CX Conversations

Steve Jobs once said, "Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works." While organizations do focus on the look and feel, unfortunately, the 'how it works' part is ignored. And from the customer's perspective, this is a pain point that needs to be worked upon. The concept of customer shadowing can help overcome these pain points and design robust customer service. Customer shadowing is like being the fly on the wall while a customer goes through his/her journey. To discuss customer shadowing and how to use it to improve and innovate customer service design, I have with me Andrew Gallan, Assistant Professor of Marketing and the Director of The Centre for Services Marketing and Management at FAU School of Business, Florida. Among other things, Andrew and I discuss: What exactly is customer shadowing? How is it different from mystery shopping? What insights can one expect to derive of a customer shadowing exercise? How can customer shadowing impact customer experience? Honestly, I didn't know much about Customer Shadowing before this podcast. Thanks to Andrew, I learnt a great deal and I can assure you that you would learn something really interesting in this podcast. Connect with Andrew Gallan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgallan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/agallan Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

There is no denying that the end goal of any business is growth. And the one definitive way of achieving more growth is focusing on customer experience. Hence, for any organisation, its business strategy must go hand in hand with its CX strategy: the CX strategy must actualise the business strategy. However, many times, this does not happen and there is a significant gap between the CX and the business strategy. To discuss how organisations can bridge this gap, I am joined today by one of the best and the brightest in the CX world - Adrian Swinscoe. Adrian is a veteran customer experience consultant and advisor. He is also a best-selling author, Forbes contributor, blogger & podcaster, frequent conference speaker, panel participant and chair in various reputed CX conferences around the world. Among other things, Adrian and I discuss: Why do misalignments between business and CX strategies occur? How can organisations bridge the gap between business and CX strategies? What challenges do organisations encounter when aligning the two strategies and how they can overcome them? Connect with Adrian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianswinscoe/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/adrianswinscoe Special offer for CX Conversations listeners on PunkCX Kindle eBook until 26-Dec-2019 Amazon UK: https://in.omo.to/punkcx-amazonuk Amazon US: https://in.omo.to/punkcx-amazonus Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

Very often, we hear that the one mantra organisations must follow for success is to ensure that customer centricity is the DNA of an organisation. And this is an obvious idea. However, surprisingly, many organisation tend to lose sight of this idea as they grow. And that is when the downfall starts. The silver lining, though, is that organisations can redesign themselves to become customer-centric and attain sustainable growth. To help you with how to do so, I am joined by Heidi Beets, a serial enterprise business architect and a passionate growth advisor, who has worked with multiple brands across sectors to help them achieve sustainable growth through becoming customer-centric. She is currently an Enterprise Architect at Flight Centre Travel Group, a business travel consultant group. Among other things, Heidi and I discuss: How business architecture helps build customer centricity in an organisation? What kind of businesses require a business architecture? What tools and frameworks are used to design a business for sustainable growth? What roadblocks businesses encounter in making a customer-centric transformation? I am certain that this podcast will help you make a fantastic customer-centric transformation for your business. Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-beets-50156094/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamheidibeets Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

While we have, very often, seen brands make tall promises to court customers, we have also seen them fail on delivering those promises often. Why does this happen? Why is the customer's perception of a brand significantly different from the company's? Why do these conundrums occur? And how can brands avoid such pitfalls? I am delighted to be speaking with Neil Sharp, an expert on developing and delivering customer experience transformation programmes that place the customer at the heart of the organisation, who will answer these questions. Neil is currently Partner at PEN — a management consulting firm focusing on Customer Experience, Operational Excellence, and Change Delivery. He is leading the CX specialism within PEN that's dedicated to transforming CX for brands. Among other things, Neil and I discuss: What is a brand promise? What companies overlook when they develop their brand? What steps are required to develop a brand promise from the customer's perspective? How should brands make the best use of the brand promise? and What results, both short-term and long-term, organisations see post deploying customer-centric brand process? The vast experience that Neil has in the industry coupled with his extensive consulting experience have made this one of the most insightful and informative podcasts yet! This podcast is a must-listen for anyone in branding and customer experience. Connect with Neil Sharp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-sharp-331b89/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nsharp67 Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

Today's customers are demanding. The retail, banking, and hospitality sectors have realized that CX is the only differentiator today and have upped their game considerably to provide the best possible experience to their customers. Naturally, customers expect the same from all brands across all sectors, including healthcare. And why shouldn't they!? Healthcare is perhaps the only sectors where customers need the most love, empathy, and compassion. Right? Strangely, not many healthcare brands understand this fact. I wouldn't be wrong in assuming that most of us have been through one or more not-so-pleasant experiences at hospitals. Healthcare brands today must do all that they can to improve and enhance patient experience. But how do they do that? In this podcast, I talk with Rohit MA, Co-founder and Managing Director at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals - India’s leading chain of maternity, childcare and fertility care group of Hospitals, to help understand what healthcare brands can do to enhance the patient experience. Among other things, we discuss: How to design an amazing patient experience process? How to align employees to your CX vision? How to hire employees effectively? How to collect and use patient feedback to better the patient experience? While I am certain that this podcast will add value to all business leaders, it is a must-listen for all of you in the healthcare sector. Connect with Rohit on LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/rohitoncloud9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitoncloud9 Connect with Cloudnine Group of Hospitals on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloudninehospitals Twitter: https://twitter.com/CloudnineCare Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

