Conversations That Matter: A Podcast For Contact C

Uniphore is excited to launch its newest podcast B2B EQ! On this episode of Conversations That Matter, host Randy Ksar chats with Tim Harris, Uniphore’s Director of Product Marketing and upcoming podcast host. Tim gives us a preview of what you can expect from the new podcast, and how EQ is something that anyone can improve. B2B EQ will be going live on February 3rd, 2023! Takeaways: Uniphore’s newest podcast B2B EQ dives into what it takes to build rapport with prospects, move deals forward, and explore the important soft skills needed for sales teams. While automation offers many advantages, good communication and interpersonal skills will never lose their value. EQ is something that everyone can improve and control. Quote of the Show: “You learn so much when you actually talk to prospects.” - Tim Harris Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timuncorked/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Over the past year we have had so many amazing guests on Conversations That Matter. We learned so much from all the wonderful conversations with everyone we spoke to. Join us for a trip down memory lane as we round out the year and highlight moments from our most popular episodes. A huge thank you to all of the guests below for taking part in our show! We couldn’t have done it without you! Neal Sample - Member Board Of Directors at Wellfield Technologies, Inc. Orrin Webb - Founder of Enmocean Scott Baker - Senior Analyst at Opus Research Katie King - CEO of AI in Business Evren Aker - Director of Partnerships, ME, Turkey, Africa, France at Genesys Takeaways: AI in healthcare is not a silver bullet, however, one valuable usage is finding determinants to health care adherence. Uncertainty in sales creates discomfort. Reps need to be equipped with the right emotional intelligence skills to let them tackle unexpected issues. AI will not magically make your life better. It will never be smarter than your smartest people or know your customers better than you do. Many people talk about CX in isolation, in reality CX is integral to your organization. At the end of the day, most businesses' purpose is to satisfy their customers' needs profitably. CX goes beyond someone picking up the phone to answer your concerns. Good CX focuses deep on the conversation, the background, and the issues the customer went through. Links: Neal Sample Twitter: https://twitter.com/nsample?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealsample/ Episode Link: https://www.uniphore.com/podcast-conversations-that-matter/?wchannelid=bq7fhmc5v1&wvideoid=tl82evsvub Orrin Webb LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oswii/ Website: https://enmocean.com/ Episode Link: https://www.uniphore.com/podcast-conversations-that-matter/?wchannelid=bq7fhmc5v1&wmediaid=bprexp9t6l Scott Baker Twitter: https://twitter.com/tweetsbybaker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebaker/ Website: https://opusresearch.net/wordpress/ Episode Link: https://www.uniphore.com/podcast-conversations-that-matter/?wchannelid=bq7fhmc5v1&wvideoid=td5nezzntb Katie King Twitter: https://twitter.com/katieeking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieeking/ Website: https://www.aiinbusiness.co.uk/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strategy-Sales-Marketing-Connecting-Experience/dp/1398602027/ref=nodl_ Evren Aker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evrenaker/?originalSubdomain=ae Website: https://www.genesys.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest is a transformational leader for the digital age, who with a decade of consumer marketing experience, believes that it’s always about the customer. He is the host of the AMA update podcast which covers healthcare topics affecting physicians and patients. Welcome to the show, CXO and SVP Marketing and Member Experience at The American Medical Association, Todd Unger. Todd joins host Randy Ksar for a LinkedIn live to clarify a CX myth, share his leadership style, and show how CX can create a frictionless funnel. Takeaways: You can’t treat CX as being exclusively about the customers feelings. CX needs to be understood as a critical way to drive growth for the organization. The best way to get buy-in for a CX department is to demonstrate value and drive revenue. Those metrics are trackable and will demonstrate that you’re not just a cost or expense. In order to have good CX you need to know the customer journey. For the AMA, their customer's journey is a multi-year process which reflects the various stages and milestones in a medical worker's career and education. While customer journeys have traditionally been thought of as a long process, they are getting shorter. For some customers, the moment from which they know they want something to the moment they hit buy could be 10 seconds! Your CX is going to be constantly evolving. It is important to gather data from customers to see what aspects they interact with the best. CX programs should be focused on removing friction points before customers experience them, rather than being reactive to customers when they run into problems. While you may only get one call about an issue from a customer, they are probably not the only customer facing that problem. Quote of the Show: “The customer journey for us became driven by content to reinforce what we were doing, and why it was so important to be part of.” - Todd Unger Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/toddunger LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddunger1/ Website: https://www.ama-assn.org/ Podcast: https://www.ama-assn.org/about/publications-newsletters/ama-podcasts Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today's guest is an entrepreneur and Information Architect. He’s the host of the Earley AI Podcast and author of the book AI Powered Enterprise. Welcome to the show Founder and CEO of Earley Information Science, Seth Earley. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, Seth joins Host Randy Ksar for a livestream interview. Seth shares the behind the scenes on implementing AI, the importance of good data, the value of building vs buying, and the future of chatbots. Takeaways: A lot of companies think that simply implementing a chat bot or virtual assistant will solve all their problems. Those AI systems are only as good as the knowledge you give them. When building chatbots, you can't assume something you don’t have. There is no AI without IA. You can build the best algorithm in the world, but without the proper data set, it will be useless. When implementing AI, you can’t automate what you don’t understand. Start by understanding your processes, mapping the processes, and identifying the gaps. While modern chatbots and AI can leave much to be desired, we know that they will continue to improve. We can expect AI to advance to the same degree as the improvement from the palm pilot to the iphone. When using AI to detect anomalies, you need to determine what the baseline is, what you are looking for in terms of detection, and how you flag that anomaly to be resolved. When AI is part of your competitive advantage, it makes sense to build it in house and tailor it to you. For more generalized applications, a bought solution is a good fit, however your competitors can also buy the same solution. Quote of the Show: “A customer journey is a knowledge journey.” - Seth Earley Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/sethearley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethearley/ Website: https://www.earley.com/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/AI-Powered-Enterprise-Ontologies-Business-Profitable/dp/1928055508 Podcast: https://www.earley.com/earley-ai-podcast-home Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Welcome to another CX mailbag! Today’s guest is a certified CXpert who has been picked as a ICMI Top 25 thought leader for the past 7 years. Mike Aoki is the President at Reflective Keynotes Inc, and the guest speaker on this episode of Conversations That Matter. Mike sits down with host Randy Ksar to answer CX questions from the community, bust a CX myth, discuss ways to boost employee experience, and explore how he trains frontline agents in contact centers. Takeaways: Net Promoter Scores are not owned by just the contact center, but rather the whole organization. Different generations are drawn to different mediums of customer support. Younger generations are highly effective at live chat where agents are required to communicate efficiently over text. It is important to cover the nuances of communication across a variety of mediums for new hires. For most organizations, your call volumes only make up between 1-10% of your client base. As an agent, it can be easy to feel like all you hear is negativity, but it is important to remember that it is only a small sample. While many brands are looking to move to a text chat exclusive support system, voice based still has its merits. For customers dealing with complex or emotional problems, talking to a human voice results in higher satisfaction. As frontline agents spend most of their time talking with customers, it can get a little isolated. When those agents are remote, that feeling of isolation increases. Contact center leaders need to be creating ways to engage remote employees. If you are a contact center leader looking to connect with other professionals in the industry, most cities feature regional associations. Quote of the Show: “Is the role being defined as simply the complaints department or is it defined as really tying back to a bigger vision of some kind?” - Mike Aoki Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeaoki LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeaoki/ Website: http://www.reflectivekeynotes.com/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Called-Action-Collection-Inspiring-Stories-ebook/dp/B07JJHVXWL Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today's guest is a CX savant who specializes in research in the areas of transformation, delivery, and vertical capabilities. He started as a call center agent in Bulgaria and went on to further his experience working in CX positions all around the globe. Joining us this week from across the pond in England is Ivan Kotzev, a Research Analyst at NelsonHall. Ivan sits down with Randy Ksar to debunk a CX myth, share his experiences at NelsonHall, and discuss where he sees the industry moving towards. Takeaways: There is no final CX target that you can reach. CX is a constantly evolving process. One of the biggest challenges facing the industry today is employee attrition. To many people, a call center does not seem like a “glamorous job”. Some of the best technological advancements in the industry are about increasing the employee experience rather than the