This episode features an interview with Shep Hyken, Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations, LLC. Shep is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. He has helped companies like American Airlines, AT&T, and American Express build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. And in this episode, Shep shares insights on creating memorable customer experiences in a digital-first world. He discusses the importance of prompt, personal, and positive customer interactions, leveraging AI to enhance the customer experience, and the significance of both digital and human elements in customer service. Shep also explains his five-step process for handling customer issues—acknowledge, apologize, resolve, own, and act with urgency. He highlights the changing dynamics of customer loyalty programs, the impact of business decisions on customer loyalty, and the importance of employee experience in delivering exceptional customer service. The conversation delves into various aspects of CX, including self-service options, the dangers of commoditization, and the future trends in customer experience.Quotes*”I call it the customer hierarchy of needs. This is what companies want customers to experience. At the base of that pyramid, just like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, you have products that do what they're supposed to do. But as you move up to the tip of the pyramid, you eventually get to fulfillment and emotional connection. And when you are emotionally connected to the brand, then you feel like, ‘Why would I want to go anywhere else? Why would I take a chance on anywhere else? I love the way this brand makes me feel.’ That's emotion.”*”For AI to be effective, the customer has to enjoy the experience. In order to get the customer to enjoy the experience, sometimes you have to tell the customer that the experience is even there to begin with.”*”The Ikea effect, which has been around, is basically that somebody that puts together their own furniture feels more pride in it. So when a customer resolves their own issue, thanks to AI, They feel really good when an agent is able to use this type of technology to create a better experience for the customer. They feel great as well.”*”A part of customer experience is also being able to do damage and risk control. Number one, we must acknowledge the problem. Number two, we must apologize. And by the way, you can apologize first and acknowledge second. I don't care. As long as those two things start the conversation. Number three, understand what the problem is. You may have to ask questions, but you get to a point where you discuss the resolution. Either you're fixing it on the spot or you're discussing what's going to happen. Number four, the attitude that you must show that customer is one of you owning the situation, even if you're not in it. If you're not even the person that might take care of it, at least at that moment, you've got to make this customer feel like you're in control. And then finally, you act with urgency. Speed is really important. You need to get to the resolution as quickly as possible,”*”It's a byproduct of what happens when you start to go into a company and try to create a better product: Customer experience. You have to focus on your employee experience at the same time. And oftentimes a byproduct of working on an overall customer experience is employees become more fulfilled and you'll see turnover drop as a result. That's a very powerful thing because number one, you don't have to hire new people. And the cost of hiring and training is so high sometimes that it really makes financial sense to even try to barely impact the experience because the benefit to the internal experience is so strong.”Time Stamps[0:44] Spotlight on Shep Hyken: CX Visionary[1:43] Diving Into Shep's Book: I'll Be Back[3:33] The Power of Customer Loyalty and Experience[6:45] Shep Hyken's Journey into Customer Experience[8:09] Exploring the Evolution of Customer Experience[11:13] The Impact of AI on Customer Experience[13:14] Navigating Customer Experience in the Digital Age[22:03] Shep's Five Steps for Handling Customer Issues[24:59] Mastering Customer Service: A Real-Life Example[32:48] The Power of Customer Loyalty Programs and the Impact of Changes[36:39] Shep Hyken's Influence and Insights on Customer Experience[41:34] Predicting the Future of Customer Experience[44:15] Magic in Customer Experience[46:33] Shep Hyken's Impact on CXAbout our guest, Shep HykenShep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. Shep works with companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. His articles have been read in hundreds of publications, and he is the author of "Amaze Every Customer Every Time," "Moments of Magic ," "The Loyal Customer," "The Cult of the Customer" and "The Amazement Revolution." He is also the creator of The Customer Focus program, which helps clients develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset.In 1983 Shep Hyken founded Shepard Presentations and since then has worked with hundreds of clients ranging from Fortune 100 size organizations to companies with less than 50 employees. Some of his clients include American Airlines, AAA Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, AETNA, Abbot Laboratories, American Express - and that's just a few of the A's!Shep Hyken's most requested programs focus on customer service, customer loyalty, internal service, customer relations and a motivational program titled "You Are The Magic!" He is known for his high energy and entertaining content-rich presentations.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Shep on LinkedInLearn more about Shepard PresentationsConnect with Sohaib on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Christian Mitchell, EVP & Chief Customer Officer at Northwestern Mutual. Christian works to elevate the customer experience and deliver bold solutions to set Northwestern Mutual ahead of its competitors. And over his 18-year tenure at Northwestern mutual, he has served in a variety of leadership roles, including as president of their Wealth Management Company when he managed $129 billion in client assets. Host Sohaib Ahmed discusses with Mitchell his journey and various roles at Northwestern Mutual over 18 years, alongside his insights into building memorable customer experiences. They delve into how Northwestern Mutual integrates technology to enhance customer experiences while maintaining a human-centric approach. Mitchell shares his perspective on the evolving customer expectations, the future of customer experience (CX), including the potential impact of generative AI, and the significance of consistency in delivering great CX. Additionally, the importance of data privacy, the challenges of implementing new technologies, and the role of storytelling in reshaping company culture towards more client-centric values are covered.Quotes*”The financial services marketplace is complex. I really think you need to understand that holistic landscape in order to take all of that and fashion it into an incredible client experience. If you don't have that holistic understanding of the system and how we create value and what clients need, it's easy to default to designing experiences indexed on efficiency, or maybe client experiences that index on regulatory adherence, but not actually creating something that's really incredible and delightful for the client.”*”On metrics, it's really evolved. When we started the CX journey, it was really focused on CSAT, NPS, those really big aggregate numbers that are easy to compare across companies. As time has gone on, I've become less and less enamored with those aggregate metrics. We still need to calculate them, we need to track, we need to benchmark, etc. But I think CX telemetry is best done at a more granular basis where you're actually measuring things like individual interactions and satisfaction.”*”I think at times you can find a metric and seek to maximize it, and then kind of lose the storyline a little bit. So I think you always have to kind of come back to this foundation of what are we trying to do strategically? What are we really solving for holistically?”*”In terms of the media stuff that we do, the planning and progress study, a lot of the talks that I give internally, to our advisors, to client groups, it's about this constant drumbeat of storytelling around the client. And I think that constant drumbeat of storytelling is incredibly important for long standing incumbent financial services companies because historically we were very focused on financial performance. We might have been very focused on recruiting of advisors, and those things are very important. But by constantly storytelling around the client, incredible experiences, things that we want to do, it's part of shifting the zeitgeist, the mindset of the organization to be more client centric.”