After having a truly insightful conversation with Justin Keenen, I have even more respect for restaurateurs. The game has changed with the digital transformation that has and continues to happen for this industry. Listen in to hear how Netflix, Dominos, Starbucks, and others are using data to lead the way in the digital experience and more.
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Episode 65
Customer Experience of Today – from Farm to Valley
From farm girl and factory worker in Michigan to Silicon Valley executive, Maranda Dziekonski, Chief Customer Officer at Swiftly, has seen it all. Join us as she shares how she’s tackling the issues of today like; the great resignation, hiring frameworks, and leadership development. Plus lessons learned from failed start-ups along the way.
Episode 64
The Behavioral Science behind the Customer Experience
Digital transformation for CX is here and today we talk to AJ Triano, EVP of Customer Experience at Syneos, about how they’re helping clients navigate the digital CX for healthcare. AJ dives into the behavioral science behind CX and how trust, empathy, and listening are instrumental in getting it right.
Episode 63
Chromebooks in the Contact Center? You go Google!
Join us today as we talk with Jimmy Riordan and Sajed Sahni from Google about how they’re bringing Chromebooks to the channel and what’s new with Chrome OS.
Episode 62
Nail it Before you Scale It!
What a great podcast with Andrew Rios, Director of Technical Services at Turntide Technologies. Tune in as he talks about building a team from scratch, lessons learned through his 22 years of CX leadership, and how they’re “nailing it before scaling it” as they grow their support organization.
Episode 61
CX in Media
Today Lindsay Pasto, Direct of Customer Success North America at TVbeat, sits down to talk about how customer success has been adopted by media companies. We cover the challenges faced, how tech is playing its role, and why CX is the new kid on the block.
Episode 60
New Contact Center Tech - Little Fish in a Big Pond!
Gartner will always have the “big” Contact Center players in their quadrant, but what about those newer niche players that have great tech but not the big name yet? Darren Prine, of Cloud Tech Gurus, has found them and is bringing their tech to the contact center world. We sit down with Darren to talk about how the contact center tech is changing and how those newer players are making a difference.
Episode 59
Creating a Great Member Experience at Virgin Pulse
Virgin companies have always been known for creating great cultures, today’s guest continues to carry that torch at Virgin Pulse. Today I sit down with Michael Pace, Senior Director – Global Member Service, at Virgin Pulse to talk about his specific support framework to create a great member experience. When Michael is not creating great member experiences you’ll find him volunteering as the president of the Northeast Contact Center Forum, a non-profit designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas among peers.
Episode 58
Creating a Great Customer Experience
From health scores to change management, Saood Shah, VP of Customer Success at Terminus, talks to us about how he’s taking his organization to the next level through exceptional customer experience. Listen in as he goes through the HOW of crafting the right experience for the customer.
Episode 57
Rise of the Machine - The AI & Human Relationship
With AI continuing to be a hot topic Aarde Cosseboom and I sit down to talk with Jeff Kirchick, VP of Sales at XSELL Technologies to get his take on why you’ll still need humans. The machines are not taking over but it is a piece of the CX puzzle if you can do it right.
Episode 56
A Guided CX with Glance Networks
The DIY model for digital CX support only goes so far, but with a DIT (together) focus organizations are separating from the pack when it comes to the customer experience. Today we talk to Tom Martin, CEO at Glance about how they’re taking this digital experience to the next level by recognizing that people want help during their own CX journey and how Glance is bridging the human and digital experience.
Episode 55
B2B Customer Success - Where are we Headed?
Today we sit down with Ziv Peled, recently named a 2021 Top 25 Customer Success Influencer, to talk about how he’s transformed AppsFlyer and where he sees the future of customer success. Listen in as he digs into CS ops, tracking relationships, and what he’s learned along the way.
Episode 54
The Home Depot Keeping Culture #1
It’s not every day we get to peek behind the curtains of a Fortune 20 enterprise. Today we were lucky enough to sit down with Michael Jones, Sr. Director of Customer Care to learn how The Home Depot has stayed true to its mission of taking care of its people and their customers. We tackle everything from customer care and support, culture, and how their leaders have shaped the company.
Episode 53
Demystifying the Outsourcing of Contact Centers
Today we’re talking all about outsourcing. Fred Stacey has spent the last 26 years in the contact center outsourcing business and today we had the chance to sit down and learn from one of the best. Fred dives into the current trends in outsourcing, how customers are pushing their tech stacks to the BPOs, what markets are up and coming, and other tidbits around the industry.
