September 2, 2025 • 20 mins
🎧 Episode 179: The AI-Ready Customer Experience Playbook with Ty Givens (Part 1)
In this conversation, Ty Givens, founder of CX Collective and CX Collective Advantage, shares her journey from corporate leader to entrepreneur, and how she’s helping companies transform customer chaos into streamlined, scalable operations.
With more than 25 years of experience leading customer support teams at See’s Candies, Thrive Causemetics, Shoedazzle, and Herbalife, Ty has seen firsthand what it takes to balance operational wins with the very human side of leadership. She opens up about the reality of scaling with AI, the emotional cost of self-doubt, and the frameworks she’s built to help leaders rise with clarity and confidence.
We explore:
- Why “AI doesn’t solve chaos, it scales it”… and what to fix before automating
- How Thrive Causemetics cut resolution times from 10 hours to 4 minutes
- The LOOP Method, and how leaders can turn concepts into actionable playbooks
- The emotional toll of being promoted before you feel ready
- How to build self-trust and combat imposter syndrome in leadership
- Why meeting people where they are matters more than pushing shiny tech
- The overlooked role of empathy in scaling customer experience
🔑 Key takeaways:
- Broken systems can’t be automated into excellence, fix the foundation first
- Efficiency without empathy is a short-term win but a long-term loss
- Self-doubt is part of growth, it’s what you do with it that matters
- Great leadership is equal parts process and people
đź’ˇ Quotes to remember:
“AI doesn’t solve chaos. It scales it.”
 “You can’t make people fit the technology, you make the technology fit the people.”
 “Self-doubt isn’t a disqualifier. Inaction is.”
 “Every great leader was once unprepared for their first big role.”
đź“š Resources mentioned:
✨ Learn more about Ty’s work:
📲 Connect with Ty:
 LinkedIn – Ty Givens
A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!
Check out my website: www.evokegreatness.com
Follow me on:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonnie-linebarger-899b9a52/
https://www.instagram.com/evoke.greatness/
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The first thing is to understand what it is that you
want it to do.
What particular problem do youwant it to solve?
You have to think of it like anemployee.
I know that sounds weird, butthe same way that you have to
instruct an employee, you haveto instruct AI.
The same way you have to tellthem exactly what you want them
to do.
You have to tell it to AI, andthen you'll also find out how
good you are at delegating,because what you get back might
(00:23):
be really strange and you'relike that's not what I meant.
So you want to have an idea ofwhat it is that you want to get
from it to begin with, and thenyou want to make sure that you,
as the subject matter expert,that you have the information
ready and available in a waythat AI can digest it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome to Evoke Greatness, the podcast for bold
leaders and big dreamers whorefuse to settle.
I'm your host, sunny.
I started in scrubs over 20years ago doing the gritty,
unseen work and climbed my wayto CEO.
Every rung of that laddertaught me something worth
passing on lessons in leadership, resilience and what it really
(01:05):
takes to rise.
You'll hear raw conversations,unfiltered truths and the kind
of wisdom that ignites somethingdeeper in you your courage,
your conviction, your calling.
This show will help you thinkbigger, lead better and show up
bolder in every part of yourlife.
This is your place to grow.
Let's rise together.
(01:37):
In part one of the AI-ReadyCustomer Experience Playbook, my
guest Ty pulls back the curtainon what it really takes to
scale customer experiencewithout breaking your business.
From why AI doesn't solve chaos, it scales it to the playbook
that helped thrive cosmeticsslash resolution times from 10
hours down to just four minutes.
(01:58):
Ty blends hard-won operationalwisdom with the human side of
leadership self-trust, clarityand the courage to grow.
Before you feel ready, getready for a mix of strategy and
soul that will change the wayyou think about customer
experience.
Now let's hop into it.
Welcome back to another episodeof Evoke Greatness.
I'm thrilled to have Ty Gibbons, founder of CX Collective and a
(02:20):
mastermind behind CX CollectiveAdvantage.
With more than 25 years ofhands-on experience in customer
support, building high-impactteams at brands like See's
Candies, thrive Cosmetics, shoeDazzle and Herbal Eye, ty
combines deep operationalknow-how with a heart for
leadership development.
Ty's work isn't theoretical,it's battle-tested.
She helps businesses tamecustomer support chaos into
(02:43):
scalable, high-performingoperations Through tools like
process optimization, automationand help desk transformation.
Her clients see measurablegains Think 10 times faster
resolutions, workflowautomations and peak client
retention.
