Next in Queue

Next in Queue

By Rob DwyerBusiness
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Next in Queue episodes

  • May I See Your Rental Agreement featuring Amas Tenumah

    Customer Experience is on the decline in almost every sector. In 1987’s Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Steve Martin’s character embodied the frustration many customers feel today. His expletive-laden tirade at a disinterested and unhelpful car rental agent played by Edie McClurg might resonate with many customers today. If it were a real company, some might suggest Marathon Car Rental should hire a CX Consultant.

    But Customer Service Evangelist, Amas Tenumah, has some very different thoughts on the CX movement, consultants, and what will ultimately improve customer experience. His refreshing takes can be found in his books, multiple podcasts as both guest and host, and contributions to the likes of NPR and Forbes, and now, Next in Queue.

    We discuss:

    • The Negative Impact of the CX Movement
    • Customer Anger and the Desire for Revenge
    • The Complexity of CX in the Omni-Channel Age
    • Demanding Change in Customer Service
    • The Power of Grassroots Movements
    • Prioritizing Contact Center Agents

    Connect with Amas on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/amastenumah/

    Books and Podcasts by Amas – https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AAmas+Tenumah&s=relevancerank&text=Amas+Tenumah&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    43 min
  • You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat featuring Charlotte Ward

    For nearly 50 years, a mere two musical notes have evoked suspense for those who have seen the 1975 film, Jaws. The movie launched the career of composer, John Williams, and the movie became the prototype of the summer blockbuster. Roy Schneider’s character, police chief Martin Brody, leads a small team of two experts to go after the beach town’s biggest problem – a man-eating great white shark. But when he realizes the scope and size of the problem, he decides that his small team and their small boat may not be up to the task.

    Supporting customers when the customer-base is growing can feel a little like being on a sinking ship as well. But instead of one shark, there are dozens. Even when you manage to take care of one, there are more lurking in the water. You need a bigger boat and a bigger team. But building a bigger team is a balancing act. You need to consider tools, team chemistry, team structure, and how to ensure growth of support isn’t linear with the growth of customers. Charlotte Ward has navigated these waters before and is navigating them again with her support team at Snowplow.

    We discuss:

    • How highly technical customers impact the support approach
    • Single level vs. tiered support structures
    • How processes, tooling, hiring, and retention are impacted when scaling
    • How time tracking can identify areas for improvement
    • The role of AI in support
    • Breaking linear growth and evolving support

    Connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottecward/

    Customer Support Leaders – https://customersupportleaders.com/

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    56 min
  • We Have the Technology featuring Neal Travis

    The Six Millon Dollar Man (a.k.a. Steve Austin) was the result of an opportunity to design a man who was augmented with technology. The 70’s series ran from 1973 to 1978, if you include the first 3 “pilot” episodes that were actually made-for-TV movies. Its use of slow-motion combined with “bionic” sound-effects made Steve Austin (and Lee Majors, the actor who portrayed him) a major cultural icon of the decade.

    While the design process of The Six Million Dollar Man was a work of science fiction, business leaders like Neal Travis are constantly considering how new technologies can be implemented to improve current processes. Instead of battling foes in the Dutch countryside, Neal is thinking about how technology can improve community. He knows he can rebuild his community platform – he has the technology. He can make the AIHR Community “better than it was before… better, more engaging, more supportive.”

    We discuss:

    • The importance of community
    • Building a community platform and the measures of success
    • Moderation and voice of the customer
    • Community-led growth and premium access considerations
    • Trending topics in HR

    Connect with Neal on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/neal-travis/

    Growth Support Podcast – https://www.growthsupport.io/

    Academy to Innovate HR – https://www.aihr.com

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    39 min
  • We Don’t Need Another Hero featuring Mark Slatin

    Tina Turner’s hit, We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) was the theme to the 1985 film, MAD MAX: Beyond Thunderdome. Given her personal history, one might imagine this song having meaning well beyond the movie’s themes. Afterall, heroes are typically portrayed as men deserving our admiration. Their flaws are often minimized or outright ignored because of their achievements. Be it personally or professionally, most of us want to succeed in our own right – not have some “hero” swoop in and save the day.