customer experience. Companies should be looking to improve agent effectiveness with the use of technology, rather than offshoring employees. An upcoming focus area for CX professionals is large-scale D2C brands with large online marketplaces. These brands need to filter content, ensure information accuracy, and ensure comments and reviews get responded to. Companies should focus on enhancing the mental well-being of their agents. A dedicated mental health specialist is a worthwhile investment. Employees need to be given the same level of cultural resources regardless if they are in-house or outsourced. Quote of the Show: “The most lasting investment would be in enhancing the employee.” - Ivan Kotzev Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/IvanK_NH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivankotzev/ Website: https://research.nelson-hall.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest is a customer service ninja who has over 20 years of experience in customer success management, critical accounts, and call center management. Chris Warticki is the Vice President of Customer Experience at Epicor, and he believes that customer success is a company-wide responsibility. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, Chris shares his experiences at Epicor and debunks the myth that CX is the same as customer advocacy. Takeaways: CX and customer success are not customer advocacy, nor are they critical accounts The industry tends to use terms like “CX”, “customer advocacy”, and “customer satisfaction” interchangeably. Doing so muddies the waters and makes it hard to delineate responsibilities. Customer service is not just a department, it is a skill that every employee needs to possess. Without Employee experience, there can be no customer experience. Silos are ok. Employees can be relegated to specific areas and tasks, but there must be a shared vision for customer success. A customer service team can’t just be responsible for putting out other employees' fires. A critical accounts team is what executives should be setting up for that work. Without accurate data, your customer service will self-destruct. Fancy tech and implementations don't mean anything if they don’t work well. Quote of the Show: “Without employee experience there can be no customer experience.” - Chris Warticki Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/cwarticki LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswarticki/ Website: https://www.epicor.com/en-us/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Can having no negative feedback be a bad thing? Today’s guest shares why he thinks so. He’s brought his expertise to Wendy’s, JP Morgan, and Progressive Insurance. Kevin Zyskowski is the Founder and CEO at CertainlyCX. On this week’s episode, Kevin and Randy explore the myth that no negative results mean your customers are happy and share ways that customer support agents can better connect with the customers they help. Takeaways: CX Myth: “If I don’t have any negative customer satisfaction results, all my customers are happy.” You want your customer support agents to empathize with the customers they are helping. Ask them the question “what if it was a family member on the phone who had this issue, how would you help them?” You need to know your numbers before approaching an executive with something you want to be prioritized. How often is this happening, what’s the severity, and what is the cost to the organization? A good-looking deck with a simple concise message goes a long way. When trying to implement technology into the enterprise, the decision makers will want to know the ROI, cost to implement, setup times, and alternatives. As a customer support agent, it is important to understand that you are helping people who are unable to help themselves in that situation. A negative review can sting, but it means your customer cares about you enough to bring it up. Quote of the Show: “We're helping those people that can't help themselves in that particular situation.” - Kevin Zyskowski Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzyskowski/ Website: https://certainlycx.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Maddening plotlines. Mercurial characters. Unexpected outcomes. Is it an episode of The Twilight Zone or a day in the life of a call center agent? From seething callers to self-defeating processes—agents today deal with a lot. (It’s no wonder that poor agent experience is leading to record disengagement and turnover.) But just how bad—or how strange—can customer interactions get? Let’s count down the top four call center crime in this episode of Conversations that Matter, a podcast by Uniphore. Links discussed in this episode: CX Nightmares - https://www.uniphore.com/blog/cx-nightmares-4-horror-stories-from-the-call-center/ Uniphore - https://www.uniphore.com Share your CX nightmare - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6991519196136226816 🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻🎃 👻

