Video Testimonials | Gold Research, Inc.

We believe that peer-to-peer “experience shares” offer the best form of learning. Such learnings become even more powerful, and actionable, when those who are sharing their experiences are experts who have successfully overcome the same customer challenges that you may be facing today.

So, in this ongoing series we will present discussions with different CX, Research, and Insights Masters. Each interviewee has a track record in optimizing customer experiences, building loyalty, enhancing innovation, and growing sales exponentially.

By learning from these Masters, you will gain insights and develop strategies on how to better understand your customers and take their experiences to the next level.

View Nicole Dave

Watch Nicole Dave, Director, Customer Lifecycle and Insights Discuss:

Why balancing speed and thoroughness in timelines prevents missing critical components in customer journeys
How managing momentum and velocity effectively addresses and solves customer journey issues
When regular planning cycles in projects prevent recurring customer journey problems
How frequency and severity play key roles in the impact analysis of customer journey stages

View Serena Li

Watch Serena Li, Director of Consumer Insights, Strava Discuss:

When customer journey mapping reveals that “moments-of-truth” are becoming pain points then it is sure sign that one is risking market share to competitors
How emerging tech, like AI, could potentially enable a million personalized customer journeys for diverse consumers
Why identifying specific and detailed project metrics is crucial for customer journey success

View Mirena Zannou

Watch Mirena Zannou, Consumer Insights & Brand Strategy Leader Discuss:

How a two-question strategy (monetary and personal impact) can help justify customer journey research to stakeholders
What post-pandemic consumer habit changes mean for customer journey research
How early engagement with project activators provides crucial context and boosts their involvement in customer journey mapping initiatives

View Nicole Rocchio

Watch Nicole Rocchio, Global Insights Lead – GNI Data Tools, Google Discuss:

How avoiding “analysis-paralysis” in customer journey research leads to actionable recommendations and measurable business impact
What targeting for action in customer journey mapping means for business leaders
Why acknowledging gaps and expert bias is crucial in customer journey mapping for a balanced, accurate analysis

View Craig Alter

Watch Craig Alter, Consumer Insights at Perfetti Van Melle Discuss:

Why insights must be concise, impactful, and actionable for effective customer journey mapping
How product sale locations influence diverse purchase cycles and consumer journey paths
When highlighting financial losses from unaddressed pain points can clarify customer journey research impact

View Samantha Blackburn

Watch Samantha Blackburn, Market Research Manager, WestRock Discuss:

How blending “B2B” and “B2C” forms a “B2B2C” strategy, covering every customer journey stage
When cross-segment customer journey research prevents researchers from missing the forest for the trees
How peak points in customer journeys foster loyalty, while pain points drive them to competitors

View Monica Aguilo

Watch Monica Aguilo, Senior Director, Consumer Insights, Strategy, & Social Impact, MANSCAPED, discuss:

Why empathy is crucial in customer journey research
How expanding data – qualitative and quantitative – helps avoid segment bias and gain a comprehensive customer journey view
Why aligning customer journey insights with business impact objectives is the perfect recipe for baking the “gift-that-keeps-on-giving”

View Manisha Sharma

Watch Manisha Sharma, Consumer Insights Lead, discuss:

Why exploring the triad of impacts – business, financial, and personal, is imperative to discern the personal ramifications for stakeholders when business and financial objectives align
How acknowledging personal impact in customer journey mapping and research can transform business influencers into proactive champions, driving investment in research and actionable results
How new companies can pinpoint and leverage customer experience gaps to sway consumers towards their products and services

View Reva Sheehan

Hear Reva Sheehan, Sr. Director, Customer Insights, mPulse Mobile, discuss:

What sets customers apart on their buying journeys
How you can better understand your more “silent” customers
Where tailored communication can stand out in crafting customer experiences for distinct audiences, sending relevant messages, and adapting to diverse content consumption preferences

View Chris Ogilvie

View Chris Ogilvie, Head of Research and Insights, Netspend, discuss:

Why benchmarking is indispensable in understanding your customer’s journey in relation to competitors, and discerning the experiences that influence their preferences for one company over another
How decision-makers’ preferences for qualitative or quantitative data can be harmonized: recognizing the strengths of both and leveraging a hybrid approach for optimal insights
Why it is vital to transform a customer pain point into a tangible financial metric, be it cost leakage or lost revenue, to drive organizational change and action

View Tisha Cole

Watch Tisha Cole, Director, Customer Insights, Kenvue, discuss:

What it means to ground the customer experience: a unified framework that fosters the right mechanisms for an effective customer journey
Why it’s important for internal stakeholders to grasp the nuances of “customer experience” and its varied interpretations across different business sectors
When to utilize a “hypothesis setting workshop” as a collaborative approach to identify gaps in customer understanding, successes, and the extent of shared insights across business areas
Why research outcomes become more impactful through the lens of customer personas in both B2B and B2C customer journeys, ensuring a cyclical approach

