Welcome to a brand new year. Now, this is a little different of a CX Pulse Check because instead of checking in with the co-host about what's happening, I want to check in with you. Now, this is the beginning of the year. That means that it's time to both reflect on what happened and make sure that we are well prepared and set up for a successful year ahead. So today I want us to take a minute to slow down because 2026 is already off to a rapid start. AI is transforming how we interact with each other and with our work. Budgets are, let's say, tight, expectations are higher, and customers are still not always sure who to trust. So today I would like you to slow down for a minute and ask five strategic questions to help you get into this new year as the leader you are destined to be. Now, customer experience is part of the equation. It is certainly part of the strategy, but we have to lead from that strategic vision. So the first question I have for you today: where are we creating value? And where might it just be noise? Now, this is a challenging question by design. I talk to a lot of customer experience leaders every day. And if you really dig into why are you doing that, sometimes that's harder to answer than we would like to admit. Now, are we actually measuring what matters? Are we actually reporting in a way that executives, leaders, our colleagues can understand why this is part of the business? When we are implementing things like AI or automation, are we actually helping? Or is it just adding complexity? Customers are overwhelmed with surveys, with messaging, with everything that we throw into their inbox. Is all of that necessary for a seamless, proactive, intentional customer experience? So ask yourself, where are we adding value? And where might we add more value by simplifying, by streamlining, by even taking something away? So this month, ask yourself: can you find one touch point, tool, measurement that maybe you can either eliminate or limit so that we can actually deliver more strategic value for our customers and our organization? All right, question two. You ready? How will we balance automation with empathy? This is an incredibly important question in the year we are in right now. We have seen the dramatic impacts that AI has taken on not only our industry, but the world in general. So, yes, AI is absolutely amazing and efficient. It can help us do things like speed up how we communicate with customers and personalize communications at scale. But customers really tell us that they are craving feeling heard and understood. So all the automation in the world might not be doing that if it's not designed with that intentionality. So, really look for how you can actually balance the nuance and the emotions and the empathy that customers need and the automation and AI that can help us do that at scale. Look for places in your journey where automation maybe isn't delivering with the empathy that we expect it to, and then ask to make those changes. We cannot set it and forget it when it comes to AI. We have to continually pilot and test and help it evolve. Because if not, the first time you use it, it might be amazing and mind-blowing. The 300th time, it might be telling itself stories that you never wrote. So make sure that you are looking at how we can continue to be human and show up with empathy, no matter what channel, no matter what tool, no matter what technology we are using. Are the experiences fast? Are they respectful? Are they consistent? Are they seamless? Where do your customers most need to feel human support in your customer journey? That is a great question to ask to really start testing this and look for ways that we can balance that automation with empathy. All right, question number three. You know I love this one. Are your CX goals aligned with your business outcomes and customer trust? This is the real balance we have to achieve as customer experience leaders. We have to make sure that we are living up to the real pressure that we have today to prove ROI, return on investment. But more than that, I believe that customer experience is a winning business strategy when we actually align it with our organizational goals. If we can do that, that not only proves ROI, it drives the return on investment. So if you have not yet taken the time to define what success looks like through a customer experience mission statement, through a customer experience success blueprint, now is absolutely the time to do that. You may be in a world where right now you are hearing about your organizational goals for the year. Listen carefully and ask yourself, how can customer experience actually impact those goals? How can we make sure that we are measuring the right things so that we can impact those goals? What are the levers we can pull in customer experience to actually deliver on those outcomes? And if you cannot really define that, if you don't see that connection, then conducting a customer experience success blueprint exercise could be very, very beneficial. You want to outline what are your organizational goals, what do your leaders care about, what are your customer experience efforts, and which ones will pay off. We cannot be all things to all people. We cannot do all the things in customer experience that everybody wants. We have to make sure that we are strategic and prioritize the right efforts to get the outcomes that matter most for both our organization and our customers. That's how we build customer trust. That's how we build trust with our executives. We get very clear on how we are impacting our organizational goals and the goals of our customers. Trust is so important today. Don't get overwhelmed with everything you're hearing about AI and automation and all those things because guess what? Because of that, it's hard to know what to trust and who to trust. So continue to be authentic about how you show up for customers and continue to make sure you're using things like human-centered storytelling when you are reflecting back to your executives about the customer experience as well. All right, question number four: what's changed about your customer? What has really happened and how have we adapted to them? This is where we want to get reflective on what have we learned about our customer? What are they really looking for this year? How can we make sure that we are adapting to their real life? This is so important because everybody is evolving very quickly right now. Expectations are shifting, social norms have changed. What is considered truth has changed. So we need to make sure that we are really clear on the current understanding of our customers' mindset, their pain points, their goals. We can't rely on journey maps from three years ago. We have to make sure that we are always checking in with our customers in whatever ways we can. Now, surveys still have a place, but so do analytics, so do behavioral outcomes, so do observations, so do customer interviews, all of those things. Can you co-create with your customer this year? Can you include them in the process in any way you can? That is so, so important. So, what assumptions have you been making that maybe need to be retested? That's a great question. And finally, you knew this was going to come up. Question number five. Are you using your customer experience mission? Is it just a statement or is it driving decisions? This is what helps us understand that we cannot be all things to all people. We make a decision on how we show up for our customers no matter what. And then we use that CX mission statement as a guide, as a tool to make sure that we have those discussions about did we live up to this mission? Why or why not? And then do something about it. It is a living document that helps you make better decisions on behalf of your customers, which leads to better business outcomes. And that's what this is all about, right? So, how can you better tie your customer experience mission statement to your daily decisions, your performance, your retention strategies, all of the things that really, really matter. So I hope that you are well prepared, feeling empowered and energized for the year ahead. And I hope that we all agree there's no magic formula here. There is no magic formula to what we do. We have to constantly adapt and evolve and look for the nuance. And that's what makes this work so fun. We get to figure out what makes people tick, and then we get to figure out how we can actually make things better for our organization, for our leaders, for our customers, for our colleagues, and frankly, for the world. I am excited about that as a goal, as I always am. But asking these questions helps me get focused on what do we really need to do this year, right now, to make sure that we are successful in all the ways that we want to be. I am going to claim that 2026 is the year of intention. Let's be intentional, let's be proactive, and let's see the amazing results that we can build. I cannot wait to see what you do in 2026 and beyond. And I hope that you'll check in with us at Experience Investigators. We have resources, we have tools, and now we even have a book. So check out experienceiseverythingbook.com to pre order your own. Good luck with everything. Keep me posted on how you're doing, and don't forget, we are cheering you on. See you next time.