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Have you ever felt like the customer experience world is drowning in buzzwords and nonsense? If so, you're not alone because everywhere we turn, someone's offering some brand new game changing solution or some hyped up trend that promises to revolutionize customer experience only to deliver frustration instead.

So why does this happen and what can we do about it? Let's face it, as customers, we're tired of being Guinea pigs for half baked ideas, and as CX professionals, we're tired of chasing shiny objects that frankly don't pay off. So it's time to cut through the BS and talk about what's actually going on in our industry.

Think about the last time you contacted customer service. Did you end up stuck in an endless phone menu or yelling agent or some other four letter word at a stubborn chatbot? 'cause companies keep pushing new tech. AI automation, fancy apps, and they all claim that this is gonna make us delighted. But when these tools don't work right, it's beyond infuriating.[00:01:00] 

'cause the pain is real. Long hold times. Clueless bots, endless surveys that go nowhere. And let's face it, customers are frustrated, employees are burned out, and businesses are losing trust by doubling down on strategies that. Clearly aren't working. In fact, more than two thirds of consumers have had a bad experience with chatbots, and equally many have struggled with those.

Press one, press two phone systems. We all know that feeling of screaming into the void, trying to reach a real live human being, but what's the solution? This no nonsense chat. Some may say without any bs, we're gonna expose the biggest myths and mistakes that are currently plaguing the CX industry. We're gonna cover at least five major areas where the hype isn't matching reality and more importantly, how to fix it.

So consider this your BS free guide where we're gonna walk through the chaos here and explain the answers to tough questions like, Hey, is AI really the savior [00:02:00] of customer service or is it just another headache? Why do companies obsess over a single score? You know, the one instead of fixing what's broken?

Are we forgetting that humans behind the experience, both customers and employees, are equally as important? And my goal is by the end, you're not only going to see through the industry insanity, but also have a clearer idea of what actually works to deliver experiences that people love.

Sound good. Alright, let's dive in. No fluff, no filler, just real talk about customer experience, issues that mattered. Strap in because we're about to call out some BS and Shine light on what really drives customer loyalty in today's world. If you're ready for some CX without the bs, let's get started. So the first question is ai.

It's everywhere in this customer experience space, but is it actually fixing things or is it making new problems? Every conference, every vendor pitch you hear it's the same thing. Well, our chat bot's gonna reduce calls and delight [00:03:00] customers, okay? Our analytics from AI will revolutionize your insights.

Sounds amazing. Who, who, who wouldn't want a magic tool that's gonna solve all of your customer service headaches? I mean,

the promise is that AI will save money. Work 24 7, never get tired and maybe even replace those pesky, costly human agents. But here's the no BS truth. In practice, a lot of AI in CX today is completely overhyped and customers are feeling the impact. Many companies rolled out bots and automation expecting miracles.

And what did customers get? Frustrated. That's what, so here's a reality check. More than two thirds of customers say that they've had a bad experience with chatbots, and the top complaints are that, well, the bot can't answer basic questions or it doesn't understand the needs. And does that sound familiar?

Because it does to me, it's like talking to a brick wall that occasionally will give [00:04:00] a scripted reply. Now, let's say you have an urgent issue. Maybe your internet's down or your flight just got canceled, and instead of a quick help, you're now trapped with a chatbot that keeps saying, sorry, I didn't get that.

Infuriating. Right? And how about an IVR system that makes you press 10 options only to never reach a real life human being? Which by the way, over half of customers had been stuck in that loop. According to customer experience. dive.com companies in implemented these systems to cut costs, but what they're cutting is our patients.

So one extreme example, back in, uh, late 2022, frontier Airlines decided to eliminate live phone agents entirely forcing customers to use these digital channels only. And the result was, I mean, sure they saved a few bucks, but analysts warned that this move was gonna alienate customers by sending the message that customers are not worth talking to.

I mean, imagine calling for help and basically being told we won't [00:05:00] speak to you. Figure it out online. What? No surprise, many people were outraged. So then the question is, why do companies keep doing this? Well, part of it is what I call shiny object syndrome, where AI is trendy and nobody wants to feel left behind.

There's also a lot of vendor BS in the mix where every product now claims to be AI powered, even if it's just basic automation with a fancy label. There's a term for this. It's called AI washing, and that's when companies are slapping the term AI on something that sounds cutting edge, but it's just some normal solution that's already been out there for a while.

And what happens is that businesses get sold on these grand promises, sign big checks, and then the reality hits when the AI doesn't deliver as advertised. Now, this is not an anti-technology or anti AI rant.

AI can absolutely help in CX when used the right way. The key is using it to assist humans, not replacing them.

