CX Conversations

Today we’re going to be talking about human centered customer experiences and we’ll be doing this with the Director of customer experience from NuAxis Innovations, Amanda Chavez. She tells us how they focus on giving their customers a more human experience by using special creative methods and techniques to just have a conversation and get them to open up. Amanda says that literally the only thing you need to talk to humans is the stuff that you learned in 5th grade English and ask the who, what, when, why, when, and how questions, or the “newspaper questions.” She tells me you need to ask your questions, and then just shut up and listen. This is what people need and want. Common sense uncommonly practiced.

Who is Amanda? 0:58
What does human centered customer experience mean? 1:41
Diving into the details 6:17
Otter.ai 11:14
Additional points, Dark Night of the Soul 14:04

“Taking a human centered approach really focuses on not only knowing the numbers behind who your customers are and what their behaviors are, but actually intimately getting to know those people. Like actually having conversations with them to discover where the pain really lives in that experience, and using a lot of creative methods to reshape that experience for them.” 2:14

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandachavez08/

I have with me today Vikas Bhambri and the Director and Distinguished Principal Analyst at XM Institute, Luke Williams, who is the most senior CX and VOC expert in the firm and is a New York Times best seller, “Why Loyalty Matters,” and has been highlighted multiple times in the Harvard Business Review. We discuss the future of CX and how companies need to shift or prepare for situations like the one we’ve been faced with during the pandemic. Luke tells about how CX tech needs to treat and approach the customer just like an in-store associate would by asking them what their end goal is rather than just the up front issue at hand (17:31).

The XM Institute 1:24
The future of CX in 2021 3:27
Big trends as things might be shifting back to normal 6:36
Vikas’s take on the future of CX technology 8:40
Example of Circuit City 23:26

“Everyone’s kind of figured out that if your digital experience is really frictionless and good, you’re going to be able to build customer loyalty on the back of that, and that’s going to be forever moving forward. That is the retirement of the buggy whip.” 7:27

Today we discuss employee and customer engagement and the best way to do that is with Senior Director of Employee & Customer Experience at Centene Corporation, Suzzanna Rowold. She explains that the two major elements that drive success in your company are 1) Employee turnover and 2) Quality of leadership. When hiring people, you need to make sure that you have set clear expectations of what they’re going to be doing so that they aren’t blindsided by a role for which they aren’t prepared. Training your leaders to see the bigger picture is crucial in passing that on to your employees, and then making sure you invest in your employees’ growth and improvement is necessary for success.

Suzzanna’s background 0:58
Secrets of how she has been successful throughout her career 3:39
Hiring the right people 6:59
What else to look for in your hires 13:01

“One of the very top parts of ensuring that your on-boarding is really focused to your needs is setting those clear expectations. You really need to have your job descriptions and what you’re posting for those positions be exactly what it is that you’re needing them to do.” 7:00

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzzannarowoldlcpc/

In this episode we are discussing the best ways to set up your remote workforce and with us today we have the VP of customer care at Magellan Health, Gordon Schleffer. He explains what went on with the customer service world after the pandemic hit last year and what types of businesses gained more calls from customers versus what businesses lost calls. Gordon tells us that the companies that did the best were the ones who had established a strong company culture. The ability of your management and staff to keep your team engaged is the difference between success and failure in this new economic climate. We discuss AI technology that can monitor calls for you and send alerts when something goes wrong in a conversation.

Gordon’s background 0:39
What happened to the customer contact center world after Covid hit? 2:08
What separated the top performers from the bottom? 7:25
How are people managing to be successful in this new work environment? 10:43
Adapting to different technologies 15:24

“To me the critical piece on how successful and how well your contact center is run is based on the culture you create. And so, I think that the companies that have probably fared the best when they sent their staff home were the companies that had the strongest culture.” 7:40

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-schleffer-9463245/

Today we’re gonna be talking about operations and how that really plays into the role of helping you transform your customer experience, and with us we brought on the Vice President at Mercy Hospital, John Timmerman. The best thing to do is find out who is performing the best and study their behavior, and don’t study the behavior of the average employee, or you’ll get average results. It’s easy to take your company values and just put them on the wall, but often that doesn’t affect a lot of the people working in the department. John tells us how to deal with the employees that aren’t adapting or don’t want to change with the company.

