Typeform's Vision for AI-Driven Holistic Customer Experience with Chief Product Officer Aleks Bass

08/01/24 • 49 min

This episode features an interview with Aleks Bass, Chief Product Officer at Typeform, the web-based platform you can use to create anything from surveys to apps, without needing to write a single line of code. Aleks has over 18 years of experience in product marketing, product management and consumer insights in B2B SaaS and D2C. In her current role as Chief Product Officer, she leads product management, design, research, and product operations. Her priority is creating user-centric digital solutions. Aleks has previously held leadership roles at Momentive, Adobe and Qualtrics, which has since been acquired by SAP. In this episode, Aleks shares her insights on how product and product marketing can enhance customer experience. She discusses the importance of aligning product management with consumer insights, the role of design in digital CX, and trends in customer behavior. Aleks elaborates on Typeform's new product, Typeform for Growth, which aims to boost customer acquisition using AI. The conversation also touches on measuring digital customer experience, the balance between automation and human interaction, and the significance of diversity in tech leadership. Finally, Aleks discusses Typeform's future vision of creating a holistic customer experience and the essential role of AI in achieving this goal.

Quotes

*”Good design for me in digital CX is intuitive, accessible, and empathetic. But the number one thing it has to absolutely do is be usable. So I prioritize usability over anything that's new, aesthetically pleasing, keeping up with the trends, et cetera. Design's ultimate role is to anticipate user needs and remove friction points from the experience and remove them from having blockages in their ability to do the things that they need to do.”

*”There is a difference between asking people for feedback and truly understanding what they're saying to you in the context of what their broader pain points are versus asking for feedback and taking that feedback at face value. Because if I don't understand the pain points that you personally experience, I might interpret the feedback that you're giving me differently, and I might not be solving for the true challenge that you are facing. Whereas if I deeply understand a marketer's workflow, what tools they're using, how they're using those tools, the gaps in those current tools, what they wish they could do, how certain tools are not playing nicely with other tools, it allows me to create solutions that are actually much more adaptable to their individual use cases. And so that's the piece within customer centricity, customer experience, and strategy that I feel like is really critical to create better experiences for our customers.”

*”There's no shortcut in trying to figure out and learn about your customers. You have to do the work and you have to spend the time and you have to engage in the most effective way to get the most insight out of their patterns and pain points and challenges.”

There's no shortcut in trying to figure out and learn about your customers. You have to do the work and spend the time and to get the most insight”.

*”A gap in the customer experience is when automation serves the company, not the customer. Automation should ultimately keep people at the center. Yes, it can help companies improve efficiency. I think we all can see the benefits of that. But if it is hurting your customer experience, then that's a negative outcome for your business ultimately.”

Time Stamps

[0:01] Meet Aleks Bass, Chief Product Officer at Typeform

[0:56] Connecting Product Marketing to Customer Experience

[4:04] Designing for Digital Customer Experience

[5:44] Trends in Customer Behavior

[7:03] Introducing Typeform for Growth

[9:22] Enhancing Lead Generation with AI

[11:49] Fostering Exceptional Digital Customer Experience

[27:59] Personalizing Customer Experience

[33:18] Building Trust and Measuring Success

[36:55] Balancing Automation and Human Interaction

[39:22] Positive Customer Experience Examples

[44:09] The Importance of Diverse Perspectives

[46:03] Future of Typeform and Technology

About our guest, Aleks Bass

Aleks Bass is a product leader with an 18+ year career that includes product management, product marketing, and consumer insights for both B2B SaaS and D2C self-serve products. As the Chief Product Officer at Typeform, she leads product management, design, research, and product operations, steering a talented team to create innovative and user-centered digital solutions. Her role encompasses driving strategic product development from concept to market delivery, shaping the future of digital experiences. She is passionate about transforming ideas into impactful products that enhance the way we interact with data and information. By leveraging AI and expan...

Quotes

There's no shortcut in trying to figure out and learn about your customers. You have to do the work and spend the time and to get the most insight”.

