influential CX ambassadors who reinforce standards, build peer-level support, and help organizations identify future leaders. Related:  Building an initiative that lasts Why a Customer Experience Steering Committee Matters A CX steering committee serves as the governing body of a customer experience initiative. The group helps select workshop participants, shape implementation priorities, review ideas, approve realistic next steps, and turn workshop content into usable training materials, playbooks, standards, and tools. The strongest committees include representation from both customer-facing and support departments. Sales, customer service, operations, training, finance, accounting, logistics, and other internal service providers all influence the experience customers ultimately receive. The committee must also be able to evaluate what can be implemented immediately, what requires additional technology or funding, and what should be scheduled for a later phase. Who Should Serve on the Committee? Most steering committees include managers, directors, department leaders, training professionals, and employees who understand how work moves across the organization. Members do not need to meet constantly. During normal periods, a monthly virtual meeting may be sufficient. During rollout or content-development phases, the group may meet weekly until key deliverables are complete. The goal is not to add another meeting. It is to create accountability for the customer experience. How CX Ambassadors Build Frontline Buy-In CX ambassadors are often frontline employees who participated in the original customer experience workshops and want to remain involved. They may not hold formal leadership titles, but they have influence among their peers. They understand the initiative, believe in its value, and can explain how it will improve the experience for customers and employees. Ambassadors help communicate what is coming, reinforce new behaviors, identify obstacles, share best practices, support individual locations, and keep the initiative visible after the formal rollout. John and Dave also explain why organizations should consider including respected skeptics and informal influencers during the development process. When these employees understand the purpose behind the initiative, they can become some of its strongest advocates. Related: How to get company wide buy in CX Ambassadors Should Support, Not Police One warning from the episode is especially important: CX ambassadors cannot become the "gotcha police." When ambassadors visit teams only to identify mistakes, the program becomes associated with punishment rather than improvement. Effective ambassadors recognize what employees are doing well, provide constructive coaching, replenish resources, answer questions, and help teams succeed. Their role is to support the culture, not inspect people into compliance. Customer Experience Has No Finish Line The most successful organizations continue meeting after the initial initiative has launched. Steering committees should review customer experience metrics, recognize employees, update standards, identify emerging service defects, and ensure CX training remains embedded in onboarding and leadership development. Ambassadors should continue sharing observations, comparing results across teams or locations, and identifying practices that can be adopted throughout the organization. Customer expectations, internal processes, technology, and business models change. Customer experience standards must evolve with them. CX Programs Can Help Identify Future Leaders A strong CX ambassador program creates another valuable result: it reveals which employees are ready for greater leadership responsibility. Employees who volunteer, coach peers effectively, reinforce standards, and take ownership of the experience demonstrate many of the behaviors required of successful leaders. Organizations can also reduce the number of accidental managers by allowing aspiring leaders to experience leadership training before they are promoted. This gives employees a realistic view of the responsibilities involved and helps companies evaluate more than technical performance when selecting managers. Key Takeaways A customer experience steering committee should govern the initiative after the initial workshops and rollout. The committee should include customer-facing departments and internal support functions. Steering committees translate ideas into realistic standards, training materials, playbooks, and implementation priorities. CX ambassadors are often influential frontline employees rather than formal managers. Employees who are skeptical of change may become powerful advocates when included early. Ambassadors should coach and support employees, not operate as compliance police. Monthly meetings help steering committees and ambassadors maintain momentum. Customer experience materials should be treated as living documents and updated as the business evolves. Ambassador programs can help organizations identify and prepare future leaders. Customer experience is an ongoing operating discipline, not a temporary project. Quotes "The steering committee becomes the governing body of the project." "We want to have cross-departmental representation because that is the group that shapes the project." "The primary thing ambassadors do is take that message back to their teams." "Sometimes the people who do not like change become advocates." "We do not want ambassadors looking only for the bad stuff and ignoring the good." "When it comes to customer experience, there is no finish line." "This is who we are as an organization, and we need to keep the focus on it." "Everything they have created is treated as a living document." "A customer experience ambassador program can help identify your future leaders." "Organizations often promote people without looking at the soft skills required to lead." Chapters 00:49 — Recapping the Six Customer Experience Stakeholders 03:23 — The Role of the CX Steering Committee 05:08 — Who Should Serve on the Committee? 06:46 — Time Commitment and Meeting Structure 08:25 — Creating a CX Ambassador Program 10:51 — Why Ambassadors Are Usually Frontline Employees 11:18 — Turning Skeptics Into Advocates 12:26 — Ambassador Best Practices from Financial Services 13:55 — Avoiding the "Gotcha Police" Problem 15:22 — Building a Regional Ambassador Network 17:04 — How to Maintain Buy-In and Momentum 18:08 — Why Consistent Meetings Matter 20:54 — Developing CX Knowledge Across the Organization 22:32 — Keeping Customer Experience Standards Current 24:28 — Using CX Programs to Identify Future Leaders 25:46 — Preventing Accidental Managers 27:05 — Leadership Training Before Promotion 28:11 — Helping Employees Decide Whether Leadership Fits 30:29 — Final Thoughts   Links: Storytelling blog:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/how-to-be-a-more-effective-leader-by-learning-the-best-way-of-storytelling/ ROX Dashboard:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/rox-dashboard/ The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/ Company Service Aptitude Test:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/ Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors:  tdg.click/claudia Ask John!  Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode:  tdg.click/ask Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/ Experience Revolution Membership:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Books:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/ Contacts:  Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com If you want to learn how world-class organizations build cultures customers cannot live without, explore The Experience Revolution Membership. Inside the membership you'll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world. Learn more at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Learn More If your organization is working to improve customer experience but struggling to connect it to measurable business outcomes, The DiJulius Group can help. Visit: https://thedijuliusgroup.com Listen to more episodes: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast/ Subscribe We talk about topics like this each week; be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.

Quantum materials discovery shows how quantum computing can create real value in industry by working alongside AI, advanced computing, and experiments to better understand materials, improve decision-making, and accelerate innovation at scale, ultimately helping deliver practical, measurable progress for the energy transition.This week, Dave, Esmee, and Rob are joined by co-host and quantum expert Phalgun Lolur, together with Jonathan Owens, Senior Scientist in Computational Materials Physics at GE Vernova to explore how quantum computing could reshape materials discovery and why that matters for the future of energy.  TLDR00:00 – Introduction01:50 – Hang out: The wet-bulb thermometer03:20 – Dig in: Technology Convergence and the Link to Quantum11:30 – Conversation with Jonathan Owens44:26 – Exciting to see how the quantum landscape matures and the magic wand for magnetismGuestJonathan Owens: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-r-owens-phd/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/Co-host Phalgun Lolur:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/phalgun-lolur/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Realities Remixed' is an original podcast from Capgemini

John Rockhold on LinkedInSpotlightConnect with Sam on LinkedIn - I share customer experience content multiple times a week, and love hearing from listeners with questions or ideas for topics.Subscribe to my newsletter, Customer Experience Patterns - I publish a new edition with each episode of the podcast.My LinkedIn Learning courses: Customer Experience: 6 Essential Foundations For Lasting Loyalty, How To Create Great Customer Experiences & Build A Customer-Centric Culture. In-depth video series that teach you how to create great experiences, and build customer-centric cultuers.Thanks to my talented colleague Emily Tolmer for the cover art. Thanks to my friends at Moon Island for the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI is transforming insurance faster than ever. Soul Abraham explains how Old Mutual Insure is using artificial intelligence to improve customer experience, reduce costs and make insurance more accessible for South Africans. Soul Abraham, CEO of Old Mutual Insure, joins What's Next to discuss how one of South Africa's oldest insurers is preparing for an AI-powered future. Drawing on nearly two centuries of insurance expertise, he explains why building a modern data platform was the foundation for adopting AI, and how the company is using artificial intelligence to empower employees, strengthen underwriting, and deliver faster, more personalised customer service. The conversation explores the three pillars of Old Mutual Insure's AI strategy, the role of cloud infrastructure and data in enabling innovation, and how AI could help improve insurance affordability and penetration across South Africa. Soul also shares his vision for AI-assisted brokers, personalised insurance products, faster claims processing, and why upskilling employees will be critical to ensuring AI enhances—not replaces—the workforce. Looking ahead, he outlines how Old Mutual Insure aims to redefine customer expectations while making insurance simpler, more responsive and better suited to individual needs. For South African business and technology leaders, this episode offers valuable insight into how AI is reshaping financial services and what the future of insurance could look like over the next five years. 0:00 Intro 2:15 Soul Abraham's journey to CEO of Old Mutual Insure 7:58 How Old Mutual Insure is adopting AI 11:06 The company's three-pillar AI strategy 17:14 Improving customer experience with AI 29:15 Upskilling employees for an AI-powered future 32:11 The future of insurance in South Africa Follow MyBroadband: X - https://twitter.com/mybroadband Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mybroadband Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mybroadband/ Website - https://mybroadband.co.za/news/ #ArtificialIntelligence #Insurance #SouthAfrica

