Navigating the Customer Experience

Yanique Grant, Customer Experience Strategist, Entrepreneur

Join host Yanique Grant as she takes you on a journey with global entrepreneurs and subject matter experts that can help you to navigate your customer experience. Learn what customers really want and how businesses can understand the psychology of each customer or business that they engage with. We will be looking at technology, leadership, customer service charters and strategies, training and development, complaint management, service recovery and so much more!

  1. 267: The CX Imperative: 5 Critical Practices for Making Customer Centricity a Core Business Value with Mark Fithian and Jeff Rosenberg

    JAN 27

    267: The CX Imperative: 5 Critical Practices for Making Customer Centricity a Core Business Value with Mark Fithian and Jeff Rosenberg

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we sit down with Mark Fithian and Jeff Rosenberg, cofounders of WideOpen, a strategic customer experience (CX) consulting firm, and authors of the book The CX Imperatives: Five Strategic Practices for Renewal of the Customer-Centered Enterprise. With more than 30 years of experience each, Mark and Jeff bring deep insight from working across industries including healthcare, technology, automotive, consumer goods, and professional services. Mark and Jeff share their professional journeys and the “red thread” that has guided their careers: a commitment to understanding customers as humans, not just data points. From early roles in marketing, operations, and consulting, both authors describe moments when they realized organizations often make decisions without considering how customers truly experience them. That realization ultimately led to the founding of WideOpen and the development of the frameworks outlined in their book. The conversation centers on The CX Imperatives and its purpose as a practitioner’s guide for CX leaders and professionals who already care about customer experience and want to embed customer centricity across the enterprise. Rather than focusing on one-off “wow moments,” the book emphasizes creating consistent, meaningful experiences across the entire customer journey that align with business strategy and drive growth and innovation. Importantly, the authors stress that the principles are industry-agnostic, applicable to both B2B and B2C organizations of all sizes. Mark outlines the book’s five strategic CX practices: Insights – deeply understanding customers as emotional, human beings, not just metrics;CX Strategy – aligning customer insights with business objectives to focus effort where it matters most;Blueprinting – translating strategy into operationally actionable designs;Operating Model – enabling cross-functional collaboration through roles, processes, and shared accountability; andCulture – ensuring employees understand, believe in, and are equipped to deliver the intended experience.Through real-world examples, including healthcare, Mark and Jeff demonstrate how engaging frontline employees and embedding CX into culture can generate both tangible outcomes (cost savings, growth initiatives) and intangible benefits (employee ownership, sustainability, and trust). The discussion also explores the connection between internal culture and external customer experience, with both guests agreeing that consistently poor CX is often a symptom of internal organizational challenges. They share practical advice for CX leaders navigating varying levels of leadership support, emphasizing the importance of meeting stakeholders where they are and addressing resistance with empathy and clarity. To bring CX to life, Mark and Jeff each share standout customer experiences—from thoughtful airline journey improvements to an unexpectedly empowering healthcare onboarding experience—illustrating how intentional design can transform how customers feel. The episode wraps with personal insights into the tools, books, and mindsets that inspire them today, reflections on why this is an exciting time for the CX discipline, and where listeners can connect with them and learn more about their work, workshops, and book. This episode is a must-listen for leaders and practitioners looking to move beyond surface-level CX and build customer-centered enterprises that deliver sustainable value for both customers and the business.

    31 min
  2. 266: Leading From the Inside Out: Voice, Peace, and the Power of People with Jeremie Kubicek

    JAN 6

    266: Leading From the Inside Out: Voice, Peace, and the Power of People with Jeremie Kubicek

