The Modern Customer Podcast

  With its many changes and outside forces, the airline industry is challenging for customer experience. But Oscar Munoz, former CEO of United Airlines, believes it also provides an amazing opportunity to focus on individual customers and remember that even in stressful times and busy travel days, customers are humans and central to everything the business does.  When Oscar first stepped into his role as CEO of United Airlines, he prioritized developing the shared purpose, or the mission, vision, and values. Over a year, he interviewed thousands of employees about what made United different and why they worked there. From their insights, United Airlines created the shared purpose of connecting people and uniting the world. And because employees were involved in creating that shared purpose, they have buy-in and are more engaged. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Marketing is often thought of as everything that happens before a sale; customer service is everything that happens after. But according to Allan Dib, best-selling author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, customer service is marketing. The two sides are related and can work together to create a smoother experience overall. Like in customer service, Dib says the first step of marketing is knowing your audience. Who are you talking to? What are they interested in? In his mind, marketing is the strategy used to get your ideal clients to know you, like you, and trust you enough to become customers. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

What is a customer-centric culture? According to Dr. Chris L. Brown, CEO and Co-Founder of MarketCulture, it’s the environment, behaviors, and how work gets done. At customer-centric companies, the culture revolves around providing an excellent customer experience. That strong culture starts with leaders who set the tone for embracing customers and having a customer-centric mindset. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

From Chief Experience and Chief Customer Officers to Customer Experience leaders, more companies are creating customer leadership roles. These positions can greatly impact customer-centricity, but they bring a common question: where do you start? Jim Weber, Chief Experience Officer of Comerica Inc, stepped into his current role in late 2019 with a goal to build and expand a customer experience team. Weber says one of the most crucial parts of his job was ensuring he tasked the right person with running customer experience on a daily basis. At Comerica, that’s Maria Adams, the director of CX, who Weber says can see everything and process it strategically. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Noha Abdalla, CMO of Choice Hotels, highlights the importance of data in improving the customer experience. They discuss customer trends in the hotel and travel industry, the definition of customer experience, and how hotels can enhance it. They also share insights on their marketing strategy, influencer partnerships, and leadership hacks.

Where does a customer-obsessed culture start? With the CEO. Jeff Mezger, Chairman, President, and CEO at KB Home, is known for his customer-centricity. That mindset has spread throughout the company to create a culture of customer obsession. Every employee knows their role and the impact of their work, which leads to incredibly high customer satisfaction rates. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Like many industries, the automotive space has been upended in recent years. With supply chain issues, changing technology, and evolving customer preferences and priorities, the car-buying process is much different than it used to be. Jennifer Vianello, CMO of Cars.com, says there have been so many predictions about car-buying over the last 25 years that it is challenging to make new predictions. And even with advancements in technology, most customers continue to purchase in person and do tremendous amounts of research beforehand. Buying a car is the second largest purchase most people will ever make and one most people don’t take lightly.  Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Delivering quality content to customers builds trust and strengthens relationships. With the power of search engine optimization, content can be a powerful marketing tool to establish your company as a thought leader and develop credibility. According to Leslie Yazel, Editor and Head of Content for Buy Side from WSJ, people who come through search are looking for a particular product or answer and can turn into valuable customers. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Most companies understand the importance of their frontline workers interacting with customers daily. But how many will build a customer experience strategy around them? At JetBlue Travel Products, the contact center is in the middle of everything the company does--literally and figuratively.  Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. 

Imagine having an expert makeup artist available whenever you have a question. That's the reality for customers of some of the world's leading beauty brands, thanks to an innovative digital strategy that combines technology and the human touch.  Salima Popatia is the Chief Digital Officer at Orveon Global, the company behind some of the world’s most recognizable beauty brands: Laura Mercier, Bare Minerals, and Buxom. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.