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What does it really take for smaller banks and mid-sized businesses to triumph over industry giants while still delivering exceptional customer experiences?
This burning question lies at the heart of the latest episode of the Delighted Customers podcast, where we dig deep into the unique advantages that smaller organizations hold in fostering emotional connections, empowering employees, and personalizing customer interactions—even when their resources pale in comparison to mega-corporations. The impact of this question stretches across industries: if you feel outmanned or outspent by competitors, Tara Brady’s strategies could just be the difference-maker. She reveals exactly how you can leverage your agility and authenticity to delight customers and transform employees into powerful brand advocates.
You should listen to Tara Brady, Chief Experience Officer at Provident Bank, because she has walked the walk—from big banks to credit unions to her current leadership role at a thriving regional institution. Tara brings practical, actionable insights on how to create customer and employee advocacy, how to turn real feedback into process improvements, and why empathy and emotional connectedness are your secret weapons. If you’re navigating the David versus Goliath landscape—whether in banking or beyond—Tara’s perspective will help you see your “smallness” as a superpower.
Here are three compelling questions Tara answers during the show:
How can banks without massive technology budgets still compete with—and even exceed—the customer experiences offered by mega banks?
What practical steps can organizations take to bridge employee and customer experience, ensuring both groups are genuinely heard and empowered?
Why is building emotional connections more than just a “nice to have”—and how does it directly affect loyalty, advocacy, and your bottom line?
Meet Tara Brady
With over 19 years’ experience in Customer Experience (CX), Tara Brady
is a successful brand evangelist known for coaching and leading
organizations and teams to new heights in delivering exemplary,
impactful, and results-focused customer experiences that drive sales
and brand loyalty.
Tara believes that today’s consumer market means striving for
excellence in customer AND employee experience is mandatory – and
no longer optional or ‘nice to haves.’ As a leader, she operates from the
premise that happy, empowered employees are the face of the brand
for consumers. This is reflected in her holistic approach to CX that
integrates employee experience as a foundational element.
Her multiple CX redesigns and transformations stem from working
directly with customers and leading teams and users to deliver
excellence. Known to surprise teams by showing up and working on-site
to serve customers directly, test processes, and gather employee and
customer feedback, her hands-on approach is a differentiator. This real-
world laboratory shapes the innovations that transform customer and
employee experiences.
TARA’S CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE USER EXPERIENCE MANIFESTO:
Stellar experiences are built strategically – and require data/analytics,
employee input and feedback, thorough understanding of an
organization’s goals and vision, KPIs, and a project management
approach – including timelines, deliverables, benchmarks, and
assessments.Outstanding CX/UX experience isn’t a matter of being
‘friendly’. Rather, it is ALL about having responsive technology, expertly
trained and engaged employees empowered with all they need to serve
customers, clearly defined value statements, executive support,
defined journey maps, and more! ‘Friendly’ may be a factor in CX
success, but it’s not a strategy. CX/UX is not something that’s ‘done’ and then revisited in a few years. Customers change. Products change.
Company goals change. Technology changes. And employees change.This means ongoing assessing, re-evaluating, re-calibrating, re-
designing, and training to maintain excellence and the company’s
competitive advantage.Connect with Tara Brady on LinkedIn
Show Notes & References
Learn more about Provident Bank: provident.bank
Referenced research: Forrester’s CX Index and Bruce Temkin’s work
Find JourneyTrack for CX journey management: JourneyTrack.io
Listen and subscribe to the Delighted Customers podcast to unlock Tara’s proven strategies. You can find the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, as well as all your favorite podcast platforms. Don’t miss these invaluable insights that can elevate your approach no matter the size of your organization!
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Join us for a compelling conversation with Bruce Temkin, a true pioneer in the world of customer experience (CX) and the co-founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), the founder of the XM Institute at Qualtrics, and now, head of Humanity at Scale. In this episode, Bruce shares his journey from shaping the foundations of CX to launching a bold new initiative focused on helping leaders drive sustainable success by putting people first.
We dive into Bruce’s unique approach to making “squishy” concepts like customer experience concrete and actionable, including the creation of the Temkin Experience Ratings and the importance of accessible, meaningful data. Bruce offers candid insights on the evolution of CX metrics, the limitations of traditional surveys and NPS, and why emotion is the most powerful driver of loyalty.
Discover how Humanity at Scale expands the conversation beyond CX, challenging leaders to rethink the false tradeoff between business success and human-centric leadership. Whether you’re a CX professional, business leader, or simply passionate about making organizations more people-focused, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and inspiration from one of the industry’s true thought leaders.
Meet Bruce
Bruce Temkin is an Experience Management (XM) visionary and is often referred to as the “Godfather of Customer Experience.” He leads Humanity at Scale and hosts the Humanity at Scale podcast. He most recently founded the Qualtrics XM Institute, which provides thought leadership and training to help organizations around the world and is also building a global community of XM professionals who are radically changing the human experience.
Prior to Qualtrics, Bruce led Temkin Group, which provided research, advisory, and training that helped many of the world’s leading brands build customer loyalty by engaging the hearts and minds of their customers, employees, and partners. He is also the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. Prior to Temkin Group, Bruce spent 12 years with Forrester Research during which time he led the company's B2B, financial services, eBusiness, and customer experience practices and was the most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters. Bruce has a mechanical engineering degree from Union College and a master’s in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
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Fred Reichheld is an expert on customer loyalty and a legend in the world of customer experience management.
He and his "co-pilot" Rob Markey, created Net Promoter System, arguably one of the most used loyalty metrics in the world.
