Top CX & EX Lessons from “Medallia Experience” You Need to Know

Top CX & EX Lessons from “Medallia Experience” You Need to Know

by | Mar 29, 2025 | AI, Technology and Tools, Company Culture & Employees

 I just returned from the Medallia Experience Event with a sobering realization: 90% of customer feedback never gets used. Think about that—businesses collect all this valuable information from customers, then let most of it gather digital dust. The event didn’t just reinforce what I’ve been teaching through my Doing CX Right® framework—it revealed practical ways any organization can transform both employee and customer experiences.

Having spent 25+ years leading teams in corporate environments and small businesses, speaking globally, and studying business and human behavior, I know firsthand how often organizations miss this opportunity. The facts revealed at Medallia Experience event validated what I’ve been helping people around the world understand:
When you get experience right, everything else follows.

I’m writing this article to summarize what I heard and my perspective on how you can apply the insights as a customer experience leader. And yes, YOU are a CX leader. Not sure what I mean? Please contact me right now!

 

The Hidden Link Between Employee Frustration and Customer Complaints

 

Beyond the Feel-Good Statement

Happy employees directly translate to happy customers. To deliver world-class customer experiences, it’s essential to prioritize and cultivate positive employee experiences.
This isn’t just a nice saying—it’s a business fundamental.

What You Can Do:

Look at your customer complaints and ask, “What might be happening with our employees that’s causing this issue?” For example, if customers complain about long wait times, your employees might lack the tools or authority to resolve problems quickly.

How Top Brands Connect Employee Experience to Business Success

The most successful companies are connecting employee experiences directly to customer outcomes in four key ways:

  • Individual Level: Looking at how specific employee fulfillment impacts their customer interactions
  • Team Level: Examining how department morale affects customer service
  • Process Level: Identifying how employee workflows impact customer journeys
  • Company Level: Understanding how overall company culture shapes the customer experience

What You Can Do:

Start small. Pick one customer journey (like returning a product) and talk to the employees involved. Ask what frustrates them about handling returns, then see if those frustrations match your customer complaints.

Why Chasing Satisfaction Scores Won’t Fix Your CX Problems: Moving Beyond Surveys

The event highlighted how traditional customer surveys are falling short. Even Fred Reichheld, who created the Net Promoter Score (NPS), acknowledged it’s often misused as a vanity metric rather than an improvement tool.

What You Can Do:

Don’t just track satisfaction scores. Also measure practical aspects like:

  • How quickly issues get resolved
  • How often customers come back
  • How customers actually behave (not just what they say)
  • What your frontline employees observe about customer frustrations

How to Spot Customer Problems Before They Happen: Looking Forward, Not Just Backward

The most innovative companies not only analyze past performance but also proactively anticipate future customer delight, positioning themselves ahead of the competition.

What You Can Do:

Look for early warning signs. If your employees are struggling with a new system or product, your customers will likely have problems too. Address employee concerns quickly to prevent customer issues.

The Data Doesn’t Lie: Why EX and CX Drive Real Business Results

The Medallia Experience Event revealed eye-opening statistics that show why this matters:

The Employee-Customer Connection

  • Companies with highly engaged employees are 21% more profitable
  • Businesses investing in Employee Experience see 2× higher customer satisfaction scores
  • There’s an 81% correlation between employee engagement and NPS
  • Organizations aligning employee and customer strategies are 2.5× more likely to meet financial targets
  • These companies are 2.9× more likely to be recognized as a Great Place to Work
  • They achieve 3.2× higher levels of retention
  • Highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their jobs

Why Silos Are Killing Your CX Efforts: Working Together, Not Apart

One clear message from the event: customer experience isn’t just a job for the customer service team. It requires everyone to collaborate and align on solutions.

What You Can Do:

Create a small team with people from different departments (customer service, HR, operations, product, etc) to meet regularly and solve customer and employee problems together. Give them the authority to make fundamental changes.

The North Star: Your CX Strategy Might Be Missing

Fred and several speakers emphasized having a clear “North Star” to guide all employee and customer experience efforts.

What You Can Do:

Define what success looks like in simple terms that everyone can understand. For example:
“We want customers to solve their problems in one contact.”
or
“We want employees to have everything they need to help customers the first time.”

