Stop Saying You Are Customer Centric

Is your company actually customer centric - or just saying it is?

75% of companies claim to be customer-first. But only 30% of customers agree. In some surveys, the gap is even worse: 81% of leaders say they’re customer-centric... and only 3% of customers believe them.

In this episode, Jochem Van Der Veer (TheyDo CEO) exposes the disconnect between intent and execution - and how journey coordination bridges the gap between brand promises and customer reality.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why most customer-centricity efforts fail - despite good intentions

• How internal misalignment shows up as friction in the customer journey

• The hidden cost of symbolic gestures: workshops, research, and surveys that don’t lead to action

• Real examples from telco and transportation sectors - where clarity around where to act changed outcomes

• The dangers of insight without ownership: when knowing the problem still doesn’t lead to change

• How journey coordination becomes the operational structure for proving customer focus

• What high-performing organizations do differently

• Why customer centricity isn’t a campaign - it’s a structure

Join the conversation:

Where is your company performing customer centricity… without practicing it?

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“Nobody’s just trying to withdraw money.”

That line from the podcast episode with Nathan Zahm (Vanguard) sparked this episode - and it reveals a blind spot in how most teams approach customer experience.

In this video, Jochem Van Der Veer (TheyDo CEO) unpacks the three-level journey model used at Vanguard and why so many teams miss the middle: the moments that matter.

If your team is optimizing for task completion or designing abstract lifecycle stages, but struggling to create real impact - this model is what you're missing.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why task journeys (what the customer does) are just one layer
• How moments that matter (what the customer feels) bridge short-term action and long-term strategy
• What defines a life journey (what the customer wants) - and how to show up when it matters most

The three types of value this model unlocks

• Metrics to track each level: from call deflection to drop-off rates to customer lifetime value
• Real examples from Vanguard: retirement planning, 529 savings, and building trust across decades
• Why most CX teams fail to act - and how this framework helps you prioritize what actually matters

Join the conversation:

What are the moments that matter that your company needs to get right - and do you?

See the podcast episode with Nathan Zahm here.

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#CustomerExperience #JourneyManagement #CXStrategy #TheyDo #Vanguard #MomentsThatMatter #CustomerJourney #OperationalExcellence #EmotionalDesign #LifeJourneys #CXLeadership

In this energizing episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer is joined by customer experience visionary Dan Gingiss. With leadership roles at Discover, McDonald's, and Humana, and as author of Becoming the Experience Maker, Dan shares how companies can transform everyday interactions into powerful brand moments. The conversation dives into Dan’s WISER framework - a tactical approach to designing experiences that customers can’t help but talk about.

Together, they explore how CX isn't just a department but a company-wide mindset, and Dan offers real-world examples of how tiny improvements can drive major business outcomes. From eliminating website friction to activating back-office teams as CX advocates, this episode is packed with practical wisdom on making customer experience a core business driver. A must-listen for CX leaders looking to move from theory to tangible impact.

Guest Bio

Dan Gingiss is an international keynote speaker, author, and former Fortune 200 executive with over two decades of experience in customer experience and marketing. His career spans leadership roles at Discover, McDonald’s, and Humana, and he is the author of two influential books: Becoming the Experience Maker and Winning at Social Customer Care. Dan is also the co-host of the award-winning podcast Experience This! and a respected voice in CX thought leadership, known for his actionable WISER framework that helps brands become truly memorable.

Takeaways

• CX is a shared responsibility, not just the job of one department.
• Even back-office teams impact customer experience.
• Immersing executives in their own customer journeys reveals critical friction points.
• Eliminating small annoyances (like unnecessary form fields) can massively boost conversions.
• A WISER experience is: Witty, Immersive, Shareable, Extraordinary, and Responsive.
• Ordinary experiences are opportunities waiting to be improved.
• Business cases for CX improvements should tie directly to ROI or cost savings.
• Listening to earnings calls can help CX teams align with company priorities.
• Brands like Chewy and Zappos win customer loyalty by showing empathy and over-delivering.
• Pricing changes (like tariffs) should be transparently communicated to customers.
• Responsive service during tough times builds lasting loyalty.
• CX transformation is not a one-time project—it’s a daily mindset.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dan Gingiss

01:20 The mindset shift: CX is everyone’s job

04:36 The cashless restaurant case study

08:22 Executives must become their own customers

10:13 Removing friction in digital onboarding

14:18 How to scale CX beyond the low-hanging fruit

16:30 Daily CX improvements over giant transformations

20:23 Linking CX to financial ROI

25:04 Why CX teams struggle to speak business language

29:53 The WISER framework unpacked

42:41 When not to apply the WISER framework

46:19 Leadership buy-in and prioritization

47:08 Navigating pricing and tariffs in CX

51:19 Brands that have your back build loyalty

53:17 Chewy: A masterclass in emotional CX

55:34 Where to find Dan Gingiss

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Journey Mapping is Dead. What comes next?

Journey maps are like blueprints without builders. Beautiful and insightful - but ultimately useless unless someone owns the outcome.

In this video, Jochem Van Der Veer (TheyDo CEO) breaks down why most customer journey maps fail to drive measurable impact - and introduces the shift from static maps to living systems of journey management.

