Customer Support Leaders podcast in the making! – Part 1

This post is duplicated from my Linkedin publications today. It self-references this site, of course, but for expediency, I have copied it whole here. Exciting news!

If you’ve been following me in recent months, you’ll know I’ve spent quite some time on customersupportleaders.com. I love all the opportunities it has given me to start interesting conversations around customer support, technical support, leadership and service. My interview series with inspirational customer support leaders from all manner of organisations has proved incredibly popular. This brand has a lot of potential, and it’s something I want to continue to explore.

So, today, I’m excited announce the Customer Support Leaders podcast!

And, since I’ve been talking about this for a couple of weeks with a few friends and colleagues, I’ve had lots of questions, and suggestions to blog the journey to getting this new venture up and running.

I’d like to answer the main “5 Ws and 1 H” questions about it, over the course of a few posts.

First – “Why?”

I first started to think about a podcast in April 2019. I was about to attend the Customer Experience Expo in London, and thought I might get the opportunity to speak to lots of interesting people. Interesting people, talking about the industry I love and thrive in.

I wanted to record and share all I learned and heard. But how? Conversations and interviews seemed the way to go. They were a fast way to not only gather information and opinion, but also to give others the opportunity to hear it direct from the source, unfiltered. So, as I explored what I might do with some recordings, a podcast seemed the way to go. I went shopping. 

For improved audio in a crowded conference hall, while aiming to keep things simple, I bought a little mic for my iPhone. It’s super easy to use, and I can keep it knocking around the bottom of most bags I carry. I also bought a battery case for my phone, since the mic runs down the phone power a little quickly, and I wanted to be able to go the distance without worrying about charge levels. And off I went to the conference.

There was a problem, though, in that I got so caught up in the day, in the conversations, and in the sheer scale of the event, that I did not once take the mic out my bag and record a conversation! Part of the problem was, that while I’d had all these intentions, I lacked focus. I was definitely making great connections, and learning lots about AI, CX, and CRMs, but I most definitely didn’t find a cohesive thread on the fly. All I really got (aside from a couple of exceptions), was a bunch of literature, and some introductions.

I did manage to reconnect with a lot of folks after the event, and in the followup I have learned infinitely more than I did on the day.

Then life took over for a few months, and the thoughts of a podcast receded as I started to focus on other parts of my business and career. Over the summer I built customersupportleaders.com, and revisited the idea of interviews again. I’ve met so many CS Leaders over the last couple of years, that I wanted to gather their stories together. I approached a few, figured out what I wanted to ask them, and kept the format textual so that it fitted into the website easily.

As I said, they’ve been popular. But, not everyone has time or access to text interviews. One media format doesn’t suit all. And, now that I’m more comfortable interviewing, it seems a good time to play with how I deliver those interviews. And so, that returns me to the podcast idea.

I’m an avid podcast listener myself. I listen to everything from history to current affairs to business to language to science to psychology to personal development. It’s such a great way to deliver interviews to a wider, or different audience. I’m sure it’ll be fun, too!

So that’s the aim.

I’m writing this as I develop the idea, and I’ll answer another question or two in another post.