Today the CEO and founder of Be ExtraOrdinary Incorporated and CX Transformation Executive Leader, Carrie S. Lemelin, is joining us. The best way to prepare for and help with problems your customers face is to listen to them. Just being human and being able to say sorry makes us seem more like people rather than robots, which will bode well with the customer. Carrie’s background 1:02 What to be measuring 4:55 Getting digital 14:20 “Actually the biggest gift a customer can do for you is to compla...
Jan 28, 2021•18 min
In this episode we discuss how to move from reactive to proactive preventative customer support with special guest Eric Bonnette, who is currently the Director of Technical Support and Customer Success at Qualys. We talk about why being proactive is essential to having a successful branch of support, such as being able to get ahead and approach issues you may face before they become too big of a problem. Eric tells about the principles he uses to influence his teams to be proactive, and then def...
Jan 26, 2021•14 min
Today we will be talking about next level CX for business-to-business companies—the why, the what, the when, and the how with the VP of Strategy and Analytics at Walker, Troy Powell, and Steve Walker, Walker’s CEO. We will be discussing their latest research report focused on the differences between B2B and B2C customer experience. Learn how they are helping CX leaders create more sustainable B2B businesses by having a customer-centric approach. Troy’s background 0:56 Steve’s background 4:41 Ste...
Jan 21, 2021•23 min
In today’s episode we discuss the top customer service mistakes with Global Head of Customer Success and Support at Mitek Systems, Mike Sasaki. Mike worked for Sketchers and was able to experience how they ran their company and what issues they ran into, giving him first hand knowledge of snags you can run into with CX. Mike shares with us 5 tips to avoid the most common customer service mistakes. Mike’s experiences 0:53 What can help customer service teams 6:13 What channels are you providing? ...
Jan 19, 2021•16 min
Joining Gabe today we have the Chief Revenue Officer at Blue Chip CRO, Ed Porter. We go over some steps that have helped him in his role to understand the customer better and find out what branches of your business to use in order to determine what the customer wants. Technology doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s there to enable the process of fixing the problem rather than used to find the problem. Ed’s history 1:20 Deal makers that changed the way the company sees their customers 4:12 Custome...
Jan 14, 2021•19 min
In this episode we speak with customer experience expert and Interim CFO at Macpherson’s, Michael O’Reilly. We go over various methods on how to improve your NPS, including how they use data to optimize their score. “Find the data that tells the truth, not the data that makes you feel good.” 7:22 We also go over technology and the benefits of using the right tools to increase your results and what Michael has experienced through tech. Michael’s background 0:33 Understanding NPS 1:43 How they hav...
Jan 12, 2021•16 min
Today I am joined by Vice President of Customer Experience at Zones, LLC, Steven Maskell. He states you need to give the customer a reason to share their data with you and he gives questions you should ask yourself, such as what do you know about your customer? Are you able to see how they’re interacting with you? Or is it anonymized? Are they sharing with you information that’s important that you can use? “The two areas where I would say to best understand is to frame it around who are they and...
Jan 07, 2021•18 min
In this episode we will be talking about who actually owns the customer and to do that we have with us today the Global Director of Customer Experience at Hyland, Justin Chappell. He explains that depending on the company you work for, who owns the customer could be a couple of things. It could be the account management team, or it could be a hybrid approach that uses a little bit of that account executive and customer success manager, both having ownership of the customer, but different pieces ...
Jan 05, 2021•21 min
In today’s episode, we have customer experience expert, Annette Pedroza, who has been in the customer service vocation for 20 years now. She gives 3 tips on how to build a customer focused foundation. Tip 1) You need leadership involvement and it needs to come from the top. Tip 2) Assessing your specific environment. There isn’t one strategy that’s gonna work with everyone. Tip 3) Setting realistic goals to be able to execute on your plans. She talks about how they were able to help their team c...
Dec 31, 2020•30 min
The Global Director of Customer Experience at Taconic Biosciences, David Grissom, joins us in this episode to talk about customer experience. He has 14 years of experience in customer facing roles and has seen the importance of not just hiring leaders from a certain industry. He uses something he calls the three P’s, which are 1) People, 2) Products, and 3) Process. If your people understand these three concepts and the importance of them, you will succeed as an organization. David’s story 1:04 ...
