In this episode of Experience Matters, Sarah Caminiti, Manager of Customer Support at Tailscale, shares how she turned support into a driver of product and business decisions.

She didn’t wait for AI. She was reviewing tickets by hand, spotting patterns, and pushing those insights into product and strategy. Now, with AI tools in place, her team can move faster. But the mission is still the same: listen, experiment, and drive real change.

Listen in as Sarah reveals:

✅ How to use AI to spot trends, not monitor agents.

✅ Why trust and safety matter more than KPIs.

✅ How to hire for clarity and customer instincts.

✅ How CX teams can earn a seat at the strategy table.

✅ When it’s time to walk away from companies that don’t value support.

A lot of companies say they’re customer-centric. But what does it actually take to make that happen?

In this episode of Experience Matters, Annette Franz—Founder & CEO of CX Journey Inc. and author of Built to Win—joins Niraj, CEO and Co-Founder of Hiver, to talk about what real customer-centricity looks like.

Annette shares why many businesses struggle with churn and competition, not because of bad support, but because they don’t truly understand their customers. She also explains how startups can build a strong customer focus early on, and why it’s harder for bigger companies to change.

What’s covered in this episode:

✅ Why understanding your customer is the key to fixing churn

✅ How startups can build customer-centricity from day one

✅ What larger companies need to unlearn to get CX right

✅ Why leadership and company culture matter more than tools

✅ How AI can support better customer experiences, without replacing people

Whether you’re just starting out or operating at scale, this episode will help you rethink your approach to customer experience.

What if your biggest customer experience problem isn’t slow response times but everything happening behind the scenes?

Too many companies believe faster support means better customer experience. But in reality, frustrated employees, broken processes, and disconnected teams create far bigger problems.

In this episode of Experience Matters, Lynn Hunsaker, Chief Customer Officer at ClearAction Continuum, joins Niraj, CEO and Co-Founder of Hiver, to explain why customer experience can’t be improved in isolation.

Listen in as Lynn reveals:

✅ Why misaligned goals and assumptions create friction. And how fixing them is the first step to real customer experience change.

✅ How embedding customer feedback into daily workflows can naturally improve customer experience

✅ Why customer experience isn’t one team’s responsibility but everyone’s job.

What can frustrated customers teach you about leadership? What does bad customer service and bad haircuts have in common? 

Kel Kurekgi, Senior Global Customer Experience Manager at Zapier, gets candid on this episode of Experience Matters. He talks about how handling the toughest customers shaped his approach to CX and how AI is helping teams deliver smarter service.

From writing scripts for the BBC and Cloud 9 to leading global CX teams, Kel’s career journey proves that success rarely follows a straight path. Tune in to listen to him talk about:

✅ Why bad customer service feels like a bad haircut (and what to do about it)

✅ How to prevent burnout when dealing with difficult customers.

✅ The key to ensuring AI empowers your team and not replace it.

Episode Highlights

The Intersection of Marketing and CX: Marti explores the critical role of integrating marketing strategies with customer experience initiatives to drive brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Leveraging Data for Personalization: She emphasizes the importance of using data to understand customer needs and preferences, enabling businesses to deliver personalized experiences that resonate with their audience.

Building a Customer-Centric Culture: Marti discusses the importance of fostering a customer-centric culture within organizations, highlighting how it can lead to improved customer loyalty and business success.

In this episode of Experience Matters, we delve into the world of IT operations and support with Marti Clark, a seasoned professional from Salesforce (ex-Google). Marti shares her experience managing the transition of 200,000 employees back to the Google office post-pandemic, highlighting the challenges and innovative solutions involved in the process. 

She discusses the significance of collaboration across departments, the pivotal role of technology in facilitating smooth transitions, and the importance of customer effort scores in enhancing internal support services. 

Marti's journey from managing external customer interactions with AdWords to focusing on internal IT support showcases her adaptability and commitment to excellence in customer service, offering listeners a wealth of insights into the nuances of customer support in both external and internal contexts.

Clark dives deep into the concept of 'marketing with a purpose,' urging businesses to align their objectives with their customers' values. "When your brand's purpose aligns with your audience's beliefs, magic happens," Marti explains, showcasing how such alignment drives customer loyalty and fosters a sense of community around a brand.

Through her engaging conversation, Marti Clark leaves listeners with a powerful message: "In the end, our stories are the legacy we leave behind. Make them count." This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to make a meaningful impact through their marketing efforts, offering valuable insights into creating stories that not only sell but also inspire.

Episode Highlights

The Role of Empathy and Curiosity: Greg advocates for fostering a culture of empathy and curiosity within organizations, encouraging employees to actively listen to and engage with customers to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.

Systematic Design for Proactive Solutions: He emphasizes the importance of investing in predictive analytics and customer journey mapping to anticipate customer needs and design proactive solutions.

Importance of Aligning Systems to Serve Customers: He highlights the need for regular reviews of internal processes and systems to ensure they are aligned with enhancing customer experience.

In this episode of Experience Matters, Greg Melia, CEO of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), imparts his vast knowledge of the intricacies of customer experience (CX). Greg emphasizes the importance of empathy and curiosity in CX, stating, "The first key that we need to have is empathy connected with curiosity." 

He shares insights on the evolution of CX as a discipline and how it's shaped by a blend of psychology, organizational design, and systems theory, aiming for outcomes beneficial to customers, employees, and the bottom line. Highlighting the need for a systematic approach to CX, Greg explains, "It's about designing and intentionally working to create a better outcome."

Greg also draws attention to the transformative power of storytelling in CX, illustrating how shared stories can profoundly influence customer perception and brand loyalty. He asserts, "Stories are the currency of human connection," underscoring the role of narratives in crafting compelling customer journeys that resonate on a personal level.

With this episode, listeners are not only treated to a masterclass in customer experience but also to a narrative-rich exploration of how empathy, curiosity, and storytelling intersect in order to drive business growth.

Episode Highlights

The Power of Customer Feedback: Shep emphasizes the critical importance of leveraging customer feedback to transform service interactions into opportunities for revenue generation.

Data-Driven Insights: Sharing insights from his annual survey, Shep reveals that nearly a quarter of customers would not return after just a satisfactory experience, underlining the need for businesses to aim beyond satisfaction.

Creating 'Moments of Magic': He discusses the significance of creating customer experiences that exceed expectations, even slightly, to foster loyalty and repeat business, coining these as 'Moments of Magic.'

In the first episode of Experience Matters, visionary customer service and CX expert Shep Hyken delves into the transformative potential of customer service. He discusses how businesses can convert service interactions into revenue opportunities. 

Drawing from his extensive background and recent surveys conducted by his company, he illustrates the stark contrast between moments of mediocrity and true customer delight, underscoring the significance of consistency, predictability, and the strategic leveraging of customer feedback.

“You are the first person to hear this information based on this year's annual survey, which just came back to me last week,” says Shep, sharing some key takeaways and data points from his annual survey with the listeners. “Almost a quarter of the customers, 23%, said that if they had a ‘satisfied’ experience, they are either not likely or would never come back,” emphasizing the need to create customer experiences that truly stand out.

Hyken underlines the criticality of elevating customer experiences beyond mere satisfaction to create 'Moments of Magic'—experiences that exceed expectations. He dives deeper into what makes a customer interaction better than others. He simplifies the answer to an age-old question: How can customer service teams truly define this “better” and create more impactful customer experiences?