The Customer Experience World Games 2026 with Michael Brandt

Welcome to the Business Transformation Pitch. I am Greg the CX Goalkeeper bringing you conversations where transformation, leadership and customer experience meet to create real impact. Did you know 80% of regular listeners haven't subscribed yet? If you enjoy the show, support us by hitting the subscribe button. I promise we will keep raising the bar with the guests ideas and strategies that really matter to you. Because in business, just like in football, this conversation would be the game changer. I am Greg's AI based assistant. Greg had a great conversation with Michael Brandt about the Customer Experience World Games. They discussed about what makes this event so unique, especially for charities and participants alike. Michael shared these insights as a judge and emphasizing the importance of creating practical solutions that nonprofits can implement. Enjoy the episode and join the Customer Experience World Games. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Business Transformation Pitch with the CX Goalkeeper. Today I'm super thrilled because we are again discussing about the Customer Experience War Games and I really desire and want to share this discussion to understand what the Customer Experience wargames are offering to charities, but also to the participant. And therefore I'm interviewing judges, captains and team members playing during this summer. Today I'm here with Michael Brandt. Michael, could you share please, two words about you? Yes. Hi. So great to be with you, Greg. My name is Michael Brandt. I'm. I spent 25 years in industry as a CX practitioner and now I'm a consultant and instructor based in Sunny Lugano, Ticino. Great, thank you very much. And for the people listening longer to this podcast, Michael was a guest already and we discussed several times about different topics. But we also know that you already participated in the past, past War games to this year. What's your role, what you're doing in the Customer Experience War Games. So I'm a judge again this year and I'm really looking forward to it. I always, you know, whenever it comes around, I always seek out Rodrigo or Christopher and say hey, you know, I want to be a church again this year. So yes. And they're always very kind and say yes, sure, that's fine. Thank you. Let's learn a bit more about the role of the judge. My understanding, I played, I was captain. As you work in a team, you answer to the question, you create a nice document explaining what you are doing and then it will be hand over to you what happened next. Yeah, sure. So we look at the entries from a CX perspective, right. What makes sense and what we think would work. But I think a really important aspect of the judges work is also to say what do we think, which solutions do we think the charities or the nonprofits will be able to put into execution, bearing in mind the resources that they have available? Because bear in mind, you know, that nonprofits and the resources unlimited, very often it's, you know, we're talking about volunteers, you know, they don't have huge IT budgets and things like, you know, these are large corporations. And so it's really important for the teams to come up with solutions which are manageable for the, for the nonprofits and the. And the charities you are receiving, I think three from the three teams. The solution or what they would like to do. How are we able to compare them? Because I know that a lot of people are extremely motivated and willing and they are creating everything. And on our side, as I was also playing into that, it was always, oh, but the judge, look at this, look at that. What's your feeling there? I think, and this is the great thing about having different judges, is that each one has their own perspective. You know, I'm sure that, you know, and I generally try to draw up a list for myself at the beginning of the things that are important for me. And the really important thing for me is, as I just said, is, you know, the feasibility. How easy, you know, will it be for a nonprofit or the beneficiary organization to put these ideas into practice. The other thing which I think is really important is the how well is it explained, right? Because generally these also aren't necessarily professionals, people who do this all day. And so it's really important to have something which is explained well enough so that someone could just pick it up and say, okay, I understand what I need to do and what I have to do. So that's also really important for me. It's about practicality for me. But I know that other churches have different criteria. Thank you for this hint. And also to the players, Michael, you know now what Michael is looking for. But now, joke aside, there are a lot of conferences, there are a lot of events, there are a lot of awards around customer experience, and everybody's trying to give their best and to create something. But my feeling is with the customer experience, more games, something different is happening. I have have contacts still with. I played the first time six years ago, and I still have contacts with the team I played with six years ago. And the same is five years ago and so on. It's create something, it creates relationship, this feeling of being together and working together. Why is it so different playing the customer experience war game compared to joining events or conferences? Because I Think when we go to conferences or when we go to events or generally we're doing it for ourselves, right? And the great thing about the Customer Experience World Games is that it gets people together who aren't thinking about themselves, but who are giving. This is all for the benefit of people who are depending on the charity, who are maybe not as well off as us, who have other issues, challenges that they're facing. And so I think this gives all these CX practitioners that come together for the World Games the opportunity to not think about themselves for a while, but to think about other people and do good. And I think that's the thing that motivates all these people that sign up is the ability to do something for somebody else. And let's face it, that's a feel good factor, I think for anybody. You mentioned that feel good factor and you are also joining since several years. What are you taking with you after the Customer Experience work games? I think I'm energized generally when it's finished because you see the passion and the engagement of all these teams and the solutions they come up with are really in the past. I've never really been disappointed. They're always fantastic. And you can see the amount of energy and commitment that's gone into developing these, these solutions. You know, I think is, you know, we say in German, right, that really goes in. And I think that's so impressive. And that's the thing that energizes me when I see that, you know, how people can come together around a good cause and give of themselves. And that's always impressive. And the last question, what's your wish for the future of the customer Experience War Games? I think for me, I'd like to see it stay pretty much the same because I think the format works and I think it's great. I've spoken to people who want to develop it and make different kind of categories and things which are not necessarily nonprofit related. And I think that's the whole character, the charm of the World Games that it is for nonprofits and charities. And if you start then changing that and making it more about businesses and things, then it loses that charm immediately. So I hope that we can maintain that same strand of being nonprofit oriented. So CX for good, if you like. But of course, I'm just a participant. Ultimately it depends on Christopher and I know that he has a committee that he discusses this with. But I think that is the unique charm of the CX World Games. I am quite sure that Chris is sharing your thoughts and the way that you are thinking from my side. Michael, thank you very much for being again a judge. We all support the customer Experience war games and we ask to the audience if you want to join the customer Experience war games. It's never too late and you can always decide to invest one second, one minute, one hour, one week or even more to support one of the three challenges. One, the first one is ongoing and the other two are upcoming. And I know that the customer experience board games are always looking also for great players for a challenge number two and number two for today, it's everything. Michael, please stay with me for the audience. Thank you very much. Enjoy and join the Customer Experience War game. Thank you very much. Bye bye. Thank you for your support. That's all for today. If you enjoyed this episode, please spread the word. It really helps. And remember, 80% of regular listeners haven't subscribed yet. If you enjoy the show, the easiest way to support us is by hitting that subscribe button. I promise we will keep raising the bar with the guests ideas and strategies that matter most to you. Until next time, never forget, we are not in B2B or B2C. We are in edge to edge, human to human environment. Thank you.