Sales Associate | CX Strategist & Solutions Advisor | Turning Customer Experience Into Sales, Retention & Growth

I help organizations unlock hidden revenue by transforming customer experience into a growth engine.

With 19 years of frontline retail leadership, I mastered sales, business development, and customer success from the ground up. That journey taught me what every successful enterprise learns: sustainable growth comes from loyalty, trust, and proactive retention—not just transactions.

The data is clear:

Companies that lead in CX grow revenue 80% faster than competitors (SuperOffice, 2025).

57% of consumers won’t recommend a business after one poor experience (Desk365, 2025).

U.S. companies lose $1.6T annually to poor service (Invesp, 2025).

A 5% boost in retention can raise profits by 25–95% (Project Aeon, 2025).

I deliver results by integrating service + sales into a single revenue engine:

Drove 25% YoY revenue growth with relationship-led strategies.

Achieved double-digit retention gains through proactive service-first systems.

Streamlined B2B sales cycles, improving win rates and closing velocity.

Today, as a Customer Experience Strategist & Solutions Advisor, I work with leaders to solve today’s toughest challenges—rising acquisition costs, stagnant pipelines, and customer churn—by aligning CX, sales, and growth strategy into measurable ROI.

Core strengths: Revenue Growth • Customer Experience • Business Development • Retention Strategy • Consultative Selling • Pipeline Optimization • Account Management

Outside of business, I draw on my experience as a traveler and student of global cultures—skills that strengthen my ability to connect with diverse customers, teams, and stakeholders.

👉 If you’re ready to reframe CX as your strongest revenue lever, let’s connect.

Last night, my Uncle Bob passed away due to complications from Stage 4 Lung Cancer. 

In recent months my Uncle Bob had been complaining about losing breath doing routine tasks around his home. When my brother and I asked him about the symptoms, it sounded like COPD. Than the week before the Thanksgiving holiday, my Uncle went into the hospital where he was told he had lung cancer. He lasted not even a week after getting the diagnosis. 

We all have to remember one fact, life is a gift.

I'm taking a few days off from work, and will return next week.

As for me here on LinkedIn, you will still get the next edition of The Customer next Tuesday like always. 

In the photo below is me with my Uncle Bob when I went to visit him in January 2025.

Steve Sellin

A proficient and dedicated professional who is seeking continuous career advancement through personal, interpersonal, business, and foresight effectiveness with extensive working experience in operations management, retail sales, customer service, shipping and logistics, and office administration.


Leaders: Your Dashboard is Lying to You.

You genuinely believe your customer experience (CX) is strong. The data says otherwise.

82% of executives say their CX is excellent. Only 10% of customers agree. (Forrester 2024)

The $3.7 Trillion problem isn't angry customers—it's the silent abandonment your KPIs never capture.

My latest edition, "THE BLIND SPOT COSTING COMPANIES MILLIONS," breaks down why your best-filtered reports miss the moment a customer quietly walks away, taking revenue with them.

We cover:

Why 91% of unhappy customers never complain (and what that does to your data).

The five micro-warnings the frontline sees in seconds that reports miss for months.

Immediate, no-cost actions you can take this week to eliminate the visibility gap.

The truth lives on the frontline, not in the filter. Stop the silent bleed.

➡️ Read the full breakdown and see what the frontline sees:

Stop the Bleeding. You're Losing Sales Revenue. 😱😱

The $3 Trillion Customer Experience Crisis Isn’t a Cost, It’s Your Fastest Growth Engine.

CX quality in the U.S. has now declined four straight years (Forrester CX Index, 2025). 

At the same time, poor experiences are putting nearly $3 Trillion in global sales at risk (Qualtrics XM Institute, 2025).

This is not a customer service problem.

 This is a financial emergency.

The Facts Every Executive Must Face

CX drives competition.

 44–45% of companies say CX is their primary differentiator today (Statista, 2024), and global projections warned that ~90% would compete mostly on CX by 2025 (Gartner).

Churn is instant.

