Explore every episode of the podcast Customer Support Leaders
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 297: AI Beyond The Queue; with Robert Cabral | 08 Apr 2026 | 00:33:06 | |
AI in customer support gets reduced to one tired idea: ship a chatbot and cut tickets. That mindset misses where the real leverage is. We sit down with Robert Cabral, Head of Customer Experience at Runway, to talk about “AI beyond the queue” and what it looks like when an AI-first company uses automation to scale service while protecting the customer relationship. | |||
| 296: Flipping Away From Leadership; with Jenny Dempsey | 01 Apr 2026 | 00:36:20 | |
Getting laid off can scramble more than your finances. It can shake your identity, your confidence, and the story you’ve been told about what “success” in customer support leadership is supposed to look like. That’s why this conversation with Jenny Dempsey hit so hard: she went from a clear leadership path in customer experience to two years of uncertainty, experimenting with consulting, and rebuilding from a place that felt anything but predictable. | |||
| 287: Extreme Delegation: How To Lead When Everything Changes At 4 PM On An Idle Tuesday; with Matt Dale | 28 Jan 2026 | 00:47:12 | |
A quiet Tuesday turns into a leadership stress test. We share the playbook for extreme delegation—those moments when a key lieutenant leaves, the CEO secondments you into a new role, or a surprise launch forces you to hand off mission-critical work fast without dropping standards. Matt Dale joins Charlotte Ward to unpack how to keep people safe, outcomes clear, and momentum steady when the plan changes mid-flight. | |||
| 226: 99 Weeks Done | 04 Dec 2021 | 00:40:43 | |
Week 99 Topic: Reflecting Looking back over some of the best advice, and a couple of bonus outtakes from the last 99 weeks of the podcast! | |||
| Week 100 Teaser | 26 Nov 2021 | 00:03:34 | |
| From The Archives: Ep 150: Fireside with Mo McKibbin | 19 Nov 2021 | 00:36:17 | |
From The Archives: Fireside with Mo McKibbin Mo McKibbin talks about the challenges of screening for those magical unicorns: technical, customer success-support hybrids, remote, in Europe, ideally with specific industry experience. And we excitedly steal each others' favourite interview questions. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 146: Fireside with Tue Søttrup | 12 Nov 2021 | 00:21:26 | |
From The Archives: Fireside with Tue Søttrup Tue Søttrup helps me kick off this new Fireside season with a conversation about Product-Led Customer Success, and how Dixa have used this approach to drive product engagement and business improvements for the customers at the same time. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 142: Diversity and Inclusion with Antonio King | 05 Nov 2021 | 00:16:04 | |
From The Archives: Diversity and Inclusion Antonio King joins me to talk about the importance of keeping the conversations going, no matter how uncomfortable it feels.. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 140: Scary Support Stories with Todd Curtis | 29 Oct 2021 | 00:27:10 | |
From The Archives: Scary Support Stories Todd Curtis tells the scary story that inspired this whole week of terrible tales. I heard this at a conference two years ago and it still gives me chills. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 136: Scary Support Stories with Matt Dale | 22 Oct 2021 | 00:09:15 | |
From The Archives: Scary Support Stories Matt Dale joins me to tell the story of a possessed laptop. And I have rather too much fun with sound effects. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 134: Support’s Relationship to Sales with Nicholas Zeisler | 15 Oct 2021 | 00:09:15 | |
From The Archives:: Support’s Relationship to Sales Nicholas Zeisler (“Zee” to his friends, and “Zed” to his British friend over here) returns to talk about how CX can minimise friction in this less-obvious relationship. He’s at the end of the phone if you need him! | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 129: Support’s Relationship to Product with Andrea Saez | 08 Oct 2021 | 00:14:20 | |