If you’ve ever spent months building journeys that never get used, this one’s for you.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why over 80% of journey maps fail - and what to do about it

• Why beautiful maps on walls don’t drive change without ownership and accountability

• The life cycle of a journey map - and why it usually ends in failure

• What journey management really means

• Three steps to move from mapping to managing

• Why insight > alignment > action is the real path to customer-centric outcomes

• How leading companies use journey governance to increase CX and operational efficiency

Join the conversation:

What’s one journey in your business that gets mapped - but never acted on?

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Explore Journey Management with TheyDo#JourneyMapping #CustomerExperience #JourneyManagement #TheyDo #CXLeadership #DigitalTransformation #CustomerJourney #MappingToManaging #Silos #DecisionSupport

In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem welcomes Sam Beek, Chief Product Officer at Veed, to explore the evolving landscape of video content creation in the age of AI. From humble beginnings hacking together apps at tech events to scaling a global video platform, Sam shares his journey and the pivotal role of customer feedback in building user-centric products.

Sam and Jochem delve into how enterprises and solo creators can harness the power of video, why storytelling still reigns supreme, and how Veed's SEO-led growth strategy fuels innovation. They explore AI's role in making video creation more accessible and personalized, the shift from polished to authentic content, and how internal cultural change can help enterprises embrace the creator economy.

Guest Bio

Samuel Beek is the Chief Product Officer at Veed.io, a fast-growing video creation platform. With a background in engineering and product development, Sam has a track record of building tools that make storytelling simpler for creators and marketers alike. A Reforge alum with expertise in user research and growth, he’s passionate about solving real problems through intuitive design and continuous customer engagement. At Veed, he’s leading the charge in AI-driven video innovation, SEO-led growth, and accessible video tools for everyone - from solo creators to enterprise teams.

Takeaways

• Great product design starts with deep user empathy and regular customer conversations.
• Internal systems like user interviews, Slack snippet sharing, and company-wide customer Q&As ensure customer voices shape product direction.
• Balancing AI innovation with fixing foundational UX is critical, sometimes a logo misalignment trumps flashy new features.
• SEO is a growth engine at Veed, driven by the philosophy: "Make something people search for."
• With nearly 450,000 landing pages, Veed meets users where they are with tools tailored to hyper-specific needs.
• Storytelling and fun are key to adoption, people engage with tools that are enjoyable and help them express themselves.
• AI tools should enhance storytelling rather than replace human creativity.
• Enterprises must evolve: authentic, conversational video content trumps over-produced, generic messaging.
• There’s growing pressure for businesses to “put a face” on their brand and humanize customer relationships.
• Starting small, using props (like Lego figures on your webcam), or voiceover-only content helps overcome video anxiety.
• The best creators iterate: aim for a “video 4 out of 10” to start and improve over time.
• Emerging video trends: hyper-personalized content, AI-assisted storytelling, and a shift toward more human, lower-fidelity formats.

Chapters

00:00 Intro to Sam Beek, CPO at Veed

01:55 Sam and Jochem’s early days building products

04:52 Why customer conversations shape product vision

07:12 Digital product research and building insight systems

10:13 Making customer feedback visible to teams

12:27 A UX failure story and what it taught Sam

14:48 Balancing AI innovation with UX basics

16:55 Revenue vs. engagement as product metrics

18:23 Veed's SEO strategy: 450k+ landing pages

21:45 LLMs and changing search behavior

23:37 Innovating for people, not just AI trends

25:55 From toys to scalable storytelling features

27:55 Why fun matters in product adoption

29:16 What enterprise teams need to learn from creators

32:10 Humanizing the enterprise through video

34:10 Brands nailing video content: Duolingo and OpenAI

36:29 Getting past corporate comms blockers

39:25 Where content creation is going

42:15 Helping people become better storytellers

47:58 The magic wand: removing the fear to create

50:37 Tactics for overcoming video creation anxiety

53:42 Final thoughts and where to follow Sam

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Do you really need to “break the silos” to fix customer experience?

In this video, Jochem Van Der Veer (TheyDo CEO) unpacks why that common advice is flawed - and shares Alison Landers’ (Chief Experience Officer at UBS) smarter approach: it’s not about breaking silos, it’s about orchestrating across them.

Drawing on Alison’s experience leading CX at UBS, Wells Fargo, and Prudential, this episode reveals how journey orchestration helps organizations coordinate at scale and finally deliver seamless experiences customers actually feel.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why silos aren’t the enemy — and why orchestration is the smarter goal

• How customer experience cuts across channels, products, and divisions by design

• Why lack of coordination leads to disconnected journeys customers notice instantly

• The three pillars of Journey Orchestration

• How naming journey owners and building cross-functional alignment unlocks value

• Lessons from UBS, Wells Fargo, and Prudential on scaling CX transformation

Check out the full podcast episode with Alison Landers here.

Join the conversation:

What’s one experience in your company that’s broken because no one owns the “in between”?

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In this episode, Jochem van der Veer sits down with Trish Wethman, former Chief Customer Officer at Best Egg, to explore the evolution of the CX function and how to embed customer intelligence into business operations. Trish shares lessons from her tenure in creating impactful customer strategies and championing cultural transformation through CX. From navigating tough executive meetings to redesigning the CX function for action, Trish offers a candid look at what it takes to align organizations around a shared customer vision.

