Jeannie and Adam discuss how lack of transparent pricing harms your business and what you can do to stop feeding into the “norm” of hidden fees without jeopardizing your sales. Better customer experiences through transparent pricing Have you ever paid way more than you expected at the end of an online purchase? Or perhaps you’ve received an invoice with vague or unexplained fees that blew your budget to shreds. Doesn’t this drive you bananas? Well, we’ve got news for you: Your customers don’t fe...
Jun 19, 2018•23 min
Adam tells a customer experience horror story about a good product surrounded by a nightmarish customer journey. The scary part is that your brand could be doing this to customers! Your good product won’t save the day Your product is an absolute dream. Bravo! But what about the experience around it? Is your really good product or service good enough to forge loyalty on its own? Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Perhaps in the old days of having limited choices, a new choice that saves a fe...
Jun 12, 2018•11 min
Jeannie and Adam interview Neen James, global speaker and bestselling author, to expose the difference between intentional and transactional attentions, and how that difference is vital to your success. Are you paying attention where it really counts? Tracking attention is big business these days. In fact, companies are investing a lot into learning how customers scan web pages, walk through stores, and more. But what is your attention worth? Moreover, what is your attention worth to customers? ...
Jun 05, 2018•26 min
Adam and Jeannie discuss facts and insights around emerging customer service tech in the retail and foodservice industries. The service machines are coming to get us! They really are! But maybe it’s not such a bad thing if those machines coming to get us really, well, “get us.” Jeannie and Adam have recently found facts and evidence that new service tech is about to take us by storm. In fact, devices like self-service touchscreen ordering kiosks are popping up all over the place, and that’s just...
May 29, 2018•19 min
Jeannie and Adam interview Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole, whose transformation of the ballpark experience has turned an underdog sports team into a booming business. What can you learn from this amazing ballpark experience? Have you ever felt like the underdog in your industry, having a smaller brand that barely gets noticed? Then we have an inspiring interview that proves you can still be the underdog while building a loyal following of customers and fans. In fact, our guest is living testi...
May 22, 2018•30 min
Jeannie and Adam explore the innovative retail experience created by STORY and how you can surprise your own customers with unexpected value in the real-life shopping experience. Is your retail experience a welcome surprise? As we’ve mentioned before in this show, retail as we once knew it is in peril. Shoppers enjoy 2-day shipping and the ability to browse a colossal selection from wherever they are, so it’s no surprise retailers like Kmart and Toys R Us are nearing the end of their days. But w...
May 16, 2018•14 min
Jeannie and Adam interview 35-year customer experience pro Jeanne Bliss about her new book “Would You Do That To Your Mother? The ‘Make Mom Proud’ Standard For How To Treat Your Customers.” Does the way you do business make mom proud? If it doesn’t, then 35-year customer experience pioneer Jeanne Bliss, (or as co-host Jeannie Walters calls her, “the Fairy Godmother of Customer Experience,”) says you have a lot to think about! “There are still things we do that make customers nuts.” -@JeanneBliss...
May 08, 2018•28 min
Jeannie Walters CCXP shares expert tips for engaging former customers and insights on how to treat those who are leaving you. How can your brand flourish by focusing on these parts of the journey? Do you choose to have former customers, or lifetime friends? We’ve mentioned before on this show that the true customer journey extends well beyond the actual time they spend as customers, from the time they realize they need your product or service to when they leave you and beyond. So, have you ever ...
May 02, 2018•9 min
Jeannie and Adam discuss the concept of social responsibility with Anne Bahr Thompson, author of Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit. Customers today expect a lot more from brands, but it’s not just about transparency and great service. Brands are now expected to be socially responsible when it comes to social, political and moral issues. But being socially responsible is much more complicated and sensitive than you may think. Although it’s great for a brand to s...
Apr 24, 2018•24 min
Adam and Jeannie discuss the looming demise of Toys R Us and how a focus on customer experience innovation could make all the difference. Toys R Us succumbs to innovative retail experiences Whether you were a child, glaring in wonder at the aisles and aisles of toys, or an adult achieving hero status by scoring the hottest toy at a discount on Black Friday, who doesn’t have fond memories about Toys R Us? Unfortunately, memories may soon be all that’s left, as Toys R Us is on the brink of closing...