From The Archives: Support’s Relationship to Product Andrea Saez joins me for the first time, where we talk about capturing all customer conversations and using that feedback to validate the product roadmap. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 123: Freelancing in Support with Andrei Kamarouski | 01 Oct 2021 | 00:13:44 | |
From The Archives: Freelancing in Support Andrei Kamarouski joins me from Belarus, to talk about freelancing as a Zendesk consultant, primarily using Upwork. | |||
| 286: Measure What Matters When Humans And AI Share The Queue; with Craig Stoss | 21 Jan 2026 | 00:34:28 | |
AI has crossed a threshold in customer support: it no longer just routes and records—it actually does the work. We sat down with Craig Stoss, solutions lead at Codif, to unpack what changes when agents and co-pilots resolve real cases, trigger refunds, detect spam, and personalize replies across channels. The core shift is mindset: once software handles tasks, you need to manage it like a teammate—measure output, audit quality, plan capacity, and set honest expectations about what AI should own versus when a human steps in. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 117: CSAT with Mo McKibbin | 24 Sep 2021 | 00:08:25 | |
From The Archives: CSAT Mo and I spend quite a significant amount of time talking about the value of those smiley faces. And we take an unexpected hypothetical trip to the airport. | |||
| From The Archives: Ep 115: Support Scope with Mike Redbord | 17 Sep 2021 | 00:09:01 | |
From The Archives: Support Scope Mike Redbord believes you can build the scope of Support by saying “Yes” as much as possible! | |||
| 225: “In Support, I Believe…” with Simone Secci | 10 Sep 2021 | 00:02:40 | |
Week 87 Topic: “In Support, I Believe…” Simone Secci shares his Support Belief: It’s not always about giving the customer exactly what they expect. | |||
| 224: “In Support, I Believe…” with Matt Dale | 03 Sep 2021 | 00:02:50 | |
Week 86 Topic: “In Support, I Believe…” Matt Dale shares his Support Belief: It’s all about making a human connection. | |||
| 223: “In Support, I Believe…” with Craig Stoss | 27 Aug 2021 | 00:03:48 | |
Week 85 Topic: “In Support, I Believe…” Craig Stoss shares his foremost Support Belief: The Customer Experience is the most import consideration | |||
| 222: “In Support, I Believe…” with Ryan Klausner | 20 Aug 2021 | 00:03:26 | |
Week 84 Topic: “In Support, I Believe…” Ryan Klausner returns, this time from a new role, to share his most fundamental Support Belief: Agent Experience is as important as Customer Experience. | |||
| 221: “In Support, I Believe…” with Charlotte Ward | 13 Aug 2021 | 00:08:44 | |
Week 83 Topic: “In Support, I Believe…” Your very host, Charlotte Ward, tells of her most fundamental Support Belief: Metrics should measure, not rule. | |||
| Announcing “In Support, I believe…” | 06 Aug 2021 | 00:03:41 | |
| Throwback to Ep 109: Panel: If I Knew Then, What I Know Now…. | 30 Jul 2021 | 01:02:35 | |
Week 81 Throwback: Panel 10 Five leaders join me to talk about the wonderful, frustrating and elusive nature of hindsight. If only we’d know then, what we know now. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 103: Panel: Managing Change | 29 Jul 2021 | 00:58:24 | |
Week 81 Throwback: Panel 7 Six leaders join me to talk about managing change. We come to the conclusion it involves data, a 4-type taxonomy, a workshop, and a lot of cheese. | |||
| 285: From Playbooks To Personalization: How CX Leaders Shape Customer Expectations And Outcomes; with Ty Givens | 14 Jan 2026 | 00:32:07 | |
Superior customer experience isn’t a universal recipe—it’s a promise aligned to what your customers expect from you, in their moment, on their terms. We sit down with CX veteran Ty Givens to unpack why “good” is always relative and how teams can design for consistency without losing the human judgment that creates loyalty. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 99: Process Improvement with Ash Rhodes | 28 Jul 2021 | 00:06:59 | |
