Clicking “buy now” shouldn’t feel like shouting into the void. In this episode, we explore how digital retail can feel more human by pairing smart personalization with trust-building micromoments. Instead of proving what we know, we focus on what customers need next: clear fit guidance, delivery transparency, and friction-removing policies that build confidence before checkout.

We share practical moves you can use this week—from confirmations that speak to the shopper (not the order number) to shipping updates in plain language, short stylist videos, and behind-the-scenes warehouse moments. We also cover how to use chat well: being upfront about bots, designing warm handoffs to humans, and giving AI a role that feels helpful, not blocking.

Reassurance is the real conversion multiplier. We talk about sizing honesty, responsible return signals, clear expectations on duties and timelines, and how to keep the warmth going after checkout. The simple test we return to again and again: would this message feel kind and useful if you sent it to a friend?

If these ideas help, subscribe for more customer experience strategies, share this episode with your team, and leave a quick review so others can find us. Your feedback shapes what we explore next.

Resources Mentioned:
Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.com
Experience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.com

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

What if customer experience stopped living in customer service and started living in the core of your business? We tackle a listener’s challenge and turn it into a practical playbook: define a shared mindset, build a success blueprint tied to revenue and cost, and practice the daily discipline that makes change stick. Along the way, we share the one-line definition leaders can use to rally teams: customer experience is the system we build to deliver on the promises we make.

We start by stripping away the fuzziness around CX. Instead of ten different definitions across the company, we push you to craft a clear CX mission statement that guides choices in sales, product, marketing, operations, and HR. From there, we elevate CX from reactive troubleshooting to proactive design—fixing upstream processes that create downstream tickets, refunds, and churn. The message to skeptics is grounded and simple: fewer service issues, lower cost-to-serve, stronger retention, and more referrals.

Then we map CX to executive priorities with a customer experience success blueprint. We talk through how to align with the CFO’s bottom line, show the CMO how advocacy can lower paid media spend, and help product and operations choose fixes that move the needle. You’ll hear how to translate friction into financial levers, set a tight measurement set that includes outcome, perception, and behavior metrics, and build governance that runs like any other business function. Finally, we offer storytelling tips to earn buy-in, celebrate small wins, and keep momentum through the long, non–light switch journey of change.

If this resonates, share it with a colleague who still thinks CX is a department. Subscribe for more practical plays, leave a quick review to help others find the show, and send us your questions—your challenges fuel the next conversation.

Resources Mentioned:
Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- experienceiseverythingbook.com
Experience Investigators Website -- experienceinvestigators.com

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

The most dangerous number in customer experience isn’t low—it’s shiny. In this CX Pulse Check, we unpack why a single score can seduce teams into storytelling that investors love and customers don’t feel, and we make a case for the harder, more honest work of proving value creation by cohort, not by kudos. With Rob Markey of Bain & Company and Harvard Business School, we discuss whether customer metrics predict growth or distract from it, and we separate real loyalty from repeat purchase.

We go straight at the NPS debate: what the score can predict, where it fails, and how it becomes powerful only as part of a system that links feedback to actions that change renewal, cross-sell, referrals, and cost-to-serve. We talk airlines, captive markets, and the language games behind “loyalty” programs that purchase repetition without building emotional commitment. Then we get practical. You’ll hear a little about how to read interaction telemetry for risk signals, and build models that translate service performance—wait times, abandon rates, repeat contacts—into forward revenue forecasts your CFO will respect.

This is a great listen for leaders who want both heart and proof: real-time feedback to understand emotion and expectation shifts, behavioral data to see what customers actually do, and investor-ready visuals like tenure curves and revenue per customer by acquisition year. If you’ve ever wondered how to tell a CX story that earns budget because it earns returns, tune in to this conversation.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with your team, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Then send in a question you want us to tackle next at askJeannie.vip.

About Rob Markey
Advisory Partner, Bain & Company
Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School

Rob Markey (https://robmarkey.com) is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and an advisory partner at Bain & Company. The creator of the Net Promoter System, he has spent more than three decades helping companies grow by earning customer loyalty and increasing the value of their customer relationships.

He teaches Managing Service Operations in the MBA program at HBS and hosts the Customer Confidential podcast, where he speaks with leaders building customer-centric businesses.

He is the co-author of The Ultimate Question 2.0 and a leading voice in the movement toward Customer Capitalism.

Follow Rob on...
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmarkey/


Articles Mentioned:
- The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI): Quarter 3, 2025 - A Threat Potentially More Damaging Than the Great Recession (American Customer Satisfaction Index) -- https://theacsi.org/news-and-resources/press-releases/2025/11/13/press-release-national-acsi-q3-2025/
- CoStar (CSGP) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (The Motley Fool) -- https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2025/10/28/costar-csgp-q3-2025-earnings-call-transcript/

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)