The Modern Customer Podcast

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.

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.