Steve Anderson, an expert in strategic risk and business growth, professional speaker and author of the Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow your Business like Amazon. The principles were originally extracted from Bezos’s annual letters to shareholders, further analysed and split into 14 different principles which create repeatable growth cycles. Some of the principles are explained in detail in the episode. Did Amazon become the most customer-centric business in the world at the expense of their employee experience? This book is a must-read for every business major.

For more information visit https://thebezosletters.com/

CX Insider celebrates its 50th episode! Valentina, Greg, Adam, Simon and Antonio sit together and reflect on the most entertaining episodes they have recorded. From the very first episode, the podcast has been through a massive transformation. They take the listeners behind the scenes and talk about how the concept of podcasting started and gradually evolved. 

01:30 - Where did the idea come from? I 04:33 - What was the purpose? I 06:31 - Things we never shared before I 09:31 - The best episodes

Is it too late? Will video still be the most popular channel in the post-pandemic world? Stuart Fearn, Head of Customer Contact at Newcastle Building Society, believes it will. Before the pandemic, he had never thought that video could be a way to connect with customers. Stuart explains how this solution became an integral part of their customer success strategy. 

Stuart's LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-fearn-mbe-3602761a/

01:17 - Stuart's vision of the branch of the future I 04:24 - Customer service during the pandemic I 05:52 - Views on customer service automation and digitalisation I 07:59 - Video as another channel I 11:31 - The challenges of implementing new technology I 14:14 - Will video replace F2F service?

Is it too late? Will video still be the most popular channel in the post-pandemic world? Stuart Fearn, Head of Customer Contact at Newcastle Building Society, believes it will. Before the pandemic, he had never thought that video could be a way to connect with customers. Stuart explains how this solution became an integral part of their customer success strategy. 

Stuart's LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-fearn-mbe-3602761a/

01:17 - Stuart's vision of the branch of the future I 04:24 - Customer service during the pandemic I 05:52 - Views on customer service automation and digitalisation I 07:59 - Video as another channel I 11:31 - The challenges of implementing new technology I 14:14 - Will video replace F2F service?

Paul Rutter, Cruise & Entertainment Director, tells adventurous stories about his lifelong experience in the cruise industry. Having been working in CX for almost 40 years, Paul teaches business leaders how to deliver More Than Perfect service and explains why perfect experience is only the starting point. Valentina guides her listeners through Paul's stories with an engaging commentary and euphonious sound effects.

Visit Paul's official website: https://www.paulrutterspeaks.com/

Contact Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parutter/

Read Paul's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Repeat-Business-Inc-Staying/dp/1542637813/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=business+inc%3A+paul+rutter&qid=1623011095&sr=8-1

01:32 - Paul's background I 06:14 - COVID19 and the cruise industry I 09:12 - Customer is always right I 11:30 - Building brand loyalty I 13:55 - Creating the More Than Perfect experience I 18:17 - Exceeding customer expectations I 21:42 - Employee experience I 25:06 - The One With Naked Customers... 

Salman Sharif, a senior CX advisor from Forrester, talks to Valentina about employee experience and its relationship with customer experience. He explains why EX plays an integral part in delivering great CX and predicts post-pandemic challenges which are likely to affect your business. 

Check out Salman's LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/salman-hammad-sharif-fcxp-cx-ii-1069b0a/

01:49 - Salman's background I 04:14 - definition of CX Maturity I 06:49 - Does every company needs a CX team? I 09:56 - employee centricity I 19:56 - advice to CX leaders

This week's episode is entirely focused on the Banking industry. Brian Kale, Director of Customer Success at Bank NOVO, defines customer success and discusses how banks should innovate their services. Valentina asks Brian about the evolution of customer success, and Adam leads a conversation on the security of personal data. Brian also addresses the fact that soon, customers can expect to talk to robots without even realising it. 

Brian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankale/

Bank NOVO: https://banknovo.com/

02:28 - Who is Brian Kale? I 06:18 - definition of Customer Success I 09:23 - Should every company has its own CX team? I 11:25 - the future of customer success I 17:17 - the risk of fraud & personal data security I 24:08 - customer expectations from a generational perspective I 32:00 - the CX transformation in the Banking industry I 34:06 - advice for future CX leaders

Antonio Maiorano talks to Valentina and Adam about the best practices to measure and evaluate customer experience using mystery shopping. He explains how mystery shopping and crowdsourcing can help you achieve different objectives. Antonio also mentions one of the biggest challenges CX leaders face: evaluating objective feedback. 

Antonio's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-maiorano/

Bare International: https://www.bareinternational.eu/

03:19 - Antonio's background I 05:03 - How can Mystery Shopping improve CX I 10:33 - loopholes of mystery shopping I 15:25 - Has Mystery Shopping changed during the pandemic? I 20:06 - creating actionable insights I 29:35 - Advice to CX leaders

John King, a property specialist, shares his views on the shift towards customer-centricity in the property market over the past decades. Is customer experience the same in every industry? John's ideas show an entirely different perspective on CX as you know it. He also talks about emotions and conflict resolution in fragile situations. 

Connect with John King on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnking56/

02:12 - John's career milestones I 05:18 - unique CX challenges I 09:27 - the balance between the digital and human touch I 15:26 - the importance of staff members in a property transaction I 23:59 - Conflict resolution with clients I 28:15 - how to train staff in customer service I 36:16 - advice to CX leaders

Katie Stabler, a customer service recovery specialist, explains why companies should normalise failure and plan to fail in order to succeed. Greg speaks to Katie about the adoption of CX in the not-for-profit sector, and Valentina talks about her unfortunate attempt to return clothes via home pick-up service. Start planning for failure using Katie's 6-step framework which you will find in the episode.

Visit Katie Stabler's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-stabler-ccxp/

Buy Katie's book Customer Experience 2: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Customer-Experience-2-Naeem-Arif-ebook/dp/B08CZTJ1YD/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=customer+experience+2+book&qid=1618790356&sr=8-5

02:24 - Introduction of Katie Stabler I 05:08 - Teaching organisations to become customer-centric I 11:51 - Why should not-for-profit organisations focus on customer experience? I 20:57 - Planning to fail I 30:20 - Advice to CX leaders