He shared so many gems in our conversation that I decided to produce this edited version as a sort of "greatest hits" episode.
In this episode:
Why did Fred feel a sense of urgency to write his book, "Winning on Purpose"?
Fred shares a personal story about receiving a cancer diagnosis, which spurred him to focus on writing the book to correct misconceptions and realign the philosophy behind Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer experience with genuine customer love and improvement.
What is the core message of "Winning on Purpose"?
Fred emphasizes that the central message is that customer love and referrals should be at the core of a business’s purpose. Companies need to prioritize customer satisfaction and loyalty over other metrics to achieve true, sustainable success.
They key metric that most companies don't measure but should be
Fred discusses the importance of tracking and measuring customer referrals to drive business growth.
What is the "earned growth" model and why is it important?
Fred introduces the concept of "earned growth," which focuses on measuring how much business growth comes from returning customers and referrals.
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Ok, this one is a bit different.
I've been asked many times over for a sampling of The Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class and really couldn't share a nice condensed slice of it...until now.
It was quite by accident.
I used an AI tool that automated two virtual hosts, I'm calling them Abe (A) and Ivy (I), who took much of the material from a recent asynchronous course and with a press of a button, converted it into an 11-minute podcast episode!
I thought, 'Wow, this is so interesting...maybe others will think so too."
The episode starts with a personal failure of mine that illustrates why the hero's trap is so easy to fall into and so devastating.
The hosts capture the essence of the Master Class section on this topic in a fun way.
I hope you find it entertaining and insightful.
I'd love to hear your feedback!
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Navigating the Power Core: A Strategic Approach to Customer Experience
Join us as we dive deep into the world of customer experience with Shelly Chandler, a seasoned CX strategist with 25 years of experience across B2B and B2C industries. In this eye-opening episode, Shelly shares her journey from banking to diverse sectors, offering unique perspectives on leading CX transformation from within the product realm.
Discover why aligning with your organization's "Power Core" is crucial for CX success, and learn how to navigate C-suite expectations by connecting CX initiatives to business objectives. Shelly also addresses common pitfalls in the CX profession and provides invaluable advice for practitioners looking to make a lasting impact.
Shelly answers these questions:
What is considered "product" in different industries, and why is it important?
How has the role of customer experience within organizations changed in recent years, particularly in relation to the "Power Core"?
What advice does Shelly give to CX professionals when starting in a new role or trying to drive change?
Whether you're a CX novice or a seasoned professional, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you elevate your CX game and drive meaningful change in your organization. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from one of the industry's most versatile experts!
Meet Shelly
Shelly Chandler is a senior customer experience strategist and leader delivering proven results that increase revenue, reduce costs and solidify customer loyalty. In the specialized profession of Customer Experience that that spans all organizational functions, her career as a customer catalyst has helped companies to drive action within organizations that are ready for customer growth.
Shelly especially enjoys transforming blue-sky visions into tangible, executable programs, creating strategic change with others to enhance customer experience. Shelly has worked in many different industries, adding strategic value and broad understanding of the CX profession over the past 25 years. Key verticals include B2B and B2C, Hospitality, Retail, Automotive, Transportation, Manufacturing, SaaS, and Financial Services, with brands such as PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, Moen, Penske, Walmart, Forsta, and American Tire.
Specialized Skills:
CX Strategy, Insights Development and Metrics, Customer Journey Mapping/Orchestration, and
Experience Design are Shelly’s areas of expertise, along with public speaking, coaching and
volunteering.https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelly-chandler-cxleader/
[email protected]
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Dr. Joseph Michelli offers invaluable insights on balancing AI and human interaction in customer experience, drawing from his extensive research and work with renowned brands like Starbucks, Ritz-Carlton, and Mercedes-Benz. His expertise in understanding the emotional drivers behind consumer decisions and the importance of self-reflection for business leaders makes this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in enhancing their customer experience strategy.
Excited to share insights from the latest episode of the Delighted Customers podcast featuring Dr. Joseph Michelli, internationally renowned speaker, author, and organizational consultant! Here are three intriguing questions addressed during our conversation:
How should CEOs approach the incorporation of AI and its intersection with customer experience?
What are some common missteps companies make when balancing technology and human experience?
How can businesses effectively leverage both technology and human touch to enhance customer relationships?
Don't miss Dr. Michelli's upcoming book, All Business is Personal available now for pre-order!
Meet Dr. Joseph Michelli
Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., C.S.P., is an internationally sought-after speaker, author, and organizational consultant who transfers his knowledge of exceptional business practices in ways that develop joyful and productive workplaces with a focus on customer experience. His insights encourage leaders and frontline workers to grow and invest passionately in all aspects of their lives.
Dr. Michelli is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Nielson BookScan, and New York Times' #1 bestselling author. His books include:
• Stronger Through Adversity: World-Class Leaders Share Pandemic-Tested Lessons on Thriving During the Toughest Challenges
• The Airbnb Way: 5 Leadership Lessons for Igniting Growth Through Loyalty, Community, and Belonging
• Driven to Delight: Delivering World-Class Customer Experience the Mercedes-Benz Way
• Leading The Starbucks Way: 5 Principles for Connecting
with Your Customer, Your Products, and Your People
• The Zappos Experience: 5 Principles to Inspire Engage and
WOW
• Prescription for Excellence: Leadership Lessons for Creating a World-Class Customer Experience from UCLA Health System
• The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
• The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary
• When Fish Fly: Lessons for Creating a Vital and Energized Workplace co-authored with the owner of the "World- Famous" Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle• Customer Magic: The Macquarie Way -How to reimagine customer experience to transform your business
Joseph:
• is a Visiting Professor of Service Excellence at Campbellsville University
• is the recipient of the Customer Experience Professional Association’s – Impact on the Customer Experience Profession award
• is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP)
• has been inducted into the Customer Experience Hall of Fame
• has been named one of the Top 5 Customer Experience thought leaders for six consecutive years by Global Gurus
• is on the founders' council of CustomerExperienceOne
• has served on the editorial board member for the Beryl Institute's Patient Experience Journal
• won the Asian Brand Excellence Award
• holds the Certified Speaking Professional (CFP) designation from the National Speakers
Association
• is a member of the Authors GuildHe received his master's and doctorate from the University of Southern California.
