The one where she’s a diplomat - Deanna Stearns E211

🎤🎞️This month’s CX OpenToWork seeker in “The one where she’s a diplomat” with Deanna Stearns in CX Passport Episode 211🎧 What’s in the episode?...

CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction: Welcoming Deanna Stearns

2:06 Why CX is all about connections and diplomacy

5:28 Creating experiences customers actually want

9:31 Turning customer insights into real business results

12:24 Overcoming resistance to CX-driven change

13:27 First Class Lounge: Travel, chocolate, and coffee

17:25 The biggest mistake companies make in CX

19:57 Starting a CX program from scratch

22:40 What’s next for Deanna in CX

23:49 Where to connect with Deanna

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I'm Rick Denton and I believe the best meals are served outside and require a passport

Episode resources:

Deanna LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannastearns/

Transcript

Deanna Stearns: 0:00

You need to be hearing from your customers when things are not going well, because if things go wrong, it's how we address them that helps things go right and helps keep those customers that we have through the tough times. Customer

Rick Denton: 0:16

Experience wisdom, a dash of travel talk, we've been cleared for takeoff. The best

Unknown: 0:21

meals are served outside and require passport. Welcome

Rick Denton: 0:26

back to CX. Passport. Y'all today we get the chance to talk with this month's CX open a word. GUEST, Deanna Stearns, a CX and marketing leader who knows how to turn data into strategy and strategy into action. She's built customer intelligence teams, led transformation efforts and driven engagement at scale. Most recently, Deanna wrapped up an impressive run at Boeing where she helped shape customer experience from the inside out. Deanna's expertise spans customer insights, journey, mapping and experience design, keeping a focus on making sure businesses don't just collect data, but actually use it to create meaningful customer connections beyond the metrics and the frameworks. Deanna is passionate about building teams, fostering collaboration, and making CX a true business driver. That is music to my ears. Deanna, welcome to CX passport. Thanks,

Deanna Stearns: 1:22

Rick, thanks for having me today. Deanna,

Rick Denton: 1:25

where do I find you today?

Deanna Stearns: 1:27

You will find me just outside of Seattle, Washington. I

Rick Denton: 1:31

will say this after my visits to the Pacific Northwest, there's nothing more glorious than a Pacific Northwest sunny day. They just are few and far between, but my gosh, when they happen, woohoo. That is something special out there.

Deanna Stearns: 1:44

Yeah, that's what keeps you hooked.

Rick Denton: 1:48

I like that. That's why people are moving. There's that one day I'm gonna get that one. You're chasing the dragon with weather. Okay, I didn't expect to go there, but I like it. Well, let's start with just talking about customer experience in general. What is it that draws you to this field. I mentioned all that great experience that you have, you had to have been drawn to. Why is this field important to you?

Deanna Stearns: 2:07

You know, I think I've always thought about it as connections, and when we're in business and we're making connections with each other, and so those good connections make good experiences, and they enable us to develop relationships in business where we prefer to work together. And so I guess you could say, in some ways, I feel a little bit like a diplomat, understanding each party's needs and each party's objectives that they have, and then trying to help craft a win win situation out of that.

Rick Denton: 2:38

Ooh, I've heard orchestra, I've heard other kind of metaphors, but the diplomat one is interesting to me. I bet you've you've experienced some shuttle diplomacy as you've navigated between departments. What when you think of yourself in that, that diplomat kind of mindset? How do you adopt that, knowing that you need to represent both sides, but you yourself have an interest in moving customer experience forward. How do you blend all of those, I guess, interests and priorities together?

Deanna Stearns: 3:12

It's a big job. It's keeping a lot of things in mind and keeping, like balancing, and I think of a lot of things like a web, like something moves, and the web moves and shifts that way. So I think for me, it's trying to understand the details and where everybody's needs are and where the process is involved in making that happen are, but then also taking that step back and up and looking at it, you know, from the 30,000 foot level to say, what does this look like as a whole? You know, I think you can get each party gets very, very focused on their specific need and what they need and what they think might be the solution. But when you can be that person in the middle who's hearing both sides and trying to come to, you know, an understanding that, wait a minute, you're saying this, but you're saying this, and actually you're saying the same thing. And and being able to bring people together from that perspective. So I like being able to stand a little bit outside and observe from that perspective. I

Rick Denton: 4:17

may be leading the witness, Your Honor. So now I've taken us from a diplomacy space into the courtroom. I'm curious, does the does using the customer as sort of your your justification or your motivation? Does that help influence some of that diplomacy that you're describing? And if so, how

Deanna Stearns: 4:38

you know? I think it does. Because I oftentimes look at myself as the voice of the customer within the business that I am representing whichever business I happen to be working with, whether it's in wireless or whether it's in aerospace or whether it's in entertainment, but at the same time, I need to really represent that customer and what. I hope to get out of it so, so I seem like I wear a lot of different hats.