Episode 52
Battling Churn with Health Scores
What a pleasure it was talking with Erin McDaniel. She brought the truth today when it comes to customer success. From managing churn to creating a relevant health score, Erin has the expertise to get it done. Listen in as she draws from her experience in the corporate and startup world.
Episode 51
Security Company looks to Scale and Move Upmarket -with Technology
Today we had the pleasure of sitting down with Justin Strackany, Chief Customer Officer at SecureLink to talk about how he sees technology and AI paving the way for customer success. We’re in the early days of customer success with very few playbooks to draw from…and for a multi-product company, it’s even more challenging. Listen in as Justin takes us into his approach and thoughts on how to drive revenue and continue to push for a great customer experience across all departments.
Episode 50
Architecting CX to Solve the CX Dilemma
Peter Armaly has decades of customer experience knowledge and has been at the forefront of its evolution. Today we learn how he is creating customer centricity at Oracle through training and leadership to create value and push the boundaries of customer success.
Episode 49
Leading in an Influencer World
Today we’re joined by Joshua Harbo, Director of Product Support at CreatorIQ to talk about leadership and influencer marketing. The influencer industry is changing at a rapid pace and support has to keep up and why support ultimately creates the best customer experience.
Episode 48
Customers are Demanding and Impatient – How do we keep them?
Customer Experience leader, speaker and author extraordinaire @davidarvin joins us today as we talk about how NOT to lose your customers. Why quality is not a differentiator these days and how speed, convenience and flexibility are what drive consumers today. Listen in and learn from one of the best around customer experience.
Episode 47
It’s NOT just the Customer Experience anymore!
That’s right… there’s more to just making a great customer experience. These days too many companies are falling flat on the employee experience. Today Dennis Wakabayashi sheds light on how he sees experience through the lens of the 3 R’s, how technology helps and hinders us, and how we as consumers are already subscribed in today’s world.
Episode 46
Restaurants Charging Hard into Digital Transformation
Episode 45
Finding Success at CROCS
Brian Gustin and I cover a lot of ground on the show. With close to 16 years at Crocs, he’s had his share of learning across multiple departments and successful moments. Today we get to learn how he took his service team global, managed 5x volume during their giveaway to frontline workers, and how they’re using technology to transform the customer and agent experience.
Episode 44
The Importance of Soft Skills in IT
For those not working in education, we often don’t see firsthand how difficult it is to manage the pandemic. But for Brad Bookser and his team over at High Tech High, they’ve been doing whatever it takes to get tech into the hand of their students. Today we talk to Brad Bookser, Director of IT, and learn how he’s leveraged his 14 years of military experience and soft skills to make a positive change for both IT and in student’s lives.
Episode 43
Breaking through with Customer Success
Listen in as we hear from Blake Swanson, Director of Customer Success, at a leading cyber security firm on how he’s breaking down the walls of customer success by leveraging risk frameworks, data, and empathy to drive growth.
Episode 42
Leadership & Change Management - Lessons Learned
Dominic Marci has a track record of over 30 years leading highly specialized support teams across the globe. Learn how he adapted to change throughout his career, whether it was an acquisition and he had to get a new team up to speed, opening centers across the globe, or implementing new technology to increase scale.
Episode 41
Tackling security and architecture at a University
Robert Henderson shares how he’s been able to navigate the tricky waters of architecture and security at the University of the Pacific. Having 20+ years of experience in higher-ed Robert dives into how he collaborates with every department so he and his team can streamline, cut costs and improve technology across the University. With Jeff Young joining as a co-host you have over 50 years of top-notch IT leadership to learn from.
Episode 40
AI, Security and Process Improvement
AI and Security are two of the most talked about IT topics today. Listen in as Chris LeBeau shares how ATS is using AI to enhance and improve the manufacturing process across the industry. Chris shares his thoughts on the good and bad of AI and how to make sure you're starting with the right questions. Both Jeff and Chris have decades of experience in manufacturing, this is a must listen for any manufacturing IT executive.
Episode 39
Using AI to Make Great CSMs
We love talking about AI and learning how it’s being used to enhance the customer experience. Today we get to hear from Bryan Plaster, CEO at Complete CSM, on how they’re using AI technology to turn good CSMs into great CSMs at every stage of the customer journey.
