Episode 2 | "Put People Before Process" - Ed Deason | Statements of Intent Podcast
“Put People Before Process”
In this episode, former head of customer experience Ed Deason shares his perspective on how businesses lose sight of customer needs amidst internal processes and efficiency drives. He recounts real-life examples of companies prioritising procedure over empathy—and one that gets it right. The key takeaway? Put people before process.
Topics Covered:
- Why companies become process-centric rather than customer-centric
- Specific examples of poor process-driven customer service
- The negative impacts of commercialism and efficiency obsession
- Ways to foster human connections in e-commerce
- Balancing team productivity with customer satisfaction
Key Quotes:
- "They lose sight of what their customers are trying to achieve and trying to get done. And therefore they provide a really crappy customer experience as a result."
- "I blame commerce for that. I blame greed, I blame the need for more is more, I blame VCs, investment, shaping people's perception away from the customer and more towards growth and scale."
- "What they want is their problem solved first time. What they want is the answers they were looking for. What they want is a bit of empathy."
Episode Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:05 Guest Introduction
01:34 Statement of Intent: People Before Process
03:38 Personal Customer Service Stories
07:47 The Problem with Processes
10:48 Impacts on Customer Experience
15:52 Fostering Connections
18:54 Balancing Metrics
Social Media:
YouTube → https://youtube.com/madewithintent
Ed’s LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-deason/
Creators and Guests
Host
David Mannheim
David is a big kid, a big Disney fan and a big geek. He founded User Conversion which was acquired by Brainlabs, is the author of The Person in Personalisation, and now the host of Statements of Intent. His mission is to help retailers care more for their customers by listening, being appropriate, being familiar and creating a relationship. He is doing that through his new start up, Made With Intent, a platform that helps retailers do just this by diligently understanding customer intent.
