It goes without saying that designing any kind of product is no easy task. And in the case of software, balancing the engineering needs versus customer expectations can be daunting. Simple things like moving a button from the place it’s been for several versions can cause confusion and frustration. So it’s important to understand customers’ needs and communicate those needs to product designers. Host Sara Walker welcomes Naina Tahnilramani, a senior customer experience manager at Intuit and winner of the 2023 CXPA Emerging Leaders Award, for a discussion on the customer experience when launching new or updated products. Learn more about the CXPA Emerging Leaders Awards at: https://www.cxpa.org/advance-your-career/awards/emergingleaderawards Listen to more episodes at: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Ever see the old classic Alfred Hitchcock movie, “The Birds”? There’s a famous scene when a flock of crows attack a group of fleeing school children, swarming without mercy and terrifying everyone in their path. It sometimes feels like that with A.I. - people pecking and swarming at you to try and integrate it into your business in any way possible. And many CX pros are feeling pressure to find ways of incorporating artificial intelligence into their programs. So how can we approach this technology in a way to have it meaningfully contribute to our CX efforts?  Host Pat Gibbons welcomes back Mike Miserendino, founder and president of GravityDrive, an experience design consultancy group, for a discussion on how customer experience professionals can take an objective approach in effectively incorporating A.I. into their CX programs. Learn more about GravityDrive at https://www.gravitydrive.com/ Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/

Bonus Content! We interview many great customer experience professionals and they have a ton of great advice to share. But sometimes we have leave some of the interview out of the final episode in order to keep our podcasts a reasonable length. So you're not left out of hearing all the wonderful content our guests provide, we'll occasionally release material that was left out of the final episode as bonus content. This content is only available to those that follow the show through their favorite podcast provider. In our episode "Becoming Customer Obsessed" (episode #302), guest Marbue Brown discusses the importance of being creative when it comes to anticipating customer needs. During the interview with host Pat Gibbons, he told a touching story about a company that when above and beyond to help a customer in need. The story didn't make it in the original episode so we're releasing it as bonus content. Listen to the original episode at: https://cxleaderpodcast.com/becoming-customer-obsessed/  Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Chances are, if you're a regular listener to this show, you at the very least have a healthy respect for customer experience and the value it brings to your organization. But there are a few brands out there that have a following like none other brands like Apple, Costco, Trader Joe's, Chick-fil-A, and, one of our host's personal favorites: Chewy, the online pet supply retailer. These companies are obsessed with customer experience, but what does that mean? And how can you get your company to adopt that mindset? Host Pat Gibbons welcome Marbue Brown, founder of The Customer Obsession Advantage and author of “Blueprint for Customer Obsession,” for a discussion on his new book and why companies need to engage personally, deliver exceptionally, and connect emotionally to their customers. Connect with Marbue at https://www.customerobsession.net/  Learn how to get Marbue's book, "Blueprint for Customer Obsession" at: https://www.customerobsession.net/resources/ Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/  Bonus Content! We couldn't fit everything from this episode into the final edit but you can listen to bonus content by following our feed through your favorite podcast provider. Follow The CX Leader Podcast today to not miss out on a great story from Marbue on a customer obsessed company that anticipated their customer's needs and delivered a exceptional experience.

This episode explores service design in the CX field, including the benefits of involving customers and employees. It discusses the elements and practical application of service design, emphasizes participatory and interactive methods, and offers take-home value for improving employee and customer experience.

That’s right - 300 episodes! Walker has been producing this podcast since January of 2018 and collected over 150 hours of content, discussed trends and events that included everything from COVID to artificial intelligence, and met some amazing customer experience professionals along the way. And at the beginning of each year we like to take a look at what to expect in CX over the next 12 months. Host Pat Gibbons welcomes Walker experts Sonya McAllister, Sean Clayton, and Tanner Smith, to reminisce on 2023 and make some predictions about trends moving into 2024. Read more about Walker's experts at https://walkerinfo.com/who-we-are/our-people/ Listen to more podcast episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/  Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/

The famous quantum theory thought experiment called "Schrodinger’s Cat" imagines a cat is placed in a box with a vial of poison. Schrodinger suggests that until you open the box and observe the fate of the poor animal, it is simultaneously alive and dead – its fate isn’t determined until you’ve observed its condition. Leaders in a company can sometimes feel that way about the benefits of customer experience, and the fault really doesn’t lie with them – as a CX pro, you need to open the box and prove the value to your organization. Host Troy Powell welcomes Topher Mitchell, manager of the value advisory group at Qualtrics, for a discussion on the importance of customer experience professionals proving the value of CX. Connect with Topher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tophermitchell/ Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/

Let’s face it: not every person is well-suited to be, quote, “customer-facing.” Whether it’s their personality, their specific job requirements, or just their preference or personal talents, some people do better on the “behind the scenes” aspects of the company. And it’s easy to assume a mentality that they don’t necessarily need a customer-centric focus in their work. But an organization’s employee experience can impact not only their perspective of why they do what they do for the company, but also the customer experience. Host Pat Gibbons welcomes AJ Schneider, president of Wheaton World Wide Moving, for a discussion on why it's important all employees - regardless of their interactions with customers - know they are important to CX. Learn more about Wheaton at https://wheatonmoving.com/ Listen to more podcasts at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Most customer experience pros know about transactional and relational surveys, but did you know there's a third kind of survey you may need to use? Add the confusion of which surveys are best sent often or once a year, versus how long they should be, it can get frustrating for you - or your customer - on deciding what survey to use when. Walker expert Heather Koiro clears up the "survey confusion" with her Quick Tip Minicast! Listen to more Quick Tips at http://cxleaderpodcast.com/quicktips/ Explore more episode of The CX Leader Podcast at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/ 

Think about a time when you visited someplace that’s meaningful to you: a special museum, the distillery of your favorite beverage, a presidential library – you walked away from that exhibit or tour with a heightened understanding and appreciation for that particular interest. Or possibly gained a deeper understanding of something new. That experience was likely designed to better connect you with the product, person, and/or brand. Host Troy Powell welcomes Christian Lachel, chief creative officer at BRC Imagination Arts, for a discussion of discovering the interests and needs of your audience and designing experiences that tell your brand story. Read more about BRC Imagination Arts at https://www.brcweb.com/ Listen to more episodes at https://cxleaderpodcast.com/ Learn more about Walker at https://walkerinfo.com/