Dec 29, 2020•21 min
Today we are joined by Alyce's CEO, Greg Segall, the Head of Customer Success at Alyce, Sean MacPherson, and Vikas Bhambri, Head of Sales and CX at Kustomer. Greg tells us gifting is an investment in a relationship and builds loyalty, strengthening the bonds with those you care about. They have tens of thousands of different options for gifts to send out so people can reach everyone they need to. These gifts can help you build your team and delight customers. Introductions 0:37 Why gifting is im...
Dec 24, 2020•28 min
Our guest today Richard Vernon is a customer experience extraordinaire. He is here to talk CX. The real question we need to ask ourselves these days is how do you go from old to new? What is the paradigm shift? If you want to change a practice or behavior, then you have to change your paradigm and the results you’ll get is change. Spending time on the front lines and seeing customer experience through their eyes is transformational. Sometimes the best ideas will come from those who are dealing w...
Dec 22, 2020•19 min
In this episode we talk to the Partner Experience Manager at Twitter, Sioban Massiah. She started off working in marketing back in 2008 when the recession hit and marketing was one of the first things to disappear, so she had to go into sales. She has found while researching customer experience that no matter what you did in any company, if you weren’t empathetic or knew your customer and figured out what they wanted, you would be unable to succeed. We talk about the company's purpose and Sioban...
Dec 17, 2020•18 min
Today we talk about tools in technology for making the life of customers easier with the head of customer experience and employee engagement for the global company called Schindler Elevator Corporation, Stacy Sherman. She tells and updates us on the current situation with customer experience tech, and then what we should be using still and how we should be adapting/changing to meet current standards. She emphasizes the importance of establishing employee and company culture to maintain a high pe...
Dec 15, 2020•17 min
In this episode we have with us the founder of Support Driven, Scott Tran, and we talk about a new community that’s popping up, how it’s used, and what it is and how it has become a great resource for people to share and connect. Tune in to understand how to create a sense of community during challenging times! Scott Tran and how he created his community 0:52 About the community 3:51 How has the community reacted 6:39 Being more effective with less people 8:51 “There’s also a social aspect to it...
Dec 10, 2020•12 min
Joining us today we have Senior Director of Customer Experience at Epicor, Chris Warticki. He has been in the customer service industry for 25 years. He worked at Oracle Corporation for 20 years, and he’s been at Epicor for the last two years running their customer success management team. We discuss the methods Chris uses in his company and how they approach customer experience, satisfaction, success, and the present. He tells us why it’s important not to rush to delight your customers to avoid...
Dec 03, 2020•17 min
In this episode we talk to Christine Deehring, the founder and CEO of Bump Boxes, a company that sells special and useful products for pregnant women. Bump Boxes is a subscription service that provides the necessities that a pregnant woman will need each month of her pregnancy. Christine tells us what her company does to bring their values to the customer and how their culture affects how they approach customer service. She also shares some things they do like rewarding their customers based on ...
Nov 26, 2020•15 min
Joining us today we have the Director of Customer Support at FinancialForce, Adam Maino, and we discuss how to develop a world class customer support team. We talk about the importance of creating and cultivating an environment where your employees can fail fast and learn from those challenges. Adam tells us about how the structure of a world class customer support team should be organized and the types of layers and tiers they have. We discuss knowledge center services and how this process help...
Nov 19, 2020•17 min
In this episode, we talk to Derek Hixon, Director of Customer Support and Implementation at WordStream. He has been working for 15 years in support and also has a pretty diverse background. Derek tells us what made him change course in life and how he made some decisions that have affected him for the rest of his life. He likes to find out what his team’s goals are, both in the company and as individuals in their own lives in order to build a stronger bond and make his team members and relations...
Nov 12, 2020•24 min
Joining us today we have Vikas Bhambri, the SVP of sales and CX at Kustomer, Rob Young, the Director of Customer Support at BambooHR, and Jamie Whited, an expert consultant in client service and client experience. We discuss some of the things and issues each of us has had to deal with during the pandemic. A lot of industries are dealing with an increase in requests and inquiries, and we all have had to adjust and make sure we are continuing to provide that human to human help that people need t...