The conversation covers everything from embedding insights partners into business teams, building a sticky CX vision, and redefining ROI in customer experience, to the future of AI in transforming journey mapping and decision-making. This episode is an essential listen for CX leaders looking to elevate their function from data collection to business impact.

Guest Bio

Trish Wethman is a seasoned customer experience executive and the former Chief Customer Officer at Best Egg. With a background in driving customer-centric transformation, Trish has built high-performing CX teams that align business objectives with customer needs. Known for pioneering insights-driven partnerships and shaping cohesive experience visions, her work has helped enterprises navigate complexity and deliver measurable outcomes. Trish also contributes to the Mid-Atlantic CX Forum, where she continues to champion the role of CX in modern business strategy.

Takeaways

• CX leaders must connect metrics to business impact, not just report on data.
• A CX vision only sticks if it’s co-created with business leaders who feel accountable.
• Embedding insights business partners into product and marketing teams improves prioritization and advocacy.
• Aligning customer journeys to acquisition, conversion, and servicing metrics creates business relevance.
• Distinguishing between process maps and true journey maps is critical for actionable insights.
• Micro-journeys should be owned by the teams closest to them, while the CCO oversees end-to-end cohesion.
• CX principles like “flexibility” work best when they’re deeply rooted in customer research and relevant across departments.
• Weekly business reviews are powerful tools for prioritization across CX, product, and marketing.
• ROI can be demonstrated through lift in conversion, risk mitigation, and faster decision-making.
• AI should automate insight generation and journey mapping, enabling CX teams to focus on driving action.
• Future CX functions will require more consultative and alignment-oriented roles.
• Service design, AI operations, and customer data orchestration will be foundational to next-gen CX.

Chapters

00:00 Guest introduction and setting the stage

01:00 CX storytelling failure: translating insights to business value

05:00 Building integrated CX teams that understand business metrics

08:00 Creating the role of insights business partners

11:00 The role of a CX vision and stakeholder collaboration

15:00 Aligning CX to acquisition, conversion, and retention

19:00 Journey mapping beyond the surface level

22:00 Ownership of end-to-end vs. micro-journeys

24:00 Weekly business reviews and their impact

28:00 ROI examples from marketing and innovation support

31:00 CX as an alignment function across silos

33:00 CX principles: flexibility as a customer value driver

35:00 AI’s transformative role in CX workflows

40:00 AI-first CX operating model: what stays human?

44:00 Shifting skillsets: from analysts to consultative partners

47:00 Rethinking surveys and AI-enabled research

50:00 CX engineering: building intelligent customer systems

52:00 Quality control, trust, and hallucination risks in AI

53:00 Closing thoughts and where to find Trish online

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As Promised you can find Trish Wethman on The Mid-Atlantic CX Forum "Where CX and IT Meet"

Why do CX efforts fail - even when everyone’s working hard?

You’ve got the tools, the talent, and the intent. But customer pain persists. In this video, Jochem Van Der Veer (TheyDo CEO) reveals the real reason most customer experience initiatives don’t deliver results.

It’s not broken UX.

It’s not bad support.

It’s structural misalignment - and it’s costing you more than you realize.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why silos aren't the enemy - and why “breaking them” is the wrong goal

• The 4 hidden costs of poor cross-functional coordination:

• How journey-centric orchestration helps teams work smarter, not harder

• Real-world lessons from companies like Lufthansa on aligning product, UX, and service

• Why journey management beats cosmetic fixes like NPS and UI tweaks

Join the conversation:

Where are your teams misaligned - and what would it take to fix it?

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#CustomerExperience #JourneyManagement #TheyDo #BusinessSilos #CXLeadership #DigitalStrategy #CrossFunctional #CustomerJourney #CXFailure #OrchestrationNotDestruction

In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer welcomes Brooke Sellas, CEO of B Squared Media, to dissect how social media has evolved from a content distribution channel to a powerful platform for customer experience and intelligence. Brooke explains how forward-thinking brands are using social not just to post, but to converse, and how these conversations can reveal vital insights into customer behavior, brand sentiment, and even revenue potential.

Brooke introduces her CARE framework (Conversation, Acquisition, Retention, Engagement) and explains how her agency uses this model to help enterprise brands mine social interactions for voice-of-customer data. With examples from clients like printer and appliance brands, she reveals how conversational data, social listening, and AI integration can drive measurable business outcomes, from reducing churn to increasing sales. This episode is a masterclass in turning social media into a revenue engine and customer intelligence hub.

Guest Bio

Brooke Sellas is shaping the future of digital marketing one conversation at a time. As an award-winning CEO, she leads B Squared Media, the premier agency redefining 'social care' for brands like Brother International, Miele, and BCU. You can dive into her insights through her book Conversations That Connect, her thought leadership on CMSWire, or her expert-led courses, among them, three digital marketing courses at the University of California, Irvine (one focused on AI & Marketing) and a LinkedIn Learning course on Social Care.

