Improving Customer Loyalty through Martech and AI-Powered Solutions

Greg Kihlstrom is a best selling author with nearly 20 books on Martech and customer experience management. Greg shares fresh insights into how companies can leverage marketing technology and AI to bolster customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Whether you're a C-suite executive or a marketing professional, this episode will equip you with actionable strategies to deliver exceptional, personalized customer experiences.

Here are three pivotal questions Greg answered during our interview:

- How can companies efficiently organize and access vast amounts of customer data for better decision-making?

- What are the common mistakes in Martech implementation, and how can businesses avoid them?

- How does AI enhance—rather than replace—human work to improve both customer and employee experiences and drive business outcomes?

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Greg Kihlström is a best-selling author, speaker, and entrepreneur, and serves as an advisor and consultant to top companies on marketing technology, marketing operations, and digital transformation initiatives. He has worked with some of the world’s top brands, including Adidas, Coca-Cola, FedEx, HP, Marriott, Nationwide, Victoria’s Secret, and Toyota.

He is a multiple-time Co-Founder and C-level leader, leading his digital experience agency to be acquired in 2017, successfully exited an HR technology platform provider he co-founded in 2020, and led a SaaS startup to be acquired by a leading edge computing company in 2021. He currently advises and sits on the Board of a marketing technology startup.

He executive produces 5 business and marketing-related podcasts, including the award-winning The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström, now top 5 on Apple’s U.S. marketing charts and in its 6th year with over 500 episodes and millions of downloads, which discusses marketing technology and its role in the customer experience with some of the world’s leading experts and leaders.

Greg is a contributing writer to Forbes, MarTech, CustomerThink, and CMSWire, and has been featured in publications such as Advertising Age, Business Insider, Financial Times, and The Washington Post. Greg has been named #1 on its list of the Top Global Marketing Thought Leaders by Thinkers 360, was named one of ICMI’s Top 25 CX Thought Leaders two years in a row, and a DC Inno 50 on Fire as a DC trendsetter in Marketing. He’s also participated as a speaker at global industry events and has guest lectured at prominent universities and colleges.

Resources
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at
betterhelp.com/DELIGHTED and get on your way to being your best self.

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

Sign up for The Trusted Guide newsletter here: https://www.empoweredcx.com/newsletter

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

Register for the next Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class here: https://www.empoweredcx.com/

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

Have you ever wondered how digital experience and AI can transform your customer interactions?

Andrew Carothers, CCXP, a senior digital experience leader in the CX area at Cisco Systems, shared insights from this multinational leader's industry-leading portfolio of technology innovations, including networking, security, collaboration, and cloud management.

🎧 Check out the latest episode of The Delighted Customers Podcast where Andrew answers these burning questions:

👉 How can businesses seamlessly transition from digital to human interactions to meet customer needs?

👉 What are the challenges and benefits of expanding the digital component in customer experience?

👉 How can companies leverage AI to not only enhance the digital experience but also create growth opportunities?

Andrew’s expertise in building and scaling customer experience teams is unparalleled. Tune in to get actionable insights and drive your business forward!

About Andrew Carothers, CCXP

Andrew Carothers, CCXP, is a senior Customer Experience leader helping companies build and scale organizations that increase customer adoption and retention, improve renewals rates, and drive growth. A founding member of Cisco System’s CX function, Carothers has built extensive strategic and tactical CX knowledge, including digital CX, partner programs, voice of the customer, customer-centric culture, and journey mapping. An eight-time International Customer Experience award winner, he frequently writes and speaks on CX topics, and co-authored The Publicity Handbook (McGraw Hill), a Fortune Book Club selection. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for the University of San Francisco’s School of Management Strategic Artificial Intelligence program.

Resources
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at
betterhelp.com/DELIGHTED and get on your way to being your best self.

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

Sign up for The Trusted Guide newsletter here: https://www.empoweredcx.com/newsletter

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

Register for the next Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class here: https://www.empoweredcx.com/

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

Transforming Workplace Culture Through Employee Experience

Dr. James Killian is an expert in the field of employee experience. He has held high-impact global leadership positions at Qualtrics, SAP, IBM, Hogan Assessment Systems, and led several startups to record growth, and he’s a professor in the Masters of Science CXM program at Michigan State University.

From exploring the significance of breaking down organizational silos to hiring a chief experience officer, we'll discuss how these strategies can uplift your team's experience and ultimately benefit the customer.

Our conversation also examines the pitfalls of disengaged leadership and the misconceptions CEOs often have about the value of HR and employee programs.

Dr. Killian and I will share personal stories, including an eye-opening experience at Starbucks, highlighting the direct link between employee satisfaction and a brand's reputation.

Lastly, we'll tackle the challenges organizations face, from supply chain issues to tech problems and ineffective engagement surveys, and offer actionable advice for leaders navigating these turbulent waters.

James Killian, Ph.D. is Managing Director of Growth & Innovation at HSD Metrics,
leading the category creation of Employee Experience Process Outsourcing (EXPO).
He previously held high-impact global leadership positions at Qualtrics, SAP, IBM,
Hogan Assessment Systems and led several startups to record growth. In his role as
an employee experience leader, Killian consults with highly complex global
customers to help them navigate candidate attraction, employee retention, the
criticality of technology in the future of work and collaboration, the importance of
addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at work and other drivers of
employee engagement and experience. He is also a pioneer in "CrossXM" helping
organizations successfully connect their EX and CX programs to make better
data-driven business decisions.

Dr. Killian is also a professor in the Master of Science in Customer Experience Management (MS-CXM) program in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, and the author of over 50 published articles, conference presentations, and book chapters on the topics of leadership, assessment, employee engagement, and employee experience. He resides in the
San Francisco Bay Area and is a serious fitness fanatic, foodie, and outdoor
enthusiast.

Resources

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

Sign up for The Trusted Guide newsletter here: https://www.empoweredcx.com/newsletter

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

Register for the next Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class here: https://www.empoweredcx.com/

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