As the conversation gets underway, Andy and Rishad tackle the term “customer” itself. Rishad encourages leaders to not have a customer-first mentality, but rather a people-first mentality. Explaining when you focus on the customer aspects, you miss the human behind the consumer, and you miss your employees. When you shift your focus this way, you begin to deduce what people actually want and can provide it more efficiently. Andy then asks Rishad how he has seen the CMO role change recently, and Rishad discusses both pre- and during-COVID differences. He also dives into how he envisions a post-COVID future and urges leaders to stop thinking about a “new normal,” rather consider that life and business moving forward will be a “new strange.”

As the episode ends, Rishad shares his advice for students who are interested in pursuing a career in customer experience or marketing.

Key Takeaways:

0:41 - Introducing Rishad Tobaccowala

2:26 - Describing customer-centric leadership

5:43 - The importance of thinking about employees first

7:03 - How to figure out what people want

11:43 - The changes that are taking place at the CMO level

17:23 - Marrying data and vision

22:35 -  COVID-19 and the future

28:30 - Rishad’s advice to students interested in customer experience and marketing

Links:

Learn more about Rishad Tobaccowala and read his book, Restoring the Soul of Business.

Learn more about Rishad’s newsletter.

Learn more about Andy Murray.

Learn more about the “It’s a Customer’s World” podcast.

Learn more about the University of Arkansas and its Customer Centric Leadership Initiative.

Learn more about the University of Arkansas’s business school, Walton College.