Takeaways

• Social media has evolved from content broadcasting to customer conversation and care.
• The CARE framework, Conversation, Acquisition, Retention, Engagement, drives measurable business results.
• Social listening tools help brands proactively identify trends, crises, and customer intent signals.
• Acquisition conversations on social media are often underestimated; many brands find >20% of social interactions are sales-related.
• Responding to positive comments increases brand affinity and fuels word-of-mouth marketing.
• 76% of customers who don’t receive a reply on social will consider switching to a competitor.
• AI enhances scalability but must be paired with human judgment to avoid PR mishaps.
• Gen Z shoppers value brand-customer conversations more than online reviews.
• “Channel of choice” is essential: CX insights differ across email, phone, and social.
• AI can analyze conversational data to reveal which messages and offers close more deals.
• A single customer service issue, like a confusing coffee machine manual, can cause widespread sentiment drops unless proactively resolved.
• Social selling is not just a buzzword; it requires structured processes and attribution clarity.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Brooke Sellas

01:00 Why social media has shifted from content to conversation

03:00 Who should own social media in an enterprise?

04:30 Brands leading in conversational social media

07:00 The CARE framework explained

10:00 Using VOC to find acquisition and retention signals

14:00 Proving ROI and prioritizing efforts

18:30 Scaling with AI and human oversight

25:30 Best practices in social listening and VOC integration

30:00 Segmenting by channel and generation

34:00 Case study: Fixing a product sentiment issue

41:00 Identifying channel of choice for CX alignment

46:00 Attribution tension between marketing and social care

50:00 Events that trigger companies to invest in social care

55:00 Sprout Social stat: 76% switch brands after no reply

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In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer speaks with Jennifer Jenkins, Head of CX Design at Scotiabank. Jennifer shares her deep expertise in service and systems thinking, offering a fresh lens on organizational silos, cross-functional collaboration, and the evolving practice of journey management. With roots in workplace design and a strong belief in in-situ research, she provides a unique perspective on how to elevate both customer and employee experiences.

The conversation delves into topics such as rethinking silos as structures, aligning organizational design with customer experience, the necessity of qualitative research in a digital world, and designing with sustainability in mind. Jennifer advocates for systems that are not only more efficient but more human, urging companies to expand their awareness, reframe assumptions, and design responsibly for scale.

Guest Bio

Jennifer Jenkins is the Head of CX Design at Scotiabank, where she leads strategy and design across complex systems in a large, legacy financial organization. With a background spanning service design, workplace strategy, and systems thinking, Jennifer brings a multidisciplinary approach to shaping impactful customer experiences. She is particularly known for championing cross-functional pods, emphasizing qualitative research, and promoting sustainable design choices in digital contexts.

Takeaways

• Silos can be reframed as necessary structures; the goal is to connect them, not eliminate them.
• Service design often breaks down when organizational design doesn't align with the intended customer experience.
• Journey pods at Scotiabank are cross-functional, aligning CX strategy with product development early in the process.
• Pods engage in both qualitative and quantitative research, using methods from anthropology to unmoderated online testing.
• Trust within an organization reflects externally: high employee trust correlates with high customer trust.
• Designing journeys as nonlinear, multidirectional experiences is more accurate than traditional linear models.
• Qualitative, in-situ research captures insights missed in digital-only environments - context truly matters.
• Journey-centric org models must remain hybrid to account for structural and process realities.
• Designing for sustainability includes decisions like avoiding unnecessary animations or heavy media.
• Employees often lack the tools and knowledge to act sustainably - education and awareness are key.
• Sustainability in digital design must consider both content and energy use, and requires collaboration with engineering.
• Small design decisions, when scaled across millions of users, can have a massive environmental impact.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and welcome

01:12 Jennifer Jenkins’ background and role at Scotiabank

02:00 Rethinking organizational silos

04:00 Why silos persist in legacy organizations

09:00 Aligning org structure with service delivery

10:00 Designing effective journey pods

13:00 Balancing quant and qual in CX research

14:00 Making CX insights actionable

16:30 Nonlinear journey design and its challenges

21:00 Viability of journey-centric org design

23:00 The overlooked role of employee experience

27:00 Measuring intangible experiences

29:00 The value of in-situ research

32:00 AI's limitations in understanding human nuance

35:00 Real-world insights from observational research

38:00 Journey friction and user trust

39:00 Designing CX with sustainability in mind

44:00 Empowering teams with knowledge and skills

48:00 Closing thoughts and where to find Jennifer

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In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jon Picoult, author of the bestselling book From Impressed to Obsessed, shares his insights on crafting unforgettable customer experiences.

With over 16 years of consulting C-suite executives through his firm, Watermark Consulting, Jon emphasizes why mere customer satisfaction is a weak benchmark - and why companies must instead strive to create indelible impressions. He explains how impressing customers builds loyalty that drives referrals, repurchase behavior, and ultimately, business growth.

Jon and host Jochem van der Veer dive into how businesses can use psychological principles like the peak-end rule and the perception of control to design memorable episodes across the customer journey. They explore how to evaluate when the basics are truly being met, how to socialize CX insights throughout the organization, and how to build a financial business case for customer experience investment. It’s a strategic conversation that blends theory with actionable advice for CX leaders and executives alike.

