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CX Spotlight is a series where we speak to customer experience leaders from across industries who are rethinking support, building customer-first cultures, and finding clarity in the messiness of real-life CX.
Every edition is a quick, candid conversation. No fluff. No jargon. Just real-world insights from people who’ve been there and done that.
In Conversation With Neal Travis
Neal Travis leads customer experience at AIHR, a fast-growing platform for HR upskilling. Since joining in the company’s early days, he’s helped shape the end-to-end customer journey across learning programs, community, and support.
Over the years, Neal has built CX systems that scale without losing their human edge. From launching peer-led coaching programs to tightening feedback loops and reducing agent ramp-up time, he’s helped make support a lever for growth, not just problem-solving.
But CX wasn’t always the plan. In this edition of CX Spotlight, Neal talks about accidental beginnings, simplifying complexity, and why taking ownership is the most underrated support skill of all.
Table of Contents
- In Conversation With Neal Travis
- 💬 What would your support alter ego be called — and what would their superpower be?
- 🧭 How did you find your way into the world of customer experience?
- 📡 The weirdest or most unexpected support request you’ve ever handled?
- 🔧 One practical change you’ve made to make your team more customer-centric?
- 🛠 What’s one tool you can’t live without at work?
- 🤖 What’s one AI use case that’s actually made things better?
- 🗣 One piece of advice you’d give someone entering customer support?
- 📬 Is email underrated or overrated as a support channel?
- 📚 A book, podcast, or show you’d recommend to CX peers?
- 😊 Your go-to emoji when talking to customers?
- 🧩 If you weren’t in CX, what would you be doing?
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💬 What would your support alter ego be called — and what would their superpower be?
“Super Simple.” I’d break down complex concepts into simple solutions. No fluff, just clarity.
🧭 How did you find your way into the world of customer experience?
Completely accidental! I moved from the U.S. to the Netherlands in 2019 and was looking for any English-speaking job. I landed at AIHR when we were just 8 people managing everything customer-facing. We’ve come a long way since then.
📡 The weirdest or most unexpected support request you’ve ever handled?
Back in my retail days, I once spoke to a customer who didn’t know what satellite TV or WiFi was. Trying to explain the internet to them… that was a very long conversation.
🔧 One practical change you’ve made to make your team more customer-centric?
Everyone on the team goes through the product as if they were a customer. You can’t deliver great support if you only know the backend, You need to feel what the customer feels, including the pain points.
🛠 What’s one tool you can’t live without at work?
Google Sheets. It’s so underrated! It does everything from analysis to tracking to lightweight project management.
🤖 What’s one AI use case that’s actually made things better?
AI agents now take care of repetitive, mentally draining tasks. That frees up our team’s headspace for more thoughtful work.
🗣 One piece of advice you’d give someone entering customer support?
Take ownership of the customer’s experience. Even if you’re just one rep in a massive call center, your impact matters! And take care of yourself too. Support job takes serious resilience!
📬 Is email underrated or overrated as a support channel?
It really depends on the context, product or the industry.For example, it works well for us at AIHR, but email can easily get messy and disorganized. It’s great for depth, not so much for speed or structure. So, if I really have to choose, I would vote: overrated.
📚 A book, podcast, or show you’d recommend to CX peers?
CXOXO by Mercer Smith. It’s practical and honest. Great read if you’re building a support team.
😊 Your go-to emoji when talking to customers?
😊
🧩 If you weren’t in CX, what would you be doing?
Operations and systems. I love optimizing processes and building automations that actually help people.
✨ Three Takeaways from Neal’s CX Playbook:
- Support starts with perspective. So, have every team member use the product like a customer. That’s where real empathy starts.
- Use AI to handle low-effort tasks and free up mental space for deeper work.
- Take full ownership of each interaction, no matter your role or team size.
Enjoyed Neal’s take on customer experience? Follow him on LinkedIn or check out more stories in the CX Spotlight series.
Are you a CX leader with stories, lessons, or ideas to share? 👉 Answer these questions to get featured!
