The CX Equation: People, Culture, and the Bottom Line with Annette Franz

Annette Franz has spent 30+ years exposing the brutal truth about customer experience. As one of CX's most respected voices and author of three groundbreaking books, she reveals why the industry's favorite metrics are misleading companies into failure, and what actually works.

In this no-holds-barred conversation, we dive deep into:

Culture vs. Performance Theater:

• Why 99% of "customer-obsessed" companies are just performing not delivering
• The Bob Chapman leadership principle that separates authentic culture from corporate BS
• How to tell if your executives actually care about people (hint: you can't teach caring)

The AI Integration Reality:

• Where CX teams are succeeding with AI (and where they're failing)
• Why the adoption is slower than tech leaders expected
• The symbiotic relationship between human insight and artificial intelligence

Breaking Down Organizational Silos:

• The toxic divide between CX and Product teams and how it kills innovation
• Why governance frameworks matter more than org charts
• Real tactics for turning CX from "cleanup crew" to business driver

Key Insights:

• "You can't teach people to care. They either do or they don't." - Bob Chapman wisdom
• Customer Effort Score beats NPS in every meaningful way
• The governance problem that's killing CX initiatives
• Why "everyone owns CX" is dangerous thinking

‍About Annette Franz:

30+ years in customer experience and voice of customer, Author of "Customer Understanding," "Built to Win," and "Employee Understanding". Started her career at J.D. Power & Associates Now a founder of CX Journey consultancy. She works directly with C-suite executives on culture transformation

Resources Mentioned:

• Barry-Wehmiller and Bob Chapman's leadership philosophy
• Customer Effort Score vs NPS comparison
• The symbiotic AI-human relationship framework
• Cross-functional governance models that work