 52% of customers bolt after one bad experience (Zendesk CX Trends, 2025).
CX leaders win disproportionally.

 Customer-obsessed firms achieve 41% faster revenue, 49% faster profit, and 51% higher retention (Forrester, 2024).

 CX leaders outperform competitors by nearly 80% (CX industry analysis, 2024).

If CX isn’t a top-line priority, you’re already losing ground.

Where the $3T Is Really Being Lost: The Frontline

The leak is happening where your customers meet your company — the frontline.

Over 65% of frontline workers expect understaffing (Retail Workforce Pulse, 2024).

Nearly 60% report increased stress due to low staffing (Frontline Workforce Trends, 2024).

More than 50% report burnout (Gallup, 2024).

Turnover costs range from 16–200% of salary, totaling ~$1T annually for U.S. employers (CAP & SHRM, 2024).

Understaffing → burnout → churn → inconsistency → revenue loss.

Every time. 

Every day.

And meanwhile, CX-mature companies pull away with superior growth (Forrester, 2024).

In this Edition of The Customer

The $3T CX Problem: Why Frontline Economics Is the Growth Strategy of the Next Decade

This isn’t motivation.

 This is an economic playbook for leaders who want growth without waste.

You’ll learn:

How CX directly drives retention, price power, productivity, and margins (Forrester; Qualtrics).

Why CX decline is structural — and how “experience debt” compounds (Forrester).

How to turn frontline teams into a predictable revenue engine using a practical, operational methodology.

The data is clear.

The cost is massive.

 The growth is available.

Subscribe now to unlock the blueprint. 👇

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Isn’t “the Future of Business.” It’s the New Operating System of Business.

Companies using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline operations report a 20–30% boost in efficiency and major gains in customer satisfaction. (PwC AI Predictions Report)

Across every industry, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming operations from slow, reactive, and manual—to fast, predictive, and customer-centric.

This isn’t about automation for efficiency.

It’s about intelligence for effectiveness.

When operations get smarter, customers get happier. And when customers get happier, revenue rises.

Here’s what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing right now:

1. AI eliminates operational friction before customers feel it.
Predictive analytics identifies delays, bottlenecks, stockouts, and service failures early.

Fixing problems upstream protects trust downstream.

2. AI speeds up decisions that used to slow teams down.

With real-time insights, associates make better choices faster.

No more “let me check” moments.

Confidence improves. Service improves.

3. AI converts customer signals into operational strategy.

Every complaint, delay, return, and question becomes meaningful data.

AI turns that data into patterns leadership can act on—instantly.

This is where companies stop guessing and start operating with clarity.

4. AI improves workflow accuracy and consistency.

Whether it’s demand forecasting, scheduling, routing, or quality checks, AI removes human error and creates reliability customers can feel.

5. AI makes frontline teams more human, not less.

When AI handles repetitive tasks, associates finally focus on what customers value most—listening, serving, and solving.

The result?

Operational excellence becomes customer-experience excellence.

And customer-experience excellence becomes revenue.

The businesses that win in the next decade won’t be the ones with the biggest marketing budgets.

They’ll be the ones that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to run smoother operations, deliver better experiences, and create trust at every touchpoint.

AI isn’t replacing people.

It’s replacing friction.

80% of companies now say AI has become essential to running efficient, reliable operations. (McKinsey State of AI Report 2024)

And every business that embraces it will run faster, smarter, and far more effectively—while making customers genuinely happy.

Do you want a higher return on your frontline investment?
Here’s how. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

If you’re looking for the highest-ROI investment in your business, don’t start with ads, tech, or real estate.

Start with the frontline, the people who create trust, fix problems in real time, and influence customer loyalty in under 2 minutes.

⸻

Why investing in the frontline delivers the highest return?

	•	Companies with highly engaged frontline employees see 23% higher profitability and 10% higher customer loyalty (Gallup Workplace Report).

	•	CX-leading companies generated more than 2× the revenue growth of CX-lagging companies between 2016–2021 (McKinsey & Company, Experience-Led Growth).

