The Account Experience Podcast

NPS—the CX Catalyst at Novozymes

Adam Dorrell sits down with Per Braginski, Director of Insights at the Danish-based Novozymes, a world leader in bio-solutions, in a special “on-site” episode. This is a company that operates behind the scenes, as a supplier to well-known brands, including many CPG companies. Process and quality is all-important, not just in product but also in their customer relationship domain. 
Per shares how they manage Customer Experience, and measure Net Promoter at Novozymes. The Scandinavian commitment to transparency is shown here: NPS results are published in the annual report - currently, it’s 69. 
He also explains the importance of follow-up in the business, and how they ensure a consistently high response rate. 
If you are in B2B manufacturing this is a must-listen masterclass in how to run a top-quality CX program.

Big Ticket Transformations: Doomed to Run Late and Overbudget?

Are company’s big IT transformation projects like the Berlin Airport, the Elizabeth Line, or the Second Avenue Subway similar in that they take forever with massive cost overruns? We turned to an expert to find out.
Host Adam Dorrell talks with Steve Abramson of Jasmar Associates. Steve has 30+ years of professional services experience across the consumer goods and retail sectors working for large businesses such as IBM and KPMG, and smaller, high-growth companies. In that time he’s worked in many CPG and retail companies including Unilever, Diageo, Coca-Cola, Tesco, Kingfisher, Boots, and Marks & Spencer. 
Steve’s practice is specializing in helping companies avoid the pitfalls of big-ticket projects. It’s a scary statistic to know that only 0.5% of projects deliver on time, on budget, and with the required benefits.
He explains that projects don't usually “go” wrong, they start wrong.
What’s needed is for leadership to abandon "False Certainty“ and accept tradeoffs. And those in Customer Experience should watch out for a lack of appropriate buy-in and ownership from the business. Managers can get through this by making it a “business project” with a business owner. 
It’s a fascinating insight for anyone trying to wrestle a big project through. Steve’s details are on https://www.jasmarassociates.com

How the ”Digital Shelf” Shapes New Consumer Experiences w/ Mert Damlapinar

Adam Dorrell talks with Mert Damlapinar to explain how digital experiences are at the forefront of today’s retail experience, and how CPG companies need to transform their thinking from a physical world paradigm. Mert is a well-known expert in the field of e-commerce and digital marketing: an author, a former director of brands like L’Oreal, Mondelez, Sabra, and holder of multiple degrees from Boston, Cornell and MIT. His current role is Principal of CPG Digital Commerce Acceleration at EPAM Continuum.
Mert shared his insights into how the Digital Shelf has evolved - from the  “Long Tail” concept of merchandising everything to now - with a low number of featured items that seem to perfectly match your search. Behind the scenes is an incredibly complex system of algorithms that make up the Digital Platform Strategy. 
As the majority of purchase decisions are made online, CPG vendors need to understand this rapid shift. Mert explains the three pillars of the Digital Shelf, and the skills needed to harness it. 
And Mert and Adam finish the podcast by contrasting a few concepts from Paco Underhill’s  1999 book, “Why We Buy (the science of shopping)” to today - if you’ve not heard of “Butt Brush” before you should stay to the end! 
Mert’s contact details: https://www.epam.com/services/epam-continuum
 

How Engro Grows With Better CX and 90%+ Response Rates

Muhammad Idrees joins host Adam Dorrell to talk about growing sales by focusing on Customer Experience basics. It’s a lesson for B2B CX leaders on how a unified company approach brings an impressive return on investment. 
Muhammad is the Chief Commercial Officer at Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited, a subsidiary of Engro Corporation — one of Pakistan’s largest and most diversified conglomerates. The company’s vision is to become a globally competitive PVC producer, and they are well on their way.
This is a perfect B2B Manufacturing case study as he explains, “How can you make selling a commodity different? Simple — make it a great experience."
And this is for the CX nerds like me: They have a near 100% response rate and you’ll learn how it can be done. In just a year, Engro increased their Close-Loop Rate by 8%, which drove NPS up 16 points. And then had a result of topline growth of 17%!
Learn more about Engro https://www.engropolymer.com/ 
“You have to believe in success with customers,” Muhammad says. Enjoy his boundless energy in a very practical podcast. 