So for example, [00:06:00] AI can quickly pull up a customer's info or suggest solutions to human agents. Thinking of it more like a copilot versus taking over the actual human being. That's a far cry from just dumping all inquiries over to a bot and crossing your fingers hoping it works. In fact, leading voices in the industry are emphasizing that AI should empower people, not push them away.

And companies that rolled out bots purely to save money on headcount. Learned the hard way that yeah, this often backfires. Customers still rely on live agents and see losing access to humans as one of their biggest pain points. No amount of algorithmic trickery can replace genuine empathy and problem solving for complex issues.

So what do we do here? What's the solution? Well, you adopt ai, but you gotta do so wisely. Use AI to handle the simple stuff and then assist your human reps not wall off the help behind some digital fortress and be honest about its limits. A recent Gartner survey found that 64% of [00:07:00] consumers preferred companies not use AI in customer service, and 53% said that they would consider switching to a competitor if they knew that company was relying on AI for support.

So then the next question is, well, why? Well, because they fear quite reasonably that AI will make it harder to reach a real person. Companies can address this by promising a smooth handoff to a human. When the AI can't solve an issue, give them an out.

In other words, use the bot for what it's actually good for. But always, always, always have a human safety net. Because at the end of the day, customers care about getting their problems solved fast and correctly, and if AI helps do that, great. If it doesn't, don't force it and don't believe the hype that everyone else is doing pure ai.

So we should Too often that's just not true or it's not working. In fact, some companies have pulled back on AI after complete public failures. McDonald's, for example, stopped using an AI [00:08:00] drive-through system because it kept messing up orders and the mistake went viral on social media. I mean, talk about a reality check.

The bottom line is that AI is a tool, not a magic wand. So use it to enhance the customer experience,

not as a gimmick or a cost cutter that ends up hurting the customer experience. So don't buy the bs. That AI alone is gonna transform your cx. It can speed up simple interactions, and it can give your team superpowers in terms of information for sure. But people still crave that human touch when things get complicated or emotional.

And as we're gonna discuss next, that human touch is something you ignore at your own peril because guess what? The humans customers are striking back. So in an era of apps and automation, have companies forgotten that customers are, I don't know, human beings, and could it be that real human support is actually making a comeback?

And this might sound ironic, but one of the hottest trends in CX right [00:09:00] now is actually a return to the basics. The human touch, or as we've called it in past episodes, hi, human intelligence. After years of pushing customers towards self-service portals and AI chats, businesses are starting to finally realize that they swung the pendulum way too far.

The pain they created is evident. We just talked about how technology overload has frustrated customers and now companies are hearing the backlash. Customers saying Enough, I want to talk to a real person who actually cares. In fact, research consistently shows that live human support is a fundamental key to customer loyalty.

So all the fancy tech in the world can't replace the feeling of being heard and helped by another real human being. So think about it. You have a problem that isn't textbook, maybe a billing mix up or a service outage that's affecting your business, and you've tried the FAQs with that silly bot and [00:10:00] it was useless.

Finally you get a knowledgeable, empathetic agent on the line who actually listens and solves the issue. How do you feel afterwards? Relieved, grateful, maybe even impressed enough to stay loyal to that company. Now imagine the opposite. You never got to that human or the person you reached was clearly reading off a script and trying to rush you off the phone. Night and day, right. Empathy and personal connection are huge in customer experience.

That's not some fluffy statement. It has concrete effects. A customer who feels cared for is more forgiving of mistakes and more likely to stick around, and no AI can replicate genuine human empathy. At least not today. And if it could, it might even be scarier. But as one industry expert put it, customers see the loss of access to humans as one of the greatest pain points in modern customer service. But the good [00:11:00] news is that many companies are waking up to this reality. Human-centric CX is becoming a good buzzword

and for once, it's a trend that isn't bs. We're seeing companies market the fact that you can easily reach a human as a selling point. I mean, think about that. Not long ago, everyone was touting their AI chat or their automated systems, and now some brands are proudly advertising, Hey, call us and a real person will answer fast.

See, they've realized that it's a competitive advantage. 'Cause customers have had enough of feeling like a ticket number or a nuisance. They crave human interaction when it counts.

Here's a telling fact. A recent analysis pointed out that when companies remove human touchpoints completely, it can severely backfire.

I mean, we mentioned Frontier Airlines as no human experiment earlier positioned as a cost saver, and it was very much on brand for the ultra low cost airline, but it risked alienating customers [00:12:00] who can't connect with a person at all. The analysis noted that without live agents, it became harder for a company to display empathy, and customers may feel that the company is saying, ah, sorry, you're just not worth talking to.

