🎤🎞️Empowering agents AND customers in “The one where he's curious...not judgmental” – with Tim Kyse, Vice President of Customer Experience at Openly in CX Passport E138🎧
What’s in the episode?...
[00:00] Introduction
[02:56] Great customer experience results in insurance
[05:28] Hiring both human and industry skills
[08:38] Managing the pressures of customer support
[12:58] Capturing customer insights – and acting on them
[15:39] The impact of engagement whilst operating remotely
[18:17] 1st Class Business Lounge
[24:30] What drew Tim to Openly?
[26:53] How is Openly using the current versions of AI?
[30:10] What technology improvements would Tim like to prioritize with?
[33:07] Contact info and closing
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Episode resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-kyse
tRANSCRIPT
Tim Kyse: 0:00
When we take a claims call, or we take a service call regarding a policy, something bad may have happened to that customer, right? You have to their shoes, and you have to bring them down to a level where you can help them and help them understand that we're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that their crisis that they're going through is moved to the level where they need to be happy and satisfied.
Rick Denton: 0:25
You're listening to CX Passport, the show about creating great customer experiences with a dash of travel talk. Each episode we’ll talk with our guests about great CX, travel...and just like the best journeys, explore new directions we never anticipated. I'm your host Rick Denton. I believe the best meals are served outside and require a passport. Let's get going. Very low abandoned rate. Super fast hold time. Now, try and tell me about an industry that can claim facts like that. Well, many claim it. But can they back it up? Alright. Now how about this, this company provides exceptional service. Now, I'll tell you the industry later. By delivering truly comprehensive coverage through independent agents without surprise or concern. We do this because we exist to make this industry remarkably simple. What if I told you this was the insurance industry? Have you tried to call your insurance company? Would you call your interactions remarkably simple? And have you been able to interact without surprise or concern? Well, that's the mission and delivery of today's guest. As we have a chance to talk with Tim Kyse vice president of customer experience at Openly Prior to his current role of delivering on a customer experience mission to bring that simplicity to insurance. Tim has a wealth of experience in the CX space, more specifically is focusing on the customer success, and customer service elements of customer experience, even to the point of building up a contact center overseas, maybe to openly in March of 2022. Tim knows there's a healthy need for technology to deliver great customer experience, a need that can't ignore the human element either. Both the human that's the customer, in this case, independent insurance agents. And the human that is the employee, the internal agent. There's a lot to deliver when you're responsible for customer experience. And I'm excited to hear more about how Tim does this, Tim, welcome to CX passport.
Tim Kyse: 2:25
Thank you. Great to be here. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Rick Denton: 2:28
I get so excited at the beginning of these I just I love getting a chance to learn especially from someone who is truly running customer experience for a company, you did say something very interesting to me when we first met and it was along with describing that low abandoned rate and the Superfast whole time you said we do very little training of our agents on the insurance side for an industry that is so complex. How on earth can you do that and still achieve great customer experience results?
Tim Kyse: 2:56
Well, like you said, I've been open since March of last year. And the mission of a company has always been to provide an easy experience within our insurance portal and provide the excellent customer service. So I inherited that culture from the way it was built from from day one. So what we do is we pay a premium for our team. And we pay a premium for our talent, because in the insurance space specially with what we do. There's a license requirement for our frontline team. So most of the team has a producer producing license insurance insurance license. And what that enables them to do is answer more complex questions and be in compliance because they have that license and training to do so. Examples Examples are if a if an agent or policyholder calls up and ask questions about you know, what if scenarios, we are allowed and to answer those questions as best we can, because we do have that insurance license background. So we do spend a lot of time in the hiring process. Our people and culture team really dive into the requirements of the job, which is to have insurance background. So our team does come from extensive years of insurance experience. So when they start everyone goes through an onboarding experience insurance one on one, but yeah, they have that knowledge already built into their ecosystem. So we're not starting from step zero.