*”One of the interesting areas where we debate a lot is instances where the client may have a preference for self service, but we somehow want to inject a human to make sure that the best client outcome occurs. The poster child example would be, we have a big market correction, the client gets scared, wants to liquidate his or her portfolio, and might prefer to do that in an automated way via the mobile experience. Now, if the client really wants to do that, of course we will help them do it. But that might not actually be the best long-term decision. So in instances like that, we actually want to insert some human friction, for lack of a better word, to at least gut check that client, to really make sure that we're helping that client not only have a good experience today, but really achieve their financial goals long term.”*”A lot of the experiences that we create in financial services or financial planning, it's more at pulling the heartstrings than the math. It's about the emotion, the psychology. How do you harness that in such a way that the client makes the right decisions and is better off long term?”*”Sometimes we think about the peak moments of the client experience. That ‘You can retire moment,’ or ‘Your family's protected’ moment. But I actually think real trust, real client experience comes through consistency of interaction, predictability, and high quality communication that plays out over really, really long periods of time. So I think consistency is really the name of the game and one of the unsung heroes of great client experiences.”Time Stamps[2:38] Christian Mitchell's Journey in Northwestern Mutual[5:16] The Evolution of Customer Expectations at Northwestern Mutual[7:14] Leveraging Technology to Enhance Customer Experience[16:15] The Future of Customer Experience: Innovations and Challenges[21:10] Building Lifelong Customer Relationships and Looking Ahead[30:03] The Importance of Consistency in CXAbout our guest, Christian MitchellChristian W. Mitchell is executive vice president and chief customer officer at Northwestern Mutual. He leads strategic ideation necessary to elevate the client experience and deliver bold solutions to launch Northwestern Mutual ahead of its competitors. Christian oversees initiatives and deliverables to build the most powerful digital engine in financial services, including engineering solutions, data analytics, digital products, and consumer insights. He serves on Northwestern Mutual’s Senior Leadership Team and sits on Northwestern Mutual’s Future Ventures investment committee.Christian joined Northwestern Mutual in 2006 and has served in a variety of leadership positions throughout the company. He started his career at Northwestern Mutual as part of the Managed Investments team, helping manage company assets through its general account to maintain financial strength for policyowners.He formerly served as president of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, where he was responsible for Northwestern Mutual’s investment, advisory and trust solutions, fee-based financial planning, Investment Products and Services (IPS) product development, retail investment, and overall IPS business strategy. During his leadership, he managed $129 billion in client assets and led the company to impressive growth in advisory and private client services.Christian also served as vice president of corporate strategy, and spearheaded Northwestern Mutual’s venture capital efforts – including its investment in automated advice firm Betterment and the acquisition of LearnVest. He also led Northwestern Mutual’s investment in ClientWise, a premier coaching and consulting firm.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Christian on LinkedInLearn more about Northwestern MutualConnect with Sohaib on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Nicholas Holland, VP of Product and GM of Marketing Product Lines at HubSpot, a leading CRM platform that provides software and support to help businesses grow better. Nicholas shares insights from his eight-year tenure at HubSpot and his entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing the importance of empathy, observation, and adaptability in CX. The conversation highlights how CX evolves in diverse environments and the necessity of innovating and reimagining customer interactions in a digital world. They delve into the dynamics of customer satisfaction versus loyalty, the transformation of HubSpot into a multi-product, multi-persona platform, and the impact of AI and data on future CX strategies. Nicholas also reflects on personal anecdotes, illustrating how CX principles translate into everyday life and the lessons learned from entrepreneurial endeavors.Quotes*”The whole gist for all CX people would be, ‘Are they happy at the end of it?’ And then ‘Are you flexible enough to kind of understand the audience and ebb and flow with them?’”*”If you ever watched The Matrix, I love the little kid who’s like, ‘The trick is there is no spoon,’ which is like a fancy way of saying, ‘Stop thinking in the constraints that you have and start thinking about the why behind the why, as Simon Sinek would call, ‘What's the big picture?’ And I think those kinds of things really become powerful ways to look at CX.” *”If your job is CX and you're just happy punching eight to five every day, and you'll make incremental changes, that's fine. But you'll wonder why you didn't get your senior CX promotion or why you're not a director yet. But whenever you realize that there's no spoon, you realize what you're trying to do is really push that higher ROI. You're trying to make a real impact there. Some neat stuff can pop out. So that's where it started to happen for me.”*”CX is happening, whether you're conscious of it or not, whether you curate it or not, whether you're actively involved or not.”*”Mind the gap. We make all of these big, intuitive assumptions that people know what we're talking about. So when you say, ‘Mind the gap,’ you're walking people through very, very specific steps.  So what I often tell people to do is just start somewhere, and start to walk through every step. ‘I think they'll do this, I think they'll do that.’ And when you do that, you start off with who it is, a persona, you start somewhere. And then you have a fascinating question: What came before, what came after?”*”I think right now, what we're trying to balance is as you get to a certain size, how do you basically get PMs with their PDs to be very dedicated to the experience of their customer? But also how do they look up and have connective tissue that shows them, going back to the mind the gap, what came before and what comes next? And that's going to be the challenge, I think, for a lot of companies.”*”You have to get close to the product yourself. You then get to look at some activation and usage data. You then get to look very specifically at the most important flows with CSAT. And then you get to go look at a variety of listening posts to see what is the world at large saying on social media? What's your sales team saying? What's your service team saying? And that gives you a good sense of how the product's doing.”Time Stamps[0:53] Meet Nicholas Holland: HubSpot's VP of Product[1:16] The Essence of Customer Experience[5:27] Nicholas's Journey from Finance to CX Innovator[6:02] Entrepreneurial Insights and the CX Mindset[14:53] The Complexities of Customer Experience Design[17:41] Nicholas's Entrepreneurial Ventures and Lessons Learned[25:06] Unveiling the Essence of Customer Needs: A Real-World Story[26:19] A Wake-Up Call: The Importance of User Experience[27:00] Lessons Learned: The Journey to Customer Loyalty[28:46] Embracing a New Chapter: Joining HubSpot[33:24] The Evolution of Customer Experience at HubSpot[43:57] The Future of CX: Innovations and Challenges Ahead[46:37] Personal Insights: Learning CX from Everyday LifeAbout our guest, Nicholas HollandNicholas Holland is VP of Product and GM of Marketing Product Lines at HubSpot. He has been with the company for over 8 years, having started in October 2015 as Director of Labs. Prior to HubSpot, Nicholas served as President and Founder of boutique consultancy CentreSource Inc., providing product management & custom web/mobile applications. He also founded startup Populr, which allows users to create trackable, secure, & highly engaging micro-sites in a matter of minutes. Populr was then sold to Nashville-based nonprofit, Kindful. Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Nicholas on LinkedInLearn more about HubSpotConnect with Sohaib on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Micah Sampson, Head of Customer Experience at Intuit, a powerhouse in the FinTech space with sub brands like TurboTax and QuickBooks and Credit Karma that drives revenue close to $30 billion annually. In his role at Intuit, Micah spearheads customer experience management, investing time working directly with product managers, developers and partners to identify and solve customer problems, optimize business processes, and foster customer loyalty and retention. His team is truly customer obsessed. Their mission is clear: constantly improve customer satisfaction, reduce churn and drive revenue growth for Intuit's formidable portfolio of brands. So in this episode, Micah and host Larry Fleischman discuss setting a high standard for CX across multiple brands, getting employees to take extreme ownership of the customer experience across the company, and empowering customer choice through AI, data and technology.Quotes*”One of the things that we talk about at Intuit is extreme ownership. It's no one person's role to ramp for peak season. It's all of us. It's all of our job to make sure that the voice of the customer - the things we're hearing feedback from the call centers, feedback from the product surveys - it's all of our job to collate that and share that back to the business so we can get better every year.”