Not many companies end up highlighted on The Ellen Show, but that’s exactly what happened for Capital One, and it can all be credited back to the company’s customer-centric culture.

After her fiancé broke up with her and she moved out, a Capital One customer’s card was flagged for fraud when she ordered furniture sent to her new address. The customer called and explained the situation to contact center employee Tonya, who gave her 4,500 miles for a vacation after her rough breakup and even sent her flowers. The story went viral, but according to Doug Woodard, SVP Customer Operations at Capital One, things like that happen regularly.

At Capital One, a customer-centric culture starts with trust. Executives work to create an environment where they can trust employees, which gives employees freedom to help customers in whatever way best meets their needs. All employees are encouraged to look for ways to build a connection with customers. Doug considers it his job to care for those people who care for the customers. He aims to support the customer-facing associates and empower them to serve customers.

Capital One is so successful with its culture because it starts at the top. From the C-level down to entry level employees, customers are an integral part of the DNA of the company. A customer-centered culture means that customer experience doesn’t just fall on one department—it is the responsibility of everyone in the organization. Everyone has a responsibility to understand customer feedback and make improvements to customer experiences. At Capital One, that happens as leaders invest time in getting closer to customers by going to the call center, reading customer feedback, and sharing that information with their employees, no matter what department they are in. Employees are recognized publicly when they are a hero to customers, which reinforces the customer-first culture.

According to Doug, a customer-centric culture is also built on transparency. Companies have to mean what they say and say what they mean. Culture is transparent to customers, and they can quickly see through words that aren’t backed by action. A customer can easily feel if the employee they are working with hates their job because it will naturally come out in the employee’s attitude. Humility and accountability are also vitally important. It takes humility to really listen to customers and be willing to do what they are asking and listen to their feedback.

Framing is also key to a strong culture. Employees need to see how their work affects customers and the difference they can make. At Capital One, employees know they aren’t just answering the phones at a credit card company, they are helping people with their financial lives. Everything rests on building that sense of purpose, from training and accountability to the quality of the experiences. Identifying the metrics that will measure customer-facing actions can also drive culture and action. It might be tracking NPS or other metrics, but having something to measure makes people accountable and forces them to follow through so the actions are rooted in the culture.

Much of what builds a customer-centered culture starts with the mindset of the leaders and employees. As demonstrated by Capital One, having an attitude of serving customers can permeate the entire organization and lead to great success.

Culture has come to the forefront of many business leaders’ minds lately due to attention around issues like sexual harassment and diversity. The problem is that most leaders don’t know how to cultivate a corporate culture that is lively and sustainable, or else they are going about it the wrong way.

Denise Lee Yohn, author of the book Fusion: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies, says the thing most companies are doing wrong is thinking there is one just kind of culture they need to create. Many leaders see companies with great cultures and feel they need to imitate them exactly to create cultures that are warm and fuzzy with lots of perks for employees. That’s not the case. What really makes a strong culture is something that represents the brand’s mission and values. Yes, it should be a nice place to work, but the companies with the best results create cultures that are unique and represent who they want to be as an organization.

Instead of thinking as culture the same way as everyone else, leaders should find something that represents their brand and encourages employees to produce the results the company needs them to. That doesn’t always mean perks—as Denise points out, perks are just the tactics many leaders focus on instead of addressing the underlying foundation and strategy that makes a successful culture. Great snacks or a free gym might make employees happy, but it usually doesn’t truly engage them, and the appeal could soon wear off. True culture is long-lasting and goes beyond just nice things in the office.

Companies should be confident in their culture and own it. It’s misleading when a company misrepresents its culture, only for employees and customers to find out that things aren’t really how they seem to be. Organizations need to have an internal culture and outward identity that are aligned so they are authentic in all they do.

Intentional cultures start from the top with an executive team that takes responsibility. Culture isn’t built on its own, but rather requires a concerted and deliberate effort. The CEO and his or her team should think about things like the organization’s purpose, core values, and unique attributes. Those ideas can drive culture and allow the company to create something fresh that stands out from everyone else. A good culture is sustainable and creates a competitive advantage.

