Crack The Customer Code

Uber Disrupts and Chicago Cabbie   Uber and Lyft disrupt a long-standing and regulated industry   How Rashid Temuri, aka @chicagocabbie, has earned loyalty through providing exceptionally great service!   Rashid, Adam and Jeannie discuss big questions around safety, regulation and experience     How Did Uber and Lyft Disrupt the Long-Standing Taxi Industry?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how services like Uber have completely disrupted an entire industry. They argue how the customer service bar was too low (and still is) for the regulated services. Customers were willing to switch because the experience offered was so much better.     But is there room for both? And is perception what creates the customer experience or does customer experience drive perception?     Discussion begins at 1:50.     Rashid Temuri, aka Chicago Cabbie, the social media driver     Buckle up for a great discussion…Rashid Temuri created a loyal customer base by getting to know them (and letting them get to know hi

Customer journey maps How Citrix’s Justin Zacks uses design thinking in customer experience How Amazon Prime Now is changing the game (again)     Customer Journey Mapping Pros and Cons     Jeannie lays out what customer journey mapping is, and Adam and Jeannie discuss the ways this important tool can be used to better understand your customers.    Asking what the customer goes through today in reality versus the ideal journey you’d like them to have can be enlightening! But creating a beautiful and compelling visual representation of a customer journey map is sometimes not enough to lead to real action.      Discussion begins at 1:57.     Justin Zacks, Customer Experience Design Team Leader at Citrix Justin discusses how design thinking and other user-centered design processes can lead to better customer experiences.     Justin & Jeannie discuss how empathy can help you understand your customers and their actual problems. Justin shares how design thinking is now integrated into new hire

Today, we have a special episode. Adam’s new book Be Your Customer’s Hero launched this week, and Jeannie turns the table on Adam and places him in the interview hot seat for the entire episode! Be Your Customer's Hero Interview Here are some of the highlights from the interview: Why did Adam write Be Your Customer’s Hero? Adam shares a story about watching an employee mistreat a customer and how his passion to change that eventually grew into the book. Why mindset is so fundamental to customer service, why ex-Disney employees have a leg up interviewing with him, and how even good people can deliver bad service when they haven’t been given a customer-centric mindset. Why the right customer service language must be coupled with a genuine effort to serve. Why astronauts have competence and confidence and how frontline employees can get it, too. How to handle challenging customers, emotional reactions in difficult service situations, and why picturing your customer running down the street being chased by a bat

Does every organization need a community? How Mark Schaefer, marketing expert, handles the influx of content today Customer Zero: Keurig tries to mandate customer loyalty     Does every organization need a community?     It seems the term “community” is tossed around a bit as a necessary part of building a business. But does every type of business require a customer community?     Adam & Jeannie discuss the merits of building a community for the blogger, the local coffee shop and the auto parts distributor. Or is customer service enough? Listen in to hear if they come up with an answer to this challenging question!     Discussion begins at 1:17.     Mark Schaefer, Marketing Expert, Author and Speaker     Mark discusses the idea of “content shock,” and how more content available actually makes it more difficult to communicate with customers. (The amount of information on the web is expected to increase 500%!)     Hear more about Mark’s perspective on the power of “content that moves” and

A rockin’ episode about financial services and a live interview from SXSW Interactive… Financial services may have a few things to improve in their digital experiences How TripIt’s Amy Jackson listens to customers Updated Van Gogh exhibit helps patrons feel closer than ever to the artwork Customer Experience Rates Drop Worldwide Thanks to the 8th Annual World Insurance Report from CapGemini, we learned how the service experience is declining worldwide. Specifically, the digital and mobile experiences in financial services are simply not keeping up with customer expectations around these channels. Listen in to hear about how the in-person channel is also failing omnichannel expectations.  Discussion begins at 1:44.  Interview with Amy Jackson of TripIt Amy Jackson, Senior Director of Brand Strategy and Consumer Marketing, TripIt from Concur (interview from the TripIt Lounge at South By Southwest Interactive!)  Amy discusses how listening to customers who use their product on an almost daily basis helps TripI

How PR & Marketing set up the customer experience What Shonali Burke, PR maven, has to say about the intersection of PR and experience Customer Hero: AMC creates a rich and interactive experience for The Walking Dead viewers and fans   How Public Relations and Marketing Set Up the Customer Experience     The messages created about products, services and brands set expectations for customers. This can go both ways in helping brands over-deliver or under-deliver on the experience.     Adam & Jeannie discuss the high-brow movies of Die Hard and Snakes On A Plane as illustrations of setting expectations.     Discussion begins at 1:58.     Shonali Burke, President & CEO of Shonali Burke Consulting     Shonali discusses what to do when a terrible customer service story results in horrible PR. She covers why we’re all reporters now, how fast everything moves and why saying sorry is vital to recovery.     Find out about Shonali’s approach to social PR to build a team of champions who are engaged

