Episodes

  • Building customer centric culture is smart, but it’s hard to do.

    It’s smart because it’s more efficient for the business and better for customers. Win + Win.

    The problem is, many large organisations are still structured around key product areas and work in siloed ways. So, trying to transition to a customer centric culture and operating model is an enormous task.

    My guest in this next episode Dr Chris Brown is a global expert on building and maintaining customer centric cultures. He has worked with many large corporates in Australia and the US to help them embed, benchmark and monitor cultural change.

    In this episode we discuss:

    Why having a customer centric culture is so important What’s holding organisations back from being customer centric? What organisations have the most customer centric cultures and what advantage does it give them? How to embed a customer centric culture

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Last year Australian’s were scammed out of $2.74 billion dollars, that’s an insane amount of money.

    The scary thing is that scammers are innovating at a speed that’s authorities are finding impossible to keep up with. And they are now using AI in scary new ways like using AI to fake the voices of family members to scam people for money. Smart well educated people are now getting targeted and caught out.

    In this episode of the Customer Smarts podcast I explore the dark world of scamming with Tracy Hall. Her story is like something out of a horror film. Tracy is an ex client of mine when she was Head of Marketing at Ebay. She’s super smart and someone who I never would have thought would become a victim to fraud that would rob her of her life’s savings. Her story has been featured in the channel 7 documentary “King Con, The Life and crimes of Hammish Mclaren”. The podcast series “Who the hell is Hammish?” and she’s also written a book “The Last Victim” detailing her harrowing experience.

    She’s now dedicating her time to helping prevent other Australians from getting scammed, which is truly inspiring.

    So, in this episode we’re going to dive into

    Tracy’s unfortunate fraud story The 2.7 Billion dollar scamming industry you need to know about How scammers are using AI in scary new ways How to protect yourself

    Tracy’s book The Last Victim it’s a fascinating read, if you’re looking to become more aware about scamming then it’s a great book. She also does thought provoking keynotes and workshops tackling issues surrounding financial resilience, empowerment, security and wellbeing. Info on her book and her speaking engagement can be found here if you’re interested https://tracyhall.com.au/

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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  • Innovating inside corporates is harder than it should be


    New ideas often get bogged down in politics and red tape.

    So, when it comes to innovating and getting new ideas to market, there is a lot corporates can learn from start-ups.

    My guest in the next episode of the Customer Smarts Podcast Vijay Solanki has an amazing perspective into corporate and start-up world. He spent time as launch CMO of Shazam and last-minute.com. But also worked with large corporates like Unilever, Philips and Blackberry helping to drive their innovation programs. So, he has a tonne of amazing stories to share.

    In this episode we discuss:

    What makes innovation inside corporates challenging What’s different about start-up culture? What corporates need to learn from start-ups Some really inspiring start-up stories

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Becoming customer centric is smart, but it’s hard to do


    It’s smart because it’s more efficient for the business and better for customers. Win + Win.

    The problem is, it’s a massive shift for large organisations, many have been structured around key product areas and work in siloed ways. So, trying to transition to a customer centric culture and operating model is an enormous task.

    My guest in the next episode of the Customer Smarts Podcast Khachig Kabakjian has climbed that very mountain and successfully driven customer centricity inside massive organisations like CommBank and Standard Chartered Bank in Asia & Africa. He was heavily involved in CommBank’s successful customer decisioning program. And, most recently worked with Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore to drive customer centric change at scale, across multiple markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia & UAE. He has now moved tech side working for Pegasystems in an advisory role to help organisations drive customer centricity at scale.

    In this episode we discuss:

    Why customer centricity is so important The barriers to overcome Some great examples of driving personalisation How to drive customer centricity across multiple markets.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • The speed at which AI is changing the customer experience space is mind blowing


    Qualtrics invited me to record an episode of the Customer Smarts Podcast at their X4 Summit in Sydney last week. Every guest I interviewed was genuinely blown away and excited by the amazing new Gen AI driven capabilities, things like: conversational feedback in surveys - where Gen AI adapts questions based on how the person responses to get more robust insights. As well as Managers Assist on the employee experience side an AI feature that acts as a manager coach to help managers better understand staff and make better decisions.

    I had the privilege of interviewing 6 amazing guests including:

    Bruce Temkin – also known as the godfather of customer experience, because he pioneered the whole industry. Bruce shared many pearls of wisdom about driving customer centric change and how to approach KPIs. Brad Anderson – President at Qualtrics who not only shared some amazing perspective on the new Gen AI features but also some great advice on driving customer centric change from all the CX leaders around the world he advises. Steven Issa - Steven Issa Former Chief Digital Officer at Australian Digital Health Agency. Ashley Taylor from Flight Centre. Melanie Disse at Ecosystem and Steve Bennetts, Head of EX at Qualtrics

    This episode is a compilation from the 6 conversations. Jam packed with a broad range of insights about AI, CX and EX and how organisations are closing the insights to impact gap. I hope you enjoy.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Will AI make us less or more creative?

