Customers First Podcast Tacey Atkinson

On today's episode of the Customer's First Podcast, we were joined by Dave Seaton, the CEO and principal consultant at Seaton CX. Dave shared his journey into customer experience management, highlighting his success in reducing churn and winning awards.
He discussed the importance of customer journey mapping and unveiled his proprietary Dharma method, which consists of five steps: Define, Analyze, Research, Map, and Act. We delved into the differences between journey mapping and process mapping, emphasizing the need for customer insights and aligning mapping projects with strategic goals.

Dave stressed the significance of including customer personas, goals, actions, thoughts, emotions, and moments in journey maps to tell a compelling customer story. He also touched on additional elements like friction points, quantitative data, and opportunities for improvement. Moreover, Dave shared three common reasons for customer journey map failures: lack of customer insight, misalignment with strategic plans, and lack of actionable insights.
Timestamps:
11:52: Importance of Customer Insights

14:44: Elements of Journey Maps

20:15: Additional Considerations for Journey Maps

24:43: Reasons for Journey Map Failures
 
Dave's Contact Information:
Website: https://www.seatoncx.com
LinkedIn: @daveseaton
 
Tacey's Contact Information: 
Website: www.taceyatkinson.com  Social Media: @taceyatkinson
Thank you for tuning in, and Tacey looks forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.
Remember:
Customer Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.
Now Go Spread the Magic!

In this episode, Tacey is joined by the Founder of Dignity Leadership Consulting & Author of "You're Doing It Wrong, Stop Managing & Start Leading," Rich Levene. 
Rich discusses his journey from being a high producer to learning what true leadership is through his master's program. He emphasizes the importance of trust, hope, humility, and empathy in leadership and how building a culture of leadership within a business involves everyone, not just those in formal leadership roles. Tune in to hear more about Rich's rich insights and experiences in leadership and personal growth!
Timestamps:
3:17: The Importance of Doing It Right
5:56: Leader vs. Manager Distinction
6:36: Leading People, Managing Things
9:48: Collaboration vs. Cooperation
10:05: Fostering a Collaborative Culture
17:26: Addressing Authoritarian Leadership
19:07: Creating a Culture of Leadership
 
Rich's Contact Information:
Website: www.richardlevene.com
Instagram: @dignityleadership
LinkedIn: @richlevene
Link to Book: You're Doing It Wrong
 
Tacey's Contact Information: 
Website and Social Media Links: www.taceyatkinson.com  @taceyatkinson
Thank you for tuning in, and Tacey looks forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.
Remember:
Customer Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.
Now Go Spread the Magic!
 

In this episode, Kat Newport, an author, trainer and founder of Oculus, Inc., discusses her journey into conflict resolution and leadership evolution. She explains the importance of managing conflict and how it led her to write her book, "Smart Conflict." Kat emphasizes the significance of conflict resolution in maintaining positive relationships and fostering innovation within organizations.

She delves into the connection between leadership skills, conflict resolution, and organizational growth potential, highlighting the need for training employees in conflict management. Kat shares common challenges people face in navigating conflicts and provides tips for proactive conflict prevention within and outside organizations.

Kat introduces the SMART conflict resolution strategy into five key components: Situation, Measure, Agenda, Relationship, and Time and Place. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the situation, managing emotions, setting agendas, focusing on relationships, and choosing the right time and place for conflict resolution.

Furthermore, Kat shares insights on handling conflicts at the moment when emotions are high, emphasizing the importance of addressing issues promptly to avoid escalation. She stresses the significance of empathetic leadership and creating a safe and inclusive work environment where emotions are acknowledged and valued.
Timestamps:
4:36: Conflict in Customer-Centric Perspective

6:05: Leadership Skills and Conflict Resolution

8:13: Common Challenges in Conflict Navigation

10:26: Strategy for Smart Conflict Solutions

16:14: Handling Conflict in the Moment

18:52: Importance of Empathetic Leadership
 
Kat's Contact Information:
Website: https://www.smartconflictbook.com
LinkedIn: @kat-newport
Instagram: @kat_newport
Smart Conflict Book Link
 
Tacey's Contact Information: 
Website and Social Media Links: www.taceyatkinson.com
Thank you for tuning in, and Tacey looks forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.
Remember:
Customer Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.
Now Go Spread the Magic!


