One of the benefits of being in business and academia for years is that we have a lot of experience running workshops. This episode is a brain dump of all the stuff you won’t learn in a book but is critical to the successful outcome of your program. The first and perhaps most critical step is breaking the ice. By setting a relaxed and open tone, you ease participants into the session, ensuring they’re ready to engage. A simple question at the start can do wonders—something as quirky as asking at...
Oct 05, 2024•34 min
Claire Dunwood has a pickle. She wants to know how to manage rising customer expectations with fewer resources than she used to have. This episode seeks to help her—and you—do exactly that. It’s pretty common to hear problems like this today. Responding to rising expectations is easy when there is no limit to the resources you can throw at it. Doing that same thing on a budget is a different kettle of fish. We kick off by exploring how expectations form. Expectations for experiences, even for th...
Sep 28, 2024•28 min
Personalization is a developing area in Customer Experiences. With AI driving what could be possible, many of you might be wondering how you can best leverage its capability in yours. To that end, we invited our special guest, Graham Hill, Ph.D., to explore the rapidly evolving field of Personalization in Customer Experiences. With decades of experience in customer relationship management (CRM) and Customer Experience, Hill shares valuable insights into how personalization, particularly with the...
Sep 21, 2024•39 min
Fair Warning: this episode regarding excuses was prompted by recent experiences with tradespeople during Colin’s kitchen renovation. No one likes excuses, least of all your customers. Lately, Colin has been hearing many amazing excuses about why something can or cannot be done in his kitchen project. It got him thinking about excuses and why people make them. Today’s episode explores the ideas of excuses and what they tell us about human behavior. Consider examples like long call center wait tim...
Sep 14, 2024•28 min
In this episode, we tackle a thought-provoking question from one of our listeners: Is it ethical to use urgency as a marketing tactic? This question sparked a deep conversation about the ethics of digital marketing, particularly the use of scarcity to drive sales. We feature insights from Daniel Bisett , partner and CXO at WeRock DM , and Marketing Professor at UT McCombs , who shares his thoughts after watching "The Social Dilemma" and wrestling with the impact of digital marketing on mental he...
Sep 07, 2024•33 min
In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of empathy and its significance in Customer Experience Management. We challenge common perceptions of empathy, explore its connection to emotional intelligence, and examine how both concepts can enhance your experience management efforts. We begin with a discussion on the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ), referencing some compelling statistics: Emotional intelligence influences 58% of job performance. 90% of top performers at work have a hi...
Aug 31, 2024•31 min
In this episode, we challenge the conventional wisdom of customer-centricity and discuss why firing a customer is sometimes necessary. While it may seem counterintuitive, knowing when to let go of a customer can benefit your business in the long run. We outline five critical rules to help you determine when it's time to part ways with a customer: Rule #1: Fire customers if they cost too much. Some customers drain more resources than they generate in revenue. It's crucial to track these costs acc...
Aug 24, 2024•32 min
In this episode, we explore the role of AI in customer experiences and whether it will replace human interaction. Ali Cudby , CEO of Alignment Growth Strategies , shares insights on leveraging AI to build customer relationships effectively. We discuss practical AI tools that enhance customer experiences and streamline efficiency. There are a couple of helpful AI tools Cudby mentions. For example, Synthesia generates AI voiceovers for video scripts, making updates easy and translating content for...
Aug 17, 2024•32 min
Friction occurs when a customer has to work or think hard during an experience. Many times, friction is accidental or the result of organizational apathy. In these instances, friction is a bad thing. Friction is rarely a good thing in a Customer Experience. However, there are times when it can be beneficial. For example, when your bank uses two-factor authentication to ensure you are who you say you are. This friction enhances customers’ feelings about an experience. So, how do you know the diff...
Aug 10, 2024•36 min
Colin has a bone to pick. No, it's not with cable providers this time. It's with the tradespeople involved in his latest home reno project. They are living up to the poor reputation that precedes them, and he has a list of complaints. Key problems included inaccurate pricing, disdain for previous workers' efforts, lack of collaboration, excessive use of jargon, and poor time management. The disconnect between different trades, reminiscent of organizational siloes in corporate environments, often...