This episode comes to you live from our pop-up studio at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York City. Our guest: Jason LaRose, CEO of Bombas — the brand that turned socks, underwear, and tees into a mission-powered growth machine, with more than 200 million essential clothing items donated to people experiencing homelessness. But first, the news — and in our summer biweekly format, there's plenty. Steve breaks down Nike's unimpressive quarter: revenues down, China off 12%, and an operating profit boost driven almost entirely by a nearly billion-dollar one-time tariff refund. The contrast with Levi's couldn't be sharper — under Michelle Gass, the brand posted 8% sales growth, expanding margins, and momentum across women's and tops. The winners keep winning elsewhere too. Aritzia's remarkable run continues with comps up an eye-popping 35% and digital up nearly 60%. Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing delivers 22% revenue growth from its 2,500-store global fleet. And Costco's monthly numbers offer fresh evidence of retail's Great Concentration. Then there's Kroger, acquiring regional grocery powerhouse Giant Eagle — a $9 billion revenue business bought at a strikingly low multiple. Michael and Steve debate the real question: does acquiring-to-compete solve Kroger's relevance problem, or just buy cost leverage against Walmart, Costco, and Amazon? Then it's on to Jason LaRose, who joined Bombas after leadership roles at Under Armour and Equinox. What drew him in: a genuine mission wrapped around outstanding economics — profitable essentially since day one. He traces the brand's arc from Indiegogo campaign and Shark Tank's most successful company ever to nearly $2 billion in cumulative sales, now expanding into underwear, tees, footwear, and slippers — the very items most requested in homeless shelters. LaRose also delivers a masterclass in disciplined distribution: highly curated wholesale partnerships with Target, Dick's, Nordstrom, and Scheels, each with distinct assortments for distinct customers, alongside the brand's first stores and expansion into Canada. His mantra — quality, comfort, mission, in that order — explains why repeat rates keep the funnel from leaking where so many DTC peers sprang holes. Wrapping up, on Steve's radar: a Dallas-area tour of the newly merged Container Store and Bed Bath & Beyond format (who exactly is this store for?), plus his provocative new Substack essay, "Convenience is Boring." On Michael's radar: the soon-to-open Gordie Howe Bridge, his conversation with U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, and why USMCA review limbo keeps piling uncertainty — and cost — onto businesses and consumers across North America. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2026 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.

Send us Fan MailPricing AI is the hardest pricing problem in software right now, and most SaaS leaders are getting it wrong on the first try. In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, host Yanique Grant sits down with Dan Balcauski, founder of Product Tranquility, to unpack why the first AI price a company sets is always wrong, how to set usage caps when you have no historical data, and what smart B2B SaaS leaders do differently to turn pricing from a liability into a strategic advantage.Dan has spent more than 20 years in software, starting as an engineer before moving into product management and discovering that how a company captures value matters far more than how it builds the product. Today he advises B2B SaaS CEOs on the AI pricing and packaging decisions that keep them up at night, and in this conversation he shares the frameworks, the mistakes to avoid, and the practical playbook he uses with real companies.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODEWhy the first AI price is always wrong, and why that has nothing to do with how smart your team or your consultants are. Dan explains the fundamental economic shift underway in software, where both sides of the pricing equation are moving at once. On the cost side, he points to a benchmark showing the cost per task for a top model dropping by roughly 390 times in a single year, a change no normal business ever absorbs in its cost of goods sold. On the value side, models keep getting more capable, handling this month what they could not handle last month. His research shows that every application layer software company he studied that released AI capabilities revised its pricing and packaging within 18 months. The lesson is not to price perfectly on day one. It is to build for change.How to set usage caps and pricing tiers with zero historical data. Dan frames the real problem plainly. You know what a token costs, but you have no idea what customers will actually do with a new AI feature. Products are full of features that barely got adopted, and AI features do not get to skip that step of the innovation cycle. On top of that, a small group of power users, often around 5 to 10 percent, can drive the overwhelming majority of usage and cost. That makes the tempting shortcuts unreliable. Using dashboard views as a proxy breaks down because good AI gets used far more than the dashboards it replaces, and a beta group rarely matches the usage profile of the full market.The early access playbook that sits between beta and general availability. Dan recommends a stage where companies announce their limits, put a price on the feature, and communicate it clearly, but do not enforce or meter it yet for a defined window that can run anywhere from six weeks to 18 months. This eases customer anxiety about surprise bills, encourages real adoption, and lets the company gather genuine usage patterns instead of guessing from proxies that break down.Why you should separate ordinary plan limits from fair use limits. Even when you are not metering usage, Dan explains, you can reserve the right to throttle or downgrade the rare customer using a capability a hundred or a thousand times more than the average, much like companies already do with API request limits. Those levers let teams keep experimenting during early access without the finance team panicking when the bill arrives.Why communication is where pricing changes succeed or fail. As Dan puts it, most pricing blowups come not from the change itself but from the fact that it was communicated poorly or not at all. Agility beats certainty, and reviewing pricing on a quarterly cadence beats the old annual or five year rhythm.This episode is essential listening for SaaS founders, product leaders, pricing strategists, and customer experience professionals who want to understand how AI is reshaping the economics of software and what to do about it before the market forces the decision for them.ABOUT DAN BALCAUSKIDan Balcauski is the founder of Product Tranquility, where he helps B2B SaaS CEOs turn pricing from a confusing liability into a strategic advantage. With more than 20 years in software, Dan began his career as an engineer before moving into product management and discovering that how companies capture value matters far more than how they build it. His work now centers on one of the most pressing questions in software today: how to price AI. Before founding Product Tranquility, Dan was a principal product strategist at SolarWinds and head of product at LawnStarter. He holds a BSc in computer engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, where he also helps teach executive education courses on product strategy. He is the host of the SaaS Scaling Secrets podcast.QUESTIONS YANIQUE ASKEDCould you share a little about your journey and how you got from where you were to where you are today? You have said the first AI price is always wrong. Why is that, and what should a SaaS company do differently knowing they are going to get it wrong the first time? So many companies are trying to set usage caps and pricing tiers for AI with zero historical data. How would you advise a CEO to make that decision when they are essentially flying blind? What is the one online resource, tool, website, or application that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? Can you share one or two books that have had a positive impact on you, professionally or personally? What is one thing going on in your life right now that you are really excited about? Do you have a quote or saying that keeps you on track during times of adversity? Where can listeners find and connect with you online?KEY TAKEAWAYSThe first AI price is always wrong, and that is not a failure of intelligence. It reflects a fundamental economic shift where both cost and value are moving fast. Every application layer company Dan studied revised its AI pricing and packaging within 18 months. Plan for revision, not perfection. Agility beats certainty. Review pricing on a quarterly cadence rather than annually or every five years. Communication is where pricing changes succeed or fail. Most blowups come from poor communication, not the change itself. Usage proxies break down. Dashboard views and beta groups rarely predict how customers will actually use an AI feature. A small group of power users can drive the majority of usage and cost, so average user assumptions are dangerous. Early access is the smart middle stage. Announce and price the limits, communicate them, but do not meter yet while you gather real data. Separate plan limits from fair use limits. Reserve the right to throttle extreme usage even when you are not metering everyone. Do not borrow problems from the future. Anxiety about what has not happened yet only adds problems to the present. AI is making custom, personal business software economically viable for the first time, opening the door to tools built exactly the way you work.CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Guest Bio 01:51 Dan's Journey: From Engineer to Pricing Strategist 04:03 Learning That Pricing Is Different in Every Industry 04:49 Why the First AI Price Is Always Wrong 05:36 The 390x Cost Shift and the Moving Value Equation 06:49 Agility, Faster Pricing Reviews, and Communication 09:28 Setting Usage Caps With No Historical Data 11:32 Why Dashboard Proxies and Beta Groups Break Down 12:59 The Early Access Playbook Between Beta and GA 13:20 Plan Limits vs. Fair Use Limits 17:04 The One Tool Dan Cannot Live Without: Claude Code 17:38 Book Recommendation: Monetizing Innovation 18:31 Building Custom Business Software With AI 19:55 How to Connect With Dan Online 20:27 Dan's Guiding Quote: Don't Borrow Problems From the FutureFEATURED RESOURCESBook mentioned: Monetizing Innovation by Madhavan Ramanujam and Georg TackeTool mentioned: Claude Code, Dan's work surface and the engine behind his custom business softwareCONNECT WITH DANLinkedIn: Search Dan Balcauski on LinkedIn, and mention that you heard him on the podcast so he can separate you from the spamWebsite: producttranquility.comPodcast: SaaS Scaling Secrets, wherever podcasts are foundDAN'S GUIDING QUOTE"Don't borrow problems from the future." Dan BalcauskiDan explains that most of our anxiety is about things that have not happened yet. Worrying about a future scenario pulls that problem into the present before it ever arrives, giving you more to carry now for no reason. Like debt, it is borrowing against your future self. His practice is to stay focused on what is real and in front of him, which keeps him grounded when challenges or uncertainty threaten to pull him off track.ABOUT N

A CMO Confidential Interview With Aarron Spinley, Director at the Field Bell Institute and Author of "The Customering Method." Aarron discusses his belief that customer management deserves its own discipline as part of marketing, that understanding customer needs is the foundation of sales, and why popular metrics can be misleading. Key topics include:- Why you should "learn the asset versus learn instead of the measures"- The need to focus on "unnatural churn"- The difference between automation and serviceTune in to hear why he's not fully on board with NPS and a story about "trendy rabbit holes." ⏱️ Chapters00:00 - Introduction to CMO Confidential and Guest Aarron Spinley01:23 - Defining Customer Experience and "Customering"04:35 - Limitations of Marketing Concepts and Survey Data in Customer Management06:53 - Drivers of Customer Loyalty vs. Net Promoter Score (NPS)10:11 - The Relationship Between Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty in Banking12:30 - The Correct Sequence of Customer Management: Asset, System, Measurement13:59 - Market Orientation vs. Sales Orientation within a Customer Base27:28 - What Effective Customer Interaction Looks Like30:02 - The Role of AI and Centralized Decisioning/Orchestration32:52 - Career Advice: Focus on Fundamentals Over Tools34:36 - Conclusion and Closing RemarksSubscribe for weekly episodes featuring world-class marketing leaders, board members, and C-Suite executives.#CMOConfidential, #MarketingLeadership, #BrandStrategy, #CorporateActivism, #MarketingStrategy, #CMO, #AIinMarketing, #ExecutiveLeadership, #BrandReputation, #ConsumerTrust, #DigitalMarketing, #MarketingInsights, #ThoughtLeadership, #BusinessStrategy, #CustomerCentricSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Josh and John discuss the excitement surrounding the World Cup and what bank marketers can learn from it. They explore why audiences matter more than paywalls, why positive experiences outperform negative messaging, and why banks should spend more time showing customers their value. The post Episode 211 | Why Great Customer Experiences Still Win appeared first on Marketing Money Podcast.