Having journeyed with a close family member through a six-year battle with breast cancer, Dr. Michelli is committed to social causes associated with curing cancer and abating world hunger. -
Ania Rodriguez was trained as an engineer. She is Founder and CEO of JourneyTrack and a self-made entrepreneur. Ania's insights into modernizing journey mapping and reducing customer churn offer groundbreaking, actionable strategies for any organization interested in elevating customer experiences.
Ania shares how journey mapping has evolved into a powerful tool for leaders to drive business outcomes:
Discover how Ania Rodriguez transformed the CX landscape by moving from outdated manual methods to efficient journey management and how this shift can significantly reduce customer churn. Learn about the surprising, low-cost quick wins Ania shares that can immediately improve customer retention and satisfaction. Get inspired by Ania’s insightful analogy comparing journey mapping to creating a movie and how it changes your perspective on customer experience....and so many more gems!We welcome Ania and her team at JourneyTrack as new sponsors of The Delighted Customers Podcast!
Meet Ania:
Ania is a self-made entrepreneur who has made a name for herself, serving as a CX/UX advisor to Fortune 500 companies around the world for over two decades. Known for her focus on actionable results and quality,
Ania’s leadership has resulted in double-digit growth for her first company, Key Lime Interactive, over the past decade. The company has emerged to become one of the leading user experience research firms in the United States. Her work as a CX/UX strategist and researcher demonstrated to her the need for a platform that could take her journey mapping vision to the next level. JourneyTrack is the tool that meets that vision.
Ania's LinkedIn Email Ania mentioned: [email protected] Contact Sales form Book a Demo form JourneyTrack website Journey Impact feature Workshops feature Blog post: How to Get Started with Customer Journey Mapping Blog post: Understanding Journey Mapping, Orchestration, and Journey Management Blog post: How a Journey Mapping Workshop can Drive Business Growth -
Are you on LinkedIn?
Ever wondered how LinkedIn keeps its users engaged and loyal?
Join us for an insider's view of the platform that drives business networking.
Unpacking Value Creation:Sam Stern delves into the importance of distinguishing between LinkedIn users—members versus customers. He explains how this differentiation impacts the value each group gets from the platform, ensuring a balance between the needs of paying customers and non-paying members.
Continuous Evolution:LinkedIn is committed to continuous research, aiming to understand user pain points and iterating solutions based on direct feedback. This approach helps uncover underlying issues and experiment with ways to enhance user experience.
Aligning with the Power Core:Drawing on Jeanne Bliss's Power Core concept, Sam illustrates how aligning with LinkedIn's core strength as a product-driven organization has revolutionized their ability to influence change and elevate the customer experience. This alignment underscores the importance of understanding and working within the organizational power structure.
This episode promises a deep dive into the strategies that make LinkedIn a powerful networking tool!
Meet Sam: Sam Stern is a customer experience expert with more than 20 years in the field as a speaker, community builder, practitioner, podcaster, and researcher. Currently, he leads the Service Design team at LinkedIn, helping to design and deliver delightful experiences for the platform’s 1 billion members and customers. Sam has also created three LinkedIn Learning courses on customer experience, and hosts his own weekly podcast, CX Patterns. In past roles, he started a customer experience team for the footwear company New Balance, and worked in research and consulting roles at Forrester Research. While there, Sam helped launch Forrester’s CX Certification training curriculum, and he started Forrester’s popular “CX Cast” podcast. -
Do you remember the shock ending of The Sixth Sense? The film taps into that mysterious sixth sense—something beyond our usual perception.
Similarly, in the world of taste, umami goes beyond salty, sweet, bitter, and sour to create a richer, more memorable experience. But what if businesses could apply this concept to customer experience?
In this episode, Aga Szóstek, PhD—author, CX leader, and design expert—shares a powerful framework that parallels umami, helping brands forge deeper emotional connections, stand out in the market, and drive lasting loyalty. Drawing from her work with companies like Google and Philips Lighting, Aga delivers invaluable insights, including:
How to avoid the "syndrome of averaging out" and create a truly differentiated experience The core principles of an Umami Strategy that enhances emotional connection and loyalty How pragmatic values and emotional engagement work together to build lasting customer relationshipsThis conversation is packed with actionable wisdom you won’t want to miss!
🎧 Subscribe to The Delighted Customers Podcast for more expert insights.
Show Notes:
📖 The Umami Strategy: Stand Out by Mixing Business with Experience Design
📖 Leadership by Design: The Essential Guide to Transforming You as a Leader
🌐 www.catchingthenextwavepodcast.com
🌐 www.agaszostek.com
📖 Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd by Youngme MoonMEET Aga!
Aga Szóstek, PhD is the author of "The Umami Strategy" and "Leadership by Design" and an expert in strategy and leadership.
