The CX Cast
Research-based guidance on how to manage customer experience (CX) at any organization — an imperative that Forrester has been researching for over 20 years. Each week, Forrester analysts discuss key findings from their latest research on CX; analyze relevant topics in the news; or chat with CX professionals about how they’ve overcome prevalent challenges managing CX in their organizations.

Latest Episodes
Podcast
81: Build Real Customer Understanding
Customer experience (CX) professionals know that the first step on the path to delivering good experiences is doing research to understand their customers. Yet many fail to recognize that it’s easy to draw false conclusions — and that doing so is even more dangerous than being ignorant. In this episode, we discuss some of the most […]
Podcast
80: Quantifying Your Customers’ Emotions, Part 2
In part 2 of our discussion on quantifying emotion with Forrester CMO Victor Milligan and VP of Customer Experience Index Roxie Strohmenger, we dig into the nitty gritty of how to measure the specific emotions your customers have, including how to “titrate” your measurement program (explanation included). Please listen to episode 79 before this this episode.
Podcast
79: Quantifying Your Customers’ Emotions, Part 1
Human beings aren’t getting more emotional; it’s just that they now have the power, willingness, and ability to take action when provoked by a delightful or frustrating experience. Understanding these emotional responses can help brands design experiences that elicit the specific feelings that drive loyalty. In part 1 of a 2-part series, Forrester CMO Victor […]
Podcast
78: What CX Pros Can Learn From The Wells Fargo Scandal
In September 2016, news broke that Wells Fargo had opened more than 2 million checking and credit accounts without customers’ knowledge. Now we find the scandal runs deeper, with Wells Fargo unfairly firing employees as retribution and blacklisting them from future jobs in banking. In this episode, we dissect the various aspects of the scandal and […]
Podcast
77: The Rise Of The Empowered Customer
Empowered consumers fuel the age of the customer — you’ve likely heard this repeatedly. They now have more choices, richer resources, and higher demands than in the past. But this is more than just a catchy idea; it is a measurable trend. Here, we prove it. This episode reveals how evolutions in customer behaviors and attitudes are […]
Podcast
76: Journey Maps And Process Maps And Service Blueprints, Oh My!
Decades of quality and process improvement efforts have left firms awash in tools for mapping experiences and analyzing processes. Customer experience (CX) pros who hope to introduce customer journey maps as a new tool for understanding experiences often face pushback from stakeholders who are reluctant to adopt yet another tool. Forrester Principal Analyst Tony Costa returns in this episode […]
Podcast
75: Predictions 2017: The CX Quality Split
Forrester’s Customer Experience Index (CX Index™) leaders of 2015 barely improved in 2016, even as brands that had lagged behind caught up significantly. Does this herald a leveling out in 2017, with companies converging toward CX parity? No. Forrester CX Research Director, David Truog, lays out for CX professionals what will happen instead. Click the title […]
Podcast
73: CX & Emerging Technology | A wrap up of Forrester’s CXSF Event
Last week, 900 attendees gathered in San Francisco at Forrester’s annual CXSF forum to discuss how emerging technology like AI-powered chat bots, IoT and voice recognition platforms are about to change customer experiences (CX) once again. In this episode, Analyst Kelly Price recaps key themes from the forum, like how CX pros must design for new […]
Podcast
72: From CX Practitioner To Forrester Advisor: The Lessons Learned
In this episode, you’ll hear from Judith Weader, a Senior Advisor on Forrester’s Customer Experience Council, as she shares some valuable lessons learned as a former CX practitioner in a CX department of one at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. Click the titles below to read more: Customer Obsession Is An Employee […]
Podcast
71: The Dawn Of Anticipatory CX
Customer expectations are rising faster than companies can evolve their value propositions. Customer experience (CX) professionals need to expand their toolkit to manage customer expectations as early as possible to build and sustain positive emotional momentum throughout the journey. In this episode, Forrester VP and Principal Analyst James L. McQuivey and Prinicpal Analyst Ryan Hart discuss how […]
Podcast
70: A Very Special CX Day
Happy CX Day 2016! To celebrate this very special occasion, we discuss CX day events, how companies are celebrating, and what you can do to participate in the festivities even if your company is not hosting its own event. In honor of CX day, Forrester released new report called “Why CX, Why Now” which contains […]
Podcast
69: How To Integrate Business Partners In B2B CX
Partners are essential contributors to business-to-business (B2B) customer experience (CX). Companies leverage partners for everything from developing and delivering marketing campaigns to providing ongoing customer support. That said, many, if not most, B2B CX programs do not manage partners as a component of the end-to-end customer experience. In this episode, we discuss the perils of this approach […]
Podcast
68: The CX Transformation Imperative
A handful of famous brands have thrived despite their dreadful customer experience (CX). But now a confluence of digital disruption, consumer hyperadoption, and rising customer expectations threatens to take them down. To acquire and retain customers in this environment, all companies must elevate the role of customer experience in their competitive strategies and commit to playing the long […]
Podcast
67: Acquisitions Are Not An Excuse For Bad Customer Experience
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are virtually inevitable in the lives of corporations. Even so, they distract attention from other initiatives — including customer experience (CX). CX pros must maintain momentum during acquisitions and sustain focus on customers after the integration. This episode outlines how CX pros on either side of an acquisition can navigate an M&A event. […]
Podcast
66: Three Secrets Of Customer-Obsessed Cultures
For most companies, customer focus is just talk. What separates customer experience (CX) leaders from laggards is not their stated commitment to customers. It’s instead their follow-through on that commitment. CX leaders also provide specific guidance that helps all employees act in customer-obsessed ways. In this episode, we discuss how CX leaders bring their cultural values to […]
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65: How Metrics Drive Your Customer Obsession
Customer-obsessed companies need metrics to quantify the business result of customer obsession and to incent customer-focused decisions. But there is no magic metric. Instead, firms must embrace an approach that looks at all financial, customer, operational, and employee metrics from the customer’s perspective. In this episode, Analyst Maxie Schmidt highlights how this perspective changes the […]
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64: The US Customer Experience Index, 2016
How well do leading brands build loyalty with the quality of their customer experience (CX)? Forrester’s US Customer Experience Index, 2016 reveals the top performers in the US as well as the specific brands that you need to beat to take over first place in your own industry. In this episode, we highlight some of the major […]
Podcast
63: Journey Analytics – What, Why & How
Companies use journey analytics to improve key customer journeys, evaluate opportunities for journey innovations, and boost retention, enrichment, and advocacy loyalty. In this episode, we discuss how companies are integrating journey analytics into their existing customer journey mapping and CX measurement efforts. Click the titles below to read more: Learning From Three Early Adopters Of […]
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62: Introducing Forrester’s B2B Tech CX Index
Forrester has used its CX Index to help consumer brands assess their experiences’ business value. Now, we’ve created a version of the CX Index that addresses the unique needs of customer experience (CX) pros in business-to-business (B2B) technology companies: So we’re introducing the B2B Tech CX Index here. This new methodology helps B2B tech firms assess how […]
Podcast
61: Mobile Onboarding Best Practices
On average, mobile apps lose three-quarters of their active users within the first three days of installation — and 90% within the first month of use. In response, many brands try to onboard new users with a tutorial that bogs them down and distracts from the main value of the app. In this episode, we […]