Guest Bio

Jon Picoult is the founder of Watermark Consulting and the author of the bestselling book From Impressed to Obsessed. A renowned thought leader in customer experience and leadership, Jon has been featured by outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, NBC News, Fortune, and Forbes. Over his 16-year consultancy career, he has advised some of the world’s foremost brands, helping them leverage customer and employee loyalty for marketplace advantage.

Takeaways

• Satisfaction is not enough - impressed customers drive growth and retention.
• Memory science is key to experience design: aim for peak moments and strong endings.
• Honoring small promises, like follow-up calls, can create powerful impressions.
• CX leaders must master both fundamentals and differentiators - don’t skip the basics.
• Executive teams need to experience their own service firsthand to drive empathy and change.
• Journey mapping is a starting point, not the end game; deep analysis reveals hidden friction.
• Artifacts like confusing bills or broken IVRs make CX challenges tangible to leadership.
• Giving customers a sense of control (e.g., clear expectations) improves their perception.
• Great CX also benefits employees - simplify internal tools to improve delivery.
• Reducing contacts through better communication cuts costs and boosts efficiency.
• CX ROI isn’t always about revenue - start with measurable cost savings.
• When selecting a consultancy, know exactly who will be on your account.

Chapters

00:00 Satisfaction is mediocrity

01:42 Why satisfaction fails to ensure loyalty

03:22 Impressive CX doesn’t require high spend

05:36 Meeting baseline expectations can wow

07:08 Balancing fundamentals and delight

09:21 How to assess readiness for delight

11:59 Executives stepping into customer shoes

14:43 Case example of broken IVR experience

17:14 Socializing CX reality throughout the org

20:10 Defining “what right looks like” in CX

22:46 Journey mapping is a beginning, not the end

24:46 Making CX real with artifacts

28:41 Episodes and peak-end design

32:16 Ending on a high note in every episode

38:20 Perception of control as a CX principle

46:00 How to quantify CX ROI

52:00 Focus first on expense impact

58:00 Where to start building CX business cases

62:00 Choosing the right CX consultancy

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In this compelling episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer is joined by James Munoz, Director of Brand and Employee Experience at Elsevier, to discuss what it truly means to lead through chaos and complexity. Drawing from his unique background as a former U.S. Army reconnaissance officer turned CX transformation leader, James unpacks how his soldier-first mindset evolved into a human-first philosophy that fuels customer and employee experience today.

James shares hard-earned lessons from the military, financial services, and enterprise transformation programs at Wells Fargo and Elsevier. He dives into what makes a strong Voice of the Customer (VOC) program, the need for real-time feedback loops, the value of having a shared CX vision, and how artificial intelligence can serve internal teams to elevate customer understanding. The episode ends on a high note: a call to reimagine CX not as a reactive discipline, but as an engine for innovation.

Guest Bio

James Munoz is the Director of Brand and Employee Experience at Elsevier, where he leads strategic alignment across brand, customer, and employee initiatives. A seasoned transformation leader, James brings over a decade of military leadership experience as a former U.S. Army reconnaissance officer, followed by CX and operational roles at Bank of America and Wells Fargo. His expertise spans journey measurement, VOC program design, and experience strategy. James is a champion for connecting brand promise to execution and is known for shaping cultural change through customer-centric thinking.

Takeaways

• Human-First Leadership: Military service taught James to prioritize people over tasks - a principle he now applies to CX.
• From Military to CX: Transitioning from the Army to brand experience was intuitive for James because both require deep understanding of human behavior.
• Strategic VOC Programs: Good VOC isn't just about surveys - it's about recurring engagement with business stakeholders and closing the loop on insights.
• Quarterly vs. Real-Time Feedback: While quarterly reviews help align stakeholders, there's a rising need for real-time, dashboard-driven CX.
• Regulated Industries & VOC Maturity: Banks often have more mature VOC practices due to compliance pressure - something B2B organizations can learn from.
• Shared North Star Vision: A tangible, organization-wide North Star aligns customer, employee, and brand experiences for consistent execution.
• CX as Culture: VOC programs can and should drive cultural change, not just collect metrics.
• AI as Internal Enabler: James is excited about AI's potential to help internal teams craft more empathetic, consistent messaging and surface insights faster.
• Brand-CX Disconnect: Too often, brand and CX teams operate in silos - James argues for direct alignment as they represent two halves of the same promise.

Chapters

00:00 Guest Introduction and Setup

01:27 From Army Recon to CX Transformation

03:11 Translating Military Lessons to Customer Centricity

05:16 Entering CX Through Banking and Transformation

07:15 What Makes a Strong VOC Program

10:36 Regulated vs. Non-Regulated Industries

12:10 Quarterly Business Reviews and Culture Change

15:35 Real-Time Data and Agile Experience Management

19:38 Team Structures and Journey Alignment at Elsevier

22:04 Creating a Shared Vision Through a CX North Star

26:17 Getting Executive Buy-In

28:08 Misconceptions About CX Strategy

30:33 CX vs. Brand Perception

32:17 The Four Core Business Experiences

35:15 Connecting CX to Business KPIs

38:35 The Role of AI in Internal Collaboration

41:27 AI to Enhance Customer Understanding

43:45 The Magic Wand: Changing Mindsets

46:30 Should CX Be a Function?