Episode 38
Leadership, Teamwork, and Technology with Mike Sasaki
Zero employees churn? Tune in as we sit down with Mike Sasaki, Global Head of Customer Success and Support at Mitek Systems to talk about leadership, lessons learned along the way, and how he’s created a team where nobody leaves. We also dive into how he views customers.
Episode 37
Zoom & Five9!?! The Good, The Bad, the Ugly
Today we talk with 2 industry experts and long-time friends of ours, Curt Allen and Ken Bisnoff of EagleTEQ Advisors. What does the recent Zoom-Five9 acquisition mean for their competitors and the telco industry as a whole. Who's next, is it good, and what else might be on the horizon? Plus we learn how EagleTEQ is advising individual agents, telco carriers, and masters how to grow their business through all the changes happening today.
Episode 36
Learning about Contact Center Automation Software with Jacada
Scott Merrit and Kumaran Shanmuha dive into the challenges of running complex contact centers and the complexity that comes with them. They’ll explain how Jacada is tackling this problem by using real-time agent assistance to equip agents with the information they need when they need it.
Episode 35
Set Expectations and Beat Them
We’re talking CX with David Katzman, Head of Customer Experience and Strategy at Onshape. He’s bringing some very interesting ideas to the CX and Strategy landscape, with lessons learned from his time at Deloitte, and how he keeps a pulse on the CX health score for their clients.
Episode 34
Eye Opening... AI is taking over
TEDx Talks speaker Tyson McDowell sits down with us to talk about why AI is driving society to a dark place, how we have more control than we think and what he and his team are doing in trying to a better internet into fruition. Click the link in the comments below to listen to Tyson’s TEDx Talk.
Episode 33
Security Should Be Keeping you Up at Night
John Walker is a seasoned IT professional and we had the honor of sitting down with him to get his take on security, software development, and how he keeps his organization on the leading edge of technology.
Episode 32
Blockchain, Big Data and Security with Ken Knapton
Ken takes us through his approach to the challenges many IT organizations are facing today. How to use #BigData and where to start. Boiling down #cybersecurity into simple terms. And how #Blockchain is changing the banking industry and what that means for the future.
Episode 31
Why the IT is the Unsung Hero of the Pandemic
Larry Schachter drops some truth bombs when talking about how IT either saved or crippled their organizations. We dive into the risks of being unprepared and being, “one click away from disaster” when it comes to #cybersecurity.
Episode 29
The Importance of the Customer Journey Map with William Chesser
Today’s guest, William Chesser, shares his experience of what it’s like taking a 20+ year company on the journey of building out customer success. Like many others before them, account management was the name of the game and now the big question is “how.” Listen in as William talks about the journey.
Special shout out to Irit Zeebs for the amazing consulting work she accomplished by giving them the framework needed to succeed.
Episode 30
$$$ Back, Data and Beer with Ric and Murph at Sharpen
Today we had the pleasure of sitting down with not one, but two industry experts and what they have going on at SharpenCX is absurd. They’re taking the agent experience and flipping it on its head, with the data to back it up and putting their money where their mouth is. Listen in and see or hear what they’re up to.
Episode 27
Chat BOTS and the Ninja Quest with Adam Ferenzi
Very interesting chat today with Adam Ferenzi. We had the chance to really dive deep into the complexities of evaluating BOTS, helping shape career paths for employees, and what it means to be a Ninja on their team.
Episode 28
Green Egg and Customer Experience with Bill Mahoney
Get a glimpse into Bill Mahoney’s world as he takes on customer experience at Lease Query. How he uses the mantra, “see something, say something” to give a voice to his employees to drive positive change. And we learn why he put the Green Egg at the top as one of his personal customers experiences.
Episode 25
It’s All about Leadership with Karen Durenberger
Usually we dive into customer experience and success with our guests, but today’s show is really about leadership. Listen in as Karen shares about her career and the lessons learned about leadership along the way...and why Trust, Empathy, and Belief are her core tenants to being an exceptional leader.
Episode 26
What’s a Value Burger?
Customer success is a journey for organizations, and Ryan Bullard has found his own formula with his Value Burger. Tune in and learn from a seasoned expert and well read leader as we talk about the challenges, successes and methods he uses to get the job done at CB Insights.
Episode 23
80/20 Rule - Security 2021 - IT moving to the Executive Table with Brad Bilotta and Jeff Young
Learn how Brad Bilotta is using Prado’s 80/20 rule to bring efficiencies and drive revenue for Magnaflux. We also talk about what a security framework looks like today and what’s driving IT to have a seat at the executive table. Sit back and listen in as we learn from two great IT leaders.