Today's guest is an internationally recognized thought leader, corporate advisor, and keynote speaker. He has over 30 years of experience in customer acquisition and retention and has led highly successful teams as a CX practitioner. Welcome to the show, Principal at CXpert - Ben Motteram. Ben and Randy talk about the role EX plays in CX, building empathy in employees, and Ben’s top destinations for visiting Melbourne. Takeaways: CX Myth: “surprising and delighting customers is a sustainable strategy”. Most customers will choose a consistent customer experience over being surprised and delighted. EX and CX are linked. A good employee experience sets the groundwork for a good customer experience, a happier employee results in a happier customer. Your values are what will drive your employees to do good work. Identify your values and build on them. 99% of customers don’t strongly love buying from most brands. There are millions of brands that customers are indifferent to or outright dislike. One of the most important skills you can have when developing a CX framework is empathy. While empathy tends to be an innate skill for most people, customer journey maps are a valuable tool to teach an increased sense of empathy in employees. Quote of the Show: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Ben Motteram Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CXpert?s=20&t=scEmBP6vbOC6hrIYQodw7g LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmotteram/ Website: http://cxpert.com.au/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Welcome to a special episode of Conversations That Matter! On this episode, we are joined by Jeremy Watkin the Director of Customer Experience and Support at NumberBarn. Jeremy and host Randy Ksar open up the mailbag of community CX questions to give you the answers you’ve been waiting for. Takeaways: As CX is found in every department of your organization, there is no universal skill set each employee will have. However, each employee should be able to answer the question “how does my work impact customers”. Your company size and culture on CX will determine how many cx roles you need to have. A large company with a culture based around CX will not require a large team of CX specialists despite its size. If you are planning to have a CXO, expect to make them an active part of the C-suite. Quote of the Show: “Successful businesses care about CX.” - Jeremy Watkin Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtwatkin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtwatkin/ Website: https://www.numberbarn.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Today’s guest is a customer experience connoisseur who is celebrating 30 years in the customer experience field. Annette Franz is the Founder and CEO of CX Journey. On this episode of Conversations That Matter, Annette joins the show to talk with Randy about her new CX book, share her thoughts on the difference between customer service and CX, and answer the question “how do I build a customer-centric culture?” Takeaways: Customer service and customer experience are not the same. Customer experience is the sum of all the interactions a customer has with your brand. A good customer experience involves more than just the customer. A good employee experience adds to the success of the customer experience. When designing your customer experience, you need to be customer-centric. Ask yourself, “How will this impact them?” “How will this make them feel?” “What value is it going to deliver?” Culture is core values plus behaviors. Data is the heart of designing and delivering a good experience. You can’t build a product or service if you don’t know what your customers’ needs are. Before you can think about CX trends, you need to have the basics in place. While AI/Automation offers lots of uses for personalization, you need a pre-existing CX framework before you can take advantage of the technology. Quote of the Show: “Being customer-centric isn't just as easy as saying, hey, we're customer-centric.” - Annette Franz Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/annettefranz?s=20&t=aOLj5Mzl6Jg2dvRg3dOs8g LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annette-franz/ Website: https://cx-journey.com/ Customer Understanding: https://www.amazon.com/Customer-Understanding-Three-Experience-Business/dp/1686886810/ref=asc_df_1686886810/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366338364634&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13111057715617334321&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002280&hvtargid=pla-817781085315&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=78795692360&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366338364634&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13111057715617334321&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002280&hvtargid=pla-817781085315 Built To Win: https://www.amazon.com/Built-Win-Designing-Customer-Centric-Business/dp/1642253227/ref=asc_df_1642253227/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564832755269&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13111057715617334321&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002280&hvtargid=pla-1629212304445&psc=1 Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Live from the Uniphore Studios in sunny California, it’s the CX Day live stream! Join us for a round-table discussion of some of the issues, challenges, and myths in the CX field. Today’s guests are Jeannie Walters - CEO & Chief Customer Experience Investigator at Experience Investigators, and Shawn Nason - CEO & Founder, Chief Experience Officer at MOFI. On this episode, Jeannie and Shawn chat with host Randy Ksar to debunk some CX myths and answer questions from the audience. Takeaways: CX Myth: “CX is not a business strategy”. To