Her on-demand learning platform, cx Collective Advantage, is a
lifeline for CX leaders aspiringto lead with clarity and
(03:06):
confidence.
With courses taking less thantwo hours, guided by the
practical loop method, ty helpsleaders build real, actionable
playbooks.
No fluffs, just tools andresults.
Whether harnessing AI to scaleor navigating the emotional
turbulence of self-doubt andimposter syndrome, ty sits to
the intersection of strategy andthe deeply human side of
leadership.
(03:27):
So dive in as we explore herinsights, frameworks and
inspiring journey.
Ty, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
I am looking forward to divingin, and the place that I really
like to start is finding outmore about what got you to
travel down your current path.
How did you come to the currentversion of yourself?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Oh, wow, okay.
So honest truth, I won't say mylast corporate job it's my
second to last but I worked sohard in that role and I felt
like I was on that treadmilltrying to, like you know, reach
that dangling carrot and I couldnever actually feel like I
accomplished anything and thatwas hard.
(04:10):
And so I actually went out onmy own because one I love
results and so once I checksomething off, like I really
genuinely feel good about it andI want to celebrate that, just
even if it's for two secondsabout it, and I want to
celebrate that just even if it'sfor two seconds.
I wanted to give other leaderswhat I wish I had when I was in
(04:31):
that role.
So I was at a startup that wasscaling really fast.
As you mentioned in mybackground, I came from larger
companies, but I really like thescrappiness of the startup, but
they don't have the budget orthe resources to actually like
get the results that they want.
So, although you know they makegood hires, they're like we're
ready to mature, let's getsomeone with experience.
(04:52):
Once I get in there, the lastthing that they want to hear is
that, as an expensive hire, thatI need more resources.
They're like that's what you'rehere for.
So basically, I was like I'mnever going to work that hard
again for anyone other thanmyself, and I'm going to build
the team to work with me, to gointo companies and to build out
these operations in a way thatwill allow them to scale but, at
(05:17):
the same time, won't breaktheir bank.
So that's literally how thiscame about.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Wow, you say that AI doesn't solve chaos.
It scales it.
You want to unpack a little bitabout what that means and how
can leaders prepare theirfoundation before layering on
that?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
automation?
Sure, yeah.
So I know that.
You know we hear AI and somepeople are like, oh my gosh, my
job's going away.
There are going to be someparts of different roles that
will be eliminated, but thereare going to be other parts that
are going to be.
You don't have your resourcesaligned properly, you don't have
(06:01):
your documentation, because theknowledge management part is
key and critical to the AI world.
It's not going to go well.
So I think that sometimespeople think like I'll just use
AI to do this thing, you fill inthe blank and after that
everything's going to be fine.
Well, if you have a bad processdocumented, ai is just going to
(06:23):
pull from that bad process andthat's what it's going to tell
all of your customers.
So if you want to do it right,you need to make sure that you
have your information properlyoutlined and structured and it
needs to be written in a waythat AI can understand so that
it can speak on your behalf.
And that is what the new jobslook like, at least for now.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
And what does that look like Because I think that
is a relatively new idea isbringing this automation of this
AI into your business.
There's so many differentdirections you can go, but how
can people start to dabble, likeget a little bit more
comfortable with it, becausesome people are really resistant
to it?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, you know, I actually have a playbook for
that, by the way.
There's a way to do it.
The first thing is tounderstand what it is that you
want it to do.
What particular problem do youwant it to solve?
You have to think of it like anemployee.
I know that sounds weird, butthe same way that you have to
instruct an employee, you haveto instruct AI.
The same way you have to tellthem exactly what you want them
(07:25):
to do.
You have to tell it to AI, andthen you'll also find out how
good you are at delegating,because what you get back might
be really strange and you'relike that's not what I meant.
No wonder people get confusedwhen I send them, you know
whatever.
So you want to have an idea ofwhat it is that you want to get
from it to begin with, and thenyou want to make sure that you,
(07:47):
as the SME, the subject matterexpert, that you have the
information ready and availablein a way that AI can digest it.
And then, once you do that, oras you're doing that, a good
idea is to leverage the teammembers around you who could
potentially feel impacted bythis, and the reason why you
(08:07):
want to do that is you want themon the journey because they're
going to be essentially teachingAI and you want to show them
that, even though you're showingAI how to do this, it's going
to make mistakes and I need youto correct it, so they're a part
of it.
And it's another thing toremember is that you're showing
AI how to do this.
It's going to make mistakes andI need you to correct it, so
they're a part of it.
And it's another thing toremember is that you're never
actually done, so you're goingto always have to iterate on it.