Apr 17, 2018•17 min
Jeannie and Adam interview award winning speaker and author Joey Coleman to discuss how the first 100 days is critical to increase customer retention and ultimately, lifetime profit. The untold truth about customer retention You may know that just a 5% increase in customer retention leads to a 25% - 100% increase in profits, but did you know the first 100 days of a customer’s lifecycle is when the magic really happens? Unfortunately, this first 100 days is typically filled with paperwork, paymen...
Apr 10, 2018•32 min
Adam Toporek reveals how lack of employee empowerment creates unnecessary challenges for growing businesses and shares how you can empower your staff to deliver better experiences. Empowerment is power! When you were starting out as a business leader, what would have given you more power to succeed? What do you wish you had known then? Adam was recently asked a similar question in an interview, and it has inspired him to share some tips about employee empowerment. You see, Adam started his busin...
Apr 03, 2018•6 min
Adam and Jeannie discuss the innovative approach of AmazonGo and how it may foreverchange the retail customer experience. Will AmazonGo change retail forever? Have you heard of AmazonGo? It’s an amazing new prototype store for Amazon shoppers in Seattle, Washington. But being an Amazon store is not the what makes it different. Through an intricate system of cameras, a rotating stock and a special footprint, AmazonGo shoppers can pick up what they want and leave without going through a checkout. ...
Mar 27, 2018•23 min
Jeannie and Adam discuss the Green Apple concept and how personal interests make us better professionals with Green Apple podcast host and CPA turned comedian, John Garrett. John Garrett, the Green Apple concept, and… Furbies!? Okay, maybe Furbies don’t have a whole lot to do with this podcast, but they make some of us happier and more interesting, and that’s the point! We’re often told to keep personal interests out of the workplace. In fact, this idea is so ingrained into our culture that most...
Mar 21, 2018•31 min
Adam Toporek shares research and expert insights for discovering which retail touchpoints are most important to your customers. How to prioritize your retail touchpoints In retail, we’re told that every touchpoint matters. And although that may be true, it’s not very helpful when you need prioritize and make a difference your customers will applaud today. In that case, you need to discover which retail touchpoints matter the most. “We simply are always in triage." - Adam Toporek But that’s a tal...
Mar 13, 2018•10 min
Jeannie and Adam discuss the shifting landscape of storytelling in journalism with L.A. Times VP of Strategy and Development Clint Schaff. The L.A. Times and the shifting landscape of storytelling in journalism Today’s consumer demands high quality content, delivered where they want it, when they want it, and with context that suits their personality. As a result, brands are constantly pushing to tell their stories in different ways on many platforms. With the rise of social media, blogging, art...
Mar 06, 2018•33 min
Jeannie Walters CCXP shares tips to help you recognize and overcome some of the most common and counterproductive leadership biases. Check your leadership biases! As humans we all have biases. Things like where we’re from, what we’ve been through and what has worked (or not worked) in the past all shape the lens through which we view the world. But when these biases affect the way we lead customer service teams and customer experience initiatives, employees suffer, and customers suffer along wit...
Feb 28, 2018•12 min
Adam and Jeannie explore the Future of Work with Futurist, Keynote Speaker, & Best-Selling Author Jacob Morgan. What is the Future of Your Work? The what, when, why and how behind work itself used to be dictated by business owners, but this is changing quickly! In fact, developments in technology, social media and generational values are creating new behaviors every day that will indeed affect the way we and our employees work in the future. Are you in control? More importantly, what should ...
Feb 21, 2018•29 min
Something important needs to be done and employees say, “It’s not my job!” This happens a lot! In this episode, Jeannie and Adam explore why this happens and how to fix it. “It’s not my job!” Chances are, you’ve heard this refrain from employees when asked to step outside the confines of their job description. And while responsibility creep and role creep are very real issues employees may need to watch out for, it becomes a problem when your team isn’t willing to pitch in for the greater good. ...
Feb 13, 2018•14 min
Adam and Jeannie interview Eric Porres to discuss the new age of personalized video and how personal data is rolled in to drive serious engagement. What IS a personalized video experience? What is video anymore? Video used to be a “one-to-many” medium for communication, but brands have discovered the power of creating personalized “one-to-one” video. I know, you may be thinking of a video you’ve received from a brand where your name was plopped in at the beginning or end… But what we’re talking ...
