by Annette Franz | Aug 12, 2026 | customer experience, customer loyalty, customer retention, employee experience, employee loyalty, employee retention, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on December 4, 2025. Most organizations talk a good game about loyalty but miss the moment of truth: what happens when someone walks away. Whether it’s a customer canceling a contract or a valued...
by Annette Franz | Aug 5, 2026 | customer experience, customer-centric, customer-centric culture, data, employee experience, insights, leadership, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on August 1, 2025. In far too many organizations, decisions are made in boardrooms, far removed from the reality of the customer. Metrics are dissected. Dashboards are studied. Yet somehow,...
by Annette Franz | Jul 29, 2026 | customer experience, customer experience design, data, emotions, personalization, Uncategorized
I originally wrote today’s post for MarTech. It appeared on their site on March 31, 2025. What if the key to customer loyalty isn’t faster shipping or flashier ads but a cleverly timed stroll down memory lane? A new wave in customer experience (CX) is gaining...
by Annette Franz | Jul 22, 2026 | culture, customer experience, employee experience, leadership, learning, Uncategorized
Most leaders believe they’re listening – and learning. They run surveys, host a town hall or two, do the occasional Gemba walk. Then they step back, review the data, and declare themselves “informed.” But they’re not; they’re sampling. And sampling...
by Annette Franz | Jul 15, 2026 | alignment, culture, customer experience, employee experience, golden thread, leadership, outcomes, strategy, systems thinking, Uncategorized
This is the fourth in a series on the Golden Thread and your systems. If you haven’t read Where the Golden Thread Breaks Most Often or Strategy Is a System, Not a Statement or Customers Don’t Experience Your Intentions. They Experience Your Systems. it’s worth...
by Annette Franz | Jul 8, 2026 | business outcomes, culture, customer experience, employee experience, golden thread, leadership, systems thinking, Uncategorized
This is the third in a series on the Golden Thread and your systems. If you haven’t read Where the Golden Thread Breaks Most Often or Strategy Is a System, Not a Statement, it’s worth starting there. We’ve established that the Golden Thread breaks when what leaders...