47:46 From Fixing to Innovating in CX

50:07 CX's Language and Vision Problem

51:22 Wrap-Up and How to Connect with James

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In this episode of The Experience Edge, host Jochem van der Veer speaks with Nathan Zahm, Head of CX Alpha at Vanguard’s Personal Investor division. Nathan shares how CX Alpha - a cross-disciplinary initiative - blends behavioral science, analytics, design, and financial planning to deliver measurable improvements to client investment outcomes.

From redefining client experience as a value driver to integrating AI and robust experimentation frameworks, Nathan explains how Vanguard’s customer-centric legacy is being extended into the digital future.

Listeners will gain a front-row view into the role of journey frameworks, personalization boundaries, and the ethical use of AI in highly regulated environments. Nathan also delves into the practical structure of CX Alpha, from agile product ownership to multi-decade financial journeys, revealing why trust, transparency, and teamwork are critical to creating meaningful experiences that drive financial success.

Guest Bio

Nathan Zahm leads CX Alpha at Vanguard, where he is responsible for enhancing digital client experiences across the personal investor business. A seasoned financial expert with a background in actuarial science and investment research, Nathan previously led Vanguard’s work on goal-based investing strategies, including target retirement funds and 529 plans. At CX Alpha, he brings together analytics, behavioral science, and user experience design to deliver tangible improvements in customer outcomes. His holistic and data-informed leadership approach reflects Vanguard's long-standing mission to align client experience with long-term financial success.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Nathan Zahm and CX Alpha

02:15 Origin and mission of CX Alpha

04:00 Vanguard’s shift from investment-only to CX-enhanced value

06:08 Serving 9 million brokerage clients

07:09 Nathan’s journey from actuary to CX

10:58 Behavioral science and front-end experience

13:45 Team structure and disciplines in CX Alpha

16:07 Ethics in nudging vs. manipulation

19:41 Personalization vs. manipulation

21:52 Predictive modeling challenges

23:40 AI’s role in client service and infrastructure

29:15 Human vs. AI-led client conversations

32:02 Future of bot-to-bot financial interactions

34:49 Functional vs. emotional CX benefits

35:21 AI’s internal enablement of CX Alpha

40:27 Triangulating customer feedback for prioritization

43:26 Task, goal, and life-journey design

46:29 Defining moments that matter

49:11 Prioritization across CX layers

53:28 Vanguard’s client-first culture

55:48 Voice of customer in practice

58:10 The scalable future of CX Alpha

60:26 Where to connect with Nathan Zahm⁠

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In this insightful episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer is joined by Tyler Andre, a CX Strategy & Design leader at Accenture Song. Tyler unpacks the evolution of customer experience from a reactive support function to a proactive, operational discipline. He emphasizes the critical role of operational consistency and human-centered design in creating scalable CX foundations, while challenging outdated paradigms like NPS as the singular metric of success.

Tyler introduces a practical trifecta - consistency, depth, and breadth - as the blueprint for maturing CX practices. With vivid examples and tactical advice, he illustrates how AI is enhancing real-time decision-making and self-service, but affirms the enduring value of human ethics in CX design. The episode is a masterclass in transforming CX from a marketing veneer to an engine for organizational coherence and business growth.

Guest Bio

Tyler Andre is a leader in Customer Experience Strategy and Design at Accenture Song. With a career spanning global engagements, Tyler specializes in helping enterprise organizations build strong CX foundations rooted in operational excellence. His expertise lies in scaling customer-centric practices using human-centered design, data-driven decision-making, and business design methodologies. Known for demystifying complexity, Tyler is a sought-after voice in advancing CX maturity across industries.

CX is often confused with customer service—true CX is proactive, not reactive.

In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer sits down with Ben Geheb, Global Chief Experience Strategy Officer at VML, to unpack the challenges and misconceptions surrounding customer experience strategy today. From jargon pitfalls to the need for actionable journeys, Ben shares compelling insights on bridging the gap between customer-centric thinking and real-world business execution.

The conversation includes strategic guidance on aligning CX with organizational goals, building rituals that sustain decision-making, and transforming CX from a reporting function into an accountable, outcome-driven practice. Whether discussing how to position CX teams within enterprise structures or the need to modernize tech stacks to support agile solutions, Ben brings a clear-eyed perspective on making CX impactful and resilient.

Guest Bio

My guest today is Ben Gehab, he is the Global Chief Experience Strategy Officer at VML, a leader in customer experience strategy, helping brands stay ahead in an era of shifting expectations. His insights have been featured in Harvard Business Review and VML’s Future Shopper 2024 report, shaping the conversation on digital transformation and consumer trends. With a passion for problem-solving, Ben specializes in aligning business goals with customer-centric innovation. Featured on podcasts like Human Centered, he explores the future of experience strategy - designing solutions that don’t just meet customer needs but anticipate them

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and client names

01:47 Guest bio and professional intro

03:05 Overcoming jargon and redefining journeys

06:31 Good vs. bad CX initiatives

12:03 Moving from data to decision-making

15:49 Creating momentum and business buy-in

21:18 Building effective ceremonies and alignment

28:26 Infusing CX into agile and sprint cycles

31:04 Gaining influence through accountability

38:45 Ownership vs. influence in CX transformation

43:58 Misconceptions about customer-centricity

48:52 Quantifying CX value and measuring impact

56:24 Final thoughts on modernizing CX execution

59:27 Wrap-up and where to find Ben online

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Ben's Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-geheb-5b747245/

In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer speaks with Allison Paine Landers, CXO for Banking and Lending at UBS and a recognized leader in the FinTech Top 100 Women list. With a deep foundation built across financial giants like Prudential and Wells Fargo, Allison brings a sophisticated perspective on customer and employee experience transformation. From her roots in marketing and operations to steering global CX initiatives, she illustrates how a nuanced, journey-centric approach can redefine service delivery at scale.

