The Customer Experience Podcast

If you want your business to grow and succeed, it needs to be built on a solid foundation of relationships. Obviously. However, creating connection with the right people can be quite difficult — even damaging — if you go about it the wrong way. What if I told you that creating connection is as simple as collaborating with anyone you want to know to create valuable content?  This very episode of the Customer Experience Podcast is both a consequence of and a demonstration of content-based networking. About four years ago, I created some content with someone who is now my friend. It’s a relationship that grew relatively slowly. It took a couple of years of content collaboration before any deals were made. But this is what content-based networking is all about: making content with people with the aim of creating a connection that could turn into future business. You really have nothing to lose with this approach. Worst-case scenario – you end up with stellar content and new relationships.  I’m so honored to introduce you to my friend James Carbary, Founder of Sweet Fish Media, host of B2B Growth, and author of Content-Based Networking. What we talked about: Improving CX with content-based networking  Making your own luck to create valuable content and meaningful interactions  Focusing on the process of building relationships instead of the outcomes  Taking a journalistic approach to content creation  Balancing online connection with offline connection Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: James was inspired by Never Lose a Customer again by Joey Coleman and all the books by Gary Vaynerchuk James’s book is Content-Based Networking I’ve interviewed James before at BombBomb HQ. He’s interviewed me twice at B2B Growth (Ep 248 and Ep 381). Subscribe, listen, and rate/review the Customer Experience Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or Google Podcasts, and find more episodes on our blog.

As the customer experience evolves, so do our motives. Consumers are no longer motivated by a great piece of content (if they ever were). They’re motivated as long as you can offer them the best solution at the most essential time. In fact, the director of market strategy at Salesforce — Mathew Sweezey — wrote an entire book on what exactly goes into context marketing. That book, entitled Context Marketing Revolution: How to Motivate Buyers in the Age of Infinite Media, lays out in detail how marketers can break through the world of endless noise we’ve built. Luckily for us, Mathew was kind enough to hop on The Customer Experience Podcast and answer a few questions. What we talk about: Why collaboration and executive buy-in make for top marketing performers How businesses can grow by way of holistic customer experience The origin of his new book, Context Marketing Revolution Why we’ve become immune to attention-based marketing How to take a human-centered approach to marketing The benefits of using video in a holistic CX Resources mentioned in this episode: EF Schumacher - Small is Beautiful Searles, Locke Levine Weinberger - The Cluetrain Manifesto Pine & Gilmore - The Experience Economy Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Message Seth Godin - Permission Marketing Aldous Huxley - Island Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

When you constantly learn from the best, you become the best. Today we’re learning from some of the best salespeople, who know that the secret to improving customer experience is no secret at all. My most recent podcast guest spent a few years as a Marketing Director before becoming a Territory Manager for UPS, selling supply chain solutions. For the past decade, he’s been blowing out his quotas in sales and account management roles. He currently serves as a Manager of Strategic Accounts at Myriad Genetics. On this episode, I interview Tyler Menke, Manager of Strategic Accounts at Myriad Genetics and author of The Pirate’s Guide to Sales: A Seller’s Guide for Getting from Why to Buy.  We chatted about everything from Simon Sinek, TED Talks, losing a parent, ending a book, and why medical sales are so hard to break into. You’ll also hear about: Our mutual adoration for Simon Sinek, Daniel Kahneman, and TED Talks Establishing VALUE How strategic accounts is like a quarterback What sales should understand about marketing Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: The Pirate’s Guide to Sales — Tyler’s book   Start with Why by Simon Sinek   TED Talks Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

Three experience-based goals are the foundation of an amazing agency that builds the concept of experience right into its name: The Participation Agency. Translating digital experiences into lived experiences. Creating remarkable, resonant experiences without abandoning data and analytics. Building affinity between customers and brands through experience. The extreme laser-focus on experience obviously caught my attention, but as I learned more about The Participation Agency, I saw that its success can be credited to the dedication and energy of the two founders… one of whom I got to interview on The Customer Experience Podcast. She’s been named Inc’s Millennial CEO Rising Star and one of Adweek’s Disruptors, one of 39 women leading a revolution in advertising, media, and tech, and she’s also the co-founder and CEO of The Participation Agency — Ruthie Schulder. We had such a great conversation about how experiential marketing builds brand awareness and ultimately relationships. You’ll also hear about... Experiential marketing Definitions of placemaking and 360 marketing Why it took hustle to build the agency The experience Ruthie creates for her partners (clients) Why you don’t really need an MBA Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

Experience differentiators were the subject of a recent LinkedIn post that grabbed my attention for the way it spoke to the heart of this podcast… aligning to invest in creating and delivering better experiences for our customers. I asked its author to be a guest on my podcast to hear more about his experience in operations, account management, biz dev, and sales roles. I was so excited to interview Ned Arick, Account Executive at YourWelcome, after connecting with him because of his LinkedIn content. Keep listening or reading below as Ned dives into what it really means to rewrite the narrative and how he keeps it real on his LinkedIn. The insights he shares will apply to everyone who wants to build relationships and keep the customer experience holistic.  What we talked about: Becoming “the educator” and not just the trusted advisor What his 12-year-old cousin has to do with hyper-competition How to actually rewrite the narrative What LinkedIn has done for Ned’s reputation (hint: it’s good) Ned’s testimonial about the humanizing power of video Check out these 2 posts of Ned’s we mentioned during the podcast: A Look to 2020 The Mindset of Charging Admission Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