See, that's a bold strategy in a world where experience matters as much, if not more than price. The takeaway here is that completely removing humans is often a false economy. I mean, sure you save a little bit now, but you're probably gonna lose customer trust and loyalty long term, which is gonna cost you significantly more.

So the question then is, how do we solve this imbalance? Well, it's simple. Find the right mix of tech and human and make sure that the customer can always choose. Use the fancy tools to handle quick routine stuff or to give people options, but always, always, always ensure that when someone needs a real, live human being, they can get one quickly.

Don't hide your phone number. Don't make talk to an agent, the [00:13:00] secret menu option. Bake it in as a core part of your service. Also invest in those humans. It's not enough to put people back in the loop. They need to be empowered to actually help, and we're gonna talk more about empowering employees later on.

But consider companies known for stellar service. Many of them empower their reps to bend the rules or go the extra mile for the customers. For example, some online retailers are allowing agents to instantly issue refunds or replacements without manager approval when they feel it's right. That trust in the frontline pays off in customer happiness.

It's a no BS approach. Hire good people, train them well and give them the tools. Yes, even AI tools to do their job and then just trust them to take care of your customers. When customer sense that a person on the other end of the phone can actually help, and by the way actually cares, it builds real loyalty.

And let's not forget, human support isn't just about call centers. It can be [00:14:00] a friendly sales person in a store who actually knows their stuff, or a helpful field technician, or even how your company communicates news and problems with honesty and none of that corporate bs.

All of that is part of the customer's experience of your human touch.

The rise of digital, everything taught companies a very valuable lesson. You can't automate empathy. Customers will always value some level of personal attention, and as we move forward, the winners in CX will be those who use technology to enhance human connections, not erase them.

The companies combining smart automation with accessible, caring, humans are seeing way higher satisfaction. For example, one survey noted that 75% of CX leaders view AI as a tool to amplify human intelligence, not replace it.

And they're onto something. That future isn't AI or human. It's AI and human working [00:15:00] together.

And if you have to air on one side, air on the side of humanity as a trend, that will never go outta style. Now we've tackled this whole tech hype and we've re-embraced the human element, but let's shift gears. Because it's not just technology where the CX world gets a little crazy. 'cause sometimes the basics are being ignored in the chase of innovation.

So next we're gonna talk about an issue that sneaks up on a lot of companies, especially the smaller ones, and that's what I call the accidental call center and the chaos that comes from neglecting the fundamentals.

So does customer experience only matter for big call centers and Fortune 500 companies? If you are a small business or any organization with customers, here's a wake up call. You already have a contact center or a call center, whether you call it that or realize it or not. See, this is what I call the accidental contact center or accidental call center phenomenon.

See, it happens in countless small and mid-size businesses. You [00:16:00] never set out to build a formal customer service operation, but as soon as the phone starts ringing, or emails start coming in. Surprise, you're, you're in that customer support business.

The pain point here is that many businesses don't acknowledge this reality. They just figure, ah, you know, wait, we're not a call center. We just have Jane handle the phones and Bob check the info at email whenever he can. And, and then the result ends up what? Missed inquiries, inconsistent answers, customers falling through the cracks. It's chaos by neglect, and it can hurt your business more than you think. I mean, imagine a local home services company, say a plumbing business, right? They're great at fixing pipes, but they're not great at answering calls promptly or keeping track of customer appointments.

A potential customer with an emergency, calls after hours, leaves the voicemail, and then never hears back because nobody ever checked another customer emails to ask about a service, but [00:17:00] the inbox is a mess and the response comes a week late or not at all. See, these are not hypothetical nightmares. They happen all the time, especially in smaller firms.

What do you think those would be? Customers do they move on and they call someone else? Likely competitor who does respond immediately.

Studies show that 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with the company after a single poor customer service experience. One drop ball, one missed call, or rude interaction, and nearly nine out of 10 customers say, bye, I'm out. That's staggering. And. It underscores how unforgiving the customer can be when customer service disappoints.

And in small business, you guys know this, every customer counts, so losing them due to sloppy CX is just insane and totally preventable. Here's another reality check. A [00:18:00] customer today doesn't really care if you're a one person shop or a global giant 'cause their expectations are high regardless. In fact, in some ways, smaller companies have an opportunity here.

Research indicates that small businesses often exceed customer expectations

more frequently than those large companies do. I mean, one report found that 38% of small businesses exceed expectations compared to just 3% of the big guys. And how is this possible, Brian? Well, often it's because small businesses can offer a personal touch of flexibility that. Big bureaucracy simply can't, but that only holds true if you actually engage with a customer.

If you ignore calls, you treat support as an afterthought. You squander the natural advantage of being a small business, which is agility and personal service, and instead just look unprofessional. So what's the solution for the accidental contact center or call center? Well, step one, acknowledge that you got one.