Time Stamps

[0:01] Meet Aleks Bass, Chief Product Officer at Typeform

[0:56] Connecting Product Marketing to Customer Experience

[4:04] Designing for Digital Customer Experience

[5:44] Trends in Customer Behavior

[7:03] Introducing Typeform for Growth

[9:22] Enhancing Lead Generation with AI

[11:49] Fostering Exceptional Digital Customer Experience

[27:59] Personalizing Customer Experience

[33:18] Building Trust and Measuring Success

[36:55] Balancing Automation and Human Interaction

[39:22] Positive Customer Experience Examples

[44:09] The Importance of Diverse Perspectives

[46:03] Future of Typeform and Technology

About our guest, Aleks Bass

Previous Episode

Mastering CX: Shep Hyken's Guide to Exceptional Customer Interactions

This episode features an interview with Shep Hyken, Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations, LLC. Shep is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. He has helped companies like American Airlines, AT&T, and American Express build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. And in this episode, Shep shares insights on creating memorable customer experiences in a digital-first world. He discusses the importance of prompt, personal, and positive customer interactions, leveraging AI to enhance the customer experience, and the significance of both digital and human elements in customer service. Shep also explains his five-step process for handling customer issues—acknowledge, apologize, resolve, own, and act with urgency. He highlights the changing dynamics of customer loyalty programs, the impact of business decisions on customer loyalty, and the importance of employee experience in delivering exceptional customer service. The conversation delves into various aspects of CX, including self-service options, the dangers of commoditization, and the future trends in customer experience.

Quotes

*”I call it the customer hierarchy of needs. This is what companies want customers to experience. At the base of that pyramid, just like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, you have products that do what they're supposed to do. But as you move up to the tip of the pyramid, you eventually get to fulfillment and emotional connection. And when you are emotionally connected to the brand, then you feel like, ‘Why would I want to go anywhere else? Why would I take a chance on anywhere else? I love the way this brand makes me feel.’ That's emotion.”

*”For AI to be effective, the customer has to enjoy the experience. In order to get the customer to enjoy the experience, sometimes you have to tell the customer that the experience is even there to begin with.”

*”The Ikea effect, which has been around, is basically that somebody that puts together their own furniture feels more pride in it. So when a customer resolves their own issue, thanks to AI, They feel really good when an agent is able to use this type of technology to create a better experience for the customer. They feel great as well.”

*”A part of customer experience is also being able to do damage and risk control. Number one, we must acknowledge the problem. Number two, we must apologize. And by the way, you can apologize first and acknowledge second. I don't care. As long as those two things start the conversation. Number three, understand what the problem is. You may have to ask questions, but you get to a point where you discuss the resolution. Either you're fixing it on the spot or you're discussing what's going to happen. Number four, the attitude that you must show that customer is one of you owning the situation, even if you're not in it. If you're not even the person that might take care of it, at least at that moment, you've got to make this customer feel like you're in control. And then finally, you act with urgency. Speed is really important. You need to get to the resolution as quickly as possible,”

*”It's a byproduct of what happens when you start to go into a company and try to create a better product: Customer experience. You have to focus on your employee experience at the same time. And oftentimes a byproduct of working on an overall customer experience is employees become more fulfilled and you'll see turnover drop as a result. That's a very powerful thing because number one, you don't have to hire new people. And the cost of hiring and training is so high sometimes that it really makes financial sense to even try to barely impact the experience because the benefit to the internal experience is so strong.”

Time Stamps

[0:44] Spotlight on Shep Hyken: CX Visionary

[1:43] Diving Into Shep's Book: I'll Be Back

[3:33] The Power of Customer Loyalty and Experience

[6:45] Shep Hyken's Journey into Customer Experience

[8:09] Exploring the Evolution of Customer Experience

[11:13] The Impact of AI on Customer Experience

[13:14] Navigating Customer Experience in the Digital Age

[22:03] Shep's Five Steps for Handling Customer Issues

[24:59] Mastering Customer Service: A Real-Life Example

[32:48] The Power of Customer Loyalty Programs and the Impact of Changes

[36:39] Shep Hyken's Influence and Insights on Customer Experience

[41:34] Predicting the Future of Customer Experience

[44:15] Magic in Customer Experience

[46:33] Shep Hyken's Impact on CX

About our guest, Shep Hyken

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times an...