Denise shares MGM’s cultural transformation as a good example of how to create a strong culture that engages employees. MGM used to be thought of as an average Las Vegas hotel and casino, but the company wanted to transform into an experience-based brand. All of the company’s employees had to get on board with the transformation, so MGM brought in a training team to work with all 177,000 employees in person. Starting with leaders and working through the various departments, everyone was trained on the new culture so they could embrace the new brand identity. MGM wanted each employee to “be the show” and realize his or her place in creating a show for guests. Investing time in reaching out to all employees helped MGM change its brand and its internal culture into a place where employees feel valued and know they are contributing to something bigger. As a result, MGM has seen an internal transformation and financial gains.

Culture is vitally important to a brand’s success. It is strategic and something leaders should be focused on and very involved with. Instead of focusing on tactics that don’t work, Denise encourages companies to decide that makes them different and build a culture strategically. Creating a unique and sustainable culture can truly turn a business into a strong and successful company.

Internal cultures start from the top with an executive team that takes responsibility. Culture isn’t built on its own, but rather requires a concerted and deliberate effort. The CEO and his or her team should think about things like the organization’s purpose, core values, and unique attributes. Those ideas can drive culture and allow the company to create something fresh that stands out from everyone else. A good culture is sustainable and creates a competitive advantage.

Denise shares MGM’s cultural transformation as a good example of how to create a strong culture that engages employees. MGM used to be thought of as an average Las Vegas hotel and casino, but the company wanted to transform into an experience-based brand. All of the company’s employees had to get on board with the transformation, so MGM brought in a training team to work with all 177,000 employees in person. Starting with leaders and working through the various departments, everyone was trained on the new culture so they could embrace the new brand identity. MGM wanted each employee to “be the show” and realize his or her place in creating a show for guests. Investing time in reaching out to all employees helped MGM change its brand and its internal culture into a place where employees feel valued and know they are contributing to something bigger. As a result, MGM has seen an internal transformation and financial gains.

Culture is vitally important to a brand’s success. It is strategic and something leaders should be focused on and very involved with. Instead of focusing on tactics that don’t work, Denise encourages companies to decide that makes them different and build a culture strategically. Creating a unique and sustainable culture can truly turn a business into a strong and successful company.

Everyone wants to feel connected—it’s part of human nature. Whether it’s building relationships at home, in the community, or with friends, people like to feel bonded to each other. But perhaps it’s nowhere more important than at work. A connection culture in the workplace can impact customer experience and create a place where employees are engaged and excited to be.

Studies have shown that people who aren’t connected can actually get physically ill and fall into poor health, especially during times of stress. However, the opposite is also true, says Michael Lee Stallard, author of "Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work”. When employees feel connected to their supervisors or the people they work with, all the parts of their body work together so they can physically work at a higher level.

As an employer, it makes sense to want employees who are physically and mentally strong and engaged over employees who are dragging and stressed. Who would you rather have interacting with your customers?

Brands want their customers to be engaged and feel connected to the company. But it’s hard for employees to give customers what they themselves don’t have. A company won’t have energetic and enthusiastic employees who connect with customers if those employees don’t feel connected to the company.

According to Michael, there are five benefits that come from having a connection culture: employees have cognitive clarity, they give their best effort, they align their work with the organization’s goals, they communicate more, and they engage in creativity to fuel innovation. A culture of connectivity impacts everyone, and customers can feel if it is there or not. When employees are engaged and connected, they naturally want to share that with customers.

Michael tells the story of Admiral Vernon Clark, who was the Chief of Naval Operations just before 9/11. When Admiral Clark took over, the Navy was having a hard time retaining sailors because they weren’t treated well and didn’t feel connected to the organization or to each other. When he first joined the Navy, Admiral Clark had a Master Chief mentor him, which connected him to the organization and set the path for his career, and he wanted other young sailors to have a similar experience. Admiral Clark turned things around by talking to the Master Chiefs and encouraging them to mentor and train the sailors under them. It worked—by mentoring the sailors and building connections, the sailors became more engaged and connected to the Navy’s mission. In just 18 months, re-enlistment jumped from 20% to 70%. Creating a connection culture in the Navy ensured that it was ready for whatever came its way and could do its job to protect American citizens.