properly build a robust CX platform in your company, it needs to be intentional. Simply telling yourselves that you need to treat customers better won't magically change your culture. CX Myth: “CX should be siloed and its own department”. A successful CX program is one that treats CX, customer success, and customer service as a collective strategy. A good litmus test for the priority your business has for CX is to look at the org chart. If the CXO is 3 or 4 reports down, CX likely isn’t a high priority. Pay attention to your frontline CX workers. By empowering them, you reduce the turnover rate and increase job satisfaction and productivity. CX education has a long way to come. Education programs need to be taught by people who have worked in these roles. CX is happening regardless of your investment in it. Even if you don't have a CX strategy, customers are still having experiences with your brand. One of the biggest challenges facing the industry is integrating and centralizing customer data. You can’t predict things for customers if you can’t look at their history. Quote of the Show: “How can we say customer experience is a priority when it doesn't have a budget.” - Jeannie Walters “If higher ed is going to teach it, make sure you're doing it with someone who has been in the trenches.” - Shawn Nason “Sometimes people don’t even realize they're doing customer experience.” - Randy Ksar Links: Jeannie: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeanniecw LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/ Website: https://experienceinvestigators.com/ Podcast: http://www.crackthecustomercode.com/ Shawn: Twitter: https://twitter.com/manonfiresocial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nasonshawn/ Website: https://www.mofi.co/ Podcast: https://shawnnason.com/the-combustion-chronicles-2/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

While AI has a plethora of opportunities in the healthcare industry, it is no miracle cure. When implemented correctly, AI and Automation can find invaluable insights that make measurable impacts on real lives. Today’s guest is Neal Sample, a former CIO at both Northwestern Mutual and Express Scripts. Neal joins Randy Ksar this week to discuss how AI can uncover patient roadblocks to receiving the proper healthcare outcomes, dive into Neal’s experiences at express scripts, and explore the idea of leading with H.E.A.R.T. Takeaways: AI’s role in healthcare is often inaccurately perceived as a panacea. In reality, implementing it is a challenge requiring the right people, the right tools, and the correct hypothesis. A good leader leads with H.E.A.R.T. (Humility, Empathy, Adaptability, Resilience, and Transparency). Leading with those five things enhances your ability to lead, strengthens team output, and decreases burnout. Having the best solutions in the world doesn't mean anything if co-workers avoid working with you. Collaboration is just as important of a skill as problem-solving. When it comes to experimenting and trying new solutions in the healthcare industry, it’s important to realize that you are affecting real human beings, not just data on a graph. While individuals have been quick to adopt AI and automation insights in their personal healthcare, the physician side of the equation has remained slow to adapt to new technologies Overcoming individual comfort levels is a big hurdle for implementing AI and automation into the healthcare industry. Some individuals will be quite comfortable, while others refuse to speak to an automated operator. Fitness trackers offer a unique opportunity to utilize AI as the metrics tracked by these devices are noninvasive and provide valuable insights into someone's health. Quote of the Show: “Learning the difference between being right and being effective, and bringing together some of those empathetic leadership aspects has really sort of changed the game for me.” - Neal Sample Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nsample?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealsample/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

This week’s guest has 13 years of experience designing, deploying, and managing enterprise software solutions. Scott Baker is a Senior Analyst at Opus Research. Scott joins host Randy Ksar at the Five9 CX summit for an extended interview! Scott shares his insights on how call centers can best implement AI to set their agents up for success. Takeaways: The onus is now on companies to provide their agents with the proper support tools to enable them to do their jobs, rather than expecting agents to be subject matter experts for their vendors. Only 25% of companies take insights from their call centers and pass that information to their agents. When involving automation with your agents, start small, find the pain point, talk to your contact center, and remove the roadblocks. Using AI to offload repetitive tasks is a win/win scenario. Agents get more time back which they can then utilize to focus on more complex or pressing tasks for the company. Quote of the Show: “If you’re not trying to make your agents' job more interesting, I think that's an organizational failure for sure.” - Scott Baker Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebaker/ Website: https://opusresearch.net/wordpress/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tweetsbybaker Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

