by Annette Franz | Jan 21, 2026 | culture, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, employee-centric, golden thread, leadership, people-centric, profitability, Uncategorized
In 2018, I challenged organizations to ask: Are you genuinely people‑centric or just profit‑centric in disguise? That tension hasn’t faded; as a matter of fact, it has intensified. Let’s stop pretending. Too many companies still talk about being “people-centric” while...
by Annette Franz | Dec 10, 2025 | business outcomes, culture, customer experience, customer-centric, employee experience, employee-centric, leadership, outcomes, people-centric, profitability, Uncategorized
In my work with executives and boards, I often hear the same story: “We care about customers and employees, but we have to hit the numbers first.” It’s a familiar tension, and one that reveals a deeper truth: most organizations are still profit-first at their core,...
by Annette Franz | Dec 31, 2019 | culture, customer experience, customer journey, customer understanding, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, employee experience, employee-centric, employees, journey map, journey mapping, Uncategorized
I started the CX Journey™ blog in 2011, with a nervous twitch and an intense curiosity about who on earth would ever read what I write?! I’m thankful for you, my readers, this year and every year, as your curiosity and continued readership has kept my writing...
by Annette Franz | Dec 11, 2019 | customer experience, customer experience design, customer understanding, customer-centric culture, employee experience, employee-centric, Uncategorized, voice of customer, voice of employee
That’s not too much to ask from Santa, is it?! Well, good thing he has a little helper elf to set you on the path to achieving customer understanding. I wrote this book called Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the “Customer” in Customer...
by Annette Franz | Nov 6, 2019 | employee engagement, employee expectations, employee experience, employee feedback, employee happiness, employee loyalty, employee ownership, employee productivity, employee relationships, employee retention, employee satisfaction, employee-centric, employees, empower employees, Uncategorized, voice of employee
Today’s post was originally published on Forbes on February 1, 2019. I’ve made some modifications to that original post. It’s starting to happen. I hear it. I see it. Finally. It’s not perfect, but we’re making progress. I’ll take...
by Annette Franz | Oct 2, 2019 | customer experience, customer understanding, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, employee experience, employee-centric, employees, people-centric, Uncategorized
My new book is ultimately about how to develop a customer-centric culture by bringing the customer and her voice into the organization. I was honored to recently join Shep Hyken on his Amazing Business Radio podcast to talk about my book. It was my third time on the...
