That's Genius! is a podcast series dedicated to transforming the way contact centers do business.
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Hosted by Michael Rose
Welcome our new CMO w/ Genefa Murphy
The latest episode of “That’s Genius!” is a very special one. In our latest episode, we got to sit down and talk with our newest executive, Five9 Chief Marketing Officer, Genefa Murphy.
Listen HereStabilize. Enhance. Transform. w/ Martin Cross
To a large extent, AI is a buzzword. The trick — and the challenge — is finding the practical implementations of AI for contact centers. If you can show how AI helps customers during COVID, you get extra credit. On a recent episode of That’s Genius!, we talked with Martin Cross, Group CTO at Conn3ct
Listen HereA Conversation with the Communications Protagonist w/ Dave Michels
The pandemic sent agents home, ate up more of their time, and moved their data to the cloud. But in fact, all those trends were already in place. COVID just accelerated them. What's up next for revolution in contact centers?
Listen HereAnswering the Call to Amplify Your Voice w/ Jeff Woodland
Remember racing into the kitchen as a kid to grab the phone off the wall as soon as it rang? Answering the phone was fun because almost always it was someone inside your world, someone who had a legitimate reason for calling you. That's no longer true.
Listen HereUnleash Your Contact Center Data and Unleash Extraordinary Customer Experience w/ Scott Kolman
Scott Kolman, VP Corporate and Product Marketing at Five9, recently came on the That’s Genius! podcast to tell us all about the intelligent cloud contact center…and how unleashing your contact center data can help you achieve a great customer experience.
Listen HereWhy Contact Centers are Choosing Cloud Technology for Scalability, Stability, and Unparalleled Customer Experience w/ Matt Tuckness
Consider a retailer, like Nordstrom. They'll let you return an item, no questions asked. That level of customer experience is pretty unique. I talked more about exactly how we accomplish unparalleled customer experience with our guest Matt Tuckness, VP of Commercial Sales for Five9, on this episode of our That’s Genius! podcast.
Listen HereThe Future of the Contact Center is at CX Summit '19 w/ Trisha Gouveia
CX Summit ‘19 is your place to discover how to deliver extraordinary experiences despite the evolution that is inevitable. Tune in to this special episode of That’s Genius to get all the details about CX Summit '19. You don’t want to miss it!
Listen HereBreaking Down the Silos w/ Mike Bourke
During the pandemic, 75% of people have changed brands. 75%. Just let that number sink in for a minute.
Listen HereA Get Together with our New VP of Product Marketing at Five9 w/ Terry Fortescue
90 days into her job, the new vice president of product marketing at Five9, Terry Fortescue, has already helped plan the virtual CX Summit, gone on a hiring spree, and acquired a new Labrador puppy. Despite coming on board in the middle of a global pandemic, Terry has taken to the unique Five9 culture. Hear more:
Listen HereThe Five9 Family is Growing w/ Tricia Yankovich
On this episode of That’s Genius!, we sat down with Tricia Yankovich, SVP, HR at Five9, to talk about the unique Five9 culture and why our employees stay engaged.
Listen HereWhy Culture Isn’t a Philosophy—It’s a Daily Activity w/ Tricia Yankovich
Here’s the deal: Company culture isn’t a philosophy. For better or worse, it’s a culmination of the of the behaviors, the values, and the attitudes of employees that happen on a day-to-day basis. Seem like wise words? They come from Tricia Yankovich. She brought with her almost 20 years of staffing experience before becoming VP of HR here at Five9.
Listen HereThe Five Things Nobody Will Tell You About Succeeding at Remote Work w/ Greg Hanover
COVID threw the entire business world for a loop. A lot (okay, more than a lot) of companies went into triage mode. Asking themselves, “How do we sustain our services and how to we make sure that there’s minimal disruption to our business?”
Listen HereThe 2020 Summer Internship Program w/ Lindsey Kelejian, Cecily Kruger, and Nico Yankovich
This is normally the time of year that the halls at Five9 are packed with our summer interns. And while a lot of other companies have done away with the summer intern program all together, here at Five9, we couldn’t possibly just NOT have our summer interns. So we did what we do best. We adapted. We decided to pivot.