Rick Denton: 5:07

I think I'm gonna call this Episode The one with the metaphors, because I like you're speaking in these great metaphors that help me understand and really apply this to something that means something to me and kind of in another world. Well, let's talk about that great diplomacy, or all of those hat wearing that you've done. How have you created an experience that your customers have wanted? In the past,

Deanna Stearns: 5:29

I've had the good luck to work in a number of different industries, from, you know, wireless, where in the early days, we were literally selling air. Now we take it for granted that everybody has a cell phone. Back in the day when I started, it was excruciatingly expensive, but as it grew, putting loyalty and referral programs together, so keeping my customer hat on, it's like, well, what's going to make them feel comfortable with this premium that they're having to pay, and they likely know somebody else like them who could benefit from this. And if we turned around and said, you know, for your loyalty, we're going to put this program together where it literally was a travel like a passport book, and we actually gave out stamps and stickers that they could put in their referral book at the time. It was very low tech, but it was very engaging, and people really enjoyed that experience of having that something they could touch and feel. Back in the day, I would think of we had suspension programs, but also recovery programs, or we had the prepaid and initially that was for people with poor credit, or they didn't have bank accounts or credit cards or that sort of thing. And eventually, over time, actually created a prepaid program that didn't penalize you. Initially, they were very punitive sorts of things. And I became the owner of that at one of the companies I worked with, and we actually flipped it and turned it into, this is a choice that you have, that you can make, and so it provided extra choices that wasn't punitive.

Rick Denton: 7:11

Hey there, CX Passport travelers. I want to let you know about CX Passport Live. CX Passport Live helps brands amplify their event's impact with the power of live in-person, podcasting. Brands partner with CX Passport Live at their on-site event to help excite attendees, reward high value customers and convert potential customers. Bring a new level of energy and excitement to your event and amplify your brand's impact with CX Passport Live. Learn more at cxpassportlive.com Now back to the show. That's to me, that's a brilliant example of taking the customer in almost that diplomacy. I can totally see the operations, the finance side, all that. Look at all we're making off of this prepaid program in that sort of punitive sense. And you're walking in there going, hang on a second, y'all the customer says, x, and if we do that, we're going to create a program that made maybe we don't get as much in this sort of fees or the higher premiums that they're paying for the prepaid but the loyalty that will generate, and the referrals that it'll generate, and the business that that will create as a result,

Deanna Stearns: 8:17

I think you get the opportunity in cx to be creative, to put your creative hat on and and when you know where you're coming from as the business and the businesses objectives, but you can be informed by the customers experience and their needs and what makes them feel emotionally connected to your brand, because The decisions are often made emotionally. I like to pull on that, to look at the business a little bit differently.

Rick Denton: 8:48

When I worked for a financial services that side of the house, you know, you think that of all the things in the world that would be the most logic driven would be financial services. And the reality is, no, there's an incredible amount of emotion that comes to your financial decisions, and those of us in the CX space really can understand that. Now I want to kind of turn that on its head a little bit, though, and that is, businesses aren't in the business of making emotions. Businesses are in the business of making money. And so how does this delivery of customer experience the ones that you've talked about in the past, or even ones that we haven't talked about. How has that actually driven tangible business results, not just sort of the things that people say are the softer side of customer experience,

Deanna Stearns: 9:32

right? And there is a lot of the softer side. I mean, admittedly in the analytics world, you know, when you start talking about sentiment analytics, people kind of poo poo. It as that squishy, soft stuff, but really it, it turns into loyalty, retention, preference for your brand, because we analyze the heck out of you come to the website and you're looking for something, and you find that thing. We. Did you find that thing? Did you buy it? Today, we would track how long it would take that customer to purchase something. As we did that sort of analysis, along with the customer's actual feedback of their experience during those transactions, we started to put together pictures and personas of people. There were people that came and they looked, and they were lucky losing they went away. But we would track that same person over time and find out that, oh well, when they look for this category of parts, they're planning three to nine months in advance. We have this bathtub. They're really interested today, and they're looking, and they're searching, and they're spending a lot of time on the website, and then they kind of go silent for a while, and you think you've lost them, and then all of a sudden it would pop up, and then there's a purchase. So when we be able began to be able to do customer focused analytics, then we could actually start seeing how we could drive the business, because we knew that that particular sort of person was going to come back in 90 days. Well, great. We would reach out to them in 80 Days or 70 days, and we'd remind them about that you were still looking at this. Are you still needing it? Or, Hey, you were looking at this, and these other things are often needed when you're purchasing this. Have you considered, do you need these other things as well? And so actually being able to light the fire of that actual purchase behavior, but also the associated, you know, upsell, of the other things that they might not have thought of or wasn't an ant in their mind, so it translates into a lot of money because