Rick Denton: 4:30
And so that that makes a ton of sense. Right? If that you are already hiring for skills that have that in place, then you don't have to train them now. There were a couple things that we'll hope that we have the chance to circle back to because I'm very curious about the you know, choosing to pay more right well that's not something you hear a lot in the context center ecosystem in general right just forget industry just in general you don't hear that's usually an area that's getting squeezed. And this idea of well that's not where we want to spend our money isn't that areas is so right so I'm I may want to circle back to that. But something that you that you mentioned about how they already have those insurance skills is a bit counterintuitive to what a lot of folks might say when they're approaching a customer facing role, that they'll say that industry skills are those teachable skills. But it's the human skills like empathy, kindness, interest, interest in others and curiosity that are innate, that aren't necessarily something so you look to hire for those as opposed to industry skills. So how are you going about ensuring that you're getting both that industry skill? And those human skills in an agent hire?
Tim Kyse: 5:35
Yeah, sure, I'll back up to the history of openly. So at some point in the early stages, or mid stages of the beginning stage of openly, we had, we had extensive growth. And we had to hire quickly. And we didn't have the training infrastructure in place we didn't have and this is all before I got here, we didn't have as stuff in place. So we had to bring in people that could step right into the phones and chats was in weaker, weaker, weaker too. So that's kind of like the background for why we have the hiring approach that we've kind of just continued since I've gotten here. So if you look at look at open these core values, and a lot of companies share these core values, but in my opinion, we truly act on them, right? We have curiosity. If teamwork, we have urgency, we build fast, and we build fast for our customers, we build fast for employees. Most importantly, empathy is our is our key core value. And you can't, you can't be successful openly, if you do not have that core value. We do things differently in the insurance space. And I know other insurance companies have at the same the same process and want to make sure their customers are happy and satisfied. But we really do focus on that we, when we take a claims call or we take a service call regarding a policy, something bad may have happened to that customer, right? You have to shoes, and you have to bring them down to a level where you can help them and help them understand that we're going to do everything you possibly can to make sure that their crisis that they're going through is moved to the level where they need to be happy and satisfied. And that's preparing something or replacing something that they lost, right. That's important to our to our company culture. So it's been ingrained from our senior leadership all the way down to the frontline team.
Your CX Passport Captain: 7:17
This is your captain speaking. I want to thank you for listening to CX Passport today. We’ve now reached our cruising altitude so I’ll turn that seatbelt sign off. <ding> While you’re getting comfortable, hit that Follow or Subscribe button in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. I’d love it if you’d tell a friend about CX Passport and leave a review so that others can discover the show as well. Now, sit back and enjoy the rest of the episode.
Rick Denton: 7:43
So I'm listening to this both as a podcast host and I've got questions that I want to ask you. But I'm also listening to this as a well, a consumer of the insurance industry. And I've experienced both I've experienced that moment where there is some moment of crisis, right something there was a major weather event damage something at the house or being a part of an auto accident, or dealing with a health care insurance element associated with that. And the various degrees of empathy that I've received in those situations has had a massive impact on how I really went through that journey as a customer. So to hear you say that that's something that we're not working on. But that's stripe from from the very beginning of the culture has warms my heart right as a consumer, and I'm glad to hear more and more of that, I just wish that there was more and more of their that out there. Now, there's something though about that. So sometimes empathy takes time. And sometimes it's the longer calls, it's the the really taking the time to understand that customer, we at the very beginning of this call talked about one way to achieve a really short hold time is companies will apply this undue pressure on their agents. And this seems very counter to going about empathy, but pressure on agents to complete a call as quickly as possible, even if it is at the expense of customer experience. Because by gosh, we've got to get our average hold times down and we've got to get our average handle times down. Well, that doesn't sound like what you're describing there. But it's a challenge. So how are you delivering on these great operational metrics, and achieving the delivery of great customer experience?
