“Put People Before Process”

In this episode, former head of customer experience Ed Deason shares his perspective on how businesses lose sight of customer needs amidst internal processes and efficiency drives. He recounts real-life examples of companies prioritising procedure over empathy—and one that gets it right. The key takeaway? Put people before process.

Topics Covered:

• Why companies become process-centric rather than customer-centric
• Specific examples of poor process-driven customer service
• The negative impacts of commercialism and efficiency obsession
• Ways to foster human connections in e-commerce
• Balancing team productivity with customer satisfaction

Key Quotes:

• "They lose sight of what their customers are trying to achieve and trying to get done. And therefore they provide a really crappy customer experience as a result."
• "I blame commerce for that. I blame greed, I blame the need for more is more, I blame VCs, investment, shaping people's perception away from the customer and more towards growth and scale."
• "What they want is their problem solved first time. What they want is the answers they were looking for. What they want is a bit of empathy."

Episode Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:05 Guest Introduction

01:34 Statement of Intent: People Before Process

03:38 Personal Customer Service Stories

07:47 The Problem with Processes

10:48 Impacts on Customer Experience

15:52 Fostering Connections

18:54 Balancing Metrics

Social Media:

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/madewithintent

YouTube → https://youtube.com/madewithintent

Ed’s LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-deason/