ABOUT THIS EPISODE
B. Joseph Pine II is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial startups, and cofounder of Strategic Horizons. Previous books include The Experience Economy, which is credited with introducing the concept of “experience” to the business world, Authenticity, and Mass Customization.
Now, in The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations (Harvard Business Press, 2026), Pine brings his clarifying lens to the Rosetta stone of transformation, the customer service experience. What’s the percentage of CEOs who have made a real commitment to the front-line customer service workers who so often serve as the public face of a company in call-center and other interactions? By Joe Pine’s count, odds are merely 5% is an honest answer—and a shame, for the Virtuous Circle means that happy employees mean happier customers, too, inevitably. This episode explores Pine’s vision to inspire customer service departments whose true mission isn’t just resolving complaints but instead serving as guides who help customers achieve the best version of themselves. To do so requires understanding the customer in a way a chatbot never can. To do so means ensuring that the customer service staff isn’t merely a warm body, they’re warm-hearted and given the skills to be empathetic. Want an episode that rings with conviction, this is it.
Real Transformations: Business Change That Works from the Inside Out is co-hosted by Julie Anixter and Dan Hill, PhD, entrepreneurs with deep experience as corporate change agents, devoted to helping companies make continuous change work for everyone through clarity and connection. To learn about their keynote talks, workshops and labs, check out Real-Transformation.com.
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