Tim Kyse: 9:24
So yeah, so I'll go I'll go back to the company culture. I would say we've not only invested in customer experience, but we make sure we have more people in seats, answering phone calls and chats that maybe we need, right, maybe there's a one or two headcount over what we what the science is telling us what we need to deliver on a good and a good service experience. So we're a little bit over a little bit so we were able to have those little Bama rates, but we also have built our operations in place within Zendesk in our in our IVR. That, you know, the way we look at operations is that it's our job to make sure And I'll back up for a second here. The key thing we hear in NPS scores and customer satisfaction surveys, and just through conversations with our agents and customers, is that they love the fact that when they click on the chat icon, somebody's there to answer a man chat, or the phone call, they're on their on their, their on their cell phone in the car, and 20 to 24 seconds, somebody is there picking up the phone call. So we take that and say, Okay, this is what we need to deliver on. Let's build our operation all around this. And because we have those licensed insurance folks on our team, we know that once that phone call gets answered, the agent, the insurance agent, or the policyholders question is going to be answered. Right, our data tells us that our CSAT scores are in the high 90s. NPS scores are really high too. So we built the operation around making sure that the agent phone call is being answered. And then we hand it off to the to the frontline team to actually service and deliver it that when it comes to undue pressure, we actually don't have handle time, I do not believe in handle time as a metric in the contact center. I think it's an archaic, archaic way of measuring good customer experience, as far as I'm concerned. But we don't put the pressure on we use handle time to understand where our longer calls are most likely has to do with our processes. Maybe that's not that's not great, or a product enhancement that needs to be put in place. It's not on the frontline team, when they're handled time is a certain level of you know, above normal. So I don't believe in undue pressure on our team. I don't that's not the culture we have here.
Rick Denton: 11:42
I like what I'm hearing there. I talk a lot about customer insights. When it comes to agents, I definitely want to ask you about that. What I like that not only are you talking about customer insights from what your your metrics, your research your data, you're also using it for your operational improvements aspect of it. And it is interesting to hear you say that, you know, a longer call time, and you went into like, I think you just said it. So naturally, there's a lot of companies that aren't immediately assuming that it's something with the process, the systems, the tools, they're assuming that the agent did something wrong, it's a culture of attack the agent and the agent did something wrong. Whereas if it's taking that long, we as a company have failed our agent and then in turn, have failed our customer in your case that your customer agent as well. So let's let's talk about those insights for a second. So in this case, I'm talking about the openly agent. When I mentioned when I talk about frontline, they are the ones that are there at the co creation of customer experience. They're the ones who know customer insights better than anyone they know what the customer is experiencing living feeling breathing, hating, loving. So with that unique perspective, there's a ton of information that sits locked in the contact center inside the contact center agent, how do you capture that agent inside that customer that contact center insight? And then more importantly, how do you act on it?
Tim Kyse: 13:06
Yeah, sure. So just backing up to the previous question. So are you have you watched Ted Lhasa before?
Rick Denton: 13:13
Oh, most certainly. Yes. I have watched Ted last so loved it. Like a heck of a lot of us, right?
Tim Kyse: 13:20
Yeah. Right. Yeah. I, I can't tell you how many times I've been into a meeting before where somebody's somebody shared that the gift or the picture of be curious, not judgmental. Right. So when it comes to the handle time question before, we're curious why, you know, so listen to the phone call and 90% of time, it's not the our frontline team doing anything wrong. It's something that our operation team me, is responsible, accountable to fix on the back end. So just giving you some insight to more about the culture of openly is that that's our approach. We don't take your point. And then we don't have that toxic culture that that would put the undue pressure on people to answer
Rick Denton: 14:00
Can I Can I interrupt because I know you're going you're about to answer the the other question, I love that you went there. But I really want to ask, okay, how, because that's the ideal culture. That's what a lot of people strive to create. That's what a lot of folks strive to, to work in. They try to interview to be a part of a company that's like that. How How would you say that openly has successfully implemented a culture that is curious, not judgmental? That's not easy.
Tim Kyse: 14:25
No, it's not easy at all. Because we are on the, you know, we're year five or six now. So we're just constantly building evolving, but we can't do that. If we keep people quiet, right? The worst thing you can have on a service culture or culture in general, is when people don't talk. Right. So the quiet quitting, I guess. So we have to create avenues for folks to get their opinions and insights to the rest of the company. So we truly we're really working on our inclusive environment where everyone has an opinion about something and they can they can We have the framework to are building frameworks to make sure that they are heard. It's not easy though, especially in a remote world, right. And for me, I am motivated by turnover, right? I don't like turnover, we don't experience too much of an opening. And I hate turnover costs. So we do everything we possibly can to play defense and be proactive against that from happening. So my opinion and the way I survive and thrive here at Oakley, my career is fulfillment, right? So we try to pass that on to the frontline team to make sure that they feel like they have an impact on something.