Consistency sounds boring until you realize it's the fastest path to trust and the easiest way to spot what's broken. In this CX Pulse Check episode, Jeannie Walters is joined by Nick Westergaard, host of the On Brand podcast and author of Brand Now and Get Scrappy, to look at what actually moves the needle in customer experience (CX) and brand building when attention is scarce and expectations are high.We dig into why major brands point to reliable basics as the key to their turnarounds: better training, smoother checkout, smarter inventory, and fewer “almost good enough” moments. Nick shares a simple mental model for this kind of work: stop chasing one huge “wow” and start raising the floor everywhere. When customers know what to expect, they don't just come back, they give you more grace when something goes wrong.Then we zoom in on neuroscience and cognitive load, the hidden force behind friction. Customers live in constant partial attention, and every extra step, confusing choice, or unnecessary question drains their mental energy. We talk about why simplification often beats adding features, how AI customer service earned distrust through bad early experiences, and what it takes to use automation without getting in the way.We close with brand storytelling and cultural moments, including what we can learn from campaigns that hit at the right time and why even a small change like a Spotify icon can spark big feelings in a deeply personal product. If you want a sharper CX strategy, better customer journey design, and a clearer brand experience, hit play, subscribe, and share this with someone who owns a form, a flow, or a brand decision. If you have a question for the podcast, leave a message at askjeannie.vip.About Nick WestergaardNick Westergaard (https://www.nickwestergaard.com/) is an author, educator, and speaker. He's spent his career building standout brands at organizations of all sizes—from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to President Obama's Jobs Council. Nick teaches at the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business, where he leads the Story Lab program. He's the author of the books Brand Now and Get Scrappy, a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, host of the popular On Brand podcast, and a Moth StorySLAM Champion. An in-demand keynote speaker at conferences throughout the world, his work helps those struggling to stand out in our crowded, distracted world.Follow Nick on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nickwestergaard Follow Nick's Podcast – On Brand - https://www.nickwestergaard.com/on-brand-podcast/ Follow Nick on Instagram - https://instagram.com/nickwestergaard Articles Mentioned:- Why 3 major brands see a consistent experience as key to their turnarounds (CX Dive) -- https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/3-major-brands-consistency-key-turnaround-efforts/822944/- Rethinking CX: The role neuroscience plays in developing the customer experience (Retail Customer Experience) -- https://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/blogs/rethinking-cx-the-role-neuroscience-plays-in-developing-the-customer-experience/- Every Brand Has a Story to Tell — CMOs Decide How and When to Tell It (Variety) -- https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/walmart-cmo-nfl-spotify-loreal-cannes-lions-variety-1236788926/Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

Why Customer Experience Fails Without the Right Internal Ownership Every company says customer experience matters. But too many organizations launch CX initiatives without clearly defining who owns the work, who champions it, who keeps it moving, and who makes sure it becomes part of the culture. In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast, John DiJulius turns the tables and interviews Dave Murray, Vice President of Consulting at The DiJulius Group and co-author of The Employee Experience Revolution. Dave shares what he has learned from more than 13 years of helping organizations build world-class customer and employee experience cultures. The Three Core Roles Every CX Initiative Needs Dave explains that successful customer experience transformation typically requires three core internal roles: The Executive Sponsor This is usually the CEO, owner, or senior executive who sees the pain points and understands that customer experience is not a department problem. It is an organization-wide culture initiative. The Project Champion This person is usually a senior leader who is closer to the day-to-day business and is responsible for making sure the initiative stays visible, supported, and connected to leadership priorities. The Project Lead The project lead is the person, or sometimes a small committee, responsible for keeping the work moving. They coordinate logistics, involve the right people, communicate updates, support rollout, and help make sure the work becomes part of daily operations. Why the Project Lead Cannot Be an Afterthought One of the biggest mistakes companies make is assigning customer experience ownership to someone who simply has available time. Dave explains that the best project leads have credibility, communication skills, leadership experience, and enough influence to hold others accountable. The role does not always need to be full-time at the start. In many organizations, it may require eight to ten hours per week during active project work. But for the initiative to last, someone must continue owning the reinforcement, accountability, and ongoing momentum after launch. The Role of the CX Steering Committee A strong customer experience steering committee gives the initiative broader representation across departments. This group often includes leaders from sales, operations, contact center, finance, IT, marketing, HR, and other key teams. The steering committee helps shape the work, create buy-in, remove barriers, and make sure customer experience does not live in one department. Why Frontline Buy-In Matters John and Dave also discuss the importance of including frontline team members in the creation process. Leaders may know what should be happening, but frontline employees know what is actually happening. When frontline employees help create the systems, standards, and training, they become ambassadors for the initiative. They bring practical insight, build credibility with their peers, and help prevent the work from becoming another top-down corporate program. Customer Experience Is an Ecosystem The most successful organizations treat customer experience as part of a larger experience ecosystem. External customer experience, employee experience, and vendor relationships all influence one another. As John explains, companies cannot deliver a world-class customer experience without also creating a strong internal employee experience. The role of experience leadership has evolved beyond customer service and now touches hiring, onboarding, training, leadership, recognition, marketing, and culture. Key Takeaway Customer experience transformation does not fail because companies lack ideas. It fails because no one truly owns the execution. If your organization wants customer experience to become a competitive advantage, you need executive sponsorship, a project champion, a project lead, a steering committee, and frontline ambassadors who help turn the strategy into daily behavior. Links: Storytelling blog:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/how-to-be-a-more-effective-leader-by-learning-the-best-way-of-storytelling/ ROX Dashboard:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/rox-dashboard/ The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/ Company Service Aptitude Test:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/ Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors:  tdg.click/claudia Ask John!  Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode:  tdg.click/ask Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/ Experience Revolution Membership:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Books:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/ Contacts:  Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com If you want to learn how world-class organizations build cultures customers cannot live without, explore The Experience Revolution Membership. Inside the membership you'll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world. Learn more at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Learn More If your organization is working to improve customer experience but struggling to connect it to measurable business outcomes, The DiJulius Group can help. Visit: https://thedijuliusgroup.com Listen to more episodes: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast/ Subscribe We talk about topics like this each week; be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.

Life sciences are at a turning point, where scientific innovation, regulatory pressure, and patient expectations collide with unprecedented advances in data, AI, and digital platforms. IT is no longer a supporting function but a critical driver of how therapies are discovered, developed, scaled, and delivered safely and at speed.This week, Dave and Rob wrap up our State of Life Sciences mini-series with Thorsten Rall, Global Industry Lead for Life Sciences at Capgemini and together, they connect the dots across the series, exploring how AI, data and innovation are accelerating drug discovery, transforming med tech, modernising manufacturing and improving patient outcomes, all built on a strong digital foundation. TLDR00:27 – Introduction and conclusion of the Life Sciences mini-series 02:16 – Key insights and lessons from the previous episodes on the Life Sciences landscape 21:18 – Building resilient, efficient and future-ready operations 34:35 – Creating integrated, patient-centric healthcare experiences 43:15 – Why the Digital Core is the foundation for transformation and innovation 53:21 – Final reflections: the future of Life Sciences and the key takeaways 54:53 – Weekend BBQs, Thorsten's daughter's theatre performance, and the role of R&D HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/with co-host Thorsten Rall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thorsten-alexander-rall-b232185/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Realities Remixed' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Want to deliver a seamless home buyer experience? In this episode of the Builder Marketing Podcast, Fernanda Luick of Fernanda Luick Consulting joins Greg and Kevin to break down how proactive communication strategies help home builders keep buyers happy, informed, and stress-free. https://www.buildermarketingpodcast.com/episodes/327-delivering-a-seamless-customer-experience-fernanda-luick  