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we sit down with Jeremie Kubicek, a powerful communicator, serial entrepreneur, and co-founder of GiANT, a global leadership development company. Jeremie is the author of several influential leadership books, including 5 Voices, 5 Gears, The 100X Leader, The Peace Index, and his newest release, The Voice-Driven Leader. Jeremie shares his entrepreneurial journey and explains how years of building businesses taught him a critical lesson: while business plans and financial plans matter, it is the people plan that most often determines success or failure. Early in his career, he realized that people were often treated as liabilities rather than assets. This insight led him to dedicate his work to helping leaders understand, develop, and empower people so they can truly thrive. At the heart of the conversation is Jeremie’s new book, The Voice-Driven Leader. He explains that the most important role in any organization is the team leader—the person who leads people day-to-day. Using the metaphor of a “Sherpa,” Jeremie emphasizes that when a leader is healthy and self-aware, the team they lead is far more likely to be healthy as well. The book helps leaders understand their own voice, personality, and wiring, as well as the voices of those they lead, so they can communicate more effectively and create meaningful development plans. Jeremie outlines several core leadership principles, especially for those transitioning from peer to leader. These include learning to “speak the language” of others rather than forcing them to adapt to your style, clearly defining expectations and development paths, and guiding people through the discomfort of learning—what he calls the “pit of despair.” By understanding how people are wired and how they respond under stress, leaders can better support growth and avoid unnecessary breakdowns. The conversation also explores how communication has evolved, particularly across generations, and how small misunderstandings—tone, emojis, or short messages—can unintentionally damage relationships if leaders are not intentional and aware. Jeremie shares what excites him most right now: his focus on the idea that peace is power. He explains that leaders cannot give what they do not possess. If a leader is not at peace internally, their leadership and customer experience efforts will feel transactional rather than authentic. He introduces The Peace Index, a practical framework that helps individuals assess peace across five areas of life, reinforcing the idea that personal well-being directly impacts professional effectiveness. Listeners also hear about the tool Jeremie uses daily—the 5 Voices App, an AI-powered resource designed to help people navigate communication, relationships, and leadership based on personality dynamics. He recommends Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara as a book that deeply influenced his thinking on journeys, employee experience, and customer experience. Jeremie closes by sharing simple yet powerful phrases he uses during challenging times, including “Choose joy” and “Call up, not out,” reminding us that leadership begins within. This episode is a compelling reminder that great customer experiences start with healthy, self-aware leaders who are alive, at peace, and intentional about how they show up every day. Connect with Jeremie Kubicek www.jeremiekubicek.com

    23 min
  3. 265: Why Feelings Drive Growth: Emotional Equity, Belonging & Brand Transformation with Jean-Pierre LaCroix

    12/09/2025

    265: Why Feelings Drive Growth: Emotional Equity, Belonging & Brand Transformation with Jean-Pierre LaCroix

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we sit down with Jean-Pierre LaCroix—President and Chief Strategy Officer of SLD, brand visionary, author, and creator of groundbreaking tools such as the Trust Ladder and the Ideal Omni Experience Model. With more than 46 years of experience helping global organizations transform their retail, brand, and customer experience ecosystems, Jean-Pierre brings deep insight into what it truly takes to build emotionally resonant brands. Jean-Pierre begins by sharing his personal journey—from growing up on an Air Force base in Germany to working long days on his family’s farm, to discovering his passion for design at Sheridan College. Launching his first firm just two years after graduating, he eventually built SLD into a leading global strategic design agency. He then dives into his latest book, ThinkBlink Manifesto, which distills decades of experience into seven core tenets for creating emotionally connected brands. Jean-Pierre explains why emotional equity—not features, benefits, or promotions—is what customers respond to most deeply. The seven tenets include: Owning the Emotional MomentPersonifying the Emotional Value Through DesignCommunicating a Compelling Brand StoryUnderstanding Target Personas Beyond DemographicsCreating Belonging ExperiencesMeasuring What Truly Matters (Emotional Metrics)Future-Proofing the BrandJean-Pierre discusses how leaders can shift beyond pre-COVID thinking by embracing new metrics, strengthening community and belonging for employees and customers, and leveraging SLD’s newly launched ThinkBlink AI Assessment tool to evaluate emotional connection, differentiation, and future readiness. He also highlights companies that exemplify these principles—such as Apple, Harley-Davidson, and Canadian innovator Cineplex—organizations that have built loyalty and community through purpose-driven experiences. A voracious reader, Jean-Pierre shares the books that have shaped him most, including Blue Ocean Strategy, The Challenger Mindset, and Nudge. He also opens up about what he’s currently excited about: becoming a grandfather and being invited once again as a keynote speaker at the Financial Brand Forum. To close the episode, he shares his personal mantra for challenging times:  “Leadership is about seeing the opportunity in the challenges versus the challenges in the opportunity.” Connect with Jean-Pierre on LinkedIn or visit www.sld.com for tools, insights, and free resources.