Rick Denton: 15:35
You were taking me down conversational threads that I was not expecting. I want to explore the remote part of this a little more as well. We are this was a different conversation two years ago, everyone said, Well, okay, we're all remote. And that's how we live. And that's going to be life. Well, we've seen the return to office and I am not here to engage in that debate. That's not the point of what I'm saying. But for a company that has chosen to stay remote engagement absolutely is one of the biggest challenges. I saw it one of my former clients and how they solve for that. And really, it takes effort. Tactically, Tim, how are y'all continuing that level of engagement, when you aren't there to look somebody in the physical eyes and put a hand on a shoulder or shake your hand?
Tim Kyse: 16:19
Yeah. So Rick, you and I are introduced by a fellow friend of ours, Marjorie hook, who's our VP of people, people and culture at open they Yes, she's been here for a year now. And she's worked extensively hard on the employment engagement part of opening. And one of the things that she's really built good structure around is engagement surveys that we did for the first time last year. And we're doing, you know, we're going to be doing throughout the throughout the year, too, as well. And folks gave us really good insight on to how we can better engage remotely. Because as we're getting bigger and bigger and more all across the country, it's becoming harder and harder. So everyone's got a different learning or working style, right, and a communication style. So we're very heavily involved in Slack. We rarely use email. But some folks like email as further general updates. So we weren't really working on constant communication through all channels. We really work on having good calculated team huddles on a weekly basis. And we're giving good updates. Insurance changes all the time. Like when we have a storm that comes in right, we have to put some policies in moratorium, right, we have to update the frontline team to make sure that they're well informed. So we over communicate on everything, whether it's updating stuff, the knowledge base, Slack, email, verbal meeting. So and just creating that from an information standpoint, our product team, which is very much connected with the frontline service team, is bringing our frontline team in for testing on new features. And they're doing interviews. And so there's a connection branch right there. So our team is saying, Hey, if you build this will stop this from happening. And our product team is building out and they're seeing the results of that. So you see the engagement and fulfillment coming through the employee experience.
Rick Denton: 18:17
Am I absolutely love that, as someone who listeners are probably bored of hearing me say this, that I love the frontline being the epicenter of the fact that y'all are so focused on the engagement, the fact that y'all are talking about bringing them together with the product team to make things actually happen. That's an example of a company that's not ignoring the goal that sits there in the context center. And I'm so thankful to hear that I guess, you know, one thing if you're going to spend the money, the premium on the context, and well let's extract that gold, so good for you for doing that as well along with delivering a great customer experience. Tim with a company that is scattered around the the the wide regions, and remote, I imagine there might be some times that you get to get out there and do a little bit of traveling even if it stays exclusively remote. I'm sure that you enjoy the ability to get out there on the road. And one of the things that the road has taught me is that it is nice to take a break and that is what we're going to do right now as we head into the first class lounge. I have a little fun here hopefully move quickly and we'll see where things go. What is a favorite destination of yours from your past?
Tim Kyse: 19:18
I love Aruba. Aruba is is a place where the weather is very consistent, right? You might get a two minute rainstorm every day, but you're almost guaranteed good weather when you go down there. And funnily enough, the customer experience and customer service are Aruba is just top notch. For the moment you land to the woman no matter what hotel you choose restaurants you go to customer services is their bread and butter. So as somebody in the industry, I take notice. Yeah,
Rick Denton: 19:48
well, Aruba is one of the ones I haven't been to. I need to go to more of the Caribbean. I live in Texas. I'm closer to the Caribbean than a lot of folks in the country. And I need to get over there a little bit more often. I have not been knew a Reuben had not heard that theme of their approach to customer service. So I'm excited about that. And you're right. Probably the worst person for any hospitality industry to to have as a guest are people like us that are in the customer service industry? Because we know what good looks like and our expectations are set that way. What is if a Rube is on my future list, what is a dream travel location you've not been to yet?