There are some categories of spend that we all interact with differently because of the way they affect us as consumers. Packaging is a prime example of this. The level of strategy and effort invested in every choice make these buying decisions and supplier partnerships fascinating to study. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Bhavuk Chawla. Bhavuk has a Master's degree in packaging technology, and has worked in either packaging development or packaging procurement for almost two decades. Bhavuk shares his in depth experience with packaging from the cost, brand, and supply chain points of view: -How packaging choices enhance the consumer experience -Considerations (including tradeoffs) that have to be managed in the buying process -Balancing internal priorities and objectives with new supplier  ideas and innovations -Increasing supplier (or supply chain) resilience through packaging sourcing decisions

The best AI competitors will have the best customer experience more than anything else, argues Puneet Mehta. He says businesses need to create an entire system around their AI product to ensure consumer happiness draws more future customers in. Puneet explains the growth behind AI ecosystems and how businesses starting to assemble their own can create new opportunity through the tech.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Most leadership advice assumes you already have the mandate, the budget, the buy-in, and the seat at the table. If you lead customer experience, you know that's often fiction. We're expected to react to requests from marketing, ops, and whoever our dotted-line boss is this week, then we're judged on outcomes we didn't have the power to drive.Showing up as a customer experience business leader, not just a CX advocate, starts with momentum. When we deliver visible wins that make other leaders' lives easier, we build authority even without the title. We talk through how to reframe “influence” so it's not about pleading for support, but about connecting to the moments and priorities that already matter inside the organization.From there, we get practical with a simple framework of mindset, strategy, and discipline. Mindset means building a CX mission that is a win-win for every leader you partner with. Strategy means improving the world your executives live in, like reducing service calls to increase efficiency or tying journey fixes to retention and revenue. Discipline means stopping the cycle of short-term reporting and instead linking what we do every day to long-term organizational goals.Measurements are not outcomes. The leaders who get funded become “translator-in-chief,” turning customer insights into clear business outcomes like cost-to-serve reduction, growth, churn prevention, and market advantage. If you're ready to build momentum without a mandate and use the second half of the year as a reset, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a fellow CX leader, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show.Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

Ich bin besessen von einer Sache: Nicht mehr als 25 Stunden in der Woche zu arbeiten. Doch um dieses Level an Freiheit mit einem Millionenbusiness zu erreichen, müssen wir mit den Social-Media-Märchen aufräumen. Viele Unternehmerinnen glauben, eine 25-Stunden-Woche bedeutet, dass alles immer perfekt läuft. Wenn dann eine intensivere Launchwoche ansteht, denken sie sofort: „Ich mache etwas falsch.“ Ich teile in dieser Folge wirklich unbeschönigt meine Reise seit 2020 – von Null auf eine halbe Million Euro Jahresumsatz. Du erfährst, wie sich eine 25-Stunden-Woche wirklich anfühlt, warum auch ich immer wieder Hustle-Momente erlebe und welche drei Geheimnisse dir wahre Leichtigkeit bringen, komplett ohne endlose To-do-Listen. In der heutigen Folge erfährst du: - Die Hustle-Illusion: Warum ich trotz einer etablierten 25-Stunden-Woche immer wieder Phasen habe, in denen ich reinklotze, und warum das kein Zeichen von Versagen, sondern die ganz normale Welle des Unternehmerinnen-Lebens ist. - Wie sich 25 Stunden wirklich anfühlen: Spoiler: Nichts tun ist es nicht! Es fühlt sich weit, frei und voller Raum für Muße an – aber während dieser 25 Stunden wird absolut fokussiert, klar und ohne jede Social-Media-Ablenkung gearbeitet. - Die Formel-1-Strategie für dein Business: Warum du vor der Kurve gezielt abbremsen musst (Muße, Sport, Schlaf), um hinten raus auf der geraden Strecke mit maximaler Power und ohne Burnout zu beschleunigen. - Die 3 Geheimnisse hinter echter Leichtigkeit: Warum wahre Entlastung niemals auf deiner To-do-Liste steht, sondern durch eine maßgeschneiderte Alltagsstruktur, radikale Klarheit und die pure Liebe zu deinen Werten und deinem „Warum“ entsteht. Hör auf, dich im Hamsterrad abzurackern, nur um beschäftigt zu sein. Schalte die Ablenkung aus, folge dem strategischen Plan und lerne, dein Business als Vehikel für ein freies, erfülltes Leben zu nutzen!

"You want to own the message and your narrative."Strong communication is about more than delivering a message—it's about building trust over time. As Zoom's Chief Marketing Officer, Kim Storin has helped shape communication at one of the world's most recognizable brands, balancing empathy, transparency, and consistency in an era of rapid technological change. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Storin joins Matt Abrahams to discuss how leaders can communicate with authenticity, navigate crises with clarity, and build cultures rooted in transparency. They explore the art and science of shaping perception, maintaining connection in hybrid workplaces, and creating messages that solve problems—not just capture attention.Key Takeaways:Lead with authenticity and transparency. Clear, honest communication builds trust—especially during periods of change or crisis.Own your narrative. Consistent messaging and a clear story shape how others understand your brand, team, or ideas.Activity:Before your next team update or difficult conversation, ask yourself: "What information can I share that will build trust?" Include one additional point of context or reasoning that helps your audience better understand the decision.Printable Expanded Takeaways & ActivitiesEpisode Reference Links:Kim StorinEp.82 It's Not About You: Why Effective Communicators Put Others FirstConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedInChapters:(00:00) - Introduction (01:37) - Leading Through a Global Crisis (03:36) - Changing Brand Perception (06:50) - Building Culture at Scale (09:00) - Virtual Communication Gains & Losses (11:24) - Creating Meaningful Moments (12:34) - Communicating Through Difficulty (16:03) - The Final Three Questions (21:33) - Conclusion ********Thank you to our sponsors.  These partnerships support the ongoing production of the podcast, allowing us to bring it to you at no cost.Most Work Platforms Help People Communicate.  Some help you organize, but Zoom turns conversations into outcomes. Try Zoom Mate today

This episode of the Parts Edge Podcast is recorded live at the NCM Fuel the Future Fixed Ops Summit and dives into the future of service lane technology in dealerships. The conversation focused on differentiating between "shiny object" AI and workflow-driven, value-added AI that truly improves the fixed operations customer experience. The discussion explored practical examples of AI-driven customer communications, service scheduling, and technician video processes—showing how the right tech can fix the foundation of your dealership and power more efficient, customer-focused service.One concept discussed was the critical need to meet customers where they are (like texting instead of making them download an app), as well as how embedded AI is removing friction from scheduling, diagnostics, and communications. A key theme that emerged was the importance of real dealership workflows guiding tech implementation—not the other way around. Several points were raised, including AI's role in video grading, language translation, escalation of customer issues, and personalizing service processes for both the team and the end customer.Whether you manage a bustling parts department or oversee a full-service lane, this episode is packed with gritty, motivating insights for those ready to turn inventory, reduce wasted time, and deliver exactly what customers expect in 2024.--------------------------------------------This show is powered by PartsEdge: Your go-to solution for transforming dealership parts inventory into a powerhouse of profitability. Our strategies are proven to amp up parts sales by a whopping 20%, all while cutting down on idle inventory. If you're looking to optimize your parts management, visit

What separates great leaders from everyone else? In this episode of Everything Is Personal, Len May sits down with Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor Financial, to discuss leadership, entrepreneurship, business transformation, financial innovation, team building, AI, technology, and the future of business. Terry shares lessons from his career at Deloitte, Arthur Andersen, Fortune 500 companies, and high-growth businesses. The conversation explores leadership, communication, innovation, customer experience, financial services, entrepreneurship, business strategy, and how successful leaders build organisations that continue to grow. Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, business owner, or someone interested in leadership and innovation, this episode offers practical insights that can help you think differently about business and success. EndoDNA: Where Genetic Science Meets Actionable Patient Care EndoDNA bridges the gap between complex genomics and patient wellness. Our patented DNA analysis platforms and AI technology provide genetic insights that support and enhance your clinical expertise. Click here to check out to take control over your Personal Health & Wellness   Connect with EndoDNA on SOCIAL: IG | X | YOUTUBE | FB Connect with host, Len May, on IG     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if I told you that everything you think you need to grow your business — the followers, the perfect brand, the credentials, the viral moment — none of it is actually what's going to make you successful? Today I'm giving you the one thing that will. READ MORE HERE

Life sciences are at a critical inflection point, where scientific innovation, regulatory demands, and patient expectations converge with advances in data and artificial intelligence, positioning IT as a central driver of faster and more effective drug discovery and clinical development.This week, Dave and Rob continue with part 3 off the Life Sciences mini-series with Predrag Angelovski, VP, CTO at Healthcare Informatics at Philips to exploring how MedTech products are more and more becoming connected platforms, combining hardware, software and services.TLDR00:21 – Introduction with co-host Thorsten Rall01:00 – Hang out: Esmee joins and Rob is lost at a train station03:00 – Dig in: Life Sciences mini-series, Part 304:57 – Conversation with Predrag Angelovski50:56 – Travelling to Europe, agents vs. agentic, and the age of intelligence GuestPredrag Angelovski: https://www.linkedin.com/in/predrag-angelovski/ HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Realities Remixed' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Send us Fan Mail Local SEO strategy often gets stuck playing a quantitative numbers game with review counts and velocity benchmarks. But what happens when you treat the collective text of your market's customer reviews as an ongoing, free focus group? This week, Celeste Gonzalez joins us to show how tools like Apify and Natural Language Processing (NLP) allow local agencies to scrape hidden market trends from Reddit, TikTok, and competitor Google Maps profiles. We break down exactly how to extract actionable copywriting blueprints from customer pain points, avoid confirmation biases, and keep your business answers consistent for modern AI search engines. Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan MailWhat happens when an entrepreneur follows instinct, leaves corporate comfort behind, moves to Chile on a whim, and eventually helps over 1,000 MSPs improve customer experience?

