Episode 344

In this episode of UNSCRIPTED, host Sarah Nicastro sits down with award-winning CX expert Jeannie Walters to explore why customer experience isn't a nice-to-have (even in amid uncertainty). She sheds light on how to align your organization's mindset, strategy, and discipline around it, and explains why frontline employees remain a largely untapped resource. Whether you're a service leader struggling to justify CX investments or an operational executive navigating budget pressures, this conversation is packed with candid insights on bridging the gap between CX intent and execution.  

What You'll Learn

• How to bridge the intention-resource gap: Translate CX commitments into concrete budget allocation and daily operational activities by anchoring customer experience goals to organizational priorities like revenue growth and cost reduction, not feel-good messaging. 
• Why employee experience directly determines customer experience outcomes: Employees are the number-one driver of CX—if you make promises to customers but treat employees poorly, you create an integrity crisis that erodes trust and increases turnover. 
• The Mindset-Strategy-Discipline framework for authentic transformation: Move beyond surface-level CX initiatives by establishing a clear customer experience mission statement (internal-first), defining measurable strategies aligned to business goals, and maintaining disciplined execution through consistent feedback loops and accountability. 
• How to leverage frontline workers as your richest insight source: Field service teams, cashiers, and customer-facing staff observe trends, customer pain points, and operational friction daily—create safe channels for them to surface feedback and include them in journey mapping conversations. 
• Why surveys alone fail and how to build a multilayered feedback strategy: Combine NPS and surveys with behavioral analytics, real-time coaching insights, and voice-of-customer programs to identify actionable patterns rather than vanity metrics; avoid gaming the system by ensuring feedback directly influences operational decisions. 
• The role of AI in elevating human service, not replacing it: Use AI to equip frontline teams with real-time knowledge and handle routine inquiries, freeing humans for complex, emotionally-demanding interactions—but remain intentional about where human connection is non-negotiable for competitive differentiation. 

About the Guest(s)

Jeannie Walters is an award-winning customer experience expert and founder of Experience Investigators, a firm dedicated to helping companies increase sales and customer retention through elevated customer experiences. With decades of expertise in customer experience strategy, she has authored the upcoming book *Experience is Everything* and delivers keynote speeches and training workshops to organizations across industries. In this episode, Jeannie addresses the critical intersection of employee experience and customer experience, providing service leaders with actionable frameworks for aligning organizational goals, building authentic listening cultures, and maintaining customer-centric focus amid uncertainty. Her work has empowered companies to move beyond surface-level CX initiatives to drive measurable business outcomes, making her insights invaluable for operations and service leaders seeking to transform customer experience into a genuine competitive advantage. 

Follow Along

• [02:20] Why CX Investment Gaps Matter in Uncertain Times 
• [05:32] The Conflicting Priorities Killing Your Frontline Teams 
• [08:55] Lead with Business Language to Advocate for CX 
• [13:26] From Talk to Action: Building Your CX Mission 
• [15:18] Frontline Workers Are Your Richest Insight Source 
• [19:15] Employee Experience Directly Drives Customer Experience 
• [23:49] Authentic Listening: The Foundation of Strong Culture 
• [28:08] Mission Moments: Building Trust Through Consistency 
• [30:42] Beyond NPS: Building a Multilayered Feedback Strategy 
• [37:36] AI's Role in Elevating—Not Replacing—Human Service 
• [45:32] Balancing Automation with Human Connection 
• [47:16] 2026 CX Trends: Personalization Meets Ecosystem Thinking 
• [49:16] Key Takeaways: Making CX Your Competitive Advantage 

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