What if negative customer experiences matter more than you think—impacting your bottom line far beyond any single complaint or glowing review?

In the latest episode of the Delighted Customers podcast, we dive into why negative experiences carry outsized influence on customer loyalty and business revenue. Many leaders mistakenly chase the most frequent irritants, but as our guest explains, it’s not about quantity—it’s about which problems have the greatest financial impact. If you're a CX leader struggling to prove the ROI of your work, you’ll want to tune in for innovative strategies that bridge the gap between customer insights and business results.

Why listen to this episode? Paula Courtney, President of the Verde Group, is a global authority on customer retention and quantifying the financial risk of customer experience missteps. With over 30 years of research published in BusinessWeek, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, Paula brings a unique, science-backed approach to identifying the most consequential pain points in your customer journey. Her team’s methods have helped organizations around the world—across 35 countries—focus investments where they count and avoid common CX measurement pitfalls.

Here are three engaging questions Paula answers on this episode:

• Why do negative experiences have a disproportionate effect on customer behavior—and what psychological principles drive this phenomenon?

• What critical missteps do organizations make by relying on “applause meter” surveys and chasing the wrong metrics?

• How can leaders accurately quantify the financial risk of negative experiences and build a rock-solid business case for CX investment in the boardroom?

Don’t miss this essential conversation for anyone seeking to transform their customer experience—and get buy-in from the C-suite. Listen to the episode now and subscribe so you never miss insights from top industry leaders.

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Meet Paula Courtney

Paula Courtney is the President of the Verde Group, a global market research consultancy specializing in customer retention and the quantification of customer experience ROI. For over three decades, she has led the development of research methods that help organizations not only identify but truly measure the economic impact of customer experiences—especially the negative ones most likely to drive churn. Paula’s expertise has been featured in prominent outlets such as BusinessWeek, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review. Her work is rooted in psychology, utilizing principles like negativity bias and loss aversion, and grounded in data science to separate “noise” from actionable insights. An international leader, Paula and her team have supported customer-centric transformation in over 35 countries, providing business leaders with tools to prioritize investments and foster real, financially measurable change.

Learn more about Paula and the Verde Group at https://verdegroup.com
Connect with Paula Courtney on LinkedIn: Paula Courtney LinkedIn

Show Notes & References

• Verde Group: Website and Resources

• Monthly newsletter, research blogs, and case studies: Available on Verde Group’s website

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