Listen Now

Joining us for another exciting episode of Conversations That Matter is someone who creates empathetic, human-centered designs in the Conversational AI space. As a Product Designer for a home improvement retailer, she drives innovation and success within their chatbot channels. Appearing on the podcast this week is Kayla Orozco! Host Randy Ksar sits down with Kayla to debunk some AI myths, learn her three tips for designing self service solutions, and explore some challenges facing Conversation Designers. Takeaways: Most users don’t dislike chatbots, they dislike bad chatbots. While a user might express a preference for talking with a human agent, if a chatbot is able to sufficiently help them, their level of satisfaction remains the same. The most important thing to do when designing a self service chatbot is nail down the bot persona. Start with the character, vocabulary, and tone of voice the bot is going to use. Without these, your bot will be inconsistent. Once the basics are established, you need to test your bot before you put it into production. While potential users are your best option, even having your coworkers test it can generate valuable feedback. While a chatbot may seem like a one and done solution, they require constant care. As you roll out your chatbot, gather customer feedback. While complaints are never fun to hear, each customer interaction provides valuable data points to iterate upon. One of the biggest challenges conversation designers need to overcome is language. Language is both simple and complex at the same time. As single sentences can have multiple intents, you need to factor that into your user flows. As a conversation designer, collaboration is important. Your day to day will have you working with project managers, engineers, and other designers. Collaboration is crucial to getting a finished product, and to identify your responsibilities. For budding designers, the best thing you can do is understand the requirements at the beginning. You need to understand not only what tasks you need to accomplish, but how your audience affects your work. Quote of the Show: “Language is so complex. It's simple, but complex at the same time.” - Kayla Orozco Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylaorozco/ Website: https://www.kaylaorozco.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

On today’s episode of Conversations That Matter we feature a conversational wizard with over 4 years of chatbot experience. She's a skilled chatbot designer whose areas of expertise include, AI training, persona creation, and copywriting, just to name a few. Joining us for this episode is Rachel Whitehorn, a Conversation Designer in the insurance industry. Randy and Rachel sit down to look toward the future of chatbots and LLMs. Join us for another exciting conversation as we discuss how companies can better meet the needs of customers, the importance of maintaining your bots, and the importance of collaboration as a conversation designer. Takeaways: When it comes to implementing conversational AI, many companies think it is quick, easy, and a silver bullet solution. In reality, chatbots take time, and human effort to implement them in an effective way. Customers have always wanted to be able to have a conversation with bots, but were frequently left disappointed. With the advancement of Large Language Models (LLM), businesses will finally be able to provide that level of experience to customers. In highly litigious industries like the finance and insurance industries, half baked chatbots can pose a risk. You need to make sure that your chatbot not only complies with business regulations, but legal regulations as well. When a customer has a question, they are ultimately looking for guidance to a solution. While many chatbots do provide guidance, they can often give customers a rigid experience. LLM’s offer the potential for a more fluid customer experience. As a conversational designer, collaboration is key. It’s important to draw input from your call center, legal, and marketing teams. Cross collaboration results in a solution that helps all departments. When building bots, build for the long term. Building a chatbot takes time, money, and resources. Bots are iterative, and need to be maintained. Doing so allows you to utilize your bot through its whole life cycle, and prevents wasted resources. When Rachel looks to the future of chatbot tech and conversational design, she expects chatbots to be more conversational with their designers as well. Instead of looking at logs or customer feedback, she envisions bots that can self-report trouble areas. Quote of the Show: “Customers like being guided, but hate being railroaded.” - Rachel Whitehorn Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelwhitehorn/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest on Conversations that matter is an AI expert who coined the term "Conversational Commerce". With over 37 years of experience as an analyst, he’s seen the ins and outs of the industry, and has watched it mature. Our guest this week is none other than Lead Analyst & Founder at Opus Research, Dan Miller. Dan joins host Randy Ksar at Uniphore’s offices in sunny Palo Alto for an in-person conversation about the role of AI in the enterprise. In this episode we’ll explore why AI won’t be taking your job, strategies for implementation, and what the future of AI enabled employees looks like. Takeaways: Many people view conversational AI as a replacement for human agents. In reality, conversational AI is a tool that should speed up a customer journey, or help enable agents to do their job more effectively. One valuable use case for AI in the enterprise is post screening calls. Old transcripts and recordings can