	•	Improving customer satisfaction by 20% or more increases cross-sell rates by 15–25% and grows share of wallet by 5–10% (McKinsey, Customer Experience-Led Growth).

	•	Poor customer experience now puts $3.7 trillion of global sales at risk every year — most of it driven by frontline interactions (Qualtrics XM Institute, 2024 Global Consumer Study).

	•	After a very bad experience, customers reduce or stop spending 51% of the time (Qualtrics XM Institute, 2024).

	•	Engaged, supported employees deliver 18% higher sales productivity and reduce turnover by 21–51% (Gallup Q12 Meta-Analysis).

	•	CX transformations that empower frontline problem-solving reduce cost-to-serve by 15–25% (McKinsey, Customer Journey Transformation Report).

⸻

Where the biggest ROI actually comes from

1. Frontline training & enablement
Equipping associates with better tools, coaching, and authority directly boosts sales, retention, and service quality (McKinsey, Experience-Led Growth).

2. Technology that reduces friction
Giving the frontline real-time information and problem-solving tools drives higher conversion and lowers operational cost (McKinsey, CX Transformation Economics).

3. Manager coaching & recognition
Teams with strong coaching cultures are dramatically more productive and loyal — improving both sales and retention (Gallup State of the American Workplace).

⸻

If you’re a business leader, ask yourself:

	•	Do my frontline teams have clear expectations and real authority?

	•	Can they solve 80% of issues instantly, without chasing permission?

	•	Do they have tools that make customers’ lives easier — not harder?

	•	Are we treating frontline investment as a revenue strategy, not an expense?

Because in 2025, the companies that win aren’t the ones with the biggest marketing budgets.

They’re the ones with the strongest, smartest, most empowered frontline teams.

If you’re looking to turn service excellence into measurable growth, that’s exactly what I help businesses do.

Usually I write about customer experience, but today is going to be different. Very different.

Over this past weekend I observed a situation at work that had my hairs on my arms standing up straight out of complete horror, disbelief, and disgust.

There were 2 sales reps who were pitching internet, TV, and phone services from a well known TV/internet provider here in the US with ridiculously cheap prices for the first 12 months of service. 

What caught me off guard was how addiment these sales reps were as they sometimes became very aggressive towards customers. 

But I noticed one thing that was their fatal flaw.

What was their fatal flaw?

Their sales pitch sounded desperate. 

When sales reps make their pitches sound desperate, they lose customers within seconds of the initial pitch. Customers just walk on often ignoring the sales reps.

I've always been a consultive sales advisor where I will take the extra minute to understand the customer, their needs, their problems. 

Why?

Sales reps and advisors need to understand the needs of their customers to provide the necessary solutions to what the customer needs.

Sales reps and advisors are there to help customers.

If every sales rep or advisor wants to be successful, they need to be experts in customer service and the customer experience. 

When sales reps and advisors take the time to listen to their customers, they can develop significant relationships with their customers. 

When sales reps and advisors listen to their customers, they earn trust and respect from customers. 

When that happens, the sales rep or advisor can have a great relationship where the customer can come back for future repeat business or provide referrals.

Have you had a sales rep pitch a service to you? What was your experience like? Good? Bad? Share in the comments below.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in my network here in the USA.

I hope you enjoy the day with your families, and don’t eat too much.😂

Your frontline desperately needs you.

Why?

If you want to understand the real health of your business, don’t start in the boardroom — start on the frontline.

Because that’s where the truth lives.

Frontline teams are the ones who see customer reactions in real time.

They hear the complaints first.
They catch the problems before a metric ever reports it.

They see what leadership can’t — and often won’t — see from a distance.

If you want growth, listen to them.

If you want loyalty, empower them.

If you want revenue, support them.

The frontline isn’t the bottom of the organization.
It’s the heartbeat.

It’s the early warning system.

It’s the engine that keeps everything moving when things get tough.

Great companies don’t guess.

They listen.

They observe.

They respect the people who serve the customer every single day.

Pay attention to your frontline. They’re telling you the story of your business long before the numbers do.