(08:28):
It's not like a one time.
Let me just make this changeand let AI handle it.
No, like, your job is just,it's different, that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You have really brought some transformational
results to companies you'veworked with.
Related to the customerexperience, thrive Cosmetics saw
their resolution time go from10 days to four hours, which is
a pretty staggering amount oftime to decrease.
By what practical changes andmindset shifts made that
(08:58):
possible?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
practical changes and mindset shifts made that
possible.
Yeah, you know I am a processperson, so with that particular
situation, a lot of what washappening is when I came in
there, they were actuallylooking for a full-time leader.
I got referred by one of myformer direct reports and I went
there and I was like, hey, Ican do it, I can come in because
(09:20):
the manager had left.
They needed someone to likehead up and kind of get them
going.
It's like I can do it but, likeyou know, I can't work here
because I have other clients butI can help you.
And so in assessing the team,everyone was doing their best
work but there wasn't a lot ofstrategic vision and guidance.
So imagine you're getting justa lot of strategic vision and
(09:42):
guidance.
So imagine you're getting justa bunch of requests coming in
and you don't have like a goodschedule, staff plan,
expectation.
People are just kind of jumpingin when they can.
That's sort of what washappening.
So my background's in workforcemanagement, which is about
getting the right people in theright place at the right time,
and so I actually started withthat Like, do we have schedules
that are aligned to when ourcustomers expect us to be there.
That's one.
The next thing that I looked atis what are people reaching out
(10:05):
about?
So you know, this was ThriveCosmetics was boy, it was about
seven or eight years ago,because I've been in business
for nine years, so call it sevenor eight years.
I wanted to understand what thecontacts were about and then
which one of those were thingsthat we could do nothing about,
and instead of actuallyresponding to those, let's just,
(10:26):
you know, automatically respondbecause you can't really do
anything anyway.
And then I started to segmentdifferent request types to
different people.
So, for example, if someonewanted recommendations on you
know product lines and thingslike that that they needed, I
got it to people who were,because they hired a lot of
(10:47):
makeup artists and so the makeupartist is a very different
support person than a normalsupport person.
So I had to separate that groupso that we had the people who
were like you know, legacysupport people actually handling
the transactional andoperational things Where's my
order, different details likethat and then have the makeup
(11:09):
artists actually fill in andstart answering those questions.
So as soon as we started todivide it, then we knocked off a
few of them by getting thingsanswered very quickly, just
everything just kind of openedup and that queue just came down
, down, down, down down and theneventually because at that time
I felt like they were using acombination which sometimes
companies do that like they'llget more than one help desk they
(11:31):
were on, I think, help Scoutand they were on Gorgeous, and
then eventually we moved them onto Zendesk and I think they
might have left Zendesk then.
But that's what we did andwe're agnostic, like a partner
with everyone.
So whatever works for theclient is what we do.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
And you oftentimes put the human side before the
tech side, which is part of whatyou do.
How can teams prioritize trustand clarity and structure before
relying on the different typesof technology or tools to
enhance that customer experience?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I think at the end of the day, I mean, we're just
people, right?
So when you're talking tosomeone, if they're reaching out
to you because they need help,or even if you're dealing with
someone internally, like it's,you know, it's the golden rule
you treat others the way thatyou want to be treated, and so
it's important to remain openand listen and ask questions
(12:26):
that are going to help you tohopefully get to some sort of
resolve or at least a betterunderstanding, and to never come
into it with any judgment.
And they've been with us.
I'm looking at my board boy, Idon't know, three years now and
they've been around for a longtime and they are some of their
processes and their systems arepretty old and they had had
(12:51):
challenges when they broughtpeople in, because the people
that they brought in made themfeel like they were doing
something wrong and they weresaying you don't, you guys don't
do that Like you just meet uswhere we are and you work with
us.
And it's like, well, yeah, Imean I used to run customer care
for See's Candies and we usedto call that a 90 year old
startup.
So of course I understand whenyou have, like at See's at one
(13:15):
point we had I don't know whatthey have now, but an order
processing system from the 70s,and so you learn to just to be
humble, that you know there's noright way to do anything.
It's about the better way forthat particular situation and
for that group of people, andthat's really what I focus on.
At the end of the day, once Iunderstand what it is we're
(13:36):
trying to do, then we can figurethe technology to meet it.
We don't try to make the clientmeet the technology.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, it's a great example because there are a lot
of companies who you know.