View Earlene Biggs

Watch Earlene Biggs, Divisional Principal, Commercial Solutions, ICON plc, discuss:

How customer journey mappers can guide clients on achieving the end business impact that they hope to accomplish
Why it is critical for senior leaders to recognize that there is no proxy for the voice-of-the-customer
What we can do to identify how customers may relate to, and differentiate from, each other

View Elena Garvey

Senior Director, CX Team, LinkedIn, discuss:

When evaluating customer journeys, why it is critical to look at both ends of the customer spectrum, from those who bought in and those who did not
How researchers and CX leaders should investigate customer journeys
Why expanding the scope of the audience upfront can provide more significant insights into questions and opportunities that are bound to arrive eventually

View Stephanie Laguna

Executive Director, Market and Product Strategy, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., discuss:

What can researchers do to get a deeper level of engagement from internal stakeholders in customer journey mapping projects
Why the insights team must have an in-depth understanding of the organization’s mission and its core values prior to investigating the customer journey
How developing key metrics that track the cadence of research results will benefit the company to a fuller extent in the long term

View David Schwartz

Managing Director Category Management, Consumer Research and Insights, Conair Corporation, Inc., discuss:

Why it is vital to investigate what triggers the initiation of the customer journey
How customer loyalty drivers can be uncovered from analyzing their “post-purchase” experiences
What behavioral techniques (like eye-tracking) can do to help you better understand your customer journeys

View James Melucci

Director of Shopper Insights, Beam Suntory, discuss:

The 3 core elements of customer journey mapping design: clearly understanding the underlying “why” behind the project, “how” it will improve the customer’s experience, and “what” will be its financial impact on the organization
Why working closely with internal and external teams is critical to designing journey questions that are unbiased
How you can gain “first mover advantage” by transitioning a partnership from a solely financial transaction to a trusted guide approach

View Andrea Krohnberg, CCXP

Global Director, Customer Insights & Experience, Kelly Services, as she discusses:

why it is impossible to have customer-centricity if teams and stakeholders don’t share a unified perspective
how there is no proxy for the customer’s voice; and why it is so crucial to speak with real customers (and prospective customers) when evaluating their journeys with your business
why it is vital to pursue relationship-building with internal stakeholders on the front-end to initiate enthusiasm for the project and to create recognition of their personal impact

Watch Gloria O-B Osardu, PhD

Global Head of Experience Research and Insights, Gusto, discuss:

why it’s crucial to align with the business’s objectives before initiating a project to prevent “research silos”
how the customer journey map is an intertwined ecosystem of information rather than a linear thought concept
how journey mapping (when done right) can showcase the correct way to design and build personalized experiences for a customer’s individual situation

See William Doyle

Global VP, Customer Insights, SAP, discuss:

how marketers can initiate positive action in a customer journey project by utilizing AI data to transform “insights” into “foresight”
why managing internal expectations and over-communicating are the pillars of executing a customer journey project successfully
why it is vital for all businesses to have a journey map that highlights their customers’ “”moments of truth”” in their buying journeys

Watch Marcos Adrián Pérez Sandoval

Director, Consumer Insights, 7-Eleven, share thoughts of:

why it’s essential for insight specialists to focus on the “why” and “how” their customer journey maps will help internal stakeholders in achieving their “business” AND “personal” goals
how designing a customer journey mapping project for a specific financial impact often leads to an enormous return on investment (ROI)
why using a holistic omni-channel research approach when exploring shopper journeys is the key to identifying their hidden purchase triggers

View Greg Tucker

Chief Journey Mapper, Gold Research Inc, as he discusses:

how business leakages and failures in connecting with customers can be uncovered by embarking on customer journey work
why organizations should never proxy the “voice-of-the-customer” in the journey mapping process
how research leaders can design the activation of insights to achieve the full benefits of customer journey efforts

Watch Jelena McMillan

Associate Vice President Research, MiMedx, discuss:

how insights specialists can help their teams stay connected with the voice-of-the-customer
why it’s so important for each research project to be designed for a specific financial impact
how researchers can guide their organizations to not loose focus during the research planning and execution stages

See Marty Seiwert

Insights, Instacart, discuss:

how data without insights is just overhead; there must be actionable steps to utilize
how to not fall prey to shiny gizmos but to remain focused on the original business impact that the project was designed for
why prioritizing key objectives when initiating customer journey mapping is critical to project development

Watch Detra Whitmore, PMP

Vice President of Customer Experience, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Trinity Metro, thoughts of:

why a happy employee experience has a positive ripple-effect in the customer’s journey
how to convert a negative moment-of-truth into a peak point that elevates the customer’s experience
why talking to customers in real-time can provide helpful insights beyond standard data research

