Many business leaders believe emotional connection is unquantifiable and too fluffy to produce real results. This episode of Doing CX Right challenges that mindset.
Stacy Sherman and Patrick McCullough of Hallmark Business Connections reveal how emotional connection directly impacts revenue, retention, and customer loyalty.
Hear how a retailer’s personalized card campaign to one million top customers outperformed all other marketing, generating significant in-store sales and national recognition. Learn how a tool empowered call center teams to turn everyday interactions into loyalty-building experiences. If you think emotions can’t be measured—or don’t impact your bottom line—this episode proves otherwise and how to design emotional connections as part of your customer experience strategy.
Key Questions Explored:
- What is emotional ROI, and how does it directly impact business results?
- How do emotional memories shape future customer decisions?
- What are the “Three E’s,” and why must every frontline employee know them?
- How can brands measure emotional impact without relying on gut feel?
- Why do traditional metrics often fail to capture what really matters?
Topics Discussed To Inform Your Customer Experience Strategy:
- [00:01:00] Emotional connection as an essential business lever
- [00:04:15] How emotional memories build brand advantage
- [00:06:42] Ease, Effectiveness, Emotion—the 3 diagnostic pillars
- [00:08:29] Using small gestures, like handwritten notes, to create lasting loyalty
- [00:11:50] Behavioral science and emotional feedback loops
- [00:14:35] Challenging the myth: emotion is not soft
- [00:16:59] How to measure emotional ROI with consistency
- [00:19:40] Rethinking executive metrics and feedback strategies
- [00:22:55] Final takeaways on operationalizing emotional experience
Actionable Takeaways
- Ask customers how they felt, not just whether it worked.
- Use the 3 E’s—Ease, Effectiveness, and Emotion—to pinpoint what drives loyalty.
- Turn simple gestures into revenue drivers. Start with handwritten thank-yous.
- Measure emotional impact with purpose, not as an afterthought.
- Train teams to track and respond to emotional signals, not just issues.
Leadership Advice:
Stop tracking transactions at your core business metric. Start asking: How did we make our customers feel—and will that feeling bring them back? That’s the question that reveals what your strategy is really delivering.
Looking Ahead – Customer Experience Predictions:
Emotional intelligence and behavioral science will define the next-gen customer experience strategy. The future of CX is personal, measurable, and deeply human.
Final Thought: Emotional Connection is not a fluffy concept.
It drives what customers remember, repeat, and recommend. If the experience doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t build loyalty. Your customer experience strategy must include emotional design and measure the feeling it creates.
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About Patrick McCullough:
As the President of Hallmark Business Connections, Patrick McCullough leads day-to-day business and operations and oversees the HBC leadership team.
Patrick also spends time in the marketplace evangelizing a simple belief: Hallmark Cards can do a lot for businesses! Whether you are building a relationship with a client or incentivizing a customer to come in and shop, no other direct marketing format or channel can deliver the kinds of results a Hallmark card can.
Patrick has spent his career working with companies to help evolve their marketing strategies and build better customer experiences. “I’ve been blessed to lead teams across many different organizations while supporting many different clients and industries, from SaaS solutions and e-commerce management, marketing and advertising strategy, to management consulting… And each of these experiences helped frame my broad view of the business world that keeps me grounded and allows me to work with and contribute to Hallmark’s broad client base.
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About Stacy Sherman:
Stacy Sherman is a professional speaker, advisor, and founder of Doing CX Right® consultancy, helping companies build unbreakable loyalty across customers, employees, and partners for lasting retention and growth. With 25 years at top companies, a Marketing MBA, and certifications in Journey Mapping and UX, she provides a proven, research-backed framework that drives real business impact. A trusted, award-winning CX leader, Stacy is recognized as a Top Global CX Guru and ICMI Top 25 Influencer (2021-2025). She continues to shape the future of CX through LinkedIn Learning courses, workshops, best-selling books, and her award-winning podcast, equipping professionals with the strategies to deliver measurable results, competitive advantage, and enriched experiences.
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A Gift For You:
Do you want to know if your customer experience creates loyal advocates who genuinely love your brand? Are your employees inspired to champion your mission as others in your industry view you as the gold standard they strive to reach?
Take FREE CX Assessment to uncover:
- Barriers limiting your brand’s growth and impact.
- Factors that drive stronger customer connections and deeper loyalty.
- Strategies to create meaningful experiences that set your brand apart.
Doing customer experience the right way can transform your business and enrich the lives of the people you service. Don’t leave it to chance.
Change Management Employee Retention Leadership Development Workplace Culture Customer Experience Customer Service voice of customer artificial intelligence community customer loyalty CX
