CX without the BS

Channel Partners 2026 REVIEW | The Half-Empty Room And What It Told Me About The Channel

April 21st, 2026  |  20 mins 6 secs

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My honest review of Channel Partners 2026 - Robert Irvine keynote, a half-empty room, and every reason the Old Guard channel model just cracked wide open in Vegas.

Business Phone System NIGHTMARE: Why Vendors Are Killing Their Own Deals

March 25th, 2026  |  19 mins 33 secs

b2b buying process, b2b conversion rate, b2b marketing, b2b sales, brian nichols show, business communications, business phone system, buyer experience, channel sales, cloud phone system, contact center, customer experience, cx strategy, cx without the bs, digital transformation, phone system 2026, pricing transparency, saas sales, sales process broken, sales strategy, smb technology, technology advisors, tsd, ucaas, ucaas vendors, unified communications, voip business

UCaaS vendors spent a fortune building a moat around their pricing — and now they're spending another fortune trying to lure buyers across it.

How to Spot a Bad Phone Provider in Under 2 Minutes

February 20th, 2026  |  1 min 50 secs

billing transparency, business phones, ccaas, customer experience, cx, hidden fees, it buying, onboarding, porting, smb tech, support, telecom, ucaas, vendor selection, voip

Most buyers don’t realize they purchased a support problem until after onboarding starts - these two pre-sign questions force vendors to show their true support model and their real fees.

CX Industry LYING About AI Capabilities?

February 4th, 2026  |  56 mins 19 secs

ai in customer service, brian nichols, business ethics, business podcast, cloud sherpa, contact center ai, customer experience strategy, cx without the bs, derek roush, early termination fees, level365, month to month contracts, sales commission, spiff chasing, tech consulting., technology advisor alliance, telecom contracts, telecom fraud, telecom sales, ucaas, vocal point consulting, voip

If your tech advisor is pushing a 5-year contract, check their commission structure. The industry is addicted to 12x upfront "spiffs" while you get stuck with the bill. It’s time for "Death to ETFs." Stop signing handcuffs.

Why Customers HATE Calling You | Forget AI Chatbots, Fix Your DAMN Phone System First

January 29th, 2026  |  13 mins 48 secs

brian nichols, business communications, business efficiency, business growth, call center, contact center, customer experience, customer service, cx strategy, cx without the bs, entrepreneurship, level365, marketing operations, phone systems, revenue operations, saas sales, sales strategy, small business tools, smb tech, tech audit, tech stack, tech support, ucaas, unified communications

Brian Nichols reveals why Unified Communications is the hidden revenue killer in 2026 and why the "Wall Street Trap" is destroying your Customer Experience.

Most SMBs think they have a "tools" problem, stacking AI chatbots and complex routing while their actual front door—the phone system—remains completely broken. In this episode, we expose the "Invisible Failure" of missed calls and dead-end voicemails that are costing you deals every single day. You need to hear this blueprint for fixing your digital front door, auditing your communications in 30 seconds, and escaping the enterprise pricing games that treat you like a number, not a partner.

Why UCaaS Quotes NEVER Match the Bill

December 16th, 2025  |  48 mins 38 secs

business communication, business phone systems, ccaas, channel sales, customer experience, customer journey, customer support, customer trust, cx without the bs, hidden fees, m&a impact, mergers and acquisitions, phone system pricing, tech advisors, tech sales, ucaas, unified communications, vendor transparency

Why do UCaaS quotes never match the bill? In this episode of CX Without the BS, Brian Nichols and Stephen Howard break down the pricing games, broken incentives, and quiet BS that keep customer experience stuck.

How Do I Fix Bad Customer Service at My Business?

October 14th, 2025  |  52 mins 1 sec

agent experience, ai in cx, call center, ccaas, chatbots, contact center, csat, customer complaints, customer experience, customer journey, customer loyalty, customer retention, customer service, cx, cx metrics, employee engagement, first contact resolution, generative ai, help desk, hold times, human support, ivr, nps, omnichannel, reduce churn, self-service, service design, small business cx, support tips, ucaas, voice of customer

Is AI fixing CX or just getting in the way? In this no-BS episode, we show how to use AI where it helps, bring humans back where it matters, ditch vanity metrics, and fix the basics that win loyalty.

5 Mistakes SMBs Make When Choosing UCaaS (and How to Avoid Them)

June 24th, 2025  |  7 mins 46 secs

best ucaas for smbs, business communications, call data, cheap ucaas problems, customer experience, flexible contracts, long-term contracts, phone support, phone system mistakes, reporting tools, small business tech, smb mistakes, smb tech advice, smb ucaas mistakes, support issues, tech advisor tips, ucaas, ucaas integrations, ucaas pitfalls, ucaas providers, unified communications

In this episode, we uncover the five critical mistakes SMBs make when choosing a UCaaS provider – and how you can avoid them to save time, money, and stress.

How to Make Customers LOVE Your Call Center

June 14th, 2024  |  48 mins 36 secs

ai in customer service, ai replacement, automation, brian nichols, bs in cx, business leadership, business strategy, ccaas, charlie newark-french, cloud-based technology, contact center, contact center management, contact center of tomorrow, contact center tech, customer engagement, customer experience, customer experience management, customer experience technology, customer journey, customer loyalty, customer retention, customer satisfaction, customer service agents, customer service management, customer service technology, cx industry, cx innovation, cx solutions, cx tech, cx without the bs, digital transformation, entrepreneurship, future of cx, hyper science, industry insights, industry trends, innovation, innovation in cx, machine learning, marketing fluff, mortgage processing, radiologists, ringcentral, sales and marketing, sharpen cx, smb market, stability, startup scaling, technology disruption, thought leadership, tom milligan, ucaas, usable ai, venture capitalist

Charlie Newark-French, CEO of Sharpen, discusses how practical AI and innovative solutions are transforming the contact center industry to create customer experiences that people love (or at least don't hate as much).

The CX Dilemma: To AI or Not to AI

May 23rd, 2024  |  44 mins 56 secs

ai analytics, ai in cx, ccaas, covid-19 impact, customer engagement, customer experience, customer journey, customer service, cx challenges, cx industry, cx infrastructure, cx providers, cx solutions., cx without the bs, digital transformation, human-centered approach, intellisense, master agent, michael delsignore, sentiment analysis, technology adoption, technology services distributor, ucaas

In this inaugural episode of "CX Without the BS," industry veteran Michael Del Signore shares his insights on the transformative impact of COVID-19 on the customer experience (CX) industry, highlighting the importance of a human-centered approach to technology adoption and the need to separate fact from fiction in the hype surrounding AI and automation.