Customer Experience is on the decline in almost every sector. In 1987’s Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Steve Martin’s character embodied the frustration many customers feel today. His expletive-laden tirade at a disinterested and unhelpful car rental agent played by Edie McClurg might resonate with many customers today. If it were a real company, some might suggest Marathon Car Rental should hire a CX Consultant.

But Customer Service Evangelist, Amas Tenumah, has some very different thoughts on the CX movement, consultants, and what will ultimately improve customer experience. His refreshing takes can be found in his books, multiple podcasts as both guest and host, and contributions to the likes of NPR and Forbes, and now, Next in Queue.

We discuss: • The Negative Impact of the CX Movement • Customer Anger and the Desire for Revenge • The Complexity of CX in the Omni-Channel Age • Demanding Change in Customer Service • The Power of Grassroots Movements • Prioritizing Contact Center Agents

Connect with Amas on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/amastenumah/

Books and Podcasts by Amas – https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AAmas+Tenumah&s=relevancerank&text=Amas+Tenumah&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

For nearly 50 years, a mere two musical notes have evoked suspense for those who have seen the 1975 film, Jaws. The movie launched the career of composer, John Williams, and the movie became the prototype of the summer blockbuster. Roy Schneider’s character, police chief Martin Brody, leads a small team of two experts to go after the beach town’s biggest problem – a man-eating great white shark. But when he realizes the scope and size of the problem, he decides that his small team and their small boat may not be up to the task.

Supporting customers when the customer-base is growing can feel a little like being on a sinking ship as well. But instead of one shark, there are dozens. Even when you manage to take care of one, there are more lurking in the water. You need a bigger boat and a bigger team. But building a bigger team is a balancing act. You need to consider tools, team chemistry, team structure, and how to ensure growth of support isn’t linear with the growth of customers. Charlotte Ward has navigated these waters before and is navigating them again with her support team at Snowplow.

We discuss: • How highly technical customers impact the support approach • Single level vs. tiered support structures • How processes, tooling, hiring, and retention are impacted when scaling • How time tracking can identify areas for improvement • The role of AI in support • Breaking linear growth and evolving support

Connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottecward/

Customer Support Leaders – https://customersupportleaders.com/

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

The Six Millon Dollar Man (a.k.a. Steve Austin) was the result of an opportunity to design a man who was augmented with technology. The 70’s series ran from 1973 to 1978, if you include the first 3 “pilot” episodes that were actually made-for-TV movies. Its use of slow-motion combined with “bionic” sound-effects made Steve Austin (and Lee Majors, the actor who portrayed him) a major cultural icon of the decade.

While the design process of The Six Million Dollar Man was a work of science fiction, business leaders like Neal Travis are constantly considering how new technologies can be implemented to improve current processes. Instead of battling foes in the Dutch countryside, Neal is thinking about how technology can improve community. He knows he can rebuild his community platform – he has the technology. He can make the AIHR Community “better than it was before… better, more engaging, more supportive.”

We discuss: • The importance of community • Building a community platform and the measures of success • Moderation and voice of the customer • Community-led growth and premium access considerations • Trending topics in HR

Connect with Neal on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/neal-travis/

Growth Support Podcast – https://www.growthsupport.io/

Academy to Innovate HR – https://www.aihr.com

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

Tina Turner’s hit, We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) was the theme to the 1985 film, MAD MAX: Beyond Thunderdome. Given her personal history, one might imagine this song having meaning well beyond the movie’s themes. Afterall, heroes are typically portrayed as men deserving our admiration. Their flaws are often minimized or outright ignored because of their achievements. Be it personally or professionally, most of us want to succeed in our own right – not have some “hero” swoop in and save the day.

That doesn’t mean we don’t seek help or advice. We often need one or both and we seek it from those we trust the most. But what is trust? How do we become trustworthy? For answers I talked with Mark Slatin who created the Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class.