Tim Kyse: 20:22
I've been to I've been to a couple of countries in Europe, but I really like to backpack through Europe. My wife is an awesome researcher. So I think she would set us up nicely. But you know, taking taking the Euro train and going to as many countries to see as possible, I think would be cool. I'd love to see that part of the world. Again, having support too much of it. But I think that's a missing a missing part of my travel experience.
Rick Denton: 20:47
And the idea of backpacking, it is so glorious. Now I did the cliched post college backpacking trip. So I graduated in 1995, put on the backpack and did the Euro rail and all that aspect of the pre phone. So you got your little let's go book flipping through that those of you that know what the let's go book is, Tim, you're doing it the right way, though. And while I appreciate that the miserly approach that I had to do as a just recently graduated college student taught me a lot going as a backpacker, with a little bit of a, you know, euros in my pocket might be a little more enjoyable experience. So I, I think you're doing it the right way of doing the career a little bit, building up some funds, and then going and doing the backpack and you'll love it, it's going to be a fantastic trip. One of the things that I love about Europe, and really the globe in general is the food. And so what is a favorite thing of yours to eat?
Tim Kyse: 21:35
I'm a steak person I love I love steak, all my work trips, you know whether I meet with my team, or we have a leadership meeting off site somewhere, we'll always do a steak house. And it's definitely my my number one favorite food.
Rick Denton: 21:50
Well, Tim, you're talking to somebody in North Texas, the Dallas area, which is very well known for its steak houses. So if you ever make your way down here, let's go make sure that we get ourselves a nice steak and meet in person sometime. That is an open invitation. Now let's go the other direction. Growing up what is something that you were forced to eat? But you hated as a kid?
Tim Kyse: 22:09
Same answer steak, really, I, I, I just couldn't I would be in the kitchen table by myself. I couldn't chew it. And it was just like, it was one of those forever things and I did not enjoy the state process. And my mom would make me sit at the table and eat it until I was done. And then years later, it just clicked. Oh, wow, I'm missing the component of steak. Maybe it was too dry. I don't I don't know. Right? You know, but I figured it out that I was the problem. And I readjusted my lights of food. So
Rick Denton: 22:41
I know that there's two ways to consume this podcast. I have the folks that are the listeners. And I have those of the viewers listeners, my jaw had fallen out of my face when I heard that steak was the answer that Tim you win. That is the first answer for steak that I've ever heard for that question. This is 140 some odd episodes or something like that, at this point. What is one travel item not including your phone, not including your passport that you will not leave home without.
Tim Kyse: 23:08
So you may not be able to have on the podcast, but I'm pretty high energy. And you could probably tell actually, but I I like to exercise before I really start my day out. So whether it's a business trip, even on vacation, right, if my parents had done the Jersey Shore and I visit them often summertime, I'll start the day off biking 20 miles down, down the beach. So definitely some kind of exercise gear is is critical, especially on business trips, because I cannot happen to a meeting without having the thought process and energy kind of like start kicking off the day for me.
Rick Denton: 23:52
I could not agree with you more. In fact, I'm losing track of which guest it was it was in the recent past. A guest and I were talking about how it for him it was his running shoes, or walking shoes or whatever. And talking about you know, I had referenced a situation where I ended up in Hong Kong and had left mine and so one of the first things is finding a sporting goods store in Hong Kong to go buy tennis shoes, I'm with you that I cannot do a business trip, especially if they're longer ones without some kind of exercise or getting out there. I thought you were about to tell me that you were going to travel with your bike. So I was gonna be really interested. That was your one item that was going to be impressive. Yeah. So Tim, you mentioned joining openly in there in the recent past. And I'm curious because you had a career in in many other areas. So you had choices. What drew you to openly what are some of the kind of really interesting, juicy customer experience stories that you know there?