    AI and automation have stolen the spotlight in the last couple of years, so I wanted to explore the impact it’s having on the creative industry and what it means for the future.

    To help explore that question and dive into what drives great creativity I had Lee Simpson join me on the Customer Smarts Podcast. Lee has won some of the most prestigious creative awards in the world including the rare D&AD Black Pencil and 2 Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. He’s worked with companies like Volvo, Westfield and CommBank. And most recently as CEO of WhiteGrey, led them to win AFR’s Most Innovative Company in 2023.

    In this episode we discuss:

    The role of creativity What great creativity looks like today How to build a creative culture Using creativity to solve real world problems Creativity in the AI age

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Many transformations have been superficial


    In the last 30 years there’s been transformation after transformation, digital, data, customer centric and now AI.

    The problem I’ve seen is that many organisations have added new technology and capability, but haven’t necessarily transformed how they operate at their core, leading to somewhat superficial transformations. They then get stuck in a cycle of continually swapping out technology and expecting change.

    To get some insight into this challenge I had Simon Belousoff join me on the Customer Smarts Podcast. Simon has spent the last 20 years in senior roles helping organisations like Bupa, IAG and Transport NSW with their transformation journeys.

    We explored:

    Why some transformations, end up being superficial How to deliver a successful transformation 13 leadership sins of enterprise transformation Examples of the best transformations globally

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    You can connect with me on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-stafford-cs/ If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Many of us can’t live without coffee


    There’s nothing better than sitting in your local cozy coffee shop with a perfectly made coffee from your barista who knows exactly how you like it made. It’s a highly personalised experience.

    The thing is
. when you try and brew your own at home it home it never tastes as good and the experience is just not the same. So how do you design an experience that customers can enjoy at home that rivals a café?

    My guest in this episode Nick Lee, has spent a large part of his career focussed on designing the most innovative experiences in the world for coffee drinkers in the comfort of their own homes. Which he’s done all over the world with leading electronics brands like Phillips, Saeco and DeLonghi.

    In this episode we explored:

    The Starbucks effect Some really interesting things you didn’t know about coffee Some great stories of innovation How to overcome product or tech centric cultures Building personalisation into product experiences Co-creating with customers

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Imagine if you knew what customers wanted next?

    Marketing would be a whole lot easier right?


    Well, every time a customer interacts with you, they are telling you something. Often giving you clues about what they want next. However, many organisations are not taking advantage of this opportunity. Even though digital has made it a lot easier to track all these interactions.

    Interestingly, customer decisioning is a field that capitalises on this very opportunity. Where the focus is on using the customer interaction data to drive the next best action for them. It’s not a case of which product do we shove in their face next, it’s much smarter and more nurturing than that. It’s more about doing what’s best for the customer which sometimes is leaving them alone. Brands who are executing decisioning programs well are having big impacts on their bottom line.

    To get insight in customer decisioning, I had Pete Avery join me on the Customer Smarts Podcast. Pete’s passion for CX and customer decisioning has driven him all over the world implementing massive programs for enormous organisations like Verizon in the US, O2 and Orange in the UK and Vodafone in Spain as well as many large companies in Australia Like Suncorp and Westpac.

    We explored:

    Customer decisioning and the massive business impact it can have. How to implement it Overcoming internal barriers How to get executive support How AI will make decisioning a whole lot easier.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    Feel free to reach out to Pete Avery directly on Linkedin if you want to chat about decisioning.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Over the past 30 years driving growth has become far more complex. There is now a myriad of digital channels across a mix of paid, owned and earned media assets you can leverage to engage customers. However, many organisations are still taking an old school approach, over focussing on acquisition and under focussing on retention, when there are much smarter ways to drive customer growth.

    To get insight into this topic I had Gareth Begent join me on the Customer Smarts podcast who has a wealth of experience working for companies like Adobe, Foxtel and Optus in senior marketing roles. Where he helped them find smarter ways to generate customer growth.

    We explored:

    The complexity of driving customer growth The answer to organisational silos The mid funnel opportunity Imbalance between acquisition vs retention Focussing on the right customer data analytics How to adjust for the tight economy we’re in right now

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Most organisations have a desire, strategy or program to become more customer centric. However, many CX leaders are still struggling to shake old product centric ways of working inside organisations and are often finding it challenging to unlock enough investment to improve their customer experience to the standard they desire.

    If your executive team haven’t fully embraced your customer centric strategy, it makes it extremely difficult to get traction, especially if it’s still viewed as an expense.

    My guest in this episode Yvette Mihelic has a truckload of experience navigating complex stakeholder structures and getting buy-in to drive customer centric transformation for organisations like Transport for NSW and Telstra. She now is Director of CX for John Holland, where she oversees customer experience across many of the nation’s public transport systems, including Sydney Trains, Melbourne Trains and a bunch more, it’s an enormous job.