I think it's no secret thatthere's some technology
platforms or AI like it'sexpensive and so that investment
in that could be significant,and so they may not have the
most up to date, but I thinkbeing able to meet them where
they are and work with them isactually what probably gets a
(14:02):
lot of the buy in.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, yeah, I really do.
And you know, I remember whatit's like.
So when I worked inside ofcompanies as an employee, I was
limited to whatever systems andtools they had.
So I'm using their systems,their tools to try to figure
things out, and you know.
Then you go somewhere else andyou're like, oh my gosh, like
(14:25):
when did they introduce this?
So I know what it feels like tolike constantly be in that
space of like continuouslearning.
And I, you know, there was apoint in my career when I was
younger where I would beintimidated by something new.
Now I'm like, look, I only knowwhat I don't know.
Every day something new is onthe market.
Show it to me, let me see, andthen I'll figure it out.
(14:46):
You know, if someone tries topartner, the first thing I tell
them is that you know we canlook at the product, but I can
only recommend it if you are afit, because I care too much
about the client experience.
I'm not a salesperson, I am acustomer experience person.
(15:08):
I'm a customer service person.
So I genuinely lead with likemaking sure that people are
happy.
With the feeling of that,everything else just comes.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, you walk the walk, especially in your line of
business.
Right, when you're working withyour customers, you want their
experience to be equally whereyou hope to get their business
100%.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I mean I've had where vendors have like really like
cut me out of deals and havelike impacted our finances.
We're a small team, right, butat the end of the day, the
client is what matters to me themost, because that relationship
, that's the person that's goingto recommend us to someone else
(15:45):
, that's the person that's goingto talk about how we perform.
The vendor doesn't really caretoo much about us.
What they care about is ourability to get people on their
product, and so I'm trying Ialways try to be transparent,
like commit to anything for you,but you know, if it fits, it
fits.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, speaking of just like the methods that you
apply when working with some ofyour clients, I would love to
deep dive into the loop method,and that's something that you
teach in your courses, but canyou walk us through the
different stages and how canlisteners take that and maybe
apply it to something you knowright away?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah.
So as a person who hatestraining which is weird because
I'm developing effectivelytrainings, but really playbooks,
right.
And so the idea is that Ipersonally am an impatient
person when it comes to learning.
I'm a trial and error Like.
I like to just go in there andfigure it out first, and then
(16:41):
I'll be like, oh, how does thatwork?
Like after I've already triedit and failed.
That's how I learned.
I taught myself Excel bydissecting my old boss's
formulas.
That's how I learned it.
So I'm just that person who'sgoing to pick something apart.
So what I wanted to do wascreate a space where people
could get and resources tothings that everyone else
(17:03):
expects them to know.
A good example when you areheading up any team, really, but
my experience is in customerexperience and support.
So you're heading up a supportteam it's their first time,
maybe at director's level andthey're like, hey, we need a
budget.
And you're like, yeah, and thenyou're thinking like what the
heck goes into a budget?
Like I don't, I don't even knowwhere to start, and so I have a
(17:24):
playbook for that now.
So I wanted to make sure thatpeople didn't feel like it's a
bad thing to not know.
You just haven't gotten thereyet.
When I was 24 years old, I gotmy first management job at
Intuit.
I was 24.
My boss would tell me that Iwasn't strategic.
Well, of course I'm notstrategic.
I'm 24, right.
(17:45):
So now what do I do?
I try to help leaders figureout how to think strategically,
because no one taught me any ofthese things.
I went to the school of hardknocks.
So with the loop method, idea isthat you get introduced to a
concept Like, for example, we'retalking about AI, everybody is
discussing it.
Very few people know how toleverage it Right.
(18:06):
So let's first dissect what isAI?
How can you use it, what aresome use cases?
And then, in that use case, wego into the observe piece right,
and that's where we're going todo actual examples of how other
companies have done it.
So now you're not just hearingit conceptually, but you're like
oh, this is how they applied it.
(18:27):
And then we add into thatworkbooks, and the workbook is
actually something that we breakup for you.
So you're now gonna own it,meaning you learn the concept.
This is how they did it.
Now, how are you going to do it?
So we're asking you questionsalong the way so that at the end
you can prove the impact.
(18:47):
So the idea is that you'regoing through and you're
actually building a playbook.
In the end, you download theplaybook and guess what?
You have now A plan to roll itout, and so it is so useful,
like most of the playbooks, willtake about two hours to fill in
, but you can stop and start asmuch as you want.
(19:07):
I've seen people go through 16playbooks in one month and
that's cool to me.
I mean, if you have time to getthrough a wonderful, we're
introducing new ones every month.