*”Saying, ‘We need to delight our customers.,’ I hate the word delight. And the reason I hate that word is because it's very subjective, right? Delight for me may be different from delight for you. And so you can't solve for that.”*”There were agents who were very technical and could solve for the customer, but they weren't very empathetic. And while they would have short call times and probably solve for the customers, their CSAT scores were very low. Versus an expert who maybe is not the best technically, but talks to every single customer like they're their neighbor and would perform extremely well.”*”The only commodity that we can never get back is time. And so if we waste your time, we're taking away a commodity that you can never get back. And so we really focus on effort. What's the level of effort that our customers feel they have to go through when they're interacting with the product, when they're interacting with an agent, all those things?”*”It's up to the customer. I think that is one of the things that we often lose sight of. So I think for us, it's about choice, right? It's really like, what are our customers saying? What's important to them? And how do we serve the needs of all those customers?”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Micah Sampson, Head of Customer Experience at Intuit[2:18] How did Micah’s background as a financial advisor shape how he thinks about CX?[3:01] What patents did Micah work on to improve the CX at Intuit? [10:57] About Micah’s career path at Intuit[11:30] What are the challenges to leading CX at Intuit?[15:23] What are the benefits to having multiple sub brands?[18:51] How does Micah think about CX?[21:49] What has Micah learned about CX along the way?[24:43] How much of the customer experience is automated at Intuit?[26:36] What does the future of CX look like at Intuit?[28:14] How does Micah’s experience as a Six Sigma Black Belt shape his approach to CX?[31:36] What’s an amazing customer experience that Micah has had personally?About our guest, Micah SampsonMicah Sampson is Head of Customer Experience at Intuit. He has been with the company for over 13 years, having started in October 2010 as a Sales and Support Rep. Prior to Intuit, Micah served as a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch and A.G. Edward & Sons. He has also been a Project Manager at Market Central. Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Micah on LinkedInLearn more about IntuitConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Turo’s Chief Operations Officer, Julie Weingardt. Julie brings with her 30 years of operations and contact center experience and has held executive operational roles at Startek, Sitel, and Sykes. Her expertise is in transforming customer touchpoints into powerful relationship- and brand-building tools through the use of highly efficient business practices. And in this episode, Julie and host Larry Fleischman discuss having a mindset of continuous improvement, fostering a customer experience that doesn’t require contacting support, the importance of female mentorship and much more.Quotes*”As things mature, there's always opportunities to challenge what's being done and to ask, is there another way, a better way, a smarter way to do something? Just because it's been done that way over and over again doesn't mean that you can't challenge it and see what other ways there might be to do it better or smarter.”*”Let's face it. Consumers just want a product that works. No matter what it is, you don't want to have to contact support. So first and foremost, keeping that as the mission, when we continue to release new features and things, it just needs to work. And we need to test for that all the way through.”*”Being a female in a male dominated world, so much of mentorship and business conversations at that time happened on the golf course. So, when we went to corporate events, while a lot of spouses who were female went and did spa days, I went to the golf course.”*“It’s not only females who need female mentors. Males need female mentors too. How else are they going to understand the differences in what's needed in the world of business from a gender basis? Not only are females not good at asking for it, they're not good at offering it up to be mentors either. And so we have to continue to foster that type of mentorship and make sure that all of our young professionals are getting a good relationship from both males and females in their professional careers.”*”We really know that how we're going to continue to win and dominate as we've been doing in this space is to just continue to win one customer at a time. It is always about iterating and reiterating over and over again on what we do and how we do it because it's about making that next customer experience even better.”Time Stamps[0:39] Meet Julie Weingardt, Chief Operations Officer at Turo[2:31] How did Julie get her start in CX?[7:41] How did Julie’s experience in ranching shape her leadership style?[14:47] What was it like working for a BPO in the early days of CX?[17:06] How did Julie become COO of Turo?[21:47] What is the customer experience like at Turo?[26:48] How do they solve a CX issue at Turo?[28:15] How did business change through the pandemic at Turo?About our guest, Julie WeingardtJulie Weingardt is an operations executive who believes the most important customer interaction is the one that happens next. Julie strives to transform customer touchpoints into powerful relationship- and brand-building tools through the use of highly efficient business practices. With 30 years of operations and contact center experience, she is particularly skilled at developing and executing omni-channel operational solutions using combinations of internal and outsourced teams. Julie’s career background includes executive operational roles at Startek, Sitel, and Sykes. She attended the University of Northern Colorado and holds a certificate from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management in Executive Leadership.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Julie on LinkedInLearn more about TuroConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with award-winning CX leader Ron Holt, Founder of Pink Zebra Moving, the first happy moving company. Ron started Pink Zebra in 2020, and is the former CEO & Founder of Two Maids & A Mop, where he served for nearly 19 years. He specializes in franchise development, management, sales & marketing, and leadership. And in this episode, Ron and host Larry Fleischman discuss seizing an opportunity in the market, listening to the customer, and creating a truly remarkable experience.Quotes*”Sometimes I would lose competitive bid situations to folks who didn't have near the grit that I have. But the consumer made their choice. And so, there was a moment of reflection during those early years of where I had to really think differently about how I was going to grow the business. Obviously, hard work is always going to be a part of that recipe, but there has to be something else. At the end of the day, it's all about the consumer. What do they want?”*”Most businesses, even today, don't understand that their business has to be unique and different. It has to be remarkable and memorable.”Time Stamps[1:56] Introducing Ron Holt, CEO of Pink Zebra Moving[3:11] The journey of Ron Holt[5:22] How did Ron address the challenges of starting a new business?[7:21] How did Ron start Two Maids and a Mop?[16:44] The birth of Pink Zebra[20:59] How Pink Zebra offers a remarkable moving experience[21:29] How does Pink Zebra make moving fun?[22:45] The importance of customer engagement in the moving industry[23:56] Scaling personalization in the moving industry[30:03] The surprise box: A unique Pink Zebra offering[38:00] The future of Pink Zebra and the moving industry[39:38] The measure of success for Pink ZebraAbout our guest, Ron HoltRon Holt is the Founder of Pink Zebra Moving, having started the company in 2020. He is the former CEO & Founder of Two Maids & A Mop, where he served for nearly 19 years. His specialties are franchise development, management, sales & marketing, and leadership. Ron has been ranked 6th in the 2017 Bulldog 100 Fastest Growing Companies, named by Entrepreneur Magazine as the 11th Top New Franchise in America in 2018, won the 2019 UGA Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, and recognized many other times for his outstanding entrepreneurship.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with RonLearn more about Pink Zebra MovingConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Scott Booker, Chief Customer Officer at EasyPark Group, a leading global parking tech company with the vision to make cities more livable. Scott has extensive experience in leading large organizations in travel, retail e-commerce, and the consumer marketplace. He is the former President of Hotels.com Worldwide and Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Copart. And on this episode, host Larry Fleischman and Scott discuss how he built a loyalty program at Hotels.com, creating different customer experiences for new customers versus loyal ones, and making an experience so easy and simple that customers don’t need to call in for support.Quotes*”If you don't disrupt [the industry] yourself, somebody's going to do it for you.  