Episode 24
Nicolas Cage and Digital Whiteboard with Jim Kalbach
Listen and learn how Jim Kalbach is using “Pick your Nick” to bridge the divide between the remote workforce and humanization. From mapping experiences, building trust as a leader, to unique ways to collaborate with Mural’s whiteboard
Episode 21
Walking in the Shoes of Your Employees with Kim Riedell
Aarde and I sat down with an amazing Customer Success leader, Rock Star ski Mom, and all around awesome guest. Listen in on how Kim is driving change at Impact and how she is seeing the industry change and adopt more tech. And how to effectively develop a great culture, even during a pandemic.
Episode 22
Monitoring Companies to increase Revenue with Brendan Cahoon
Today we talked to Brendan Cahoon SaaS Customer Success leader with experience across the buyer and customer journey. Currently leading the Customer Success Management team at Catchpoint, a leader in digital experience monitoring. Responsible for onboarding, product.
Episode 19
Time to Value, AI and Operational Excellence with Guneet Singh
Guneet Singh was an amazing guest on today’s show. Listen in as he dives into the tenants he uses to craft an exception experience at AppFolio. Learn how to use emotion, effort and success to create value and the concept of “time to valve” to create a great experience. And of course we dive into how technology, data and AI is helping transform an already tech-forward organization.
Episode 20
It’s all about the culture! with Melissa Henley
Today we are joined by Melissa Henly, Sr Director of Customer Experience at LaserFiche. She has an amazing journey from writer, marketing and communication, and to now customer experience at LaserFiche. Stick around as we talk about “knowing thy customer,” process/people/technology, the fears around change management, and why their developers are rockstars at their conferences.
Episode 17
Closing the Loop on VoC with Allastair Meffen
We get to learn from one of the best in Healthcare on how he creates cross-functional alliances with the goal of improving the customer experience. Allastair shares his methodologies and passion surrounding the customer experience and how you can’t always throw more bodies at a problem.
Episode 18
Sangria and SaaS with Henry Svendblad
Want to learn how Henry used tech to turn Company Nurse from a service company to a cutting edge tech company? Join us as we learn from a master sangria mixer, professional mountain biker and technologist on today’s podcast.
Episode 15
What does CX and Buying Cars have in Common With Graham Wright
Today’s guest is leading the charge in the USA for Berlin based SumUp, “a better way to get paid.” Listen in as we discuss Graham’s methodologies to achieving the “invisible experience” and how that has lead to loyalty amongst their customers.
Episode 16
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Want to Make a Social and Environmental Impact at the Same Time? Listen to this.
Human I-T has been at the forefront of shrinking the digital divide while also helping the environment. They provide low-income individuals with technology, internet, and digital training. By reusing instead of recycling electronics, their team transforms E-Waste into opportunities for underserved communities, while promoting digital inclusion and online access.
Join us today as Brandon Smith, VP of Business Development, shares how Human I-T is impacting communities around the country, some heartwarming stories, and mind-blowing statistics about digital waste.
Whether you’re in IT or elsewhere at your organization, make sure your E-Waste isn’t getting ground up and buried, but being used to support your local community.
Episode 14
Maintaining CX Support through Multiple M&As with Matt Dale
On this episode, we talk with Matt Dale around the challenges of managing support while the company is in hyper growth mode with M&As. Also learn his approach of moving from high touch to low touch to attain scale as the company grows.
Episode 13
Getting Technical with AI with Guest Cristian Herrera
Why do companies like Athens services, who have evergreen contracts with municipalities, need a great customer experience? Learn why as we talk with Cristian Hererra, Director of Customer Experience, on how he transformed what CX looks like at Athens Services.
Episode 11
Getting to the Heart of Customer Experience with Nate Brown
In this episode, Nate dishes out a new level of energy when talking about the customer experience and how employees have to love the company first. Aarde and I dive deep with Nate to learn his approach to the CX and leading change.
Tune in as we share about:
👉 Employees being brand ambassadors
👉 CX communication
👉 Some of Nate’s top books
👉 The Brand Promise
Episode 12
How Lifesize is Making Waves in Digital Transformation with Sarita Fernandes
Always great to interview one of our partners...today we had the pleasure of talking to Sarita, VP of Product & Marketing at Lifesize.
