The Trusted Guide Podcast with Mark Slatin

Latest Episodes:

#77: Joe Pine: The Origin of "Customer Experience," The Experience Economy, and What's Next Mar 28, 2024

Show notes

Joe Pine is on my Mount Rushmore of Customer Experience. He shares the exact moment, quite by accident, that the concept of "experience" as the next economy after the service economy was hatched. In 2020 Mr. Pine and his partner James H. Gilmore re-released in hardcover The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money featuring an all-new Preview to their best-selling 1999 book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. Joe believes that goods and services are no longer enough; what customers want are experiences—memorable events that engage each individual in an inherently personal way. Join me on The Delighted Customers Podcast as Joe shares a vision for business—a world focused on human flourishing, where individuals become better people and achieve their goals. Discover how understanding your customers' wants, needs, and desires can help you create greater value and make a positive impact. Joe shares practical insights and real world stories of how you can drive business outcomes. Here are some highlights:

The concepts of mass customization and the experience economy
Creating robust, cohesive, personal, dramatic, and transformative experiences
Comparing work to theater and the importance of intentional and engaging experiences
Changing the world of business to focus on human flourishing
The importance of not wasting customers' time and aligning value with what customers value
The concept of "customering" and the individualization megatrend

Resources

The Delighted Customers podcast website: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markslatin/

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

#76: Pink Zebra Moving: Differentiating on CX for Explosive Growth with CEO, Ron Holt Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

Pink Zebra Moving: Differentiating on CX for Explosive Growth with CEO, Ron Holt

I can't think of a better illustration of how to prove the ROI of Customer Experience.

Ron Holt sees opportunities in bad customer experiences.

In fact, he built a successful home cleaning based on disrupting a legacy industry by differentiating the experience his customers receive.

The model allowed him to scale a one-store cleaning business into a $40M nationally-recognized brand with 90 locations across the country.

Ron shared his entrepreneurial journey and the compelling story behind his company, Pink Zebra Moving. It's more than just a business success story - it's a masterclass in innovation, customer experience, and entrepreneurial spirit in the home services industry.

🔥Here are 3 key takeaways from our conversation:

- **Innovate With Customer Experience in Mind:**

Ron emphasizes the importance of making the moving process fun. By focusing on building personal relationships and creating memorable experiences for customers, Pink Zebra Moving stands out in the highly competitive moving industry.

- **Cultural Fit is Key When Scaling:**

As the company expands, Ron is careful to maintain its unique ethos. Selecting franchise owners who genuinely share the company's mission is crucial for preserving the brand's vision and ensuring consistent, high-quality service across all locations.

- **Fail Forward and Commit to Your Vision:**

Ron's honest reflections on the challenge of scaling a business and transitioning between industries reveal that perseverance and a clear vision are essential. Embracing mistakes as learning opportunities is a part of the entrepreneurial path toward success.

Resources

The Delighted Customers podcast website: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markslatin/

#75: What's the Pioneering Edge for Today's CX Leaders according to the NPS Creator Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

What's the Pioneering Edge for Today's CX Leaders according to NPS Creator, Fred Reichheld?

There's so much to unpack in this episode:

Fred shares about a personal vulnerability

What's the right way to listen to customers?

What is the huge mistake companies make relative to referrals?

How do you know if you've won or lost?

What is financial capitalism and why should it die?

What's on the pioneering edge today for CX leading companies?

Will Southwest Airlines recover?

And a ton more!

Resources

The Delighted Customers podcast website: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markslatin/

#74: Closing the Gap Between Brand Promise and Customer Experience with Nick Zeisler Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

Someone once said Marketing creates the brand promise and CX delivers it. But too often there's a gap between the two that's eroding customer loyalty and business performance. Nick Zeisler is a Lean Six Sigma expert and Professor of Practice in Michigan State University's Customer Experience Management Masters of Science program. In this episode Nick shares some valuable insights including: - the significant concept of 'Brand Alignment' was introduced, highlighting the imperative of aligning a company's customer experience delivery with its brand promise. - the importance of continuous improvement in process engineering was emphasized, advocating for a customer-centric approach to Lean Six Sigma prioritizing projects based on customer impact rather than traditional resource-focused methods - loyalty as a process beyond the initial purchase was underscored, with the suggestion that it's influenced by the consistency of the customer experience and alignment with the brand promise.

