The Customer Success Playbook
Welcome to “The Customer Success Playbook,” a fresh podcast initiative spearheaded by Kevin Metzger and Roman Trebon. Immerse yourself with us in the dynamic realm of customer success, where we unravel the latest insights, inspirations, and wisdom from recognized leaders in the Customer Success domain.
Our journey began with a simple yet profound belief: that meaningful conversations can significantly impact our professional trajectory. With this ethos, we’ve embarked on a mission to bring to you the voices of seasoned and revered professionals in the field. Our episodes have seen the likes of Sue Nabeth Moore, Greg Daines, Jeff Heclker, James Scott, David Ellin, and David Jackson, who have generously shared their expertise on a variety of pertinent topics.
We’ve delved into the intricacies of Profit and Loss Statements in Customer Success with Dave Jacksson, explored the potential of Customer Success Platforms with Dave Ellin, and unravelled the role of AI in Customer Success with all guests. With Sue, we navigated the waters of Organizational Alignment, while Greg brought to light strategies for Reducing Churn. Not to be missed is James insightful discourse on the Current Trends in Customer Success and Jeff’s thoughts on Service Delivery in CS.
Each episode is crafted with the intention to ignite curiosity and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement among customer success professionals. Our discussions transcend the conventional, probing into the proactive approach, and the evolving landscape of customer success.
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the industry, our goal is to propel your customer success prowess to greater heights. The rich tapestry of topics we cover ensures there’s something for everyone, from the fundamentals to the advanced strategies that shape the modern customer success playbook.
Our upcoming episodes promise a wealth of knowledge with topics like CS Math, Training, AI, Getting hired in CS, and CS Tool reviews, ensuring our listeners stay ahead of the curve in this fast-evolving field. The roadmap ahead is laden with engaging dialogues with yet more industry mavens, aimed at equipping you with the acumen to excel in your customer success journey.
At “The Customer Success Playbook,” our zeal for aiding others and disseminating our expertise to the community fuels our endeavor. Embark on this enlightening voyage with us, and escalate your customer success game to unparalleled levels.
Join us on this quest for knowledge, engage with a community of like-minded professionals, and elevate your customer success game to the next level. Your journey towards mastering customer success begins here, at “The Customer Success Playbook.” Keep On Playing!!
The Customer Success Playbook
Customer Success Playbook Podcast S3 E42 - Shep Hyken - AI, Fear, and Friction
In the final episode of this powerful three-part series, the Customer Success Playbook Podcast welcomes back Shep Hyken for a forward-looking discussion on AI's role in customer experience. From customer trust and chatbot misfires to the fear of messing up (FOMU), Shep breaks down the opportunities and pitfalls of artificial intelligence in service.
Detailed Analysis: Kevin Metzger and Roman Trebon wrap up the Shep Hyken trilogy with a candid conversation on how AI is both transforming and challenging the customer service landscape. While 68% of customers still prefer phone support, Shep’s latest research reveals a promising shift: 50% of consumers have successfully resolved issues with AI-driven support. But there's a catch—another 50% report being misled by AI.
That duality sets the stage for Shep’s deeper message: AI must offer convenience without creating confusion. The brands that win will be those who design seamless handoffs to humans when bots fall short, and those who tailor support channels based on customer demographics. Shep emphasizes that CX isn't about chasing tech trends—it's about knowing your customer and building trust at every touchpoint.
He introduces a key fear hindering AI adoption: not FOMO (fear of missing out), but FOMU—fear of messing up. Many organizations hesitate to modernize due to sunk costs in legacy tech or risk aversion among leadership. But as Shep points out, the true risk is falling behind the expectations set by the best experiences customers have had—regardless of industry.
As a bonus, Shep shares where to find his expansive research, including his 2025 State of Customer Service and CX report, freely available at https://hyken.com/research/.
This episode is essential for any business leader looking to leverage AI wisely and responsibly in the age of customer experience.
Now you can interact with us directly by leaving a voice message at https://www.speakpipe.com/CustomerSuccessPlaybook
Check out https://funnelstory.ai/ for more details about Funnelstory. You can also check out our full video review of the product on YouTube at https://youtu.be/4jChYZBVz2Y.
Please Like, Comment, Share and Subscribe.
You can also find the CS Playbook Podcast:
YouTube - @CustomerSuccessPlaybookPodcast
Twitter - @CS_Playbook
You can find Kevin at:
Metzgerbusiness.com - Kevin's person web site
Kevin Metzger on Linked In.
You can find Roman at:
Roman Trebon on Linked In.
Customer success.
Roman Trebon:Welcome back to the Customer Success Playbook podcast. I'm your host, Roman Reon. Joined by uh, my co-host Kevin Metzger. Kevin, we made it to Friday, the end of the week, and we're wrapping up our awesome three part series with Shep. He all about the state of customer experience. You ready to dig into AI with Shep?
Kevin Metzger:Let's dig into AI with Shep. It's AI Friday. AI Friday. Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai. Alright, all we, like you said, we've been discussing how satisfaction alone isn't enough and how price versus experience can be a delicate balancing act. Today Shep will share findings on how AI can enhance or undermine customer service. Depending on how it's used. Shep, your report shows many customers still prefer the phone, yet a growing number successfully resolve issues with AI driven chatbots. How do companies use AI to deliver speed and convenience without frustrating customers who just wanna speak to a human?