Tim Kyse: 24:47
Yeah, so I was at DiMeo for about a year and it was a great job. I was running system support technology and systems it was it was awesome job working with the best in class service technology. But then I was introduced to open link, which remind me a lot of my my quick pay real page days and then beginning where it was kind of a startup culture, right. And you have the opportunity to come in and build something that was really successful for what for where it was at this point, and really enhance it and take it to the next level. And I tell this to my team all the time that the best thing about experience is that you got to learn from all the mistakes you made, right? Yeah, make a ton of mistakes. Amen. All right. And, you know, in just taking all those lessons learned and applying them here, and and constantly evolving, what we're doing here was an opportunity, I just, I just couldn't pass up. Having when I interviewed, the executive team was so impressive as far as our background and experience and their passion for doing this. I thought it was, and my gut told me that was contagious around the company. And I was I was totally right, by that assumption, is one of those interviews. I mean, I went through multiple rounds of interviews here. But it was one of those interviews, interview process where you're like, I want this job. I want this job, you know, and, and I got it, and I couldn't be happier working here, you know, the opportunity to learn and evolve and change. And ADAPT is really, really a key part here.
Rick Denton: 26:13
Yeah, well, it's always great when you find that right match, especially those of us that are in that CX space, because it does, not only is it just satisfy kind of the corporate itch, but it satisfies that human itch that it just you know that you found that good heart, heart component to what you were looking for. You referenced technology talking about Vimeo. And we all know that right now, AI is almost a required conversation. I feel like that the podcasters unit, there's not actually one, but the podcasters unit has demanded that I bring up AI in every single episode. But I do because it's interesting. It's topical. It's what's on the minds of folks right now, including me, I'm trying to learn, I feel somewhat behind as I'm learning, right. I'm curious, though, because AI has this wide definition, right? We did an AI stuff for decades. But how are you including the current versions of AI and what it means to you at openly in the delivery? And then the improvement of customer experience?
Tim Kyse: 27:09
Yeah. So I'll piggyback the last question you asked about openly, right? So opportunity for me to help come in and build the foundational pieces to help us scale going forward. And some of that has to do with bringing in a workforce management tool, building out a self service experience, building out a help center that helps not only our internal team, but our open our customers self serve, and at the end of the day, provide a better experience and results in ticket to election insurance. So you can't do any of that stuff. Until your foundations are in place. So yeah, the software's that we use, Zendesk is a big part of our ecosystem. It does. It's our main hub for support. So we are very reliant on what they build out in their capabilities in their system. We use workforce Manager tool that has some AI functionality to it. But insurance in general is somewhat regulated. I mean, that's, it's very regulated. And
Rick Denton: 28:16
in my head, I was saying, Boy, that's really understating it, Tim.
Tim Kyse: 28:19
Yeah, so it's very regulated. So the controls that I have to adhere to are way more intense than it was back back back when I was doing AI in the past. So that's something to keep keep an eye on. But from opening its perspective, what we're doing on a service level, and just a general service culture, we're doing the right things right now. And we we are very weary of the risk of breaking that experience. But that does not mean that we're not interested in implementing AI. So from from it from an AI perspective, and again, using the tools that we use a lot of it's based upon what their capabilities are. We're looking at AI first from an internal perspective. Right. So a ticket comes in to Zendesk. It's it's scanning a ticket, the AI scanning the ticket, and it's and it's going to suggest articles or the next answer for that frontline team that to answer with because it's it's served through, yeah, this same type of injury. And we have the same result Poppy and that old ticket with a CSAT 99%, you know, 100% we're confident that article or that workflow will be the right part of this ticket. So we're starting slow internally, as really like our basis point for this stuff.
Rick Denton: 29:32
If you were thinking about where you'd prioritize it, because I like what you were saying there if there's a couple of ways that you might go about it. There's the improving it for your customer, the independent agent, there's improving it, it being experience for your internal agent. And you mentioned that the tools that are made available to help understand an inbound ticket and what that request is and help educate the agent on that there. There's tools that are available to deflect so that there's a self service component, if you had to, and I know these binary choices are somewhat arbitrary and somewhat false, but if you had to choose where would you put your prioritization of technology improvements, to help improve the overall experience? So you're looking towards the agent dealing to the customer? How are you approaching that prioritization decision?