We discuss: • Trust and the 4 elements in the Trust Quotient • Transitioning from Hero to Trusted Guide • Three forms of customer loyalty • Measuring the ROI and Value of CX • Practical Tips for enhancing your own trustworthiness

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/markslatin/

Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class – https://www.empoweredcx.com/

Trust Quotient Assessment – https://trustsuite.trustedadvisor.com/

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

Customer Experience initiatives can often feel like we’re doing something as complicated as learning to fly. Tom Petty’s 1991 hit was inspired by a quote from a pilot who said that the hardest part was coming down. That safe landing is ultimately the return you’re looking for when you’re flying. It’s a fairly simple way to measure success.

For Customer Experience initiatives, measuring success can be more complicated. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it and do it well. Former Army Aviator turned CX Consultant, Jeff Sheehan, has some advice for getting ROI out of your CX initiatives and it starts with listening to what customers are telling you every day.

We discuss: • Similarities between the military and contact centers • Limitations of surveys when developing CX initiatives • The Value-Irritant Methodology for improving CX • Finding the right balance in digital transformation

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-sheehan-thecxroiguy/

CX JS Consulting – https://cxjsconsulting.net/

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

Eternal Inflation is the idea that baby universes are being created all the time. It’s actually a dominant theory in cosmology today, not just an idea invented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Tom Holland’s Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) starts babbling on about the multiverse in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, he’s actually babbling about current quantum mechanics and string theory. What it suggests is that, yes, parallel universes exist.

For those that have been involved in both, IT Support and Customer Support can feel like parallel universes. The tools are similar and they both work toward resolving customer issues, but Matt Beran points out that despite these similarities, there are some striking differences between these two universes. Whether there’s a universe where Peter Parker is working IT Support is still up for debate.

We discuss: • Why Matt has been dubbed “The Negotiator” • Differences between IT Support and Customer Support • The impact of Cloud Adoption on IT Management • Current Information Security Challenges • How Quantum Computing may impact Security • An Unexpected Detour into the World of Composting

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattberan/

Ticket Volume – https://www.youtube.com/@ticketvolumepodcast

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

In 1978, James Burke, a science historian, brought us the TV series Connections. His interdisciplinary approach to exploring the history of scientific achievements demonstrated how interconnected so many things were. Burke’s contention was that one cannot consider the development of any piece of the modern world in isolation.

Isolationist thinking is, of course, not limited to science. It happens in business rather often. We even borrowed a term from agriculture to describe it – siloed thinking. Of course, silos are for storing food, not thoughts. So we need to break down these “thought silos” so we can be aligned in our mission, vision, and values. Lynn Hunsaker is on a mission to get leaders to manage across all 5 CXM silos so that people across the company are aligned and she joins today to make the connections between them clear.

We discuss: • Forrester’s CX Index and the recent results • How CX Indexes are scored and what they measure • The role of expectations in CX • Saying “No” to non-ideal customers • Aligning strategies with expectations for long-term success

Connect with Lynn on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnhunsaker/

ClearAction – https://ClearAction.com

CX ROI Handbook – https://customerthink.com/cx-roi-handbook-connecting-customer-experience-and-employee-experience-roi/

Connections with James Burke - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf02uWXhaGRng_YzH-Ser_VEV4lGSLX_1&si=WM2koteyBS90i9WU

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/

Just because you attach numbers to something doesn’t necessarily give it credence – Even Ron Burgundy can sniff that out. This scene from 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy featuring Will Ferrell as the title character and Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana encapsulates a quote popularized by Mark Twain – “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Business decisions are often made on the back of statistics. Dr. Graham Hill has spent decades consulting for some of the largest organizations in the world. His work is grounded in research about customers, their behaviors, and what really drives them. We begin this week by digging into an oft quoted statistic regarding customer retention and profitability, and why it doesn’t make sense.

We discuss: • The myth of customer loyalty • Flaws in an oft-cited customer retention quote • Limitations of NPS and other customer loyalty measures • The importance of understanding the jobs customers need done • What companies get wrong about personalization • The value of customer service

Connect with Graham on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamhill/

Music courtesy of Big Red Horse – https://bigredhorseband.com/

Brought to you by Happitu – https://happitu.com/