The Learn-It-All Podcast 155: How to Build Customer-Obsessed Cultures (That Don’t Burn Out Your Team) | Van Battle
“73% of customers say experience is a key factor in their purchasing decisions just behind price and product quality,” according to a report from PwC.
Customer experience is no longer just a support function of your business... it’s a leadership strategy.
In this episode, we’re joined by Van Battle, a seasoned customer experience leader who has first hand experience on how it can improve a company’s success based on his career working with brands like Jamba Juice, Urban Remedy, and The Sharper Image.
In this episode you will learn:
- The real difference between customer service and customer experience
- How to turn your support team into your company’s most strategic asset
- Why empathy is a leadership skill
- How “minor league” development programs can retain top talent
- What most companies get wrong when using AI in customer experience
- How to empower reps to resolve issues without escalating every time
- What leaders must do to instill a culture of ownership
Timestamps:
00:16 – Leading through stewardship: what it looks like
01:09 – Lessons from the restaurant world: empathy starts on the frontlines
03:26 – The invisible value of busboys and call center reps
05:18 – Why Van sends reps into stores and orders their own products
06:58 – Customer service vs. customer experience
08:46 – Anticipating issues before they happen
10:23 – Turning reps into “insight engines”
12:32 – Avoiding burnout: how to distribute workload fairly
13:40 – Baseball, development, and team balance
14:57 – The “minor league program” for career growth
17:11 – Upskilling with Learnit: real examples that worked
19:03 – Creating a culture of learning and mobility
20:04 – Training teams to own the resolution
22:45 – Building confidence through empowerment
23:39 – When the customer isn’t right—and how to respond
25:22 – Tracking patterns to prevent abuse
26:52 – Balancing trust between customer and employee
29:36 – How to turn customer data into internal action
32:01 – Getting specific: “friendly” means what exactly?
33:18 – How customer expectations have evolved
35:52 – Humanizing digital experiences in a tech-first world
37:49 – What Southwest’s shift says about customer loyalty
39:14 – What AI should never replace
41:04 – Will AI replace frontline workers?
42:47 – Van’s biggest leadership lesson about customer experience
Resources & Mentions:
- Follow Van on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vancbattlejr/
- Urban Remedy: https://urbanremedy.com/
- Jamba Juice: https://www.jamba.com/
Connect With Us:
Website: www.learnit.com
Email: podcast@learnit.com
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