Customer Experience Leaders

Charles Weiser is the Head of Customer Experience at Optus, one of Australia’s largest telecommunications companies. In this episode we discuss how Optus uses data to create a positive experience for customers. We also talk about service in the age of global internet giants like Netflix or Amazon, and how Optus is keeping pace to deliver experiences which align with customer expectations.   Resources mentioned: The Road (book), by Cormac McCarthy The power of vulnerability (TED Talk), by Brené Brown.   Key takeaways (starts at 39:31): Ensure that the executive team owns the customer experience Everyone is the Head of CX It’s worth investing in your CRM software See all problems as opportunities to delight a customer Small things can go a long way

David Pisker is the Head of Customer Experience & eCommerce at Officeworks, Australia’s leading office supplies retailer. In this episode, we discuss how Officeworks creates delightful experiences for customers in a retail environment and why they look outside their industry to find new innovations. We also talk about the role of the customer and how businesses can meet the needs of their users in a mobile world.   Resources mentioned: Yammer (workplace communication tool) Luminoso (AI data analysis software) Breath (book), by Tim Winton. Sombrero Fallout (podcast), hosted by Ian Deeker Forth.   Key takeaways (starts at 40:30): Watch for the shift from product to experience Are you giving the customer confidence? Take inspiration from anywhere Find a way to capture innovative ideas Close the feedback loop with customers

Michael Gigliuto is an engineer with Impact, a leading traffic and transport engineering consultancy that designs transport experiences for their customers. In this episode, we discuss everyone's favourite topic—parking—and how the overall design of a carpark can change the customer experience. We also talk about how some of the best design decisions counterintuitively might not be appreciated by users.   Resources mentioned: Urban maths: car park mayhem (research paper), published in Mathematics Today by A Townie.   Key takeaways (starts at 22:39): Have key stakeholders come together at the start of a project Be careful of the incentives you give staff or customers Think outside of the box for the best outcome Think about all the roles a customer has in their journey

Dennis Snow is an author, speaker, trainer, and consultant who coaches some of the world's largest companies on customer experience. He honed his skills over a twenty-year career at Walt Disney World in which he grew from working on the front lines of some of the attractions to managing various operational functions. In this episode, we talk about how Walt Disney World is able to provide experiences which wow their customers. And we learn how Walt Disney World is able to bring all of their employees along on their customer experience journey, even if it means picking up trash.   Resources mentioned: Lessons from the Mouse (book), by Dennis Snow. The Experience Economy (book), by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore. The image of Walt Disney picking up trash (image), which Dennis mentions during the show. First, Break All The Rules (book), by Marcus Buckingham. Twenty Thousand Hertz (podcast), hosted by Dallas Taylor.   Key takeaways (starts at 45:12): Never let backstage come on-stage. Care about the details, as the small wins help build the entire experience. Be accountable to your principles. Hire people with a service mindset.

Johann Kim is the Founder and Managing Director of Pigeonhole, a series of quirky and designer-esque retail stores throughout Australia. We talk to him about how a retail business like Pigeonhole is able to deliver consistent customer experiences when they have so many different store formats. We also talk about culture and how Johann's passion for delivering amazing service permeates through the business and enables staff to develop relationships with their customers.   Key takeaways (starts at 21:46): At its heart, customer experience is emotive; it's about how your customers feel. Create a positive internal culture by focusing on friendship and family values It's okay to break the rules sometimes if it keeps you enthusiastic and that resonates with customers.

Blake Morgan is a Customer Experience Futurist, Keynote Speaker and Author of the new book ‘More Is More’. On this episode, we ask her: Why does customer experience actually matter? We talk about customer support and contact centres. And of course, we discuss the future of customer experience and how technology will impact how brands engage with their customers.   Resources mentioned: More Is More (book), by Blake Morgan. Fresh Air (podcast), hosted by Terry Gross, by NPR. Thick Face, Black Heart (book), by Chin-Ning Chu.   Key takeaways (starts at 27:07): Focus on the right metrics; the metrics which matter to the customer, not just the metrics which matter to the organisation. Make things easy for the customer Don’t make the customer repeat themselves

Kylie Ward is the CEO of the Australian College of Nursing. We go behind-the-scenes of the nursing world, and uncover what the role of a nurse actually is, how nurses impact patient outcomes and patient experiences, the ways nurses go above and beyond, and what a 10/10 healthcare experience looks like. There are plenty of takeaways from the nursing industry that we can apply to business generally.   Resources mentioned: You Can Heal Your Life (book), by Louise Hay. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (book), by Stephen Covey. How to Win Friends & Influence People (book), by Dale Carnegie.   Key takeaways (starts at 31:33): Include the customer/patient in handover processes so they feel involved. Manage uncertainty in emergency rooms by increasing communication and setting clear expectations. Promote the use of staff emotional intelligence (EQ) by building processes and tools to facilitate it. Find practical uses for big data by looking at trends and creating new processes to improve the customer’s experience.

