If you've ever called customer service and ended up questioning your life choices, your sanity, and possibly the existence of organized civilization, this episode is for you.

This week on Biz-Souls, Rona Lewis and Jeffrey Hansler tackle a business problem so common it has practically become its own department: the giant communication gap between sales and technical teams.

What starts as a simple internet upgrade quickly becomes a masterclass in organizational dysfunction.

One order becomes six. A customer becomes a moving target. A phone number disappears. An account somehow exists, doesn't exist, moved, didn't move, and may have entered a parallel universe.

And yet... the executive team is asleep at wheel.

One outstanding technician salvages the entire customer experience.

Using a real-world customer service adventure involving internet providers, billing systems, account migrations, and enough contradictory information to make a GPS cry, Jeffrey and Rona explore why even good companies can create terrible customer experiences when departments operate in silos.

The conversation dives into:

• Why sales teams and technical teams often speak completely different languages

• How misaligned incentives create costly customer frustration

• The hidden cultural problems that technology alone can't solve

• Why frontline employees often know more about operational problems than leadership

• The role of Six Sigma and process improvement in reducing costly mistakes

• How AI is accelerating the need for organizational alignment

• Why one exceptional employee sometimes saves an entire company's reputation

Along the way, you'll hear stories involving internet providers, computer repairs, Amazon reconciliation headaches, disappearing phone numbers, and enough customer service absurdity to make you wonder how organizations stay in business at all.

The surprising lesson? Most customer experience failures aren't caused by bad employees.

They're caused by systems that force good employees to work with bad information. When sales, service, operations, technology, and leadership fail to communicate, customers don't see departments. They see one company and wish they could collaborate with a smarter company.

And when that company acts like five different companies arguing with each other, trust disappears faster than Jeffrey's phone number in a Verizon database.

Whether you're a business owner, executive, salesperson, manager, consultant, or simply someone who has ever screamed "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER!" while dealing with customer service, this episode offers practical insights, painful truths, and plenty of laughs.

Because in business, communication isn't just a soft skill. It's infrastructure. And when the infrastructure fails, everything else starts buffering.

Related Biz-Souls Episodes:

Episode 127: Tickled About Piccles! A Unique Way of Connecting Communities

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+127+Piccles

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20127

Episode 128: Insuring HR is Taken Care of With Innovative Approaches

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+128+Tobias+Kennedy

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20128

Episode 132: Slay the Villain of Culture Stagnation

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+132+Stephanie+Angelo

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20132

Episode 137: Giving and Receiving Instructions – A Playful Journey

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+137+Giving+and+Receiving+Instructions

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20137

Episode 141: Mature Gnome with Ego: Building a Strong Defense with Humor

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+141+Mature+Gnome+with+Ego

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%2014

Remember when Windex was suggested as the solution to cleaning a clapboard? Neither do we. Well, actually, Jeffrey does. Repeatedly.

This week's episode of Biz-Souls begins with household confusion, questionable cleaning advice, and a closet door that apparently became an escape room challenge. Naturally, this leads directly into one of psychology's most fascinating concepts: cognitive dissonance.

Because that's how Biz-Souls works.

Rona Lewis and Jeffrey Hansler dive into the mental tug-of-war that happens when our beliefs, actions, and reality refuse to cooperate with one another. Why do smart people reject good ideas? Why do sales professionals cling to "maybe" prospects like they're winning lottery tickets? Why do political arguments often leave both sides even more convinced they're right?

Blame the gatekeeper.

Drawing on the groundbreaking work of psychologist Leon Festinger, Rona and Jeffrey explore how our brains are wired to seek consistency—even when consistency isn't helping us. From leadership and sales training to social media debates and organizational change, they unpack why new information often feels threatening and what it takes to move past that resistance.