    28 min
  4. 264: No One-Size-Fits-All CX: Ty Givens on Playbooks, People and Performance

    11/18/2025

    264: No One-Size-Fits-All CX: Ty Givens on Playbooks, People and Performance

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we sit down with Ty Givens, the dynamic Founder and CEO of CX Collective, a consultancy known for building customer experience programs that scale while still feeling human. With a career that began at just 18 years old, Ty walks us through her remarkable journey from her first customer service desk at Office Depot to leading global teams and eventually launching her own company nine years ago. Ty shares how an early promotion into workforce management shaped her analytical mindset and laid the foundation for her future leadership roles. After years of being called in to “fix” support operations, she recognized that real transformation requires more than one person—it requires systems, collaboration, and a dedicated team. That realization became the catalyst for starting CX Collective. One of her greatest rewards today is witnessing the tangible results of her team’s work—whether it's improving a help center’s searchability or strengthening an AI knowledge base. Ty describes herself as results-driven and energized by project-based outcomes that create long-term value for clients. Ty also opens up about the emotional challenges of leading support teams. Early leadership training at Intuit, combined with her MBA in Organizational Leadership, helped her develop a grounded approach centered on emotional intelligence, inquiry, and humility. Recognizing her strengths as an operator rather than a novice-leader coach, she began developing CX playbooks—practical guides that help leaders navigate common challenges, from time management to launching AI programs. These playbooks have become both her most essential tool and a source of self-reflection. Ty talks about the importance of community, staying curious about industry trends, and the advantage of having worked inside many different organizations. She also shares the fiction authors who shaped her love for storytelling—Eric Jerome Dickey and Carl Weber—and why their writing continues to resonate. We also explore what Ty is most excited about these days: celebrating her niece’s freshman year at Tuskegee University and being stretched professionally as she leans into marketing her playbooks to a broader audience—an entirely new frontier after years of organic, word-of-mouth growth. Ty closes the conversation with two powerful affirmations from her grandparents that guide her through adversity:  “You can do anything you put your mind to,” and “Lace up your bootstraps.” These messages remind her to stay grounded, confident, and ready to face whatever comes. Connect with us on X @navigatingcx and join our private Facebook community, Navigating the Customer Experience.

    23 min
  5. 263: Empowering Teams and Elevating CX with Jamie Homen

    11/04/2025

    263: Empowering Teams and Elevating CX with Jamie Homen

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we dive deep into the career and mindset of Jamie Homen, a seasoned customer experience (CX) leader with over 20 years in the industry. Now leading CX at Mural, an AI-powered visual collaboration platform, Jamie shares valuable perspectives on effective leadership, cross-functional alignment, and how customer-centric decisions drive business success. 🛤️ Jamie’s Journey into Customer Experience Starting as a call center agent, Jamie never anticipated becoming a Chief Customer Officer. He has watched the field mature and is now thrilled to see customer experience earn a seat at the executive table. At Mural, he’s helping customers visualize collaborative work in a remote world, which he believes is central to modern CX strategies. 💡 Key Leadership Insights To drive customer success in today’s dynamic environment, Jamie focuses on two major practices: Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring teams like sales, marketing, product, and CX operate cohesively. He emphasizes co-creation to close gaps and build customer-centric processes.Empowering Teams: Encouraging employees at all levels to make customer-first decisions, supported by ongoing development and understanding of individual skill sets—especially as AI reshapes roles.🧠 Overcoming Challenges Jamie shares a personal story: in high school, he was told he shouldn't pursue college. Refusing to let that define him, he pushed forward and earned three degrees. This experience now fuels his belief in perseverance and self-motivation—key traits he brings into his leadership. 🛠️ Can’t-Live-Without Tool ChatGPT tops Jamie’s list for its ability to generate ideas, create personas, and gather insights. He predicts a growing shift from traditional search platforms to AI-powered tools across industries. 📚 Book Recommendation Managing Up by Rosanne Badowski has had a lasting impact on Jamie’s leadership approach, especially in building effective relationships with managers—a skill he considers timeless despite changing workplace technology. 🤖 What’s Exciting Jamie Now AI transformation. He’s focused on integrating AI across Mural to better understand customers and enhance internal workflows without losing the human element—AI as an enabler, not a replacement. 💬 Favorite Quote “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” — Albert Einstein Jamie uses this quote as a reminder to reflect, grow, and persist through obstacles. 🔗 Connect with Jamie LinkedIn – Jamie Homen Website – mural.co/blog Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to follow us on X @navigatingcx and join our private Facebook community: Navigating the Customer Experience.