The most economically valuable thing you can do is to meet customer expectations. Meet the expectations. Not exceed customer expectations. Not surprise and delight your customers at every turn. Actually, the best way (economically and experientially) to serve your business and especially your customers is to meet their expectations. I’m Ethan Butte, here today on The Customer Experience Podcast to share my appreciation for a book that I’m, yes, late to the party on. It’s called The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi.  The first chapter of The Effortless Experience starts out by calling out myths that tend to be overlooked by marketing, sales, and leadership — but which are highly relevant to these people and their organizations. There's so much focus on customer delight and the so-called “wow moments,” but not enough focus on something much simpler and more economically valuable: meeting customer expectations and reducing their effort. Delighting customers in the service channel does not pay. Customer service drives disloyalty, not loyalty. The key to mitigating disloyalty is reducing customer effort. Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi Matthew Dixon’s other coauthored books, The Challenger Sale and The Challenger Customer Episode 34 with Mike Redbord: 4 Things Every Customer Wishes You Understood About Them Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

Amaze every customer every time … that sounds like a promising foundation for a remarkable customer experience, doesn’t it? That’s the theme of the conversation you’re about to enjoy. My guest today is Shep Hyken, Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations and a customer service expert and speaker. He’s the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of six books, among which include: The Cult of the Customer The Amazement Revolution The Convenience Revolution Be Amazing or Go Home In this episode of The Customer Experience Podcast, I talk with Shep about what it means to be amazing, how amazement applies to the customer experience, and how to use video to beat expectations by just 10% each time, every time. Shep has years of experience in customer service and has been a speaker on the topic for decades. Keep on reading as Shep dives into our discussion about how to deliver an amazing customer experience by being just slightly better than expectations — and about why “fine” is the danger zone for satisfied customers.  You’ll also hear: Why you have to exceed expectations by 10% How nothing’s changed in CX in 50 years Video techniques to deliver amazement Your brand is a promise How a car dealership amazed Shep with its superior customer service Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

Today, we’re talking about how people work. It’s no understatement to say that knowing how people think and what makes them tick is a must for everything from making sales to just holding conversations that uplift both sides. I was incredibly excited to talk to Vanessa Van Edwards, Lead Investigator at Science of People and bestselling author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People.  In this episode of The Customer Experience Podcast, we chatted about 3 types of people, why video is so important, how Vanessa still challenges herself to be authentic after 12 years on YouTube, and ways to open and close conversations. This episode is not to be missed for anyone who’s ever had to make boring small talk or wanted to know how to develop deeper connections faster. What we talked about: Video produces oxytocin Video takes practice Dump the script when you’re recording Ways to open and close a conversation Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards Who’s Your City? by Richard Florida Vanessa’s TEDxLondon talk The Ambivert Quiz Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play

A great employee experience begets a great customer experience. If you want to retain your best team members, you need to value them and invest in them. Today, we’re talking about investments in your sales team - training, coaching, and development. These are things that both make them better and demonstrate how you’re building them up. Did you know that 30% of sales reps get no coaching whatsoever? What does that say about their value in their company? (Exactly.) I’m so pumped to bring Dave Kennett to the Customer Experience Podcast because he’s so on point with the importance of demonstrating value to sales reps through coaching. Dave Kennett, founder, and CEO of Replayz, also served as VP or Director of Sales, as well as VP or Director of Business Development,m in a variety of organizations in a nearly 20-year career so far. What we talked about: Doing the spadework before the last day of the quarter Mentors are better than books 30% of sales reps aren’t being coached at all You’re going to be kicking yourself in a couple of years if you don’t start using video now Check out these resources Dave made just for The Customer Experience Podcast listeners: How to navigate demos & discovery calls Where to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast: iTunes or Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Google Play Google Podcasts

If you've been thinking at all about implementing video into your sales or CS process — and let’s face it, you pretty much can’t be a video denier anymore — you're going to love this episode.  There's been a ton of talk about video lately. Not that highly produced video with background music and a suite of hairstylists, but simple, personal video. Think about these casual and conversational videos as video voicemails. I’m Ethan Beute, the cohost of the CX series on the B2B Growth Show and the host of the Customer Experience Podcast. I’m talking about adding video into your communication process on today’s episode because it’s the smart next step for you. I’m going to tell you where to start. So, if you like the idea of video but you're not sure where it belongs, this episode will teach you 3 specific places to implement video and pro tips for how to make the video more effective.  You’ll also hear: Why video is great for apologies The good news that you don’t need a script What “evergreen” videos are Time and attention are gifts that can’t be faked Subscribe, listen, rate, and review the show on: Apple Podcasts or iTunes Spotify Google Podcasts Google Play