Balancing Tech and Human Touch with Joe Welu

Episode 6 of the Creating Superfans podcast is a special one because I got to chat with the founder and CEO of Total Expert, Joe Welu. Joe transformed the company from a tiny startup developed in the basement of his real estate office to an organization with over 300 employees that powers customer engagement for 200 financial institutions, including 15 of the top 25 U.S. banks and lenders. Joe shares with us the importance of staying grounded in the tech industry and how you can balance software with the human touch to power meaningful interactions at scale.

Show Notes

3:00 - How Joe developed Total Expert from the basement of his real estate office!

3:33 - How Joe expanded on his original idea of bringing lenders and real estate agents together

5:34 - How Total Expert balances technology and the human touch at scale 

7:54 - The #1 core value of Total Expert and how it powers the infrastructure of their platform

9:00 - How Joe would respond to teams that are hesitant to implement and learn a new software 

10:12 - Why it’s important to start with the outcomes when making product decisions

11:08 - How you stay grounded in tech without going overboard with functionality and features

12:40 - For Total Expert’s customers’ customers - those that are buying homes or making financial decisions - what are the most important aspects in creating excellent client experiences?

14:53 - The mindset shift that separates Total Expert from many other businesses

16:05 - Why creating an exceptional employee experience is critical for the customer experience

17:00 - What does customer success really mean? 

19:40 - How the velocity of change for consumers is impacting businesses

21:25 - How financial services is behind eCommerce when it comes to data-driven recommendations

23:35 - Why it’s imperative, especially in financial services, to use customer data in an ethical way

27:57 - As a customer, what’s a brand that went above and beyond and really delighted Joe?

29:49 - What’s one piece of advice that Joe has for anyone that’s trying to improve their customer experience? 

Learn more about Total Expert.

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