They think they know what's needed

In Episode 254 of CX Passport, Lisa Guzman talks about how startups often believe they already know what their customer experience operation needs.

They usually don’t.

Founders are brilliant at product. They’re bold with vision. They’re comfortable with risk. But when it comes to CX infrastructure, many of them assume the basics are already handled.

An inbox becomes a ticketing system.
Response volume becomes the performance metric.
Support becomes something to react to rather than something to learn from.

Lisa shared a story of a company using Gmail as their support platform. On the surface it worked. Emails came in. Agents replied. Leadership even thought they had productivity metrics because they could count responses.

But the real signals were invisible.

Which issues were trending?
Which customers were struggling repeatedly?
Which agents were solving the hardest problems versus answering the easiest ones?

Without systems designed for insight, CX becomes reactive noise instead of strategic intelligence.

The real work of CX leadership in startups isn’t simply installing tools. It’s translating operational improvements into business value.

Why this system?
Why this metric?
Why this investment?

Because when a founder hears “we need a platform,” they hear cost.

When they hear “this will help us retain customers and identify problems earlier,” they hear growth.

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A break before we continue.

Some of you know me from CX Passport. Some of you may not know there’s another storytelling world in my life.

That world recently turned into a book I co-authored with my wife, Clancy.

📖 Our book is here! The Loud Quiet – Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest.

It's an engaging, heartfelt, and humorous book that explores the transition from parenting to the next stage of life.

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/4rpo7rA​

Now back to the newsletter.

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Here’s the challenge for CX leaders stepping into growing companies.

You will often inherit hay.

Processes that sort of work.
Metrics that feel right but aren’t.
Tools that were chosen because they were available.

Your job is to spin it into gold.

Translate support into insight.
Translate metrics into decisions.
Translate customer friction into product improvement.

Because when CX leaders do that well, they stop being a support function.

They become a growth function.

Your Turn

Where have you discovered “hay” in a CX operation that leadership thought was already gold?

Put those tray tables up and buckle those seat belts. Let’s go!

-Rick

P.S. If you know someone who might benefit from this week’s newsletter, please feel free to forward this to them. Or they can sign up here.

What’s on tap this week?…

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Host - Rick Denton Rick believes the best meals are served outside and require a passport

The One With CX Gold From Startup Hay – Lisa Guzman E254 Listen on any Pod app

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