be fed to AI to have it generate a review of call topics. AI is not going to replace your job. While models like Chat GPT can write lots of text with confidence and proper grammatical structure, much of what it writes is inaccurate. These tools will require oversight of a trained professional to flag what is inaccurate. With self service technologies, you need to go beyond just providing an answer for a question. The best models are able to understand the context behind a users question, find other relevant areas, and then walk the user through those as well. When implementing AI tools in a business, you need to be proactive about reducing redundancy. The drive to implement a new AI tool may come from different departments. Without oversight, you may end up with multiple tools that are very similar. There are a few advantages with going to a platform based AI solution. A platform gives you solutions that are purpose-built, ease of use as you don’t need to build the bot yourself, and consistency across departments. The main advantage of automation is its ability to free up expensive well trained groups from repetitive tasks. A financial advisor doesn’t need to be assisting with password resets or transfer statuses, when that time could be spent where it is most needed. Quote of the Show: “Part of the story of automation is to free up both expensive and well-trained groups to not get bogged down in repetitive low value stuff.” - Dan Miller Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/dnm54 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmiller/ Website: https://opusresearch.net/wordpress/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

As we face potential economic troubles, more and more companies are cutting their budgets for DEIB. Women leaders are leaving their roles at higher than ever rates, for every woman who steps into a director level role, two leave. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, we’re turning up the volume on the conversation around workplace equality, and the steps that companies need to be taking now. Our guest host on this episode is Annie Weckesser, the Chief Marketing Officer of Uniphore. Our first guest on this episode is the Chief Technology & Innovation Officer of National Grid, Founder & President of National Grid Partners, and CEO and Founder of Upward, Lisa Lambert. Our second guest is CEO and Co-Founder of Uniphore, Umesh Sachdev. In this round table discussion, we’ll explore the work Upward does, the challenges women are still facing in the workplace, initiatives companies can take to create more diverse spaces, and the ways that Uniphore is creating a more inclusive workplace. Takeaways: Upward was created in 2013 out of a need to address challenges women were facing in the workplace. There are lots of leaders who talk about DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) without actually implementing steps to make changes. To drive true change, you first must understand the why, set clear goals, and hold yourself accountable for those changes. Diverse teams are more innovative. When teams are composed of individuals who think along the same lines, it is hard to introduce new ideas. When your team members come from diverse backgrounds, new ideas and innovations are generated more frequently. While leadership at companies can drive equality initiatives, all employees need to be participants in creating more equitable spaces. Being an ally, and advocating for better workplaces are important day to day activities that all employees need to do. Diverse executive teams often correlate with diverse companies. Diverse executive teams have diverse networks, and diverse networks create diverse hiring pools. By diversifying your leadership team, you create a ripple effect across the organization. Quote of the Show: “A lot of people talk about diversity and inclusion, but very few go to the next level.” - Lisa Lambert Links: Lisa Lambert: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-m-lambert-141448/ Website: https://www.upwardwomen.org/ Annie Weckesser: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-shea-weckesser-6345124/ Umesh Sachdev: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umeshsachdev/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

On this episode of Conversations That Matter, we are joined by someone who has led multiple contact center improvements, via voice, digital, & social innovation, for global brands. He constantly strives to apply CX solutions that make life better for customers and he’s published numerous articles on what proper CX looks like. Joining the show today is Global Customer Service Experience Director at Customer Service Experience Leadership & Transformation, Alex Mead. On this episode, Randy Ksar and Alex will discuss when customers do and don’t want to talk to a human agent, when you should gather customer feedback, and the importance of customer context in great CX. Takeaways: At the end of the day, a customer wants to find the answer to their question quickly and easily. That answer doesn’t always come from a human being. When building your support channels, chatbots should serve as a concierge. It’s great if the chatbot can help the customer, but if not, customers should be able to choose which channel they speak to a person on. When you send out customer feedback surveys, they need to be sent at the right lifecycle stage. If you promise a customer a solution for tomorrow, but send them a survey today, they won't be able to fill it out properly. Many businesses treat customer experience as one large nebulous thing. In reality, it’s made up of brand and marketing experience and the customer service experience. Before you start implementing technology, start with