 

How to Use AI to Strengthen Human Connections (Not Replace Them)

Medallia showcased how artificial intelligence can enhance customer experiences—not by replacing humans, but by making them more effective.

What You Can Do:

Use technology to:

  • Find patterns in customer comments that humans might miss
  • Give employees real-time guidance during customer interactions
  • Recommend specific next steps based on a customer’s history

The Business Case: Showing the CX Financial Impact

Companies that connect employee and customer experiences aren’t just nicer places to work—they’re more profitable.

What You Can Do:

Track and show how improved employee and customer experiences affect your bottom line:

  • Lower employee turnover (and reduced hiring costs)
  • Higher customer retention (and lower marketing costs)
  • Increased repeat purchases
  • Fewer complaints to handle

Check out of my other article about the ROI of CX with helpful research to leverage in your business case.

 

Your Next Move: 

The Medallia Experience Event wasn’t just about ideas—it was about taking action. Through my Doing CX Right® framework, I help organizations put these principles into practice because they work. The data and stories shared by global thought leaders reinforced that this isn’t optional—it’s essential.

Congratulations to Eric Stoessel and Jenny Zehentner and the  entire Medallia team for creating such an impactful event. The insights shared by Mark Bishof, Sid Banerjee, Fabrice Martin, Will Guidara, Fred Reichheld, Shep Hyken, Jeannie Walters, Grace Black, Ellie O’Toole, Denise Lee Yohn, Jessica Shannon, Sasha Fard, Sri Narasimhan and others expanded our collective understanding of what’s possible when we connect employee and customer experiences the right way.

The question isn’t whether you should improve these experiences—it’s whether you can afford not to.

 

Want more actionable insights?

Listen to my conversations with some of mentioned leaders on Doing CX Right®‬ podcast.

Subscribe on your favorite channels (spotify, apple, audible, pandora, Youtube, etc)  for updates.

🎧 👉 Sid Banerjee

🎧 👉Shep Hyken

🎧 👉Fred Reichheld

🎧 👉Jeannie Walters

Free Gift From Me To 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?

Discover the:

  • 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.

Providing the right customer experience can transform your business and enrich the lives of the people you serve. Don’t leave it to chance.

Take FREE Assessment Now

Listen to my conversation with Sid Banerjee – Medallia’s Chief Strategy Officer

Why CX Is A Smart Investment: New Research Proves Its ROI Value

Why CX Is A Smart Investment: New Research Proves Its ROI Value

by | Mar 5, 2025 | Featured Blog, Metrics & Measurements

If you’re still treating customer experience (CX) as a “nice-to-have” in 2025, it’s time to shift your thinking. The data is clear—CX is now a business lifeline, and it’s no longer enough to simply “do” CX. To thrive in 2025 and beyond, your business needs to do it right.

The latest research from Nextiva’s “The Leaders Guide of CX Trends in 2025” confirms everything I’ve been advocating for years: CX done right is a business driver, not just a cost center. This isn’t just theory—it’s backed by solid data that shows CX is now central to a business’s success. The world is catching up to this reality, and if your business isn’t embracing a unified, customer-first strategy, you’re at risk of falling behind. Let’s dig deep into some of Nextiva’s data and what it means.

1. CX is a Revenue Generator, Not Just a Feel-Good Effort

The data is overwhelming: 96% of business leaders agree that CX is directly tied to business outcomes. But here’s the part that must really catch your attention: 58% of CX leaders report a significant ROI, and 36% report a minor ROI from their CX investments. This isn’t just about delighting customers—it’s about generating revenue and growth.

In addition, 67% of CX leaders say it’s easier to secure budget approval for CX initiatives compared to five years ago. The growing recognition of CX as a valuable investment is clear, and the data suggests that businesses that fail to prioritize CX are missing a massive opportunity for financial success.

2. Breaking Down Silos for CX Success

CX is no longer just the responsibility of one department. According to the research, 73% of companies involve back-office teams in their CX efforts. This is a major shift in how businesses view CX—it’s no longer just a customer service function. Every department, from marketing to operations to HR, must work together to create a seamless customer experience.

When teams aren’t aligned and working toward a shared CX vision, the result is a fragmented experience that your customers will notice. Research shows that companies that break down silos and unify their CX strategy will see significantly better results.

