Customer Experience University - Winning Loyalty & Engagement One Customer at a Time

Hosted by Dr. Joseph A. Michelli

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Episodes

656

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

New York Times #1 bestselling author, Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., shares customer experience, leadership, and business insights from Mercedes-Benz, Starbucks, Ritz-Carlton, Zappos, Pike Place Fish, and many more. At The Michelli Experience, we help front-line employees, managers, and senior leaders deliver relevant and engaging service experiences. To that end, we provide keynote and workshop presentations, short-term and extended consulting services, and bestselling books to meet your needs.

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60 recent

October 23, 2026Episode 6595 min

Employee Engagement at 5 Year Low - Where's the Tech Bump

Global engagement is at a five-year low while AI spreads everywhere. In this episode, Joseph Michelli shows why the tool was never the variable. Gallup’s data puts engagement at 48% when managers actively support AI use, versus 30% when they don’t. Plus what IKEA did with 8,500 call-center workers instead of cutting them. Get Me a Person: Winning Human Connection and Loyalty in the Age of AI releases on December 8. ORDER NOW for a PRE-ORDER BONUS and a signed, personalized copy: josephmichelli.com/get-me-a-person

October 16, 2026Episode 6585 min

Who Would Defend You

Most companies know their regular customers. Few know which ones would defend them. That difference matters. Joseph Michelli digs into Motista research that quantifies the gap between t satisfied and emotionally connected customers. He also offers an assignment to help you know and show appreciation for your advocates. Joseph's book Get Me a Person: Winning Human Connection and Loyalty in the Age of AI will be released on December 8. Pre-order today to get a special offer and your signed, personalized copies: josephmichelli.com/get-me-a-person

October 9, 2026Episode 6568 min

Get Me a Person

Your customers just told researchers they would switch companies to avoid the very thing you are spending millions to build. Joseph Michelli unpacks the “get me a person” backlash — Gartner finds 64% of customers would prefer companies didn’t use AI in service, and 60% fear they won’t reach a human when it matters — and names the opportunity hiding inside it: the Human Premium, the rising value of a real person precisely because real people are becoming rare. Featuring Klarna’s very public “we went too far” reversal, and three moves to make this week. Get Me a Person: Winning Human Connection and Loyalty in the Age of AI is on sale December 8. Signed, personalized copies: josephmichelli.com/get-me-a-person

October 2, 2026Episode 6559 min

The Operating System for Loyalty in the AI Era

In this quarter capstone, Joseph Michelli puts the whole machine back together: engagement, loyalty, and referrals aren’t three programs — they’re three outputs of one “loyalty operating system.” Drawing on Gallup’s record-low employee-pride data and Nielsen’s finding that 88% trust recommendations from people they know, he shows how engaged people build loyal customers who replicate themselves — and why, as AI commoditizes speed, the human system on top becomes your last durable advantage.

September 25, 2026Episode 6549 min

The Frontline Knows: Why Your Best CX Strategy Is Already on Your Payroll

The cheapest customer-experience strategy in your company is already on the payroll—and mostly ignored. Joseph Michelli unpacks Medallia/McKinsey research showing nearly 60% of frontline employees feel their CX ideas go unheard, even where leaders call experience a priority. Drawing on his own Mercedes-Benz buying-experience work, he explains why the people closest to customers see what dashboards and AI can’t—and three moves to surface that frontline wisdom before your competitors do.

September 18, 2026Episode 65310 min

When the Bot Breaks: Why Service Recovery Is Where AI-Era Loyalty Is Won

Failure is inevitable—and as AI mediates more of the service, it’s multiplying. Joseph Michelli explains the “service recovery paradox”: why a brilliantly fixed problem can make a customer more loyal than one who never had a problem. Drawing on John Goodman’s TARP research, Qualtrics data, and Zappos’ legendary ten-hour call, he shows why the rescue moment, not the failure, is where AI-era loyalty is won—and three moves to win it.

September 11, 2026Episode 6529 min

Design the Job, Not Just the Tool

AI use at work has nearly doubled — yet only 16% of employees say the tools they were handed help. In this episode, Joseph Michelli unpacks “the bolt-on trap”: dropping powerful AI onto jobs nobody redesigned, which removes no friction and quietly manufactures fear. Drawing on fresh Gallup data, he shares how to redesign the job — subtract the drudgery, raise the human value — so AI lifts your people instead of unsettling them.

September 4, 2026Episode 6519 min

Trust Is the Real Currency

To get the magic, customers have to let AI know almost everything — and trust in AI is falling, not rising. In this episode, Joseph Michelli makes the case that trust is the real currency of the AI era. Drawing on data from Edelman, Cisco, and Salesforce, he shows why transparency — not capability — is the differentiator and offers three disciplines for earning the “trust dividend” when your AI knows everything.

August 28, 2026Episode 6509 min

From Customers to Advocates

Why do we recommend some brands and never mention others? In this episode, Joseph Michelli traces the path from satisfied customer to vocal advocate — and finds belonging at its root. With Nielsen, Harvard Business Review, and Edelman data, plus the real story behind Airbnb’s “Belong Anywhere” strategy, he explains why you can’t discount your way to advocacy — and the three disciplines that build it.

August 21, 2026Episode 64910 min

Seen, Not Tracked

Recognition cuts burnout by 73% — yet fewer than one in four employees feel they get enough of it. In this episode, Joseph Michelli draws on Gallup-Workhuman and APA data to map the “seen/tracked line”: the moment technology shifts from noticing your people to watching them with a Ritz-Carlton lesson in recognition at scale and three principles to keep it human as it grows.

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