A coffee shop magazine wall was supposed to be the idea.
Then COVID shut down the world, shared magazines became a non-starter, and Lauren and Scott Janney started asking a different question: what if people could still access magazines without touching the same physical copies as everyone else?
That question eventually became CXperks, a platform built to improve the customer experience in places where people are waiting, stressed, or looking for something better to do with their time.
Lauren Janney, Co-Founder of CXperks, joins The Fervent Four to talk about the early idea behind the company, how her background in healthcare and customer service shaped the business, why CXperks expanded beyond magazines into games, trivia and partner messaging, and what it takes to build a company with your spouse.
The conversation also gets into raising capital, listening to repeated customer feedback, hiring for startup adaptability, having hard conversations with team members, and why customer experience matters most when people are already having a hard day.
Timestamps:
0:00 How CXperks helps healthcare teams
1:59 Lauren's path from healthcare to business
3:00 What it means to buy a book of business
4:43 Splitting sales and customer service roles
6:46 Why claims are where insurance matters most
7:22 How customer care translated into CXperks
8:01 The coffee shop magazine wall idea
8:10 How COVID changed the plan
9:46 Balancing risk with a stable business
12:20 Building the company with Scott
13:22 Why Lauren sees business as taking care of people
14:32 Helping patients, families and staff during stressful waits
16:00 Adding games, trivia and Spanish content
16:55 Protecting privacy and avoiding personal data
17:42 How the CXperks customer journey works
19:32 Listening for repeated customer requests
20:22 Why CXperks needed to raise capital
21:30 What it is like working with your spouse
22:21 The monthly business breakfast
23:23 How Lauren and Scott use a hiring point system
24:09 Hiring people who can handle startup change
25:40 Having hard conversations with team members
28:16 Why founders cannot expect employees to work like owners
29:49 Teaching entrepreneurship to their kids
32:10 The business lessons inside collectibles
https://www.cxperks.com/
