The Customer Experience Podcast

171. Why Better CX Is The Goal, Not Disruption w/ Michelle Lisowski

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The word “disruption” can make us feel irritation or even angst. What we need is to recognize that disruption on an industry scale means changing ...

170. 3 Steps to Sales Success: Authority, Generosity, & Platform w/ Josh Elledge

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

He’s the Founder and Chief Executive Angel at SavingsAngel.com and host of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Podcast. His work is syndicated nationally in...

169. From Cold Prospect to Healthy Relationship w/ Mike Chambers

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For the entire year of 2020, his team booked about 450 meetings. So far in 2021, they’ve booked about 550 meetings in just the first three quarters ...

168. Obviously Shareable: CX That Customers Want to Talk About w/ Dan Gingiss

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Instead of a slice of cake with a candle, they brought out a box of handmade chocolates with Happy Birthday spelled out in cocoa powder and decorated ...

167. Essential Traits of the Next Generation CRO with Brandi Starr, Rolly Keenan, Mike Geller

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There’s no reason to keep them separate anymore: success, support, marketing, and sales. Their common goal is revenue, so their common leader should...

166. A More Personal Way to Launch a Book w/ Ethan Beute

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Two and a half months ago, gearing up for the launch of our second book, Human-Centered Communication, we found that mass emails did not perform as we...

165. 3 Steps to Building a Collaborative Culture w/ Mark Rosenthal

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In one of his interviews at his current company, our guest said this to the CEO:“If we're going to build an organization that truly earns the love o...

164. Firing Your Villains & Leading with Vulnerability w/ Heather Monahan

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ignoring an antagonistic relationship at work is one of the worst things you can do — to yourself. Working with someone in a toxic situation can hin...

163. Restoring the Balance: Human-Centered Communication w/Ethan Beute

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A “paradigm shift” is a fundamental change in approach or assumptions. Modern communication is in the midst of one — a change from digital pollu...

162. The Shared Belief Behind Human-Centered Communication w/ Steve Pacinelli

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

No one individual has all the answers to everything. With a concept as broad yet essential as human-centered communication, it was going to take many ...

161. Video Is About Who, Not About What w/ Adam Contos

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

To get better at something, you can’t do it just twice or even five times. You have to do it repetitively — and that goes for sending videos, too....

160. B2B Sales With Human-Centered Communication w/ Ethan Beute

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you’d like to be able to sit down with an expert like Shep Hyken, CAO at Shepherd Presentations, or Dan Tyre, Direct or at Hubspot, to ask them a...

159. Sending Videos for Greater Sales Visibility w/ Viveka von Rosen

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What you see on video is pretty much what you get. Video gives you a sense of who the person is. At present and in the future, salespeople need to bec...

158. Creating Customer Impact in Moments That Matter w/ Jacco van der Kooi

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Merely getting to the sale and figuring out later how to deliver what you sold does not work in a recurring revenue business. Actually, it’s custome...

157. Why Repeat Customers May Not Be Loyal Customers w/ Shep Hyken

04 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Repeat business is a goal everyone should aim for. But turning it into loyalty means creating an emotional connection between your customer and your b...

156. An Actor’s Guide to Authentic Videos w/ Julie Hansen

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you’ve been on a video call lately (and hasn’t everyone?), you’ve probably noticed how disengaged, distracted, or disconnected everyone is.Th...

155. How Artificial Intelligence is Driving the Feeling Economy w/ Dr. Roland Rust

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the feeling economy, interpersonal relationships drive the success of organizations. Feelings have always been important, of course, but today they...

154. The Art & Science of Selling to Prosumers w/ Mario M. Martinez, Jr

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Consumers have turned into prosumers — that is, professional consumers. Before we buy, we read reviews, ask for advice, and do other forms of resear...

153. Emotional Intelligence & Human-Centered Connection w/ Dan Hill

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here are three quick ways to better assess what people are saying with their faces and emotions (aka facial coding). Pay attention to engagement, the ...

