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    <title>CX without the BS - Episodes Tagged with “Small Business Marketing”</title>
    <link>https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/tags/small%20business%20marketing</link>
    <pubDate>Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
    <description>Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together.</description>
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    <itunes:subtitle>Honest takes on customer experience and UCaaS for the SMB and mid-market buyers enterprise vendors forgot... hosted by Brian Nichols.</itunes:subtitle>
    <itunes:author>Brian Nichols</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary>Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together.</itunes:summary>
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      <itunes:email>brian@briannicholsconsulting.com</itunes:email>
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  <title>How Do You Fix Bad Customer Experience FAST?</title>
  <link>https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/how-do-you-fix-bad-customer-experience-fast</link>
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  <pubDate>Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
  <author>Brian Nichols</author>
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  <itunes:author>Brian Nichols</itunes:author>
  <itunes:subtitle>Your store isn’t losing sales because of “the economy.” It’s losing sales because people walk in… and walk out empty handed. Bob Phibbs breaks down why customer experience is the real battlefield and how sharper sales habits fix more than any marketing plan ever will.</itunes:subtitle>
  <itunes:duration>31:47</itunes:duration>
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  <description>&lt;p&gt;What if the real reason your sales are flat has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with how your team treats actual human beings?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This episode digs right into the stuff nobody wants to talk about — the uncomfortable, real-world truth hiding inside your customer experience. But instead of listing theories or waving around buzzwords, we bring in someone who’s lived this in the trenches. Across retail, small business, and even politics… the same patterns keep showing up. And if you miss them, you lose. Period.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In today’s conversation, I sit down with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor, to unpack why stores lose sales they should have won, how customer experience is really created, why KPIs lie, and how pattern recognition is the secret weapon for neurodivergent entrepreneurs and sales pros. If you care about winning customers, keeping customers, and avoiding the trap of “we’re fine, it’s just the economy,” this is your episode. It’s punchy, practical, and absolutely loaded with takeaways you can use the second you finish listening. &lt;/p&gt;
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    <![CDATA[<p>What if the real reason your sales are flat has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with how your team treats actual human beings?</p>

<p>This episode digs right into the stuff nobody wants to talk about — the uncomfortable, real-world truth hiding inside your customer experience. But instead of listing theories or waving around buzzwords, we bring in someone who’s lived this in the trenches. Across retail, small business, and even politics… the same patterns keep showing up. And if you miss them, you lose. Period.</p>

<p>In today’s conversation, I sit down with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor, to unpack why stores lose sales they should have won, how customer experience is really created, why KPIs lie, and how pattern recognition is the secret weapon for neurodivergent entrepreneurs and sales pros. If you care about winning customers, keeping customers, and avoiding the trap of “we’re fine, it’s just the economy,” this is your episode. It’s punchy, practical, and absolutely loaded with takeaways you can use the second you finish listening.</p>]]>
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  <itunes:summary>
    <![CDATA[<p>What if the real reason your sales are flat has nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with how your team treats actual human beings?</p>

<p>This episode digs right into the stuff nobody wants to talk about — the uncomfortable, real-world truth hiding inside your customer experience. But instead of listing theories or waving around buzzwords, we bring in someone who’s lived this in the trenches. Across retail, small business, and even politics… the same patterns keep showing up. And if you miss them, you lose. Period.</p>

<p>In today’s conversation, I sit down with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor, to unpack why stores lose sales they should have won, how customer experience is really created, why KPIs lie, and how pattern recognition is the secret weapon for neurodivergent entrepreneurs and sales pros. If you care about winning customers, keeping customers, and avoiding the trap of “we’re fine, it’s just the economy,” this is your episode. It’s punchy, practical, and absolutely loaded with takeaways you can use the second you finish listening.</p>]]>
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