Your CX Education Hit List

Author

Eli Weiss
August 01, 2024

Hi Team!

A big announcement before I kick-off for this week:

I have chatted quite a bit over the last few weeks about my goal to create more spaces for the marketers–the doers in the space.

We don’t need another conference for CMOs or Growth Guys. 😏

We don’t need another conference where you are talked at by someone who’s not done what they are telling you to do.

We don’t need another conference where you have to bounce through seven or eight sessions looking for someone to speak about what you care about. 

At least, that’s how I felt when I dived into Retention roles. And when I joined Yotpo, we decided to build what I’d been searching for.

Retention Uncensored will be the first-ever Retention gathering for those who do the work–the Retention marketers in the trenches day-to-day.

It’s not your average conference. The topics will be chosen by the audience and for the audience, and you’ll leave with meaningful connections and lots of practical learnings.

This event will be on September 25th in NYC, and I’d love to have you. 

We’ll have guests from brands like Malin & Goetz, Steve Madden, Pair Eyewear, Little Words Project, Cometeer, AS Beauty, and many more fantastic brands. Learn more here. 

Now, for this week’s topic:

It’s been a decade since I started in ecommerce, and I’d be lying if I said it was easy to learn all about CX in my early days.

I bounced around some old books, a few YouTube videos, and some podcasts with people who had done the work in the '60s.

Looking back, I wish I had more direction on where I could learn about CX, both practical tips and insider info.

This week, I’ll talk all about education.

Here is how to get educated on CX. 

Let’s dive in. 

This week’s newsie is brought to you by Siena AI!

This week, we’re spotlighting Siena AI, the pioneer and category creator of Empathic Autonomous AI Agents.

What Makes Siena Stand Out:

  • Empathic Interactions and Brand Consistency: Siena AI excels in delivering empathic interactions that resonate deeply with customers while maintaining your brand's unique tone of voice. It ensures every interaction feels personal and on-brand, whether addressing complaints or celebrating customer milestones.

  • Seamless Integration and Human-Level Reasoning: Embedded directly into your helpdesk, Siena AI functions like a natural extension of your team. It applies human reasoning to understand and solve customer issues comprehensively and autonomously, from routine inquiries to complex problems requiring nuanced decisions like refunds in Shopify or subscription modifications in Recharge. 

  • Superior Conversational Capabilities: With Siena AI, conversations flow naturally, mirroring human dialogue. This isn’t your typical chatbot experience; it’s about engaging customers with interactions so fluid they feel like conversing with a human, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.

Some recent fantastic webinars on the success stories:

  • Madhappy: “The one thing I'll leave everybody with is if you're apprehensive about AI, just test it out. I have not seen a single person disappointed by it. And I know besides ourselves, I know a number of companies using Siena and I've not heard one person have a bad experience with it. It will definitely change your customer service department for the better. 

- Todd Baxter, COO Madhappy

  • Simple Modern: “It's really difficult to tell that Hallie is not a real person for folks. I don't feel morally compromised in that. Customers are happy. We're happy and more efficient. They're getting a better customer service experience than they would have otherwise, frankly.

— Burke Lewis, Director of Ecommerce at Simple Modern

  • Bandit: "I'm very happy to say that CSAT for Siena is consistently a 5."

- Emily Shaw, Head of Operations at Bandit

Dozens of brands are using Siena to amp up their CX without the hefty price tag. It keeps things smooth and consistent, making sure every customer interaction is spot-on with your brand. 

Siena is offering my readers an exclusive 3-month free trial and free access to the Certification Program. Just hit up their team and drop my name, Eli Weiss. 

Book a demo here. 

OK, shall we?

I think the easiest way to chat through this is to give you a lay of the land, a map that takes you through all the mediums you can learn from, and some practical guidance to kick it off. 

Let’s Level-Set:

This might just be me, but I learned so much more by diving into the deep end of an entry-level job than I’d have ever learned by reading all the books.

From what I have seen, so many books teach you core values and what things should look like in a perfect world.

When sh!t goes awry, you need a well-seasoned palette of chaos in order to jump in and get things back on track.

A caveat to all of the tea below is this:

Everyone learns their way. This is coming from someone who finished high school with a GED at 21 years old and never went to college.

Be honest with yourself about what the best use of your time is. It might be spending hours networking with others instead of taking courses on Coursera, and that’s ok. 

Oh, the books you’ll read:

I know there are a slew of great CX books, but let’s start with a shortlist of five that changed the way I think about CX. 

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh:

When I first started out in CX, like many here, I geeked out on Zappos. I was astounded by how they made something so complex feel so simple. 