Listen HereHow Strategic Partnerships Make for Better CX w/ Walt Rossi
If you want to go faster, go alone. If you want to go farther, go together. That’s the mindset of Five9 VP of Business Development, Walt Rossi. Hear more on this episode of That's Genius!
Listen HereThe Best Mindset for CXOs in the Pandemic w/ Zeus Kerravala
The pandemic has proven that CXOs and companies with agile mindsets will likely succeed, while those set in their ways get left behind. It’s the nature of the beast. And the pandemic has been an ultra-beast. In this episode of That’s Genius, Michael sits down with Founder & Principal Analyst of ZK Research, Zeus Kerravala. Zeus gives us the lowdown on how the pandemic has impacted the role of the CXO.
Listen HereThe Work From Home Boom w/ Sheila McGee-Smith
Are you still working from home? Before COVID-19 swept across the United States, less than 20% of contact center agents were being supported by a cloud-based solution. Sheila McGee-Smith thinks that for the most part, it’s here to stay.
Listen HereThe Canadian Market w/ Chris Silver
Chris Silver, Five9 vice president and GM for Canada, shares his thoughts on what's driving Canadian enterprises to adopt cloud technology and how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Canadians' transition to the cloud.
Listen HereFixing Customer Service w/ Rowan Trollope
Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9, and was the guest on our most recent episode of the podcast. It’s our 50th episode and also happens to be the 2 year anniversary of Rowan as the CEO at Five9.
Listen HereAcquisitions and Applications: One Year of Success w/ Anand Chandrasekaran pt 2
Have you ever wanted to be a part of the gig economy? Well, now might be your best chance. With more companies implementing the best WFH solutions, employees are moving to a gig mindset.
Listen HereHow the Contact Center is Poised to Change in the Next Five Years, Pt. 2 w/ Rowan Trollope
On today’s episode of That’s Genius podcast, Michael continues his interview with Five9 CEO, Rowan Trollope, as they discuss what the future holds for the contact center in an increasingly automated world. “The shift of brick and mortar to online is going to drive a lot of the current people who are doing retail into contact centers,” says Rowan, who says we still need that human touch.
Listen HereThe Power of the Five9 FastTrack Program w/ Casey Dunigan
In this episode, Casey Dunigan, Director of Channel Sales at Five9, shares what his new normal has been working from home and how the Five9 FastTrack Program has helped partners regain some of that normalcy, too.
Listen HerePeople Helping People w/ David Cashman
For a lot of people, working from home sounds like a dream. Roll out of bed, put on slippers, grab the coffee and the laptop and just sit in sweats on the couch all day? Who wouldn’t want that? But as anybody who has worked from home for longer than a few days knows, that starts to get really old, really fast.
Listen HereEstablishing Great CX Through Strategic Partnerships w/ Andre Schoeman
No matter what we tell ourselves, we all want a unique, personalized experience when interacting with companies. And, honestly, that’s what the agents at those companies want, too. In this episode of That’s Genius, Michael catches up with Jasco’s Executive Line of Business leader, Andre Schoeman.
Listen HereCustomer Service in the Age of Social Media w/ Frank Wassenbergh & Kevin Sheehan, CloudLinx
Once upon a time, the customer contact center was simple. It was about 3 things: how quickly can we identify the customer, how quickly can we get them off the phone and what is this interaction going to cost us? Now, it’s 2020, and while contact centers are still concerned with cost, these steps are no longer the driving force behind decision making.
Listen HereAcquisitions and Applications: One Year of Success w/ Anand Chandrasekaran pt 1
The last time we had Anand Chandrasekaran on the That’s Genius! Podcast, he had been with Five9 for just over 100 days. Now, he’s closing in on his first year.
Listen Here3 Ways Technology Empowers Contact Centers w/ Michael Ramsey
Cloud migration requires a certain level of skill and expertise that a lot of companies simply don’t have. But when you find a company that does? It will take your customer experience to the next level. How? So glad you asked.