Over the last two decades she has worked with leading companies combining design, technology and business. She has worked with brands such as Google, Philips, Samsung, Play, Allegro, EY, Santander, ING, Orange and many more, bringing a strategic experience design approach to design teams and boards.
Aga also supports her clients in leadership development based on key leadership challenges anchored in their organisational culture. She offers unique leadership programmes delivered in the form of an unforgettable experience.
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Website: https://www.delightedcustomers.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-delighted-customers-podcast-with-mark-slatin/id1635863804 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/67hea1Hnu0fFjMA6ZSKTkX -
Are you a customer experience leader facing roadblocks when trying to get your initiatives approved? In this episode, Mark delves into the power of trust with Charlie Green, co-author of "The Trusted Advisor," to uncover strategies for breaking through bureaucratic walls and fostering buy-in. Key discussion points include: The importance of building strong relationships with your leaders and understanding their priorities. Why expediency can backfire and how taking the time to connect with stakeholders can save you time in the long run. The Three Levels of Listening: Learn to listen beyond the facts to uncover the context and emotional meaning behind what others say. The Trust Equation: Discover how credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self-orientation impact your trustworthiness and how to identify areas for improvement. Practical tips for building intimacy and creating a safe space for open communication. The significance of role-modeling trustworthiness as a leader. Tune in to gain valuable insights on cultivating trust, overcoming resistance, and driving meaningful change within your organization. Bonus: Charlie shares a link to a trust assessment tool that can help you identify opportunities to deepen trustworthiness. Link to TQ Assessment: https://trustsuite.trustedadvisor.com/ Other resources:
Building Trust with Key Stakeholders, The Delighted Customers Podcast with Charles H. Green - https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast/episode/28000408/building-trust-with-key-stakeholders-author-charles-h-green
The Trusted Advisor (book) - https://qrcd.org/5RkY
The Four Trust Factors (book) - https://qrcd.org/5Rkc
The Trust Equation explained - Trust Matters Blog - https://qrcd.org/5Rkn
Meet Charlie:
Charles H. Green is an author, speaker and world expert on trust-based relationships and sales in complex businesses. Founder and CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates, he is author of Trust-based Selling, and co-author of The Trusted Advisor and the Trusted Advisor Fieldbook. He has worked with a wide range of industries and functions globally.
Charles works with complex organizations to improve trust in sales, internal trust between organizations, and trusted advisor relationships with external clients and customers.
Charles spent 20 years in management consulting. He majored in philosophy (Columbia), and has an MBA (Harvard).
A widely sought-after speaker, he has published articles in Harvard Business Review, Directorship Magazine, Management Consulting News, CPA Journal, American Lawyer, Investments and Wealth Monitor, and Commercial Lending Review.
More about Charlie: https://trustedadvisor.com/consultants/charles-h-green
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How can leaders support their teams effectively without falling into the trap of fixing everything themselves?
Leah Marone is a psychotherapist with expertise in treating anxiety and mood disorders. She also works with athletes on performance anxiety issues, demonstrating her ability to understand and manage high-stress situations.
If you can relate, there are a ton of gems in this show, including:
What are some of the problems or ways that leaders lead that is the opposite of creating authentic spaces and solving? How can leaders balance the need to control and deliver results with the approach of validating and empowering their employees? What are the steps involved in transitioning from being a solver to a supporter as a leader, and how can these steps be applied in real-world scenarios? How can leaders effectively inquire and motivate their employees while ensuring that they maintain ownership of their tasks?And hey, did you catch our role-play experiment? That was like a masterclass in what not to do—Leah's advice saved the day by turning a "Ron-ian disaster" into a pathway to peace.
Meet Leah
Leah Marone, MSW, LCSW, is a seasoned psychotherapist and corporate mental wellness consultant based in Charlotte, NC, with over 20 years of extensive experience. Leah received her Master's degree in clinical social work from the University of Texas at Austin, a top-ranked institution in social work education. She has conducted over 20,000 therapy sessions and contributed articles to reputable publications such as Psychology Today, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, earning recognition for her expertise in mental health.
Leah's personal journey as a former anxiety-ridden Division 1 basketball player fuels her passion for working with high-achieving individuals, often described as type A go-getters. She specializes in addressing internal pressures, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and performance anxiety.
In her dual role as a mental wellness consultant and board member, Leah collaborates with both companies and nonprofits. Her areas of focus include anxiety and stress management, burnout prevention, boundary setting, mindfulness practices, effective communication, and emotional intelligence. Leah's holistic approach involves a thorough assessment of company culture to tailor her services, meeting organizations where they are and addressing their specific needs.
Leah's innovative 5-step initiative underscores the significance of mental wellness organization-wide, identifying areas for growth and connection. This initiative aims to prevent high turnover, address burnout, and enhance overall collaboration and productivity.
Leah has facilitated dozens wellness workshops for educators, leaders, and healthcare providers and has presented her acclaimed "Support, Don’t Solve" framework on prominent stages. Her inspirational keynotes provide practical tools for self-awareness that can be seamlessly integrated into busy schedules. Renowned for her expertise in boundary setting and resilience, Leah is a sought-after speaker for leadership groups. She addresses individuals navigating perpetual burnout, often fueled by relentless inner critics and the challenges of people-pleasing. Her insights offer a transformative guide for cultivating resilience and establishing healthy boundaries in demanding professional environments.