So the idea is that there'salways going to be something,
and if you don't find what youneed, then just ask for it,
because it could either be inthe works or we may be willing
(19:28):
to just build it.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Okay, this is where we hit the pause button.
That was just the beginning ofmy conversation with Ty.
In part two, we dive into thehuman side of customer
experience leadership impostersyndrome, building self-trust,
and why there's no single rightway to deliver customer
experience.
Plus, ty shares the one pieceof wisdom she wants every leader
(19:51):
to carry with them.
Make sure to come back nextweek for part two.
If today's episode challengedyou, moved you or lit a fire in
your soul, don't keep it toyourself.
Share it with somebody who'sready to rise.
Could I ask you to take 30seconds to leave a review?
It's the best way to say thankyou and help this show reach
(20:14):
more bold leaders like you,because this isn't just a
podcast, it's a movement.
We're not here to play small,we're here to lead loud, one
bold and unapologetic step at atime.
Until next time, stay bold,stay grounded and make moves
that make mediocre uncomfortable.
The first thing is to understand what it is that you
want it to do.
What particular problem do youwant it to solve?
You have to think of it like anemployee.
I know that sounds weird, butthe same way that you have to
instruct an employee, you haveto instruct AI.
The same way you have to tellthem exactly what you want them
to do.
You have to tell it to AI, andthen you'll also find out how
good you are at delegating,because what you get back might
(00:23):
be really strange and you'relike that's not what I meant.
So you want to have an idea ofwhat it is that you want to get
from it to begin with, and thenyou want to make sure that you,
as the subject matter expert,that you have the information
ready and available in a waythat AI can digest it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome to Evoke Greatness, the podcast for bold
leaders and big dreamers whorefuse to settle.
I'm your host, sunny.
I started in scrubs over 20years ago doing the gritty,
unseen work and climbed my wayto CEO.
Every rung of that laddertaught me something worth
passing on lessons in leadership, resilience and what it really
(01:05):
takes to rise.
You'll hear raw conversations,unfiltered truths and the kind
of wisdom that ignites somethingdeeper in you your courage,
your conviction, your calling.
This show will help you thinkbigger, lead better and show up
bolder in every part of yourlife.
This is your place to grow.
Let's rise together.
(01:37):
In part one of the AI-ReadyCustomer Experience Playbook, my
guest Ty pulls back the curtainon what it really takes to
scale customer experiencewithout breaking your business.
From why AI doesn't solve chaos, it scales it to the playbook
that helped thrive cosmeticsslash resolution times from 10
hours down to just four minutes.
(01:58):
Ty blends hard-won operationalwisdom with the human side of
leadership self-trust, clarityand the courage to grow.
Before you feel ready, getready for a mix of strategy and
soul that will change the wayyou think about customer
experience.
Now let's hop into it.
Welcome back to another episodeof Evoke Greatness.
I'm thrilled to have Ty Gibbons, founder of CX Collective and a
(02:20):
mastermind behind CX CollectiveAdvantage.
With more than 25 years ofhands-on experience in customer
support, building high-impactteams at brands like See's
Candies, thrive Cosmetics, shoeDazzle and Herbal Eye, ty
combines deep operationalknow-how with a heart for
leadership development.
Ty's work isn't theoretical,it's battle-tested.
She helps businesses tamecustomer support chaos into
(02:43):
scalable, high-performingoperations Through tools like
process optimization, automationand help desk transformation.
Her clients see measurablegains Think 10 times faster
resolutions, workflowautomations and peak client
retention.
Her on-demand learning platform, cx Collective Advantage, is a
lifeline for CX leaders aspiringto lead with clarity and
(03:06):
confidence.
With courses taking less thantwo hours, guided by the
practical loop method, ty helpsleaders build real, actionable
playbooks.
No fluffs, just tools andresults.
Whether harnessing AI to scaleor navigating the emotional
turbulence of self-doubt andimposter syndrome, ty sits to
the intersection of strategy andthe deeply human side of
leadership.
(03:27):
So dive in as we explore herinsights, frameworks and
inspiring journey.
Ty, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
I am looking forward to divingin, and the place that I really
like to start is finding outmore about what got you to
travel down your current path.
How did you come to the currentversion of yourself?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Oh, wow, okay.
So honest truth, I won't say mylast corporate job it's my
second to last but I worked sohard in that role and I felt
like I was on that treadmilltrying to, like you know, reach
that dangling carrot and I couldnever actually feel like I
accomplished anything and thatwas hard.