figuring out the reason your customers are calling.Gather the questions your customers are asking, and group them together. Context is one of the most important factors in CX. A customer's product may be late, but the context of that product determines the level of response. A late pair of socks doesn’t have the same urgency as a late 50th wedding anniversary present. A good customer experience follows the EPIC plus TIME framework. Your customers need something that is Easy, Personalized, Intuitive, and Contextual. Your customer service staff needs TIME (Time, Information, Motivation, and Empowerment). Quote of the Show: “Every question the customer asks of you, try and think of the context. Context is the biggest missing thing in CX.” - Alex Mead Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexJamesMead LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmead/ Articles: http://www.growthconsulting.frost.com/web/images.nsf/0/0BF3ECE15B8C3CF965257639003A2867/$File/CCQ3_Mead.pdf https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/AlexMead1/embercasestudycitylink-66815952 http://www.totalcustomer.org/2016/06/30/customer-service-interactions/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

With Uniphore’s recent acquisition of UK based company Red Box, you may have some questions. On this episode of Conversations That Matter we’re joined by Uniphore CEO Umesh Sachdev, and Red Box CEO Richard Stevenson. In this episode, you’ll learn more about Red Box, the strength of their platform, and details of what is to come down the line. Takeaways: Uniphore has recently acquired the UK based company Red Box. Red Box offers powerful voice capturing technology that captures the richest set of metadata to be fed into organizations. This technology will help Uniphores X platform. Red Box started out as a compliant recording business over 25 years ago, but has grown into a company providing more indepth voice data, Over the past 5 years, many organizations have lost control of their data because it has been siloed or fractured. Red Box’s technology allows organizations to use their data the way they want to. Quote of the Show: “Our purpose in life as an organization is to make sure that customers can capture every conversation from across the enterprise.” - Richard Stevenson. Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-stevenson-bb215ba2/?originalSubdomain=uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umeshsachdev/ Website: https://www.uniphore.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

On this episode of Conversations That Matter, we’re joined by someone who loves building at the intersection of content and AI. As a previous consultant at Drift, he built, launched, and optimized enterprise conversational experiences for companies like HPE and Adobe. Welcome to the show, Senior Conversational AI Specialist at Discover Financial Services, Nathan Bishop! Nathan joins host Randy Ksar to break down a misconception around conversational AI, share some of the challenges a conversational designer faces, and talk about the future of the industry. Takeaways: One of the biggest misconceptions about AI is that there are no humans involved, and it will take our jobs. All AI, especially conversational AI, requires heavy hand holding from humans to train and maintain them. Conversational AI allows you to have thousands of conversations with customers a day. Each conversation provides you with valuable data insights that should not be ignored. Even after a conversational AI has been implemented, it is important to continuously review conversations it has with customers, and make improvements. When implementing conversational AI at a large financial company like Discover there are important constraints to consider. The language you use must first and foremost be legally compliant, but also align with brand standards. Conversational AI is still a very new field. If you are considering entering the field, you will need to teach yourself a lot. It’s likely you may be the first and only conversational AI designer at your company. There are a couple challenges conversational designers need to overcome. Best practices are still undefined, but need to quickly become established. Advocating for a seat at the table is key as you don’t want to be receiving content after it is finalized. One of the most valuable perspectives to have when designing conversational AI is to have it provide a concierge/white glove experience for your customers. If it can’t, it ultimately is just an obstacle customers need to overcome to speak to a human. Quote of the Show: “You never just want to augment search with the conversational experience.” - Nathan Bishop Shoutouts: Sherry Comes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrycomes/ Cobus Greyling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cobusgreyling/ Age of Invisible Machines: https://www.amazon.com/Age-Invisible-Machines-Hyperautomated-Intelligent/dp/1119899923 Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanabishop LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanabishop/ Website: https://www.discover.com/ Personal Site: https://www.toodle.ai/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Uniphore is excited to launch its newest podcast B2B EQ! On this episode of Conversations That Matter, host Randy Ksar chats with Tim Harris, Uniphore’s Director of Product Marketing and upcoming podcast host. Tim gives us a preview of what you can expect from the new podcast, and how EQ is something that anyone can improve. B2B EQ will be going live on February 3rd, 2023! Takeaways: Uniphore’s newest podcast B2B EQ dives into what it takes to build rapport with prospects, move deals forward, and explore the important soft