And that's what Hotels.com was doing in the hotel space. They were disrupting. And I wanted to be a part of that.”*”It's always cheaper to keep a customer than it is to go acquire a new one. How do you treat a new customer through customer service versus an existing one? Should they have a different service? We decided we would create a separate call center environment, customer experience environment, for those loyalty customers. They got a special number, they got special treatment. We would send out gift bags for our most loyal customers so that they felt like they were a part of something bigger.”*”It's okay for customers not to have to call in. The best experience is the experience where it's so easy and simple that they don't need to call in. I think over the last 10 years, I've learned in my career how to build the most amazing experience where you don't need somebody to call in.”*”If we can make it super easy for the consumer, then we're helping the city improve the flow of traffic through the city. And we're making it so much easier for somebody to live in that space because they can use a mobile app with ease.”*”We need to fail fast and learn from it. How do we put something out there in an A/B test fashion without too much exposure so it doesn't risk the business, but in a way that we can test it on a micro level and understand what the impacts are?”Time Stamps[1:23] Introducing Scott Booker, Chief Customer Officer at EasyPark Group[3:26] Learn about Scott’s background and path to CCO at EasyPark Group[6:17] Hear about Scott’s first job out of school at Accenture[7:12] What did Scott learn about customer experience while at Blockbuster?[12:49] How did Scott fundamentally shift the CX at Hotels.com to drive growth?[20:36] How did Scott create the loyalty program at Hotels.com?[25:56] How do you create a low- or no-touch customer experience?[31:33] What’s Scott’s take on striking a balance between automation and human interaction in the customer experience?[34:02] What’s Scott’s appetite for risk? And how does he handle change management at speed?[37:02] What’s in the future for EasyPark Group?BioScott Booker is Chief Customer Officer at EasyPark Group. He has held leading positions at large scale, digital marketplaces. Most recently at Copart, the number one global leader in online vehicle auctions. Prior to Copart, Scott had several leading roles at Expedia Inc., one being President of Hotels.com, where he led the company’s rapid global expansion. Scott also has profound experience developing transformational growth strategies.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with ScottLearn more about EasyPark GroupConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

A brand new season of CX Champions is on the way. HGS is excited to bring you insights from top CX leaders at your favorite brands. So get ready to dive deep into the minds of industry pioneers who have mastered the art of crafting unforgettable digital customer experiences.We’ll be chatting about how to upgrade your digital customer experience from leveraging AI and data analytics to harnessing the power of storytelling to engage your audience like never before. We’ll also discuss keys to success and lessons from people who have spent decades in the CX industry. This podcast is your go-to resource for elevating your digital customer experience game.So, whether you're a seasoned CX professional or just stepping into this exciting realm, CX Champions is your compass to navigate the intricate landscapes of modern customer interactions. Get ready to unlock a world of CX possibilities. Don't miss out – subscribe now and never miss an episode. In the meantime, visit HGS.CX/insights for more information on how to transform your digital customer experience! And if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on the show, you can email us at podcast@teamhgs.com.

This episode features an interview with Craig Antonucci, Chief Experience Officer at Autocar, the only American truck manufacturer focused on trucks for severe-duty vocational applications. Craig brings 25 years of experience in building businesses large and small. He has a proven record of helping organizations grow as much as 1000%. He joined Autocar after spending 12 years at BPA Quality, where he designed customer experiences for many leading global companies. And in this episode, he discusses what it was like becoming the youngest Operations Director in the history of Vermont American, how he reached a critical turning point in his career and decided to start his own business, and turning data points into a customer journey.Quotes*”Pay attention to the details of what it is that your customer wants out of their experience. Because if you don't, then they're gonna notice it and you're gonna miss out.”*”There’s an art of positioning yourself to help your customer understand the important things and not focus on the things that aren't really important.”*”I'm also a musician. And there's no better feeling than having a great crowd. When you're playing and you have a bad crowd, it can drain you really quick. So you have to find those places where you can trade that energy with other people. That's a core principle of customer experience too, is how do you tap into that energy of the customer and turn it into a positive thing.”*”A CX leader needs to know how to sell, whether you're a good salesperson or not. You have to know basic sales. You know the basics of communicating with people effectively, getting your message in short and quick, following up with them, paying attention to the verbal and body cues, and just everything that goes along with sales. If you don't have those skills, you're not gonna be a good CX leader.“*”How many times have you found yourself in a meeting thinking about a deadline for another client that you have? That's just a terrible way to live as a person, but you're not gonna be very successful as a leader because if you're not focused in the moment, people are gonna pick up on it. And customers notice that too. They wanna feel important, they wanna feel like you're giving them every bit of attention that you would at that point in time.”Time Stamps[0:50] Introducing Craig Antonucci, CXO at Autocar[2:18] How did Craig navigate imposter syndrome as the youngest Operations Director in the history of Vermont American?[5:25] How did Craig get into Customer Experience?[10:26] Hear about the one day that changed Craig's career trajectory.[13:55] How did Craig get into teaching and mentorship?[19:50] How did Craig's understanding of CX gel at JL and BPA Quality?[24:30] How did Craig become Autocar's first CXO?[29:02] What's a raving fan, and how do you create them?[36:01] How does Autocar think about the customer experience?[45:24] How did Craig's move to Birmingham, Alabama shape his perspective on CX?BioCraig Antonucci is Chief Experience Officer at Autocar. He brings 25 years of experience in building businesses large and small. He’s well-versed in all functions of an organization and able to create, build, lead and manage and flourish in any complex team structure. He has a proven record of helping organizations grow as much as 1000%. He joined Autocar after spending 12 years at BPA Quality, where he designed customer experiences for many leading global companies.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with CraigLearn more about AutocarConnect with Sohaib on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Sarah Diegnan, VP of Customer Experience at ChartHop, a dynamic, visual, and actionable people analytics platform that helps companies manage and support their employees. Sarah leads ChartHop’s customer journey, partnering with customers from the first moments of onboarding through successful execution of all account goals to make sure customers get the most out of ChartHop. With a background in structural engineering, Sarah’s career has taken her from building cathedrals to building customer relationships. And in this episode, she discusses how to systematically design the customer journey, and how she drives value from day one, and how she creates that stickiness factor to get customers hooked on the ChartHop brand.Quotes*”You really have to think through: Who are my customers? What are they buying? Why do they need us? Why do they use us? I think sometimes we get caught in a little bit of a trap because we are the ones that have to define what value means for our product.”*”At the end of the day, your customer journey is truly project management. I mean, it's customer management at that point. And so how I've always thought about customer journey in a lot of ways is, you're building a building, Like you start by digging the ground and building the foundation. And in a lot of ways, that's not the most attractive part of the building. But if you don't have a strong foundation, you don't have anything. And so that's what I always compare to your onboarding and your implementation. And so I do think there is correlation between building a building and the customer journey.”