(04:10):
And so I actually went out onmy own because one I love
results and so once I checksomething off, like I really
genuinely feel good about it andI want to celebrate that, just
even if it's for two secondsabout it, and I want to
celebrate that just even if it'sfor two seconds.
I wanted to give other leaderswhat I wish I had when I was in
(04:31):
that role.
So I was at a startup that wasscaling really fast.
As you mentioned in mybackground, I came from larger
companies, but I really like thescrappiness of the startup, but
they don't have the budget orthe resources to actually like
get the results that they want.
So, although you know they makegood hires, they're like we're
ready to mature, let's getsomeone with experience.
(04:52):
Once I get in there, the lastthing that they want to hear is
that, as an expensive hire, thatI need more resources.
They're like that's what you'rehere for.
So basically, I was like I'mnever going to work that hard
again for anyone other thanmyself, and I'm going to build
the team to work with me, to gointo companies and to build out
these operations in a way thatwill allow them to scale but, at
(05:17):
the same time, won't breaktheir bank.
So that's literally how thiscame about.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Wow, you say that AI doesn't solve chaos.
It scales it.
You want to unpack a little bitabout what that means and how
can leaders prepare theirfoundation before layering on
that?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
automation?
Sure, yeah.
So I know that.
You know we hear AI and somepeople are like, oh my gosh, my
job's going away.
There are going to be someparts of different roles that
will be eliminated, but thereare going to be other parts that
are going to be.
You don't have your resourcesaligned properly, you don't have
(06:01):
your documentation, because theknowledge management part is
key and critical to the AI world.
It's not going to go well.
So I think that sometimespeople think like I'll just use
AI to do this thing, you fill inthe blank and after that
everything's going to be fine.
Well, if you have a bad processdocumented, ai is just going to
(06:23):
pull from that bad process andthat's what it's going to tell
all of your customers.
So if you want to do it right,you need to make sure that you
have your information properlyoutlined and structured and it
needs to be written in a waythat AI can understand so that
it can speak on your behalf.
And that is what the new jobslook like, at least for now.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
And what does that look like Because I think that
is a relatively new idea isbringing this automation of this
AI into your business.
There's so many differentdirections you can go, but how
can people start to dabble, likeget a little bit more
comfortable with it, becausesome people are really resistant
to it?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, you know, I actually have a playbook for
that, by the way.
There's a way to do it.
The first thing is tounderstand what it is that you
want it to do.
What particular problem do youwant it to solve?
You have to think of it like anemployee.
I know that sounds weird, butthe same way that you have to
instruct an employee, you haveto instruct AI.
The same way you have to tellthem exactly what you want them
(07:25):
to do.
You have to tell it to AI, andthen you'll also find out how
good you are at delegating,because what you get back might
be really strange and you'relike that's not what I meant.
No wonder people get confusedwhen I send them, you know
whatever.
So you want to have an idea ofwhat it is that you want to get
from it to begin with, and thenyou want to make sure that you,
(07:47):
as the SME, the subject matterexpert, that you have the
information ready and availablein a way that AI can digest it.
And then, once you do that, oras you're doing that, a good
idea is to leverage the teammembers around you who could
potentially feel impacted bythis, and the reason why you
(08:07):
want to do that is you want themon the journey because they're
going to be essentially teachingAI and you want to show them
that, even though you're showingAI how to do this, it's going
to make mistakes and I need youto correct it, so they're a part
of it.
And it's another thing toremember is that you're showing
AI how to do this.
It's going to make mistakes andI need you to correct it, so
they're a part of it.
And it's another thing toremember is that you're never
actually done, so you're goingto always have to iterate on it.
(08:28):
It's not like a one time.
Let me just make this changeand let AI handle it.
No, like, your job is just,it's different, that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You have really brought some transformational
results to companies you'veworked with.
Related to the customerexperience, thrive Cosmetics saw
their resolution time go from10 days to four hours, which is
a pretty staggering amount oftime to decrease.
By what practical changes andmindset shifts made that
(08:58):
possible?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
practical changes and mindset shifts made that
possible.
Yeah, you know I am a processperson, so with that particular
situation, a lot of what washappening is when I came in
there, they were actuallylooking for a full-time leader.
I got referred by one of myformer direct reports and I went
there and I was like, hey, Ican do it, I can come in because
(09:20):
the manager had left.
They needed someone to likehead up and kind of get them
going.
It's like I can do it but, likeyou know, I can't work here
because I have other clients butI can help you.
And so in assessing the team,everyone was doing their best
work but there wasn't a lot ofstrategic vision and guidance.
So imagine you're getting justa lot of strategic vision and
(09:42):
guidance.