Similar principles are found at Costco, which is known for taking care of its employees. Because Costco is focused on doing the right thing, employees feel connected, and the company has a much higher retention rate than other retail stores. The result is employees who are happy to be there and serve customers in any way they can.

A connection culture builds long-term, sustainable performance, which creates a high-quality customer experience. When people don’t feel connected, they are only coming to work to get a paycheck, and it shows in their interactions with customers. Conversely, a connection culture helps every employee see how their role impacts the organization and makes them excited to provide a great customer experience each day.

Most anyone who has had a bank account for at least a few years is familiar with the traditional relationship between banks and customers—banks house the money, send the statements, and set the rules. Many people think of their bank as the “big bad wolf” who sets the terms of how money is used and comes after you with fees if you can’t manage your money correctly. It’s a necessary institution, but one that has long been feared by many customers.

Things are changing, and how we interact with banks and money is transforming into a much more customer-friendly model. Instead of being afraid of banks, customers can now work with them to conveniently meet their financial goals. One of the leaders of the movement is Zelle, a peer-to-peer payment system that allows users to instantly send money through a secure app. Zelle is actually owned by seven of the world’s largest banks with the goal of creating a consumer platform that is fast, safe, and works across banks. It’s a far cry from the old attitude of banks that only cared about how many customers they could get to open accounts. Today, banks care more about creating a good experience for customers and providing them with the tools to make banking easy and accessible.

In many cases, banks are pivoting to more advisory roles and expanding their services and relationships. The relationship between customers and banks is changing in large part because new technology allows banks to use various platforms to deliver services that are faster and more convenient for customers than they could have done in the past. Zelle and many other banking apps would not have been possible even just a few years ago, but with advances in mobile technology, it’s not only now possible but safe and convenient.

Technology also allows banks to provide more options to customers. It used to be that if customers had to do any kind of banking, their only option was to go into a physical branch and talk with a banker. Now, mobile and online banking make it much more convenient for customers to get their banking done on the go. Modern customers love to self-serve, and banking apps make that possible. Instead of having to talk to a teller to deposit a check or wire money to a friend, it can now be done with just a few clicks in an app. Of course, physical locations are still available for people who want face-to-face interactions or have more complicated issues, but just having the option to bank in a way that is convenient for each customer is a huge change in modern banking.

The evolution of money is far from over. Changing payment options will likely affect how customers make purchases. Rose Corvo, the marketing lead for Zelle, says her company’s main goal is for people to use less cash and checks and instead use instant peer-to-peer payments. As artificial intelligence grows, it will also become more of a force in the financial world. AI will be able to notice trends in a customer’s account and then initiate a conversation about how the problem can be fixed. For example, if AI notices that a customer keeps overdrawing their account, it can notify a human to call the customer or contact them directly to discuss options and other banking products to prevent future With new technology and options comes more opportunities for banks to advise their customers on how to be smarter with their money. Education is a huge goal of modern banks because educated customers are happier and more loyal to the brand. As technology advances and it becomes even easier to monitor and move money, banks will likely become a more convenient part of our lives.

Our relationship with money is changing for the better, and it will likely continue to change as technology finds more ways to put customers first.

It used to be that customers had one basic cell phone that they used just to call or text people, and they would contact the phone’s support center when things went wrong. Those days are long gone. Today’s customers have multiple devices that are constantly connected, and they can interact with tech companies for more than just support questions.