Rick Denton: 11:42

I hear that. I think a lot of us live in the world right now that this is the norm. If I click on something in Amazon, there's going to be 17 other things recommended to me. If I start a path, there's likely going to be some thing following up with me to Hey, why didn't you finish that purchase? Or what does that look like? That sort of predictive. When you were introducing this, though, I imagine it was a little more revolutionary. How did you navigate those conversations with you, like, Come on, we don't need to do that or that. That technology is too hard. How did you navigate that pushback to then get them to move forward and then actually they got to receive the business results initially

Deanna Stearns: 12:24

with that program, that specific program, worked through the customer service organization, because we could push that knowledge back through them, so that they then understood when they were talking to somebody, what that person's history was, yes, right now, it's situation normal at the time, it wasn't. It was bringing in data. I can't tell you how many times I heard over the years. Why do you need to know that that seems so unrelated to what you're trying to do or what the title of your job is? The more you know, the more you know, the more you know, the more you can put together. Back to that web concept is that when you have a new piece of information, it's another point on that web, and the connections can be made to it. And when you start to see the financial benefits following that, the ROI looks pretty good. You

Rick Denton: 13:27

Dean, as you mentioned, connections, I begin to think of flights actually. And I begin to think of flight connections, some that have gone well, and others that have not gone so well, and the ones that have not gone so well, I've been very thankful when I've happened to had access to a first class lounge. So I invite you today. I know our connections are going well here, but I still invite you to join me here in the first class lounge. We'll move quickly here and have a little bit of fun. What is a dream travel location from your past? Oh,

Deanna Stearns: 13:54

I've had a couple, I would say Jamaica, but most recently was Italy. I hadn't been to Italy, and I started out and spent nearly a week in Venice, and then moved on to Florence, and then on to Rome.

Rick Denton: 14:09

Oh, wow. I love that slow pace Venice for a week, because you probably were able to check the box on all of the official sites pretty quickly, right? Was it like to just sort of steep in the stillness of Venice.

Deanna Stearns: 14:23

That's exactly what I enjoyed about it. I wandered around, I threw the map away, I just got lost and found myself because it's not that big. I loved sitting and watching people. And you could sit out in the Palazzo, and you could have your your Prosecco, or you could have your coffee in the morning and just watch the people, and the pace was relaxed, and it just it felt like a really good opportunity to learn the culture by just sitting with it. What

Rick Denton: 14:55

a treat. And that idea, it is absolutely a city that you can't. Really get lost. You just wander. And eventually, eventually you hit water, so you turn around so you can't get lost. What are the future looking forward? What's a dream travel location you've not been to yet? Tough

Deanna Stearns: 15:12

one. I think Greece, Croatia and Australia are on my list.

Rick Denton: 15:19

Those that are looking at their map while you're talking Greece, Croatia, Oh, okay. Denton, Australia, yes, all right. Very good. Well, I can see those are wonderful places, and I too, those are ones, all three, that I haven't had a chance to go to. So they're on my list as well. Italy, I think of and food. What is a favorite thing of yours?

Deanna Stearns: 15:39

Actually enjoy experiencing cultures through the food and through the people telling me about the food or making the food. One thing that is a weakness of mine is chocolate. Yeah, good chocolate. Anywhere I go, I'm all for it. And in Italy, there was a lot of good drinking chocolate. Oh, yeah, yeah. Everyone else would go in and get espresso, and I would go get the chocolate, and it poured out of this big burn that they had there, keeping it warm. And what an experience it was. It was lovely.

Rick Denton: 16:13

Well, I hate to take you away from that absolutely delightful experience. I'm curious, though, what is one thing you were forced to eat growing up, but you hated as a kid. Liver message, all right,

Deanna Stearns: 16:28

right, and it has maintained true for the rest of my life. Hey,

Rick Denton: 16:32

can't think of a good reason to eat it myself. Not a big fan, either. So you and I are very aligned there. Deanne, it's time to exit the first class lounge. Sadly, what is one travel item not including your phone, not including your passport, that you will not leave home without.

Deanna Stearns: 16:48

For the last several years, my guilty pleasure is a good cup of espresso in the morning, and so I travel with a portable espresso maker. You

Rick Denton: 17:06

traveling with your own espresso maker. Even it doesn't matter where you are, you've got, you've got access to a nice morning brew, Deanna. Going back to customer experience. What is it that companies are missing in customer experience today, and how can they or maybe even, how should they improve on that?

