Today’s podcast interview is different.

Here’s how it is different:

It’s Part 1 of a two-part conversation about a new project. Part 2 will be released next week.

It’s available as a podcast and also as a video [see below or follow this link].

But, most excitingly, it’s about Punk XL, a follow up book to Punk CX, which I am delighted to say is officially released today around the world!

Now, Punk CX was published in 2019 and explored what a punk rock version of customer experience (CX) could look and feel like.

However, a lot has happened since then.

It’s no longer sufficient to talk about customer experience in isolation. To succeed, we need to think about experience holistically, especially if we are to deliver the outcomes and reach the heights we aspire to.

Punk XL, where XL stands for eXperience Leadership, seeks to explore what it means and takes to deliver a great experience at different levels (individual, team, organisation, customer and beyond).

Like its predecessor Punk CX, it will be composed of a series of short and punchy “tracks” organised loosely around a series of concentric rings or dimensions that will explore what eXperience Leadership means at that particular level.

To add richness, perspective and depth, it features contributions from a number of different experience “artists” from around the world.

Those “artists” are Ari Weinzweig, Serena Riley, Lara Khouri, Richard Hammond, Amy Scott, Sandra Thompson, Paul Greenberg, Joyce Kim, Karen Jaw-Madson, Martin Lucas, Sandra De Zoysa, Clare Muscutt, Oisin Lunny, Tom Watts and Matt Wilson (more details about all of them are below).

But today, I want to share with you a conversation I have recently had with some of the “artists” I worked with on this book, namely Serena, Lara, Amy, Joyce, Oisin and Tom. I talk to them about Punk XL, what XL means for them, why it’s important, why they got involved with the project, what their favourite bits of the new book are and why all of the book’s proceeds will be donated to charity.

This interview follows on from my recent interview – Only 2% of marketers say they experience perfect alignment with sales – Interview with Scott Addington of SugarCRM – and is number 411 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders that are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

Here’s some links to where you can buy the book around the world:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MC7G1VH/

Aus: https://www.amazon.com.au/Punk-XL-Adrian-Swinscoe/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Punk-XL-Adrian-Swinscoe/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B09MTWGWHL/

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/Punk-XL-Adrian-Swinscoe/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

France: https://www.amazon.fr/Punk-XL-Adrian-Swinscoe/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/Punk-XL-Adrian-Swinscoe/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Adrian-Swinscoe/dp/B09MC7G1VH/

Note: Get in touch with me directly if you want to do a bulk order.

Collaborator bios

• Ari Weinzweig is a prolific writer and author as well as being the CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, a gourmet food business group headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Inc. Magazine described Zingerman’s as the “Coolest Small Company in America” and they have been featured in the Harvard Business Review and on MSNBC for their business practices.
• Amy Scott is a Director of Sedulous, a consultancy focused on customer informed business led transformation and has worked for numerous blue-chip international organisations and brands on how to improve their service and deliver great experiences to their customers.
• Lara Khouri decided to make the world a happier place. So she built her approach to CX and EX training and consulting (thereisnospoon.consulting – cue The Matrix flashback) on the values of “passion, positivity, and putting people first”. She is also a founding member of Women in CX, a mentor, a certified Co-Active ® Coach, and a “people person who gets process”.
• Richard Hammond is the CEO and Founder at Uncrowd, providers of Experience Analytics for Market Share Growth. He is the Author of Friction/Reward and Smart Retail (sold globally in 22 languages), created the friction versus reward metric (FvR), loves retail and customers.
• Serena Riley (www.msserenariley.com) is an award-winning Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) who has been igniting transformation in individuals, teams, and organisations for over 15-years. She is a Co-Founding Member of WiCX (Women in CX), a published author and an active member of both her local and the global customer experience communities.
• Joyce Kim is the Chief Marketing Officer for Genesys, a leading provider of Contact Center as a Service technology. She is responsible for the company’s overall marketing and communications strategy including strengthening its brand, fueling growth as well as go-to-market and demand generation strategies for new products around the world.
• Paul Greenberg is founder & Managing Principal of The 56 Group, LLC, an advisory firm, focused on customer-facing strategic services. His book, “CRM at the Speed of Light”, has been called “the bible of the CRM industry”, he is often called “The Godfather of CRM” and he recently released a new book entitled “The Commonwealth of Self-Interest: Business Success through Customer Engagement” .
• Sandra Thompson is a consultant in customer and employee experience (www.exceedallexpectations.org.uk), an emotional intelligence coach (the first Goleman Emotional Intelligence coach in the UK), an author, lectures part time at Pearson Business School in London and hosts annual learning events like the Ei Evolution Summit featuring people like Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett and Dr. Daniel Goleman.
• Martin Lucas is an expert in Mathematical Psychology and CEO and founder of Gap in the Matrix. He is also a three times published author, three times business founder, has sat on Charity boards, written a paper for the Prime Minister, loves liberating minds and helping people get out their own way.
• Karen Jaw-Madson is principal of Co.-Design of Work Experience, author of Culture Your Culture: Innovating Experiences @ Work, founder of Future of Work platform – A New HR, executive coach, and instructor at Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program. She enables decision makers to address organizational challenges that affect business performance, through leadership, culture, diversity, talent, change and employee experience interventions.
• Sandra De Zoysa is the Group Chief Customer Officer of Dialog Axiata, Chairperson of Digital Customer Experience Expert Working Group for Axiata and Director of Dialog Business Services. She is a founding member and the first female Chairperson of SLASSCOM – the national IT/BPM chamber in Sri Lanka and over her career has received multiple global awards.
• Following an award-winning career with brands like Whitbread, Sainsburys, and Compass Group, Clare Muscutt founded a boutique CX design agency in 2017 providing consulting and speaking services to a global client base. travelling the world as a global consultant and keynote speaker. In 2021, she founded the world’s first online membership community for Women in Customer Experience (WiCX) where she is now CEO.
• Oisin Lunny is an award-winning marketer, webinar and podcast host, event MC, public speaker, CX enthusiast, UX business professor, journalist, occasional book editor, and a veteran of several leading global technology firms. Oisin now enjoys helping fascinating people to tell their best stories, and keeps his lifelong passion for music alive as a DJ on Brighton’s Slack City Radio.
• Tom Watts runs the Brighton creative agency Digital Heroes Studio and has been working in and around publishing for 20+ years. There isn’t much about print, paper and digital he doesn’t know and he’s great fun at parties as a result.
• Matt Wilson is a freelance graphic designer based in Brighton UK. He’s been making people look good for over a decade. He doesn’t like writing in the third person.

Thank you and don’t forget to check out the book. 🙂

Thanks to GDJ on Pixabay for the image.