    That doesn’t mean we don’t seek help or advice. We often need one or both and we seek it from those we trust the most. But what is trust? How do we become trustworthy? For answers I talked with Mark Slatin who created the Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class.

    We discuss:

    • Trust and the 4 elements in the Trust Quotient
    • Transitioning from Hero to Trusted Guide
    • Three forms of customer loyalty
    • Measuring the ROI and Value of CX
    • Practical Tips for enhancing your own trustworthiness

    Connect with Mark on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/markslatin/

    Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class – https://www.empoweredcx.com/

    Trust Quotient Assessment – https://trustsuite.trustedadvisor.com/

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    41 min
  • Learning to Fly featuring Jeff Sheehan

    Customer Experience initiatives can often feel like we’re doing something as complicated as learning to fly. Tom Petty’s 1991 hit was inspired by a quote from a pilot who said that the hardest part was coming down. That safe landing is ultimately the return you’re looking for when you’re flying. It’s a fairly simple way to measure success.

    For Customer Experience initiatives, measuring success can be more complicated. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it and do it well. Former Army Aviator turned CX Consultant, Jeff Sheehan, has some advice for getting ROI out of your CX initiatives and it starts with listening to what customers are telling you every day.

    We discuss:

    • Similarities between the military and contact centers
    • Limitations of surveys when developing CX initiatives
    • The Value-Irritant Methodology for improving CX
    • Finding the right balance in digital transformation

    Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-sheehan-thecxroiguy/

    CX JS Consulting – https://cxjsconsulting.net/

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    49 min
  • Far From Home featuring Matt Beran

    Eternal Inflation is the idea that baby universes are being created all the time. It’s actually a dominant theory in cosmology today, not just an idea invented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Tom Holland’s Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) starts babbling on about the multiverse in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, he’s actually babbling about current quantum mechanics and string theory. What it suggests is that, yes, parallel universes exist.

    For those that have been involved in both, IT Support and Customer Support can feel like parallel universes. The tools are similar and they both work toward resolving customer issues, but Matt Beran points out that despite these similarities, there are some striking differences between these two universes. Whether there’s a universe where Peter Parker is working IT Support is still up for debate.

    We discuss:
    • Why Matt has been dubbed “The Negotiator”
    • Differences between IT Support and Customer Support
    • The impact of Cloud Adoption on IT Management
    • Current Information Security Challenges
    • How Quantum Computing may impact Security
    • An Unexpected Detour into the World of Composting

    Connect with Matt on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattberan/

    Ticket Volume – https://www.youtube.com/@ticketvolumepodcast

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    38 min
  • Connections featuring Lynn Hunsaker

    In 1978, James Burke, a science historian, brought us the TV series Connections. His interdisciplinary approach to exploring the history of scientific achievements demonstrated how interconnected so many things were. Burke’s contention was that one cannot consider the development of any piece of the modern world in isolation.

    Isolationist thinking is, of course, not limited to science. It happens in business rather often. We even borrowed a term from agriculture to describe it – siloed thinking. Of course, silos are for storing food, not thoughts. So we need to break down these “thought silos” so we can be aligned in our mission, vision, and values. Lynn Hunsaker is on a mission to get leaders to manage across all 5 CXM silos so that people across the company are aligned and she joins today to make the connections between them clear.