In this episode you will hear: How social selling doesn’t work for Generation Z How Tom Martin, author of The Invisible Sale, encourages seducing instead of selling on social How a dating app based on snap judgments is a Customer Zero, but not for the reasons you might think Social Selling for Generation Z Jeannie schools Adam on Generation Z, which doesn’t stand for zombies! This group rejects advertising and traditional marketing like no other generation. Smart brands are connecting in creative ways. Listen in on how brands like Disney and Marriott are tapping into this market by empowering their peers with very few rules! Discussion begins at 1:13.  Tom Martin, Author of The Invisible Sale Tom addresses social selling and how most brands aren’t getting it right! With illustrations like Dilbert cartoons and Whack-A-Mole, Tom discusses seducing instead of selling. If you want to know about social selling, Tom’s got the answers. (And hear why Jeannie starts the conversation with a very sincere thank you for

In this episode you will hear:     How writing for Google instead of your customers can start the relationship off on the wrong foot How Andy Crestodina, co-founder of Orbit Media, creates content designed to deliver what customers want How robots might be used to actually make the customer experience more personal     Writing for Google     Adam and Jeannie discuss how the practice known as “keyword stuffing” and other nefarious SEO tactics is really rotten for customers.     Listen in to hear how the best brands write in a human way to provide the right information customers are seeking.     Discussion begins at 1:50.     Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder of Orbit Media     Andy discusses strategies for content marketing, and the pros and cons of using content as a long-term strategy. Andy also shares how to measure real business results from digital marketing, including social media and targeted search terms.     And Jeannie makes a somewhat indecent proposal on behalf of her blog.  

Listen to Jeannie and Adam discuss Jeannie's trip to the NextGen Customer Experience conference and takeaways from last year's conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this podcast you will learn –   -        How to personify your brand   -        Rod Brooks of PEMCO Insurance   -        How to create moments of delight around your product     Create Customer Personas   When Jeannie visited the PEMCO office, she was blown away by how they have created quirky profiles around their customers such that they can relate to them better.   Listen in to know more about creating personas around your customers.   Discussion begins at 2:00   Rod Brooks of PEMCO Insurance   Rod shares his story of how customer research helped PEMCO understand its neighbors and key insights on how to serve them better.   Find out more about how they created a mass campaign by creating moments of joy for their customers which resulted in 25,000 photo uploads and live engagements with 43,000 people.   Rod tells us how they create memorable moments for any visitor that came to their office.   They wanted people to have an interaction with these touch points by staying true to thei

In this episode…     Gathering Customer Feedback Can Be More Than Difficult Than It Seems! Mohamed Latib, COO of PeriscopeIQ Customer Hero? Letting Your Auto Insurer Follow You Around     Gathering Customer Feedback: Why Is It So Difficult?     There are so many ways to gather customer feedback, but do any of them work better than others?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how each organization needs to understand their goals in gathering feedback and how to best leverage the resources available. Listen in on how Adam and Jeannie view anecdotal feedback – they have strong opinions!     Discussion begins at 1:59.     Mohamed Latib, Co-Founder and COO of PeriscopeIQ     Mohamed discusses how to collect the best feedback from customers. Hear how Mohamed constructs efficient methodologies to get the best insights. Once all the data is collected, how can an organization understand what it means to be a “satisfied customer?”     Listen in to hear how Mohamed defines this and why Adam wants us t

A special episode where Jeannie and Adam discuss Jeannie's predictions for what will be hot at the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  In this episode…     Phase 2.0 of Digital Deniers: Your Customers’ Digital Lives An Interview With Blagica Bottigliero of Metaverse Mod Squad A Product Discontinuation Becomes a Customer Problem     Phase 2.0 of Digital Deniers: Your Customers’ Digital Lives     Are there still people who don’t believe their customers are truly digital?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how leaders need to understand their customers’ digital lives – social, mobile, etc. And how there’s no point in denying it!     Discussion begins at 1:40.     Interview with Blagica Bottigliero Blagica is Vice President of Digital Media for Metaverse Mod Squad.     Blagica discusses digital engagement in a 24/7 world, who owns the digital customer experience and how customer service fits into that world. Hear how organizations make certain mistakes with social media when serving customers.     Interview begins at 4:04.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: Discontinuing a Product The Wrong Way     Adam and Jeannie di

In this episode…     When Bad Customer Service Can Still Yield Good Business Results An Interview With Matt Ward of E&J Gallo Winery An NFL Team Makes an Impact with One Customer     Can Bad Customer Service Still Deliver Good Business Results?     Adam and Jeannie discuss how certain industries without as much competition don’t have to deliver great customer service but may need to change that in the near future.     Discussion begins at 1:37.     Matt Ward, Host of Art of the Kickstart Podcast and Blog     Matt works as a consultant, helping entrepreneurs and startups grow.     Matt discusses with Adam and Jeannie how successful crowdfunding campaigns involve customers early and often and how bigger companies can learn from them. Listen in to hear how crowdfunding helped open a butcher shop in Jeannie’s hometown. (And Matt offers some great freebies and discounts to Crack The Customer Code listeners!)     Interview begins at 3:52.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: What Is the G