    18 min
  6. 262: You Miss Every Shot You Don’t Take: Evan Siegel on Innovation, Leadership & AI-Driven CX

    10/21/2025

    262: You Miss Every Shot You Don’t Take: Evan Siegel on Innovation, Leadership & AI-Driven CX

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we sit down with Evan Siegel, Vice President of AI at eGain, where he leads the development of next-generation AI-powered conversational guidance. With a rich background that includes 16 years at Wells Fargo leading customer experience and contact center innovation, Evan brings deep insight into how technology can drive better service outcomes without losing the human touch. Evan’s career journey began in entrepreneurship — running a successful residential painting business that grew to 300 employees before he sold it and pursued an MBA at Stanford. His experience at Wells Fargo honed his expertise in solving large-scale customer pain points and improving first-contact resolution in massive contact centers. Those experiences led him to eGain, a company dedicated to providing “the right answer to the right person at the right time, in the right channel.” Evan explains that eGain’s AI-powered knowledge management platform helps companies clean, update, and centralize information so agents can quickly find accurate answers. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also transforms efficiency—some clients have seen up to 37% improvement in first-contact resolution, a 30-point rise in Net Promoter Score, and 50% reduction in training time. For instance, eGain supports the U.S. Veterans Administration, the country’s largest healthcare provider, to deliver consistent, fast, and empathetic service across millions of interactions. A key theme in the discussion is balancing technology and empathy. Evan emphasizes that AI doesn’t replace human connection—it enhances it by freeing up employees’ mental space to focus on emotional intelligence and rapport-building. By handling the “how” of issue resolution, AI lets people focus on the “who.” He also shares how eGain builds knowledge bases for each company by analyzing customer inquiries, extracting top issues using AI, and rewriting existing materials to align with best practices for clarity and accessibility. This process—once lengthy and manual—can now be done in days or weeks. When asked about tools he can’t live without, Evan points to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, which he uses daily as brainstorming and writing partners. His motto: “AI won’t replace me, but someone who knows how to use AI better than me will.” Evan also discusses two books that shaped him: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, which taught him the power of genuine curiosity in relationships, and William Manchester’s three-part biography of Winston Churchill, which inspired lessons in conviction, communication, and strategic thinking. Today, what excites Evan most is collaborative leadership—bringing teams together to brainstorm, check egos at the door, and make the best collective decisions. His guiding philosophy: “I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. I need to make the best decision coming out of the room.” He closes with another favorite quote: “You miss every shot you don’t take.” For Evan, this embodies the spirit of innovation at eGain—experiment fast, learn fast, and keep improving. Listeners can connect with Evan on LinkedIn or email him at esiegel@egain.com  to learn more about eGain’s new AI self-service agent for small businesses, featuring reasoning capabilities, a free trial, and no-contract flexibility. Follow us on X @navigatingcx, and join our Navigating the Customer Experience Facebook community for more insights and resources.

    23 min
  7. 261: Why Your Brand Isn’t the Hero — Your Customer Is with Greg Logan

    10/07/2025

    261: Why Your Brand Isn’t the Hero — Your Customer Is with Greg Logan

    Send us a text Greg Logan: The Power of Storytelling – Turning Brands into Blockbusters In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we are joined by Greg Logan, a global leader in brand storytelling who has spent over 30 years helping the world’s biggest brands—from Adobe and Netflix to Virgin and Qantas—connect with audiences through stories that reach both the head and the heart. With award-winning experience in advertising, television, and film, Greg has built his company, Narrativity, on a powerful idea: brands can learn the secrets of Hollywood storytelling to become loved, not just known. In this episode, Greg shares his remarkable journey from a 10-year-old fascinated by TV commercials to a top creative at Leo Burnett, where he spent 17 years shaping global campaigns. After a successful career in advertising, he transitioned to entertainment, selling reality show ideas to major U.S. networks. But when he realized that brands were being told why they should tell stories but not how, Greg combined his knowledge of advertising and entertainment to develop storytelling formulas that now help businesses worldwide emotionally engage customers. Greg breaks down the three keys to connecting with audiences through storytelling. First, use structure—every story needs a clear beginning, middle, and end. Second, make the audience the hero, not the brand. Your business is the wise guide that helps them achieve their quest. Finally, start with the customer’s greatest tension—what keeps them up at night—and end with their greatest love—what they truly desire. By triggering emotion first, you capture attention and make your brand memorable. Greg illustrates this with a powerful case: a New Zealand water company that transformed its message from rational facts to emotional storytelling, landing products in Whole Foods and other major retailers. He also shares a deeply moving example from his work with a palliative care organization. Using his “quest formula,” they defined their purpose as “giving people their best death possible”—a phrase that brought everyone in the room to tears and perfectly captured their true value. For Greg, these are the stories that matter most. When it comes to technology, Greg has a balanced approach to AI. While he appreciates its efficiency, he cautions that AI-generated writing often sounds generic. His tip: use AI to edit, not replace your voice—and give it personality by prompting it to write like your favorite celebrity. He also recommends checking out his new tool, storytellingquiz.com, which helps businesses evaluate and strengthen their brand story. Greg recently released his book, Creating a Blockbuster Brand: Hollywood’s Storytelling Secrets For Your Business, designed to give readers practical, page-by-page value. A book that has deeply influenced him is The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff—a beautifully simple blend of philosophy and wisdom through Winnie the Pooh. Looking ahead, Greg is excited about his new collaboration with UK-based BoltAI and their product, Foretold, which uses storytelling principles to help companies innovate faster and smarter by testing new ideas directly with consumers. It’s storytelling not just for marketing—but for invention. Greg’s guiding mantra during challenges? “Suck it up.” It’s a reminder that as entrepreneurs, we choose this path—and perspective turns frustration into fuel. Connect with Greg: Instagram: @gregloganofficial | LinkedIn: Greg Logan | Website: narrativity.com Books Mentioned: Creating a Blockbuster Brand by Greg Logan The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