Aug 03, 2024•26 min
Did you ever have an imaginary friend? If so, you already have a leg up on this week’s episode. Chances are you created a mental model of your imaginary friend and could predict with 100 percent accuracy how they might react to a given situation. A mental model is a detailed creation of an imaginary customer that helps you determine how a real-life customer might react to a given situation. However, unlike the imaginary friend, science and data develop the imaginary customer, not creativity. As ...
Jul 27, 2024•32 min
You know that friction in a Customer Experience is a problem that needs fixing. However, do you have that same perception of workplace friction? If you feel the friction at work, you probably do. But if you don't, you likely think little of it, if at all. Doing work for money requires a certain amount of friction, right? However, if the friction impacts employees and decreases employee morale, it can be a significant problem. One might even say it is a problem worth fixing. In this episode, we d...
Jul 20, 2024•36 min
Customers can tell you why they do something, But they might be wrong. It's not that customers are stupid. No, it is quite the contrary. Customers' thinking and decision-making are complicated; multiple things happen simultaneously. Sometimes, the reason customers do things is hidden, even from the customers themselves. In our penultimate masterclass episode, we explore how you can get at these hidden motivations when designing a Customer Experience that surprises and delights customers. In this...
Jul 13, 2024•29 min
Sanjay Patel faces a challenge many of us can relate to: how to get senior executives to buy into your program. Dealing with senior management can be nerve-wracking, as I learned twenty years ago when my heart rate spiked during a presentation to the CEO and C-suite. Today, I've mastered strategies for these situations. In this episode, we discuss how to deal with them effectively and get what you want. For example, it starts by being confident in your knowledge. Senior executives are usually cl...
Jul 06, 2024•28 min
This episode is the sixth in an eight-part series on Unlocking the Psychology of Customer Experience. Here, we explore the psychology we have regarding how human beings deal with predicting unpredictable outcomes. The discussion focuses on biases that influence how people perceive and assess probability and risk, impacting their judgment and decision-making processes. We begin with a common bias in these situations, the Gambler's Fallacy. In this scenario, individuals predict future random outco...
Jun 29, 2024•26 min
Regarding Customer Experiences and the behavioral sciences, there is seldom only one thing happening at a time. There are usually a lot of things happening at once. This masterclass episode, the fifth in a series of eight, explores economic biases and how they create flaws in our decision-making logic. For example, one key bias discussed is the Sunken Cost Fallacy, where people need help to walk away from investments, leading to subsequent mistakes. Loss Aversion is another bias explored, highli...
Jun 22, 2024•29 min
Surge pricing, a form of dynamic pricing, involves raising prices during spikes in demand to balance supply and demand. It is a rational economic solution to manage demand effectively, but it can generate negative emotions among consumers who feel they're being unfairly charged. Surge pricing is a specific flavor of dynamic pricing or, depending on your perspective, price discrimination. Surge Pricing is commonly seen in ride-sharing services or airlines, where prices increase during peak times ...
Jun 15, 2024•30 min
Various motivational biases and emotions shape customer experiences, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to designing experiences. For example, the customer’s mood significantly impacts the customer’s decision-making processes. Today's discussion highlights why understanding the customer’s mood and managing customer emotions helps you achieve your desired experience outcomes. It also identifies twenty emotions driving or undermining value, stressing the necessity of specificity in emoti...
Jun 08, 2024•31 min
This has been created in partnership with NICE . AI is a significant development in experience management, but many organizations need help with its implementation. While experimenting with AI, like ChatGPT, offers a glimpse of its potential, it's challenging to understand how AI fits into the broader tech stack and business systems. In today’s episode, Elizabeth Tobey , Head of Marketing for Digital and AI for NICE ) NICE , an AI platform, shares insights on effectively using AI to enhance expe...
Jun 01, 2024•35 min
A Master Class Part 3: Unlocking the Psychology of Customer Experience In the third episode of our Master Class series on the Psychology of Customer Experience, we delve into how other people influence our behavior. Understanding these theoretical dynamics is practical, empowering you to design effective Customer Experiences. Robert Cialdini's research on influence is a cornerstone of understanding social dynamics and persuasion techniques. In this episode, we rely heavily on his groundbreaking ...