If you want more sales revenue, listen to your frontline.

If you’re looking to turn service excellence into measurable growth, that’s exactly what I help businesses do.

Most Companies Lose Customers and Revenue in Seconds, and Don’t Even Realize It - Until It’s too Late. 😱😱

Most executives still underestimate how much weekend customer moments shape long-term revenue.

But if you’ve ever worked the frontline, you know the truth:

Customer experience is created in seconds and remembered for years.

And most companies are still treating those seconds like they don’t matter.

I see it every day.

A product misplaced by six feet.

A customer wandering for help.

A simple question that goes unanswered because no one feels empowered to own it.

Thirty seconds that decide whether the customer returns… or quietly defects.

Here’s the part few leaders want to admit:

👉 Your brand isn’t defined in the boardroom.

It’s defined in the unpredictable, unfiltered moments your customers experience when leadership isn’t watching — especially on weekends.

This is why revenue rises or falls long before it shows up on any dashboard.

Trust is built in the micro-moments.

Loyalty is built by the associate who cares.

Growth is built by the business disciplined enough to treat every interaction like it matters.

Because it does.

Companies lose billions each year not from big failures, but from tiny moments that compound into broken trust and lost business.

Moments that most executives never see — but customers never forget.

So here’s the Saturday challenge:

If you stripped away all your systems, dashboards, and executive language… would your customer experience still stand on its own?

Or would the cracks become obvious in minutes?

That answer tells you more about your future revenue than any quarterly report ever will.

If you’re looking to turn service excellence into measurable growth, that’s exactly what I help businesses do.

Where and why did I learn about why the frontline matters?

The frontline matters for 100% of what every business does.

No KPI or metric can keep up with the frontline as every day is unique.

Customer demand can change with no warning.

The frontline is where people see the face of every business.

I learned all of this in my family’s retail mailbox store where I worked directly with customers everyday.

My experience at Walmart has taught me the frontline is the spot to learn about customer satisfaction and excellence.

Usually I share about customer experience, but yesterday being my birthday, I also received some heartbreaking news. My Uncle who lives in the Palm Slrings, California area was taken into ICU where he has a fungal pneumonia, lung cancer, and internal bleeding. As devastating news that is, we all must remember, life is a gift.

In every business environment we must deal with unexpected problems and sad news, it’s life. 

PS, thank you to all of you who sent me birthday wishes.

Is your Customer Experience (CX) strategy failing before it even reaches the customer?

The truth is: CX is no longer shaped by your frontline—it's shaped deep inside your operations. A late delivery, a stockout, an inaccurate order... these are all CX failures that cost revenue and erode trust.

This week's newsletter reveals the critical shift:

Artificial Intelligence Supply Chain: The New Engine for Customer Experience, Trust, and Revenue Growth.

We break down how AI, GenAI, and agentic systems are moving operations beyond reactive firefighting to create:

Predictive Intelligence instead of reactive teams.

Autonomous Correction instead of manual error.

Precision as the default instead of inconsistency as normal.

The companies that win the next decade will be the ones that understand this one truth: CX is now an operational outcome, and Operations are now a revenue engine.

This edition, like every previous release of The Customer, has completed a full independent compliance check to ensure accuracy and integrity.

Tap the link to read the full analysis and find out how to turn your supply chain into your strongest competitive advantage. 👇

The Customer Experience Blind Spot Costing Companies Billions: Why Frontline Reality Drives Revenue exposes the billion-dollar blind spot every leadership team misses, and reveals why the frontline is the most accurate profit predictor in business.

What If Business Development Is Really Self-Help in Disguise?

Most small business owners think business development is something you do after the customers arrive.

But the truth is simple:

Business development is self-help for your business.

It’s the process of strengthening your mindset, your systems, and your relationships before the pressure shows up.

Because if you’re not growing, you’re standing still, and standing still is what quietly kills small businesses.