3. AI Is Not a Magic Bullet—It Needs the Right Data

AI is a powerful tool, but it can’t do much without the right data. 86% of companies report struggling with data integration, which makes it challenging to harness the full potential of AI for CX. AI can provide valuable insights, help personalize experiences, and automate processes, but only if your data is integrated and structured correctly.

AI won’t fix fragmented experiences. In fact, it will only amplify the problems if your data is siloed. Businesses must ensure that data integration is the first step before diving into AI to achieve its full potential in creating personalized, efficient, and seamless customer experiences.

4. Omnichannel CX: Meeting Customers Where They Are

Another significant trend is the growing importance of omnichannel CX. Social media and live chat are the top channels where businesses are increasing their investment. Customers now expect to interact with businesses across multiple platforms—whether that’s social media, mobile apps, live chat, or email—and they expect the experience to be seamless across all channels.

Research indicates that if your CX strategy isn’t omnichannel, you’re already behind. But creating an omnichannel experience isn’t just about adding more touchpoints. It’s about ensuring that your customers feel a consistent, high-quality experience every time they interact with your brand, no matter the channel.

5. The Trust Factor: Transparency is Key

With AI and automation becoming more integral to CX, the issue of trust becomes critical. 33% of employees fear AI will replace their jobs, and customers are concerned about how their personal data is used. The research shows transparency and ethical AI practices are vital for building customer trust.

If your customers feel that their data is being misused or that AI is replacing the human touch, they’ll quickly move on. The data makes it clear: transparency in AI usage and data handling is essential to maintaining customer loyalty. AI should be used to enhance the human experience, not replace it.

Your Next Action: Turning Insights into a CX Strategy That Boosts ROI

The data is clear: CX is now at the core of every successful business strategy. Companies that treat CX as a business driver—rather than just a cost—will see the greatest returns. Nextiva’s research provides valuable insights to help you make informed decisions and secure executive buy-in, as the data speaks for itself.

But remember, data alone won’t create results. The real impact happens when you use these insights to boost loyalty, reduce churn, and deliver measurable ROI.

To help you get there, I’ve created a guide with 5 actionable steps.

It’s time to stop merely “doing” CX—commit to Doing CX Right®.

Get Actionable Strategies
Access Nextiva Research

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

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, UX, Customer Service Management, she provides a proven, research-backed framework that drives real business impact.

Stacy is recognized as a Top Global CX Guru and ICMI Top 25 Influencer (2020-2025). 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.

Continue reading bio >here.

Keyword themes: DoingCXRight podcast, Stacy Sherman, customer service, contact center, customer experience

4 Strategic Approaches to Customer Journey Mapping

4 Strategic Approaches to Customer Journey Mapping

by | Aug 8, 2022 | Featured Blog, Personas & Journey Mapping

Customer satisfaction and NPS are useful measurements of business success, just as much as revenue and profitability. (And, now there’s NPS 3.0, as the creator Fred Reichert explains on my podcast). While there are many ways to gather customer insights, how does a company increase the chances that customers will rate their interactions highly and remain brand loyal? The answer is by creating customer experiences leveraging the power of journey mapping. If you are unfamiliar with this important CX practice, read my other article: WHAT Is A Journey Map and WHY Create One?

As a refresher, the purpose of creating a customer journey map is to help design better products and services and overall great experiences. It is a valuable method to identify problems and areas of success as customers become aware, learn, buy, get, use, etc. While Journey Maps typically look visually different from one organization to another, they consistently enable you to empathize with how customers feel when interacting with a brand.

 

CMS wire recently published an article by Jennifer Torres about strategic approaches to journey mapping. Below is a summary with contributors including CX expert Jeanne Bliss and me.

The original article can be found here.

What’s in your abandoned cart?

From a tube of mascara to a jade bracelet or water pump, retailers are paying the price for the items left behind. And the price tag? $260 billion in lost revenue over 10 years (in the US and EU) due to preventable cart abandonment, according to the Baymard Institute. 

The Importance of Customer Journey Mapping

As CEO of MaxxoMedia, a boutique digital customer experience consultancy, Levy previously served as Vice President of Digital Experience at Comcast and recently debuted a newsletter focused on the digital customer experience.