If [00:19:00] customers reach out to you in any form, be it phone, email, chat, social media, snail mail, carrier pigeon, you need to handle those with intention. It doesn't mean that you need a massive call center with fancy software. What it does mean is that you need a plan and some basic systems.

Maybe it's as straightforward as an organized way to log customer requests or a dedicated person or rotation to respond promptly, and a set of guidelines for consistent service.

See, these are the fundamentals of CX that apply to any organization, no matter the size. Think of it this way. The bar for customer responsiveness has been set by the fastest and best out there. We live in this age of near instant gratification. Three in five. Customers expect a response in 10 minutes or less when reaching out to support, especially on channels like social media, and that might sound crazy, but it's the reality.

So while you might not always hit the mark, you can ensure you're not leaving people hanging for days, [00:20:00] even a quick, Hey, got your message. We're on. It is better than silence. Another tip is don't rely on memory or sticky notes. To track customer issues, use simple tech if needed, even a shared spreadsheet or an email ticket system to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.

There are affordable tools tailored for small businesses to manage customer communications, and using them to turn your accidental chaos into intentional customer experience management is a no-brainer. It's about being proactive versus reactive. For example, instead of waiting for 10 voicemails to pile up that you return at the day's end, by which time most people may have already moved along, consider sending up an after hours answering service, or at least checking messages in between jobs.

It shows customers you care enough to be responsive. Also training isn't just for big companies. Take the time to train anyone who interacts with customers, even if it's the person who answers the phone when they're free. They [00:21:00] should know how to handle common questions. They should know how to be friendly.

Smiling through the phone is a real thing, and they should also know when to escalate issues. A little training goes a long way in preventing that one bad interaction that sends a customer running. Remember, a customer is four times more likely to go to a competitor if their problem is service related versus price or product.

So you might have the best price, the best product, but if you drop the ball on customer service, you're basically handing your competition to win. And finally, let's bust a myth. Great customer experience isn't about having a huge team or the latest and greatest technology platform. It's about consistency, caring, and closing the loop.

And this applies universally. Return calls follow up when you say you will fix errors and treat people with respect. Those fundamentals turn casual customers into loyal fans. And loyal fans are gold [00:22:00] because they come back and they refer others. On the flip side, a bad reputation for service will spread like wildfire.

Remember, consumers are twice as likely to share bad experiences than a good one, so don't give them a bad story to tell. In short, whether you intend to or not, you're running a contact center, so don't pretend. Embrace it. Meet your customers where they're at, respond quickly and handle their issues with care.

It's not glamorous, but it's powerful in the race to adopt the latest and greatest CX trends. Many companies forget the basics and they pay for it in lost business. Don't be that company. Get, get the fundamentals right and you earn the right to wow customers with the fancy stuff later. Alright, so we've covered technology and the basics of responsiveness, but let's zoom out and look at another kind of CX insanity, and this is the obsession with metrics and numbers [00:23:00] over actual experience.

Are companies focusing on the right things or are they chasing scores and spreadsheets while reality burns? Let's talk about one of the biggest BS trends of all, and this is the metrics mania. So here's a question. Is your company chasing customer experience metrics like high scores in a video game while real customers are left unhappy?

In other words, has CX become more about numbers versus the people

see, one of the most pervasive bits of nonsense in the CX industry is the over-reliance on certain magic metrics, and you know their names. The NPS or Net Promoter Score, customer Satisfaction scores or CSAT scores. Customer effort scores, star ratings, the list goes on and on. And don't get me wrong, measuring things isn't bad.

You, you gotta measure. And, and the problem though is when companies start treating the metric as the goal rather than the tool. [00:24:00] The pain that this causes can be subtle but deadly leadership pats itself on the back for raising their customer satisfaction scores while customers are quietly slipping away because their real issues weren't addressed, or employees feel pressured to game the surveys ever been virtually begged by a rep.

Please, please give me a 10 on the survey. Yeah, that happens a lot. See, it's a classic case of hitting the target but missing the goal.

Like think of NPS, which is often hailed as the one number you need to grow. So many companies became obsessed with this single score, asking customers, how likely are you to recommend us? And then using that as the ultimate measure of success. It's appealing because it's simple. A higher NPS means we're doing better, right?

Well, not necessarily. Studies and experts have been poking holes in NPS for years, and in fact, a comprehensive study across multiple industries recently found that there is [00:25:00] no clear association between a company's NPS and its revenue growth according to CX today.

Hear that again? Boosting your recommended score doesn't reliably translate to actual business results.

Even Gartner. Yes. The same firm that has made popular, a lot of these measures has predicted that 75% of companies will abandon NPS as a metric by the end of 2025. Why? Leaders are realizing it's an oversimplified metric that can mislead more than inform. Think of some insanity.