Shep Hyken:Well, first let's talk about that phone versus the digital experience. And most of the time the digital experience has some level of AI tied to it. Uh, although if I have a great frequently asked question piece on my website, it might be type in the question in any language, and, and that's AI doing it. But I can also give lists of ways to. Answer questions and there could be, you know, uh, a link to a video tutorial to help me out. Now, that's not ai, but it's still digital. Obviously AI is just the greatest thing that, I mean, we are in a time that I think, I believe this is so off topic, but I believe that this AI thing, especially generative AI and large language, uh, models, these, this is bigger than electricity. Or close to it, maybe just as important. Anyway, I digress. 68%. Uh, by the way, uh, if you listen to our other, uh, segments that we did earlier in the week, this is a cross section of what, you know, the US consumer thinks. Age 18 to 70, broken down, just, it's just basically a mirror of what the US population is When we survey our customers and we survey thousands over the years, and 68% this year said, I would rather go to the phone. First. Wow. And by the way, it's always hovered around 69, 70% for the last, I don't know, four or five years. And this surprises me, which means that about 32% prefer digital experience. If you break it down by demographics, it's about 82% of boomers older generations versus 52% of Gen Z. That's a pretty big difference in, uh, interesting. Their comfort level in going digital first or using the phone first. So my suggest to companies is know your customers. Know your demographics. If you care to everybody, you better make sure you have all the options. So that's the first part, but something to get excited about 50% of customers said they have successfully resolved. Customer service issues using AI without having to talk to a human. Very exciting, by the way, about 51%, same number, basically said AI's also given'em bad information, uh, which means companies need to have this seamless ability to connect a customer to a live agent if they started down the AI direction and find they have to veer off and get help from somebody who can't, uh, who can answer a question that AI can't.
Kevin Metzger:Do your numbers look at all at how companies are succeeding at doing this and giving the options to customers?
Shep Hyken:No, we don't actually. Uh, we interview the consumer to understand what their expectations are. I do study. Reports from what companies are doing, and it really surprises me that companies haven't invested in the right technology. I just finished an interview with a major company and what the reason they haven't done it, it, it, it just blows my mind is they've spent prior, so 10 years ago, let's just go back 10 years, there was AI being used, the cost to implement AI in a customer support or sales or any type of of process cost. Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. I know some of the larger companies were spending a million dollars or more to be able to experiment using ai. Now, let me ask you a question. If you're spending that kind of money and you've got all this hardware, which is what it was back then, servers, and all of a sudden today you're finding out, wow, for$30 per person. Per month, like for a few hundred dollars a year, I can get even better experience. But wait a minute, I've already spent, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Let's use this first. You know, so that's why some of these companies haven't caught up. Many companies are a little bit of afraid, uh, to jump in and invest even in an inexpensive solution in case it's wrong. So you've heard of fomo, the fear of missing out, there's fomo, the fear of messing up. So if somebody decides they want to implement a solution and it doesn't work, their head's potentially on the chopping block, they don't want to experience that. So there's a little bit of fear, but I'm gonna tell you the biggest fear of all shouldn't be whether you're implementing the right solution or not. And I. So I'm gonna give you two thoughts here. Number one, customers don't compare to direct competitors anymore. They compare to the best experience they had from anyone, and that could be a shoe repair store down the street. Even though I'm trying to com, I'm work doing business with the bank, you know it, it doesn't seem like, well, they're totally different. No, they're not. The best experience is the one the customer said, I wish everything were like this. Most companies. Say for example, a bank might look at other banks to see how far they have to go to create a great experience, which is wrong. I think it's great to be, create a competitive experience, but not the best experience. And so a lot of times companies will look at what others in their industry are doing and realize we only have to be this good to make that work. Well, that's gonna be frustrating long term. The first company that figures out Shep says, look, outside of the industry is going to figure out they made the right choice.
Roman Trebon:Shep, this is great stuff. I'm glad you joined us all week, Shep. I know our audience can find you@hyken.com, right? That's But where else? That's me. Can they find you the report? What you, you're speaking engagements. You're all over the place.
Shep Hyken:I am. Well, hyken.com has everything and the report is free and we don't even ask for your email address. That's just the kind of guy we are. Not only do we protect your privacy, we don't even ask to get private. So if you wanna join my newsletter list, of course you can. And of course, on YouTube, I post videos every week. Uh, shep tv.com or SHEP tv will get you there. And I'm on every social channel You can imagine. Uh, even, even I, I post probably about weekly or twice a week on TikTok. So Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
Roman Trebon:everywhere,
Shep Hyken:everywhere, everywhere.
Roman Trebon:I love it. Well, our audience, uh, definitely go to hiking.com, check it out, get the report. While Shep's not gonna ask you for your email, I am gonna strongly recommend you sign up and put your email in there to get the newsletter. There's tons of great stuff you wanna stay on top of that, Shep, honestly, it's been awesome. We really appreciate you coming on the show. The report is terrific. I, we got an early copy of it. We got to, I got to read the whole thing. It was awesome. So really appreciate that. To our audience, again, thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed this three part series with Chef Hyken. We'll be back next week with more customer success insights and actions for your organization. Don't forget to subscribe like the show. You can find Kevin and I on LinkedIn at Roman Reon at Kevin Metzker. You can also find Shep on, on LinkedIn. He is there as well, right? Every social media platform everywhere. So make sure we call that everywhere. Everywhere. And if you want TikTok, check out Shep on TikTok. I'm not on there yet, but Shep, when I sign up for TikTok, you'll be one of my first, uh, first people to follow. So with that, Kevin.