As I read the book, I learned how much of their magic was due to prioritizing customer happiness in company culture and DNA. 

It’s such an easy and inspiring read. I think I ready this book cover to cover in less than 24 hours.

I read this book fairly early in my CX journey and it blew my mind by debunking the myth that wowing customers is the key to loyalty.

 Instead, it’s all about making their lives easier. With actionable insights and real-world examples, it’s a must-read for reducing churn.

If you think complaints and whining are intrinsically bad for business, think again. 

Baer shows how embracing and addressing complaints can turn critics into your biggest fans. The good old service recovery paradox is a strong guiding light in this book. 

Packed with practical tips, this book is a goldmine for anyone serious about customer retention.

I read this early on in my OLIPOP days, and it fed everything we did on the surprise and delight side.

The Heath brothers break down the science behind why some experiences stick forever, and some disappear.

They explain in detail how you can create real moments for your customers. It’s a game-changer for CX folks thinking about taking monotonous moments and turning them into magic.

Bliss takes you step-by-step through building a customer-centric organization. Her insights are spot on for anyone looking to elevate the role of the Chief Customer Officer and drive real growth. I hope we all aspire to create more of such leadership roles over the next decade. 

While we are here, let’s pull another few legendary books that will give you inspo from the hospitality world.

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer:

Danny Meyer, the mastermind behind Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack, shares how to make hospitality a competitive advantage. 

His philosophy on enlightened hospitality will transform the way you think about customer experience. I know it did for me. In fact, I wrote a whole newsletter about this a while back and even got to meet Danny. 

Will Guidara, the genius behind Eleven Madison Park, shares his philosophy on over-the-top hospitality. 

This book isn’t just about service; it’s about creating unforgettable experiences that go beyond expectations. 

Guidara’s stories from the restaurant world show how a little extra effort can transform ordinary interactions into extraordinary moments. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to make their customers feel truly special and turn great service into a true art form.

This book reads incredibly well. He’s such a great author. I remember reading this while I was in Amsterdam and thinking, “damn, I need to get into hospitality”. 🤣

Michelli spills the beans on their secrets, including their famous $2,000 rule. Yep, every employee is empowered to spend up to $2,000 to solve any guest issue on the spot. 

Packed with real-world examples, this book is a masterclass in creating a culture of exceptional service. Perfect if you want to elevate your CX game to a five-star level.

Two last books I have not read yet but want to:

Four Seasons by Isadore Sharp
Be Our Guest by Disney and Theodore Kinni

Oh, the courses you can take:

Let's be real: AI in customer experience isn't coming - it's here. But for many of us, it still feels like a confusing black box. Siena gets it, and they've created something genuinely useful: the first-ever AI Certification Program built specifically for CX leaders.

This isn't about theoretical jargon or vague promises. It's 5+ hours of practical, no-nonsense content that answers the questions we're all asking:

  • "Where do we even start with AI?"

  • "How do we use this to help our team, not replace them?"

  • "What's the actual impact on our customers and bottom line?"

With 9 in-depth modules and 50+ hands-on lessons, you'll learn how to build and deploy AI Agents that work alongside your human team. They've included 25+ examples from real brands, so you can see exactly how others are making this work.

The best part? This certification was previously only for Siena customers and partners, but they're opening it up to my readers. If you want to cut through the AI hype and gain skills that will shape the future of CX, this is your chance.

Oh, the podcasts you’ll listen to:

Fantastic interviews with CX leaders across B2B, DTC, etc. I’ve got one coming out with them mid Aug!

Juice with Jess:

Part CX, part brand experience, part marketing leadership. From Jess Cervellon, founder of Open Late Collective and former VP of CX at Feastables. Loved this recent interview with Michael Bair, SVP of CX at Figs.

There are not a ton of CX-specific podcasts I am familiar with at this point in time, so if you have any you personally love pls share them with me.

Lastly, two fun podcasts I was a guest on in the last few weeks:

The D2Z Podcast: Retention Strategies for Business Growth with Eli Weiss

Oh, the communities you’ll frequent:

When starting out in CX, my introverted self knew NOBODY. When I started sharing more about my work and getting myself out there a bit, I started getting some cold DMs and intros.

After meeting a bunch of folks one-on-one, I thought to myself: what if I created a virtual place to pull together all the folks I met and see what happens?

I started with 10 friends, and two and half years later, we have 1300+ of the best CX leaders who call this discord home.

Join here if you’d like. Free and will always stay that way.

That’s it for this week!

Any topics you'd like to see me cover in the future?

Just shoot me a DM or an email!

Cheers, 

Eli 💛

P.S. Looking for inspo on your next email/sms campaign?

I know you will love this.