Everyday CX-ISM

What happens when the people who are supposed to help you... can't? In this episode, Katie Stabler is joined by Xander Freeman, Call Director at Contact Centre Helper, to unpack a frustrating first-hand experience with a telecom provider. From outsourced teams with no real authority, to IVR systems that lead nowhere, this is a story that will feel painfully familiar. This isn't a rant — it...

Not every great customer experience is about fixing something broken. Sometimes it's about getting everything quietly, consistently right. In this episode, Katie Stabler shares how a chance search for bone broth led her to Hunter and Gatherer — a small brand she'd never heard of — and how they turned a first-time purchase into a genuinely memorable experience. From a founders' email th...

Not every bad experience is a disaster. Sometimes it's a hundred small things that quietly add up. In this episode, Katie Stabler unpacks a real hotel stay that had genuine highs — a beautiful suite, digital check-in, delicious shortbread — but left her unlikely to return. Hidden charges, a broken QR code, no complimentary water at a five-star rate, a closed restaurant, and feedback that disappear...

In this episode of Everyday CX-ISM, Katie Stabler unpacks a deceptively simple customer experience failure — a cinema that refused a straightforward request for a standard cup — and reveals what it exposes about the hidden costs of rigid policy, frontline disempowerment, and the missed revenue opportunities hiding in plain sight. It sounds trivial. It wasn't. Using behavioural psychology and real-...

In this episode of "Everyday CXism," Katie Stabler recounts a remarkable customer service experience with Tesco that transformed frustration into loyalty. After facing repeated issues with grocery substitutions, Katie's complaint was met with a creative, empathetic and ridiculously funny response from a Tesco representative, who used humour and a personal touch to address her concerns. This episod...

When a simple second guest charge at a hotel spirals into frustration, Katie Stabler — founder of award-winning CX agency Cultivate — unpacks what really went wrong. Despite understanding business policies, a combination of unanticipated charges, unempathetic staff, and robotic responses left her questioning how organisations so often let rigid rules override real human experience. In this episode...

Most customer experience advice focuses on metrics and frameworks — but what truly shapes memorable experiences? In the inaugural episode of Everyday CX-ISM, Katie Stabler explores how a simple joke from airport security transformed a routine moment into a lasting memory — and what that reveals about the real human impact of CX. She breaks down the peak-end rule, the psychology of surprise and con...