 

In this episode of the Customers First Podcast, Tacey Atkinson hosts Neal Woodson, a teacher, coach, author, and speaker dedicated to putting people first in business. Neal believes workplaces and customer spaces should focus on helping people succeed. With decades of experience in various industries, Neal has written over 500 blog posts and two books, including his latest release, Giving a $#!+: How A Willingness to Be Inconvenienced Can Transform Your Business, Work, and Life. In this book, he provides readers with a plan for making businesses more human. 
Neal talks about the inspiration behind his book, "Giving a S#!+," which stemmed from a conversation on a golf course about the importance of caring for others in customer-facing roles and within the organization. He delves into compassion and how it impacts individuals and businesses. Neal cites research and examples to support his claim that businesses must embody a compassionate enterprise. 
Neal emphasizes the significance of warmth and competence in human interactions and how businesses must effectively focus on both to build strong relationships with customers and colleagues. He also outlines strategies for instilling a service-first mindset within individuals and organizations. He highlights the importance of aligning to a service-focused message, leading by example, encouraging others, and infusing care into all delivery systems to create a culture centred on service and compassion.
Timestamps:
04:25: The Story Behind "Giving a Shit"
06:18: Impact of Noticing and Compassion
11:18: The Importance of Delivery and Interaction
16:25: Setting the Stage for Change
25:39: Turning It Around
 
Neal's Contact Information
Website: https://nealwoodson.net/
LinkedIn & Instagram: @nealwoodson
Link to Book: https://nealwoodson.net/gas/
 
Tacey's Contact Information: 
Website and Social Media Links: www.taceyatkinson.com
 Thank you for tuning in, and Tacey looks forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.
Remember:
Customer Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.
Now Go Spread the Magic!

Episode 92 Revisited as The #1 Shared & Discussed of 2023  
Join Tacey and her special guest, Author, Speaker and CEO of CX Journey Inc., Annette Franz, as they discuss "The Building Blocks of a Customer Experience Strategy."
Annette has nearly three decades of experience inspiring and elevating organizations and teams. Between Annette and Tacey, this episode brings you over seven decades of experience building teams and organizations to become customer-centric.
Annette defines what customer-centric and employee-centric mean and how employee experience ultimately drives the customer experience. She also explains how we go about building and strengthening that connection.
Annette covers some of the building blocks needed to build a customer experience strategy and how customer understanding is vital. She also shares three ways to achieve that customer understanding.
Annette is also giving us a free assessment organizations can take to assess how customer-centric they currently are. The link to that will be below.
 
Timestamps:
05:29: Defining Customer-Centric Culture
09:01: Customer Experience vs. Employee Experience
12:59: Building a Customer-Centric Organization: Foundational Elements
19:30: The Importance of Customer Understanding
22:10: Free Assessment for Assessing Customer-Centric Culture
 
Annette's Contact Information:
Website: https://annettefranz.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annette-franz/
Free Assessment: https://annettefranz.com/assessment/
 
Tacey's Contact Information: 
Website and Social Media Links: www.taceyatkinson.com
 
Thank you for tuning in, and Tacey looks forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.
Remember:
Customer Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.
Now Go Spread the Magic!

On today's episode of the Customer's First Podcast, Tacey's guest is Pete Mohr, who shared his journey in entrepreneurship for over 30 years. Pete owns two footwear stores in Ontario (Shoetopia) and his Simplifying Entrepreneurship coaching business. He's implementing the tools and frameworks he speaks to within his own businesses—it's not just theory!
Pete emphasized the importance of having a well-defined promise, aligning processes to the promise, and empowering employees to make decisions based on the promise. He discussed the significance of effective communication, process management, and accountability in business growth. Pete also shared personal experiences, including using business structures to spend valuable time with his parents before they passed away. The conversation highlighted the need for continuous improvement in communication and processes in business to align with personal goals and create a better work-life balance.
Timestamps:
0:06:02 The Five Ps of Business
0:08:53 Differentiating Promise from Vision and Mission
0:13:08 Developing and Communicating the Promise
0:18:50 Importance of Communication in Business
0:22:51 The Three Keys to Freedom: CPA
0:26:18 Align It, Assign It Framework
0:28:14 Moving from Operator to Owner: 10 Laws
 
Pete's Contact Information:
Website: https://simplifyingentrepreneurship.com
LinkedIn: @petermohr
10 Laws for Moving from Operator to Owner
https://simplifyingentrepreneurship.com/laws/
 
The Assign It accountability worksheet
https://simplifyingentrepreneurship.com/4as/
 
Tacey's Contact Information:
Website: https:www.taceyatkinson.com
All of Tacey's social media profiles are linked there and here:
https://linktr.ee/taceyatkinson
Thank you for tuning in, and I look forward to having more valuable conversations together in the future.
Remember:
Customer-Centric Cultures Create Magical Customer Experiences.
Now Go, Create the Magic!