“Journey mapping can help provide insights into every part of a customer’s experience,” said Levy, “and to evaluate why a particular part of the journey isn’t working, the investigation needs to go deeper into the micro-steps.” When it comes to abandoned carts, Levy explained, journey maps, combined with web and journey analytics tools, can expose friction and assist in optimization.

Data from the Baymard Institute revealed that, on average, nearly 70% of online carts are abandoned. And while some customers are just browsing, research revealed more than 40% of shoppers discard their cart for “fixable” reasons, like:

  • Extra costs for shipping, tax, and other fees
  • Security concerns about sharing credit card information
  • A long or complicated check-out process
  • Website errors
  • Being required to create an account

Anytime you define new — or optimize existing — customer experiences, Levy says you should take the time to build a journey map. “A journey map is a tool that helps you understand the entire customer journey and identify areas for improvement.”

“This,” he continued, “becomes the blueprint for your experience and creates a common view and language for the business to identify opportunities and moments of friction. It’s a powerful way to define your strategy, align everyone around the same goals and create an actionable plan for improvement.”

6 Steps for Creating a Customer Journey Map

Levy’s strategy for journey map creation includes several steps.

1. Start With a General Map

One that accounts for the major journey moments or “moments of truth” (MOTs) — regardless of the type of customer. MOTs are the intersections where customers have an opportunity to evaluate their experiences and decide about their relationship with your brand.

2. Map Major Journey Moments

How does the customer learn about, then purchase, receive, activate/set up and enjoy the product or service?

3. Overlay Customer Expectations and Outcomes

Identify what the customer learns, does, and feels in each moment. For example, after making a purchase, they may feel excited about receiving an item in the mail or disappointed if there’s an issue with their order.

4. Create Sub-Journeys

Once you know what the major moments are, it’s time to break them down into smaller steps so that you can see how they work together as part of an overall experience. For example, after a purchase, send an email confirmation and direct the customer to download the app to get ready for activation.

5. Identify Channel-Specific Support Moments

Identify and overlay key moments by channel — web, app, social media, email, SMS, etc. For example, manage expectations about delivery by sending an SMS that links to a real-time tracking webpage.

6. Think About Personas

Personas are an overlay to the master journey map. Usually generated by the marketing department, personas paint a picture of audience segments through quantitative and qualitative research. Examine the map again based on details from these target market personas to determine if journey changes need to be made.

According to Levy, when it comes to supporting journey mapping, nothing is better than talking directly with customers to get firsthand insights. “To add further color and detail to the journey map,” Levy continued, “gather and synthesize data through surveys and ethnographic studies, third-party research as well as existing company journey analytics — escalations, text analytics from chats, calls, social media posts and forums.”

How to Keep Emotion in Customer Journey Mapping

Stacy Sherman, VP of Marketing, Agent & Customer Experience for Liveops, and founder and host of the DoingCXRight podcast and blog, said one of the main goals of a customer journey map is to better understand how customers feel when interacting with a brand.

“You want to put yourself in the ‘customer shoes’ and identify the emotions they feel along the journey,” Sherman said. You can do this, she said, in three steps:

1. Define Personas

The first step is to get an accurate understanding of who the target audience is. You’ll want to ask questions about age, income, and education. But equally important is discovering the needs and obstacles your audience faces and where they go to find information that informs their decisions.

2. Identify Touchpoints

Touchpoints are the moments a customer engages with a brand. They can include advertising, social media posts, a website, online search results, and much more. According to Sherman, it’s important to find out what emotions customers feel at various points along the journey.

For retailers with both online and brick-and-mortar stores, they must consider digital and “on-site” touchpoints, such as in-store signage that promotes social media pages, text opt-ins or newsletter signups.

3. Dig Up Data

Once you’ve completed steps one and two, it’s time to start digging into your customer data. You should incorporate quantitative and qualitative insights from both internal and external sources.

You’ll also want to stay on top of ongoing data trends — like web browsers doing away with third-party cookies — to better understand what type of data you should collect and what to do with it.

Applying Neuroscience to Journey Mapping

Ed Powers is principal consultant for Service Excellence Partners. Listed as one of the Top 25 Customer Success Influencers, he has an approach to journey mapping that combines neuroscience with data analytics and enterprise-wide improvement.