This metric obsession creates companies will chase a higher NPS by any means, like offering customer incentives to give a good score or only surveying the happiest customers or implementing policies that annoy customers just to boost survey response rates. All fluff, no substance. Meanwhile, what about actually fixing the product glitch that's causing detractors or streamlining that [00:26:00] clunky billing process?

Everyone hates. Those might not immediately spike the score, but they do improve the real loyalty. And there's a biting quote from one of the marketing professors here that sums it up. They said, this science of NPS is bad. When people change their net promoter score, that has almost zero relationship to how they divide their spending.

In other words, you can move that number up or down, and it often doesn't change how customers behave, yet many CEOs still obsess over this. One researcher called it strange that executives clinging to NPS despite evidence that it doesn't predict financial performance. It's like a security blanket, hard to let go, even if it's kind of tattered and smelly at this point.

Now, I'm not saying don't measure, but by all means keep an eye on customer feedback metrics. But the key is to use them as a starting point, not the finish line. A metric should prompt you to ask. [00:27:00] Why? How can we improve, not just make you declare victory because the number went up by three points. If your customer gave you, let's say, a 72% satisfaction score, the real insight comes from understanding where the 28% are dissatisfied.

What's driving that? Dig into the comments. Follow up with customers personally, involve your team in finding solutions, and also beware of survey fatigue and empty data. 'cause many companies bombard customers with surveys at every turn, after every purchase, every support call, every chat.

It's overkill. Customers either stop responding or they give perfunctory answers. And if they do respond with issues too often it vans into the black hole.

See, that's the worst. Asking for feedback and then doing nothing visible with. It teaches customers that you don't really care. You're just checking a box. So if you're going to ask, be ready to act one. Common [00:28:00] failure is not closing the loop. If a customer says in a survey, Hey, I had a problem with X, someone should reach out and fix x.

Otherwise, why ask and, and here's some real life case metric mania gone wrong. A large bank a few years back became so fixated on getting customers to sign up for new accounts, a metric of engagement. The employees started doing it without consent. Famously, millions of fake accounts were created just to meet quotas.

That scandal, yes, I'm talking about Wells Fargo was a case of metric obsession leading to unethical behavior. And the bank measured the wrong thing and then pushed it to the extreme and then it blew up in their face. And while I get it, that's an extreme case. Milder versions happen like this all over, like support teams being measured on call handle times.

So they rush customers off the phone to hit their target, resulting in what poor service or retail staff being graded on how many credit card signups they get. [00:29:00] So they pressure every customer at checkout, which annoys the heck out of them.

These tactics might boost a short term KPI, but they degrade the actual customer experience, which is what this is all about, right? So how do we solve the metrics madness? Well refocus on meaning, not just metrics. Use metrics as a flashlight, not a scorecard. If NPS is dropping, don't just fixate on the score.

Investigate what's causing this. CSAT is high, great. But ask yourself, do we see that reflected in repeat business and referrals? And if not, that means that the metric is missing something. And often a combination of quantitative and qualitative feedback gives the best picture. So talk to customers, read their comments.

Have managers do regular call listening and store visits. Basically reconnect those abstract numbers to real human experiences. And additionally [00:30:00] consider measuring what matters more. For example, instead of obsessing about, would you recommend us, which is hypothetical, measure actual behaviors like repeat purchases, churn rates, or customer lifetime value, those tell you if customers are truly loyal and happy, and internally measure how effectively you solve customer problems, first contact resolution, time to resolve, et cetera, which directly impact satisfaction.

See, these are harder to spend with fluff because if people have to call back three times to fix one issue, no one's gonna pretend that that's good no matter what the survey says. And let's be clear, the goal is not a high score. The goal is a great experience. High scores tend to follow great experiences, not the other way around.

And if they don't, maybe you're measuring the wrong thing or you're asking the wrong question. Some leading companies have even ditched traditional surveys in favor of monitoring actual customer behavior and health metrics like product usage, [00:31:00] support tickets, et cetera, to infer satisfaction intervening when they see red flags and then praising when they don't it.

See, they're doing this because surveys and single scores failed to give a true signal. And one more piece of advice, don't BS yourself with averages. Averages can hide a lot. You might have an average eight outta 10 satisfaction, but that might consist of 50% of customers who love you. Well, they give you a 10, outta 10 and 50% who hate maybe a four outta 10.

See the average, maybe it's eight. Sounds fine. But in reality, half your base is at risk. So look at distributions and outliers. Who's unhappy and why? Who is ecstatic, and why those are far more actionable insights. So here's a mantra I wanna borrow from quality circles. Don't measure for the sake of measurement.

