The CX Leader Podcast | A resource for customer experience leaders

When we talk about “experiences” it’s often from a holistic point of view – through the lens of “experience management”, or “XM.” But how do you connect the customer with the employees, or the employees with the brand? One way is through the use of storytelling, which can be particularly effective in building empathy and understanding. Host Steve Walker welcomes Bruce Temkin, head of the XM Institute, for a discussion on how storytelling can build customer empathy and lead to better customer experience.

A key element to building any customer experience program is understanding your customers and creating empathy. And there are tools to help with that: surveys, interviews, journey mapping sessions. But what about the process beyond all the discovery that happens? What do you DO with all that “understanding?” Host Steve Walker welcomes Emily Stump of Indiana University Health for a look at how design thinking can be a valuable tool for CX professionals. 

Companies regularly hire experienced professionals from outside their organization. But they can’t tell from a resume how good of a culture fit the new leaders will be. And employees frequently find that to grow their skills, they need to go to another company – often leaving a company that is a good fit for them. So how can you solve both problems at once? Host Steve Walker welcomes Jeff Epstein, founder of Onboard.io, for a discussion on creating the right culture for employees which ultimately creates better customer experiences.

Customer experience professionals have an opportunity to help create a genuine and lasting impact on their companies. But like any other aspect of an organization, there are some key elements – or “ingredients” – they need to make the right impact. And each company’s needs will be different, so it's important to know what ingredients are needed for their specific situations. Host Steve Walker welcomes Stacey Nevel, director of voice of the customer at Prudential Financial, for a discussion on what ingredients are needs to create an impactful CX program.

It’s been said a countless number of times on this show: customer experience has never been more important for companies today. The pandemic has changed not only how businesses operate, but how consumers are make purchasing decisions. This has provided CX programs an opportunity to make a huge impact on how companies navigate their way through new territory as we start to see the world emerge from the pandemic. Host Steve Walker welcomes back Jay Baer of Convince and Convert to discuss how CX has - or can - make an impact.

Many are exhausted over the pandemic and discussing how it “changed everything,” but it would be a disservice to not recognize its effects on the CX profession. But there are some valuable take-aways in what we’ve learned about the experience management world during the pandemic. Host Steve Walker welcomes Jeanne Bliss, a c-suite coach and global thought leader for CX, the Founder and CEO of Customer Bliss, a co-founder of the CXPA, and host of the podcast The Human Duct Tape Show, to discuss CX trends as world emerges from the pandemic.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 19 million people were enrolled in some level of college education for the fall semester of 2018. And just like any other business, it’s important for academic institutions to pay attention to their customer – or perhaps “student” – experience. But as you can imagine, CX in the higher education realm is a bit different. Host Steve Walker and guest Karla Fisher, chief industry advisor for education at Qualtrics, discuss the unique circumstances that CX pros work under at colleges and universities.

It’s that time of year when producer Chris Higgins likes to take a moment and look back on some of the excellent advice from past guests on The CX Leader Podcast. Having covered a variety of topics from mystery shopping, CX in government, and even how one of the “happiest places on earth” executes their customer experience, there's a vast number of "take home value" segments to choose from, but this episode focuses on four particularly insightful tips for CX leaders. 

Between website feedback, social media posts, product reviews, and every other way customers can provide insights, a staggering amount of data is generated everyday. If you’re a customer experience professional trying to make sense of everything your customers are saying about your company, you need a tool to help quantify all that information. That’s where text analytics can help. Host Steve Walker welcomes Matt Braun and Job Willman, both associates at Walker, to provide helpful guidance on using text analytics to quantify your data.

CX professionals tend to get excited about some of the new concepts, practices, and technologies that are available to help companies provide the best possible experience for their customers. But it’s easy to get “swept away” by the excitement of how CX is growing and sometimes forget some of the basics of the profession. Host Steve Walker welcome Luke Williams, a distinguished principle XM catalyst at the Qualtrics XM Institute, for a discussion on the basics and how the growing field of experience management - or "XM" - fits into the mix.