Episode 4

full
Published on:

9th Jul 2024

The Power of Insights to Humanize Business

CX leader Alex Genov shares the best lessons he’s learned from his 20-plus years in a variety of industries, including insurance, personal finance, and most recently in retail, as the Head of Customer Research and Marketing Insights at Zappos.

Alex spent nearly a decade at Zappos, where he introduced mindset segmentation and created the voice of the customer program—initiatives that helped the online shoe retailer improve its above-and-beyond customer service. 

We chat about the importance of customer centricity and hospitality in business. Throughout the episode, Alex provides powerful anecdotes on how understanding consumer needs and emotions can humanize business to build strong relationships and drive long-term success.

“We need more humanity in business and to soften that technology edge a little bit,” says Alex, co-author of Forget the Customer, See the Person.

What You’ll Learn: 

  • Zappos approach to customer service
  • The psychology of consumers
  • The future of customer centricity with AI 
  • Applying customer service to the digital experience
  • How to uncover insights to understand customers


Mentioned in this Episode:

Forget the Customer, See the Person: A Business Guide to Deeper Customer Empathy in Uncertain Times and Beyond by Alex Genov, James Alford and Fernando Cabestany

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer


Alex’s Bio:

Alex Genov is an experienced customer research professional and CX leader, who applies his Experimental Social Psychology background and his passion for research, design, and innovation to solving important customer and business problems. 

Alex’s professional career spans 20+ years in different industries ranging from insurance (State Farm) to personal finance (Intuit/Turbotax) to B2B (Active Network) to retail (Zappos). 

As a keynote speaker, Alex has delivered over 100 presentations, panel discussions, and workshops—both virtual and in person. He has presented at events on six out of the seven continents ... still waiting to be invited to present in Antarctica. His goal is to help teams create remarkable products and services, which make people's lives easier and more enjoyable.


More from our guest: Alex Genov


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Samrat Saran, Head of Client Solutions at Neuro-Insight

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About the Podcast

Inspiring Insights
From two distinct perspectives, Kory Grushka and Samrat Saran talk to luminaries inside and outside the field of Insights to inspire bigger, broader, and more creative thinking that helps you go beyond the job description.