Beyond her professional commitments, Leah enjoys traveling, hiking, exercising, and working on her upcoming book slated for publication early next year. Additionally, she actively contributes as a coach for her daughter's club soccer team, showcasing her dedication to both personal and community well-being.
https://www.leahmarone.com/
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Brad Smith, CCXP, who brings his extensive experience from working with major companies like Symantec, Yahoo, and Sage. Mark and Brad delve into the future of customer experience (CX) management and explore a variety of valuable tools that can be applied to enhance CX.
Brad shares actionable insights on hidden value, value realization versus value erosion, and introduces the concept of value mapping. He also discusses the importance of having a clear brand promise and how it plays a crucial role in delivering a cohesive customer experience.
Key topics covered in this episode include:
The importance of leveraging a comprehensive CX toolkit, including techniques like empathy maps, journey maps, and value mapping.
A detailed discussion on identifying and unlocking hidden value within a company by examining areas with high customer traffic, and differentiating between value realization and value erosion.
A fascinating case study on Brad's work with AARP, showcasing how to diagnose and rectify systemic issues that lead to customer churn and operational inefficiencies.
The concept of value mapping, its significance, and how it helps in uncovering friction points in customer experiences.
The critical role of brand promises and how they should guide every interaction to ensure consistency and memorability.
Insights into the symbiotic relationship between marketing and CX in delivering on the brand promise.
Meet Brad
Brad has had the privilege of leading organizations in their
customer-centric transformation at Symantec, Yahoo!, and Sage as
their CCO/CMO. Across his 30+ years of leadership, Brad has led
global support and service functions for Oracle, Openwave, and
Verisign as well as small start-ups. Leveraging decades of experience
and insights gained from over 50 client engagements, he knows how to
quickly identify, unlock and realize the trapped value concealed across
any organization.Currently, Brad is the President & Chairman of the Board of the
Consortium for Service Innovation and through the work of the
Consortium, has helped 100’s of customer service organizations
innovate better business models to deliver deep value to their
customers while better engaging their employees to grow their
businesses. He is also one of their recognized Innovators.Brad is also a Co-Founder and Tribal Advisor at TribeCX Ltd, an alumni
member of the Forrester Chief Customer Executive Council, and the
Chief Customer Officer (CCO) council, and a alumni Board Member
(2018-2021) & recognized Innovator of Customer Experience
Professional Association (CXPA). He is also a Certified Customer
Experience Professional (CCXP).He is a recognized thought leader in the Customer Experience and
Service Innovation space and has published dozens of articles for
various online publications including Forbes, New York Times, Fox
Business, and Entrepreneur. He is a frequent keynote speaker across
the CX and Customer Service industries.Brad is home based in Irvine CA and is the Founder/President of Vector
Business Navigation, Inc. – A customer experience/customer success
transformation consulting provider - committed to mentoring inspired
leaders to successfully navigate their CX ecosystems since 2015.You can learn more about Brad here:
All things CX Considered Podcast with Bob Azman
The Conversational Podcast with Julie Roehm
Reasoned Podcast with Sabrina Meditz
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I'm thrilled to host Dr. Maxie Schmidt, a principal analyst at Forrester's Customer Experience Practice. Maxie is a global thought leader in CX measurement and value for customers, and she dives into the significance of customer value metrics. From how companies can effectively measure what their customers truly value, to the intricacies of trust and co-creation, Maxie offers unparalleled insights that are sure to challenge conventional thinking and provide actionable strategies for CX leaders.
This conversation stands to be invaluable for anyone eager to foster stronger customer relationships and drive business success through customer-centric strategies.
Why You Should Listen:
Learn about innovative approaches to measuring customer value.
Understand how to build trust and maintain customer loyalty.
Discover ways to co-create value with your customers.
Gain actionable insights from a leading expert to elevate your customer experience strategies.
Key Questions:What are customer value metrics, and why has measuring them been a challenge for companies?
Maxie provides a foundational understanding of customer value metrics and sheds light on common misconceptions in current measurement practices.
Can you explain the concept of co-creation of value with customers and provide practical examples?
Maxie explores the co-creation of value by using real-world scenarios, emphasizing the importance of customer engagement and mutual value generation.
What specific steps can companies take to better measure the value that customers perceive they are getting?
She discusses methodologies and strategies businesses can implement to accurately gauge the perceived value from the customer's perspective.
Why is it crucial for companies to understand their role in the customer's value network, and how can they identify where they should play?
Maxie elaborates on the need for companies to identify the right touchpoints in the customer journey, backed by examples like DBS and AARP, to ensure they are adding genuine value.
Tune in to this episode for a transformative conversation that promises to enhance your approach to customer experience and business growth.
Forrester Articles on Value:
How we define value: https://www.forrester.com/blogs/value-for-customers-a-60-second-look-at-the-top-11-driver-categories/ https://www.forrester.com/blogs/three-truths-about-value-for-customers-hint-you-cannot-deliver-it/ Deeper dive into why companies cant “deliver” value: https://www.forrester.com/blogs/the-customer-is-neo-not-you/ And here a recent piece on journeys and value: https://www.forrester.com/blogs/energize-your-journey-portfolio-optimize-journey-value-for-customers-and-the-business/Meet Maxie!
Maxie Schmidt
VP, Principal Analyst
Forrester
Dr. Maxie Schmidt is a principal analyst in Forrester’s customer experience (CX) practice. She leads Forrester’s research on CX measurement and value for customer. In her role, she advises leaders on how to build effective CX measurement programs, make the case for CX, and cocreate value with customers. Maxie is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and leads CX workshops at events.
Previous Work Experience
Before joining Forrester, Dr. Schmidt was a management consultant at Simon-Kucher & Partners. She led global engagements with firms across industries to improve products and pricing and to design pricing processes and governance. Prior to that, Maxie was an assistant professor of services management at the School of Business in Ingolstadt, Germany.
