Experts of Experience

Most leaders build strategy around data and decks — and then wonder why nobody commits.Matt Marcotte has spent 34 years watching this pattern repeat across 200+ companies, from Apple to Salesforce. His conclusion: real commitment starts with emotion, not logic. In his book Built on Belief, Matt lays out a deceptively simple mental model — heart, head, hands (feel, think, do) — that explains why culture breaks at scale, why AI-perfect content repels instead of attracts, and why the companies that invest in belief outperform everyone playing the metrics game.Key takeaways:- The brain is wired to feel first, think second, act third — leaders who reverse this order get compliance, not commitment- You cannot give what you've never received: employee experience must precede customer experience- As AI commoditizes execution, belief and human connection become the true competitive advantage- The 3 C's (Clarity, Curiosity, Connection) give leaders a practical framework for aligning teams around purpose- Metrics replace purpose when companies scale without vetting for belief — and that's when culture diesConnect with Matt Marcotte:Matt’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mamarcotte/Matt’s Book: https://a.co/d/065v7O29Website: m2collaborative.com/Email: [email protected] of Experience is hosted by Lacey Peace and made by the team at Mission.org.Chapters00:00:00 You Can't Give What You've Never Received 00:02:21 The "Rational Consumer" Myth and Becoming a Consumer Anthropologist00:08:38 Heart, Head, Hands: Why the Order Matters 00:11:05 Why Startups Lose Belief at Scale 00:16:37 The 3 C's: Clarity, Curiosity, Connection00:21:43 You Can't Give What You've Never Received00:32:22 Patagonia, Starbucks, and the Power of Alignment 00:38:11 AI and the Rebellion Against Perfection00:43:03 Outsourcing Meaning vs. Building Confidence 00:50:39 Lightning Round: Physical Spaces, Talking to Strangers, and Built on BeliefExperts of Experience is a Mission.org production. To discover more shows designed to educate, inspire, and entertain, go to mission.org. –Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if everything you thought you knew about customer experience was backwards? In this episode, JC Quintana—author, educator, and psychologist—reveals why most companies are approaching CX completely wrong. Instead of obsessing over touchpoints and metrics, JC argues we need to start with something much more fundamental: expectations. JC walks us through his Dialogue 7 framework, which identifies the seven critical conversations that must happen before you can even think about designing an experience. From defining value and understanding cultural influences to managing engagement levels and transparency expectations, these conversations form the foundation of every successful business relationship. We explore why employees are anxious about AI adoption (hint: it’s not about the technology), why ChatGPT accidentally became the world’s best communication teacher, and why saying your company is “like a family” might be doing more harm than good. If you’re tired of CX strategies that look great on paper but fail in practice, this conversation will fundamentally shift how you think about customer relationships in 2026 and beyond. Chapters (00:00) Why Technology Vendors Broke Customer Experience (03:14) What’s Really Broken: We’ve Lost the Human Component (10:00) Business Model First, Experience Second (16:35) Introducing the Dialogue 7 Framework (24:01) The Most Commonly Missed Expectations: Knowledge & Engagement (34:48) How to Actually Use the 7 Conversations in Practice (41:00) Why Employees Are Anxious About AI (And What to Do About It) (50:03) ChatGPT: The World’s Best Communication Teacher (58:21) Lightning Round: Books, Trends, and What’s Next (01:09:00) Connect with JC: Books, Resources, and Next Steps –Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if everything you thought you knew about customer experience was backwards?In this episode, JC Quintana—author, educator, and psychologist—reveals why most companies are approaching CX completely wrong. Instead of obsessing over touchpoints and metrics, JC argues we need to start with something much more fundamental: expectations.JC walks us through his Dialogue 7 framework, which identifies the seven critical conversations that must happen before you can even think about designing an experience. From defining value and understanding cultural influences to managing engagement levels and transparency expectations, these conversations form the foundation of every successful business relationship.We explore why employees are anxious about AI adoption (hint: it's not about the technology), why ChatGPT accidentally became the world's best communication teacher, and