Brien Winther is the Managing Director of Pandora jewellery, in the UK. Previously, Brien was the President of Pandora Australia and New Zealand. Topic 1: How Pandora’s personalised bracelet charms helped build it into the successful brand that it is today. Topic 2: How Pandora manages the huge queues it receives every year in the lead up to Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Bonus topic: How Pandora turned a struggling retail store on Pitt St into a $10M success story.   Key takeaways (starts at 30:39): Create ways for customers to build emotional connections with your product (like how Pandora’s charms capture ‘Unforgettable Moments’). Reduce the burden of queues by managing customer expectations and moving people through their unique journey quicker. People make the experience (not the product, price, policies or procedures). Practical empowerment of store managers, which leads to staff genuinely caring.

David Buttel is the Managing Director of Raine & Horne real estate, in Neutral Bay. There's a lot of discussion in the property market right now about housing affordability, real estate ethics and an ongoing debate over whether you can trust real estate agents. We spoke to one of Australia's best real estate agents to uncover how he delights his customers, regardless of the industry's reputation. Today, we reveal the secrets of how real estate agents get the best prices when selling properties. We learn why David is one of the top 100 real estate agents in Australia. And, we ask whether there are any conflicts of interest as a real estate agent when dealing with buyers and sellers.   Key takeaways (starts at 26:10): Having real empathy for your customers Seeing the big picture view (i.e. customer lifetime value) "It's not what you say or what you do, it's how you make the customer feel." Have humility and do the dirty work (even when clients don't realise it)

Col Kennedy is the General Manager of Brand and Customer Experience at Country Road, which is a premium fashion and apparel retailer. Col has a wealth of experience from working at brands like Disney, Target and Cotton On. Topic 1: How to rethink your loyalty program to drive better relationships with customers. Topic 2: What does it take to manage a brand which has thousands of employees and still deliver consistent experiences?   Resources mentioned: Start With Why (book), by Simon Sinek.   Key takeaways (starts at 22:55): Start with the customer, not the loyalty program. Invest in internal communications Understand where your brand's positioning is going and remain in-sync with your customer's expectations

Peter Wagstaff is a Senior Lecturer and Marketing Academic at Monash University. We speak to Peter about customer experience in higher education. We ask the question: Who actually is a university's customer? We debate the reasons why bureaucratic organisations struggle to provide great experiences. And Peter shares a controversial opinion of why it's sometimes actually good to make a student's life difficult.   Resources mentioned: The CX field-of-study is being driven by industry bodies like Gartner, Forrester, McKinsey, PwC and Harvard Business Review. The 4 Ps of goods marketing and the 7 Ps of services marketing "What people really desire are not products but satisfying experiences" (source: Abbott, 1955, Quality and Competition). Education learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle, Blackboard, etc. Trying Slack as an alternative tool for student interaction The Zone of Proximal Development (theory), by Lev Vygotsky.   Key takeaways (starts at 27:52): Know who the customer is—that is the ultimate truth Find ways to exceed expectations The experience your customer has is partly beyond your control "What people really desire are not products but satisfying experiences"

Lawrence Mitchell is the Chief Customer Officer at SumoSalad. SumoSalad is a quick service restaurant (QSR) with over 160 franchise locations across Australia. And as you'd expect for a brand like this, the in-store experience is paramount. Since we were speaking to one of Australia's only Chief Customer Officers, we asked Lawrence exactly what he does in his role. Not only that, but he also shares a great tip to ensure senior management knows whats going on at the customer level of your organisation.   Resources mentioned: Conscious Capitalism (book), by John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia. Testing WhatsApp to communicate in a visual way on mobile devices, provided that it's used for "positive sharing". The SumoSalad app (iOS | Android) has enabled busy professionals to order and collect much more quickly. Start With Why (book), by Simon Sinek.   Key takeaways (starts at 31:51): The side-by-side program and spending time in-store learning from customers Knowing your Why and brand purpose Bringing buyer personas to life Getting the comms right by experimenting with communications channels

Ray Gillenwater is the Founder of SpeakUp, who are experts in employee engagement. We speak to Ray about how your employees can make a bigger impact on your customers than what you might think. Ray gives away some practical tips on how to use technology to delight customers. But before Ray started his company, he was the Managing Director of BlackBerry Australia and New Zealand. And we go behind the scenes to find out where it all went wrong.   Resources mentioned: UserOnboard (website), by Samuel Hulick. Research by Gallup shows that only 13% of employees are actively engaged at work. What's worse is that 24% of employees are actively disengaged. Employees First, Customers Second (book), by Vineet Nayar. SpeakUp: employee-sourced problem solving and idea generation.   Key takeaways (starts at 29:20): Customer experience is very emotional Focus on your employees first and your customers second You have to understand who your customer is UX is such an important part of CX

We reveal the secrets of how great brands delight their customers. We speak to the CX Leaders behind brands like Pandora, Disney, Uber, SumoSalad, Country Road, Microsoft and many more! Delighting customers shouldn't be complicated, so we're on a mission to bring you jargon-free practical takeaways to help you build great customer experiences. Customer Experience Leaders launches in October 2017.