Education
Maxie earned her doctorate and taught as the chair of service management at the School of Business in Ingolstadt, Germany. She was awarded an Emerald Literati Best Paper Award for research on the frustration that customers experience in loyalty programs. She also published a book on optimizing the quality of customer interactions in contact centers.
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When you think of combinations who comes to mind?
👉 Jobs and Wozniak?
👉 Proctor and Gamble?
👉 Hewlett and Packard?
When it comes to customer experience and one-to-one marketing, hands down, it's Don Peppers and Martha Rogers. They are the individuals behind the Peppers and Rogers brand.
Don has authored or co-authored eleven different business books, collectively selling more than a million copies in 18 languages.
In 2022 Peppers and Rogers released the greatly revised and updated Fourth Edition of their graduate-level textbook and desk reference, Managing Customer Experience & Relationships (Wiley, 2022).
I had the chance to pick Don's brain about the intersection of AI and customer experience management. It was a lesson in how to think about the value customers expect and the value companies desire.
There were so many powerful insights including:
👉 Transforming Customer Interactions with AI:
Don highlighted how AI, especially generative AI, can revolutionize real-time, individualized customer interactions by analyzing emotional sentiment and providing empathetic, immediate responses.
👉 Rethink Success Metrics:
Don emphasized the importance of measuring success through customer-centric metrics like customer lifetime value (CLV) and proposed the innovative concept of 'Return on Customer (ROC)' as a more accurate gauge of business performance over traditional Return on Investment (ROI).
👉 Fostering Trust for Long-term Value:
A significant part of his message was about building trust with customers. Don stressed that maximizing customer value inherently requires businesses to always act in their customers’ best interest, nurturing trust and long-term relationships.
Don's vision and experience provide a roadmap for leveraging AI in creating truly personalized customer experiences. For more pearls of wisdom from Don Peppers, tune into the full episode of the Delighted Customers Podcast!
Meet Don Peppers
During the course of his career, Don has authored or co-authored eleven different business books, collectively selling more than a million copies in 18 languages.
His first book, The One to One Future: Building Relationships One Customer at a Time (Doubleday, 1993), coauthored with business partner Martha Rogers, kick-started the Customer Relationship Management discipline (“CRM”), which has evolved over the years into the “customer experience” field.
This is near and dear to my heart because I’ve had the blessing to teach customer relationship management at Michigan State in the first CXM Masters Degree program in North America.
So you’ll have to understand, this is an extra special episode for me. To have the Tom Brady, the Wayne Gretzky, the Babe Ruth, and the Michael Jordan the GOAT on the show is a big deal.
Finally, In 2013 Don and Martha were inducted into the Data & Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame, along with their business colleague Seth Godin (Don wrote the foreword for Godin’s 1998 breakthrough book Permission Marketing).
In 2022 Peppers and Rogers released the greatly revised and updated Fourth Edition of their graduate-level textbook and desk reference, Managing Customer Experience & Relationships (Wiley, 2022). As an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Menlo College, Don teaches from this very textbook, and when time permits he Harvard Business Review articles:
World Class Bull (May 2009), an HBR Case Study commentary, with Martha Rogers
Is Your Company Ready for One-to-One Marketing? (Jan-Feb 1999), with Martha Rogers and Bob Dorf
Do You Want to Keep Your Customers Forever? (Mar-Apr 1995), with Martha Rogers and B. Joseph Pine II
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'Duh' was a common phase when I was an adolescent. Kids used it in a not-so-nice way to let the other person know that what they were stating was obvious.
In all of my years in customer experience management, it never occurred to me to consider the impact of partnerships on CX.
If you think about it, it's a 'duh.'
On today's show, I'm excited to introduce Theresa Caragol, who has authored Partnering Success: The Force Multiplier to Achieve Exponential Growth.
Theresa shares powerful insights on how to move beyond “random acts of partnering” and build intentional strategies that drive meaningful business outcomes.
We explore Achieve Unite’s three-part framework—talent development, ecosystem strategy, and profitable growth programs—and its role in fostering successful partnerships.
Other key topics include:
Why strategic partnerships are essential to delivering exceptional customer experiences. Common misconceptions leaders have about partnerships and how to uncover gaps in their strategies. The concept of “partner lifetime value” versus “customer lifetime value” and the unique benefits of prioritizing it.Tune in to learn how to create partnerships that not only fuel growth but also elevate your customer experience to the next level!
Show Notes:
2025 Partnering Trends: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2025-partnering-success-trends-theresa-caragol-bc7mf/?trackingId=O%2F4Y2pViSJa%2BFsYtopOTpw%3D%3D Link to what we would tell our younger selves: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/letter-our-younger-selves-theresa-caragol-czzoe/?trackingId=01m35CVRRhuwhlMSwAbtyQ%3D%3D All the partnering success monthly editions https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6932307608557010944/ Partnering Success book for order: https://theresacaragol.com/partnering-success-book/ Press release Partnering success book: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/739586771/theresa-caragol-s-new-book-shows-how-strategic-partnerships-drive-today-s-business-successMeet Theresa
Theresa Caragol is the Founder and CEO of AchieveUnite Inc. A visionary leader with over 20 years of experience in global partnerships and strategic alliances valued at $500M+. She has driven business growth across 50+ countries through innovative collaboration. Theresa is passionate about empowering leaders through growth, trust, and collaboration.