So imagine you're getting justa bunch of requests coming in
and you don't have like a goodschedule, staff plan,
expectation.
People are just kind of jumpingin when they can.
That's sort of what washappening.
So my background's in workforcemanagement, which is about
getting the right people in theright place at the right time,
and so I actually started withthat Like, do we have schedules
that are aligned to when ourcustomers expect us to be there.
That's one.
The next thing that I looked atis what are people reaching out
(10:05):
about?
So you know, this was ThriveCosmetics was boy, it was about
seven or eight years ago,because I've been in business
for nine years, so call it sevenor eight years.
I wanted to understand what thecontacts were about and then
which one of those were thingsthat we could do nothing about,
and instead of actuallyresponding to those, let's just,
(10:26):
you know, automatically respondbecause you can't really do
anything anyway.
And then I started to segmentdifferent request types to
different people.
So, for example, if someonewanted recommendations on you
know product lines and thingslike that that they needed, I
got it to people who were,because they hired a lot of
(10:47):
makeup artists and so the makeupartist is a very different
support person than a normalsupport person.
So I had to separate that groupso that we had the people who
were like you know, legacysupport people actually handling
the transactional andoperational things Where's my
order, different details likethat and then have the makeup
(11:09):
artists actually fill in andstart answering those questions.
So as soon as we started todivide it, then we knocked off a
few of them by getting thingsanswered very quickly, just
everything just kind of openedup and that queue just came down
, down, down, down down and theneventually because at that time
I felt like they were using acombination which sometimes
companies do that like they'llget more than one help desk they
(11:31):
were on, I think, help Scoutand they were on Gorgeous, and
then eventually we moved them onto Zendesk and I think they
might have left Zendesk then.
But that's what we did andwe're agnostic, like a partner
with everyone.
So whatever works for theclient is what we do.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
And you oftentimes put the human side before the
tech side, which is part of whatyou do.
How can teams prioritize trustand clarity and structure before
relying on the different typesof technology or tools to
enhance that customer experience?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I think at the end of the day, I mean, we're just
people, right?
So when you're talking tosomeone, if they're reaching out
to you because they need help,or even if you're dealing with
someone internally, like it's,you know, it's the golden rule
you treat others the way thatyou want to be treated, and so
it's important to remain openand listen and ask questions
(12:26):
that are going to help you tohopefully get to some sort of
resolve or at least a betterunderstanding, and to never come
into it with any judgment.
And they've been with us.
I'm looking at my board boy, Idon't know, three years now and
they've been around for a longtime and they are some of their
processes and their systems arepretty old and they had had
(12:51):
challenges when they broughtpeople in, because the people
that they brought in made themfeel like they were doing
something wrong and they weresaying you don't, you guys don't
do that Like you just meet uswhere we are and you work with
us.
And it's like, well, yeah, Imean I used to run customer care
for See's Candies and we usedto call that a 90 year old
startup.
So of course I understand whenyou have, like at See's at one
(13:15):
point we had I don't know whatthey have now, but an order
processing system from the 70s,and so you learn to just to be
humble, that you know there's noright way to do anything.
It's about the better way forthat particular situation and
for that group of people, andthat's really what I focus on.
At the end of the day, once Iunderstand what it is we're
(13:36):
trying to do, then we can figurethe technology to meet it.
We don't try to make the clientmeet the technology.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, it's a great example because there are a lot
of companies who you know.
I think it's no secret thatthere's some technology
platforms or AI like it'sexpensive and so that investment
in that could be significant,and so they may not have the
most up to date, but I thinkbeing able to meet them where
they are and work with them isactually what probably gets a
(14:02):
lot of the buy in.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, yeah, I really do.
And you know, I remember whatit's like.
So when I worked inside ofcompanies as an employee, I was
limited to whatever systems andtools they had.
So I'm using their systems,their tools to try to figure
things out, and you know.
Then you go somewhere else andyou're like, oh my gosh, like
(14:25):
when did they introduce this?
So I know what it feels like tolike constantly be in that
space of like continuouslearning.
And I, you know, there was apoint in my career when I was
younger where I would beintimidated by something new.
Now I'm like, look, I only knowwhat I don't know.
Every day something new is onthe market.
Show it to me, let me see, andthen I'll figure it out.
(14:46):
You know, if someone tries topartner, the first thing I tell
them is that you know we canlook at the product, but I can
only recommend it if you are afit, because I care too much
about the client experience.
I'm not a salesperson, I am acustomer experience person.
(15:08):
I'm a customer service person.
