CX RIOT RADIO

Technicians don’t stay full by accident. Full schedules are built on: clear messaging clean expectations confident conversations Clarity creates momentum. Confusion kills it. Your call center doesn’t just book jobs. They stabilize the entire operation. DO THIS TODAY: Audit one script for clarity. Remove the cluttered words.

  Summary  Exploring the cyberpunk genre's reflection of modern life. - The future is often perceived as a scheduled event, but it's more like an unexpected takeover. - William Gibson's quote emphasizes that advancements exist but are not accessible to everyone. Cyberpunk reflects a reality where technology dominates while humanity suffers. - The contrast in cyberpunk is between powerful mega-corporations and the marginalized human experience. - Classic cyberpunk works like Blade Runner serve as warnings about the dark trajectory of our modern society. Modern life mirrors Cyberpunk themes of surveillance and commodification. - In today's society, value is given to products over people, leading to increased anxiety and loneliness. - Digital interactions reduce individuals to mere profiles, emphasizing corporate control and manipulation over authentic citizenship. Modern life reflects cyberpunk themes of identity and surveillance. - Information overload creates a dependen...

In the trades, most companies talk about revenue like it appears out of thin air. They focus on: how many techs they have how many trucks they run how much marketing they buy how many leads come in But there’s one number that quietly controls the whole operation: Booking Rate. And here’s the part leaders often miss: Your booking rate has a direct, measurable impact on technician utilization. Meaning… How many jobs your techs actually run. How full their schedules really are. How efficiently your workforce is being used. First: What Is Booking Rate? Simple. Booking Rate = the percentage of inbound calls that become scheduled jobs. Customer calls. CSR answers. Either it becomes a job… or it doesn’t. Pretty straightforward. Except there are TWO booking rates: 1️⃣ Lead Booking Rate How well CSRs convert real service leads into jobs. 2️⃣ Gross Booking Rate How many total inbound calls become jobs (including non-revenue calls). Both matter. And both have a massive impact on technician utiliz...

Not every phone call is an opportunity. Some calls are noise. And that’s fine. The problem is when leaders can’t tell the difference. Then everything feels urgent.  Everything feels bad.  Everyone feels blamed. But when you learn to separate noise from opportunity, the business calms down. Noise = distraction. Opportunity = revenue. Know which one you’re solving for. DO THIS TODAY: Label your calls. Stop reacting to noise.

In the trades, most marketing conversations eventually end up in the same place: “How do we get more leads?” More calls. More formfills. More clicks. More traffic. But: More leads do NOT automatically mean more revenue. In fact… sometimes more leads make your business worse. Because the real game is not lead volume. It’s lead quality. And if you don’t understand the difference, you’ll spend a LOT of money chasing noise while your team quietly burns out. So let’s talk about it — in simple, real-world terms. What’s the Difference Between Lead Quality and Lead Volume? Lead Volume = how many “leads” you get. Phone calls. Chats. Formfills. Messages. The big number on the marketing dashboard. And yes... volume matters. But… Lead Quality = how many of those leads are: serious ready qualified willing to buy aligned with your pricing actually in your service area Quality leads book easier produce better tickets and create better customers. Low-quality leads? They clog your phones drain your tea...

Most customers don’t say what they really mean. They don’t say, “Hey, I’m anxious about letting a stranger into my home, and I hope I don’t get ripped off.” Instead, they ask about price. They stall. They say, “I need to think about it.” But nine times out of ten, the real issue isn’t money. It’s trust. In the trades, trust is the first sale. Permission comes before payment. Booking comes before billing. And the person who earns that trust first wins. DO THIS TODAY: Train one CSR to replace price-first answers with reassurance-first answers.

Summary The state impacts customer experience by enforcing flawed regulations on businesses. - Customers face frustration as everyday products are restricted or banned, shifting blame to frontline workers. - This episode examines how government policies alter the customer journey, affecting both businesses and their patrons. State overreach negatively impacts customer experience and burdens frontline workers. - Government regulations shift the responsibility of enforcement to businesses and their employees, leading to emotional labor. - Recent bans, like on plastic bags, result in less effective alternatives that inconvenience customers and complicate transactions. Customer experience suffers from misinformed, feel-good enforced environmental policies. - The transition from paper to plastic bags led to frequent frustrations, highlighting the poor execution of intent. - Customers face negative outcomes, like ineffective paper straws, while the state imposes policies without considering ...

 If you run a plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or home-service company, your call center booking rate is one of the biggest levers you have. It controls: revenue technician utilization marketing ROI the stress level of dispatch and how your brand is experienced by real customers And here’s the thing: Most booking rate problems are fixable. But only if you understand what you’re actually trying to fix. As discussed last week, there are TWO different booking rates in the trades: 1️⃣ Lead Calls → Booked Inbound Calls (CSR Performance) and 2️⃣ Gross Calls → Booked Inbound Calls (Demand Quality + Marketing) Plus a third category most companies totally underestimate: 3️⃣ Digital Leads → Booked Jobs (Non-Phone Conversion) Let’s break down how to improve ALL THREE. PART 1: Increasing Lead Booking Rate (CSR Performance) This is the purest form of booking rate: Out of REAL customers who need service… how many do your CSRs successfully book? This is the true test of call handling skill. And the go...

Most companies mix up booking metrics. Revenue dips, and the call center gets blamed. Meanwhile the real issue? Garbage leads. Confusing ads. Broken expectations. That’s like yelling at your catcher because the pitcher can’t hit the strike zone. If the leads are weak, fix the funnel. If the calls are strong, fix the reps. Clear truth beats emotional leadership every time. DO THIS TODAY: Separate Lead Booking Rate from Gross Booking Rate. Never blame blind.

  All Episode Summaries Generated by Merlin.ai :) Essay  **Introduction to Group CX** In the modern business landscape, customer experience (CX) is often mistakenly relegated to specific departments such as customer service or marketing. However, the concept of "Group CX" emphasizes that customer experience is a collective responsibility, impacting every role and department within an organization. **Understanding Group CX** Group CX asserts that customer experience is not confined to a single department; rather, it permeates the entire organization. Every employee, regardless of their direct interaction with customers, plays a role in shaping the customer experience. This perspective positions CX as the “bloodstream” of the company, influencing the overall business environment and customer perceptions. **The Role of Various Departments** 1. **Customer Service Representatives (CSRs):** As the first point of contact, CSRs significantly influence customers' initial impressi...

If you run a plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or home-service company, your booking rate is one of the most honest numbers in your business. It decides whether your techs stay busy… or sit around waiting. It decides whether marketing dollars actually turn into revenue… or disappear into the abyss. It decides whether dispatch spends the day calm… or drowning in chaos. But here’s the problem: Most companies think booking rate is just one number. It’s not. There are actually two completely different booking rates, and if you don’t separate them, you’ll blame the wrong people, fix the wrong problems, and burn cash without meaning to. Those two booking rates are: Lead Calls → Booked Jobs and Gross Calls → Booked Jobs Once you understand the difference, your business gets clearer. Cleaner. Less emotional. More predictable. The Two Booking Rates Every Trade Company Should Track Lead Booking Rate tells you how well your CSRs convert real customers into jobs. Gross Booking Rate tells you how well th...

 Most executives dress in one of two ways: Corporate Costume Mode: navy suit, boring shoes, forgettable presence Checked-Out Casual Mode: baggy polos, running shoes, zero intention Neither inspires confidence. Neither communicates identity. Neither feels real. But when you walk into a room with intentional style: crisp boots, tailored jeans, clean blazer, subtle edge, people know: ✔ you care ✔ you take responsibility ✔ you’re grounded in who you are ✔ and you’re not here to play corporate theater That matters. People don’t want a robot in a suit. They want a leader who is human but dialed-in. That’s the Punk Rock Executive. Punk Rock Was My Training Ground  I didn’t arrive here from the country club circuit. I grew up in the street punk scene. I was part of a group called the "Maine Drunk Punx." (Which sounds so cringe now) Think: plaid bondage pants spiked battle vest covered in patches mohawks and liberty spikes piercings duct-taped boots sweaty shows in basements and div...

The year always starts the same way. New goals. Big plans. Fresh dashboards. Everyone talking about growth. And that’s good. But here’s the truth: The tone of your year won’t be set by what you say… It’ll be set by how you show up on the days that still feel ordinary. Like today. Normal Friday energy. Phones ringing. Customers confused. Techs rolling. Team getting back into rhythm. And this is where leadership matters. Because your team is quietly watching to see: Do you show up steady? Do you speak clearly? Do you stay human when things get messy? Do you treat people like adults? Or do you drift back into: panic pressure reactivity micromanagement The difference between those two paths doesn’t show up today. It shows up in March. In June. In December. Culture compounds. So does tone. So does trust. Start the year the way you want it to end: Calm. Clear. Focused. Human. Your team will match your energy. Your customers will feel it. And the rest will follow. Action: Before the week ends...