why saying your company is "like a family" might be doing more harm than good.If you're tired of CX strategies that look great on paper but fail in practice, this conversation will fundamentally shift how you think about customer relationships in 2026 and beyond.Chapters00:00:00 Why Technology Vendors Broke Customer Experience03:14 What's Really Broken: We've Lost the Human Component10:00 Business Model First, Experience Second16:35 Introducing the Dialogue 7 Framework24:01 The Most Commonly Missed Expectations: Knowledge & Engagement34:48 How to Actually Use the 7 Conversations in Practice41:00 Why Employees Are Anxious About AI (And What to Do About It)50:03 ChatGPT: The World's Best Communication Teacher58:21 Lightning Round: Books, Trends, and What's Next01:09:00 Connect with JC: Books, Resources, and Next StepsExperts of Experience is a Mission.org production. To discover more shows designed to educate, inspire, and entertain, go to mission.org. –Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if everything you thought you knew about customer experience was backwards? In this episode, JC Quintana—author, educator, and psychologist—reveals why most companies are approaching CX completely wrong. Instead of obsessing over touchpoints and metrics, JC argues we need to start with something much more fundamental: expectations. JC walks us through his Dialogue 7 framework, which identifies the seven critical conversations that must happen before you can even think about designing an experience. From defining value and understanding cultural influences to managing engagement levels and transparency expectations, these conversations form the foundation of every successful business relationship. We explore why employees are anxious about AI adoption (hint: it's not about the technology), why ChatGPT accidentally became the world's best communication teacher, and why saying your company is "like a family" might be doing more harm than good. If you're tired of CX strategies that look great on paper but fail in practice, this conversation will fundamentally shift how you think about customer relationships in 2026 and beyond. Chapters:00:00 - Introduction01:52 - What's Really Broken in Customer Experience05:12 - Redefining CX: It's All About Expectations08:19 - The Promise-Proof-Delivery Framework in Customer Journeys12:26 - Business Model First, Experience Second16:56 - Introducing the Dialogue 7 Framework21:58 - Why Culture and "Centricity" Matter More Than You Think24:43 - The Knowledge and Accountability Gap28:02 - Transparency vs Trust: The Critical Distinction29:13 - Why Experience Comes Last (Not First)33:22 - The Two Most Commonly Missed Expectations36:46 - How to Actually Use the 7 Conversations in Practice42:49 - Why Employees Are Anxious About AI48:03 - The Value-Cost Equation in Every Relationship53:53 - ChatGPT: The World's Best Communication Teacher58:21 - Lightning Round: Books, Trends, and Frameworks1:06:11 - Stop Saying Your Company Is "Like a Family"1:11:59 - Skills the Next Generation Will Need1:14:36 - Where to Find JC Quintana  –Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What separates companies succeeding with AI from those struggling to see results? The answer isn't the AI itself-it's the data foundation underneath it.In this episode, we explore why the companies winning with AI today are the ones that spent years cleaning, structuring, and curating their data. Our guest is Mike Hutchinson, Chief Operating Officer at Teradata, bringing 35 years of customer experience expertise across three software companies.Mike breaks down the critical gap between structured and unstructured data, why vector stores and context engines are game-changers, and how real AI use cases come from solving business problems-not from hackathons. He shares examples from banking, airlines, and Teradata's own operations, including their fully autonomous account planning system.We also look ahead to 2026 and Mike's bold prediction: this will be the year companies build agents at scale - autonomous systems that monitor, decide, and act without human intervention.Chapters00:00:00 Meet Mike Hutchinson, 35 Year CX Veteran00:09:22 The Unstructured Data Problem00:12:07 Marrying Structured & Unstructured Data00:16:15 Why AI Use Cases Fail00:19:32 Banking NPS Transformation Story00:25:18 Security & Hallucination Concerns00:30:32 Getting Started with Data Organization00:37:33 Predictive Analytics & Weather Patterns Example00:42:21 CX Skills for the Next Decade00:48:52 The Expertise Debate in an AI World00:56:49 2026 Prediction: The Year of AgentsWatch Next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enBE_5PQOb4Experts of Experience is produced by the team at Mission.org. –Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.