Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

As Americans light sparklers and fire up grills for Independence Day, many are hoping to find a little extra money in their bank accounts. Social media and rumor mills have been buzzing with claims of a July 4th stimulus check—but here’s the real story: there is no federal stimulus check arriving for the Fourth of July 2025. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost, though.

Banking 130

Banking Government Accountability Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

While anyone paying attention to the customer experience landscape knows that consumers are increasingly basing purchasing decisions as well as loyalty and retention considerations on the overall experience they receive, the current trends of how well brands are responding to this are not going in the right direction.

Customer Experience 78

Customer Experience Metrics 78

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you’re collecting Social Security and saw your payment arrive today, July 3, 2025, you might be wondering—what’s the most someone can actually receive? Believe it or not, a lucky few Americans are pocketing over $5,000 this month in retirement benefits. But reaching that number isn’t easy—and for most, it’s far out of reach. The Maximum Social Security Benefit in 2025 As of this year, the maximum monthly Social Security benefit depends heavily on when you start collecting: If you filed

Finance 130

Finance 130

CSM Magazine

JULY 4, 2025

RingCentral has announced the general availability of its AI Receptionist (AIR), an AI phone agent that uses generative AI to automatically answer customer questions and transfer callers to the right place. The AI Receptionist represents a new category in AI voice-powered call handling, integrating advanced voice recognition, contextual understanding, and dynamic routing.

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Analytics Customer Service 52

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The AI era isn’t coming—it’s here. But over 70% of AI projects fail before they scale. Why? No strategy. No alignment. No ROI. We worked with a $50M company that wasted a year and half their budget chasing AI pilots with no payoff. Sound familiar? That’s where our four-step transformation system comes in: Assess, Strategize, Execute, Scale. We help you cut through the hype, find what actually moves the needle, and build a roadmap that delivers results.

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you’re a retiree living on Social Security, the newly passed “Big Beautiful Bill” may deliver the biggest tax break of your golden years—just don’t expect it to last forever. Tucked deep inside the massive legislation is a new “senior deduction” that could let millions of Americans keep more of their benefits tax-free. Experts say nearly 9 in 10 older adults could see real relief—but only for a limited time.

Finance 130

Finance 130

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If your birthday falls on just the right dates, today’s Social Security deposit might be the biggest check you’ve ever received—up to a whopping $5,108. With July’s first round of payments hitting bank accounts today, thousands of retirees are checking their balances to see where they land on the Social Security scale. Whether you’re getting the maximum payout or something closer to the average, here’s what you need to know.

Banking 130

Banking Accountability Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Customer experience (CX) has become a boardroom-level priority—right up there with revenue growth and operational efficiency. And for good reason. A single bad experience can make a customer abandon a brand forever, while a personalized, seamless interaction can turn them into a lifelong advocate.

Customer Experience 49

Customer Experience Personalization Enterprise Technology 49

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you’re a New York homeowner, don’t ignore your mailbox or bank account this week—because thousands of residents across the state are receiving STAR checks worth anywhere from $290 to $1,500, and it’s all part of a long-running but often-overlooked property tax relief program. The payments began going out July 1, and for many households, the cash couldn’t come at a better time.

Banking 130

Banking Government Accountability Finance 130

Comm100

JULY 4, 2025

When your customers share account numbers, social security details, or financial information through live chat, that data can’t just live anywhere. Banks, credit unions, and government agencies face strict legal requirements about where customer conversations can be stored and processed. Data sovereignty laws carry mandatory compliance requirements: PIPEDA requires Canadian financial institutions to maintain customer data within national borders FFIEC mandates specific data handling proc

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Government Banking Healthcare Enterprise 52

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Global Sales and David Phelan, Account Executive

In a world where buyers are more informed and objections are more nuanced, confidence isn't optional—it’s a competitive advantage. In high-stakes conversations, knowing how to handle pushback can make or break the deal. Join industry experts Brendan Sweeney and David Phelan for a behind-the-scenes look at how teams are transforming sales coaching with real-time feedback, objection-handling role plays, and pre-call preparation that actually sticks.