How Consistency and Convenience Create Loyal Customers  Shep interviews Greg Tucker, CEO, Tucker & Company, and author of Frictionless Brand Experience. He discusses the sources of friction that hinder the delivery of a brand promise and strategies for identifying and eliminating them.  This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:    What is the difference between customer experience and brand experience?  How can companies ensure they consistently deliver on their brand promise?  What are the most common sources of friction in delivering a great brand experience?  Why do customers pay more for a convenient experience?  Why is cultural alignment important for providing a seamless customer experience?  Top Takeaways:    A brand promise is a commitment a company makes to its customers about what they can expect. A consistent brand experience across all channels ensures that what is promised aligns with what is delivered.  When customers encounter friction, the risk of them switching brands doubles. And this risk multiplies every time they encounter confusing menus, slow service, difficult-to-use websites, etc. Convenient businesses remove these friction points because they know that the happier customers are, the more loyal they will be.  Greg Tucker shares six types of friction that hinder the delivery of a consistent brand experience.  Digital Friction: Problems with digital interfaces, such as confusing websites, poor user experience, and incorrect product data.  Brand Friction: Inconsistency and lack of clarity in messaging and marketing campaigns.  Product Friction: When the product itself is hard to use, too expensive, or costly to maintain.  Operational Friction: Back-end processes like late shipments, slow service, or bad customer support that disrupt the overall customer experience.  Organizational Friction: Internal company issues, such as siloed departments and miscommunication between teams.  Cultural Friction: Company mindsets, misaligned incentives, or leadership behaviors that do not support the brand promise.  While being nice is important, customers would rather have things be easy and quick than be inconvenienced, even with a smile. Our annual customer service and CX research shows that customers value a convenient, frictionless experience even more than friendly service. If a company can deliver both, it stands out from the competition.   Plus, Shep and Greg discuss why convenience is no longer just “nice to have," but something customers will pay more for. Tune in!  Quote:   "The power behind a brand experience is great customer experience. And, the power behind a great customer experience is the employee experience."  About:    Greg Tucker is CEO of Tucker & Company, an award-winning leader, keynote speaker, and strategic advisor. He is the author of Frictionless Brand Experience, a book on eliminating business friction to accelerate growth.  Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan MailWhat if the most valuable thing a customer could do for your business was complain? In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, Yanique Grant sits down with Michael Podolsky, co-founder and CEO of PissedConsumer.com and Wisebrand.com, to explore the power of negative feedback and why organizations that take it seriously are the ones that build lasting customer loyalty.Michael built PissedConsumer.com after a deeply frustrating personal experience as a customer left him with no recourse and no resolution. Starting with just $200 and no venture backing, he has grown the platform over the past 20 years into a consumer advocacy powerhouse serving over 30 million users. His message to businesses is consistent: complaints are not your enemy. They are your most honest source of business intelligence.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE87% of consumers contact a company directly before leaving a negative review online. That statistic sits at the heart of everything Michael teaches. By the time a review is posted, the customer has already tried to reach you. The review is not the problem. The missed connection is.In this conversation, Yanique and Michael explore how organizations of all sizes can shift the way they receive and respond to consumer feedback, including how to categorize complaints by severity, how to establish timelines for resolution, and why the department most often blamed for service failures is rarely the one responsible for causing them.KEY TOPICS COVEREDFrom a Bad Vacation to 30 Million UsersMichael shares the origin story behind PissedConsumer.com, which was born from a travel experience that left him with no recourse as a consumer. That frustration became the foundation for one of the largest negative review platforms in the world.Collective Complaints: A New Way to Get Businesses to RespondPissedConsumer.com recently introduced a collective complaint feature that groups consumer feedback around a single issue and gathers signatures to amplify the message. Companies that routinely ignore individual complaints have begun responding to collective ones.Complaints as Small Gifts72% of consumers who leave negative reviews are trying to protect future customers from the same experience. They want things to improve. Michael's position is that every complaint is a gift, and businesses that receive it that way build stronger relationships than those that deflect or dismiss.Customer Service Is Not a Deflection MechanismMichael addresses one of the most common and costly mistakes in large organizations: treating customer service as a buffer designed to keep consumers away from the business rather than a function empowered to fix the actual problem. When customer service has real authority and clear escalation paths, the feedback loop works.Empowering Your Team with AIMichael shares how his organizations have deployed agentic AI systems using multiple models across departments including recruitment, operations, marketing, and deep research. His belief is that business leaders must integrate AI and human institutional knowledge now, not later.The Last Generation to Manage Only Human TeamsPerhaps the most thought-provoking moment in the conversation comes when Michael reflects on where AI is taking the workforce. His message to his own employees: in nine months, the company will either need 70% fewer people or will be ten times more productive. Every single person chose productivity.BOOK RECOMMENDATIONGetting Past No by William Ury. Michael has carried this book on negotiation and conflict resolution for over 40 years. For anyone who deals with difficult customers, challenging conversations, or resistant stakeholders, this is the read he points to first.CONNECT WITH MICHAEL PODOLSKYLinkedIn: Search Michael Podolsky, PissedConsumer Website: pissedconsumer.com Website: wisebrand.comFOLLOW NAVIGATING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEX (Twitter): @NavigatingCX Facebook: Navigating the Customer Experience Community LinkedIn: Yanique Grant Website: yaniquegrant.com

In this episode of The Dirt on Flowers, Lyndsay and Shannon discuss how incorporating artisan and local vendors can elevate farm events. They share personal experiences transitioning from frequent open farm days to fewer, more curated events featuring vendors, food trucks, and activities. Key topics include vendor curation, communication strategies, pricing models, administrative workload, and the marketing benefits vendors bring. Both hosts emphasize the importance of aligning vendors with the farm's brand, careful vetting, and prioritizing the customer experience to create memorable, profitable events.Be in the know for DirtCon 2027If you want to dive in deeper with us each month, join our membership group - The Dirt on Flowers Insiders! So if you love the podcast and want to dig deeper with us, head over to www.thedirtonflowers.com/membership to join now.Did you love today's episode?Take a screenshot and share it in your IG stories. Don't forget to tag @dirtonflowers!Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!Head to www.thedirtonflowers.com to sign up for our newsletter and become a Dirt on Flowers insider!Want to learn more about your hosts? Follow us on Instagram!Lyndsay @wildroot_flowercoShannon @bloomhillfarm

Hey CX Nation,In this week's episode of The CXChronicles Podcast #282, we welcomed Bryan McAnulty Founder of Heights Platform and LatchLoop based in Austin, TX.Bryan has helped thousands of creators across 100+ countries transform their knowledge into thriving businesses. As a creator himself, he has been committed to empowering those with a passion for creation to learn and grow online.In this episode, Bryan and Adrian chat through the Four CX Pillars: Team, Tools, Process & Feedback. Plus share some of the ideas that his team think through on a daily basis to build world class customer experiences.**Episode #282 Highlight Reel:**1.  Focusing on being proactive with all of your customers, regardless of LTV2. Pro's & Con's of AI-driven customer support3. Why customers value speed to solution more than anything Click here to learn more about Bryan McAnultyClick here to learn more about Heights PlatformClick here to learn more about LatchLoopHuge thanks to Bryan for coming on The CXChronicles Podcast and featuring his work and efforts in pushing the customer experience & contact center space into the future. For all of our Apple & Spotify podcast listener friends, make sure you are following CXC & please leave a 5 star review so we can find new members of the "CX Nation". You know what would be even better?Go tell your friends or teammates about CXC's custom content, strategic partner solutions (Hubspot, Intercom, & Freshworks) & On-Demand services & invite them to join the CX Nation, a community of 15K+ customer focused business leaders!Want to see how your customer experience compares to the world's top-performing customer focused companies? Thanks to all of you for being apart of the "CX Nation" and helping customer focused business leaders across the world make happiness a habit!Reach Out To CXC Today!Support the showContact CXChronicles TodayTweet us @cxchroniclesCheck out our Instagram @cxchroniclesClick here to checkout the CXC websiteEmail us at info@cxchronicles.com Remember To Make Happiness A Habit!!