Measure to learn, then act on those learnings. If a metric isn't telling you something useful or driving better decisions, [00:32:00] it's just noise.

And if your company culture is such that people fear a low score more than a bad customer experience. Yeah, you, you got it backwards. Fix the experience and the scores will eventually follow, not the other way around.

That's the no BS approach to metrics. Use them. But don't be used by them. 

All right, so we've tackled technology hype, the return of human service, the importance of basics, and the folly of metric obsession. But there's one more big piece to discuss, and that is the people behind the scenes see a lot of CX nonsense happens because companies forget a simple truth.

Happy employees. Make for happy customers. Let's call out how ignoring your own team can sabotage your customer experience. And why focusing on employees is not fluffy HR talk, but it's hardheaded. Good business strategy. See what is the biggest [00:33:00] factor in your customer experience. And if I were to tell you, it's not your technology, it's not your strategy, it's not even your metrics, but rather.

It's your employees, what would you think? And if that's true, why do so many companies treat their frontline staff as an afterthought? See, you can't have happy customers with miserable, disempowered employees just doesn't work. Employees are the ones delivering the experience or building the products or supporting the services that I don't know, customers actually consume.

Yet in the quest for better CX companies often focus outwardly customer surveys, new customer facing tools, and they forget to look inward.

The pain this oversight causes can be massive. Disengaged employees who do the bare minimum, high staff turnover, especially in customer service roles and a disconnect between the company's shiny promises and the reality that customers encounter. We've all dealt with an employee who [00:34:00] clearly didn't care.

The board cashier, the indifference support rep, the technician who rushes through the job. And how did that make you feel as a customer? Probably like the company didn't value. You see the link, how employees feel. Is how customers feel. So why do employees often seem so checked out? Well, one big reason is the company culture and leadership, not walking the talk.

If a company slogan is Customers first, but it treats its staff poorly, overworks them, or doesn't give them autonomy, guess what? That disconnect trickles down to customers, employees think. If my company doesn't have my back, why should I go above and beyond for customers? Another common scenario, frontline staff have tons of feedback on what's annoying customers and how to fix it, but nobody upstairs listens, so problems persist and employees get demoralized because they know how to improve things, but they're not empowered to actually do it.[00:35:00] 

Consider this. 92% of executives say that high employee engagement is a key driver of customer happiness. That's almost unanimous agreement at the very top that engage employees equals happier customers. And it's not just an opinion. Numerous studies back this up,

companies with highly engaged teams tend to outperform in customer loyalty and even profitability. One study even found that engaged teams can drive about 20% higher customer loyalty metrics and significantly better financial results. Yet, despite knowing this, many organizations still struggle to actually engage their employees.

Gallup polls show a majority of workers are not engaged at work. The global engagement rate is often somewhere around 20 to 30%. That's a lot of people just phoning it in every day, and it inevitably affects customers. So think of it as Southwest Airlines example here, often cited for its friendly customer service.

[00:36:00] Southwest has a long standing philosophy. Treat your employees well and they will take care of the customers and their culture. Empowers employees to have fun, make decisions on the fly. Pun intended to help passengers. See, that's why you hear those humorous flight attendant spiels or see gate agents going the extra mile during delays.

They're engaged and it spills over to the passengers. On the flip side, think of any airline or retailer notorious for poor service. Usually those employees look beaten down, strictly scripted or even fearful, and that's a management and culture failure, not an employee failure.

Here's an example. Think of cases where call centers are so heavily monitored for every second of their time that they felt immense stress, and then that stress leaks into their voices and interactions. Customers pick up on that. So the question then is, how do we solve this? [00:37:00] Well, the solution isn't complicated.

In concept, make employee experience a priority equal to customer experience. In fact, some say employee experience is the new customer experience because one drives the other. And here are some no BS steps companies can take today. And you can consider if you're in a position to influence this at your job right now.

First, listen to employees. They have frontline knowledge on customer pain points, so create channels for their feedback, regular meetings, anonymous suggestions, whatever it takes, and seriously consider their ideas.

When the people doing the work have a say in its improvements, they feel valued and the solutions are often spot on. Second, empower them to solve real problems. That means giving employees the training, the authority, and the resources to actually help customers without jumping through hoops. Nothing is more demoralizing for an employee and frustrating for a customer than when the employee wants to help but has no say.[00:38:00] 

They say, I'm sorry, my hands are tied by policy. Go cut that red tape. If, if you trust someone to interact with your customers, trust 'em enough to use good judgment in resolving issues. Third, recognize and reward great service. Don't only measure, handle time or sales measure and celebrate when an employee goes above and beyond to make a customer happy.