“The customer experience is a human experience, and if we understand this process, then we can influence it,” Powers said.

His “brain friendly” journey mapping approach incorporates the following steps: CONTINUE READING →

5 Reasons to Get Customer Experience Certification & University Recommendations

5 Reasons to Get Customer Experience Certification & University Recommendations

by | Feb 20, 2022 | Resources

Delivering great customer experiences has become a top priority for many companies. Given the increased focus, employees and leaders with CX skills are in great demand. While on the job training and reading books provide great learnings, getting CX certified from a formal university program can accelerate your career. It did for me and that’s why I recommend you do the same.

The customer experience course I completed is now offered at several reputable schools including:

5 REASONS TO GET CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (CX) CERTIFICATION

  1. FLEXIBILITY & CONVENIENCE. You can take CX course online. There’s no deadline to finish and can begin the class right now.
  2. COURSE CONTENT. You’ll gain access to helpful tools and templates that you can bring back to your job to make an immediate impact.
  3. TEACHERS EXPERTISE. Classes are taught by CX leaders across different industries. They share meaningful and relevant examples that reinforce the coursework including developing personas and journey maps, CX measurements, building a CX culture, and more.
  4. NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES: Connect with people who have instituted successful CX programs at their workplace.
  5. UNIVERSITY-BASED COURSE. The program is not a seminar or conference.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF REDUCED TUITION COST

I’ve been able to get DoingCXRight®‬ readers a significant discount per my board position.

Contact Me For Details

DISCOUNT APPLIES TO MORE CERTIFICATION COURSES:

Design Thinking

  • Navigating Through Disruption with New Strategic Models
  • New Models for Hiring, Retaining & Growing People for the Future
  • Fostering a Culture of Innovation
  • Sustaining Growth with Best Practices for Organizational Design & Governance

Going Virtual

  • The Future of Big Data Security
  • Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence
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  • Data Analytics Platforms & Tools
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  • What’s the Big Deal about Cybersecurity
  • Cybersecurity Insurance Strategy & Risk Alignment
  • Risk Quantification, Vulnerability & Compliance
  • Managing Through a Breach & difficult times

Besides A Discount, I Can Help You:

  • Elevate your personal brand and position you as a CX Leader on your resume, social media, etc.
  • Create an impressive capstone project that helps your career.
  • Apply CX methodologies i.e. Journey mapping at your company to gain a competitive edge.
  • Get introduced to experts and communities to expand your CX network.
  • And much more.
LEARN ABOUT MY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

Predicting Customers Next Actions (buy, refer, leave) Beyond Surveys

Predicting Customers Next Actions (buy, refer, leave) Beyond Surveys

by | Jan 29, 2022 | DoingCXRight®‬ Podcast

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

Do you know what your customers and prospects will do after interacting with your brand without surveying them over and over again? Are you taking control of the customer conversation? Are you making it easy for employees to deliver customer excellence and applying proven best practices to free up time for the frontline? This podcast episode provides answers to these questions and much more.

Featured DoingCXRight®‬ guest, Matt Dixon, co-author of The Challenger Sale, The Challenger Customer, and The Effortless Experience shares valuable insights to advance your sales, service, and customer experience beyond traditional methods. You’ll want to take notes as Matt and show host, Stacy Sherman, reveal a lot of actionable tips that you can apply at your workplace right away.

 

Watch Stacy Sherman’s Interview on Youtube

About Max Dixon: Predicting Customers Next Actions

Chief Product & Research Officer of the Austin-based AI venture, Tethr.  Prior to his role with Tethr, he was the Global Head of Sales Force Effectiveness Solutions at Korn Ferry Hay Group and, before that, held numerous global leadership roles in research, product development and management for CEB, now Gartner.  An accomplished business researcher and writer, Matt is known for his frame-breaking and provocative work in the areas of sales, customer service and customer experience. He is the author of three Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestsellers—The Challenger Sale, The Effortless Experience and The Challenger Customer­—and he is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review with more than 20 print and online articles to his credit.  He is a sought-after speaker and advisor to management teams around world, having presented his findings and insights at a wide range of industry conferences as well as to hundreds of senior executive teams, including those of many Fortune 500 companies.

Matt’s website, books + LinkedIn

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.