Tune in as she shares some of her philosophies and the amazing developments happening at Lifesize:
👉 CX 1st Companies
👉 Why video is here to stay
👉 Digital transformation
👉 Creating a delightful experience
Episode 9
Getting the Skinny on Nice InContact with Justin Borah
Today’s episode we sat down with Justin Borah, Enterprise Sales Executive with Nice InContact, to talk about what’s going on with NiC and how their customers are using the platform to improve the customer experience, drive performance and increase revenue.
Episode 10
Sports Metaphors and the Customer Experience with Troy Shaffer
Today we talk with Troy Shaffer, VP of Contact Center Operations, at SCAN Health to learn how he tackles the balance between maintaining the corporate mission of “keeping seniors health and independant” and driving contact center performance. Leveraging his 30 years of business experience, Troy shares his insights into how he uses technology, people, and process to elevate his employees and the mission at SCAN Health.
Episode 7
CX Automation, Change Management and Career Development with Dutta Satadip
Today's guest is Dutta Satadip, Chief Customer Officer at Active Campaign. He is a global executive specializing in customer engagement, go to market, revenue generation, and scaling operations in organizations ranging from $300M to $85B Fortune 500 global businesses such as Google, Pinterest, and now ActiveCampaign as their Chief Customer Officer. Dutta frequently speaks at major conferences including TEDx on management topics such as Customer Experience, Operations, Change Management, and Leadership.
Episode 8
Exceeding Customer Expectations is overrated with Brett Frazer
We’re joined by Brett Frazer, VP of Customer Service at Sunbasket, for Another Cloud Podcast. Brett has built the customer service vision and scaled the organization from a simple M-F email support offering, to an omni-channel skills-based offering combining agent, AI, self service and gig talent focused on providing solutions where his customers need them most.
Tune in as Brett shares:
👉 His 5 A’s methodology to creating an amazing CX and Agent experience
👉 How he uses empathy to drive results
👉 Why exceeding customer expectations is overrated
👉 What his experience can tell you about outsourcing support to a BPO
Episode 5
Around the Cloud: The Future of CCaaS with Erika McDowell from Dialpad
Listen in as we talk with Erika McDowell from Dialpad on the technology changes happening in the CCaaS world and how Dialpad is differentiating themselves to separate from the pack.
Episode 6
What You Don’t Know About Headsets with Guest Cooper Johnson
In this episode, we bring you Cooper Johnson, Channel Partner Manager at Headset Advisor to talk about how the landscape around sourcing headsets has completed changed, plus what to look for when purchasing.
Episode 3
Smarter Than Me Series: Interview with Dave Recktenwald
Today, we bring you customer experience and cloud contact center operations expert and the Regional Sales Director at Genesys, Dave Recktenwald. Technology has changed exponentially over the last few decades from smoke signals, emails, traditional telephony to VOIP and now the cloud-based solutions. Though industry leaders nowadays are becoming more tech-savvy and acknowledge the efficiency of cloud-based solutions, we still have thousands who are doubtful to switch. Please tune in as Alex, Aarde and Dave discuss the current state of the contact center Industry.
Episode 4
Remote Work and UCaaS — Breaking Down WFM and CX with Graham Carter
The coronavirus pandemic has abruptly changed the way we work and will probably change long-term as there will be something else that will again sell the value of work from home when the pandemic is over. Adapting to the new norm is going to be weird and it's going to be different for every company. Today, we're talking with a strategic and results-driven professional with over 10 years of customer service experience in a Management/Project Owner capacity, Graham Carter as we talk about the challenges of remote work and how we prepare for the contact center of the future.
Episode 1
The Beginner's Guide to Buying Telecom Services with Adler Advisor partner Dustin Riedel
Organizations are shifting and moving from premise environment to cloud for several reasons. It can be saving money and time, flexibility, reliability, easy data backup and recovery, and improved security. As an inaugural treat for our listeners, we are joined today by an expert who specializes in solving the unique telecom needs, Dustin Riedel. Dustin is a founding Partner of Adler Advisors. Tune in and find out what to look for when buying telecom services.
Episode 2
Smarter Than Me Series: Interview with Co-Host Aarde Cosseboom
In this episode, we are joined by the Senior Director of GMS Technology, Product, & Analysis of TechStyle Fashion Group, Aarde Cosseboom. He is a contact center extraordinaire, helping businesses support their consumers through cloud-based products and technologies. Aarde is also the author of the book "Enable Better Service", a customer service contact center story of breaking away from the norm through creativity, technology, and innovation.