    33 min
  8. 260: All Business Is Personal: Joseph Michelli on Human-Centered CX, AI, and the Future of Customer Experience

    09/10/2025

    260: All Business Is Personal: Joseph Michelli on Human-Centered CX, AI, and the Future of Customer Experience

    Send us a text In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we welcome back Joseph Michelli, a certified customer experience professional, New York Times and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling author, and internationally sought-after keynote speaker. Known for his books on iconic brands such as The Ritz-Carlton, Mercedes-Benz, Starbucks, Zappos, and Airbnb, Joseph brings decades of insight on how leaders and frontline teams can elevate human experiences. We dive into his latest book, All Business Is Personal: One Medical’s Human-Centered, Technology-Powered Approach to Customer Engagement. Joseph highlights how One Medical—now part of Amazon—revolutionized healthcare delivery by combining AI and digital convenience with deeply personal human connections. He explains how technology can remove inefficiencies, like long waits and scheduling frustrations, while still keeping care human-centered. His insights underscore the importance of balancing automation with empathy—especially as industries increasingly adopt AI. On the topic of patient comfort with digital healthcare, Joseph notes the learning curve. While technology can enhance convenience, it must never replace the human connection where it matters most. He shares examples of how One Medical redesigned workflows so patients were seen promptly, providers spent less time on charts, and the overall experience felt more personal, not less. The takeaway: technology should enable more meaningful human interactions, not eliminate them. Looking ahead to 2026, Joseph outlines three key priorities for CX leaders: AI-readiness – Organizations must understand how AI is influencing customer interactions and ensure their brand is positioned effectively in AI-driven recommendations.Convenience and hyper-personalization – Customers expect seamless, tailored experiences; tone-deaf or generic messaging erodes loyalty.Human-empowered service – Well-trained, emotionally intelligent employees remain essential for delivering authentic, personalized experiences.Joseph also shares exciting news: the launch of a fully online Master’s Degree in Customer Experience at Campbellsville University. This program equips professionals with academic and practical tools—from persona-based journey mapping to ecosystem design—to advance CX as a business-driving discipline. When discussing the core competencies for CX representatives, Joseph emphasizes emotional intelligence as the foundation. Empathy, self-awareness, managing emotions, and understanding what customers should feel in every interaction are crucial across all industries. Leaders, meanwhile, must also master influence, persistence, vision, and the ability to deliver measurable business outcomes. Joseph closes with a guiding philosophy he leans on during challenges: “Service serves us.” By focusing on creating value for others, we in turn are enriched. Yet he also reminds us that service must be balanced with self-respect—serving up to the point where we are valued, not devalued. This rich conversation covers Joseph’s career journey, the evolving role of AI, the future of CX leadership, and the enduring importance of empathy in business. Don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the leading voices in customer experience. Links Mentioned: All Business Is Personal: One Medical’s Human-Centered, Technology-Powered Approach to Customer Engagement by Joseph A. MichelliCampbellsville University’s Master of Science in Customer Experience programFree guide: The ABC’s of a Fantastic Customer ExperienceConnect with us on X @navigatingcx and join our private Facebook community, Navigating the Customer Experience.

    22 min
5
out of 5
32 Ratings

About

Join host Yanique Grant as she takes you on a journey with global entrepreneurs and subject matter experts that can help you to navigate your customer experience. Learn what customers really want and how businesses can understand the psychology of each customer or business that they engage with. We will be looking at technology, leadership, customer service charters and strategies, training and development, complaint management, service recovery and so much more!