Resources

The Delighted Customers podcast website:https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markslatin/

#73: Bruce Temkin's Blueprint for Fostering Trust in CX and Beyond Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

This episode features someone who has been at the forefront of the customer experience movement, tirelessly leading the charge in understanding how trust shapes our interactions: CX luminary Bruce Temkin. Bruce co-founded the Customer Experience Professionals Association and broke the news on this episode, that he will be transitioning as Head of the XM Institute (Qualtrics) to the next chapter of his life. This is a very special episode because Bruce and I explore the critical importance of trust as it relates to CX and ultimately, generating positive financial results. In this episode:

Why the XM Institute declared 2024 as "The Year of Trust"
the misconceptions CX leaders have about trust, and how can these potentially lead to ineffective customer experience strategies
the connection between game theory and trust-building and how leaders can benefit by understanding that connection
the difference between cognitive and affective trust
Meyer Davis and Shorman's definition of trust is discussed and how does this definition informs our understanding of interpersonal and professional relationships
How to repair broken trust
A sneak peak about what Bruce has planned for the next chapter of his life

Meet Bruce Change creator, thought shaper, and movement maker who helps organizations become more human-centric. I help leaders gain clarity amid paralyzing levels of ambiguity, complexity, and uncertainty. I've advised many of the world's leading brands and hundreds of tech companies -- from start-ups to software behemoths. I'm often referred to as the "Godfather of Customer Experience" for defining and propelling the disciplines of Customer Experience (CX), Employee Experience (EX), and Experience Management (XM). I've helped shape multiple industry mega trends, including: Internet economy, cloud computing, digital transformation, CX, EX, and XM. The core of my work is an ability to forecast technology-driven trends, anticipate their impact on human beings, simplify the complex, and provide clear and actionable advice. I'm a builder who has led the creation of multiple global organizations. As an engineer at heart, I'm always intrigued by how things work. I study human behavior and how it is affected by different environments such as being a customer, employee, patient, fan, or senior executive. My advice always considers how different decisions will affect people, and how those moves will play out at scale and over time. So what is my profession? I have no idea. All I know is that I'm on an ongoing learning journey, continuously looking for ways to improve the world through a combination of empathy, strategy, experience design, leadership, and organizational behavior.

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#72: The Crossroads of CX and UX: A Conversation with Darren Hood Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

Every customer experience leader should know the basics of UX and how it fits into the overall CX landscape. In this episode, I talk with UX expert Darren Hood, who has 28+ years of human-computer interaction, information architecture, and usability experience. He's a faculty member in the Masters of Science in Customer Experience Management at Michigan State University as well as several other colleges where he teaches UX. The show is packed with useful insights and practical tips like:

The parallel importance of CX and UX in understanding and improving customer experiences.
How UX heuristics were applied to the Fathead custom decal upload process to reduce abandonment rates?
intervention with a heuristic analysis at Rocket Mortgage serve as a case study for the immediate impact of UX on a company's profit margin?
the risks of implementing AI in UX design without a solid grounding in UX principles
What he statistics from IBM, NASA, Coca Cola, Apple, and Whirlpool reveal about the return on investment and competitive advantage of being a design-led, UX-focused company Meet Darren Darren is extremely passionate about all things UX, holding 28+ years of experience in the discipline. Darren's professional footprint spans such organizations as Ford Motor Company, General Motors, DigitasLBi, MRM/McCann, Wunderman Digital, Bosch, Ryder, Rocket Mortgage, Omnicell, Cengage Learning, National Geographic Learning, Sherwin-Williams, Duracell, and USA Networks, to name a few. In academia, he serves and has served as an adjunct professor, teaching UX-related courses at several universities including UCLA, Michigan State University, Lawrence Technological University, Brandeis University, and Kent State University. Darren is one of the authors featured in the book "97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know." You can also hear Darren on The World of UX podcast, available through a host of popular sources. Darren is currently a doctoral candidate, completing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Northcentral University.