Next Episode

Unlocking the Power of AI in Pharma with Dr. Eric Trepanier of ODAIA

This episode features an interview with Dr. Eric Trepanier, Chief Strategy & Customer Officer at ODAIA, a SaaS company that leverages AI to ingest multiple data sources and empower marketers and sales reps to optimize their segmentation, targeting and execution to maximize sales. Eric holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and has over 20 years of experience in the industry. He contributes to the overall strategy and growth of ODAIA, leveraging his extensive experience in healthcare, technology, and business operations. And he plays a key role in promoting ODAIA's AI-powered platform, MAPTUAL, which helps pharmaceutical companies prospect, qualify, and engage healthcare professionals (or HCPs). In this episode, Eric explores how ODAIA uses AI and its advanced platform, MAPTUAL, to revolutionize customer engagement in the pharmaceutical industry. He shares insights from his 20+ years of experience in healthcare and business operations, highlighting the importance of personalized customer experiences, the shift from traditional to digital interactions, and the role of customer science. He also delves into how AI and machine learning contribute to better targeting and execution, ultimately facilitating faster access to life-changing treatments for patients.

Quotes

*”It's all about being obsessed with the customer. If you're not solving challenges for the customer, your platform and your business just won't work. So it's really about having that obsessive focus on the customer.”

*”I think the obsessive focus on delivering value to the customer and doing it in a data-driven way is what's allowed us to be successful and deliver some of the value that we've delivered to our customers. And ultimately, the key benefit that we really focus on is making sure that patients are able to get access to those life-changing drugs faster than they would have otherwise.”

*”Our goal is to not be a business intelligence tool, to be a tool that only provides that information they need in order to make those decisions to more effectively engage their customers.”

*”Trust is so important. As we got into this space and worked more with our pharma customers, so many of them were skeptical because they didn't want a black box AI or ML machine that they didn't understand. And if they saw results coming out of it that were different from what they expected, that trust was eroded really, really quickly.”

*”We're on the lookout for other technologies as well that can continue to add value to our customers. One thing we won't do is use technology for technology's sake. We're still very focused on giving patients access to those life-changing drugs and we'll use technology as appropriate to deliver on those goals.”

Time Stamps

[0:01] Meet Dr. Eric Trepanier and ODAIA

[1:31] Eric's Background in Pharma

[2:41] Understanding Customer Experience in Pharma

[4:20] Changes in the Pharma Industry

[7:16] Trends in Customer Behaviors and Preferences

[8:25] Customer Science and ODAIA's Approach

[9:46] Disrupting the Pharma Industry

[14:43] The Role of AI in Customer Experience

[15:54] MAPTUAL: Enhancing Digital Customer Experience

[30:19] Balancing Human Interaction and Automation

[33:52] Future of Customer Experience in Pharma

About our guest, Dr. Eric Trepanier

Dr. Eric Trepanier is a seasoned executive with broad experience in business operations, corporate leadership, investment management, and entrepreneurship. He is currently Chief Strategy & Customer Officer of ODAIA Intelligence, a SaaS company that leverages AI to ingest multiple data sources and empower marketers and sales reps to optimize their segmentation, targeting and execution to maximize sales.

Previously from 2018-2022, Eric was EVP and GM of Medicx Health, a data-driven healthcare company that delivers multi-channel media to Micro-Neighborhoods® with specific patients. He was responsible for the business P&L, while leading most teams, including sales, marketing, business operations, performance analytics, strategy and digital media. When he joined, he led a transformation of the culture that provided the foundation to stabilize revenue, and return it to strong double-digit growth as he left.

From 2012-2018, Eric took on increasing responsibility at WebMD where he ultimately built and led a multi-functional team doing strategic sales, competitive intelligence, business intelligence, market research, statistical analyses and data-driven marketing. The team was focused on helping the company deliver on its sales objectives by leveraging 1st and 3rd party data and analytics to develop and support the value story.

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