Share those stories, give shout outs, maybe even bonuses or rewards. See, this reinforces what you actually value, not just speed or efficiency, but rather quality of service. Fourth, invest in their development. Now this is huge because if you provide training not just on products, but on soft skills, on career growth, on new technologies, if people see a path forward and feel like the company is investing in them, they'll invest more of themselves into the job.

Engaged employees often cite feeling supported and having growth [00:39:00] opportunities as the primary reasons that they actually care about their people. Fifth, maintain a supportive culture. And this one is a bit abstract, but essentially

don't create a fear-based metrics obsessed environment where employees are just trying to not get in trouble. Instead foster a culture where trying to do the right thing for customers is applauded, even if it doesn't always directly add to the bottom line. That second in the long run, it does add to the bottom line through loyalty.

Okay, well, Brian, why go through all this effort? Well. The payoff is real. When employees are engaged, they tend to provide better service. Naturally. They take pride in their work, they form genuine connections with customers, and they'll solve problems that others would shrug off. A Harvard Business Review study noted that increased employee engagement directly boost customer loyalty and positive word of mouth.

It's like a mirror. [00:40:00] How your employees feel is reflected in how your customers feel. And additionally engaged employees stick around longer and that's gonna reduce turnover costs and preserves institutional knowledge. Customers benefit from experienced staff who know their stuff. And by the way, there's one more thing to consider authenticity.

Customers can tell when an employee is genuinely happy to help versus when they're reading from a script under duress. Authentic positive interactions create an emotional connection, and that's the kind of thing that turns a casual customer into a raving fan, and you cannot script or force authenticity.

You have to cultivate it by treating employees with respect and giving them a reason to believe in the company's mission. As an illustration of impact, think of Zappos, the online retailer, famed for customer experience and service. They empower its call center reps to spend any amount of [00:41:00] time on calls and do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.

No strict time targets. One rep there famously spent over 10 hours on a call with a customer just chatting and helping because that's the culture. Zappo sees service not as a cost center, but as a marketing investment.

They know a wowed customer will tell others and their employees are engaged because they are trusted and encouraged to be themselves on the job. And that kind of freedom and trust is unfortunately rare in our world, but it's a huge differentiator. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers.

It's that simple and it's not hard. No piece of technology, no clever strategy can compensate for a team that doesn't care. And on the flip side, even if your tech is a bit behind, a team that truly cares will almost certainly have [00:42:00] customers forgiving the hiccups because the experience of dealing with a caring human is so positive. 

And guess what? Those caring humans give you great ideas to fix the hiccups too. So this isn't feel good fluff. It's hardcore business sense backed by data and outcomes.

So we've covered a lot of ground and, and if there's one thread that ties us all together, it's this customer experience is about humans and reality, not buzzwords and not vanity. A no BS approach means always asking, is this truly helping the customer and our business, or is this just noise? So let's quickly recap the insanity we've called out, and then the sanity that we're proposing here instead.

We, we started by busting the AI hype. The reality is AI is a powerful tool, but it is not a silver bullet for CXOs companies that through chatbots at [00:43:00] every problem, learn that technology can't fully replace the human touch and customers rebelled when they felt trapped by bots. The same path forward is to use AI to assist humans thinking of copilots not autopilot, and always keeping an exit to human door open for customers.

It's about striking a fine balance, efficiency where possible empathy, where it's absolutely needed. And if you remember nothing else, remember this stat, 53% of customers said they would switch to a competitor. If a company went heavy on AI for customer service, that's a huge wake up call that people value accessible human support.

So invest in tech but don't believe the hype that it can do everything all at once.

The companies winning are those cutting through the A IBS and implementing it thoughtfully improving response times and information access while still delivering personal service. Next, we highlighted the return of the human touch

far from [00:44:00] being obsolete. Human support is a crucial differentiator in the age of automation businesses that treat customers like people with empathy, flexibility, and genuine care, they're the ones who stand out. And we saw that removing humans entirely, like the Frontier Airlines example, often backfires sending a message that customers simply aren't worth talking to.

The No BS truth is that customers want to feel valued. Not processed. And that means having a well-trained, empowered people ready to step in when needed. The trend, and it's a positive one, is companies bragging about real human service again, which is almost funny, but it shows how far into tech obsession we've become.

So double down on humanity, make it easy for customers to reach a person, and then celebrate the fact that you have great people on hand. In a world of impersonal apps, a friendly, effective human interaction is like a breath of fresh air, and customers [00:45:00] remember it. We then tackled the often overlooked basics.

The accidental contact center story was a reminder that you have to walk before your run. Answering customer inquiries promptly keeping your promises and smoothing out simple pain points will earn you more goodwill than any flashy new piece of tech. It is astounding how many companies, both large and small, still drop the ball on fundamental re just responsiveness.