152. Creating an Environment of Continuous Coaching w/ Morgan J. Ingram

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Taking a teaching focus means truly listening to and identifying with the customer, and it’s built on a continuous coaching environment. To learn an...

151. Creating Holistic and Immersive Experiences w/ Mathew Sweezey

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Moving forward, nearly every experience is going to be hybrid: both physical and virtual. We’ll need to provide a hybrid experience for our employee...

150. Why Your Virtual Relationships Degrade Over Time w/ Dr. Nick Morgan

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When we communicate virtually, we are using flattened, muted versions of ourselves. Little surprise, then, that virtual relationships degrade over tim...

149. A Blissful Approach to Training Customers and Employees w/ Lauren Bailey

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whether we are training employees, customers, or trainers, video is a powerful form of human-centered communication. When someone who teaches trainers...

148. Video Messaging and the Next Normal w/ Dan Tyre

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Video is a perfect example of taking automation and inserting more humanity into it. It’s a relationship-building form of communication that centers...

147. The 7 Pillars of Customer Success w/ Wayne McCulloch

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The role of customer success is to build value on the promise of what the customer became a customer in the first place. Being so deeply invested in t...

146. Getting Clear on Who You Are and How You Serve w/ Anthony Coundouris

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When you present who you are — your core beliefs — to the customer, do you get head nods, indifference, or hostility? All 3 are great responses, a...

145. Establishing Core Principles for Yourself and Your Team w/ John Belizaire

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The key to building a great business and getting a team focused is, first, having a set of consistent core values over time. Once you’ve established...

144. An Actor's Guide to Truthful and Honest Videos w/ Tricia Jane Wiles

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Those of us who feel we’re not very good on camera would rather have someone else present for us. But we’re losing the opportunity to share our pa...

143. Hiring and Onboarding Virtual Professionals w/ Daniel Ramsey

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Virtual professionals not only grant you the time you’ve been craving, but they also improve your customer experience with processes and systems tha...

142. Don't Just Personalize, Get Personal w/ Kristina Jaramillo

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When marketing speaks to one-to-many, we’re addressing industries. When we speak to one-to-few, we’re addressing personas. But personal relevance ...

141. Understanding the Intersection of CX, UX, and UI w/ Joey Kilrain

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Not all elevators are created equal. Some have the emergency button placed too high for a child or a person using a wheelchair to reach. The design is...

140. Creating Sales and Customer Success Alignment w/ Ethan Beute

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Two of the least aligned teams are often sales and customer success. I’ve learned so much from my podcast guests about why that’s problematic and ...

139. Building Customer-Centric Innovation Into Your Company Culture w/ Dennis Geelen

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you can combine customer-centricity and innovation as a cultural mindset pervasive throughout your company, then you’ve really got a recipe for l...

138. Human Factors & Design Thinking w/ Anand Tharanathan

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Human factors is a field of science that explores capabilities and limitations of humans as they interact with a product, technology, or service. The ...

137. Enhancing EX and CX Through Brand Storytelling w/ Gabrielle Dolan

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If your brand is the stories people share about you, the concept of brand storytelling is how you take control of those stories by bringing humanity i...

136. So, You've Just Been Named VP of CX... Now What? w/ Logan Lyles

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone’s looking to you as the new dedicated CX leader to structure the customer experience. What are your two functions? What three practices wil...

135. Creating Conversational Relationships With Thousands of Customers w/ Ali Biggs

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The best conversation that you can have with a customer is one in which they don’t walk away without answers. That might sound obvious, but the path...

134. Research: To Improve CX, Invest in EX w/ Ethan Beute

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you want to drive revenue growth, you need to have great CX. If you want to drive great CX, you need to have great EX. In other words, the employee...

133. The 4 A’s of Customer Experience w/ Leah Chaney

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Not only should everyone want to have customer experience as an integral part of their org’s DNA, but they should also be accountable for the fact t...

132. Bringing Empathy Back to Cold Emails w/ Jason Bay

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The last cold email you received probably made you feel disengaged at best. It’s also the reason why the average cold email response rate is 1%.In t...