    We explored:

    What might be holding back your customer centric strategy? How to unlock larger investment into CX? The most important CX Metrics to focus on Some innovative new CX concepts they are launching.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • In most companies between 10-30% of customers are at risk of leaving
That’s a lot of customer revenue on the table


    Yet, most organisations aren’t paying enough attention to this. Some companies are leaking or even haemorrhaging customers and then spending 5 times as much to acquire new ones, it doesn’t make sense, it’s massively inefficient.

    It’s always been a challenge for organisations with large customer bases to identify customers who are unhappy at an individual level. But now
.AI is now making this possible.

    To find out how, I was lucky enough to have Libby Dale on the Customer Smarts podcast, who’s career passion has been to help organisations fix that very problem. And now, she’s using AI to do it at scale with her company Smart Measures. They are using AI to detect customers at risk, then using behavioural science to nurture those customers back to a happier place, it’s really fascinating and one of the the simplest, most practical use of AI in marketing that I’ve seen so far.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Designing your customer intelligence in a way that’s usable for the entire organisation to drive decision making but also facilitate connection between teams is one of the most crucial elements to get right for every organisation in the next 10 years.

    At a time where many organisations want to become more customer centric and have a vision/strategy/program to do so, but are struggling to fully operate in a customer centric way. Often, one of the core things holding them back is because their customer intelligence is fragmented and sitting in silos across the organisation.

    Interestingly, I was at The Customer Show a few months ago, where Vida Asrina Dhulst Head of Experience Design from the Endeavour Group responsible for our favourite alcohol shops Dan Murphy’s and BWS, took us through her team’s journey on designing their customer intelligence, which was really interesting. So, I invited her on the podcast to discuss this very topic.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • We’ve all come up with great new customer experience ideas only to discover that the data is not available or that from a tech perspective it’s very expensive or too hard to build. These issues come back to the way the current internet was built.

    Think about this
.every organisation is being held back by the complexity of digital channels, tech integrations and data management, it’s a logistical nightmare which means most organisations aren’t able to deliver the customer experiences they desire. On the flipside it means that customers aren’t getting the experiences they are expecting. It’s a lose, lose scenario.

    However
.imagine a world where this tech and data pain was removed
.it just so happens this world is not as far away as we think. In my recent interview with Mat Sweezey, Harvard Business Review Author and Chief Strategy Officer at Smart Token Labs, we explored what the future of customer experience will look like and how close we actually are.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Over the last 30 years, engaging with customers has become increasingly complex. There is a vast array of customer channels and touchpoints and many organisations are struggling to deliver a consistent customer experience across all these channels.

    To help get some insight into this challenge, I had the pleasure of interviewing omnichannel and retail expert Danny Phillips, who is a global top 50 CX influencer ranked by CX Network and is Co-founder of CX platform Omneo.

    Danny gave some amazing perspective on how to nail omnichannel experiences. Including improving the imbalance of acquisition vs retention, how to deliver consistent CX across an omnichannel experience, delivering personalisation at scale and viewing your customers as an asset

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Why are CMO’s slowly being replaced by Chief Customer Officers? I had the pleasure of interviewing Shaden Mohamed who has worked for companies like Google, held senior roles at Expedia and was most recently Chief Customer Officer at Silver Chef to provide some insights. Shaden gave some amazing perspective into what has driven the need for this role and cleared up the key differences between a CMO and a Chief Customer Officer. We also talked about, the key areas of focus for a CCO, embedding a customer centric culture, getting CEO and exec buy-in, important Customer KPIs and how fixing a simple renewal process generated tens of millions in revenue

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • There are some really valuable insights that Organisations and CX leaders can learn from professional football coaches. Especially when it comes to overcoming organisational silos and driving collaboration.

    Drawing from my experience working for a professional football team, I will share insights and ideas on how a high performance culture operates. These principles can help you enhance customer experience management within your organisation, regardless of whether you are a sports fan or not.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • AI and personalisation are top of mind for every CX leader and marketer. We were lucky enough to have Salesforce Chief Technology Officer (ANZ) Dr Gayan Benedict join us to give some insights on how to tackle AI and personalisation at scale. We also discussed how to improve the CMO & CTO relationship and maximising Marketing Technology utilisation.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Customer experience or CX is a term that’s getting used more and more every day. 15 years ago there was barely any companies with a specific CX team and the Chief customer officer or Experience Officer roles didn’t exist. So we’re going to give you 5 key reasons why customer experience has become so important.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Many organisations are struggling to get ahead when it comes to their customer data. In this episode we will go over some of the areas you might not be thinking about and talk through a data strategy example to help spark some ideas. We will cover why data is so important and the journey to creating better quality data.

    Host Bio - Justin Stafford has spent the last 20 years working on digital transformation and CX strategy projects all around the globe with brands like Samsung, Virgin, Lexus, eBay, PayPal, CommBank and even the Air Force.

    If you’re looking for help in the customer strategy & experience design space go to www.customersmarts.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.