Here’s what business development actually means:

• Clarity — knowing who you serve, why they buy, and what problems you solve better than anyone else

• Consistency — showing up every day with discipline, not hope

• Trust — listening to customers, fixing what’s broken, and proving you care

• Momentum — taking small steps that create big opportunities

• Resilience — adapting faster than the challenges that show up at your door

Every one of these is a self-help principle.

Every one of them fuels sales revenue, customer trust, and long-term growth.

You don’t need a huge marketing budget.

You don’t need to “go viral.”

You don’t need a perfect plan.

You need discipline, customer focus, and the courage to take the next step.

Business development isn’t a department.

It’s a daily practice, just like self-improvement.

And the small businesses that commit to it don’t just survive.

They grow, they expand, and they build the kind of customer loyalty that competitors can’t touch.

If you want your business to grow tomorrow, start improving it today.

What’s one self-help principle that transformed your business?

Why does the frontline matter?

The Frontline Matters Everywhere, Not Just in Retail, Hospitality, or Healthcare

We talk a lot about the frontline in retail, hospitality, and healthcare.

But here’s the truth most leaders overlook:

Every industry has a frontline.

Every business has a point where the customer meets the company.

And that moment determines everything.

Manufacturing.

Transportation.

Banking.

Insurance.

Logistics.

Technology.

Telecom.

Energy.

Aviation.

Government services.

Even B2B enterprises with long sales cycles.

Every one of them has a frontline, the people who represent the brand before any metric, dashboard, or quarterly report ever does.

Here’s why it matters everywhere:

1. The frontline is where trust is created.
Customers trust people more than processes, and relationships more than roadmaps. Your frontline is the human face of your strategy.

2. The frontline sees the truth first.
They witness friction, failures, trends, and opportunities before the data team even runs a report. 

If you want a competitive advantage, listen to the people closest to your customer.

3. The frontline controls the experience you’re being judged on.
You can have award-winning technology, world-class facilities, or the strongest product in the market, but if the frontline fall short, none of it matters. 

Customers remember how they were treated.

4. The frontline protects your revenue engine.
In every industry, loyalty is fragile. 

The frontline keeps doors open, accounts stable, contracts renewed, and customers confident in your ability to deliver.

5. The frontline defines your reputation.
Brand perception doesn’t start in a marketing department, it starts in every interaction where a customer, client, or partner feels genuinely supported.

This is why great companies don’t elevate their frontline last, they elevate them first.

They train them.

They empower them.

They listen to them.

They invest in them.

They trust them with decisions that matter.

Because that’s how you build a company people want to work for, buy from, and stay loyal to.

If you want stronger growth, start at the frontline.

If you want deeper loyalty, start at the frontline.

If you want a brand that outperforms your competitors, start at the frontline.

Every business is a frontline business.

And the companies that finally embrace this truth are the ones who win.

If you’re looking to turn service excellence into measurable growth, that’s exactly what I help businesses do.

AI doesn’t replace the frontline.
AI upgrades the frontline.

When done right, AI becomes the teammate every associate wishes they had — the one that:

✅ Removes repetitive tasks that drain time and energy

✅ Reduces customer effort at every touchpoint

✅ Predicts issues before they turn into complaints

✅ Gives associates instant answers without the runaround

✅ Strengthens the human handoff so customers feel taken care of

✅ Supports faster, cleaner, more accurate service recovery

Because frontline jobs aren’t getting easier.

Customer expectations aren’t slowing down.

And the businesses that win aren’t the ones with the most data…

They’re the ones that turn data into frontline capability.

When AI makes the job easier, associates perform better.

When associates perform better, customers stay longer.

When customers stay longer, revenue grows.

This is why AI matters:

Not for dashboards.

Not for demos.

Not for headlines.

It matters because the frontline is where loyalty is earned, trust is tested, and revenue is created.

If your AI strategy isn’t improving the human experience at the customer edge, you don’t have an AI strategy, you have a tech experiment.

AI is transforming frontline work.

Better tools.

Better service.

Better outcomes.

And a customer experience that finally matches what leaders promise.

If you’re looking to turn service excellence into measurable growth, that’s exactly what I help businesses do.

It's Black Friday.