131. Returning the Human Voice to Marketing w/ Mark Schaefer

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Are we using technology to create barriers between us and our customers? Or are we doubling down on things we know that our customers respond to, like...

130. The Mindset of Improv in Sales w/ John Sweeney

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The sales funnel is actually a pyramid that looks like this: top-level is sales tools, middle level is sales skills, bottom level is the humanity of t...

129. Create Forever Customers With A Forever Promise w/ Robbie Kellman Baxter

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The forever customer is someone who trusts you to solve their problem. They’ve taken off their consumer hat and put on their member hat. They aren’...

128. Shifting Your Focus to Account-Based Experience (ABX) w/ Jon Miller

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Just because someone fills out a form doesn’t mean they’re ready to talk to a salesperson. Two problems stem from this fact: the problem of discer...

127. 3 CX Strategies for CROs w/ Darryl Praill

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As a CRO, how do you change the culture of your org so that customer experience is everyone’s responsibility? In this episode, I interview Darryl Pr...

126. The Role of Kindness in Your Company w/ Cole Baker-Bagwell

11 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Not only is kindness important on a human level, but it can become a core value for any company. How?In this episode, I interview Cole Baker-Bagwell i...

125. A Year From Now, You’ll Wish You Began Today w/ Joseph Jaffe

02 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You want to level up your customer experience to customer obsession, but how? Get started now. In a year’s time, you’ll wish you started today.In ...

124. The Flight Back to the Face w/ Ethan Beute

25 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a text person? Or are you better on the phone? We all know we're better on the phone. We've got our voice tone, pace, and personality to work ...

123. Transforming Customer Relationships with Transparency and Collaboration w/ Scott McCorkle

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

These trends will be important for the future of CRM: transparency, multiple companies working together, and proving value using a new wave of enterpr...

122. CX at Getty Images: Shifting to Authenticity and Evoking Emotion w/ Grant Farhall

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When your customer base is everyone who needs images (which more or less means everyone), your customer experiences will look as different as your cus...

121. 3 Ways to Elevate EX from the World's Best Workplace w/ Kristie Ornelas & Steve Cox

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Employee experience and internal culture are not just a “nice-to-have,” but they bring material influence to bear on measurable business results.I...

120. The ABC's of Creating Superfans w/ Brittany Hodak

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Superfans!You may have some.You may have had some and lost them. You may have fans — who would be superfans — if only you engaged them the right w...

119. The 6 P's of Writing, Publishing, and Selling Your Book (Part 2 of 2) w/ Ethan Beute

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It opened doors that I didn’t know existed. I met new people, found new opportunities, and received other unexpected benefits from organizing my tho...

118. The 3 C’s That Make or Break the SDR Experience w/ Ernest Owusu

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine you’re a new SDR, and your manager tells you to ‘Shut up and dial!’ The experience for the person on the other end of the line is going ...

117. Your First 30, 60, and 90 Days In a CX Role w/ Jeff Breunsbach

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What should your first 30, 60, and 90 days in a new CX role focus on? Be prepared for most of your time to be spent listening.In this episode, I inter...

116. Closing Both Loops with Voice of the Customer w/ Lauren Culbertson

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Customer success’s job is to close the little loop — to solve the individual’s problem. But it’s the role of product marketing to close the bi...

115. (Re)Humanizing Your Events, Content, and Community w/ Bo Brustkern

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Every business is a relationship business. It's really important to humanize a brand, especially when the brand is financial because finance can be ve...

114. The 6 P's of Writing, Publishing, and Selling Your Book (Part 1 of 2) w/ Ethan Beute

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If one of your goals for 2021 includes writing, publishing, and selling a book, you might be looking for a roadmap right about now. I’m Ethan Beute,...

113. Building A Customer Experience From the Ground Up w/ Eric Crane

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Eric and David did, and it utterly changed how they thought about value. - The relationship between customer experience and customer success - 2 new...

112. Leading and Selling with Noble Purpose w/ Lisa Earle McLeod

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Purpose is your reason for being — why you do what you do. But noble purpose means that what you do is in the service of others. When you have a nob...