People often conflate 'simple' with 'plain', and 'plain' has, well, a plain connotation. Nothing special about it. But, simple, as Da Vinci reminds us: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." When it comes to organisations, complexities are discouraged and simplicity is favoured and the reason for that is: simplicity is hospitable to adaptability and the efficacy of an organisation. Think of it this way: complexities within an organisation are inadvisable for they contribute to poor customer experience. Still not satisfied? Thankfully, I have one of the top professionals in this field to walk, you and I, through it all. In this podcast, I talk with Ricardo Saltz Gulko about how to deliver simple and simplified experiences to your customers and employees! Ricardo is the Managing Director and Co-founder of Eglobalis, a boutique consulting agency dedicated to enabling global tech companies to become more agile and adaptable to change. An MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a CCXP, Ricardo **is also a Thought Leader Member and Contributor at the CX University. Ricardo and I take a deep dive into: what is organisational complexity? how to break the organisational complexity barrier to drive growth? how Ricardo helps companies to design and lead a culture of 'simplicity'? how this organisational 'simplicity' improves customer experience? ... and much more. Tune in if you think your place of work is too 'complex' and want to help facilitate change towards a 'simple' organisation. Connect with Ricardo Saltz Gulko on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardogulko/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RicardoSGulko Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

The thought of visiting a government office, for most of us, is often followed by an exasperated sigh. Generally, that reaction is rooted in the poor experience that government offices are infamous for. CX improvement in government is often stymied due to its agencies' culture, shortage of staff, and / or dearth of technological implementation and adoption. These factors, among others, lead to an unsatisfactory experience. Fortunately, there are individuals and organizations out there, helping the governments improve their customer experience around the world. My guest on this podcast is among the leading Government CX Professional. I talk with Stephanie Thum, Founding Principal at Practical CX, about how to improve CX in government. Before starting Practical CX, she was Chief Advisor and Subject Matter Expert for Federal Customer Experience at Qualtrics. She has also served as an advisor for President Obama’s cross-agency task force on customer service. Stephanie and I discuss: Who is a customer for the government? What are the factors influencing the customer experience in government? Why must government offices focus on delivering better customer experience? What can governments do to improve customer experience? This conversation really made me realize that government offices too have a business to run and they need to focus on delivering delightful CX to make a lasting difference in people's life. If you're a CX professional or work in any other role in a government agency, this is for you. Connect with Stephanie on: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniethum/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephaniethum Practical CX on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PracticalCX Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

At a time when the world is going bonkers over chatbots, what would you think if I said that live chat with an actual person at the other end is more effective? It might come as a surprise to you, right? Well as a business it might not make as much sense as it would from the customer's perspective. People like to talk to people, not with bots. Interestingly, in this podcast I talk about exactly that. In conversation with Nelson Bruton, President, Interchanges - a leading live chat solution provider. We dive into everything live chat. From the differences between live chat and chat bots to discussing the best practices in implementing any chat solution on a website. With over a decade of helping brands use live chat more effectively and as a result generate $1.4 billion in revenue for clients, Nelson knows this subject in and out. Among other things, we discussed: Differences between live chat and chat bots. How live chat can improve a customer's experience? How does live chat compare when implementing in sales vs. in support function? How do you evaluate whether a chat solution is a good fit for your business? And much more! Connect with Nelson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelson-bruton/ Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

Founders need to strike a balance between product, go-to-market, customer experience, and business discipline to ensure sustainable growth for their startup. Often, sorting through the array of goals in each of these areas will cause a certain degree of palpitation. Sometimes, as Rohit puts it, even existential crisis. The art of successful business growth from infancy to a formidable organisation then lies in a founder's ability to walk a tight rope while using customer feedback as the balancing pole. This conversation with Rohit Sen, Founder and CEO, Nira - a FinTech dedicated to solving credit accessibility in India - is one of the most thought provoking podcasts I've done. It's partly philosophical but, interestingly, anchored on real practical lessons of entrepreneurship. Rohit and I talk why customer feedback is probably the best measure of how well you are doing as a business. Rohit tells some very interesting accounts of how, as a foreigner, he learnt about India and the Indian consumers and how he has ensured that CX doesn't become a buzzword at Nira. Among other things, we discuss: Rohit's journey in the Indian startup ecosystem, coming from UK. How Rohit is building a customer centric company culture at Nira? The various structured and unstructured customer feedback that is used at Nira to prioritise business decisions. How to balance the various forces in a startup and grow sustainably even in the face of investor's growth demands? I know that I'll keep coming back to this podcast for some sound advice every now and then. This is a personal ready reference for any startup founder. Connect with Rohit on: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rohit-sen-43a1612 Twitter: https://twitter.com/solar_corona Connect with Nira on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nirafinance/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nirafinance Register here to get updates in your inbox: https://om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out https://omoto.io

A nod from leadership on CX strategy might not translate into an allocation of resources for executing that strategy. Setting up a Customer Experience team is a challenging and arduous process. A process, if done right, yields tremendous value. A CX Management Team, just like other functional teams in an organisation, bring focus and accountability to customer experience. Setting up the right CX Management Team will put you on a fast track to realising your customer experience goals! In this episode with Thomas Linton, Strategic Growth Advisor at Care Sherpa, I discuss the process of setting up a customer experience team in your company. While there's plenty written on setting up a sales or product management team, this is perhaps the first time you'd get to learn about how to organise a winning CX team. Thomas and I discuss the following in detail: - How to create a CX team in service of achievement of not just CX goals but the overall business goals? - Organisation structure of a CX management team: roles, responsibilities, and KPI's. - How to hire the right people for the right role and how to set the right goals for them? - How to ensure the support of top management and securing resources for the CX team? CX leaders and CEOs looking at setting up a CX Management Team must listen to this! Connect with Thomas on, LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomaslinton/ Register here to get updates in your inbox: om1.cc/cxcon Looking for an NPS solution? Check out omoto.io