Week 81 Throwback: Process Improvement Ash and I talk about how a culture willing to accept feedback and examination is best placed to improve on the status quo. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 94: First 30 Days with Alyssa Percell | 27 Jul 2021 | 00:06:54 | |
Week 81 Throwback: First 30 Days in a New Role Alyssa Percell and I start talking about ‘new to us’ roles, but unexpectedly dwell more on the plans we’re forming before we even get in the door. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 83: Remote Work with Ash Rhodes | 26 Jul 2021 | 00:07:00 | |
Week 81 Throwback: Remote Work Ash Rhodes pitched this topic to me with one phrase, and I took him up on his offer. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 79: Forecasting in Support with Matt Dale | 23 Jul 2021 | 00:07:00 | |
Week 80 Throwback: Forecasting in Support Matt Dale tells how he’s been refining his model for seven years, so don’t go looking for any quick and accurate answers in your first forecasting efforts. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 72: Support Contributing to Revenue with Mo McKibbin | 22 Jul 2021 | 00:07:00 | |
Week 80 Throwback: Support Contributing to Revenue This is such an interesting topic for most of us, that we’re visiting it twice this Throwback Week! In this episode from the archives, Mo McKibbin joins me for the first time to talk about the topic that has defined such a huge part of her CS leadership career: Support Driven Growth | |||
| Throwback to Ep 71: Support Contributing to Revenue with Mike Redbord | 21 Jul 2021 | 00:06:59 | |
Week 80 Throwback: Support Contributing to Revenue Mike Redbord talks about the invaluable information and data your support team is already gathering, that might very well generate revenue. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 62: Onboarding New Hires with Ash Rhodes | 20 Jul 2021 | 00:07:00 | |
Week 80 Throwback: Onboarding New Hires Ash Rhodes isn’t a List Person, but he knows they’re useful for onboarding. We also find a name for that spyglass thing you do with your hands. | |||
| Throwback to Ep 56: Building Leaders in Your Team with Meredith Molloy | 19 Jul 2021 | 00:06:56 | |
Week 80 Throwback: Building Leaders in Your Team | |||
| 220: Building a Team from Scratch with Matt Dale | 16 Jul 2021 | 00:17:18 | |
Week 79 Topic: Building a Team from Scratch When is a full-time job not a full-time job? When it’s a two-person job! It’s been a while since Matt Dale built a team from scratch, but nonetheless, he returns to round out this week with his own wisdom and perspectives from further on in the journey. | |||
| 219: Building a Team from Scratch with Kat Olsheske | 15 Jul 2021 | 00:14:30 | |
Week 79 Topic: Building a Team from Scratch In Kat Olsheske’s first outing on the podcast, she talks about the transferrable skills and knowledge every support leader brings to a new team, and what might be different between each team building experience. | |||
| 284: Customer Support Leaders in 2026: Fresh Starts and More To Come; with Charlotte Ward and Alec Moloney | 07 Jan 2026 | 00:37:47 | |
Ready for a clean slate and a smarter way to build support in 2026? We kick off a fresh season with a rebuilt website, renewed energy, and a clear map of the big shifts reshaping our work: AI moving from side experiment to operational backbone, the leadership ladder compressing, and the customer journey turning truly dynamic. With Alec back on the mic, we share what sparked our collaboration, why the site overhaul mattered, and how we’re structuring episodes to turn complex trends into practical playbooks. | |||
| 218: Building a Team from Scratch with Adela Bodor | 14 Jul 2021 | 00:16:23 | |
Week 79 Topic: Building a Team from Scratch Adela Bodor returns to talk about building a support team from scratch: which she has done multiple times and has down to a fine art now! | |||
| 217: Building a Team from Scratch with Hilary Dudek | 13 Jul 2021 | 00:18:55 | |
Week 79 Topic: Building a Team from Scratch Hilary Dudek and I haven’t talked in soooo long! She “recently” started a new role at Sana Benefits and joins me to talk about what she did first, and what she wishes she had invested in earlier. | |||