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Newsletter for practical tips and insights: https://www.empoweredcx.com/delightedcustomersnewsletter

#71: The Contagious Enthusiasm and Customer Intimacy Quadrant with Mary Poppen Feb 15, 2024

Show notes

Employee experience and customer experience outcomes are inextricably linked. That data (going back to the Service Profit Chain) provides evidence of that correlation. But there's a lot of confusion about the difference between employee experience and employee engagement and the impact that each has on CX. Employee Engagement is too often overlooked in terms of it's importance to the customer experience and financial performance. In this episode with Employee Engagement expert, Mary Poppen, President, Employee Experience Division, HRizons, and Professor of Practice, CXM Master's program at Michigan State University, unpacks how to get to the magical state where "contagious enthusiasm and customer intimacy live." Also in this episode:

Defining and differentiating employee experience and engagement
Avoiding Engagement Pitfalls: Learn how to navigate common mistakes like uniform incentive structures and insufficient listening channels that undermine true connection with your workforce.
Building Virtual Bridges: In a remote work era, one-on-one meetings are more than just touchpoints; they are lifelines that foster support and connection amidst isolation.
The Intimacy Factor**: Explore how trust and understanding in professional relationships enhance recognition and nurture a supportive work environment.

Meet Mary Mary Poppen is President of HRIZONS Employee Experience and Professor of Practice at Michigan State University teaching in the Customer Experience Management (CXM) Master's Degree program. She is also a CS Angel investor. Prior to her current focus, Mary was Glint's Chief Customer Officer at LinkedIn and Chief Customer Officer for SAP's Global Cloud business before that. Mary holds a Master's Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and has over 20 years of customer delivery, business consulting and executive leadership experience. She is a well-recognized customer and employee experience thought leader, speaking at global events and authoring several publications in this space. She recently published a book entitled "Goodbye, Churn. Hello, Growth!" In addition to her current roles, Mary enjoys serving as a Board Advisor and executive coach, and has a passion for giving back through female mentorship programs. In her spare time, Mary enjoys traveling with her husband and two sons, playing Pickleball, and wine-tasting with friends.

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Newsletter for practical tips and insights: https://www.empoweredcx.com/delightedcustomersnewsletter

#70: The 4 Keys to Leading CX Change with Patty Soltis, CCXP Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Listen for some insights that provide a fresh perspective on how to overcome the challenges CX leaders face. We uncovered why being a trusted guide is more impactful than a heroic leader and how to prove your value through a winning CX roadmap. My guest, Patty Soltis, shared priceless insights on gaining influence, and I revealed my own journey of overcoming stakeholder resistance. If you're a CX leader looking to elevate your game, you'll hear useful tips and get a sneak peak at The Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class. In this episode, Patty Soltis, CCXP and I explore:

The roadblocks that impede and often derail customer experience efforts
How lack of trust is a silent killer to real change
Why some stakeholders may be resistant to your recommendations
The 4 keys that help CX professionals and other change agents overcome common obstacles:
Earning Trust
Becoming a Guide
Building Your CX Roadmap
Proving the Value

Patty Soltis is a Senior Customer Experience Manager at Upwork, the world's work marketplace that connects businesses with independent talent from across the globe. Patty's experience includes a CX leadership role at The Moffitt Cancer Center, Neiman Marcus, Lord and Taylor and more. Patty can be reached here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattysoltis/

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Newsletter for practical tips and insights: https://www.empoweredcx.com/delightedcustomersnewsletter

#69: 5 Tips to Improve Emotional Intelligence for Better CX with Sandra Thompson Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

