Most of us have grown up with the stereotyped idea that a leader should be emotionless and impersonal. But this isn’t the case, as we so often see that introducing personal feelings and emotional intelligence into the mix can make for better leaders with stronger connections to their employees. In this episode of my podcast, I’m proud to say that I sat down with Jacob Morgan, my husband of nine years and father to our two children. Jacob is a certified futurist and speaker and has just published his fifth book, Leading with Vulnerability: Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization. Jacob spoke with me about vulnerability in the workplace and how it’s an essential tool and complement for leadership. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

As customer experience professionals, our goal is to listen to what customers want and make changes to improve our service and their experience. But as David Cote suggests, so many companies miss the mark because they think they have to choose between short- and long-term goals for their business rather than aiming for both. Under David Cote's leadership, Honeywell's market cap soared from $20 billion to $120 billion, a testament to his effective management strategies. I sat down recently to speak with David about his experience as CEO of Honeywell and his recent book Winning Now, Winning Later. I wanted to know how his leadership experiences could be applied to the customer experience space. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Despite trying to do our best every day in customer experience or any other facet of business, we often run up against a wall. We focus all of our energy on performance, and by doing so, our results can actually decrease. But why would that happen? Eduardo Briceno, TEDx presenter and author of The Performance Paradox, believes it’s because so many of us are stuck in a fixed mindset. Despite aiming for growth, we don’t properly cultivate a growth mindset in order to help us achieve it. We’re continually putting our best effort into less effective practices, so our results don’t improve. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

The most competitive brands today understand the contact center is an opportunity, and ensuring a customer-centric culture in that contact center is key. The problem for most brands and customer experience leaders is high churn and the reality that burnout is real. I talked to Brian Dunphy, an experienced contact center and customer experience expert who’s guided customer experience strategy for notable companies such as Disney, Bank of America, WarbyParker, and Postmates. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.  

Over the past few decades, the landscape of the Fortune 500 has changed immensely. Reflecting on this transformation, Alan Murray, the founder of Fortune, offers an intriguing perspective. “If you go back 50 years and you look at the balance sheet of Fortune 500 companies in the 1970s, over 80 percent of the value came from physical entities - from oil in the ground to inventories on the shelves," he says. But he points out that this is no longer the case. In today's digital age, more than 85 percent of the value of the Fortune 500 is tied up in intangibles such as intellectual property, software, and brand value. At its core, brand value epitomizes the emotional bond a brand shares with its customers. The emphasis has shifted from the tangible to the intangible; from concrete assets to human emotion and ingenuity. As Murray explains, “Ingenuity is the human capacity to craft innovative solutions to enhance life." Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.  

Modern customer experience is data-driven. Management needs data-backed insights to understand what they can improve in their processes or products to yield better customer service. This is why research companies such as Forrester exist. Forrester is an advisory company offering research, consulting, and other services to help companies make better customer experience decisions. On the Modern Customer, I talked to Pete Jacques, a principal customer experience analyst at Forrester, about Forrester’s recent report and we discussed that it’s critical for customer experience leaders to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Running a contact center is one of the most challenging processes for a company when offering a unique and positive customer experience. Contact centers are the bridge that connects your customers to your brand and allows them to feel engaged and heard. So, what makes running one so difficult? I talked to Naomi Wheeless, the Global Head of Customer Success at Square, about the management and leadership strategy required to modernize and run a customer-centric contact center.  Square is a publicly traded company providing financial, payment, and marketing services for businesses. Their call center lies at the heart of their customer success strategy.  Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

Tanger Outlets has a 42-year history of being an industry leader in branded in-person retail outlets, providing a unique on-brand customer experience for people shopping for unique products from specific brands. Stephen Yalof, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer, says that for the company and its outlets to remain relevant, it had to pivot towards customer experience in retail outlets instead of simply offering brands a space to sell unique on-brand items. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.  

In customer experience integrating innovation and personalization is key. Inspirato is a luxury vacation membership company that offers its members access to a curated collection of luxury vacation properties and experiences around the world. The company operates on a subscription-based model, where members pay an annual fee for access to these high-end vacation options. I had the pleasure of talking with Inspirato President David Kallery, about how they are redefining the luxury travel and hospitality paradigm. Inspirato focuses on creating a compelling customer experience, and through that satisfied customer they get new customers. A staggering 50% of their members originate from existing member referrals. But why does this referral system work so well? It boils down to their customer focus which builds trust, empathy, and genuine connection. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future.

  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.