Allison dives into the challenges and rewards of integrating customer experience within legacy financial institutions. She offers tactical insights into orchestrating cross-functional teams, aligning product and journey ownership, and building robust testing mechanisms to validate real improvements. Whether launching new banking capabilities or enhancing existing ones, her methodology revolves around deep listening, data-driven prioritization, and adaptive design - all anchored in a firm commitment to measurable business outcomes.

Guest Bio

Allison Paine Landers is the Chief Experience Officer for Banking and Lending at UBS. A seasoned leader in customer and employee experience, Allison has over two decades of expertise in financial services. Her past leadership roles include spearheading CX transformations at Prudential and Wells Fargo, where she architected journey-centric practices from the ground up. She has been named to the FinTech Top 100 Women for two consecutive years, reflecting her industry influence and innovation. Known for her strategic clarity and operational pragmatism, Allison is passionate about designing experiences that are not only user-centric but also commercially impactful.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and Guest Introduction

01:29 Evolution of CX in Financial Services

03:49 The Role of CX Teams: Ownership vs. Influence

06:10 Organizational Design for CX Impact

07:30 Standing Up Journey Practices at Prudential

10:31 Journey-Centric vs. Product-Centric Models

12:27 Structuring CX at UBS

15:19 Future-State Journey Mapping

17:30 Differentiating UBS Through High-Touch and Digital

20:26 Journey Ownership and Accountability

24:19 Redesigning Financial Services Organizations

27:38 Common Patterns in Journey Management

30:01 Delivering Tangible Business Value

34:55 Designing the Right Solution, Not Just Fixing Problems

37:31 Implementing UX Testing and Real-Time Panels

40:43 Balancing Pilots and Panels for Rollouts

43:44 Misunderstood Challenges in Journey Management

47:45 Proving ROI Beyond CX Scores

51:20 Amplifying Business Value Through Horizontal CX Views

55:38 Using AI to Accelerate Insight Generation

58:00 Blending Context with AI in Journey Analytics

01:00:17 Integrating Business Performance into Journeys

01:01:58 Translating Journeys for Enterprise-Wide Understanding

01:04:58 Final Thoughts and Where to Find Allison

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Allison's Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonpainelanders/

Elizabeth Oates is on a mission to help insight professionals go from simply being “interesting” to delivering true business impact. As the author of More Than Just Interesting and a seasoned insights leader, she’s transforming how organizations approach decision-making, data collection, and the role of human understanding in customer experience.

In this episode, Elizabeth introduces the concept of “collection debt,” explains why insights functions often fall short, and provides practical tools for tying every insight to a business decision. She dives into how AI is reshaping the role of analysts, why trust and timing matter more than ever, and how journey thinking can create an infinite loop of customer engagement. Whether you lead an insights team or work with one, this is essential listening.

Guest Bio

Elizabeth Oates is an insights strategist, thought leader, and the author of More Than Just Interesting: How to Build an Insights Function for Impact. With over two decades of experience, she has built, led, and transformed insight teams for major organizations, helping them move from data collection to decision enablement.

Elizabeth developed a framework of nine core skills for impactful insight work, blending business strategy, storytelling, and stakeholder influence. Her work centers on elevating the role of human insights in an increasingly AI-driven world, ensuring organizations maintain customer relevance while building trust through strategic insight delivery.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Elizabeth Oates and collection debt

03:26 What is collection debt and why it matters

07:36 Aligning insights with business actions

12:48 VOC: From reporting to relevance

14:48 Insight lifecycle: What’s still true and what’s now true

17:36 Where to start collecting insights

22:35 Anatomy of a perfect insight

28:02 Reframing insights language for impact

30:20 The role of AI in modern insights work

35:22 The underestimated power of influence

44:36 From interesting to impactful: The action connection

49:40 Case study: When not launching a product is the win

56:08 Measuring and celebrating insights impact

59:37 Using journey thinking to avoid customer exits

01:07:16 Why LEGO masters the customer journey

Jochem’s Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/

Elizabeth's Profile - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethknoxoates/

From grassroots insights in East Africa to global strategy, Carolyne Gathuru brings a powerful voice to what it truly means to be customer-centric. As a CX strategist, leadership coach, and member of the Women in CX Inner Circle, she weaves 25 years of field experience into practical, impactful guidance for organizations undergoing transformation.

In this conversation, Carolyne dives into how to build genuine customer care into company culture, why training isn't always the answer, and how to simplify CX strategy without losing depth. She challenges assumptions about AI, voice of the customer programs, and what it takes to operationalize CX in both commercial and government settings.