This week’s episode is a collection of live interviews from the Five9 CX Summit in Las Vegas! Guests interviewed on this episode are Cathryn Valladares - VP Enterprise Solutions at Nextiva, Kevin Basden - VP of Contact Center Offerings at NWN Carousel, Scott Baker - Analyst at Opus Research, and Beatrice Casanova - Sr. Director Product Management at Five9. Randy chats with guests to ask them “What’s one myth about AI in the contact center you would like to debunk?” Takeaways: AI Myth “AI is unnatural and people are not familiar with it” - Cathryn Valladares. People interact with AI every single day, and businesses need to adapt. Online grocery shopping and delivery are just one example of how AI plays into daily life. AI Myth “AI is a super complex technology that is straight out of a science fiction movie that is complex and expensive to implement” - Kevin Basden. In reality, AI is quite simple to implement in your business. The price savings when using AI are quickly realized as AI can work around the clock, never gets sick, and never take a vacation! AI Myth “AI will not magically make your life better. It will never be smarter than your smartest people or know your customers better than you do” - Scott Baker. In reality, an AI isn’t there to solve all your problems but rather acts as a valuable partner by providing you with information. AI Myth “AI is a complex, monolithic, scary technology” - Beatrice Casanova. In reality, AI can be adapted to a wide variety of problems to provide a wide range of solutions. To take out some of the concerns, start small, identify your business case, and work with an established partner to try a few simple solutions. Links: Cathryn Valladares LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathryn-valladares-3b3a859/ Website: https://www.nextiva.com/ Kevin Basden LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-basden/ Website: https://nwncarousel.com/ Scott Baker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebaker/ Website: https://opusresearch.net/wordpress/ Beatrice Casanova LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatricecasanova/ Website: https://www.five9.com/ Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Through a better understanding of Emotional Intelligence, better leaders are made. Understanding the needs of your coworkers, and being able to address them, fosters an environment of success. Today’s guest is Sandra Thompson, Founder and Director of the Ei Evolution CX & EX Consultancy. Sandra joins the show this week to discuss some of the emotional stresses felt in a remote work environment, how a leader's understanding of EQ determines their ability to lead, and the different types of empathy. Takeaways: When you are working remotely, there is a risk that you can't separate yourself from the work. Working remotely may make you feel more isolated from your workplace and that communicating with coworkers is more difficult. For an organization to be accommodating to the emotional needs of its workers, it must be grounded in what people need and curious and receptive to what people need to be productive. People who work in remote first organizations have extraordinary skills that people who are office-based don't naturally have. This increase in empathy could lead to a better experience in call centers. While bi-weekly check-ins are valuable for connecting with remote workers, a baseline level of presence is required. Pay attention to small details and check in with employees and check in to make sure they are ok. Genuine curiosity about what an employee is dealing with resolves conflict. Assumptions lead to preemptive conclusions which affect your conversations with employees There are three types of empathy: Cognitive Empathy: I think I know what you are feeling, Emotional Empathy: I think I know what you are feeling, and Compassionate Empathy: where you act on what you think and feel. Quote of the Show: “You have to do what you say you're doing.” - Sandra Thompson Ways to Tune In: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-that-matter-podcast-for-contact-center/id1525650658 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xx9G8w6bntQayIpbkgxc5?si=cNeVuJicSHagsftlpL8-tg Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb252ZXJzYXRpb25zdGhhdG1hdHRlcnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Driving Business Outcomes with Emotional Intelligence

Understanding your customers will allow you to connect with them in a way that will benefit your sales outcomes. The most effective way to do this is through emotional intelligence. In this episode, Orrin Webb Jr., Founder of Enmocean, shares his journey to emotional intelligence and why it is important for a company to adopt EI throughout their entire organization. Join us as we discuss: Why emotional intelligence is important for sales professionals How emotional intelligence drives business outcomes Why adopting a personality model makes EI more effective

Human beings are driven by emotions. We are all affected by everything happening in our society today, making this a crucial time to invest in improving your emotional intelligence. In this episode, Dave Seaton, Founder & Principal Consultant at Seaton CX, introduces our Season 4 focus: emotional intelligence. Join us as we discuss: What is emotional intelligence Why is emotional intelligence important for leaders today How to start your journey in emotional intelligence