As the technology and mobile world changes, Samsung is also changing its attitude towards customer experience. Instead of what SVP Customer Care Michael Lawder calls the “break, fix model” where customers only came to the brand to fix their broken devices and then got on with their lives, Samsung is now focused on building lasting, meaningful relationships with its customers that go beyond the one-off service fixes. The idea is that as customers become more connected with their devices, they can also become more connected to the brand. More devices means there is more chance to build loyal Samsung customers for life.

Samsung does this by aiming for high-quality customer service through a number of channels. It recently unveiled its truck on the streets of New York City that can service customers similar to how a food truck operates. If a customer needs help setting up their device, their screen to be fixed, or just a place to charge their phone, they can come aboard the truck and get the service done for free. Samsung is also expanding its chatbot ability by using bots to efficiently direct customers to a real person who can answer their questions. Although Michael admits the technology isn’t completely there yet, the idea is that bots will be able to streamline support requests by texting customers a few questions to point them to the right human support agent. Future chatbots will be able to gather more information about customers, which will lead to more customized experiences.

Samsung’s new focus on the end-to-end customer journey means that the focus isn’t just on selling a product or fixing something when it’s broken—it’s on building relationships throughout the entire customer journey. Building relationships that solve problems and improve customers’ lives means that Samsung has to put resources into its programs. By delivering amazing experiences, studies have shown that customers invest more in the brand, which leads to a huge ROI. The internal Samsung motto for service is “Done plus one”, meaning that not only is the problem solved, but employees have the power and are encouraged to go above and beyond to delight customers and make them Samsung fans for life. It’s not just customers who are connected to the products—employees are as well. Samsung lets its employees, especially those in the service areas, use their products for personal use so they can fall in love with them and naturally want to provide amazing service. The hope is that employees will be fueled by their own passion for the brand and products and want to share that with customers.

Customers are more connected than ever before, and that connection will continue to grow with the IoT and as more devices become available. Companies like Samsung know the power of staying in touch with these connected customers to help them not only connect to their devices, but also to connect to the brand.

In 2017 I had a lot of great conversations with a wide variety of thought leaders. I gathered up some highlight clips from last year’s podcast interviews and put them into one podcast mashup. These clips show how customer experience can be defined and implemented, what it means for businesses in the future, and more.

The first interview I looked back on was with Mary Winfield, VP Customer Experience and Trust at Lyft. The company has to focus on two sets of customers: drivers and passengers. The entire business model is centered around making customers’ lives easier, from providing services people want and need to using technology that makes things simple and efficient. She describes the symbiotic relationship between employee experience and customer experience at Lyft.

Donna Morris is the EVP Customer and Employee Experience at Adobe. I visited the Adobe offices in San Jose, and we talked about the future of customer experience. She believes the role of customer experience is only going to grow. Digital technology will have a huge part in the future and will need to ‘emote’ as face-to-face interactions are going away. This will direct how organizations think about the customer experience and creating great experiences without the human element.

Under the direction of Adobe’s Chief Marketing Officer Ann Lewnes, the company created an attention-grabbing ad that reached out to customers and kept their attention. In this clip, Ann talks about the Adobe commercial that starts with a bank robbery and ends by showcasing digital technology and customer experience.

One of the hottest topics of 2017 was the chatbot. The next podcast interview is with singer, actress, and entrepreneur Christina Milian. Together with her business partner Josh Bocanegra, they created Persona, a tech company that builds chatbots for celebrities. Christina describes the value the chatbot brings to her brand, how it works, and how to get started when considering adding a chatbot to your company.

The future of marketing is not an easy thing to scale. Karin Timpone, CMO of Marriott International, is definitely up to the task. Marriott has a focus on Guerrilla marketing and jumps on real-time marketing opportunities via social media. One recent example was the Pokemon Go craze. Marriott’s social media team put its efforts on high octane and placed Pokémon monsters in pools knowing that guests photographed them and that they would possibly go viral. They got wind of one Pokémon Go super user and decided to sponsor him by sending him to Japan, Australia, and Europe to catch more Pokémon. Social media is a powerful way for marketing teams to engage with customers in real time, but it requires marketing to constantly have eyes and ears on the ground