How middle managers make or break customer experience transformation   Why Customer Experience Transformations Fail in the Middle Most customer experience initiatives do not fail because the strategy was wrong. They fail because the strategy is announced by senior leadership, introduced to frontline employees, and then loses momentum in the middle. In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast, Denise Thompson and John DiJulius discuss why middle managers are one of the most overlooked parts of any customer experience transformation. Senior leaders may set the vision, but frontline employees do not experience that vision every day. They experience their direct manager. If that manager is overwhelmed, unclear, unsupported, or simply passing along a corporate message, the customer experience initiative becomes one more thing competing for attention. Why Middle Managers Matter in Customer Experience Middle managers are the link between strategy and execution. They are the ones responsible for turning customer experience goals into daily behaviors, coaching moments, team conversations, accountability, and recognition. John explains that companies often focus on executive buy-in and frontline training, but they miss the layer that determines whether the initiative actually sticks. Managers cannot just repeat the message from leadership. They have to translate it into behavior. Why CX Initiatives Lose Momentum Many middle managers are labeled as resistant when the real problem is that they are overwhelmed. Every department is competing for their attention: operations, sales, marketing, technology, HR, and customer experience. When managers are not given enough clarity, authority, time, training, or support, they cannot effectively lead the transformation. Instead of becoming culture carriers, they become message carriers. John explains that successful project launches require more than creation and launch. Organizations must certify it, implement it, measure it, and continue reinforcing it long after launch day. How Managers Become Culture Carriers To become true culture carriers, managers need to understand the why behind the customer experience initiative. They need to know how it creates a competitive advantage, improves retention, drives referrals, reduces complaints, and helps the company avoid competing only on price. They also need the tools to coach their teams, celebrate the right behaviors, recognize wins, and hold people accountable when standards are not being met. The Role of Senior Leadership Senior leaders must stay obsessed with the vision. They need to repeat the message consistently, share results, celebrate progress, and make middle managers the heroes of the transformation. John also discusses the danger of accidental managers: high-performing employees who are promoted into leadership without enough training. When managers are not equipped to lead people, organizations risk creating accidental cultures. How to Make Customer Experience Stick Customer experience does not become real because it was announced. It becomes real when it is coached, reinforced, recognized, measured, and protected. If your CX initiative is losing momentum, the answer may not be another slogan, campaign, or frontline training module. It may be that your managers need more clarity, more tools, more authority, and more support. Because your customer experience strategy is only as strong as the leaders responsible for bringing it to life every day. Takeaways Middle managers are the make-or-break layer in customer experience transformation. Executive buy-in and frontline training are not enough if managers are not equipped to lead. Managers should translate the CX message into behavior, not simply repeat it. Many managers are overwhelmed, not resistant. Successful project launches require certification, implementation, measurement, and ongoing reinforcement. Storytelling helps managers make CX behaviors real and memorable. Weekly habits, huddles, microlearning, and coaching keep CX alive after launch. Senior leaders must provide air cover when managers hold the line on service standards. Accidental managers can create accidental cultures if they are promoted without leadership training. Leaders should say less, more often, and stop chasing shiny objects. Quotes "Customer experience does not become real because it was announced. It becomes real when it's coached, reinforced, recognized, measured, and protected." "The frontline does not experience the CEO's vision every day. They experience their manager." "Results don't lie." "Someone who just repeats is delivering a mandate from above." "Be obsessed with your vision. Repeat it at nauseam. Make it your manager's vision." "Don't chase shiny objects." "You are what your retention rates say you are. You are what your referrals say you are." Chapters List 00:00 – Opening and Welcome Denise introduces the topic of middle managers and why they are often overlooked in customer experience transformation. 00:47 – John's Cal Berkeley Hat and Family Wedding Story John shares the personal story behind his hat and his upcoming family wedding in Sweden. 05:39 – The Overlooked Layer in CX Transformation Denise explains why the middle manager layer often determines whether strategy becomes reality. 06:46 – The Six Stakeholders in a Project Launch John outlines the six key stakeholders needed for a successful launch. 08:45 – Message Carriers vs. Culture Carriers John explains the difference between repeating a CX message and translating it into behavior. 10:26 – Resistance or Overwhelm? Denise and John discuss why managers are often mislabeled as resistant. 12:38 – The Six Steps of a Successful Launch John explains create it, launch it, certify it, implement it, measure it, and everboard it. 15:23 – How to Identify Real Buy-In John shares how leaders can tell whether managers are truly bought in or just complying. 18:06 – KPIs and ROX Dashboards John discusses how to measure whether a CX initiative is working. 19:03 – How Managers Become Culture Carriers Denise asks what middle managers need in order to lead customer experience culture. 20:12 – Coaching Without Corporate Scripting John explains the role of storytelling, accountability, and manager involvement. 21:53 – Weekly Habits That Keep CX Alive John introduces everboarding, microlearning, and consistent reinforcement. 24:47 – Senior Leadership's Role John explains why senior leaders must stay obsessed with the vision. 25:16 – Providing Air Cover for Managers John discusses how leaders should support managers who hold the line on service standards. 26:16 – Warning Signs Managers Are Becoming the Bottleneck John explains how results reveal whether managers are advancing or blocking the transformation. 27:56 – Where Companies Should Start John discusses accidental managers and the need for leadership training. 32:37 – One Thing Leaders Can Do This Week John advises leaders to say less, more often, and stop chasing shiny objects. 33:44 – Closing Thoughts Denise closes the episode by reminding listeners that CX becomes real through managers. Links: ROX Dashboard:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/rox-dashboard/ The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/ Company Service Aptitude Test:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/ Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors:  tdg.click/claudia Ask John!  Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode:  tdg.click/ask Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/ Experience Revolution Membership:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Books:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/ Contacts:  Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com If you want to learn how world-class organizations build cultures customers cannot live without, explore The Experience Revolution Membership. Inside the membership you'll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world. Learn more at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Learn More If your organization is working to improve customer experience but struggling to connect it to measurable business outcomes, The DiJulius Group can help. Visit: https://thedijuliusgroup.com Listen to more episodes: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast/ Subscribe We talk about topics like this each week; be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.  

This episode is brought to you by Lightspeed.Summer can be one of the trickiest seasons for retailers. Inventory needs to move before fall arrives, demand can shift with changing weather patterns and teams are already looking ahead to the next major buying cycle.In this special bonus episode of Retail Remix, Kate Robertson sits down with Marie Baldauf-Lenschen, Director of Supplier Network Partnerships at Lightspeed, to discuss how retailers can make smarter inventory, merchandising and purchasing decisions during the critical mid-summer period. From identifying the metrics that matter most to leveraging AI, storytelling and wholesale data more effectively, Marie shares practical strategies retailers can use to improve sell-through, protect margins and prepare for the busy seasons ahead. Key TakeawaysWhy retailers should focus on a handful of key metrics (including inventory levels, sales trends and supplier lead times) to make faster, smarter decisions  How AI can help reduce manual work and surface actionable insights without replacing human decision-making  Why merchandising, storytelling and knowledgeable store associates can improve sell-through without relying on markdowns  How tighter connections between wholesale purchasing, inventory management and POS systems can help retailers react faster to demand shifts  Why bundling, urgency-based messaging and personalized service often outperform aggressive discounting when inventory starts to slow  Related LinksLearn more about Lightspeed's commerce platform for retailersGet more retail industry insights from Retail TouchPointsSubscribe and catch up on all episodes of Retail Remix ----Ready to make smarter inventory, merchandising and buying decisions? Discover how Lightspeed helps retailers streamline operations, manage inventory and stay ahead of changing customer demand at lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail 

Resilience is the recognition that in today's highly interconnected and unpredictable world, disruption cannot always be anticipated or prevented and therefore requires a shift from traditional risk avoidance toward designing systems that can absorb shocks, adapt in real time, and recover quickly, ultimately emerging stronger and turning uncertainty into a source of advantage.This week, Dave, Esmee, and Rob are joined by Benjamin Trump, President Society for Risk Analysis and Cedrick Moriggi, Chief Resilience Officer and co-found the CCRO network under the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, to explore what resilience means in a world shaped by systemic risk, fragile supply chains, climate shocks, cyber threats and human decision-making. TLDR00:30 – Introduction01:29 – Hang out: Heatwave weather and the perfect pub temperature03:18 – Dig in: What is resilience, and how do you deal with it?10:35 – Conversation with Benjamin Trump and Cedrick Moriggi48:32 – Ben is a writer and Cedrick teaches children GuestBenjamin Trump: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-trump-ba062523/Cedrick Moriggi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cedrickmoriggi/HostsDave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/Esmee van de Giessen:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeevandegiessen/Rob Kernahan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-kernahan/ ProductionMarcel van der Burg:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-vd-burg/Dave Chapman:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmandr/ SoundBen Corbett:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-corbett-3b6a11135/Louis Corbett:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-corbett-087250264/ 'Realities Remixed' is an original podcast from Capgemini

Connect with Sam on LinkedIn - I share customer experience content multiple times a week, and love hearing from listeners with questions or ideas for topics.Subscribe to my newsletter, Customer Experience Patterns - I publish a new edition with each episode of the podcast.My LinkedIn Learning courses: Customer Experience: 6 Essential Foundations For Lasting Loyalty, How To Create Great Customer Experiences & Build A Customer-Centric Culture. In-depth video series that teach you how to create great experiences, and build customer-centric cultuers.Thanks to my talented colleague Emily Tolmer for the cover art. Thanks to my friends at Moon Island for the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI and automation are transforming businesses, but the real competitive advantage lies in knowing where to integrate technology for efficiency and where to prioritize human touch for deeper connections. In this episode, I'm diving into why the businesses that master both will win in today's fast-moving digital world and how mastering the intersection of AI, automation and the human touch will set you apart from the rest of the pack. I will also share examples of where I've structured my own business to be both streamlined and highly personal, leveraging automation to enhance workflow and increase human interaction to drive loyalty, retention, and increased revenue. If you want to stand out in an increasingly automated world, this episode will show you exactly how to do it. Enjoy!   Mentioned in this episode Subscribe to Email List Leave a Podcast Review Work/Connect with me: Offer Optimization Scorecard Book a Call   Tune in to start taking your business and life to the next level today and don't forget to subscribe or follow the podcast to make sure you don't miss any future episodes. Visit https://jessicamillercoaching.com/ to learn more. You can also follow me on Instagram (@jessicadioguardimiller) and Facebook.

Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks. We're continuing our four episode mini-series from NYC! Today's guest is Tara Hankinson, co-founder and co-CEO of TALEA Beer Co. TALEA was founded with a mission to bring craft beer to a broader audience – and you're about to hear exactly how they're doing it. From brand voice, to customer experience, to collaborations and partnerships, Tara tells us how her early inspiration and entrepreneurial spirit snowballed to get her where she is today… and she's got loads of great insight to share. What stuck with me from this conversation: On getting to where she is now: "This is probably my 5th or 6th career post-undergrad, so it's not as linear as most people think. I think a lot of people expect to find that dream job at age 23, 24 and that's just not practical. So, it took a bit, but I love it now. And I think Leann and I are actually good at it. Both because of all the non-linear starts and stops we've had in our career and because we are very agile and flexible and have built this business from the ground up." On her initial vision for a business: "I had always loved wine, and I felt such a connection to the experience of going to a great winery and wine tasting. And that high end hospitality-forward experience had never been a part of the beer world that I had explored. So that was kind of my original kernel for getting interested in beer." On being data-driven: "Nowadays, you can export every Google review you've ever gotten and put it into Claude or Gemini and say, what are the positive trends, what are the negative trends, what's the biggest opportunity in our negative reviews to turn this experience around. That didn't exist when we started the business, but I think just thinking of customer experience as something you can quantify, you can use data to make decisions and make investments." On TALEA's brilliant beer descriptions: "This is meant to be relatable and approachable and to convince you to stay on the beer side of the menu versus the wine and cocktails that are on the back." On collaborations and partnerships: "I think [they're] a way in which we are continuing to challenge the preconceived notions of what craft beer is and who it's for." On what the business is here to do: "In its simplest form, we are trying to give people little moments of joy."   Links & things: What we're drinking: TALEA's spicy marg sour (and their brite lager as a back up!) TALEA's: Taprooms Social, and Latest collaborations x NYPL x Flamingo x Levain Other shout outs: An early inspiration: Wölffer Estate Vineyard A mentor: Mike Seitz at Bare Bottle Highlights from our last call round: Podcast recc: Acquired Producer we need to know: Wild East Brewing Where Tara wants to visit: Germany Another awesome woman in drinks we should meet: Jamie Fox from the New York Brewers Guild   Recording info: April 2026 in NYC We recorded in the basement of Talea West Village… right next to a rather noisy ice machine that decided to chime in part way through our conversation! The background noise settles soon after, so please do hang in there. (And thanks for your patience and understanding!)   Subscribe | Follow on Instagram | Email

Howard Tullman, American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, educator, writer, lecturer, and art collector, joins Lisa Dent to discuss his latest article.

 "Pick an immersive subgenre, and I think that it can be made better by the escape room model." For the Season 11 finale of Reality Escape Pod, we're turning the spotlight inward. After years of writing reviews, producing podcasts, running RECON, hosting Tours, and building a community around immersive experiences, we asked our audience a simple question "What do you think?" Hundreds of you responded to the Room Escape Artist audience census, sharing how you engage with our work, what you want more of, and where we can improve. Lisa Spira, editor-in-chief of Room Escape Artist, data wizard, and David's wife, joins us on the podcast to for a deep dive into the census results. We received over 200 responses to our massive audience survey covering topics ranging from audience demographics and favorite content formats to the future of escape rooms, the rise of immersive experiences, community feedback, and some honest critiques. We gained perspective on what our audience enjoys, their awareness of REA content, and how they consume immersive experiences. Some results were truly surprising, including how many escape rooms the average participant plays per year. We also asked for your feedback, critiques, and worries. We addressed many of the criticisms with honest and candid replies about why some aspects of Room Escape Artist have changed over the years. We also acknowledged times when we got things wrong and explained the reasoning behind the editorial schedule and structure. I really enjoyed sharing this behind-the-scenes look at Room Escape Artist. I thought the most interesting parts of this episode were seeing how much thought goes into the choices behind the content we put out, why certain reviews get written, why some trends excite us, and how difficult it is to serve a global community with wildly different interests. This was a conversation about growth, and the future of Room Escape Artist, REPOD, and the escape room industry. When it comes to escape rooms, there is room for different kinds of play. We're seeing experiences that blur the lines between escape rooms, theater, games, and adventure. As David puts it, "The medium continues to evolve, and that's exactly what makes it exciting." I couldn't agree more. Whether you found us through reviews, podcasts, RECON, Tours, or somewhere else entirely, we appreciate being part of your escape room journey. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the census and share feedback, and to those who support our community and continue listening.     Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse.   Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

How Unconscious Experiences Shape Customer Loyalty  Shep interviews Lou Carbone, Founder and CEO (Chief Experience Officer) of Experience Engineering®, Inc. He talks about how emotionally resonant experiences create customer loyalty and distinctive brand value.  This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:    How does emotional impact influence customer loyalty?  Why is distinctive value vital for exceptional customer service?  What effects do sensory details have on memorable experiences?  How can integrating technology improve customer experiences?  How can businesses engineer repeat customer experiences?  Top Takeaways:    The power of a great experience is that the magic doesn't end when the moment does. The emotional imprint that a great experience creates is what keeps customers coming back. It can influence the way customers feel about a brand even years later.   Magic lies in the details. Purposeful, repetitive clues create emotional resonance that emotionally bonds customers to a brand. Carefully embedded signals are like "pixie dust" (think Disney) that trigger unconscious perceptions, shape how people value a brand, and build a strong brand ethos that customers want to be part of.  Distinctive value means being irreplaceable. It is when a company delivers experiences that are so emotionally resonant that customers cannot imagine living without them. It goes beyond simply solving problems or meeting expectations. Some organizations create deep, memorable connections that feel essential to customers' lives.  Trust grows when experiences are predictable and consistent. When customers know what to expect and consistently get it, they feel safe and comfortable with a brand. Consistency should be embedded into every part of a customer's journey.  Many organizations approach customer experience by reacting to problems instead of proactively engineering experiences that deliver emotionally impactful value. Companies that stand out are those that design experiences with intention.  Plus, Lou shares insights from Disney and his book, Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again. Tune in! Quote:   "The currency of experiences is memories which are unconscious and are imprinted emotionally."  About:    Lou Carbone is the Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Experience Engineering®, Inc., recognized globally as a pioneer and leading innovator in experience management since the late 1980s. He is a best-selling author of Clued In – How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again.  Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A CMO Confidential Interview with Drew Pinto, EVP and Chief Revenue and Technology Officer of Marriott International. Drew discusses the concept that architecture and data should be viewed as a means to an end, methods for assessing legacy systems, and why tech is critical to customer experience.Key topics include: - Why he believes in "built to change”- Ways to assess your data- Why marketers shouldn't get "enamored by solutions- The idea of "buying commodities" vs. building everything yourselfTune in to hear a discussion about "data puddles," and why marketers should take their tech partners to dinner.⏱️ Chapters1:12 - Introduction and Guest Welcome2:32 -Defining Data Architecture5:00 - Evaluating Legacy Systems12:51 - Sponsor Message: Typeface ARC Agents13:55 - Built to Change vs. Built to Last17:15 - Tech Sourcing: Build vs. Buy21:11 - Customer Experience and Data Management27:54 - Common Mistakes and Advice for Marketers30:44 - Closing Remarks and Final ThoughtsThis episode is sponsored by Typeface - the agentic AI marketing platform that turns one idea into thousands of on-brand assets. Learn more: typeface.ai/cmo. Subscribe for weekly episodes featuring world-class marketing leaders, board members, and C-Suite executives.#CMOConfidential, #MarketingLeadership, #BrandStrategy, #CorporateActivism, #MarketingStrategy, #CMO, #AIinMarketing, #ExecutiveLeadership, #BrandReputation, #ConsumerTrust, #DigitalMarketing, #MarketingInsights, #ThoughtLeadership, #BusinessStrategy, #CustomerCentricSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2zzEE8PxY64  Partnership, innovation, and a people-first approach are essential to creating meaningful change and lasting success. In this episode of Stories from the River, Wes Dudley, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Broad River Retail, sits down with Abe Barghouti, Senior Account Director at Zoom; Krista Hentz, Senior Sales Leader at Zoom; Drew Gorringe, Head of CX Consulting at C-Lect Consulting; and Anita Harris, Director of Customer Experience Operations & Specialty at Broad River Retail. Together, they discuss the implementation of the Zoom Contact Center platform and the strategic thinking behind the transition. The conversation explores the importance of building strong partnerships, finding technology solutions that align with company values, and creating systems that better support both Memory Makers and guests. Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.    Broad River Retail brought this show to you. Visit https://BroadRiverRetail.com    Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/broad-river-retail 

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lamar Tyler.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lamar Tyler.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lamar Tyler.

