CX Leadership Talks

What if we spend too much time in CX fixing what is broken?

In this episode of CX Leadership Talks, Nienke Bloem shares three insights from Marcus Buckingham’s book Design Love In and explores what they mean for Customer Experience leaders.

This is not just a book review. It is about what the book made her rethink about positive customer moments, purpose in business and the role CX leaders can play in bringing more Love into organizations.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why you should study the 5s
We are trained to analyze complaints, detractors and low scores. But what can we learn from the moments customers and employees truly love? And how can we create more of them?

Why purpose and emotion belong in business strategy
Beyond targets, KPIs and ROI: what do you actually want customers and employees to experience because your organization exists?

Why love is a CX leadership topic
CX leaders can bring this conversation into the organization through stories, leadership conversations, book clubs or even a small secret movement.

Timestamped overview:
00:00 Importance of purpose in business
06:30 Focusing on positive customer moments
10:24 Adding emotion to business strategy
12:31 Personal motivations for pilgrimage
17:48 Advocating CX within organizations
19:56 Organizing a company book club
23:22 Gratitude for book recommendations

Extra information:
The book discussed in this episode is Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business by Marcus Buckingham.

Your challenge after listening: find one 5 in your organization. A moment customers or employees genuinely love. Study why it works — and see what you can make bigger.

About Nienke:
Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and keynote speaker who helps CX leaders strengthen their leadership, create more impact and make Customer Experience work.

With over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. She is an author, host of CX Leadership Talks, a Recognized Training Partner of the CXPA and creator of CX leadership programs including the CX Masterclass and CX Leadership Masterminds.

For more info: go to www.nienkebloem.com or send her an email at nienke@nienkebloem.nl to spice up your CX Leadership.

Welcome to a new episode of CX Leadership Talks with Nienke Bloem!

Today, we dive into a thought-provoking challenge every CX leader must face: Would they miss you if your CX team disappeared tomorrow?

Drawing inspiration from a recent Qualtrics event, Nienke Bloem explores the true business impact of CX teams and introduces the crucial "budget cut test." Are you and your team seen as a must-have driving results, or just a nice-to-have delivering activities?

With real-world examples and actionable self-assessment questions, this episode will empower you to prove your value, connect your CX work directly to business outcomes and ensure your seat at the table - even when tough budget decisions loom. Join Nienke Bloem for a candid, energizing conversation to help you sharpen your CX leadership and make your impact truly indispensable!

Want to get more information about the ANI model? You can take a sneak peek here or listen to this episode in which Nienke takes a deep dive into this model.

Timestamped overview:

00:00 The budget cut test and CX leadership
06:05 Importance of context in CX data
06:53 Evolving CX teams beyond sentiment
11:55 Measuring impact from workshops
13:54 Assessing Customer Experience impact
17:30 Discussing business leadership challenges
20:24 Seasonal farewell from the southern hemisphere


About Nienke:

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations.

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the Customer Experience Professionals Association and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. Subscribe to her weekly CX Newsletter to stay tuned.

Welcome to a new episode of CX Leadership Talks, recorded from the sun-soaked island of Texel during an intense European heatwave.

In this special solo episode, Nienke Bloem CCXP dives deep into the ANI model — her new CX leadership philosophy that will transform the way you look at customer experience leadership. 🤩

Discover the three layers of the ANI model and learn how to grow your CX leadership from the inside out.

Three key takeaways for CX leaders:

Authority starts with you: Building both internal confidence and external credibility is foundational for driving CX transformation. It's not just how you see yourself, but how others perceive your influence and expertise.


Lead with a clear narrative: Having the right leadership instruments - like a compelling change story, a strategic roadmap, and a business case - helps translate insight into organizational influence and direction.


Impact means delivering measurable value: True CX leadership delivers results for both customers and the business. Embedding CX in culture, tracking outcomes, and holding yourself accountable are essential steps to driving sustainable success.

Packed with practical insights, personal stories, and actionable strategies, this episode is perfect for anyone ready to become the captain of their own CX ship.

Curious about the full ANI model, I created a visual overview for you here.


Timestamped overview:

00:00 Masterminds cohort for leadership growth
04:44 Building internal and external authority
07:41 Authority and personal growth program
13:16 Guiding CX with leadership skills
17:22 Scaling Customer Experience (CX) methods
19:19 Strategizing for company impact
23:47 Sharing my big idea journey

About Nienke:

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations.

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the Customer Experience Professionals Association and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. Subscribe to her weekly CX Newsletter to stay tuned.

Welcome to a new episode of CX Leadership Talks with Nienke Bloem.

In this episode, Nienke introduces ANI: her new CX leadership philosophy built around three elements every CX leader needs to thrive: Authority, Narrative and Impact.

After spending months interviewing CX leaders and reflecting on the future of the profession, she discovered a surprising pattern.

Most CX leaders do not struggle with customer experience.

They struggle with leadership.

The conversations were not about journey mapping, Voice of the Customer or CX strategy. They were about stakeholder buy-in, budget, urgency, visibility and impact.

In this episode, Nienke shares the story behind ANI, the surprising inspiration that led to the model, and why she believes leadership may become the most important differentiator in the future of customer experience.

This episode is personal, reflective and an invitation to think differently about your role as a CX leader.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why many CX challenges are actually leadership challenges
• The story behind ANI and its three elements: Authority, Narrative and Impact
• Why trust, influence and movement matter more than ever for CX leaders
• How the best CX leaders turn ideas into organizational impact
• Why leadership may be the future of customer experience

Timestamped overview:

00:00 Reflecting on personal and career future

05:34 Exploring the future of CX leadership

10:52 Leadership and CX strategy development

12:17 Aligning leadership with impact

16:02 CX Leadership Bootcamp launch

Extra information:

Curious about the ANI model and the future of CX leadership? Click here for the visual of the model.

Take a look at the ANI model and learn more about the upcoming CX Leadership Masterminds Bootcamp, click here to plan a half hour exploration call.

About Nienke:

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations.

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the Customer Experience Professionals Association and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. Subscribe to her weekly CX Newsletter to stay tuned.

Welcome to a new episode of CX Leadership Talks with Nienke Bloem.

In this episode, we tackle one of the biggest blind spots in CX leadership: stakeholder management.

Because most CX leaders are strong in CX management. They know journey mapping, VoC, dashboards and improvement projects. But influencing senior stakeholders strategically? Building alliances? Creating organizational movement? That is where many CX leaders still play far too operational.

Nienke shares personal stories from her own leadership journey, including a painful lesson from her time at KPN, and explains why executives do not buy activities… they buy confidence.

This episode is practical, honest and packed with ideas to help you become more strategic in how you build influence, authority and momentum for Customer Experience inside your organization.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why many CX leaders unintentionally operate too tactically in stakeholder management

Why executives buy confidence instead of activities

How to use the Mendelow Matrix more strategically

Why relational authority is critical for CX leadership

Practical ways to engage stakeholders with more impact

Timestamped overview:

00:00 Customer experience leadership insights
05:43 Reflecting on CX leadership challenges
08:07 Focusing on relational authority
10:09 Planning effective leadership discussions
13:53 Engaging with stakeholders
19:10 Developing strategic CX leadership
20:21 Wrapping up and goodbyes

Extra information:

Download the free Strategic Stakeholder Management Playbook for CX Leaders here.

About Nienke:

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations.

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the Customer Experience Professionals Association and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. Subscribe to her weekly CX Newsletter to stay tuned.