With expertise in leadership development, emotional intelligence, and partnerships, Theresa has trained thousands in leadership, channel, and partnering best practices. She also designs programs for companies, associations, and universities.A sought-after speaker and author of Partnering Success: The Force Multiplier to Achieve Exponential Growth (Amazon #1 New Release and best seller in 20+ categories), Theresa has held executive roles at Extreme Networks, Ciena, and Nortel. She holds an MBA, an Executive Master’s in Leadership, and an executive coaching certification.
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In this thought-provoking episode of the Delighted Customer Show, we are thrilled to welcome back Marbue Brown, the visionary founder and CEO of Customer Obsession Advantage. An authoritative voice in the intersection of AI and customer experience (CX), Marbu has recently contributed to the bestselling book, "The AI Mindset: Thriving in Civilization's Next Big Disruption."
Marbue discusses his chapter, "Transforming Customer Experience with AI Strategies and Innovation," where he refutes the common belief that AI-driven interactions lack personal touch. He shares insights on utilizing AI to tackle long-standing challenges in customer service, such as optimizing onboarding and training processes to improve proficiency and reduce costs. By leveraging AI to simulate training scenarios, companies are enhancing their customer support capabilities while drastically cutting their training times and expenses.
He shares real-world applications, highlighting how AI is revolutionizing business operations, especially in call centers, where quicker information aggregation and comprehensive customer journey insights are leading to improved agent performance and customer satisfaction scores. Marbu stresses the importance of selecting trustworthy AI providers and starting with clear use cases rather than getting lost in the technological allure.
Marbue also provides actionable advice for businesses, emphasizing maintaining an open mind and a learning posture towards AI opportunities while recounting his own enlightening experiences. I personally loved the example he shared about how Sam's Club is using AI to improve the checkout process for customers.
Tune in for a deeply insightful dialogue that addresses how AI can not only solve existing problems but also unleash new possibilities for businesses to thrive in the next big disruption.
Meet Marbue
B. A. Marbue Brown is author of the book Blueprint for Customer Obsession and the Founder and CEO of The Customer Obsession Advantage (customerobsession.net), a firm dedicated to helping companies achieve extraordinary business results through customer obsession.
He is an accomplished customer experience (CX) executive with a track record of thought leadership and signature business results at some of the most iconic companies on the planet, including JP Morgan Chase, Amazon.com, Microsoft Corporation, and Cisco Systems.
His expertise has been featured in premier media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, Fox Business, CNN Business, CBS News, Yahoo! Finance, Forbes, The Baltimore Sun, The New York Post, Wharton Business Daily, and KTLA-TV.
The new book is The AI Mindset: Thriving in Civilization's Next Big Disruption. You can find it here.
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I'm excited to kick off season 3 with Rob Markey! It's his third time on the show, and I think you will see why I'm so excited about the insights he shares.
Rob is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and an Advisory Partner at Bain and Company. He’s widely known for his work on customer loyalty and the development of the Net Promoter Score and System. 🌟
In this episode, we explore Rob's journey and his current role at Harvard, including his innovative approach to teaching customer experience management.
Here are 3 key takeaways you won't want to miss:
🔍 Service Business Design: Learn how understanding customer needs and crafting a value proposition around those needs can drive business success. From extermination businesses to banking, effective service design is crucial.
📈 Customer and Employee Management Systems: Dive into the importance of customer management systems that help customers navigate the business model and employee management systems that elevate and empower employees to deliver exceptional service.
💡 Learning and Adapting: Discover the power of customer feedback and how companies can adapt, innovate, and grow even in the face of market changes and challenges. A great example discussed was the untapped potential in effectively responding to customer praise.
🌟 Special Highlight: Rob shares fascinating insights from his classroom experiences and practical exercises, like the customer compatibility exercise and letter-writing campaigns to service organizations. These exercises show the powerful impact of customer communication and feedback.
Don’t miss out on this episode packed with actionable insights and thought-provoking discussions on modern customer experience management! Tune in now and transform your CX strategy. 🎧🔥
#CustomerExperience #CX #BusinessStrategy #HarvardBusinessSchool #Leadership #CustomerLoyalty #Podcast #NetPromoterScore #MarkSlatin
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Dr. Forrest Morgeson, Interim Chairperson of the Marketing Department, Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at Michigan State University, and former Director of Research at the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). With over two decades of rigorous research and numerous publications in top marketing journals, Dr. Morgeson shares his deep insights into the cyclical relationship between customer satisfaction and the economy.
Discover how economic fluctuations, global events, and energy prices intricately affect customer contentment, and why satisfaction decreased pre-COVID only to rebound post-pandemic. Dr. Morgeson provides a critical analysis of the Biden administration's efforts to enhance citizen satisfaction through executive orders, exploring the complexities that set governmental services apart from the private sector.
Join the discussion on common misconceptions, the importance of correlating customer satisfaction with ROI, and the challenges businesses face in capturing accurate data on satisfaction and churn. Learn why optimizing, rather than maximizing, customer experience is key to outpacing competitors, and what strategies can improve satisfaction and earnings across different industries.
Tune in as Dr. Morgeson shares practical advice for business leaders and reflects on his own career journey, providing valuable nuggets of wisdom for anyone interested in customer experience and satisfaction metrics. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain expert knowledge from a leading authority in the field.
Subscribe to the Delighted Customers Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and leave a five-star review to help us spread the word. New episodes drop every Thursday!
For more information on the topics discussed, visit the Michigan State University's marketing department website.