Listen HereMaster Agents in the Time of COVID-19 w/ Kevin Thomsen and Jake Butterbaugh
In 3 months, Zoom ended up with 30 times the users and became a household name overnight. Even your grandparents know how to use Zoom. How many cloud-based video communication platforms can you say that your grandparents understand, or even know exists?
Listen HereKeeping Up With the Customer Experience During COVID-19 w/ Dan Burkland
How do you transition more than 100,000 contact center agents to a work from home setup? And, do it without sacrificing the customer experience? In this episode of That’s Genius!, Michael Rose chats with Five9 President, Dan Burkland, about how contact centers can stay safe while providing internal and external customer support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen HereOptimize Your Home Office Tech + Productivity w/ Declan Doyle & Peter Jacobsen
Having the right space for your home office is one thing. Having the most reliable technology to get the job done is another. In this episode of That’s Genius!, Michael catches up with Poly team members Declan Doyle (Global Alliance Sr. Manager) and Peter Jakobsen (Director of Global Alliance GTM).
Listen Here3 Big Changes for Contact Centers w/ Paul Liljenquist
Technology, consumers, and employees. These are the three biggest factors shaking up the modern contact center. In this episode of That’s Genius! Michael chats with ClearView president, Paul Liljenquist about the impact of recent changes to the contact cente
Listen HereHow AI Will Provide the Ultimate Contact Center Experience w/ John Bourne and Dan Burkland
With the advent of AI, contact center agents will no longer be left to fish around knowledge bases or external data sources. Instead, they’ll have all the information they need delivered to them immediately. In this episode, we interview John Bourne, Senior VP of Global Channels and Strategic Alliances at Verint and Dan Burkland, President of Five9.
Listen HereThe Customer Service Dream Team – Myth or Reality? w/ Paul Selby
Customer service has come a long way. It used to be that if a customer needed help, they had to either make a phone call or come into your physical building. Customers are leery of coming into contact with anybody if they don’t have to. Thankfully, a lot of businesses have already set themselves up for customer service success, as Paul Selby highlighted recently on an episode of That’s Genius!
Listen HereSend in the Cloud: Work Better Remotely w/ Scott Kolman
Agility in the workplace is needed now more than ever. In a time of so many employees working from home, the benefits of the cloud are undeniable. In this episode of That’s Genius! host Michael Rose catches up again with Scott Kolman, SVP of Corporate & Product Marketing for Five9.
Listen HereDeveloping a Maniacal Customer Focus w/ Jake Butterbaugh
Ready to up your customer service game? Want to deliver a maniacal customer focus? Ask yourself these questions: 1.) How can this customer get the most out of our solution? 2.) What is this customer telling me they need? 3.) How can my customer maximize our partnership? Jake Butterbaugh, VP - Global Channel Sales at Five9, joined us on this episode to help answer these questions and more.
Listen Here‘Call Center Agents Are Always Miserable’ & Other Contact Center Lies w/ Erin Wilson
We invited Erin Wilson, Director of Solution Consulting at Five9 onto this episode, and she told us all the misconception of the contact center.
Listen HereCloud Contact Center Growth & Trends in EMEA w/ Sabine Winterkamp
In this episode of That’s Genius! Sabine Winterkamp, Five9 Senior Director of International Marketing, updates us on the growth and trends we’re seeing in the cloud contact center space. Listen here:
Listen HerePrioritize People and Humanize Your Business w/ Nick Delis
How many nights a year do you stay in a hotel? For a lot of us, not many. For Nick Delis, who was a guest on the That’s Genius podcast recently, the answer is over 150. That’s half the year.
Listen Here2020: Customer Experience and the Contact Center
In 2019, we talked a lot about the customer experience, the human experience, and how contact centers are increasingly the make-or-break factor in whether or not retail survives. In 2020, we want to continue that conversation, as well as continue talking about how technology like AI is uniquely poised to help contact centers bring a new level of service, empowering agents and customers alike.
