Next Signal

Jean-Pierre Lacroix & Will Gibson
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Welcome to Next Signal — the podcast that cuts through the noise to find what’s actually moving the needle in telecom. Podcast co-host Will Gibson of Mapplewave and Jean-Pierre Lacroix of SLD tackle questions that should keep every telco executive up at night: Have your stores become cost centres — or are they earning their keep? Here’s the reality. The functional race is over. Everyone’s got the same speeds, the same bundles, the same digital checkout. And yet churn is stubborn, NPS is flat, and too many retail locations are just… there.

Episodes

  1. 6 MAR

    The New Telco Growth Bundle: Emotional Connections, AI, and Seamless Experience

    Will Gibson, Vice President of Amplifier and Jean-Pierre Lacroix of SLD share an episode on the telecom industry are at a pivotal crossroads. While most of the current hype around AI focuses on efficiency and cost reduction, the real opportunity lies in how AI reshapes emotional connection and customer loyalty. Our research, built on five years of studying AI’s impact in banking, reveals a new type of customer—one who trusts algorithms for guidance but still craves human understanding and local relevance. This “AI-ready” customer uses digital tools to make informed decisions but rewards brands that ease anxiety, respect their intelligence, and feel like a part of their community. Telcos like Progresif are already proving this model works—designing flagship spaces that express cultural values while integrating AI-driven personalization and advice. The future of telecom growth lies in combining emotional design, omnichannel storytelling, and AI-driven simplicity. When apps, websites, and stores deliver one coherent, human experience—rooted in trust and belonging—AI becomes a quiet partner in deepening relationships, not replacing them. The telco of tomorrow won’t win with speed or price alone, but with empathy, confidence, and connection—what we call the new growth bundle.

    32 min

  2. 6 MAR

    Why Your Telco Stores Feel the Same as Everyone Else’s… …And How to Fix It

    Will Gibson, Vice President of Amplifier and Jean-Pierre Lacroix of SLD share an episode on the lack of differentiation in the telco industry. Most telco stores may wear different logos, but for customers they feel interchangeable: the same light wood tables, perimeter walls, ticket machines, and scripted “sales or service?” greetings. The blog argues that this sameness is structural, driven by global vendors, queue systems, POS-led conversations, rigid scripts, and KPIs that reward speed and attach rate over experience. The result is a retail model that is efficient but emotionally flat, turning high-investment stores into commodity “SIM shops” rather than distinctive brands. The episode would explore how to break that pattern by treating retail as cultural theatre and operations as performance. It highlights SLD’s focus on localisation, community identity, and storytelling in markets from the UK and Canada to the Middle East and Caribbean, and Maplewave’s role in redesigning queue logic, workflows, roles, and coaching so technology amplifies human interaction instead of replacing it. Using examples like EE’s experiential, gaming-led stores, you’ll outline a six-step executive playbook—from CX Audit to KPI redesign—that shifts telco retail from transactional to memorable, and shows why real differentiation now demands courage to re‑engineer both design and operating model end to end. What audience do you most want this to resonate with: ExCo, retail operations leaders, or CX/design teams?

    30 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

Welcome to Next Signal — the podcast that cuts through the noise to find what’s actually moving the needle in telecom. Podcast co-host Will Gibson of Mapplewave and Jean-Pierre Lacroix of SLD tackle questions that should keep every telco executive up at night: Have your stores become cost centres — or are they earning their keep? Here’s the reality. The functional race is over. Everyone’s got the same speeds, the same bundles, the same digital checkout. And yet churn is stubborn, NPS is flat, and too many retail locations are just… there.

Information

  • Creator
    Jean-Pierre Lacroix & Will Gibson
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jean-Pierre Lacroix & Will Gibson
  • Show Website
    Next Signal