Meet Dr. Morgeson
Forrest V. Morgeson III is Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University. He also serves as the Co-Director of the Doctoral Program in Marketing. Dr. Morgeson teaches marketing management, marketing strategy, and marketing research courses to graduate students. Dr. Morgeson’s past position was Director of Research at the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), where he managed ACSI’s academic research and team of researchers, advanced statistical modeling and analysis, and the company’s international projects and licensing program.
Dr. Morgeson’s research focuses on customer satisfaction and customer experience measurement and management. His work also explores the marketing-finance interface, the impact of political identity on consumer attitudes and behaviors, and the impact of information technology on customer service delivery (e-commerce and e-government). His highly cited research (4,349 citations on Google Scholar) has been published in the leading journals in marketing, including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, and Journal of International Marketing, along with several publications in the leading journals in public administration and management.
Dr. Morgeson has recently published two books: Citizen Satisfaction: Improving Government Performance, Efficiency, and Citizen Trust (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), and The Reign of the Customer: Customer-Centric Approaches to Improving Satisfaction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). In addition, over the past 20 years
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I first met Tom DeVries when he was giving a keynote at the 2024 CXM 360 Conference at Michigan State University. Tom took an unorthodox approach to the keynote by not talking for the first 5 minutes. What? Yup! He used non-verbals, videos, and audio cues to engage the audience.
Tom has built a successful design firm and has shifted his focus in the last 12 years to include customer experience. He is an expert in human-centered design and has worked with some of the biggest brands in the US.
He shares some invaluable wisdom in this episode including:
CX Metrics vs. Genuine Improvement: Tom criticizes organizations for focusing too much on CX metrics rather than genuine improvements. Operational Changes for Better CX: He suggests that organizations should initiate changes at the operational level before implementing measurement systems. Transformative Change in CX: Tom speaks about the need for transformative change in CX. Adaptability in CX Roles: Tom notes the importance of learning how to learn and adapting quickly in the current business environment. How can CX leaders foster a culture of adaptability within their teams? Case Studies and Pilot Programs: Tom emphasizes using case studies and pilot programs to demonstrate CX improvements. He discusses some key elements that should be included in a case study to make it impactful Brand Behavior and Customer Perception: The episode discusses how a brand is defined by its behavior and how it is perceived through customer experiences. The episode touches on the idea that brands today compete for relationships rather than transactions. How can businesses effectively build and maintain strong relationships with their customers? Shifting from Mechanical to Ecosystem Thinking: He urges businesses to shift from mechanical to ecosystem thinking. In what ways can adopting an ecosystem mindset benefit an organization in today’s fast-paced environment? Storytelling in Brand Strategy:The role of storytelling in brand strategy is highlighted in the episode.
The episode is loaded with useful insights; some of which challenge traditional CX approaches.
Meet Tom:
Tom DeVries is a creative, straight-shooting strategist with a reputation for crafting industry-leading products,
brands, and experiences. By fusing business, technology, and humanity, he creates solutions that hit hard, turn
heads, and boost bottom lines. As the founder of ThoughtFull, an award-winning design firm, and Crucx, the world’s simplest customer
experience operating system, Tom drives growth by liberating organizations and their customers from the ordinary.
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One of the most challenging jobs is to change a culture that achieved success with legacy thinking. It all starts with trust, especially if you are a CX leader. Stuart Gilchriest is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has worked in CX for 10+ years across multiple industries .
After starting his career in the hospitality industry in his native England, he transitioned into Customer Experience roles in the travel industry and became a respected voice on VOC program management, CX Strategy and Experience Design. He is most proud of helping Hertz achieve their only JD Power Customer Satisfaction wins in the past 20 years, in 2019 and 2020.
Stuart shares some practical applications in this episode including:
Community Support: Stuart emphasizes the importance of reaching out to communities for support when facing challenges. The Forgetting Curve: Stuart discusses the "forgetting curve" by Ebbinghaus and the importance of reinforcing information through repetition. How can this concept be applied effectively within an organization to improve stakeholder engagement and information retention? The Role of Repetition in CX: How do you ensure that key information and messages are consistently reinforced with your stakeholders to foster deeper relationships and ensure effective communication? Change Management and ADKAR: The episode touches on change management models like ADKAR. Building Trust: Stuart speaks about building and maintaining trust through practices like listening tours and the "emotional bank account" concept. CX Roadmap: Stuart emphasizes the importance of a CX roadmap that addresses both short-term and long-term goals while aligning with stakeholder metrics.This episode is packed with gems
Meet Stuart:
Stuart Gilchriest, a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) has worked in CX for 10+ years across multiple industries including hospitality, education, travel, vehicle rental (Hertz), and HR technology (UKG). He is currently Director of Sales Experience at Mercury Insurance, a mid-sized P+C insurance carrier based in Los Angeles, CA. He is passionate about the CX discipline and helping turn customer and agent insights into financial and operational success for Mercury.
After starting his career in the hospitality industry in his native England, he transitioned into Customer Experience roles in the travel industry and became a respected voice on VOC program management, CX Strategy and Experience Design. He is most proud of helping Hertz achieve their only JD Power Customer Satisfaction wins in the past 20 years, in 2019 and 2020.
Stuart holds a BA in Economics from the University of Nottingham in the UK, an MBA from Hult International Business School in Boston, MA, and a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) designation. He currently lives in Naples, FL with his wife Mayra, son Nicolas (21), daughter Mariana (5) and dog Chewy. He is a sport fanatic and has watched live sports on 5 continents (and counting), is an avid traveler (Colombia is a favorite destination), and is currently working on perfecting his homemade Indian curry recipes (the spicier the better!).
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