Listen Here2019: The Year of Growth, Human Experience, and Industry Redefining Technology w/ CEO Rowan Trollope
Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9, joins host Michael Rose for this last show of 2019 to share his outlook on how contact centers can embrace new technology in a way that makes customer service “a more human experience.”
Listen HereThe 2 Questions You Must Ask Before Launching Any AI Product w/ Jonathan Rosenberg
“What’s the strategy?” That’s where every product has its beginning. In this episode of That’s Genius!, Jonathan Rosenberg brings us lessons from his first 100 days as CTO and Head of AI at Five9, where he’s helping roll out a new AI component to the software.
Listen HereEmerging Trends in Customer Experience and the Contact Center w/ Zeus Kerravala
Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst at ZK Research, is an incredible industry analyst and shared with us how the contact center can be at the forefront of great customer experience, while still remaining efficient, innovative, and relevant through use of AI and the cloud.
Listen HereReinforcement, not Replacement: The First 90 Days at Five9 w/ Anand Anand Chandrasekaran
Anand Chandrasekaran, EVP at Five9, chats to Michael Rose about: the one thing a chatbot can’t replicate, why empathy is so critical in hiring no matter what department, and the 5 employee traits necessary to deliver a market-leading product.
Listen HereHow AI is Creating Call Center Super Agents pt 1 w/ Stephen Fioretti
Rather than call center agents being eliminated by AI, they’re turning into... SUPER AGENTS! On this episode, we hear from Stephen Fioretti, VP of CX Strategic Alliances at Oracle, about evolving channels and automation.
Listen HereHow to Balance AI With the Need for Human Interaction w/ Stephen Fioretti
“The machines are coming for our jobs!” How many times have you heard someone say some version of this? “We’re all going to be replaced with automation!” Or, “It’s just a matter of time before they give my job to a robot or a machine.” While it’s true that AI is developing rapidly, maybe, just maybe, our fears about the irrelevance of humanity are just a bit to premature?
Listen HereAcquisitions and APIs: The First 90 Days at Five9 (pt 1) w/ Anand Chandrasekaran
You know when you start a new job and you get a learning period? That time where you soak in knowledge and just sort of figure out what is going on? Anand Chandrasekaran didn’t get that.
Listen HereWhy a Move to the Cloud is Exactly What Your Customer Contact Center Needs w/ Scott Kolman
“There is no cloud. There is just someone else’s computer.” While it may elicit a chuckle, for companies that are looking to grow at scale, stay flexible, and adapt to a changing marketplace, it may send the wrong idea. Is cloud the right move?
Listen HereWhy AI is Overhyped, But Underused w/ Brian Atkinson
On this episode of the That’s Genius podcast, Five9 VP and General Manager of EMEA Brian Atkinson, talked with us about: his role in the EMEA marketplace, partner ecosystems, and his least favorite buzz term, AI.
Listen HereWhat You Need to Know About Latin America’s Cloud Technology Landscape w/ Raphael Spinelli
Latin American countries tend to be 4 or 5 years behind developed regions in adopting new technology. Nonetheless, there is a growing interest in improving customer experience through cloud services. Raphael Spinelli, CEO of Optimi Solutions, fills us in on the current landscape of cloud tech in Latin American countries.
Listen HereWhy You Should Consider a Customer Advocacy Program w/ Cindy Seto
Delighting your already delighted customers even further generates a perpetual cycle of advocacy for your brand. Cindy Seto, Customer Advocacy Manager at Five9, outlines the reasons why you should develop a customer advocacy program.
Listen HereOutstanding Customer Experience Is Way Simpler Than We Make It Out To Be w/ Kendra Riley
On this episode of That’s Genius!, Kendra Riley dives into what really creates an amazing customer experience. We unpack the desires every customer has, how to recruit the right CX team (and how to equip them), and how to tackle the toughest issues in the simplest way.
Listen Here5 Customer Experience Pitfalls to Avoid w/ Darryl Addington
There are a lot of places your CX strategy can fall short. Many times, the success of your organization can teeter on whether you address potential CX pitfalls or not. Lucky for us, Darryl Addington, the Director of Product Marketing at Five9, lays out 5 CX pitfalls to avoid.