In this episode…     Handling Pressure in Customer Service An Interview With Jeff Toister of Toister Solutions The Customers are the Heroes     Handling Pressure in Customer Service     Jeannie and Adam discuss why the ability to handle pressure is so important for frontline customer service reps. Jeannie tells a story of a problem flight that was handled well by the team at Southwest Air.     Adam recalls a story about his wife’s experience with a frontline rep who completely folded under the pressure of a crowded store.     Discussion begins at 1:50.     Interview with Jeff Toister of Toister Solutions     Jeff discusses how employees are often not the most common reason for service failures. Jeff discusses 2014’s viral Comcast call, the cultural problems he found underlying it, and some background to the story.     Jeff points out the importance of attention and how many impediments there are to customer service reps being able to give customers their full attention. Jeff also po

In this episode… The Millennial Customer An Interview With Anna Bell of E&J Gallo Winery An NFL Team Makes an Impact with One Customer The Millennial Customer Adam and Jeannie discuss how Millennials are different (and aren’t) and how customer experience needs to take into account some of their unique behaviors. Discussion begins at 1:25. Anna Bell at E&J Gallo Winery Anna is a marketing director with E&J Gallo Winery, managing a number of spirits brands.  Anna talks to Jeannie and Adam about how to manage a customer experience when you sell a product but don’t directly interact with the end user. They look at how consumer brands can succeed when shaping the customer experience indirectly and how Gallo works with its distributors and sellers. Interview begins at 7:45. Customer Hero, Customer Zero: An NFL Team Makes an Impact with One Customer Adam and Jeannie discuss the story of a young boy who sent a letter to every NFL team asking them why he should choose them as his team. Only one team responded and

  In this episode…     How Our Brains Work Against Us An Interview With Mike Wittenstein of Storyminers Meet Me at Starbucks     How Our Brains Work Against Us     Jeannie and Adam discuss why it is often hard for people to accept feedback. They explore cognitive dissonance and how it is difficult for people to accept evidence that is contrary to their beliefs.     Adam mentions that confirmation bias is a similar principle in reverse.     Jeannie explores how Starbucks specifically sought out feedback and used it to create its new loyalty program.     Discussion begins at 1:35.     Mike Wittenstein of StoryMiners     Mike explores how the store of the future is like a concept car, where new technologies are exposed to customers and vetted by customers to be rolled out to the market.     Mike advises that a mid-market firm might get started with a store of the future using private Pinterest boards to explore concepts. Mike advises “starting where you are” and focusing on incre

In this episode… Should We Emulate the Service Greats? An Interview With Jon-David aka Mafia Hairdresser People Who Don’t Tip Should We Emulate the Service Greats? Jeannie and Adam discuss the service greats and if others should emulate them. Jeannie says this kind of imitation can be a false way to present your organization. Instead, she thinks an organization should follow the path service greats like Zappo’s take and evolve with the marketplace and the customer. Listen in to hear Adam discuss how The Ritz-Carlton $2,000 principle, not the number, can be useful. Discussion begins at 1:12. Interview with the Mafia Hairdresser,  Jon-David Jon-David, also known as Mafia Hairdresser, is a Chicago hairdresser who wrote a book about his job with the Mob. He now consults using his eBook marketing and social media skills as well as his salon experience.  Listen in to hear Jon-David discuss his one-of-a-kind Social Media Salon and how he got to know his customers through social media.  Interview begins at 5:41. Cu

In this episode… Discussing CX Leadership Roles Interview with Ingrid Lindberg Towns Creating Improved Customer Experiences for Visitors A Conversation about Customer Experience Leadership Roles Adam and Jeannie discuss the many different customer experience leadership titles in organizations right now. Listen in to hear their thoughts on why it’s important for organizations to have a specific role focused on and dedicated to the customer. Discussion begins at 1:15. Interview with Ingrid Lindberg Ingrid is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at Prime Therapeutics. Ingrid shares with us how she manages her busy workload and her position as a Customer Experience Officer. Listen in to hear what she believes needs to change to get the C-Suite to become more customer focused. Interview begins at 5:10. Customer Hero, Customer Zero: How Competitive Retailers Cooperated to Improve Customer Experiences in Steamboat Springs Adam shares with us what the ski resort town Steamboat Springs Colorado did to promote a pos

In this episode… Chipotle puts quotations on cups and bags Interview with Rachel Happe A good Samaritan abuses the Olive Garden Pasta Pass   Chipotle’s Cup and Bag Quotations Jeannie shares with us an interesting set of microinteractions Chipotle has invested in. She says that Chipotle has paid really good writers to write very short stories on their paper cups and paper bags. Listen in to hear Adam and Jeannie weigh in on whether the ROI is worth the cost of the microinteraction.  Discussion begins at 1:01. Interview with Rachel Happe Rachel co-founded The Community Roundtable to support business leaders developing their community and social business strategies. Rachel enlightens us on who our community leaders are and their roles in business. Listen in to hear to hear where Rachel finds the resistances on making community management a priority, and how she sees community management fitting in to the overall customer experience. Interview begins at 4:37. Customer Hero, Customer Hero: Abusing the