Nov 05, 2020•22 min
In this episode we speak with Matt Freedman, brand builder, band strategist, and Enterprise Account Executive at Kustomer. We talk about the me-economy, the generation where everything is on demand and how that’s putting high pressure on companies. Organizations that have been able to keep up are the ones succeeding. 57% of people have said that customer service is the main reason they will remain loyal to a brand. People are spending 20% more on products because of their loyalty to a brand rath...
Oct 29, 2020•32 min
Today we talk to Mike Miller, the Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Convey, and Vikas Bhambri, the SVP of Sales and CX at Kustomer. We discuss issues and trends we are seeing in the customer service business, such as a spike in e-commerce and an increase in customer inquiries. Other things like an increase in online orders has put a strain on deliveries and being able to get deliveries out on time. Don’t assume that you’re over-communicating with the customer, but instead always be proactive...
Oct 22, 2020•23 min
In this episode we talk to Brad Birnbaum, co-founder and CEO of Kustomer, Matt Dixon, Chief Product and Research Officer at Tethr, and Lauren Pragoff, Vice President of Effortless Experience at Challenger. We talk about some of the largest issues and challenges companies have been facing during the pandemic, such as employees transitioning to working from home and how they’ve had to crack down on making help readily available through their online channels. Another thing they’ve seen is an increa...
Oct 15, 2020•33 min
In this episode we talk about an empathy-driven support model with Irene Griffin, the Director of Customer Support at FranConnect. The goal for her team is to listen and understand the customer needs, while building strong relationships. She talks about her hiring process and the importance of high-energy reps. She suggests that hiring the right customer support team is about finding a balance between skills and personality. Technology is natural for younger generations, which means it is easier...
Oct 08, 2020•18 min
Today we talk to Douglas Kramon, Director of Customer Operations and Fan Support at ESPN. In this interesting conversation, Gabe and Douglas discuss how customer care and agent care drives customer experience. For fans, sports are memories and emotions created during live experiences. How could ESPN create human connections during COVID-19, when all live events were cancelled? Douglas tells us about their tactic of connecting with their customers by creating a fan-to-fan dialogue. Tune in to thi...
Oct 01, 2020•23 min
Today we talk about digital customer service with author, speaker, and customer service expert Paolo Fabrizio. Paolo helps clients integrate digital channels and coaches them on the importance of hiring and training the right digital customer service assistants. In this conversation with Gabe, Paolo touches on the importance of emotional intelligence and the relevant role reps play in taking care and retaining happy customers. Is it different hiring agents for traditional channels vs digital cha...
Sep 24, 2020•16 min
In this episode, we discuss the importance of treating your employees like customers to drive customer loyalty. We have with us Vipula Gandhi, Managing Director at Gallup, who has vast experience working in different industries such as hospitality, consulting, and banking. As a true expert in business strategy, business performance and human potential, Vipula will talk about how to leverage information and extract insights to strategically take action that directly impacts the business. Join thi...
Sep 17, 2020•28 min
In this episode, we talk about how to really drive customer experience for high-end brands. We are joined by Jason Henne, Director of Customer Aervice at Momentum Solar. He tells us of how he threw call time out the window and focused more on quality customer experience. We discuss the importance of thoroughly training your reps so that they have the tools to effectively help the customer. Additionally, the Better Business Bureau has given Momentum Solar amazing reviews and Jason tells what they...
Sep 10, 2020•26 min
Today, we talk with Nate Brown who is the Founder of CX Accelerator, a virtual community for CX professionals, and Chief Experience Officer at Officium Labs. Nate tells us how the customer experience industry is evolving and he explains how to drive meaningful change in order to keep up with the ongoing evolution in the market. We also talk about how crucial it is for companies to support their customer service department, how to properly receive feedback from customers, training employees, and ...
Sep 03, 2020•23 min
Gabe and Vikas kick off this episode announcing that Kustomer has been selected as the only enterprise customer service CRM platform in the Shopify Plus Certified App Program. Now more than ever, the world’s leading brands need CRM (Customer Relationship Management) that can scale and evolve as they do. With this seamless integration, businesses can create contextualized, actionable customer profiles to drive more personalized and data-driven customer journeys. With pressure already high due to ...
Aug 27, 2020•21 min