*”I feel really strongly that the best experience that we can provide to our customers is the one that is rooted in process, and everyone follows the same process. And that's not to say that we treat everyone like a number. Every customer is gonna have their own unique style. Every customer is going to have their own unique use cases and challenges. And I welcome all of that. I want that. But the foundation has to be the same.“Time Stamps[0:52] Introducing Sarah Diegnan, VP of Customer Experience at ChartHop[4:02] How Sarah started as a structural engineer, designing a cathedral[9:47] Sarah’s “reckoning” where she pivoted to Customer Experience[13:35] About Sarah’s journey to Opower[24:33] How does Sarah apply her expertise to CX at ChartHop today?[29:34] How does ChartHop use KPIs and metrics to tune into CXBioSarah Diegnan is the VP of Customer Experience at ChartHop. Sarah has over 10 years of experience in customer success and operations, having served in various leadership roles at companies such as Acuity Brands, Opower, and Adura Technologies. She is a results-oriented leader with a proven track record of building and scaling successful customer success organizations. She is passionate about driving value for customers and helping them achieve their goals.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with SarahLearn more about ChartHopConnect with Sohaib on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Stacy Armijo, Chief Experience Officer at Amplify Credit Union. Amplify is a member-owned financial cooperative with more than 57,000 members and over $800 million in assets. They’ve been serving all 50 states since 1967. At Amplify, Stacy is in charge of Marketing, Communications and Social Impact. She also handles Retail, Payments & Operations, Human Resources and Training. She has over 20 years of professional experience in the industry. In this episode, Stacy explains how to build meaningful, impactful programs to create a job you love. She describes effective PR strategies, and what resources are most important for any company.Quotes*“I have a unique skill set in bringing the right words to the right ideas to make those ideas meaningful and impactful for others. And when I think about what combines all the things that I do, and the moments in my professional or personal world where I have felt like I really did something, like I really made an impact and it was unique and it was valuable, it can be boiled down to something sort of like that.”*“I think so often people underestimate what they do well. They tend to focus only on what they don't do well and how can they mitigate the liabilities of what they don't do well as opposed to, ‘I do this really well, how can I lean into that and make that more effective?’”*“In my career, I think about, ‘What is my current experience and does it satisfy all three Gs? Am I giving something? Do I feel like I'm contributing in a way that's meaningful and useful? Am I getting something? Is there something that I'm getting back in terms of what I'm learning and how I'm growing? And do I feel gratitude? Do I feel gratitude for the people I get to work with, for the compensation that I get to earn for all the opportunities that I have to be involved in things?’ And if I can say yes to all three Gs, I'm in the right place.”*“In my opinion, someone who is an effective public relations professional is good at anticipating the point of view of the people that they're interacting with. Understanding the messages that have meaning for them. And expressing them in a way that gets somebody to move to action. In essence, that's what a good PR person can do. That's not different from what a good customer service person can do.”*“I see an opportunity to be more authentic and to connect to something that's more real for people. And then to take the personality of the institution and carry that through.”*“Money is not your most precious resource. It is attention. Attention is your most precious resource in an organization. And so to be able to say ‘great idea, not today,’ is something that I do all the time.”Time Stamps[00:03:17] Stacy’s elevator pitch[00:11:39] How Stacy’s career started[00:14:55] The overlap between PR and CX[00:16:42] Making your work personal[00:22:31] Making the most of your resources[00:25:41] Designing online channels[00:31:09] Prioritizing digital customer service[00:35:23] The start of fee-free banking[00:40:26] The future of CX[00:47:08] Making the most of your strategyBioStacy is Chief Experience Officer with Amplify Credit Union, a $2B community financial institution based in Austin, Texas. At Amplify, her responsibilities include (1) Marketing, Communications and Social Impact; (2) Retail, including Branches, Contact Center, Wealth Management and Consumer Lending; (3) Payments & Operations; and (4) Human Resources and Training. She started her career in communications, having spent over 16 years at Pierpont Communications and working up from an account executive to EVP. She brings with her over 20 years of professional experience overall, and has also served as a Lecturer at the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations at UT at Austin. There, she taught “Strategies in Public Relations.”Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksSee Stacy’s WebsiteLearn more about Amplify Credit UnionConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Sarah Owen, Chief Product Officer at One Inc, the leading digital payments network in the insurance industry. Sarah joined One Inc. in 2021, and brings with her deep payments knowledge. She has more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at First Data, Heartland Payment Systems, Vantiv, and TSYS. Sarah is also an inventor, having patented and served as co-inventor on several mobile and digital payments solutions. In other words, she’s a true payments expert. And in this episode, we’re learning from her about making a better product by putting customers front and center, identifying the moments that matter in your customer’s journey, and how One Inc. is at the forefront of a new age in the insurance industry.Quotes*”If you’re not solving problems for the customer, keeping the customer front and center, and ultimately improving their experience, then no one's going to buy your product.”*”Customer experience, from my perspective, is all about mapping out that customer journey to really understand the points that matter. What do you need to make sure that you get right? So it is about storytelling.”Time Stamps[2:23] How Sarah’s work-to-give mindset has shaped her career[5:19] What’s Sarah’s approach to customer experience[6:20] How did Sarah get into CX?[11:43] How low-code no-code helps with digital transformation[13:27] How is One-Inc a B2B2C company?[16:39] How Sarah identifies the moments that matter through customer journey mapping[19:21] How One Inc. is revolutionizing the insurance payments process[21:38] How legacy insurance companies operate, and why the established payments processes have lasted[25:49] How One Inc. uses tokenization to protect payment information[30:57] What does Sarah think about the future of payments?BioSarah Owen is Chief Product Officer at One Inc. Owen joined One Inc. in October of 2021 following a career driving product innovation, development and business transformation for payments. With increasing levels of responsibility, she has managed large product portfolios and built new products across card issuing, consumer loyalty and payment facilitator lines of business. For over two decades she has held senior roles at companies including First Data (Fiserv), Heartland (Global Payments), Vantiv (FIS) and she most recently served as lead for the Customer Engagement Portfolio for TSYS, a business unit of Global Payments. Owen combines her deep payments knowledge with a passion for helping clients transform their digital experiences and is a true champion of innovation, having patented and served as co-inventor for multiple mobile and digital payment solutions. Based in Atlanta, Sarah has also served as a mentor for TechStars and is an active volunteer in the local community.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Sarah on LinkedInLearn more about One Inc.Connect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Jeff Newman, Manager of Customer Care for Porsche North America. He works to provide Porsche car customers with a best-in-class experience that aligns with Porsche’s 75-year history of brand excellence. In this episode, Jeff shares his leadership philosophy, and what he’s seen work over the course of his career. He also explains what makes a customer experience program successful, and how he’s built the program at Porsche.Quotes“I think that being an effective leader… it's the same arrows in the quiver, if you will. So whether it's in retail, whether it's in contact centers, or sales or service or tech support, you can still be a great leader. The same things that helped me be successful on the retail side was no different once I came over to the contact centers.”“It’s difficult to say that something is or isn't working if everybody's doing it in many different ways. So to me, one of the things I always like to do in a new role is asking if we have standard processes in place for a good 80% of what we do. So let's standardize what we're doing, and then we can go back and simply measure and say, is this working or is this not working?”