    We discuss:

    • Forrester’s CX Index and the recent results
    • How CX Indexes are scored and what they measure
    • The role of expectations in CX
    • Saying “No” to non-ideal customers
    • Aligning strategies with expectations for long-term success

    Connect with Lynn on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnhunsaker/

    ClearAction – https://ClearAction.com

    CX ROI Handbook – https://customerthink.com/cx-roi-handbook-connecting-customer-experience-and-employee-experience-roi/

    Connections with James Burke - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf02uWXhaGRng_YzH-Ser_VEV4lGSLX_1&si=WM2koteyBS90i9WU

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/


    57 min
  • They’ve Done Studies, You Know featuring Graham Hill

    Just because you attach numbers to something doesn’t necessarily give it credence – Even Ron Burgundy can sniff that out. This scene from 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy featuring Will Ferrell as the title character and Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana encapsulates a quote popularized by Mark Twain – “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

    Business decisions are often made on the back of statistics. Dr. Graham Hill has spent decades consulting for some of the largest organizations in the world. His work is grounded in research about customers, their behaviors, and what really drives them. We begin this week by digging into an oft quoted statistic regarding customer retention and profitability, and why it doesn’t make sense.

    We discuss:

    • The myth of customer loyalty
    • Flaws in an oft-cited customer retention quote
    • Limitations of NPS and other customer loyalty measures
    • The importance of understanding the jobs customers need done
    • What companies get wrong about personalization
    • The value of customer service

    Connect with Graham on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamhill/

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    51 min
  • You Give Me One Shot featuring Bryce Cressy
    The 2013 film, Wolf of Wall Street, perfectly illustrates the power of FOMO in this scene. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jordan Belfort, uses a detailed sales script to elicit FOMO to drive stock purchases from strangers. First identified in 1996 by marketing strategist Dr. Dan Herman, FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, is a driving force behind many decisions we make in the modern age. In part, this is because of our tendency to share positive experiences rather than negative ones.
    Businesses can experience FOMO, too, especially when it comes to technology. But just like Kevin, they may be adding technology because they feel pressured to do so rather than because it solves a specific problem. Bryce Cressy, Head of Partnerships & Innovation at Nutun, has seen FOMO over Digital Transformation even among Nutun’s partners. But they’ve also learned from mistakes and today, they focus on technology deployments that solve real problems.
    We discuss:
    • Success Stories solving real-world problems with technology
    • A real-world example of implementation gone wrong
    • The new approach Nutun is taking and how BPOs can learn from it
    • Tips for easing technology adoption
    • Some interesting South African slang
    • Advice for business leaders on navigating technology options
    Connect with Bryce on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brycecressy/
    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/
    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/
    49 min
  • Help! featuring Tom Luther

    The 1965 Beatles hit, Help!, was written during the height of Beatlemania. Released a month before their famous record-setting concert at New York’s Shea Stadium that drew over 55,000 screaming fans, it went to #1 in both the UK and US and was the fourth of six straight #1 singles in a row for the Fab Four. The little band from Liverpool was now the biggest band in the world. John Lennon’s lyrics display an honesty about his uncomfortable relationship with fame and was a favorite of Lennon’s. A year later, the Beatles would stop touring altogether.

    Taken in another context, the lyrics of Help! sound like a growing company that’s realized it can no longer rely solely on its own people, processes, and technology. Whether it’s answering customer inquiries or securing the right technology, lots of companies start looking for help as they grow. Outsource Consultants has been lending a helping hand for over a decade. This week, I chat with Tom Luther, Director of CX Advisory & Partnerships, about technology strategy, adoptions, and how leveraging a BPO can help with both.

    We discuss:

    • New Customer Experience Technologies
    o AI Noise Cancellation
    o Automated Post-Interaction Notes
    o Automated Quality
    • How to afford new technology adoption
    • How outsourcing impacts the P&L, HR, and CX
    • Why outsourcing doesn’t mean offshoring
    • How to get great results from nearshore/offshore outsourcing
    • The future of BPOs

    Connect with Tom on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomluther/

    Outsource Consultants – https://www.outsource-consultants.com/

    Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

    Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

    44 min

About Next in Queue

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Hosted by Rob Dwyer, Next in Queue features Customer Experience, Contact Center, Customer Support, Customer Success, Training, Leadership, and Technology experts and practitioners from around the…