Episodes

This CX Mini Masterclass explains customer “Moments of Truth”. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, shares where the concept came from, and how you can use your understanding of Moments of Truth to improve customer journeys and foster loyalty. These moments can make or break a customer journey, so if you’ve heard this term used as a buzzword, but want to learn how to translate jargon into business results, then this episode is for you. Enjoy the best of the archive The pod...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains the role of leading and lagging indicators in measuring customer experience. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, shares examples for how you can build a balanced view of customer experience with the right mix of CX metrics and measures. If you are wondering how to move beyond a one-metric view of CX, this episode is for you. Enjoy the best of the archive The podcast is currently on hiatus and will be back with new content later this year....

This CX Mini Masterclass covers the concept of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), how to calculate this, and why it’s an important metric for the CX profession. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, will help you understand how to leverage CLV to demonstrate the ROI of customer experience and foster buy-in for customer-centric strategy. Enjoy the best of the archive The podcast is currently on hiatus and will be back with new content later this year. In the meantime, I’ve curat...

Customer experience expert and industry pioneer, Jeanne Bliss, shares insights about the origins of the CX industry as well as where it’s going. Jeanne, also known as the godmother of customer experience, provides listeners with a unique window into her career path from becoming one of the first Chief Customer Officers, to founding the CXPA and becoming a transformative force in field of CX. Jeanne and show host, Julia, discuss the enduring challenges facing all CX professionals and what’s next ...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains a simple yet effective CX tool for driving customer-centric change and ensuring that business decisions support an organization’s overall CX goals. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, explains the customer impact scorecard, how to build one and then how to use it to ensure that business changes work for – not against – CX. Julia also shares some news about a planned hiatus for the show. If you’re looking for a practical approach to help cro...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores best practices for building a CX dashboard, a critically important tool for any CX program. Special guest and customer experience expert, Ben Motteram takes listeners through the benefits and uses of a CX dashboard, he provides insights on how to build one with the end user in mind, and he also speaks about how best to distribute your dashboard once it’s up and running. If you’re looking for a one stop shop for expert guidance on why and how you should build a C...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains the importance of measuring digital customer experience and some of the most popular metrics for doing this. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, provides an overview of what metrics and measures are typically captured at various digital touchpoints, ideas on how to use these to understand the journey, and tips on where you might be able to find this data within your organization. If you’re looking for some ideas about how to leverage digita...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains the importance of establishing empathy for the customer among all employees and 3 practical ways CX professionals can help teams do this. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, covers 3 tried-and-true empathy building activities that you can use with nearly any team from service reps to the c-suite. If you’re looking for ideas and inspiration on how to help team members at all levels foster empathy and get in touch with the needs of the custom...

This CX Mini Masterclass covers a roundup of the key insights on CX metrics from previous episodes. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, covers everything from the basic definitions of the most popular metrics to the strategies for putting these to use, plus a step by step guide on where you can go to learn more. Customer experience metrics have always been a hot topic in the industry, so this episode is for new CXers and seasoned experts alike. If you’re interested in an ex...

This CX Mini Masterclass comes directly from a listener request about how organizations can ensure that CX is protected, even as customers and companies move to more reliance on technology. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, explains the relationship between customer experience and technology, and 3 ways to maintain the integrity of CX amid a changing landscape. If you’re interested in some practical actions that you can take to ensure great customer experience even as the...

Customer experience transformation expert and Director of Experience Analytics at Magellan Health, Jennifer Wright, shares insights on CX in the age of Covid 19 and beyond. Jennifer leverages her knowledge of consumer behavior and experience as a CX leader across multiple sectors to provide insights about how customer experience is changing in response to the current global health pandemic. Jennifer and show host, Julia, discuss what “good” customer experience looks like these days, some example...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains customer touchpoint maps, how these differ from journey maps, and their place in the CX professional’s toolbox. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, breaks down what a touchpoint map is (and is not) and this tool’s role in helping teams build and manage customer experiences. If you’re interested in learning about touchpoint maps, what they’re used for, and tips on how to build one, then this episode is for you. The #1 misused term in CX To...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores the benefits of interviews as an effective approach to gain customer insight. Special guest and CX thought leader Stephanie Thum shares when and where this Voice of Customer (VOC) strategy can be most useful, best practices for conducting customer interviews and 5 practical tips for designing an interview research initiative. If you’re looking for some tangible advice about how to leverage interviews to better understand your customers, then this episode is for ...

