Why This Episode Is Different

Jeannie Walters 0:00

Welcome to the Experience Action Podcast. I'm Jeannie Walters, and I'm so happy you're here. Today's episode is a little different. Instead of diving into one of your questions or talking about customer experience in the news, today I want to talk about something personal and exciting for me. And that is my book, Experience is Everything: Making Every Moment Count in the Age of Customer Expectations. I am so happy it's here, and I'm so happy that so many of you have shown interest in it. The book has been a long time coming. It really is based on years, or dare I say decades now, of working with leaders, teams, and organizations who are really trying to improve the customer experience. What I kept seeing over time were the same patterns, the same frustrations, the same missed opportunities. So today I want to talk a little bit about why I wrote the book, the problem it's meant to solve, what I'm asking you as a leader to do differently, and how you can get involved. So as we talk about this, I would love for you to check out ExperienceisEverythingBook.com because if you order the book, you also get some fun bonuses to help you turn these ideas into action right away. So let me talk a little bit about the problem I kept seeing. And this is why I'm so excited to bring this book to the world. I wrote this book because I was working with incredible people all the time. I don't think there's anybody quite like a leader who says, I care about customer experience. They're compassionate, they're empathetic, they are wanting the best for everyone. These are good, good people, and they're smart leaders. And many of them, most of us, I would say, have really good intentions. But the challenge that I kept seeing is really this idea that it's fragmented. We were able to fix something maybe in one part of the organization, but not really connect it to another. So even though we fixed it in marketing, it kept showing up in the customer journey later. We are able to address certain challenges that customers have, but they're not necessarily connected to larger strategies or business outcomes. So after a while, people start asking, why are we doing this? And fragmentation like that leads to something else that you've heard me talk about, which is being reactive. If we are in a constant state of reactivity, we never have that clear vision of what are we really trying to do, not only for our customers, but for our organizations. We're running from issue to issue, putting out fire after fire, addressing complaint after complaint. And all of those things are important. But if we are only tackling those as one-off events, we are missing an opportunity to create a holistic, cohesive, consistent, intentional, proactive customer journey. And if we can create that kind of customer experience, then we can start looking to the future. We can start innovating. We can start looking for ways to stay ahead of our competition. Because when organizations live in that reactive state, something happens. And what I see is that leaders lose the ability to lead with intention. So instead of designing the experience, they are constantly responding to the aftermath of a bad one. And here's the truth that I see most organizations don't struggle with customer experience because they don't care. They struggle because they've never turned it into an intentional part of how they do business. They've never addressed it as a leadership discipline. And that's why I wrote this book. And that's why the book really addresses the three foundational aspects of what leaders do well. And this is aligning the mindset, creating a strategic vision and a plan that we can follow, and then having the discipline to back that up with real efforts, real measurements of progress, real decisions every day. So I wanted to share a part of the book with you today. Now, this is a little different because I'm actually sharing the last page of the book. But I hope that this gives you the spirit of the book. Because throughout the book, you will find some templates, you'll find exercises, you'll find hands-on ways to make this happen. But I wanted to end the book on a note of positivity because we can't always do everything all at once, right? So when you hear experience is everything, I don't want it to feel overwhelming to you. I want it to feel like a rallying cry, something optimistic. So here we are at the end of the book. Progress beats perfection. Customer experience doesn't improve because everything is perfectly designed. It improves because leaders are willing to act, reflect, adjust, and act again. Start small, learn fast, stay committed. Customer experience isn't a project you finish, it's a capability you build. Every intentional moment, every clear decision, every disciplined habit. They compound. Start where you are, stay human, keep going. Because experience isn't everything all at once. It's everything built one moment at a time. I hope that this book brings you optimism. I hope that it provides you tools that you will be able to put into action right away. And I hope with all my heart that it helps you show up as the leader that I know you are. And when it comes to customer experience leadership, it really comes down to three foundational ideas of mindset, strategy, discipline. Mindset is about that shared belief. This is something where we know who we are no matter what, to our customers. Then comes strategy. This is answering things like what are the outcomes we're trying to influence? And how can we actually do that? How can we set ourselves up for success? Because without strategy, organizations do a lot of nice things for customers, but struggle to connect them to real business impact. And then discipline, this is probably the most uncomfortable part for many of us. We have to make sure that we don't just rely on vibes and good intentions, because good intentions don't sustain themselves. Discipline means governance, it means clear accountability, it means regular conversations with customers, it means ongoing leadership attention. That's what makes customer experience sustainable. And this matters more than ever today. Organizations are moving faster, customers are moving faster, technology is evolving, AI is included in almost everything we design now. But if we only talk about those things individually, we will design broken experiences unintentionally. So as you move through the world today, I hope that you'll think about the mindset, strategy, and discipline that you want to bring. Now I hope that you're listening to this and maybe you're thinking, this sounds familiar. Maybe you're the person in the organization who sees the gaps. I bet you notice when communication breaks down. I bet your radar is up for things that maybe aren't planned to impact the customer, but you know they will. You notice when teams are working hard, but not necessarily aligned. And sometimes that can feel really frustrating and frankly a lonely place to be because you care. That is not a bad thing. You know that your customers deserve better. You know that employees want to deliver a better experience. And it can feel like you are the only one saying, wait, couldn't we do this a little better with more intentionality, being more proactive on behalf of our customers? If you're that person, then this book is for you. I wrote this for leaders who want to step forward in a different way and lead customer experience, not only from their heart, but also from a place of strategic vision. So the truth is, you don't need to have a leadership title. You don't need to be the CEO or in the C-suite. You just need to be that change agent in your organization. Before we wrap up, I want to remind you of something that you've heard me talk about for a long time now. And that is the idea of moments. The mission of my company from the beginning has been to create fewer ruined days for customers. And the reason I say that is because that is really what I believe makes a better world. If we can make each other's lives a little easier moving forward, if we can remove the friction points, if we can help somebody get home a little faster to their family, or make sure that they're going on that vacation that they've dreamed of, or simply being better at their job because we're delivering exactly what they're expecting. When this isn't done well, those moments that are neglected, that are overlooked, can actually make a customer feel invisible, unheard, not valued. And I know every customer experience leader I know, whether you have that in your title or not, you care about people. You want to make sure people feel valued. And so the moments absolutely matter. And that's why when I talk about experience is everything, it really is about the moments that we both create and also the ones that maybe we neglect. It's up to us, and we can do this. So I hope that you will stay with me on this journey, that you will stay committed to what you're doing for your customers and your organization, and really think about the moments that we're delivering every day because those all add up, and that's what experience is everything is all about. Thanks for being here, and as always, reach out if you have feedback, questions, or you want your question addressed on this podcast. Just leave that at askjeannie.vip. Thanks for everything. If this resonates with you, you can order your book today. And we have all of those bonuses to help you turn this into something that you will use tomorrow. I really appreciate you being on this journey with me. And if you are interested in doing something with your team or a special event, that can be one of the most powerful ways to turn something like this into action and long term sustained success. So reach out if you have questions about a bulk order or an event or anything like this. That can be a powerful way to do that.