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Why It's Time to Get Serious About the Customer Experience Pt. 2 w/ Nitin Badjatia
How should we feel about the future of customer experience when it feels like AI is taking over more and more parts of our world? In part 2 of our interview with Nitin Badjatia from ServiceNow, he talks about the future of AI, and why those working in customer experience don’t need to fear a Jetsons robot taking their job.
Listen HereEverything You Need to Know About Continuous Release Marketing w/ Ryan Kam
We had the opportunity to sit down with Five9 CMO, Ryan Kam, and ask him the tough questions on continuous release marketing. In this episode, we cover measuring marketing impact, customer experience, and more.
Listen HereWhy It’s Time to Get Serious About the Customer Experience w/ Nitin Badjatia
In this Part 1 of a 2-part series, Michael interviews Nitin Badjatia from ServiceNow, about the role of customer experience in today’s companies and why it’s a non-negotiable.
Listen HereGetting Real with the Five9 Summer Interns
Deep in the trenches of getting their degrees, and ready to prove themselves, today’s interns run the gamut when it comes to backgrounds and roles. While I can’t speak to what intern life is like at Dunder Mifflin, or any other company, our most recent episode of the That’s Genius! podcast features 3 of our summer interns.
Listen HereYou're Deploying AI Wrong and Here's How to Fix It w/ Rowan Trollope and Jonathan Rosenberg Pt. 3
Self-driving cars are a big no. “If you assume out of the gate that AI is going to be wrong a significant fraction of the time, whether that's 10 or 20 or even 30%, you're already in the ballpark of a major use case,” Jonathan Rosenberg, CTO and Head of AI at Five9 said. Why would you put a system that would mess up in charge of driving? How about putting it in charge of something with a low inaccuracy cost instead?
Listen HereDebunking Myths About Migrating to the Cloud w/ Patrick Watson
On this episode of That's Genius, Michael spoke with UC Today journalist, Patrick Watson, about the biggest (perceived) obstacles that are holding companies back from migrating to the cloud. We address the most prominent concerns enterprises have about moving their data, plus, we cover AI features, quality data, and more.
Listen HereYou’re Deploying AI Wrong and Here’s How to Fix It Pt. 2 w/ Rowan Trollope and Jonathan Rosenberg
“All the things that an agent does when they put you on hold? Typing things in, searching, following steps in a process. Let's automate that stuff so that it happens instantly,” Jonathan said. Learn more in Pt. 2 of our AI showdown:
Listen HereYou’re Deploying AI Wrong and Here’s How to Fix It Pt. 1 w/ Rowan Trollope and Jonathan Rosenberg
On this week’s episode, we listen to part one of a special series that follows Rowan Trollope, our CEO at Five9, and Jonathan Rosenberg, CTO and head of AI, through an insightful conversation on AI and the future of the contact center.
Listen HereHow The Contact Center is Poised to Change in the Next 5 Years (Part 3) w/ Rowan Trollope
In the third and final part of our interview with Five9 CEO, Rowan Trollope, we talk about company culture, a failed experiment in conversational intelligence, and why there is still a bright future for the pairing of humans and AI—despite our built-in reluctance to go all-in on robots.
Listen HereHow the Contact Center is Poised to Change in the Next Five Years w/ Rowan Trollope
Do your agents have superpowers? Is your AI intuitive enough that customers actually look forward to engaging with your call center? If not, don’t worry. They will be--it’s only a matter of time. On this first episode of the That’s Genius! podcast, host Michael Rose sits down with Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9, to chat about what incredible changes are in store for the future of contact centers.
Listen HereThe Pandemic's Impact on the Marketplace in Mexico w/ Gilberto Godinez
On a recent episode of That’s Genius!, we talked with Gilberto Godinez, CEO & founder of GRUPO ITS (PCSNets Mexico), about what cloud adoption been like during this pandemic in Mexico.
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