Retail media has quickly become one of retail's most important growth engines, but Ace Hardware is taking a different approach. One that's built around local ownership, community relevance and real-world customer needs.In this episode of Retail Remix, Kate Robertson speaks with Molly Hjelm, CVP of RedVest Media, Ace Hardware's retail media network, about launching a full-funnel RMN in just six months and what makes the co-op retailer uniquely positioned in the space. Molly shares how Ace is leveraging its network of 5,200 independently owned stores, 70 million loyalty members and deep first-party data to create measurable advertising solutions. She also explains how weather-triggered media, retailer-focused advertising tools and localized customer insights are helping brands connect with shoppers at exactly the right moment.Key TakeawaysHow Ace Hardware launched RedVest Media in just six months by focusing on measurable, full-funnel advertising solutions  Why Ace's co-op structure creates unique opportunities (and challenges) for retail media innovation  How weather-triggered advertising helps brands align messaging with real-time customer needs, from snowstorms to hurricane season  What makes Retailer Reach, Ace's retailer-focused advertising platform, different from traditional retail media offerings  Why first-party data, in-store relationships and local relevance remain critical as retail media evolves alongside AI and changing consumer behavior  Related LinksLearn how RedVest Media helps brands reach Ace Hardware customers through localized, data-driven retail media.Learn more about Ace Hardware and its community-focused retail modelGet more retail industry insights from Retail TouchPointsSubscribe and catch up on all episodes of Retail Remix

Recorded at Cisco Live, this episode features Mark Broderick, Senior Network Engineer at Room & Board. This furniture retailer has built its reputation around design expertise, long-term customer relationships, and personalized service. While many retailers focus on transactions, Room & Board takes a different approach, helping customers make decisions about products they may live with for years or even decades. During our conversation, Mark explains how technology is helping the company meet customers wherever they are. Whether someone visits a showroom, works with a designer remotely, or schedules a virtual consultation from home, the goal remains the same: deliver a consistent experience that feels personal, thoughtful, and easy. We discuss how customer expectations have changed in recent years and why retailers must support both physical and digital experiences without compromising quality. Mark shares how Room & Board expanded from thinking about dozens of retail locations to supporting a workforce that can effectively serve customers from almost anywhere. The conversation also explores the realities of running modern IT operations with a lean team. Mark explains how a small group of engineers supports networking, wireless connectivity, security, collaboration tools, and business operations across the company. We discuss the value of visibility, the role of automation, and why reducing operational complexity allows teams to spend more time supporting business outcomes rather than managing infrastructure. Looking ahead, we examine the growing role of AI in IT operations. Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for skilled professionals, Mark sees agentic technologies as digital coworkers that can help teams find information, handle routine tasks, and accelerate troubleshooting. The result is more time spent focusing on customers, employees, and strategic priorities. What stood out throughout this discussion was a simple philosophy: the best technology is often the technology nobody notices. When systems work as intended, customers can focus on designing their homes, employees can focus on helping them, and technology quietly does its job in the background. As customer expectations continue to evolve, how can organizations leverage technology to deliver better experiences without losing the human connection customers value most?

“When I do see really powerful sonic branding, it's impressive. It stands out, you know? There was one I looked at, it was a luxury airline, or it was a luxury-like experience, I want to say. They sold, like, really specific vacations to remote parts of the world that were really luxury experiences and really interesting, and they had a really cohesive sonic branding that wasn't music. It was just an intentional sound design approach where they had a lot of the sounds of the place, and they really focused on a sense of place. So when it was in Japan, it would be the sound of that water bamboo thing, you know, really magnified. And then the sound of an old wooden gate closing, and then the sound of someone folding a paper crane, like really delicate, beautifully recorded sounds that they would shape into the commercial. And so that wasn't music, but every single ad had the same kind of vibe of this really intentional, beautiful sound design that evoked a sense of place. And that was just so cool. And so, when I see something like that, I'm like, ‘That's what you can do. Why are you doing random samples when you could have a really nice effect and memorable impression?'" – Caitlyn TrevorThis episode is the second half of my chat with sonic UX researcher Caitlyn Trevor as we discuss how culture can dramatically change UX impressions, the value of sound in strengthening brand, and her “Sound Effects” series on LinkedIn, exploring the link between sound and behavior.As always, if you have questions for my guest, you're welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com, where you'll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available, along with other interesting bits of audio-related news. And if you're getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help, and I'd love to feature your review on future podcasts. You can leave one either in written or in voice format from the podcast's main page. I would so appreciate that.(00:00) – Making the Most of a Sonic ImpressionThe second half of our conversation begins with Caitlyn's findings when it comes to improving on-hold UX phone design, including her discovery that less is more when it comes to automated voice updates and commercials. “You're like, ‘Oh, thank God,'" she recalls from her research results, “But if it's just, ‘We want to tell you about our special new…' You're like, ‘Oh.' And so it was a stress thing for them every time they heard a voice, they thought, ‘Oh, someone's answering.' And then when it was a commercial, they were extra annoyed by the commercial.” We talk about some other sound design elements that defy common sense, such as research showing that fire alarms aren't very well attuned to the human brain. “I found that the typical fire alarm is not the most effective,” she tells us. “You know, this kind of house alarm, like, it's at around 3,000 Hz, really high-pitched. This is not great. A lower-pitched one around, I think it was 500 Hz, is actually more effective at waking people up.”(15:00) – How Sound Changes the Customer ExperienceCaitlyn tells us more about the unexpected results of research into our relationship with sound, including our smartphones. “When you turn off notifications completely,” she notes, “you actually check your phone more than if you leave them on because you have this like, fear of missing out… People who had their phones on mute picked up their phones 48 more times per day and spent 52 extra minutes on their phones.” We talk about what that research means for audio branding and making a positive customer impression, and we discuss the powerful, often-overlooked impact of sonic logos. “There's an IPSO study as well,” Caitlyn recalls, “that wasn't actually about sonic branding specifically, but the results were really flattering for sonic branding. It was something like if you have a sonic logo, it increases brand recall by, I think it was like 96%. It was really crazy.”(21:40) – The Future of Audio BrandingOur conversation comes to a close as Caitlyn shares her thoughts on the power of sound and what her research has shown about its impact on the human mind. “I think sometimes, you know, sound is such an afterthought,” she explains, “and people don't remember that it actually has a really big impact on the experience. I think that's becoming a bit clearer with people caring more about neurodivergence and sound sensitivity.” She tells listeners how they can get in touch, and adds her advice on how brands can make the strongest and most consistent sonic impression on their customer base. “The more time you spend with stimuli,” she notes, “whatever it is, a song, a picture, the longer you look at it, hear it, the more you like it. So when you're doing ratings of emotion or, I don't know, familiarity, likability, that's going to affect it. But, you know, we know this, and somehow we don't use it sometimes.”Episode SummaryCaitlin discusses the impact of sonic branding on client relationships.The impact of sound on brand perception, ratings, and customer loyalty.How Caitlin's research is redefining audio branding and marketing.Connect with the Audio Branding Podcast:Book your project with Voice Overs and Vocals by visiting https://voiceoversandvocals.comConnect with me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jodikrangle/Watch the Audio Branding Podcast on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/JodiKrangleVOConnect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodikrangle/Leave the Audio Branding Podcast a review at https://lovethepodcast.com/audiobranding (Thank you!)Share your passion effectively with these Tips for Sounding Your Best as a Podcast Guest!https://voiceoversandvocals.com/tips-for-sounding-your-best-as-a-podcast-guest/Get my Top Five Tips for Implementing an Intentional Audio Strategyhttps://voiceoversandvocals.com/audio-branding-strategy/Editing/Production by Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

Stay informed on current events, visit www.NaturalNews.com  - PJM Grid Crisis and Data Center Impact (0:10) - PJM's Reserve Shortfall and Price Controls (3:26) - Impact of Data Centers on PJM Grid (6:04) - Preparation for Power Outages (12:44) - Battery Technology and Future Investments (27:26) - IPOs and Market Bubbles (30:56) - Introduction of First Green Electric Skid Steers (54:09) - Advantages of Electric Skid Steers (1:05:56) - Challenges and Future of Electric Equipment (1:12:49) - Remote Control and Job Efficiency (1:22:42) - Skepticism and Operator Experience (1:27:35) - Product Models and Market Positioning (1:28:39) - Pricing and Maintenance (1:30:33) - Future of Electric Heavy Equipment (1:34:40) - Safety and Operator Training (1:44:13) - Customer Experience and Dealer Network (1:49:04) - Regulatory and Market Dynamics (1:52:02) - Future of Battery Technology (1:52:43) - Decentralized Living and Off-Grid Solutions (1:53:58) - Anniversary and Guest Announcements (2:25:52) - UNA Consultations and Market Demand (2:31:45) - Legal Recognition and Benefits of UNAs (2:35:07) - Risk Management and Liability (2:37:58) - Technology and Innovation (2:40:48) - Show Production and Guest Invitations (2:52:22) - Supporting Providers and Product Recommendations (2:52:38) - Closing Remarks and Future Plans (2:52:56) Watch more independent videos at http://www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport  ▶️ Support our mission by shopping at the Health Ranger Store - https://www.healthrangerstore.com ▶️ Check out exclusive deals and special offers at https://rangerdeals.com ▶️ Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed: https://www.naturalnews.com/Readerregistration.html Watch more exclusive videos here:

Let's describe the experience you want your customer to have to keep them coming back! gigstrategic.com seancastrina.com