So if you're looking for somewhere to invest effort in, start there. After all, remember, 89% of customers will bail after a single bad customer experience. And on the flip side, if you consistently get the basics right, you build a reservoir of goodwill that you can carry forward when you have an occasional slipup.

It's not sexy, but reliability is a cornerstone of great cx. There's a saying under promise and over deliver the BS version. Some companies play is over promise and under deliver lots of marketing [00:46:00] about how customer centric they are, but then you can't even get a timely response to a problem. Don't be that company.

Make sure the walk matches the talk. At the most basic level, we, we then exposed the metrics obsession for what it is. Often a distraction and sometimes a delusion. So yes, measure what matters, but don't let a number become a false idol. We started research that NPS, the king of CX metrics doesn't necessarily correlate with growth, and the takeaway is not to throw out all metrics, but rather ensure you're focusing on actionable insights.

So what good is a sky high NPS if customer's actual pain points remain unresolved? What good is a perfect CSAT survey if your customer's repeat purchase rate is tanking? See, the no BS approach to metrics is to use them as a flashlight to illuminate issues and [00:47:00] successes, but always dig deeper and never ever fudge the numbers or pressure customers and employees just to hit a target that's treating the thermometer.

Not the fever. The healthiest CX programs are those that pair metrics with real voice of customer feedback and then empower teams to act on that feedback. So in short, care about the people behind the numbers, not just the numbers themselves. And lastly, we underscored the role of employees in all this.

Perhaps the biggest BS in business is when companies say that the customers are the number one priority. While treating their employees as last in line, it's backwards. Employees who are engaged, valued, and empowered will naturally create good experiences and those who aren't won't. No matter how many scripts you write or how many dashboards you monitor, we saw that nearly all executives, 92% agree that engaged employees drive customer happiness,

and [00:48:00] companies with engaged teams outperform on customer loyalty. So the verdict is clear. Focusing on your team is not a feel good sideline. It's a CX strategy. If there's a BS to call out here, it's that any initiative that pours millions into new tech or ad campaigns, but box at giving frontline staff a raise or better training or a voice in decision making.

That's BS and that's lip service at its finest. Real talk Happy employees, equal happy customers and happy shareholders.

It's a Michael Scott win win win formula that's been proven yet too often ignored in favor of short-term cost cuts or rigid control. And hopefully you're convinced that cutting through CX nonsense means taking care of the people on the ground floor. So where do we go from here? Well, if you're a business leader or a CX practitioner, the call to action is to be brave enough to keep it real.

And that [00:49:00] means questioning the hype, looking past the flashy trends, and focusing on what tangibly improves customer outcomes. It means speaking up when something is bs, whether it's a bogus metric target, a buzzword filled strategy with no substance or a budget cup that undermines service quality. It also means asking customers and employees what they really want and need, and then listening, truly listening to their answers.

For everyone else, which is all of us as customers, it means demanding better. Don't settle. For companies that give you the runaround, reward the ones that treat you right with your loyalty. And don't be shy to call out those that don't, because that feedback, when it reaches the right ears is how change happens.

Companies ultimately have to listen to the wallet, and if enough of us walk away from bad experiences and towards good ones, the market gets the message. Remember, CX without the BS isn't just a catchy phrase. [00:50:00] It's a mindset. It's about stripping away the pretense and focusing on practical, honest, customer centric work.

Remember, none of this works if it's built on bs. It only works when it's built on genuine insight and empathy. So as we close today's journey, take a moment to reflect on your own experiences, both as a customer and maybe as an employee.

You can probably recall times that you've encountered ridiculous BS that was presented in the name of customer experience improvement that did anything but improve it. And you can probably also recall times you received simple, excellent service that left a big impression. Our goal, whether we're designing experiences or just consuming them, should be to have more of the latter.

And eliminate the former. The future of CX, if we do it right, should look less like a circus of new gimmicks and more like a concerted effort to deliver consistency care and say it with [00:51:00] me. Authenticity. The companies that get it will raise above the noise and the ones that don't, uh, they're gonna keep spinning on the hamster wheel of the next big thing, wondering why customers aren't sticking around.

Let's be the ones who get it. Let's champion CX without the Bs. Where every improvement ties back to real customer needs. Every metric ties to a real outcome, and every employee is aligned with the mission of making customers' lives easier. Do that and you won't need to spin a narrative. Your customers will do it for you in the form of glowing reviews, repeat business and genuine loyalty,

and that my friends is the ultimate no BS result that we're all aiming for.

So here's to a world of better customer experiences minus the Bs. With that being said, it's Brian Niles signing off here on CX without the bs. We'll see you next time.