The CX Leader Podcast | A resource for customer experience leaders

It’s not easy changing people’s minds. But we’re approaching a season in which customer experience professionals are working hard to convince executives and peers on the value of adopting a customer-centric mindset. WE as CX pros know the value of our efforts, but sometimes we have to convince others of its advantages. And sometimes data isn’t enough. We have to balance the data with storytelling to build confidence in others about the value of customer experience. Troy Powell hosts with guests Pat Gibbons, SVP at Walker, and Megan Burns, a customer experience expert, author, and keynote speaker.

Find a transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/the-cx-conundrum-of-changing-minds/

Learn more about Megan at https://megan-burns.com/

Download Walker's Storytelling Workbook at https://walkerinfo.com/cxleader/cx-storytelling-workbook/

Listen to more podcasts at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Listening to your customers is the “window” to knowing how well your organization is performing in its customer experience efforts. Whether it’s an online support chat, a voice of the customer through employee program, or a CSAT survey, each of these touchpoints provide a metric to how your customers view your company. But HOW you create these listening opportunities matters, and keeping them consistent with your company’s brand is important. Pat Gibbons welcomes Joe Chiew, senior manager of consumer insights and voice of the customer at The Guitar Center Company, for a discussion on creating consistent listening experiences.

Find the transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/the-harmonious-experience/

Learn more about Guitar Center at https://www.guitarcenter.com/

Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Producer's note: this episode originally dropped on October 11, 2022. While some details may have changed since it's original publication, we think Dan Silvert's insights on the importance of healthy relationships between employees is a great example of create excellent employee experiences. 

Many companies use them: personality tests or evaluations - ways to help employees discover more about how they and their colleagues work with others. Some might roll their eyes at the mention of them yet others find them very useful in trying to connect to other people in their company. Regardless of how you feel about them, the goal is ultimately a better-working team. And employees working well together means there’s better potential for excellent customer experiences. Host Steve Walker welcome Dan Silvert, a partner and president of the Velocity Advisory Group, a strategic consulting company.

Read more about Velocity Advisory Group: https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/

More about Dan's book, "The True Competitive Advantage: A Practical Guide to Achieving Extraordinary Success through Deep Relationships": https://www.amazon.com/True-Competitive-Advantage-Extraordinary-Relationships/dp/1619618567/

Listen to more episodes and subscribe to The CX Leader Podcast at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/

As consumers we’ve all interacted in different ways with companies. Sometimes an automated system, online chat, an app on our phones, or even a live human being. But as customer experience professionals, how do we know which channel is the best option and the most preferred by consumers? And how will AI fit into all this? Host Sara Walker welcomes James Scutt, a principle XM strategist at the Qualtrics XM Institute for a look at what their 2023 Global Consumer Study reveals about consumer channel preferences. 

Find a transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ai-is-it-hype-or-helpful/ 

Read the 2023 Global Consumer Study: https://www.xminstitute.com/research/consumer-channel-preferences-2024/ 

Listen to more podcasts at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

What’s the first thing you think of when asked, “how well do you listen?” Many CX professionals might think of their listening systems: surveys, close-loop feedback, listening architectures. Some may say they interact with clients on a regular basis. But what about actively listening? Talking less and letting others express themselves, and then reassuring them that the conversation was worth it. Host Sara Walker welcomes Marisa Schwartz, senior regional medical director for St. Luke’s University Health Network, to discuss the importance of active listening. 

Find a transcript of this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/talk-less-listen-more/

Learn more about St. Luke's University Health Network at https://www.slhn.org/

Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

It's human nature to compare what we do professionally – and even personally – with others and CX leaders are no different. So Walker, along with the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), launched The CX Leader Pulse as a way to give customer experience professionals a look into what companies are, and are not, doing within their CX programs. The results of the first study are in and host Pat Gibbons welcomes Walker’s own Troy Powell, Vice President of Strategy & Analytics, and Greg Melia, CEO of the CXPA, to discuss what was discovered.

Find a transcript of this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/the-results-are-in/

To participate in The CX Leader Pulse, visit https://walkerinfo.com/pulse

List to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about the Customer Experience Professionals Association at https://cxpaglobal.org/ 

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

CX leaders have become increasingly effective at taking action on customer feedback. Today many organizations have effective closed-loop programs that efficiently route insights to the right person for timely action. However, there’s a blind spot – the vast majority of customers never provide their feedback. Actually that’s more than a blind spot. It’s a black hole! This episode's guest has built an impressive early warning system that addresses this problem. Host Pat Gibbons welcomes Maddie Clark, Customer Experience Insights Senior Manager at ServiceNow, for a discussion on how she built an early warning system that addresses the problem of identifying dissatisfied customers that don't provide feedback.

Find a transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/the-black-hole-of-cx/

Learn more about ServiceNow at https://servicenow.com/

Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/

In today's consumer world, we are inundated with advertising from countless online and offline mediums, and too often companies think that's what really drives their brand. But if you're a customer experience leader, you know experience has possibly become the most prominent ingredient in a company's brand. So how do we make it work? How do CX leaders ensure an experience that influences the brand and reputation of their organization in a positive way? Host Pat Gibbons welcomes Keith Farley, senior vice president for individual benefits at Aflac, to discuss the experience of directing CX at one of the world's most famous brands.

Find a transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/your-brand-and-cx-theyre-connected/

Learn more about AFLAC at https://www.aflac.com/

Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/

If you go back in time 10 or 15 years you'll find it was common for a market research function within a company to send out a single survey each year to all customers asking about their satisfaction with the products and services they interacted with. The field has since greatly evolved as what we now call customer experience regularly receives customer feedback from multiple surveys and unstructured data, and we get that data from across multiple channels. But we still have a lot of evolution left if we want to keep up with the changes our companies are dealing with. Host Troy Powell welcome Isabelle Zdatny from the Qualtrics XM Institute to discuss the evolution of customer experience and experience management.

Find a transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/its-moving-really-fast/

Learn more about the XM Institute at https://www.xminstitute.com/ 

Listen to more podcasts at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Producer's Note: This podcast was originally released on April 4, 2023. As always with our encore episodes, please note that some details might be different, but the advice from Stacy Sherman regarding inclusiveness in CX and EX is still valuable. 

People in general want to do good things for others. But it’s easy to assume that everyone sees the world with similar eyes. We live in a diverse world with people that have different needs, so it’s important that CX professionals plan and accommodate so the experience is accessible and meaningful for all their customers. Host Steve Walker welcomes Stacy Sherman, a customer experience and marketing keynote speaker, content creator, and host of the podcast "Doing CX Right", for a discussion on creating inclusive experiences for customers and employees with different needs and abilities. 

Find a transcript for this episode on the show notes page: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/the-inclusive-experience/

Read more about Stacy on her website: https://doingcxright.com/ 

Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/

Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/