111. Building A Personal Experience Into Your Customer Experience w/ Greg Segall

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Customer experience usually manifests in a one-to-many or a one-to-few relationship style. But personal experience (PX) is CX on a one-to-one basis. ...

110. The Inbound-Freemium Connection w/ Nicholas Holland

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

People are coming to your website because they actually want to evaluate you. Who you are online is something that absolutely impacts your business —...

109. Finding Your Customer's Aha Moment w/ Ethan Beute

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Discovering the Aha moment in your business is a big deal. It can affect the entire course of the customer experience because it creates impressions t...

108. Personas Don't Drive Revenue... Mindsets Do w/ Kristin Zhivago

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nobody likes to be sold to. (Not even sellers, if they’re honest.) Instead of being a sale, customers want a specific solution that originates from ...

107. Improving Retention (From the First Hello) w/ Gowri Ramkumar

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Customer retention has always been important, but nowadays it feels absolutely vital. Trust, honesty, and relationship are the 3 broad categories of c...

106. The Magic of Creating Memories at Specific Moments w/ Jeff Kaylor

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How can I make people feel like the experience is just for them?   You’d think this question pertains to customer experience — and it does — bu...

105. From Cornflakes to Customer Experience, It’s All About Brand w/ Susan Meier

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not just a box of cornflakes. It reflects something about you as a parent far beyond ingredients, taste, and health benefits.    How does you...

104. Differentiating Far Beyond Product, Features, or Price w/ Stacy Sherman

03 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You need to acknowledge that employee experience (i.e. happiness) is a bridge to customer experience.   In this episode, I interview Stacy Sherman, t...

103. Building Relationships With Your Customers’ Customers w/ James Lloyd

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two sets of customers don’t equal just two customer experiences. Customer experiences are myriad — especially in B2B healthcare technology, where ...

102. Using Suggestion to Sell Decisions & Good Feelings w/ Paul Ross

20 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You may think you’re selling products or services, but you aren’t. You’re actually selling decisions — and good feelings about decisions.   I...

101. Embracing Disruptive Moments: Acquisitions and Role Changes w/ Isabelle Papoulias

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Acquisitions are often times of stress and disruption, to say the least.   Our most recent podcast guest casts new light on one of my favorite themes...

100. Episode 100! The Epic Takes Mixtape

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate the 100th episode of The Customer Experience Podcast, I decided to make you an Epic Takes Mixtape.   I watched every video clip from t...

99. 3 Ways CX Programs Go Wrong (and Right!) w/ Ian Luck

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The CX gap is a misalignment between CX and the C-Suite… and it’s the major reason that CX programs fail.   Why? Failure to make the data relevan...

98. The End-To-End Transparency Trend w/ Nina Simosko

29 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Cannabis dispensaries, being designated essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, have had to pivot how they interact with customers. From online delive...

97. How UX Drives CX (& the Entire World Economy) w/ Bob Berry

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

User experience refers to how a human interacts with a computer (also known as human-computer interaction or HCI).   Within the last 20 years, user e...

96. 4 Steps to Better Storytelling w/ Michael Ashford

15 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Customer experience is the emotions that a customer feels about your organization. The gateway to strengthening the positive emotions of your consumer...

95. The 5 I’s of Customer Experience w/ Jim Rembach

08 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Customer experience is created when 5 elements work in concert: intention, investment, invention, inspection, and iterations.   Each one of these ele...

94. Please Email Me: The Customer Feedback Episode w/ Ethan Beute

03 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Please email me about this podcast. I would truly love to hear from you.   I’m not kidding. My email is [email protected].   I’m Ethan Beute, C...

93. 3 Best Practices of a Great Community Builder w/ Joe Huber

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

To be a good community builder, you have to leverage strategy. Building a community gives businesses and organizations not only a thriving group of cu...

92. What’s Next for Restaurants & Offices w/ Alex Grace

25 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What’s a ghost kitchen & why will we be seeing more of them in the next 12 months?    Among the industries that have adapted the most during the p...