How would you rate your emotional intelligence? It turns out that the core of any successful customer experience initiative is deeply intertwined with the capacity and willingness of employees to communicate effectively. Emotional intelligence is a fundamental skill when it comes to communication. Sandra Thompson is an EI expert and ranks as a top 10 Emotional Intelligence leaders on LinkedIn. She joined me on The Delighted Customers Podcast to help leaders navigate EI and understand the very real impact EI has on the customer experience, and ultimately employee and customer engagement. "You have to put in the work!" Sandra says. "Some may be able to do it (improve their EI) on their own...while others may need an accountability coach to hold the mirror up and ask them tough questions." Sandra shares practical suggestions that business leaders can implement right away to lift their emotional intelligence personally and organizationally. Here are some of the highlights included in this episode:5 tips for improving emotional intelligence

5 Tips to Improve Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence and it's connection to CX
The Jellybean Game and the importance of visceral customer experiences
The impact of bad customer experiences and the inflection point for loyalty
The practice of gratitude and its impact on starting the day positively

This episode is rich with ideas and insights and I love the British accent! Meet Sandra! Sandra Thompson is the first Goleman Emotional Intelligence Coach in the UK. She started out as a Customer Experience consultant in 2010 when she founded Exceed all Expectations, a management consultancy focusing on improving customer and employee experience. Sandra rebranded as The Ei Evolution in Jan 2021 because she believes that the skill of emotional intelligence can transform the way businesses behave, improve the relationships between customer and employee and between colleagues too. She is still working in the field of customer experience but the new brand enables Sandra to work more with schools – she believes that teaching young people how to become more emotionally intelligent could help them thrive.

Sandra has been fortunate to work with clients such as: Vodafone, Arsenal Football Club, Waitrose, Open University, Battersea Dog & Cats home, and Network Rail. She gives keynotes and frequently presents on webinars and podcasts to an international audience on all matters CX, EX and EI. Sandra has been fortunate to lecture part-time at a Business School in London on the topics of People Management and Leadership and Professional Behaviours and Customer Management and she runs a series of postgraduate courses in Customer Experience and Emotional Intelligence. She presented her first academic paper in 2019, TEDx in 2020, and intends to start a PhD in 2025. It's true to say that she's a lifelong learner.

Recommended Book: Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl - https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI Here is the reference to the cards:

https://www.ridersandelephants.com/the-emotional-culture-deck-pdf-download

Lisa Feldman Barrett link for her publications: https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

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#68: Leveraging Customer Referrals to Drive Exponential Growth with Andy Cockburn Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

How could you leverage AI to earn growth from customer referrals? Andy Cockburn, CEO of Mention Me, took his knowledge and experience of working with Bain and with Fred Reichheld during the infancy phase of NPS's launch to create an AI tool that does just that. The Earned Growth Model, advocated by Reichheld in Winning on Purpose, posits a very specific point of differentiation from other growth models. It states that the customers who love you the most are where you can mine the most future growth. But how? Andy unveils how he pioneered a model to translate into customer love into earned growth. In this episode:

Importance of Earned Growth and Referral Programs
Leveraging earned growth as a vital metric for success
Optimizing Customer Journeys for Advocacy
Insights gained from referral networks about customer behavior
The Concept of Extended Customer Revenue
Using AI to assess customer propensity to refer and predict revenue
Relying on advocacy for organic growth and stronger business relationships

...and so much more This episode is packed with gems! Meet Andy! Andy Cockburn is CEO and Co-Founder of Mention Me, the Customer Advocacy platform empowering brands to turn fans into a powerful growth driver. Since co-founding the business in 2013, he's scaled Mention Me to employ more than 120 advocacy experts who have delivered over USD $2.2bn in revenue for more than 500 clients, including Puma, Charlotte Tilbury, Michael Kors and other major brands worldwide.

Prior to Mention Me, Andy was the UK Managing Director of VRBO, the world's largest market-place for vacation rentals (that floated on the NASDAQ for $3bn), and formerly the founder and CEO of Wigadoo, a technology start-up in the social payment space. He has an MBA from INSEAD and MA from Cambridge University. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andycockburn/

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast

Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Newsletter for practical tips and insights: https://www.empoweredcx.com/delightedcustomersnewsletter

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