| 216: Building a Team from Scratch with Ashley Sachs | 12 Jul 2021 | 00:14:45 | |
Week 79 Topic: Building a Team from Scratch Ashley returns to tell us how she prioritised early definition of ‘Operating Principles’ for her nascent team, and how they’re essentially still holding strong 4 years on. | |||
| 215: Knowledge Management with Craig Stoss | 09 Jul 2021 | 00:24:13 | |
Week 78 Topic: Knowledge Management Craig Stoss and I muse about the validity of some of the metrics often applied to Knowledge Centred Support, and talk about the types of knowledge that apply in different situations. He resurfaces one of my favourite analogies for the difference between a KB and docs, too. | |||
| 214: Knowledge Management with Tadas Labudis | 08 Jul 2021 | 00:29:53 | |
Week 78 Topic: Knowledge Management Tadas Labudis is the CEO and Founder of Prodsight. Today he returns to tell me about Prodsight’s own knowledge journey: from not believing he needed to document a product to embedding documentation in the product! Check out Tadas' previous fireside, where he talks about tagging taxonomies for Support! | |||
| 213: Knowledge Management with Simone Secci | 07 Jul 2021 | 00:22:57 | |
Week 78 Topic: Knowledge Management Simone Secci rebuilt a knowledge base from scratch, banking on being able to show its value much further down the road. It worked! From zero to knowledge hero, Simone talks about his journey. | |||
| 212: Knowledge Management with Cynthia Ng | 06 Jul 2021 | 00:21:15 | |
Week 78 Topic: Knowledge Management Cynthia Ng describes how GitLab approach all their knowledge with a ‘Handbook First’ ethos, and how their value of Transparency informs everything they do. | |||
| 211: Knowledge Management with Aprill Allen | 05 Jul 2021 | 00:15:06 | |
Week 78 Topic: Knowledge Management Aprill Allen, a Knowledge Management Consultant & KCS Specialist at Knowledge Bird, helps support teams stop being so overloaded with solving the same problems over and over, and start using their knowledge as the lever it really is. How do we even get started on our Knowledge Management journey in Support? | |||
| 210: Fireside with Nicholas Zeisler | 02 Jul 2021 | 00:26:50 | |
Specials: Fireside 26 According to “Zee” (if I could only say it), we’re doing CX wrong! Nicholas Zeisler joins again to tell us why we’re doing it wrong, and how to get it right. A man after my own heart, he says it hinges on the process! But how do you leverage process, prove ROI for your Customer Office, and truly develop a customer-centric culture? | |||
| 209: Fireside with Ash Rhodes | 25 Jun 2021 | 00:33:52 | |
Specials: Fireside 25 What a conversation! Ash comes on the podcast to talk about job hunting in Customer Support Leadership, but we only get there via comparing consulting notes and his insulting the average British meat pie. Honestly. | |||
| 283: From Values To Outcomes: Building A Customer Support Strategy That Works; with Conor Pendergrast | 06 Jun 2025 | 00:40:10 | |
Forget the glossy strategy deck. We’re digging into the real drivers of customer experience: the values people use to decide, the culture that shows up in daily behavior, and the incentives that shape how work actually gets done. With coach and consultant Conor Pendergrast, we unpack why a perfect plan won’t move the needle without the conditions that make good choices easy under pressure. | |||
| 208: Fireside with Doug Akers | 18 Jun 2021 | 00:08:56 | |
Specials: Fireside 24 Doug and I talked quite some time ago about “All-Hands Support”, which becomes a mini fireside episode today. We talk about the type of industries where this is an appropriate paradigm, and when and how it might be useful. | |||
| 207: Fireside with Josh Magsam | 11 Jun 2021 | 00:23:45 | |
Specials: Fireside 23 Josh brings a really interesting topic to the fireside today: specialisms in Customer Support and Service. We talk about everything from expertise to trusted advice. | |||
| 206: Fireside with Jim Israel | 04 Jun 2021 | 00:31:39 | |
Specials: Fireside 22 Jim Israel talks about the dangers of developing a culture of heroism in our teams, despite being the type of folks who always want to help. | |||