Coaching

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

It’s payday for millions of Social Security recipients as the second round of July payments lands today, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. While the average check is just over $2,000, a select few are receiving more than double that amount, and it all comes down to your birthday and when you started claiming benefits. If your birthday falls between the 1st and the 10th of any month, and you started collecting Social Security after May 1997, today’s the day your check arrives.

Accountability 130

Accountability Banking Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

The news On June 23, 2025, Salesforce announced Agentforce 3, the third iteration of its Agentforce platform. Agentforce 3 is a major upgrade to Salesforce’s digital labor platform. It gives customers the visibility and control that is needed to scale AI agents that already have proven useful at many companies. The release covers several additional capabilities.

Enterprise 49

Enterprise Technology 49

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

Amazon Prime Day 2025 is back and bigger than ever, and you might miss the best deals of the year if you blink. Starting July 8, Amazon is unleashing four full days of jaw-dropping discounts on everything from cutting-edge tech to luxury beauty brands. Whether you’re eyeing a new laptop, kitchen gadget, or summer fashion refresh, this is the retail event you won’t want to sleep on—literally.

Coaching 130

Coaching Sales Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Suddenly, businesses are pouring cash into agentic AI. A survey from PwC shows that it’s not just organizations at the forefront of emerging technologies that are making this kind of move; it’s widespread.

Surveys 53

Surveys Technology 53

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IT teams are under pressure to do more with less. AI isn’t just hype—it’s already helping lean IT teams cut support volume by up to 60%, reduce cloud waste, and eliminate risk from their stack. In this executive playbook, you'll learn how mid-sized companies are deploying AI to automate tier-1 tickets, predict outages, optimize SaaS spend, and secure infrastructure without hiring a bigger team.

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Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you’ve been holding out hope for a new round of financial relief, this might be your moment. Stimulus checks worth up to $725 are now rolling out in parts of the U.S.—but unlike the federal checks from past years, these are state-run payments. California, in particular, is issuing checks as part of a growing effort to help families offset rising living costs in 2025.

Banking 130

Banking Accountability Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Podcast Today’s interview is with Jochem van der Veer, the Co-Founder and CEO of TheyDo, a leading platform for journey management that helps organisations build seamless customer experiences by aligning teams around the customer journey. We discuss customer journeys, journey mapping, and data, highlighting how businesses risk exacerbating data overwhelm if they don’t rethink their approach.

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Journey mapping Customer Experience Management 45

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you rely on Medicare, your health care could be about to get a lot more expensive. The newly signed Big Beautiful Bill is more than just a tax overhaul—it’s a seismic shift in federal health policy that cuts billions from Medicare funding, limits benefits for low-income and immigrant seniors, and could increase your out-of-pocket costs by thousands of dollars a year.

Government 130

Government Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Each year, InMoment, a Press Ganey Forsta Company, releases a benchmark report to help businesses understand how they’re performing when it comes to managing their online reputations. We analyze data across core verticals—Hospitality, Automotive, Restaurants, Financial Services, Healthcare, and more—to track metrics that shape a business’s digital visibility and consumer perception.

Automotive 53

Automotive Management Benchmark Healthcare 53

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

Marketing

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you’re counting on student loan forgiveness or manageable payments, this new law may flip your entire plan upside down. The “Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law on July 4, is being hailed by its supporters as a bold economic reset. But for student loan borrowers, it’s a sweeping overhaul that takes away affordable repayment options, tightens access to federal loans, and replaces flexibility with strict new limits.

Education 130

Education Accountability Management Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Almost 10 years ago, I wrote an article about why employee retention is such a challenge. Things haven’t changed much. At the time, I basically said: How can employers ensure that employees will stay? There are a few ways, but they all fall under one large umbrella topic: leadership must focus on the employee experience.