John’s background 0:52
How to coach organizations to shift from subjective to objective 2:33
What it comes down to 8:16
How to deal with people who won’t adapt 10:54
Stay away from this 24:02

“I’d talk about our values and say, ‘If there’s anything here that you feel uncomfortable with, please we’re gonna take a break and do not come back because this is not the right organization for you. There’s an organization out there for you, we’re just not the one, and that’s OK. We want you to come to that self discovery now.’” 11:50

In today’s episode we have joining us Customer Experience Expert and Sr. Vice President at Masterbrand Cabinets, Billie Jo Timm, and we’re going to be talking about enabling long term sustainability in customer service. She'll give some good advice on how to get people to collaborate by getting them involved in the whole process of exactly what they do and how it impacts the customer. She will explain the various steps of long term sustainability, such as pushing continuous improvement and preparing for a change in culture. Tune in!

Billie Jo’s background 0:50
How she ups her collaboration game 3:57
Continuous improvement 6:17
Change in culture 10:37

“We’ve had great success where they want to be involved because they also can learn things, and learn how to run their business more effectively using similar tools and using similar structure. Many of the customers we have worked with have really benefited from that and are excited to be a part of it.” 5:45

https://www.linkedin.com/in/billie-jo-timm/

Today we’re going to be talking about transforming your CX organization. To do that we got with us today the Head of Customer Experience at Patient Pop, Hunter Schoettle. We discuss how he runs his customer service team and he shares the secrets to his hiring process. Hunter builds a strong base in relationships with his own people in order to help that spread to the customer. He tells us about how they are able to work with other departments and the type of strategy you can use to expand your circle and communications within your company.

About Hunter 0:54
The hiring process 5:24
How data helps them transform 8:22
Which metrics have been right 10:26
Best way to operate outside of your box 14:43

“The main bread and butter, main focus though is on customer retention and that’s really where my department thrives and gives the most value to the company, using those frontline interactions to both gather data, and then analyze and use that to help continually improve the product.” 1:52

In this episode, we’re going over how to build support organizations startup-style with Karen Durenberger, VP of Customer Support at Total Expert. She explains where to begin and says the first thing you need to do is define what your team needs to be, really understanding what type of service you need to give to your customers. You have to ask yourself how you want your customers to describe your customer support team because it’s amazing how much insight you will get into what their expectations are in terms of what they want from a customer support team. You also need to hire/find people who will stick with the customer until they fix their issue, and then diversify the people you bring on in order to have multiple perspectives in your company.

Karen’s background 0:50
Where to start with startup-style 4:10
Staffing and building your team 7:44
Her story of being bold 12:28

“If you were having a glass of wine with your customers over the dinner table –we wish in this era of Covid that we could do that, but let’s all pretend, and you asked your customers, “What words would you use to describe our customer support team?” What words do you want them to use?” 6:43

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-durenberger-1891013/

In this episode we discuss a 90 day roadmap to customer excellence, and to do that we brought on Shannon Martin, the Senior Director, Travel Partners Group at Expedia Group. She gives some good advice on how to break down a customer’s issue, and then come up with a plan to solve that issue, finding the root and shifting your approach to avoid that problem in the future. We talk about the question “Why” and use this to get to the root of their issue, which usually takes around 5 whys. Shannon tells how they were able to raise customer and employee satisfaction by no longer monitoring handle time.

Shannon’s background 0:51
Where to start 4:03
Where to go next 7:52
Improve results 9:54
Last step 12:07

“You always wanna start with the customer’s problem. What problem are you trying to solve? And so once you understand what problem you’re trying to solve, then you can think about ‘what are the processes that impact that problem? How does the customer get to the point where they have that problem?’ And then you start looking at breaking that problem apart and what you can then fix.” 2:57

https://www.linkedin.com/in/slearmartin/

In this episode we talk with Digital Transformation Leader, Customer Experience Zealot, and Global Vice President at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Erik Vogel. He gives us steps on how to deal with customers’ credit and how to protect yourselves from making the mistake of sending products before knowing what their credit is. It’s our job to make sure we don’t ruin the customer’s experience while putting up safeguards for ourselves. Erik gives us some tips on how to communicate effectively and make sure you’re all on the same page.

About Erik 0:46
Making their transition 3:59
Some of the most surprising changes 10:31
Their Metrics and Principles 20:08

“If there’s any takeaway everybody watching this takes is, get the common model, the common taxonomy, and drive that into the organization so you’re all talking the same language. So when you have these discussions–cross B U, cross organization, at least you’re talking about it like this and not like this. You’re bringing it together and you’re talking about it from a common viewpoint.” 18:36