So I genuinely lead with likemaking sure that people are
happy.
With the feeling of that,everything else just comes.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, you walk the walk, especially in your line of
business.
Right, when you're working withyour customers, you want their
experience to be equally whereyou hope to get their business
100%.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I mean I've had where vendors have like really like
cut me out of deals and havelike impacted our finances.
We're a small team, right, butat the end of the day, the
client is what matters to me themost, because that relationship
, that's the person that's goingto recommend us to someone else
(15:45):
, that's the person that's goingto talk about how we perform.
The vendor doesn't really caretoo much about us.
What they care about is ourability to get people on their
product, and so I'm trying Ialways try to be transparent,
like commit to anything for you,but you know, if it fits, it
fits.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, speaking of just like the methods that you
apply when working with some ofyour clients, I would love to
deep dive into the loop method,and that's something that you
teach in your courses, but canyou walk us through the
different stages and how canlisteners take that and maybe
apply it to something you knowright away?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Yeah.
So as a person who hatestraining which is weird because
I'm developing effectivelytrainings, but really playbooks,
right.
And so the idea is that Ipersonally am an impatient
person when it comes to learning.
I'm a trial and error Like.
I like to just go in there andfigure it out first, and then
(16:41):
I'll be like, oh, how does thatwork?
Like after I've already triedit and failed.
That's how I learned.
I taught myself Excel bydissecting my old boss's
formulas.
That's how I learned it.
So I'm just that person who'sgoing to pick something apart.
So what I wanted to do wascreate a space where people
could get and resources tothings that everyone else
(17:03):
expects them to know.
A good example when you areheading up any team, really, but
my experience is in customerexperience and support.
So you're heading up a supportteam it's their first time,
maybe at director's level andthey're like, hey, we need a
budget.
And you're like, yeah, and thenyou're thinking like what the
heck goes into a budget?
Like I don't, I don't even knowwhere to start, and so I have a
(17:24):
playbook for that now.
So I wanted to make sure thatpeople didn't feel like it's a
bad thing to not know.
You just haven't gotten thereyet.
When I was 24 years old, I gotmy first management job at
Intuit.
I was 24.
My boss would tell me that Iwasn't strategic.
Well, of course I'm notstrategic.
I'm 24, right.
(17:45):
So now what do I do?
I try to help leaders figureout how to think strategically,
because no one taught me any ofthese things.
I went to the school of hardknocks.
So with the loop method, idea isthat you get introduced to a
concept Like, for example, we'retalking about AI, everybody is
discussing it.
Very few people know how toleverage it Right.
(18:06):
So let's first dissect what isAI?
How can you use it, what aresome use cases?
And then, in that use case, wego into the observe piece right,
and that's where we're going todo actual examples of how other
companies have done it.
So now you're not just hearingit conceptually, but you're like
oh, this is how they applied it.
(18:27):
And then we add into thatworkbooks, and the workbook is
actually something that we breakup for you.
So you're now gonna own it,meaning you learn the concept.
This is how they did it.
Now, how are you going to do it?
So we're asking you questionsalong the way so that at the end
you can prove the impact.
(18:47):
So the idea is that you'regoing through and you're
actually building a playbook.
In the end, you download theplaybook and guess what?
You have now A plan to roll itout, and so it is so useful,
like most of the playbooks, willtake about two hours to fill in
, but you can stop and start asmuch as you want.
(19:07):
I've seen people go through 16playbooks in one month and
that's cool to me.
I mean, if you have time to getthrough a wonderful, we're
introducing new ones every month.
So the idea is that there'salways going to be something,
and if you don't find what youneed, then just ask for it,
because it could either be inthe works or we may be willing
(19:28):
to just build it.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Okay, this is where we hit the pause button.
That was just the beginning ofmy conversation with Ty.
In part two, we dive into thehuman side of customer
experience leadership impostersyndrome, building self-trust,
and why there's no single rightway to deliver customer
experience.
Plus, ty shares the one pieceof wisdom she wants every leader
(19:51):
to carry with them.
Make sure to come back nextweek for part two.
If today's episode challengedyou, moved you or lit a fire in
your soul, don't keep it toyourself.
Share it with somebody who'sready to rise.
Could I ask you to take 30seconds to leave a review?
It's the best way to say thankyou and help this show reach
(20:14):
more bold leaders like you,because this isn't just a
podcast, it's a movement.
We're not here to play small,we're here to lead loud, one
bold and unapologetic step at atime.
Until next time, stay bold,stay grounded and make moves
that make mediocre uncomfortable.
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