Deanna Stearns: 17:25

I think a lot of times when things are not going particularly well, a lot of different industries, they'll stop talking to their customers. You know, if it's a stressful period for the business customer experience and getting the voice of the customer in tends to take a second back seat, so to speak. And I would say that's a big miss, because you need to be hearing from your customers when things are not going well. That is your opportunity to really create a good connection a loyal customer, because things go wrong, and they're bound to go wrong, and they will continue to go wrong, it's how we address them that helps things go right and helps keep those customers that we have through the tough times, because we are listening To them, because we do know what they need. So I would say I think that's a big miss by cutting back on customer experience work when times are lean. And

Rick Denton: 18:31

why do you think that is because to you and me, we're of course, why would you cut back when times are lean or if things are going wrong? I want to know for my customers so that I can get kind of unleavened, if you will. Why

Deanna Stearns: 18:46

I think sometimes leadership feels like they know what the customer wants, or they feel like, well, my sales people, they're really in touch with them, so I don't really need this extra layer. But the beautiful part about a dedicated customer experience team, or even a single person who that's their sole focus. The important part of that is that customers have a neutral party to share the things that are going well, but really to share the things that aren't going well. If they're having a struggle with something or their or their sales person, their sales rep, you know, it's just not clicking with them, or something like that, they can talk to a customer experience department and pour their heart out about what's bothering them without jeopardizing that relationship that they have as a business relationship to work with the company. So I think it's a good outlet to keep that information coming in.

Rick Denton: 19:47

So Deanna, if that's what a company should be doing, they should continue to listen. How can you help a company continue to listen?

Deanna Stearns: 19:57

I love getting in and. Understanding the business and finding these ways that we can optimize, speaking to our customers and getting their needs and their feelings and their experiences integrated back into how we do business as a company. The way I can help them do that is to come in and actually take a look, understand, you know, especially companies that don't have the ability at the moment or the or know even where to start. I can help them start with the first step in their customer experience journey, and get them on the road to all of these best practices that will help them build their business. Can we talk about

Rick Denton: 20:46

that first step for a second? Because I know that's been a part of your background, and that is when you're having to kind of do it from scratch. That's different than coming in and evolving something that's different than taking it over from someone who left for another opportunity. You're starting from scratch. What does that look like? How do you get that started at a company that has never had that before, or it's been forever ago that they actually had this? You

Deanna Stearns: 21:09

know, part of it is getting in and speaking to people who are in in the business, finding out what what do we know? What do we have to work with? What pieces of data are we collecting? I usually start slow because the last thing anybody wants is somebody who's not part of our business to come in and just be a whirlwind and tell us all these things we have to change. I actually like to start in a thoughtful way by collecting as much and listening myself listening. It's like being the customer, myself first, and understanding from the business's perspective what their objectives are. But what do they already know? They may know a lot and not be putting it together. So for me, starting out slowly and listening and really hearing what everybody has to say that's involved, and then start doing that journey, mapping what's the customer you know, what's the customer's experience? I know we have internal processes for how we do things and how we deliver value, but what is the customer's experience going through that process? That's where I like to start, because you can uncover really quick, actionable items by taking just those first two steps of listening and documenting.

Rick Denton: 22:27

Hey, sounds like a really good plan to me, actually getting in there and listening first, as opposed to bull in china shop that we've seen so many times, right? So what's next for you? What's next for you in this world of customer experience?

Deanna Stearns: 22:40

I think we've hit on it. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to work with some companies that are looking to start their customer experience. Or, to your point, somebody has left and the and the program has maybe floundered, or maybe didn't really take off, or there's a lot of internal education that needs to happen to understand the value of the voice of the customer and the value of understanding their experience and how that reflects on the business. So I am looking forward to getting the opportunity to working with new companies, understanding new technologies and new industries, and taking all of that experience that's been honed from a lot of different industries already, and taking that to the next one.

Rick Denton: 23:31

Deanna, great approach to something that is next. I certainly hope for that for you very quickly. And what's next, if someone wants to get to know hey, maybe she can help me out in my organization, or knows that right next opportunity that might be the one for you. What's the best way for folks to get to know you?

Deanna Stearns: 23:49

I'd say through LinkedIn or directly via email. Awesome.

Rick Denton: 23:53

Well, I will certainly get LinkedIn URL dropped there in the show notes. Folks stop, go to Deanna, follow, reach out and say hi and get to learn a little bit of the wisdom. This is only just a glance, by the way, y'all, I've had a chance to talk with Dean a little bit further. There's a lot of CX wisdom here that is absolutely worth tapping into. Deanna, it has been a fun ride. I promise never to offer you liver, and I do hope that you get back to Italy as soon as possible, but only after you have made your way over there to Australia. Did learn a lot from you today, and I know that others have as well. Thank you for being on CX passport. Thanks

Deanna Stearns: 24:29

so much for having me, Rick. I had a great time.

Rick Denton: 24:37

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.