91. Align & Engage for Enterprise Sales Success w/ Nema Hashemi

18 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Engagement is the moment when customers and prospects interact with the brand. From that moment on, the reality of being that brand’s customer becom...

90. Why Transparency Sells Better Than Perfection w/ Todd Caponi

11 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Buyers barely even read the product description anymore. 96% of us scroll right to the reviews because we want to predict what our buying experience w...

89. The 4 Stages of Video Adoption w/ Ethan Beute

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You already believe that sending video messages is one of the most successful ways to make you and your team members more visible to customers. But yo...

88. Talking CX and EX with Sendoso’s Chief Customer Officer w/ Alli Tiscornia

04 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Not everyone knows exactly what a Chief Customer Officer does. Even fewer realize that their role is to create delight at every point in the customer ...

87. Staying Human-First In Your Sales Process w/ Tori Belkin

28 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

People buy from people they like, people they feel an emotional connection with.   But when our sales strategy is to launch directly into the pitch i...

86. Hiring for Soft Skills, Training for Tech Skills w/ Richard Myers

21 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When your tech-oriented customer base is growing faster than you can hire your customer support staff, you have a big CX problem.   Obviously, the so...

85. How To Successfully Pivot To A Virtual Event w/ Corey McCarthy

14 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

64% of all event planners have never done a virtual or hybrid event before. About 60% of attendees have never been to a virtual or hybrid event. Those...

84. 10 Rules for Building a Category & Community w/ Sangram Vajre

07 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We all want to belong to a tribe. The greatest way to grow your business is not to build your brand or throw events — it’s to grow a community aro...

83. The 3 Pillars of Post-Crisis Customer Communication w/ Brian Gilman

30 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic created a variety of crises and challenges at each of its 3 stages. Though the pandemic persists, its consequences ...

82. 3 Ways to Fight Zoom Fatigue w/ Ethan Beute

25 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Video meetings are more than likely here to stay.  They’re exhausting, though — way beyond mere eyestrain. If more of us are going to work remote...

81. 4 Truths for Customer Experience as the Backbone of Your Business w/ Aaron Weiche

23 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

During COVID-19, businesses need to recognize that hearing from and listening to customers has never been more important. Your customers need to feel ...

80. Employee Experience Design: How, Why, and Where To Begin w/ Gil Cohen

16 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Employee experience is the sum of all the touchpoints you have with your employer organization — which equals millions of touches.   Why, then, hav...

79. A 4-Part Framework for a Frictionless Experience w/ Anthony Coundouris

09 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Customer experience shouldn’t be an afterthought. Unless you’ve intentionally built it into your organization’s core, you probably aren’t offe...

78. 3 Ways To Improve Data Literacy w/ Piyanka Jain

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Data literacy is knowing how to read and understand data — such as the difference between a histogram and a flow chart. Data maturity is knowing how...

77. The Science of Video (& the New Metric That Matters Most) w/ Ethan Beute

28 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When there’s a face present, 70% of our gaze goes straight to it.   The problem that recorded video solves right now is the problem that it’s alw...

76. When Customer Experience Becomes An Existential Experience w/ Todd Hockenberry

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our ideas about customer experience have probably changed drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Customer experience is no longer just about gettin...

75. Emotional Intelligence and The Power of Faces w/ Dan Hill

19 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The only two currencies in the world are dollars and emotions. Emotion is also an often overlooked component of customer experience. When it comes to ...

74. Using Tech to Scale the Human Touch and Build Community w/ Stef Caldwell

12 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone tracks some form of data. (We track quite a lot of it if we’re rolling with the times.) But amassing data isn’t meaningful unless we can ...

73. Marketing To Your Employees, Not Just Your Customers w/ Chris Wallace

05 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We always talk about brand as a collection of promises that a company is making to its customers. At the end of the day, brand really comes down to th...

72. Better Marketing Through Product, Sales, and Customer Conversations w/ Shanee Ben-Zur

28 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Now more than ever, having a focus on the customer experience matters. If we're not empathetic to what our customers are going through, we won’t jus...