skills needed for sales teams. While automation offers many advantages, good communication and interpersonal skills will never lose their value. EQ is something that everyone can improve and control. Quote of the Show: “You learn so much when you actually talk to prospects.” - Tim Harris Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timuncorked/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Over the past year we have had so many amazing guests on Conversations That Matter. We learned so much from all the wonderful conversations with everyone we spoke to. Join us for a trip down memory lane as we round out the year and highlight moments from our most popular episodes. A huge thank you to all of the guests below for taking part in our show! We couldn’t have done it without you! Neal Sample - Member Board Of Directors at Wellfield Technologies, Inc. Orrin Webb - Founder of Enmocean Scott Baker - Senior Analyst at Opus Research Katie King - CEO of AI in Business Evren Aker - Director of Partnerships, ME, Turkey, Africa, France at Genesys Takeaways: AI in healthcare is not a silver bullet, however, one valuable usage is finding determinants to health care adherence. Uncertainty in sales creates discomfort. Reps need to be equipped with the right emotional intelligence skills to let them tackle unexpected issues. AI will not magically make your life better. It will never be smarter than your smartest people or know your customers better than you do. Many people talk about CX in isolation, in reality CX is integral to your organization. At the end of the day, most businesses' purpose is to satisfy their customers' needs profitably. CX goes beyond someone picking up the phone to answer your concerns. Good CX focuses deep on the conversation, the background, and the issues the customer went through. Links: Neal Sample Twitter: https://twitter.com/nsample?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealsample/ Episode Link: https://www.uniphore.com/podcast-conversations-that-matter/?wchannelid=bq7fhmc5v1&wvideoid=tl82evsvub Orrin Webb LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oswii/ Website: https://enmocean.com/ Episode Link: https://www.uniphore.com/podcast-conversations-that-matter/?wchannelid=bq7fhmc5v1&wmediaid=bprexp9t6l Scott Baker Twitter: https://twitter.com/tweetsbybaker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebaker/ Website: https://opusresearch.net/wordpress/ Episode Link: https://www.uniphore.com/podcast-conversations-that-matter/?wchannelid=bq7fhmc5v1&wvideoid=td5nezzntb Katie King Twitter: https://twitter.com/katieeking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieeking/ Website: https://www.aiinbusiness.co.uk/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strategy-Sales-Marketing-Connecting-Experience/dp/1398602027/ref=nodl_ Evren Aker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evrenaker/?originalSubdomain=ae Website: https://www.genesys.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest is a transformational leader for the digital age, who with a decade of consumer marketing experience, believes that it’s always about the customer. He is the host of the AMA update podcast which covers healthcare topics affecting physicians and patients. Welcome to the show, CXO and SVP Marketing and Member Experience at The American Medical Association, Todd Unger. Todd joins host Randy Ksar for a LinkedIn live to clarify a CX myth, share his leadership style, and show how CX can create a frictionless funnel. Takeaways: You can’t treat CX as being exclusively about the customers feelings. CX needs to be understood as a critical way to drive growth for the organization. The best way to get buy-in for a CX department is to demonstrate value and drive revenue. Those metrics are trackable and will demonstrate that you’re not just a cost or expense. In order to have good CX you need to know the customer journey. For the AMA, their customer's journey is a multi-year process which reflects the various stages and milestones in a medical worker's career and education. While customer journeys have traditionally been thought of as a long process, they are getting shorter. For some customers, the moment from which they know they want something to the moment they hit buy could be 10 seconds! Your CX is going to be constantly evolving. It is important to gather data from customers to see what aspects they interact with the best. CX programs should be focused on removing friction points before customers experience them, rather than being reactive to customers when they run into problems. While you may only get one call about an issue from a customer, they are probably not the only customer facing that problem. Quote of the Show: “The customer journey for us became driven by content to reinforce what we were doing, and why it was so important to be part of.” - Todd Unger Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/toddunger LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddunger1/ Website: https://www.ama-assn.org/ Podcast: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/publications-newsletters/ama-podcasts Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today's guest is an entrepreneur and Information Architect. He’s the host of the Earley AI Podcast and author of the book AI Powered Enterprise. Welcome to the show Founder and CEO of Earley Information Science, Seth Earley. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, Seth joins Host Randy Ksar for a livestream interview. Seth shares the behind the scenes on implementing AI, the importance of good data, the value of building vs buying, and the future of chatbots. Takeaways: A lot of companies think that simply implementing a chat bot or virtual assistant will solve all their problems. Those AI systems are only as good as the knowledge you give them. When building chatbots, you can't assume something you don’t have. There is no AI without IA. You can build the best algorithm in the world, but without the proper data set, it will be useless. When implementing AI, you can’t automate what you don’t understand. Start by understanding your processes, mapping the processes, and identifying the gaps. While modern chatbots and AI can leave much to be desired, we know that they will continue to improve. We can expect AI to advance to the same degree as the improvement from the palm pilot to the iphone. When using AI to detect anomalies, you need to determine what the baseline is, what you are looking for in terms of detection, and how you flag that anomaly to be resolved. When AI is part of your competitive advantage, it makes sense to build it in house and tailor it to you. For more generalized applications, a bought solution is a good fit, however your competitors can also buy the same solution. Quote of the Show: “A customer journey is a knowledge journey.” - Seth Earley Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/sethearley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethearley/ Website: https://www.earley.com/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/AI-Powered-Enterprise-Ontologies-Business-Profitable/dp/1928055508 Podcast: https://www.earley.com/earley-ai-podcast-home Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Welcome to another CX mailbag! Today’s guest is a certified CXpert who has been picked as a ICMI Top 25 thought leader for the past 7 years. Mike Aoki is the President at Reflective Keynotes Inc, and the guest speaker on this episode of Conversations That Matter. Mike sits down with host Randy Ksar to answer CX questions from the community, bust a CX myth, discuss ways to boost employee experience, and explore how he trains frontline agents in contact centers. Takeaways: Net Promoter Scores are not owned by just the contact center, but rather the whole organization. Different generations are drawn to different mediums of customer support. Younger generations are highly effective at live chat where agents are required to communicate efficiently over text. It is important to cover the nuances of communication across a variety of mediums for new hires. For most organizations, your call volumes only make up between 1-10% of your client base. As an agent, it can be easy to feel like all you hear is negativity, but it is important to remember that it is only a small sample. While many brands are looking to move to a text chat exclusive support system, voice based still has its merits. For customers dealing with complex or emotional problems, talking to a human voice results in higher satisfaction. As frontline agents spend most of their time talking with customers, it can get a little isolated. When those agents are remote, that feeling of isolation increases. Contact center leaders need to be creating ways to engage remote employees. If you are a contact center leader looking to connect with other professionals in the industry, most cities feature regional associations. Quote of the Show: “Is the role being defined as simply the complaints department or is it defined as really tying back to a bigger vision of some kind?” - Mike Aoki Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeaoki LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeaoki/ Website: http://www.reflectivekeynotes.com/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Called-Action-Collection-Inspiring-Stories-ebook/dp/B07JJHVXWL Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today's guest is a CX savant who specializes in research in the areas of transformation, delivery, and vertical capabilities. He started as a call center agent in Bulgaria and went on to further his experience working in CX positions all around the globe. Joining us this week from across the pond in England is Ivan Kotzev, a Research Analyst at NelsonHall. Ivan sits down with Randy Ksar to debunk a CX myth, share his experiences at NelsonHall, and discuss where he sees the industry moving towards. Takeaways: There is no final CX target that you can reach. CX is a constantly evolving process. One of the biggest challenges facing the industry today is employee attrition. To many people, a call center does not seem like a “glamorous job”. Some of the best technological advancements in the industry are about increasing the employee experience rather than the customer experience. Companies should be looking to improve agent effectiveness with the use of technology, rather than offshoring employees. An upcoming focus area for CX professionals is large-scale D2C brands with large online marketplaces. These brands need to filter content, ensure information accuracy, and ensure comments and reviews get responded to. Companies should focus on enhancing the mental well-being of their agents. A dedicated mental health specialist is a worthwhile investment. Employees need to be given the same level of cultural resources regardless if they are in-house or outsourced. Quote of the Show: “The most lasting investment would be in enhancing the employee.” - Ivan Kotzev Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/IvanK_NH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivankotzev/ Website: https://research.nelson-hall.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest is a customer service ninja who has over 20 years of experience in customer success management, critical accounts, and call center management. Chris Warticki is the Vice President of Customer Experience at Epicor, and he believes that customer success is a company-wide responsibility. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, Chris shares his experiences at Epicor and debunks the myth that CX is the same as customer advocacy. Takeaways: CX and customer success are not customer advocacy, nor are they critical accounts The industry tends to use terms like “CX”, “customer advocacy”, and “customer satisfaction” interchangeably. Doing so muddies the waters and makes it hard to delineate responsibilities. Customer service is not just a department, it is a skill that every employee needs to possess. Without Employee experience, there can be no customer experience. Silos are ok. Employees can be relegated to specific areas and tasks, but there must be a shared vision for customer success. A customer service team can’t just be responsible for putting out other employees' fires. A critical accounts team is what executives should be setting up for that work. Without accurate data, your customer service will self-destruct. Fancy tech and implementations don't mean anything if they don’t work well. Quote of the Show: “Without employee experience there can be no customer experience.” - Chris Warticki Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/cwarticki LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswarticki/ Website: https://www.epicor.com/en-us/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Can having no negative feedback be a bad thing? Today’s guest shares why he thinks so. He’s brought his expertise to Wendy’s, JP Morgan, and Progressive Insurance. Kevin Zyskowski is the Founder and CEO at CertainlyCX. On this week’s episode, Kevin and Randy explore the myth that no negative results mean your customers are happy and share ways that customer support agents can better connect with the customers they help. Takeaways: CX Myth: “If I don’t have any negative customer satisfaction results, all my customers are happy.” You want your customer support agents to empathize with the customers they are helping. Ask them the question “what if it was a family member on the phone who had this issue, how would you help them?” You need to know your numbers before approaching an executive with something you want to be prioritized. How often is this happening, what’s the severity, and what is the cost to the organization? A good-looking deck with a simple concise message goes a long way. When trying to implement technology into the enterprise, the decision makers will want to know the ROI, cost to implement, setup times, and alternatives. As a customer support agent, it is important to understand that you are helping people who are unable to help themselves in that situation. A negative review can sting, but it means your customer cares about you enough to bring it up. Quote of the Show: “We're helping those people that can't help themselves in that particular situation.” - Kevin Zyskowski Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzyskowski/ Website: https://certainlycx.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Maddening plotlines. Mercurial characters. Unexpected outcomes. Is it an episode of The Twilight Zone or a day in the life of a call center agent? From seething callers to self-defeating processes—agents today deal with a lot. (It’s no wonder that poor agent experience is leading to record disengagement and turnover.) But just how bad—or how strange—can customer interactions get? Let’s count down the top four call center crime in this episode of Conversations that Matter, a podcast by Uniphore. Links discussed in this episode: CX Nightmares - https://www.uniphore.com/blog/cx-nightmares-4-horror-stories-from-the-call-center/ Uniphore - https://www.uniphore.com Share your CX nightmare - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6991519196136226816 🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻

Today's guest is an internationally recognized thought leader, corporate advisor, and keynote speaker. He has over 30 years of experience in customer acquisition and retention and has led highly successful teams as a CX practitioner. Welcome to the show, Principal at CXpert - Ben Motteram. Ben and Randy talk about the role EX plays in CX, building empathy in employees, and Ben’s top destinations for visiting Melbourne. Takeaways: CX Myth: “surprising and delighting customers is a sustainable strategy”. Most customers will choose a consistent customer experience over being surprised and delighted. EX and CX are linked. A good employee experience sets the groundwork for a good customer experience, a happier employee results in a happier customer. Your values are what will drive your employees to do good work. Identify your values and build on them. 99% of customers don’t strongly love buying from most brands. There are millions of brands that customers are indifferent to or outright dislike. One of the most important skills you can have when developing a CX framework is empathy. While empathy tends to be an innate skill for most people, customer journey maps are a valuable tool to teach an increased sense of empathy in employees. Quote of the Show: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Ben Motteram Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CXpert?s=20&t=scEmBP6vbOC6hrIYQodw7g LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmotteram/ Website: http://cxpert.com.au/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Welcome to a special episode of Conversations That Matter! On this episode, we are joined by Jeremy Watkin the Director of Customer Experience and Support at NumberBarn. Jeremy and host Randy Ksar open up the mailbag of community CX questions to give you the answers you’ve been waiting for. Takeaways: As CX is found in every department of your organization, there is no universal skill set each employee will have. However, each employee should be able to answer the question “how does my work impact customers”. Your company size and culture on CX will determine how many cx roles you need to have. A large company with a culture based around CX will not require a large team of CX specialists despite its size. If you are planning to have a CXO, expect to make them an active part of the C-suite. Quote of the Show: “Successful businesses care about CX.” - Jeremy Watkin Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtwatkin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtwatkin/ Website: https://www.numberbarn.