About this episode

John DiJulius explains the gap between perceived and actual customer experience.

John DiJulius explains why so many leaders believe their customer experience is improving while customers feel something very different. Summary: In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast , Denise Thompson and John DiJulius unpack one of the most dangerous gaps in business today: the difference between what leaders think customers are experiencing and what customers are actually feeling. A 2026 customer experience report referenced in the episode found that 66% of CX practitioners believe customer experience improved last year, while only 17% of consumers agree. That gap is not just a measurement issue. It is a leadership issue. John explains why survey scores, dashboards, and internal reports can create false confidence. He also discusses why customer feedback often fails to become customer intelligence, how silos distort the experience, and why frontline employees are often closest to the truth but least empowered to fix recurring friction points. The episode challenges leaders to stop judging customer experience from the conference room and start getting closer to the real customer journey. Companies that want to build loyalty, reduce friction, and create a…

People in this episode

Host: John DiJulius

Guest: Denise Thompson

Topics covered

• customer experience
• leadership
• customer feedback
• measurement issues
• employee empowerment

Keywords

• customer experience
• leadership
• feedback
• measurement
• employee empowerment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Customer Service Revolution

More episodes of Customer Service Revolution | Customer Experience & Employee Experience Insights

• 262: Who Really Owns Customer Experience? (part two) · July 16, 2026 · 32 min
• 261: Who Really Owns Customer Experience? · July 9, 2026 · 46 min
• 260: Why Leaders Must Be Great Storytellers · July 2, 2026 · 37 min
• 259: Why Customer Experience Transformations Fail in the Middle · June 25, 2026 · 35 min
• 258: When Service Innovation Makes Customer Experience Worse · June 18, 2026 · 30 min
• 257: Happy Employees Create Happy Customers? Not Automatically · June 11, 2026 · 45 min

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