The Modern Customer Podcast

2020 changed the world in many ways, including a renewed push for racial justice and equality in the United States. That demand must now be echoed in how companies brand and market their products.  With increased calls for racial justice, Kirstyn Nimmo saw how she could bring her marketing expertise and experiences as a Black woman to help brands act authentically and impact racial equality. Nimmo...

It's a common experience for online shoppers: an item arrives in the mail, either doesn't fit or is no longer needed and now must be returned.   But the process of making the return is cumbersome and requires printing shipping labels, packaging the item, making a trip to the post office and then waiting up to a few weeks to get the refund.   With all the advancements in customer experience and onl...

E-commerce has seen tremendous growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.   But with so many customers going online, it's never been more important for brands to make their products visible.   According to Sarah Hofstetter, President of Profitero , search is the hottest and most important topic in the e-commerce world right now. When customers shop in stores, they tend to browse until something catches...

Before Amazon became one of the world's largest retailers, it was simply an online bookstore shipping items within the U.S.   But even in its early days, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos had a vision to build earth's most customer-centric company.   That mentality still holds strong today and is a driving force behind Amazon's continual success.   Colin Bryar joined Amazon in 1998, just four years after...

Nearly a year into the global pandemic, what modern customers are looking for in the brands they interact with has permanently changed.   At the top of the list of customer priorities are health and safety.   Research from Volvo and Harris Poll found that COVID has altered the mindsets of consumers. In an unpredictable world, customers are looking for stability from brands they know and trust, whi...

Everyone who has sat through an irrelevant or bloated meeting knows the pain it can cause. Meetings that are too long, have too many people or wander from point to point can be counterproductive and put a drain on creativity.    And somehow, during the COVID-19 pandemic, people are finding themselves in more meetings than ever before.   According to Steven Rogelberg , author of The Surprising Scie...

It seems nearly every company today has a loyalty program, but the meaning of loyalty itself is often still a mystery.   Customer loyalty in 2021 looks different than it has in the past and even than how many companies view it.   According to Bram Hechtkopf, CEO of loyalty marketing and technology company Kobie , loyalty is more than just how a customer behaves. A customer who regularly purchases...

For many people, the days of going to the bank to make a deposit or cash a check are gone forever. Like in many industries, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a major shift away from in-person banking interactions towards digital services.   The challenge now becomes how to pivot to best serve contactless customers.   According to Holly O'Neill, Chief Client Care Executive at Bank of America , the s...

It's a common situation for customers: spending time on a company's app or website and then having to call customer service for help. Even after spending time searching online, the customer still has to wait on hold, log in or prove their identity and then re-explain the situation and wait to get connected to the right person.   In recent years, many aspects of customer experience have been modern...

It's the time of year when everyone is making New Year's resolutions and setting goals for the coming year.   What do you hope to achieve in 2021? How do you want to improve yourself and your career?   For many of us, it's been a complicated year and we're looking for some change and improvement.   But too often we fall into the trap of thinking we have to reinvent the wheel and start completely f...

What's the word of the year for customer service?   According to business and CX expert Shep Hyken , it's empathy .   Hyken has years of experience in customer service and is a popular speaker and author. Like all of us, he saw the dramatic challenges businesses faced in 2020 and the pivots they had to make. Businesses and customers are adjusting to their new way of interacting and facing constant...

Every year, I make predictions for what's to come in the world of customer experience. After doing this for seven years, I've gotten pretty good at predicting trends that really do end up influencing businesses and customers. But in 2020, no one could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic.    It's been a tough year. Between the pandemic, shutdowns and economic downturn, we've also faced environment...

After a wild 2020, many companies are looking forward to 2021 and hoping to proactively engage with customers instead of reactively building or changing programs and services.   But just because 2021 is a new year doesn't mean 2020 is gone and forgotten. The global pandemic and unrest of the year will stick with customers for the long term and greatly influence how they interact with companies goi...

2020 has been a strange year. Many people coped with the loneliness and uncertainty of lockdowns and quarantines by adding a furry friend to the family. Pet ownership is way up because of the pandemic and has caused the pet industry to pivot and adapt.   As the number of customers has greatly increased, the pet industry has also had to deal with pandemic restrictions and changing health regulation...

What has been the biggest shift in customer experience in recent years?   It's not the COVID-19 pandemic, though that has certainly played a large role. According to NICE inContact CEO Paul Jarman , the biggest change has been the democratization of opinion. Customers have more of a voice than ever before, which has forced companies to focus on experience. Brands learned that they have to provide...

How do you create an experience around an all-natural vodka that shows its history and sustainability? Learn to tell a good story.   Belvedere Vodka has long been known for its great quality and super-premium product, but only recently has the company began to focus on its historic roots and sustainable efforts. Sharing the story adds to the experience and helps customers feel more connected to th...

The backbone of a strong customer experience is feedback. And it's never been more important than it is now.   According to Tom Hale, president of SurveyMonkey , digital surveys and feedback have seen tremendous growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. With companies forced into new ways of doing business and interacting with their customers, feedback has never been more crucial. Surveys allow compani...

If you've been to one of Shake Shack's 300-plus locations around the world, chances are you've had to wait in line. The restaurant draws a crowd with its fresh ingredients and elevated take on fast food. The entire brand is built around great food and great service, and it's a hit with customers.    Shake Shack stands out because of its fine dining-inspired approach to burgers and fries. The resta...

For years, experts have talked about millennials and looked towards the future of Generation Z, the generation to follow. But Gen Z is now here and already having a massive impact, both as employees and as consumers. Marketers need to understand Gen Z to realize its full impact and to separate the truth from long held myths.    Generational researcher Jason Dorsey is an expert on all things Gen Z....

In the midst of a global pandemic, pharmaceutical companies around the world are rushing to develop a vaccine to COVID-19. In an industry that typically takes years to create, test and market new drugs, the incredible time crunch for the COVID vaccine is pushing companies to their limits.   But it's not just pharmaceutical companies that are in the race to create a vaccine. There are also companie...

Most companies and consumers know they should fight against climate change and want to make a difference, they just don't know how.   With carbon emissions increasing across the globe, it can feel overwhelming to make a difference. Companies don't know how to start or even if their efforts will pay off and actually have an impact.   Austin Whitman is founder and CEO of Climate Neutral , a non-prof...

After months of quarantine and isolation, consumers are slowly starting to adjust to a new life with COVID-19. As stores reopen and re-adjust, they are faced with customers who are drastically different than they were just six month ago. According to Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods , in order to transition and move forward, stores must re-build consumer trust.   Moving forward in the pan...

What do you do when everything about how you run a business goes out the window?   Software company Red Hat is regularly recognized as one of the best places to work, in part because of its strong community and culture. But when the COVID-19 pandemic forced employees around the world to work from home, the company had to find new ways to support its employees.   DeLisa Alexander, Red Hat's Chief P...

The B2B space is often an overlooked area for customer experience. But customer-centric experiences are crucial in the B2B world and come from listening to customers and continually evolving.   When Kristi Langdon joined Daimler Trucks , she saw the company was incredibly product-focused, but not very customer-focused. The company was successful because of its great products, but Langdon knew B2B...

No one could have ever predicted what would happen in 2020. Aside from the pandemic and its impact on the global economy, unemployment, remote learning and a host of other issues, there are also widespread cries to end systemic racism, fires and natural disasters and a tumultuous presidential election. It's more than anyone could ever have imagined, and it's taking a toll on consumers.   But even...