Seasoned CX leader and Customer Experience Design Partner with Verizon Business Group, Michelle Morris, shares insights from her rich and varied career in customer experience. Michelle helped shape one of the earliest formalized customer experience organizations in corporate America and has led CX teams at global brands from across a diverse array of industries. Michelle and show host, Julia, dive into the critical success factors for making CX change “stick”, approaches for calculating the ROI ...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores 3 low-cost unique customer experience research methodologies. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, explains the benefits of expanding VOC efforts beyond the survey and focus group, several ways you can do this, and how to deal with potential push back around sample size. If you’re interested in learning about 3 simple VOC approaches that will help you gain new insight into the lives and experiences of your customers, then this episode is for...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains CX maturity models, what they are and how to leverage them. As organizations work towards their customer-centric objectives, they need to find ways of measuring, evaluating and charting their progress. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, demystifies CX maturity and shares practical ideas for how CX maturity models can be used by CX professional to help drive change. If you’re interested in learning more about a tool that is fundamental to c...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores how organizations can leverage social media as a rich source of Voice of Customer (VOC) insight. It can be frustrating for brands to have their journey pain points laid bare for the entire internet to see, but social media platforms also provide a unique window into the priorities, motivations and attitudes of customers. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, shares the top 3 ways that CX teams can tap into social media to learn about customer...

This CX Mini Masterclass looks at the practical realities of managing the customer journey in time of crisis. Interactions during a crisis can be the ultimate moment of truth for the customer, but experiences will only strengthen loyalty if brands have made appropriate adjustments to the journey. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, explores how the customer’s perspective changes and what businesses need to do in response. If you’re looking for insight, guidance and practica...

This CX Mini Masterclass explains the concept of the Voice of Customer (VOC) Feedback Loop and why this is important for customer journey optimization. It’s one thing to map the customer journey, it’s another to improve customer experiences on an ongoing basis. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, defines the VOC Feedback Loop and shares some practical tips for implementing a framework for continual journey optimization. If you’re looking for guidance on how to move journey ...

Vice President of Marketing & Innovation at VisionPoint Marketing, Josh Dodson, shares his insights about how the field of higher education is embracing customer-centricity and responding to the demands of the Age of the Customer. Customer experience leadership is quickly becoming an enabler for success in higher education. Josh and show host, Julia, discuss how changing market dynamics are forcing schools to turn up their game, the importance of ease of use in student journeys, the role of pers...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores practical ideas for how to measure customer experience impact beyond the usual-suspect CX measure like NPS and CSAT. From efficiency gains to market share growth, there are many options for CX professional to demonstrate their value to the business. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, shares tips for how to measure and quantify the impact of your CX efforts. If you’re tired of being shackled to your CSAT or Net Promoter Score and want some ...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores the concept of a customer advisory board (aka customer advisory council) as a Voice of Customer methodology that can yield incredibly rich insights and strengthen relationships with influential customers. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, shares insights on where customer advisory boards are best suited as a VOC approach, and some practical tips to consider if starting one. If you’re looking for a quick yet comprehensive overview of the c...

VP of Marketing and Customer Engagement at HUGHES, Sue Brady, shares insights about her team’s CXNow! program, an innovative approach to unearthing ideas to improve customer experience. Sue and show host, Julia, discuss the genesis for the program, the resulting impact on the customer journey and what had put CXNow! in a different stratosphere from your run-of-the-mill employee suggestion box. If you’re interested in a real life example of how CX professionals are realizing change and making CX ...

This CX Mini Masterclass explores the concept of organizational rituals and the role they play in reinforcing culture and strengthening customer experience as a competitive advantage. Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, shares some findings from her recent research on team rituals in the business context. If you are keen to learn about this cutting edge topic and hear some tips for shaping customer-centric rituals in your organization, then this episode is for you. Organiz...