Feb 06, 2018•29 min
Jeannie and Adam discuss ways to inform your team and keep them motivated through the retail apocalypse. Retail apocalypse: Who thinks the end is nigh? Rumor has it we’re in the Retail Apocalypse…have you heard of this? With increased competition and ever-increasing customer expectations, the evidence is all around us. The internet is all abuzz with what this means for businesses on the macro level, but what about the actual people in your organization? Your employees see the evidence too. Stres...
Jan 30, 2018•16 min
Adam and Jeannie interview Arnie Malham to uncover his secrets to innovating culture for a better overall customer experience. Innovating culture for better experiences all around When starting a new company, we have a vision of how we want to be different – to have a great culture and a memorable experience. It’s easy to believe that if we hire the right people and train them well, then everything will fall into place. “I’m going to have a company where people are proud to put us on their resum...
Jan 23, 2018•31 min
Jeannie shares expert tips for building brand trust through truly consistent customer experiences. Consistency and brand trust Brand trust is one of the cornerstones of customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, trust is hard to earn and easy to destroy. And you may know customers can trust you, but do they know? So, it’s imperative to think of ways to deliver an experience that earns trust for the long term. There are many building blocks to trust, but today we’re focusing on one of the most i...
Jan 16, 2018•7 min
Jeannie and Adam discuss the incredible transformation and enhancement of Comcast customer service with Tom Karinshak, Comcast's Executive Vice President of Customer Service. Comcast customer service and game-changing innovation When we ask people about their worst customer service experiences, cable and communications providers often top the list. And years ago, Comcast may have been the first company to come to mind. But this is changing fast! Customers now demand better experiences from all t...
Jan 09, 2018•31 min
Adam shares expert advice for making customer experience your competitive advantage in 2018. Customer experience is THE competitive advantage Welcome to 2018! To start off the new year, we’d like you to think about customer experience as your competitive advantage. Because unless you plan to compete on price, providing a customer experience that is both frictionless and memorable is the best way to differentiate your brand this year. But many brands fall into a trap when trying to differentiate ...
Jan 02, 2018•7 min
Jeannie and Adam celebrate 300 episodes by sharing outrageous predictions for the distant future of customer experience and customer service. 300 episodes and counting…Celebrate with us! When we started this podcast back in 2015, the idea of having even 100 episodes seemed so far away. But sine then, we’ve celebrated 100, 200, and now (drumroll, please) 300 episodes! This reminds us of how not so long ago, customer experience was something most leaders had never heard of, and excellent customer ...
Dec 12, 2017•22 min
Adam and Jeannie share tips for making new channels a seamless part of the overall customer experience from the inside out. Working new channels into your DNA Customers are engaging with brands on more channels that ever before. It’s staggering how quickly a new channel can change the way customers buy, engage, and just live their lives. As a result, smart leaders put a lot into developing those channels quickly to have a presence wherever heir customers are. But in the age of smart watches and ...
Dec 07, 2017•15 min
Adam and Jeannie interview Michel Falcon to explore employee and customer engagement strategies that lead to amazing experiences that scale. Leveraging culture for amazing experiences If you want to deliver outstanding experiences, then you must have an amazing culture to match. Today’s guest, Michel Falcon, is an expert at creating employee engagement strategies that lead to amazing customer experiences, and he has some great tips to share with you today! First off, Michel explains that proper ...
Dec 05, 2017•30 min
Adam and Jeannie discuss how to balance your performance and resources with the promises you make to customers. Is your brand making meaningful promises? Broken promises chalk up to bad customer experiences. As a result, many brands set low expectations regarding call time, hours of operation, and many other things. On the flip side, brands need to differentiate themselves by making bold promises. And yet many create customer service nightmares and harm their brand image by making promises they ...
Nov 30, 2017•13 min
Adam and Jeannie discover how to attract your ideal customers with Jeffrey Shaw, author of LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language. Jeffrey Shaw and the power of the customer lingo As an entrepreneur or growing business, it’s critical to differentiate yourself and get noticed. But too often, brands get noticed by the wrong prospect. And to make matters worse, it’s very difficult to turn down the “wrong” customers. So, how can you attract the “right” customers while diversifying you...
Nov 28, 2017•28 min