Some of us have to work on this day.

Some of us have the day off where we can watch all of the football and basketball we want.

Some of us go shopping look for deals while bracing the crowds.

Regardless of what you're doing on Black Friday remember that this is the one day that you can shop, work, and watch all of the football and basketball at home without leaving home. 

Today, technology has allow our lives to be different than in years past. 

But remember, there's always leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.😊

The #1 Sales Mistake? Treating Your Customer Like a Budget.

Stop right there. Before you optimize your funnel or A/B test your subject lines, let’s talk about the cold, hard truth of revenue: 

You are losing sales because you aren't respecting the person who pays for the products and services.

In the frantic push to hit quota, we’ve trained ourselves to see customers as personas, budget holders, or pain points. 

We talk about their LTV and their average transaction value, but we fail to see the individual under pressure trying to solve a real problem.

Why True Respect Fuels Sales Revenue (It's Not Just Nice, It's Necessary):

Stop Wasting Time on Low-Value Leads: When you genuinely listen and respect their reality, you qualify better. 

You waste less time pushing solutions on people who don't truly need them, dedicating your energy to the relationships that matter. 

Efficiency is immediate revenue.

The Referrals Are Exponential: 

A respectful, pressure-free experience turns a customer into a missionary. They don't just share a product; they champion the relationship. Referred leads close faster and cost less to acquire—a direct boost to your margin.

Your Price Becomes Justified: 

When customers feel respected and truly understood, the focus shifts from the dollar amount to the value delivered. They stop pushing back on price because they believe you tailored the solution specifically for their success.

Churn Dies, LTV Soars: 

The moment the sale is done, the respect shouldn't vanish. A consistently respectful approach ensures low churn. Remember the math: retaining a customer is exponentially cheaper than acquiring a new one. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) is built on lasting respect, not initial flash.

Takeaway: 

Stop using empathy as a technique and start using respect as a principle. The instant you treat the customer as a person with unique challenges—not just a means to your revenue goal—you fundamentally transform your sales engine.

What's the most disrespectful sales interaction you've witnessed, and how did it cost the company? Let's discuss. 👇

The Most Underestimated Profit Center in Business Isn’t in the C-Suite,  It’s at the Frontline. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Most leaders genuinely believe their customer experience is strong.

But what customers actually feel tells a very different story.

And tomorrow’s edition of The Customer breaks down this gap in a way leaders rarely see:

➡️The frontline sees the truth long before the dashboards do.

Here’s a preview:
• Customers rarely voice their frustrations, they simply leave.

 • Most companies never realize the moment they lose a customer.

 • The frontline experiences the real customer journey in real time.

 • Leaders often make decisions with incomplete, filtered, or outdated information.

Tomorrow's dives into the disconnect between leadership perception and customer reality, and reveals why the frontline is the most accurate, undervalued source of insight in any business.

Because if you want to improve the experience…

You start where the experience actually lives.

➡️Tomorrow’s drop: 
Why the frontline is the most overlooked revenue engine in business, and what leaders must start doing right now.

If you’re looking to turn service excellence into measurable growth, that’s exactly what I help businesses do.

Most businesses believe they’re “easy to work with.”
Customers feel the exact opposite.

And next week’s drop breaks down a truth leaders overlook every day:

➡️ Customer Effort is the real driver of loyalty, trust, and repeat revenue.

It’s not just a metric — it’s a reflection of how much you respect the customer’s time.

Inside the next edition, we dig into:

• Why high-effort experiences quietly destroy loyalty in retail, healthcare, banking, travel, and service industries.

• Why 73% of customers say they’ll switch to a competitor after just one difficult interaction.

• How frontline teams feel the impact first — long before leadership sees it in the numbers.

• The operational blind spots that create unnecessary work for customers and associates.

• The rare companies that win because they make every step feel effortless.


If your business struggles with long lines, slow responses, confusing processes, or inconsistent support.

You’re already paying the price.

The next edition of The Customer shows exactly why — and what leaders must fix now.

Coming soon. 🚀

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