Employee engagement 49

Employee engagement 49

Momentum Telecom

JULY 4, 2025

Momentum is proud to announce a series of major industry recognitions that demonstrate our commitment to innovation, excellence, and delivering transformative communication solutions. So far in 2025, we’ve been honored with three prestigious awards that reflect our leadership in the telecom and managed services space. Visionary Spotlight Award Winner: ChannelVision Magazine – Microsoft Teams Phone Momentum was named a winner in the 2025 Visionary Spotlight Awards by ChannelVision Magazine, a pro

Consulting 52

Consulting Consulting Management 52

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Now, brands are hitting rewind and it’s working. From bucket hats and low-rise jeans to pixel art and dial-up sounds, the aesthetics of the ’90s and 2000s are back in style. But this time, they’re not just fashion statements they’re part of a powerful digital branding play aimed directly at Gen Z.

Marketing 45

Marketing 45

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Every year, $75 billion is lost to bad customer service — and your business could be bleeding loyalty without realizing it. AI is rewriting the rules. Imagine instant answers, 24/7 self-service, faster resolutions, and skyrocketing satisfaction scores. Companies like Amazon are already cashing in, and the technology is easier than you think — plug, play, and profit.

Contact Center

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

Scrolling through social media this month, you might have seen a flashy post or urgent message claiming a $2,500 federal stimulus check was on its way in May 2025. With inflation still squeezing wallets, it sounds like a dream come true. But here’s the truth: there is no such payment, and the claim is completely false. Despite the attention this story is getting online, no new federal stimulus checks have been authorized, scheduled, or announced by the IRS, Congress, or the Biden administration.

Government 130

Government Banking Accountability Personalization 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

Have you ever wondered where your thoughts come from? Everything we think – and notice, are curious about, believe in – emerges from our neural circuits that have been developed throughout our lives. It’s a brain storage thing, causing us to bias and restrict our entire lives.

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Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you noticed your Social Security payment this month was significantly lower, you’re not imagining things. Millions of Americans are seeing their July 2025 checks cut in half, and the reason behind it is catching many completely off guard. This month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) began implementing a new policy to recover past overpayments.

Government 130

Government Accountability Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

The text of a recent CIM podcast entitled Why marketing’s boardroom absence is bad for business , makes interesting reading, with a feeling that we have been here before. In January, 2008 “Marketing” magazine published an article entitled “Marketers Lack Influence in the Boardroom”, revealing that 73% of CMOs believe their businesses undervalue marketing strategy.

Marketing 45

Marketing Management 45

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What does customer service excellence look like in 2024? According to our report with insights from CX expert Shep Hyken, customer expectations are at an all-time high, and there’s a bigger shift toward self-service and leveraging AI capabilities.

Cloud contact

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

If you rely on Social Security to cover your monthly bills, brace yourself—a wave of benefit cuts is coming, and for some Americans, it means losing half their check. Starting July 24, 2025, millions will open their bank accounts to find a payment that’s 50% smaller than expected. What’s Going On? The Social Security Administration (SSA) is launching a massive effort to recoup billions of dollars in overpayments it made between 2015 and 2022.

Government 130

Government Banking Accountability Finance 130

Customer Think

JULY 4, 2025

In 2019, I sat across from a client who had invested heavily in what they believed was a cutting-edge platform. Six months in, adoption was slow, feedback was vague, and internal teams had quietly returned to their old ways of working. It wasn’t a failure in technology — it was a failure in context.

Engineering 45

Engineering Marketing Feedback Technology 45

Steve DiGioia

JULY 4, 2025

Imagine expecting your full Social Security check—only to find half the amount deposited into your bank account. That’s the harsh reality beginning July 24, 2025, for over 2 million Americans as the Social Security Administration (SSA) enforces a new repayment policy that many call confusing, unfair, and even devastating. The SSA is now withholding up to 50% of monthly benefit payments from individuals who were previously overpaid—sometimes through no fault of their own.

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Banking Accountability Management Finance 130