May 25, 2024•33 min
Quality assurance is crucial in Customer Experience Management, and assessing call center operations provides valuable insights into an organization's customer-centricity. The subject of today’s episode is the result of our None of Use is Clever as All of Us feature. One of our listeners, Jamie Scott of Evaluagent shared his thoughts on Quality Assurance and the problems organizations have regarding this area. Observations and conversations with call center agents reveal operational inefficienci...
May 18, 2024•31 min
A Master Class Part 2: Unlocking the Psychology of Customer Experience In this episode, we continue exploring the psychology behind Customer Experience, focusing on the role of memory. Customer loyalty hinges on how memories are formed and retained. Therefore, understanding memory formation is crucial for designing impactful experiences. Memory formation begins with encoding, where new information is processed and stored in the mind. Encoding involves several effects, including the Primacy Effec...
May 11, 2024•30 min
A Master Class: Unlocking The Psychology of Customer Experience With this episode, we begin an eight-part series exploring customer behavior and the psychology that drives it. Each part will delve into the various psychological aspects of Customer Experiences, offering practical advice on understanding and influencing them. Our focus today is on why customers make quick decisions and how you can sway those decisions in your favor. Understanding customer behavior is complex and influenced by mult...
May 04, 2024•30 min
In this episode, Colin and Ryan tackle a listener's question about the psychology of customer loyalty, delving into its emotional and relational aspects. Loyalty, they explain, goes beyond mere repetition of behavior; it is rooted in deep emotional attachment and often requires sacrifice. Drawing parallels to personal experiences, such as loyalty to sports teams (Lutown Town Football Club, recently reinstated in the Premiership) and brands like Apple (naturally), they highlight the importance of...
Apr 27, 2024•31 min
“Did I tell you about the time I …” These seven words are one of many ways we signal one of our favorite things is coming next: a story. We can’t get enough of stories and look for them everywhere, from news to conversations to the commercials we can’t avoid on TV. Stories are an essential part of the human experience. In today's world, storytelling is crucial in various aspects of business, including marketing. Human fascination with narratives stems from their ability to captivate attention, e...
Apr 20, 2024•29 min
Personalization is an excellent tactic for your marketing efforts. However, only some people like this personalization; some feel they're being watched. Therefore, it is important to remember that context and who's doing the personalizing matter. Picture this: Colin’s at his go-to fishing store, Discount Tackle. The manager knows him, we chat, and he recommends a lure. Even though Colin can snag it cheaper elsewhere, the personalized touch keeps him coming back. We've all got our versions of thi...
Apr 13, 2024•30 min
Customer emotions heavily influence experiences and motivate actions, yet these motivations are often hidden, even from the customers. Organizations must uncover these hidden motivations to serve their customers better. The "Jobs to Be Done" framework, popularized by Clayton Christensen at Harvard Business School, provides a lens through which to view customer motivations. Eckhart Boehme , Founder and Managing Director of Unipro Solutions , emphasizes the importance of aligning customer experien...
Apr 06, 2024•31 min
Colin has been ghosted. He was surprised, considering he is married and has been for decades. However, his ghosting experience didn’t come from a romantic partner but a professional one. Since ghosting appears to be spreading into many interactions, we thought we should discuss it here. Ghosting, where someone suddenly stops communicating, has become more common, thanks to technology making it easier to cut off contact. It often happens online, like in dating apps, leaving one wondering what wen...
Mar 30, 2024•31 min
"What's the one thing we need for a stellar Customer Experience?" If we had a dollar for every time clients asked us this, we’d, well, have quite a few dollars. The question is understandable. This unspoken desire for a silver bullet solution echoes across industries. We all want a silver bullet solution that will fix our problems, whether for weight loss, financial growth, or, in Colin’s case, for playing the guitar. The problem is that there isn’t one for CX improvement. Or guitar, frankly. Ac...
Mar 23, 2024•31 min
You will have a customer crisis. We apologize for being so direct, but the fact is customer crises are inevitable. When it does happen, will you be able to navigate it to an acceptable outcome? Do you have a comprehensive approach? We doubt it. Few organizations do. Most think a customer crisis isn’t going to happen to them or that they will be able to manage it when it does with their business-as-usual approach. They are wrong. It will, and they won’t. Others think they do have a plan, even if ...
Mar 16, 2024•29 min