You'll discover:

• Why the fear of loss is often stronger than the promise of gain

• How cognitive dissonance quietly sabotages learning and growth

• Why storytelling is one of leadership's most powerful change tools

• The surprising connection between improv games, executive speaking, and organizational transformation

• Why people rarely change until their backs are against the wall

• How to recognize when your own internal "gatekeeper" is blocking progress

You'll also meet Ralph. Who is Ralph? Ralph is the name Rona gives to the little mental bouncer standing at the door of your mind, checking IDs and rejecting new ideas before they ever get inside.

Whether you're leading a team, building a business, selling a product, navigating relationships, or simply trying to understand why people on social media seem determined to argue with reality, this episode offers practical insights and plenty of laughs.

Because sometimes the first step toward growth is realizing that the voice saying "that's a terrible idea" might just be Ralph protecting old habits. And Ralph, frankly, needs a vacation.

Listen in, challenge your assumptions, and remember don't believe everything you hear... especially from the voice inside your own head.

And take a minute to share, follow, and subscribe. We’re excited to have you join us.

Related Biz-Souls Episodes:

Episode 127: Tickled About Piccles! A Unique Way of Connecting Communities

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+127+Piccles

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20127

Episode 128: Insuring HR is Taken Care of With Innovative Approaches

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+128+Tobias+Kennedy

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20128

Episode 129: Imagination and Its Importance to Business

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+129+Imagination+Business

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20129

Episode 132: Slay the Villain of Culture Stagnation

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+132+Stephanie+Angelo

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20132

Episode 137: Giving and Receiving Instructions – A Playful Journey

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+137+Giving+and+Receiving+Instructions

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20137

Episode 146: Talking with Jonny Thompson

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+146+Jonny+Thompson

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20146

Color is emotion. Gray is a mood. This episode is a whole palette.

Somewhere along the way, the world went gray. Not metaphorically — literally.

Scroll through a parking lot photo from 1980 and you'll see yellows, blues, reds, a green car someone clearly loved. Scroll through a 2025 parking lot and you'll think your screen broke. It didn't. That's just… the vibe now. Black, white, and approximately 47 varieties of steel gray.

In this episode of Biz-Souls, Rona Lewis and Jeffrey Hansler tackle the surprisingly rich (and surprisingly emotional) business of color. Why did the world go gray? Who decided that color was somehow beneath civilized people? (Spoiler: it was a 1908 Austrian architect who also hated fun.) And more importantly — is color finally, finally staging a comeback?

The design world seems to think so. Pantone named Mocha Mousse as its 2025 Color of the Year — a warm, earthy brown bridges luxury and comfort — while Bear selected a deep ruby red and Valspar went with a rich navy blue. Design experts are also flagging rising nostalgia for 70s-inspired earth tones like terracotta and clay. Apparently, the pendulum is finally swinging — and it's swinging toward something that doesn't look like a rental car.

Rona (art major, self-described color evangelist, proud owner of a steel-gray Lexus she did NOT want in steel gray) and Jeffrey (temporarily a reformed all-black wardrobe guy, partially colorblind, still has opinions) go deep on:

• Why Adolf Loos — yes, a real architect with a real 1908 essay — declared that using color as decoration was a sign of arrested moral development (he was targeting Art Nouveau, one of the most beautiful art movements ever, which tells you everything)

• Why California's most popular home color is basically beige wearing a disguise

• What mid-century modern living rooms, orange sinks, and lava lamps tell us about where we're headed

• Why color equals hope, gray stands for fear, and aubergine is always the right answer

• How Pantone's Color of the Year program influences billions of dollars in buying decisions across fashion, design, and consumer goods — meaning this isn't just an aesthetic conversation, it's a business conversation Red94

Mocha Mousse is warm, approachable, and undeniably chic — the sartorial equivalent of a decadent chocolate pudding. But Rona and Jeffrey aren't entirely convinced we're ready to go to the full Color Revolution just yet. Jeffrey suspects AI and utilitarian thinking might keep the grays winning. Rona is cautiously optimistic. Their conversation, as always, will have you laughing and rethinking things you didn't realize you had opinions about. Who - What – Wear!

Wear your colors, it might be your civic duty.

Listen now. Like. Subscribe. And for the love of Art Nouveau, color it up.