Tim Kyse: 30:22
So again, going back to the foundation, I really think that building out the internal process and internal structure is critical here. On my roadmap, I'd love to integrate all of our systems to talk to each other. Right. And that's a company initiative that we have backing for all layers, right? We use Salesforce as our CRM, we use Zendesk for our ticketing system, we ever opened the portal that houses all of our policies, how do we connect the three of them, right, to all talk to each other, and then bring that data together and tell the true story of how a customer is doing or how we're doing, but really bring the context of the policy right to the frontline team. So them having gone to, you know, get the ticket in or get a phone call and, and then have to go to another system to find stuff, right? Why can we pull that? The answer is we can, but it just requires an investment of time and energy. But it's definitely on the company roadmap.
Rick Denton: 31:25
And you know, as I'm asking the question, in the back of my mind, I know that it's almost a trick question, because you the example that you provided there, well, you know, what, if you improve the agent's experience, you're going to improve the customer's experience, because what is think of something so frustrated as a customer? 10? Right, we're calling in and we have a question. And you just hear the Kleenex, I don't know, it's coming to the microphone, but you know, hit my keyboard here. And how that, you know, the agent is trying to find the information or accessing it, I was part of a, one of the companies that I worked for, before I became an independent consultant, exactly that it was 16 screens that an agent had to go through to answer one question for a customer. And that included validation screens, topical screens, updating screens, consolidating that into one, improved the agents experience, it improved the customers experience, and it actually improved the operational metrics that you and I were talking about earlier, as well. So I love that you're starting there from the agent to then be able to improve the overall customer experience, Tim, we're out of time, I just looked down. And I'm kind of shocked by it. i This was a fun conversation. I'm glad that you've taken me on that journey through through openly. You know, a lot of folks would not look to the insurance agent insurance industry, I think I can get that word out as a source of customer experience, mentoring and motivation and ideal. And yet, what you're describing is exactly that, that that was the choice made at the beginning of the creation of the company to be able to move that forward. And some of the stories you've told, certainly have inspired me. In that regard. I will say that you have certainly surprised me with your answer around steak being the item that it's one that you did not like as a kid that caught me off guard. Tim, if folks wanted to learn more about your stories, learn more about your your journey through the appreciation of steak, but really more your customer experience stories or to learn more about openly, where would they turn to learn more.
Tim Kyse: 33:19
Obviously, my LinkedIn profiles is pretty active. I'm active in the Zendesk Slack community, I'm active in the support driven slack communities. And that's a great way for people to to coexist and help each other out. That's the, it's my opinion, the CX industry is all full of passionate people. And we're all trying to help each other out. So, you know, we often go to those slack communities before we go to our to our technology vendors for support, because everyone has an answer. They've experienced that same problem. And that's, that's the part about giving back that I think I really appreciate about CX is that leadership, who wants was doing as in the frontlines is now in leadership positions, we can now give back and teach and help and develop people that we don't even know.
Rick Denton: 34:03
I love it. And so I'm gonna get all that into the show notes as well. I don't want to leave though, without commenting and saying, I love that what you've observed about it not observed experience in the seats committee, I have felt it as well. I felt it to the warmth of guests being willing to give up their time to participate in CX passport and share their insight and their stories. I felt that as a customer experience practitioners I learned from others it really is. I have found this to be one of the least competitive spaces and been one of the most collaborative spaces in the customer experience world. And I've very much appreciated that. Tim, I've appreciated that I've appreciated what you've shared with me today. I've appreciated you being on CX passport 10 Thank you for being on CX passport.
Tim Kyse: 34:43
Exactly. This is great. Thank you.
Rick Denton: 34:51
Thanks for joining us this week on CX Passport. If you liked today’s episode I have 3 quick next steps for you Click subscribe on the CX Passport youtube channel or your favorite podcast app Next leave a comment below the video or a review in your favorite podcast app so others can find and and enjoy CX Passport too Then, head over to cxpassport.com website for show notes and resources that can help you create tangible business results by delivering great customer experience. Until next time, I’m Rick Denton and I believe the best meals are served outside and require a passport.
Host - Rick Denton
Rick believes the best meals are served outside and require a passport.
A sought after keynote speaker and CX leader, Rick transforms CX and VOC programs from Survey & Score to Listen and Act.
After a successful corporate career, Rick launched EX4CX - Execution for Customer Experience to bring CX victories to a wide client base.
Rick combines these loves by hosting the CX Passport podcast, a weekly talk with guests about customer experience and travel.