See Bridget Nelson

Head of Brand Performance, MassMutual, discuss:

how she measures the impact of marketing at the brand level
the benefits of deep-diving into the customer journey, from initial trigger to purchase, to create a relevant presence at each critical decision step
how customer journey research often opens various avenues of opportunities, knowledge, and dialogue that foster innovation

See Mac Smith

Head of Cross Portfolio Research, Search & Assistant, Google, discuss:

why customer journey mapping, when done right, is often responsible for outcomes that have a measurable impact on the business
how journey mapping can help optimize customer experiences
what business leaders need to keep in mind when trying to solve their customers journey challenges

Watch Cynthia Sodini

Head of Consumer Insights and Strategy, Reynolds Consumer Products, discuss:

how she uses customer journey mapping and ethnographic research to better understand how consumers are engaging with her brands
the importance of planning and designing every research project for a specific business impact and outcome
how she guides her internal stakeholders to leverage research in more strategic (and not just tactical) ways

Watch John Robert Whitaker

Former Fortune 500, Vice President of Consumer Insights and Analysis, discuss:

how he leverages customer journey mapping and research to identify key touch-points that optimize customer experiences and drive business growth
why it’s so important to test and validate internal hypothesis around the customer’s needs and expectations, especially before making key business changes
the benefits of mapping employee experiences in parallel with customer experiences

Watch Michael Nevski

Director Global Consumer Insights, Visa Inc., discuss:

how he develops customer personas and evaluates their business journeys
his best practices for increasing the adoption, and implementation, of research recommendations across different internal departments
why it’s a good idea to always “design-for-success” when planning customer journey mapping and research projects

See how Brian Cobb

Chief Innovation Officer, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG):

drove organizational change by focusing on removing key pain-points that were present in the different customer journey stages
leveraged customer journey mapping to help different departments better understand consumer behaviors and their underlying unmet needs
improved customer experiences with innovative changes that he researched and tested rigorously for impact

Watch Gordon Hester and Connor Hester

Direct Selling Experts, Co-Founders, Shapetech Solutions, discuss:

customer journey mapping and how it has helped many direct selling organizations become more “customer-centric”, and achieve hyper-growth
the important roles that trust, care, and impact play in making a deeper connection with customers
how the end consumer experience can be optimized, and why prioritizing this is so critical for the direct selling industry

See how Vani Chokra

VP Customer Insights & Communications, Diversey:

uses customer journey mapping and research to validate internal hypothesis and decision making
leverages the gaps between what customers need, and what they are being offered, to strengthen her company’s offerings
helps leaders better understand how their plans and decisions will impact customers

Watch Nyika Allen

Director of Aviation, City of Albuquerque, share:

her own journey in better understanding her customers
how she leveraged journey mapping to optimize customer experiences at the Albuquerque International Sunport
a deep understanding of key customer journey touch-points, and their impact, that prevented her from replacing airport parking attendants with high-tech solutions

See how Billie Jo Timm

Former Senior Vice President, CX, MasterBrand Cabinets:

leveraged journey mapping to help different departments understand the entire customer experience from start-to-finish
benefited from incorporating the voice-of-the-customer in each stage of her journey maps
drove organizational change by uncovering key customer experience improvements

Hear Andy Mecs

Vice President, Marketing & Innovation at StarKist, talk about:

the different techniques and tools that he deploys to better understand his customers
how an evaluation of key customer journey moments led to an incredible innovation that sky-rocketed sales
why it’s so important to keep an open mind when collecting and evaluating customer journey data

Hear Amelia Strobel

Global Strategic Insights & Innovation Leader at Mars, discuss:

how she uses customer journey data to guide the C-Suite from “insight” to “foresight”
the effectiveness of story-telling and emotions in driving action
innovative methods she has used to bring customer personas to life for the entire organization

Watch Erik Vogel

Global Vice President, CX, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, share:

how he is driving change internally while staying focused on the customer’s experience
his key pillars to ensuring that all CX improvement efforts are in alignment with customer expectations
real-world examples of how customer journey mapping and personas can help align and unify different teams to a common goal and vision

See how Jessica Bolger

Head of Insights, VOC, Drinkworks:

maintains a constant pulse of her customers
generates actionable insights by focusing on the “moments-of-truth” and triggers in the usage stage of her customers’ journeys
mapped key insights for a product that had minimal data (as it had just launched)

Hear Yogesh Chavda

Former Head of Insights, Pinterest, share:

how he leveraged customer insights during the pandemic to bring advertisers back
the “aha” moments customer journey research can uncover even for everyday commodity products
what is “Death-by-Data” and how you can avoid it

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