“I am a huge proponent of quality assurance. It's something I am extremely passionate about. It's something I'm trying to finish a book on. But quality assurance in human behavior skills is something that I will never, ever, ever dictate with scripts.”“People can typically handle when changes are made, when they're being informed why. And so while I started out in the field, I always promised that if I ever became a corporate guy, that I would never be that person that's sitting in the ivory tower, sort of doing the regal wave to everybody. I'm never gonna be that person that's gonna let things happen to people without them being part of the process.”“To me, when you have a well-oiled quality program set up, a huge component of that is knowing the individuals. Everybody is a unique individual and you have to treat them as such.  It's the only way you're gonna be successful.”“[I have] this mantra, like everything that we do, whether it's building customer experience programs or agent programs or anything: how are we showing that we value your time?”Time Stamps[04:47] How Jeff got to where he is today[07:50] Jeff’s leadership philosophy[08:34] The importance of data[10:28] Standardizing customer service[17:26] Running a well-oiled program[20:48] How Jeff coaches[22:36] A customer field study[27:59] The importance of a purpose-driven brand[37:32] Jeff’s futureBioJeffrey Newman is Manager of Customer Care for Porsche Cars North America. He’s been with the company for 8 years, having started in April of 2015. Before Porsche, he served as Director of Customer Service for the Northeast Region for American Express. He has also held leadership roles at Windstream Communications, Alltel and Walmart. He has a B.S. in Marketing from Rochester Institute of Technology.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Jeffrey on LinkedInLearn more about PCNAConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Sarah Dekin, President and COO at Hometap, an equity-sharing company that invests in homes in exchange for a portion of the home's future value. Prior to her work at Hometap, Sarah served as CMO at Virgin Money and ZipCar as well as EVP of Strategic Marketing and Development for the House of Blues. And in this episode, Sarah shares what she’s learned about customer experience along her career path from the House of Blues to Hometap. She also talks about her key mentorships, knowing when to accept an opportunity, and how she’s blazing a trail in the homeowner experience at Hometap.Quotes*”I was working on strategy and planning, and we needed some help in business development. And business development is something I'd never done. And to be honest with you, negotiating in general is something that intimidated me a little bit. But it was probably because of that that I thought I should really take advantage of this opportunity and give it a try, even though it made me nervous. But I only did that because I knew that right behind me, [my mentor] Joe would be there. He wasn't gonna let me fail. And so I think for anyone who finds himself looking at an opportunity like that, definitely go for it.”*”The first point of contact for most of our homeowners is the website. And we believe in very simple, very straightforward [language], as transparent as possible. No buzzwords, no jargon, easily understandable phraseology and very transparent demonstrations of how the pricing works and lots of FAQs so that people can self-serve to the extent that they want. We have a very easy to use but robust scenario planner tool where our homeowners can change [different factors]. I think there's nothing better than actually interacting with the scenario rather than, you know, reading a multi-page document.”*”Whether it comes through in your digital experience or whether it comes through in the individuals with whom the homeowners interact, we do have a very homeowner-first mentality. We have homeowner values around respect, kindness, and empathy. And if you can have that as a core value not just for the frontline people, but for your product team, your designers, your engineers, and for your marketing team, those are going to mutually reinforce what will come out at the end as a very authentically kind and positive experience for the homeowner.”Time Stamps[1:40] Introducing Sarah Dekin, COO and President at Hometap[3:37] What did Sarah learn about CX at the House of Blues?[9:26] How did the House of Blues create its unique customer experience and build a name for itself in the industry?[11:22] When did Sarah know it was time to move on from the House of Blues after 10 years?[16:06] How did Sarah get involved with Zipcar, and how were they a disrupter in customer experience?[22:32] How did Sarah leverage Zipcar’s dedicated member base to help make important decisions?[24:20] How was Virgin Money pushing the envelope in online banking?[27:48] What is Hometap? And how are they providing an entirely new financial tool to homeowners?[34:42] Tell me more about the Hometap customer experienceBioSarah Dekin is the current Chief Operating Officer at Hometap. Sarah was previously with The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille, Sarah Dekin Growth Company Executive and Advisor, Virgin Money, Zipcar, and House of Blues. Sarah has over 25 years of experience in marketing and strategic planning. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Sarah has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from Trinity College-Hartford. Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Sarah on LinkedInLearn more about HometapConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer at Twilio, a global leader in customer engagement platforms with a market cap of over $8.5 billion. Prior to leading global customer experience at Twilio, Glenn was co-founder of Appirio, a leading cloud consultancy and top global partner of Salesforce, Workday, and Google. And in this episode, Glenn discusses how to introduce IP into your company, the line between good and bad automation, and delivering on the basics of your customer promise so that you can broach more complex customer needs.Quotes*”There's no fast path to admiral or general in the army. The value of that is not just the respect you get from peers and teams, but also confidence. I would never wanna start my career in a position [that’s] too high… You've gotta keep your eye on the goal, [which] is to build experiences and build confidence. The career ladder comes. it will come by you excelling at your job, being a good teammate. But you don't want to come in on day one and be like, ‘How do I make my way to level 3, 4, 5, 6, 7?’”*”Where automation makes people's lives easier, you want it and you wanna push it. You shouldn't have to do anything other than text a message to a number to accomplish something. That's good automation. Then there's bad automation, which is annoying, which is marketing driven and non-consensual. When you're forced to talk to a chatbot instead of a human, because you can just tell they're trying to cut costs. That's an unnatural level of automation. It's not a customer experience-centric way to build.”*”One of the things Twilio talks about all the time is conversations with customers that start out as an automated conversation should be able to seamlessly drift into a live conversation and back, and be recognized as a single thread. That to me is one of the ultimate manifestations of customer engagement, where it crosses channels and feels like a continuous conversation. That's one of the things we preach at Twilio. Customer engagement, meeting customers where they want to be met, not where you want to meet.”*“I kind of think of this as like Maslow's hierarchy of needs translated into technology or for any company. This is a theory that says that if you don't take care of someone's basic needs, you haven't really earned the right to their attention for some higher order stuff. For humans, the basic needs are shelter, food, and oxygen. And now you can start talking about higher level things like fulfillment and satisfaction. So at Twilio, the version of that is the basic needs of our customers. Their messages need to reach their recipients. Their messages need to comply with requirements so they're not blocked or filtered by carriers. You need to be able to send the volume of messages… If we don't take care of those basics, we haven't earned the right to talk about improving your marketing strategy, improving your ROI on customer engagement. All that stuff comes later. And that's really a lot of the Twilio value proposition, but we don't have the right to talk about that until we handle the basics.”Time Stamps[0:16] Introducing Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer at Twilio[2:51] How did Glenn get started in the tech industry? [4:50] Learn about Glenn’s experience in the Naval Academy and how his education there led him into a tech career[8:01] What was it like consulting for Lockheed Martin in the 90s?[10:41] Why having a strong technical background is an advantage as a leader in software companies[12:47] What the Navy taught Glenn about running a SaaS company[14:32] How did Glenn come to co-found Appirio?[17:32] How did Glenn and his co-founders know when it was time to sell Appirio?[20:45] How did Glenn build the skills to run his own business?[25:36] Where is the correct balance between human interaction and automation?[27:21] How do you decide where to experiment in the customer experience?[33:38] Glenn’s advice for offering a world class customer experienceBioGlenn represents the voice of the customer, with responsibility for Twilio’s technical support, customer success, customer experience, professional services, and systems integrator partner teams. Before Twilio, Glenn was co-founder of Appirio, a leading cloud consultancy and top global partner of Salesforce, Workday, and Google, and he has also led consulting and support teams at numerous public software companies. Glenn received a BS in Computer Science from the U.S. Naval Academy, and an MS in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Glenn on LinkedInCheck out TwilioConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS

Well, hello! We’re gonna guess that you opened your podcasts today and saw CX Champions. And you thought to yourself, “CX Champions? I didn’t subscribe to CX Champions.” And you would be right.We took CX Detectives and are remixing it. We’re doing our OWN spin on customer experience. So welcome!During the show, we’ll be interviewing disruptors in the CX space. People who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and get things done on THEIR OWN terms.In each episode, you’ll hear deep insight into how they built their careers in CX by helping some of the most iconic brands in the world engage their customers.CX Champions is an UNSCRIPTED masterclass on how YOU can stand out, think differently, and re-imagine what a Customer Experience could look like in a digital-first world.So settle back, grab a drink, and get down with CX Champions on your podcast player of choice. LinksConnect with Larry on LinkedIn

This episode features an interview with Dutta Satadip, Chief Customer Officer at ActiveCampaign, a leading cloud software company offering a category-defining customer experience automation platform. Dutta is a tech industry veteran with over 20 years of experience, having held leadership roles at companies like Pinterest and Google. In this episode, Dutta talks about understanding the ins and outs of customer pain points, building mutual accountability with customers, and key automation techniques that help hook customers.Quotes*”One of the things we did was to start something called an accelerated onboarding. It's not optional to attend it. We are gonna reserve spots for you. We give you a slot. That has been a good way for people to create a little bit of mutual accountability [with clients]." *”Sometimes people are just putting stuff in [their] cart and are not gonna come back. In 2021, we did a study and customers had left over 76.4 million dollars of revenue in their shopping carts. So we're talking about a [potential] customer who we haven't recovered. [Our clients] have used automation to remind people, ‘Hey, you have left this in the cart. Here’s a little bit of a coupon.’ We see almost 14% recovery [with them]. As a business, if you're not employing these automation techniques, you are leaving customers on the table and as a consequence, money on the table.”*Having a good top line mission and a leadership team that buys into that mission and vision is super important. Because at the end of the day, if something is not happening, it's because it's not getting prioritized. So ultimately I think a lot of the onus of making clients successful has to come from leadership.”Time Stamps*[0:07] The Case of the Missing Customer*[0:32] Introducing Dutta Satadip, Chief Customer Officer at ActiveCampaign*[0:54] Dutta’s Co-Detective Credentials*[6:19] Evidence #1: Client doesn’t know their customers well*[13:34] Evidence #2: Client has insufficient communication with their customers*[17:40] Evidence #3: Lack of automation*[25:10] Evidence #4: Client doesn’t know how to encourage customers to become lifetime customers*[39:46] Debrief*[41:04] HGS PubBioDutta Satadip is the Chief Customer Officer at ActiveCampaign and is a tech industry veteran, thought leader and keynote speaker who specializes in customer strategy, customer acquisition, customer retention and scaling operations.Dutta has more than 20 years of industry experience and has held various senior leadership roles in most key operating areas, including Pre-Sales, Business Operations, Product Strategy, Product Management, Product Marketing, Engineering as well as Consulting positions. He specializes in transforming organizations by identifying the right strategic levers to drive the business while minimizing risk. Dutta has operated extensively in both developed and emerging countries.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. A global leader in optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, digital transformation, and business process management, HGS is helping its clients become more competitive every day. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Dutta on LinkedInFollow Dutta on TwitterConnect with Lyssa on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting, an on-demand human insight platform that quickly gives companies a first-person understanding of how their target audience behaves throughout any experience and why. Janelle has over 15 years of experience in customer research for both B2B and B2C companies to help them transform their customer and user experiences. She has also held UX research consulting roles at Nielsen Norman Group and Forrester Research. In this episode, Janelle talks about understanding your customers as human beings, engaging them in the feedback and development process, and embedding the customer voice in your business.Quotes*”Customer experience is really about people, and serving your customers as people and human beings.”*”Without the context of understanding your customers as humans and hearing from them [about] why they might have given you a low NPS rating or why they're leaving a particular page, you can't make an educated decision of what to do and how to fix it.”*”The interesting thing about people and customers is that while they don't wanna be tracked, they wanna be heard… You've heard the phenomenon, like everyone hates surveys, nobody fills them out, only a small percentage fill them out because they're tired of them… What this study and research uncovered was that people aren't fatigued by taking surveys. They're actually fatigued by taking surveys and then the company not actually doing anything with the information.”*”Don't try to change everything at once. Don't try to boil the ocean. Find one or two places in that product development flow that you really want people to talk to customers and then find a way to embed it there.”*”How do we get to a place where we're not just over indexing on all the things people are doing and where they're clicking and what they're saying on all these different platforms? What if we just reintroduced the customer as a person that is next to us every day or provides intelligence to us on an ongoing basis? To me, that's the future. And that's what gets me super excited about what we have in front of us.  And I think there's so much room and opportunity for us to  reintroduce the human into the business conversation.”*”The really interesting thing about personas to me is that we tend to think that everybody who falls into that persona is the same, but there's so much variety within personas. And so imagine if you could go talk to five people that fit into the profile of your key persona. You're gonna meet five very different people.”Time Stamps*[0:04] How to better understand your customers as humans and support a more diverse UX*[0:28] Introducing Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting*[5:55] How UserTesting helps organizations connect with customers*[8:34] What is a customer experience narrative?*[10:51] Finding inspiration from your own best customer experience*[11:30] The revealing metrics behind customer behavior*[16:35] How UserTesting engages customers in their own experience*[25:49] Where to begin when wanting to better understand your customers*[32:32] Why it’s critical to talk to customers who fit your ideal guest persona*[34:21] Debrief*[35:21] HGS PubBioJanelle is an expert research practitioner fascinated by human behavior and intrigued by data insight. She brings over 15 years’ experience conducting large-scale customer research initiatives for both B2C and B2B companies across a variety of industries to help them transform their customer, user, and brand experiences. Janelle is responsible for stewarding the future of Human Insight and translating that into opportunities to evolve the UserTesting platform. Prior to UserTesting, Janelle held UX research consulting roles at Nielsen Norman Group and Forrester Research.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. A global leader in optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, digital transformation, and business process management, HGS is helping its clients become more competitive every day. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Janelle on LinkedInFollow Janelle on TwitterConnect with Lyssa on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Srikrishnan Ganesan, Co-Founder and CEO of Rocketlane, a high-growth customer onboarding software that lets you collaborate with customers. Sri has over nine years of experience growing and scaling SaaS companies. In this episode, Sri discusses how to speed up employee communication across silos, the critical customer onboarding timeline, and developing accountability with customers so they take some ownership of their own experience.Quotes*”We figured out what [our customers’] biggest time sinks are and automated some of those. [Then] built a beautiful experience that makes those people look good in front of the customer. It [was] like [an] aha moment for them to say, ‘Hey, wow, this is where I spend a lot of my energy wastefully. And the product is doing all this for me. And it's not one more tool. It’s the tool that I'm going to use with my customers during this whole engagement. It's getting rid of multiple tools and making it one singular experience.’”*”From an efficiency standpoint, there's a lot of ways in which you can see the benefit of better onboarding. Firstly, if you get everyone to execute in a coordinated way on time, it gets your customer to value faster. And that's super important for SaaS because very often churn happens because it's been six months since you bought a product. You have some sort of an implementation that happened, but then you're not truly live yet. Your team hasn't adopted that software yet. And when it comes up for renewal, you're gonna be like, we didn't see [the] value.”*”The more you control [onboarding] and actually get the customer live in three to four weeks, you're more likely to have that successful partnership with them and build upon where you start.”*”Especially if you're selling to mid-market or enterprise, you're never truly done onboarding the customer. You're done with phase one. You're gonna start phase two next. So there are ongoing initiatives that you want to run collaboratively with the customer, where you wanna hold the customer accountable as well, and deliver a better experience on both sides.”*”Is my customer success team playing offense or defense and why? By playing offense, we mean, are they focused on expansion and focused on going after more use cases, doing more with the customer, setting up more integrations, et cetera? Or are they on defense saying, ‘Hey, sorry, but we are not able to deliver on this yet’?”*”If you do a great job during onboarding, then automatically you are more on the offense than on defense with those customers. If you do a sloppy job, you're on the back foot from the get go. You can't talk renewal. You need to first win back trust from the customer again before you go that direction.”Time Stamps*[0:11] The Case of Slow Customer Onboarding*[0:30] Introducing Srikrishnan Ganesan, Co-Founder & CEO at Rocketlane*[1:21] Get to know Rocketlane*[9:50] Evidence #1: Employee communication is siloed*[15:56] Evidence #2: Customers are left to conduct their own orientation of the product*[26:14] Evidence #3: Customer onboarding is standardized*[19:19] Debrief: Review takeaways*[30:05] HGS Pub: Lyssa and Sri celebrate cracking the caseBioSrikrishnan (Sri) Ganesan is a co-founder of the fast-growing customer onboarding platform Rocketlane, a SaaS product that helps businesses by replacing generic project management and document collaboration tools with a unique, unified workspace. Sri has spent his last nine years building and scaling SaaS businesses. His last startup was acquired by Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH) in 2015 and went on to become their fastest-growing product (Freshchat). He is passionate about all things CX and startups.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. A global leader in optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, digital transformation, and business process management, HGS is helping its clients become more competitive every day. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Sri on LinkedInFollow Sri on TwitterConnect with Lyssa on LinkedInCheck out HGS

This episode features an interview with Tom Martin, CEO at Glance Networks, a software company that provides in-the-moment web and mobile co-browsing, screen share, and video solutions that help increase customer satisfaction, improve brand loyalty, and drive new revenue. In this episode, Tom talks about the key to brand loyalty, removing friction points in the customer journey, and how the best technology is invisible.Quotes*”The loneliest place in the world isn't the desert, it's the internet. And people wanna do business with other human beings that they know, like and trust. And when you realize that the world has gotten really complicated and then you have to do everything digitally, we realized that this human piece, this human component, married and brought together with digital suddenly is like the winning combination to really deliver the outcomes that businesses are looking and seeking to achieve.”*”When you can be a business that can help people achieve [their] goals by providing that level of expertise in the middle of a journey, you realize [that] we can actually get more people through that journey and have the outcomes that we're looking for. And that's why people stay in touch. They have a great relationship and suddenly you're the face of that company. The technology needs to be there, but suddenly it's that emotional connection that binds you to that company, into that product that suddenly makes you that lifetime or higher loyalty customer.”*”Humans take the path of least resistance. They're like water. And so if you can remove steps and reduce that friction, that might be the biggest reason why people choose to work with you versus someone else.”*”I think about technology, and if you can make technology create an experience that allows two people to engage and communicate, and they never have to know how the technology works, it's never really present, and it works in the background, suddenly you're like, we've achieved Nirvana.”*”I.M. Pei, the great architect, always said, 'Simplicity is the art of design.' And so, you look at Japanese woodwork and you realize it's so complex, but on the outside, it looks so simple. And the beauty is so apparent. But behind it, it's all these little widgets and connections and joints to create this experience. And I think that to me is what most companies are attempting to achieve. Not all actually achieve it, but how do you create simple experiences knowing the technology is the enabler of the experience?”*”I think you start with the customer journey and you also try to start with how customers are also buying and consuming other things, not just within your own environment. Because today, businesses are really competing against other experiences.”*”When you can have an experience [where you] order something and it shows up tomorrow, you then have to ask yourself, Why is it so hard to buy a car? Why is it so hard to apply for a mortgage? Why is enrolling in healthcare this hard and it takes so long? My expectations have shifted, not because my expectations of healthcare have shifted. It's because I'm having better experiences elsewhere.”*”The best companies have organized around saying someone needs to own the journey, the experience. What is our face to the customer? Knowing full well that they're gonna need to interface with different parts of the business to make it happen, to make it be realized. But you can't sit there and have different parts of the organization be like, ‘No, we're gonna do it this way and we're gonna do it this way.’ It has to be a unified approach.”Time Stamps*[0:10] The Case of Implementing Invisible Technology to Power Great Customer Experiences*[0:24] Introducing Tom Martin, CEO at Glance Networks*[6:35] Facilitating conversation and collaboration using embedded technology*[8:53] Where to begin your technology journey*[10:51] Finding inspiration from your own best customer experience*[14:42] Creating a unified approach to CX*[21:59] Personalizing the future customer experience*[23:42] Creating an affordably luxurious experience for your customer*[31:46] Extending your brand through the experience*[33:10] Debrief*[34:15] HGS PubBioTom Martin serves as chief executive officer of Glance, and oversees the company’s strategy, product development, and go-to-market activities. Tom is known as a customer experience and contact center strategist, product lifecycle expert, and partnership builder. Tom has led Glance through a successful “pivot,” transitioning from a small business screen share tool to a provider of omnichannel visual engagement solutions for some of the largest enterprises in the world. Since that pivot, Glance has experienced multiple years of 70 percent of Year over Year growth. Prior to joining Glance in 2013, Tom spent over a decade at Verizon building and managing strategic partnerships. Outside of the office, Tom is an avid backcountry skier, mountaineer, and competitive cyclist.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. A global leader in optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, digital transformation, and business process management, HGS is helping its clients become more competitive every day. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with Tom on LinkedInFollow Tom on TwitterConnect with Lyssa on LinkedInCheck out HGS