Guest Bio

Carolyne Gathuru is a seasoned CX strategist and communication coach with over two decades of experience guiding public and private organizations toward customer-centric transformation. She is a core member of the Women in CX Inner Circle and the founder of Life Skills Consulting in Kenya.

Her work spans leadership alignment, culture change, and voice of the customer (VOC) programs. Carolyne’s mission is to help organizations move from box-ticking initiatives to genuine impact by diagnosing systemic gaps, simplifying complex strategies, and advocating for the human side of customer experience. With her clear-eyed approach and relentless passion, she is changing how organizations view and implement CX from the inside out.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Carolyne Gathuru and CX in Africa

01:47 Training for genuine care, not just scripts

06:05 Why training often isn’t the real problem

09:07 The power of stakeholder interviews and bottom-up insight

12:05 The leadership checklist to define CX initiatives

17:22 The tension between AI convenience and human connection

23:29 Rethinking Voice of the Customer programs

29:16 Why organizations must ask: What do customers really want?

32:49 The surprising evolution of CX in government

36:23 The hardest part: Tying CX to the bottom line

40:10 Journey mapping as a diagnostic tool

42:27 Tying CX to brand, ESG, and internal engagement

46:18 Using pain points to build CX business cases

47:50 Why simplicity drives action in culture change

50:15 Representation and relevance in global CX networks

52:30 Elevating CX as a real profession for women in Africa

55:22 Final thoughts: Start experience excellence at home

Jochem’s Profile - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Carolyne's Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyne-gathuru-266ab017/

Crystal D'Cunha is on a mission to ignite leaders, excite employees, and delight customers. As President and CEO of The Inside View Inc., she helps organizations hardwire customer experience into their culture. With award-winning programs and decades of leadership expertise, she equips teams to take CX from theory to action - starting with something as deceptively simple as the daily huddle.

In this episode, Crystal unpacks the emotional and structural DNA of a customer-centric company. She explains the difference between customer service and customer experience, why CX is not a department, and how small moments of delight can drive major business impact. From the power of language to real-world organizational transformation, this is a masterclass in experiential leadership.

Guest Bio

Crystal D'Cunha is an award-winning customer experience consultant, keynote speaker, and the visionary CEO of The Inside View Inc. Known for her energetic and hands-on approach, she helps companies integrate CX deeply into their leadership development and employee culture. Her Leadership Experience Excellence program won a Stevie Award, beating global giants like IBM and Pepsi.

Crystal is also the host of the Leaders Listen Up podcast and a seasoned advisor on embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into customer and employee journeys. With a practical philosophy of “ignite, excite, and delight,” she transforms organizations by aligning their leaders and teams around consistent, emotionally resonant customer experiences.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Crystal D'Cunha and her CX philosophy

01:22 Winning a Stevie Award for CX leadership training

06:52 Why CX is not a department

09:34 How eight-minute huddles shift culture

18:51 Customer service vs. customer experience

23:11 Coaching employees to drive better customer outcomes

29:12 A magical Hilton experience that cost almost nothing

38:14 The mindset shift leaders need for CX transformation

44:01 Who should own CX - and what to do when support is missing

52:29 Why many CX leaders are set up to fail

56:01 How to know your leadership team is truly ready

Jochem’s Profile - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Crystal's Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystald1/overlay/about-this-profile/

From rethinking growth strategy to redefining what it means to be truly customer-led, Gia Loudi brings a sharp lens to how tech companies build around customer experience. With deep roots in B2B SaaS and a track record that spans Bitly, Sprout Social, and her own advisory work, she champions a foundational approach to CX that starts with one powerful question: What does your best customer really need?

In this episode, Gia unpacks the system behind customer-led growth, the overlooked power of jobs-to-be-done research, and why AI is no substitute for human insight. She shares how companies accumulate CX debt, why product marketing is often the unsung hero, and how mapping customer leaps of faith can unlock sustainable growth.

Guest Bio

Gia Laudi is a growth advisor, author, and speaker who helps high-growth B2B SaaS companies build sustainable, customer-led strategies. As co-author of Forget the Funnel and host of the podcast by the same name, she brings a grounded, systems-based approach to operationalising customer experience across marketing, product, and success teams.

With over a decade of experience at companies like Bitly, Sprout Social, SparkToro, and more than 100 startups, Gia specializes in translating customer insights into repeatable growth systems. Her methodology, rooted in jobs-to-be-done research and customer experience mapping, empowers organizations to reduce guesswork and realign around the true value customers seek. Passionate about cutting through the noise, she’s reshaping how tech companies think about CX - from intuition to insight, and from chaos to clarity.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Gia Laudi and her CX work in B2B SaaS

01:54 Rethinking CX mapping: Beyond transactional journey maps

07:50 Inside the customer-led growth system

11:59 Defining "leaps of faith" in the customer journey

18:36 CX debt: What it is and how to spot it

22:07 Who should own customer experience in SaaS?

25:56 Can AI replace human-led customer research?

43:13 Operationalizing the customer experience map

47:33 Why jobs-to-be-done must anchor your research

49:37 The opportunity of AI in organizing customer insights

55:10 Final thoughts: Re-centering strategy around real customer value

Jochem’s Profile - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Georgiana's Profile - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgianalaudi/