Dave D'Arcy - Laughing Leadership - The Recurring "Groundhog Day" Issues In CX
Release Date: 08/07/2025
Gerry Brown - The Customer Lifeguard - CX Is Changing Fast
CX Files
Gerry Brown is known as the customer lifeguard. His ambition is to save the world from poor customer service. Gerry is Canadian and based in the south of the UK. Gerry has written a book titled 'When a customer wins, nobody loses.' He has a podcast and he is a regular speaker and adviser, regularly hosting CX workshops. Mark called Gerry to ask about his book and the post-pandemic CX environment. In particular how can BPOs get more closely aligned with the needs of customers when AI is changing the entire industry? Summary : Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolving...
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Paul O'Hara - TP - AI Won’t End BPO - It’ll Supercharge It
CX Files
Paul O'Hara is the Executive Vice President of Business Development at TP EMEA. He is based in the Tyneside area of North-East England. Paul recently published an article on Customer Think magazine titled "AI Won't End BPO - It'll Supercharge It." Mark called Paul to ask Paul about the article. What was Paul trying to say? How does he believe that AI and human-focused customer service can be blended? How can smarter more value-driven CX be planned using AI? Paul outlined many of these ideas in his article, but Mark questioned him further on the reasons he felt the need to talk about AI in this...
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Elona Ymeri - Assist Digital - Albania & The Value Of Smaller BPO Locations
CX Files
Elona Ymeri is the service delivery manager at Assist Digital. She is based in Tirana, Albania. Elona spoke to Mark Hillary about the role of smaller BPO destinations. What can they offer that is harder to find from the big locations? Is the continued influence of AI and other automation technology reducing the need to consider working in locations where large numbers of agents can be found? Elona talked about Albania within this context, but also explored beyond Albania alone to consider other locations in Europe that might have an interesting and innovative new approach to BPO. ----...
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Joanne Morrison - Outmarket - Modern Marketing For CX Brands
CX Files
Joanne Morrison is the founder of Outmarket. She is based in Toronto, Canada. Outmarket is a specialist marketing agency that is focused on BPO and CX companies. Telling potential customers about your services has always been important, but as BPO gets more complex, more international, and AI changes how marketing can function, it is more important than ever to get great advice. Peter Ryan called Joanne to talk about these changes and her advice for marketing in CX in the 2020s. SUMMARY: Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the challenges and mistakes in BPO marketing with Joanne Morrison,...
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Miguel Familia - Wise BPO - A CX Visionary In the Dominican Republic
CX Files
Miguel Familia is the CEO and co-founder of Wise BPO. He is based between the Dominican Republic and St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. Miguel has a long history in CX, but one year ago he decided to create a new BPO brand - serving clients from the Dominican Republic. Peter called Miguel to learn about his story of creating a new CX brand, his background in this industry, the advantages of the DR, and his vision for the future of CX. SUMMARY: Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan introduce Miguel Familia, CEO and co-founder of Wise BPO in the Dominican Republic. Miguel shares his journey from starting in...
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Discussion: CX In Georgia 🇬🇪
CX Files
This week we have a group of CX and BPO experts who recently visited Georgia. This nation of 3.6m people is positioned on the Black Sea, at the intersection of Europe and Asia, and is working hard to position itself as an attractive destination for CX and BPO sourcing. Peter Ryan talked to people who travelled with him to visit Georgia this year to explore questions such as the ease of doing business there, the opportunity for multilingual CX, and how Georgia is attracting more digital and high-tech talent. Featured in the discussion: Elona Ymeri Service Delivery Manager, Assist Digital...
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Traci Freeman - Connecting Africa For Global Business Services
CX Files
Traci Freeman holds a number of roles, including as the managing member of Believe Consulting, but in this conversation we focused on her role as a partner of the Africa Federation of GBS Associations. This federation is aimed at unlocking Africa’s potential in the BPO, CX and ITO sectors. Enhancing Africa’s standing as a hub for innovation, knowledge exchange, and technological advancement, promoting partnerships, youth employment, and digital enablement while driving best practices and standards. Mark Hillary called Traci at her base in Johnannesburg, South Africa to talk about the work...
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Kwame Agyei - Appoynt - From Accra with Service: How Ghana Is Powering SMB CX
CX Files
Kwame Agyei is the founder and CEO of Appoynt. He is based in London, UK with operations in Ghana. In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Kwame tells the story of how and why he founded Appoynt during the Covid pandemic and the opportunity for more businesses to work with partners in Ghana. --- SUMMARY Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the growth of BPO services in Ghana, highlighting Kwame Agyei's venture, Appoynt. Kwame, an accountant by background, founded Appoynt during the COVID-19 pandemic to leverage Ghana's talent and regional advantages. The company specializes in back-office...
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Enea Dervishi - Simetrix Solutions - Is The Albania BPO Wave About To Break?
CX Files
Enea Dervishi is the Operations Director at Simetrix Solutions. He is based in Durres, Albania. Last month, Enea published an article in Customer Think titled "From Beaches To Business: Is Albania's BPO Wave About To Break?" The article kicked off a fevered discussion on LinkedIn because it did not focus on the usual BPO regional comparisons - how many airports, graduates etc... it directly compared the BPO possibilities in Albania with much larger and established destinations such as South Africa and India. Albania is on track to join the EU soon and although it is in Europe, companies there...
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Remembering Gareth Pritchard
CX Files
In this special episode of the CX Files, Peter and Mark join with David Rumble, Rod Jones, and Traci Freeman to remember how the late Gareth Pritchard influenced and helped to shape the BPO/CX/GBS industry in South Africa. We discussed how Gareth was instrumental in making South Africa a leading location for this industry and what his legacy may be in future. --- SUMMARY: The CX Files podcast episode paid tribute to Gareth Pritchard, a pioneer in South Africa's outsourcing and customer experience industry. Gareth's vision united regional fragmentation, promoting "Brand South...
info_outlineDave D'Arcy is the founder of Laughing Leadership. He is based in Tring, close to London in the UK.
Laughing Leadership was created to guide business leaders to build the environment to nurture and develop happy engaged employees. The solution is not in bean bags, slides, fruit on Friday or free tea and coffee. It is in culture. And culture is a byproduct of leadership style.
In this conversation with Peter Ryan, Dave talks about some of the 'groundhog day' issues he keeps reading about and seeing in CX. Why do we keep reading about the same CX issues over and over again? Why is the CX business news from years ago just about the same as today? Why do we always see the hype cycle with new technologies - such as AI?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemdarcy/
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qbH1R9yDdr4
CX FILES IS TAKING A BREAK FOR THE REST OF AUGUST - WE ARE BACK ON SEPTEMBER 4! Keep tuning in as we plan to repeat some clips from this time exactly five years ago during the Covid pandemic - how did the CX industry cope? CX Files switched to almost daily interviews during the early part of the pandemic, so we will clip a few of the best interviews to share with you again this August... see you again in September!
SUMMARY:
Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the final episode of the CX Files podcast before taking a break in August. They introduce Dave D'Arcy, founder of Laughing Leadership, who focuses on leadership and employee engagement. D'Arcy critiques common CX industry issues, such as outcome-based pricing models, lack of investment in training, and the overemphasis on impact sourcing. He argues that AI has not lived up to its hype and has led to employee disengagement. D'Arcy emphasizes the need for businesses to invest in their employees and align strategies with clear business objectives.