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest is a customer experience connoisseur who is celebrating 30 years in the customer experience field. Annette Franz is the Founder and CEO of CX Journey. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, Annette joins the show to talk with Randy about her new CX book, share her thoughts on the difference between customer service and CX, and answer the question “how do I build a customer-centric culture?” Takeaways: Customer service and customer experience are not the same. Customer experience is the sum of all the interactions a customer has with your brand. A good customer experience involves more than just the customer. A good employee experience adds to the success of the customer experience. When designing your customer experience, you need to be customer-centric. Ask yourself, “How will this impact them?” “How will this make them feel?” “What value is it going to deliver?” Culture is core values plus behaviors. Data is the heart of designing and delivering a good experience. You can’t build a product or service if you don’t know what your customers’ needs are. Before you can think about CX trends, you need to have the basics in place. While AI/Automation offers lots of uses for personalization, you need a pre-existing CX framework before you can take advantage of the technology. Quote of the Show: “Being customer-centric isn't just as easy as saying, hey, we're customer-centric.” - Annette Franz Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/annettefranz?s=20&t=aOLj5Mzl6Jg2dvRg3dOs8g LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annette-franz/ Website: https://cx-journey.com/ Customer Understanding: https://www.amazon.com/Customer-Understanding-Three-Experience-Business/dp/1686886810/ref=asc_df_1686886810/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366338364634&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13111057715617334321&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002280&hvtargid=pla-817781085315&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=78795692360&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366338364634&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13111057715617334321&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002280&hvtargid=pla-817781085315 Built To Win: https://www.amazon.com/Built-Win-Designing-Customer-Centric-Business/dp/1642253227/ref=asc_df_1642253227/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564832755269&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13111057715617334321&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002280&hvtargid=pla-1629212304445&psc=1 Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Live from the Uniphore Studios in sunny California, it’s the CX Day live stream! Join us for a round-table discussion of some of the issues, challenges, and myths in the CX field. Today’s guests are Jeannie Walters - CEO & Chief Customer Experience Investigator at Experience Investigators, and Shawn Nason - CEO & Founder, Chief Experience Officer at MOFI. On this episode, Jeannie and Shawn chat with host Randy Ksar to debunk some CX myths and answer questions from the audience. Takeaways: CX Myth: “CX is not a business strategy”. To properly build a robust CX platform in your company, it needs to be intentional. Simply telling yourselves that you need to treat customers better won't magically change your culture. CX Myth: “CX should be siloed and its own department”. A successful CX program is one that treats CX, customer success, and customer service as a collective strategy. A good litmus test for the priority your business has for CX is to look at the org chart. If the CXO is 3 or 4 reports down, CX likely isn’t a high priority. Pay attention to your frontline CX workers. By empowering them, you reduce the turnover rate and increase job satisfaction and productivity. CX education has a long way to come. Education programs need to be taught by people who have worked in these roles. CX is happening regardless of your investment in it. Even if you don't have a CX strategy, customers are still having experiences with your brand. One of the biggest challenges facing the industry is integrating and centralizing customer data. You can’t predict things for customers if you can’t look at their history. Quote of the Show: “How can we say customer experience is a priority when it doesn't have a budget.” - Jeannie Walters “If higher ed is going to teach it, make sure you're doing it with someone who has been in the trenches.” - Shawn Nason “Sometimes people don’t even realize they're doing customer experience.” - Randy Ksar Links: Jeannie: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeanniecw LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/ Website: https://experienceinvestigators.com/ Podcast: http://www.crackthecustomercode.com/ Shawn: Twitter: https://twitter.com/manonfiresocial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nasonshawn/ Website: https://www.mofi.co/ Podcast: https://shawnnason.com/the-combustion-chronicles-2/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M