The Man Behind the Drinks That Define the Modern Age

David Gluckman is the genius who invented dozens of the best-known drinks of recent decades, including the iconic Baileys Irish Cream developed 50 years ago this year.
Host Adam Dorrell digs deep into David’s wonderful anecdotes behind the birth of drinks we all grew up with: Baileys, french wine Le Piat d’Or, Cîroc vodka, Tanqueray Ten gin, soft drinks Aqua Libra and Purdeys, the Singleton Malt, Sheridans Coffee Liqueur and so many more. 
David tells stories of how a small and determined innovation team flourished inside the huge enterprises that eventually became Diageo. As he explains, It’s not always research-led — it can be gut feeling and a beautiful label that can drive creativity. 
He’s also a gifted writer. His book is called “That Sh*t Will Never Sell!” a witty and fascinating account of the beverage business and highly recommended. 
If you’ve worked in the industry you’ll know what a legend he is. And if you just enjoy drinking, then you are sure to enjoy the stories behind the brand. A really entertaining episode.

Beverage Experiences Need an Update

Host Adam Dorrell welcomes Daniel Solomons, CEO and Co-Founder of Update — the world's first and only energy drink without caffeine.
He tells the story of founding the company in New York City after booking a one-way ticket from Sydney, Australia, and now “disrupting an old school market with a product that is equally as effective, healthier, and better for you." It’s fascinating to hear the origin story of how they developed Update. 
Apart from the science behind the drink, Daniel is pioneering new channels to distribute Update including directly to his target market, Wall Street influencers. And with that comes the opportunity to make incredible new experiences for the trade and consumers.
You can learn more about Update here: drinkupdate.com

The Earned Patient: 60 Minutes Door-to-Door Equals 90 NPS

Intuitive Health is driving an Urgent Care paradigm shift in the USA. In this podcast, you’ll hear how they shape their retail health facilities around hundreds of thousands of patients' feedback to get better outcomes and Net Promoter Scores of 90. 
 
Adam Dorrell talks to David Apple, who lifts the lid on how it’s done. David is the CMO of Intuitive Health and leads the company’s marketing and customer experience to drive long-term growth across consumer and business segments in the most competitive healthcare markets in the U.S.
 
It’s an amazing story and for NPS geeks, we get into the detail of response rates (+20%), real-time scoring, and follow-up timing. And most importantly, how it drives retention business — the true ROI of any program. 
 
You’ll love this episode for Davids's engaging personality and the sheer passion he has for the mission which is helping a million patients get better while saving money and time.

Paulo Mendes Jr: A shared vision for the LATAM region of Coca-Cola

Recorded at the Coca-Cola LATAM and Coca-Cola FEMSA CX Summit in Mexico City - Adam tracks down Paulo Mendes Jr, LATAM Value to Market Head, Coca-Cola. Paulo explains how he’s rolling out a unified customer experience across the entire region: 660 million people, nearly 5 million outlets, and dozens of bottlers. 
Paulo relates how he started at Coke 30 years ago as a field sales rep. He really put the hours in - working outlets on the streets, 50 - 55 outlets a day, starting at 07.30 every morning. He’s held many different positions, working in supply chain logistics, planning, and commercial route to market, with 9 years in a global role for Coca-Cola operations and supply chain planning. 
Now he is back in his native Brazil, to create an area of business transformation the Value to Market program for the company. 
Paulo is passionate about how Coca-Cola is putting consumers at the center, and how they can continue to evolve in partnering with b2b customers. With the company adding water, juices, coffee, and now Alcoholic drinks (we sampled some Jack Daniels and Coke) the offering is broader. Digital transformation creates opportunities and threats, and it’s refreshing to hear how Coke is tackling it. 
A must listen for CPG experience folks. 

More Choice is Not as Desirable as we Hoped w/ Sheena Iyengar

In this episode, Adam talks with Sheena Iyengar on the day of her new book launch “Think Bigger”, on the subject of the paradox of choices and creativity. It’s a sort of follow-up to the episode on the JOLT effect with Ted McKenna, who quotes her work extensively - so we are going back to the source here. 
Sheena is the S. T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Department at Columbia Business School and the best-selling author of The Art of Choosing (2010) - that’s where the Paradox of Choice comes from. She is a leading expert on the study of innovation, choice, leadership, and creativity and regularly consults with a range of organizations on methods for innovation. Her book “Think Bigger: How to Innovate” details her six-step problem-solving method - it’s now out - and our discussion took place on the day of recording, 11 April 2023 
Sheena talks about how too many choices can paralyze us, referring to her famous jelly experiment. Her work on this led he to think about innovation and creativity, and how it follows on from the “choice dilemma”
As Sheena describes: ‘ “Think Bigger” is a toolkit that you can use to do two things, it can help you figure out what of a whole bunch of choices are better. And if there is no good choice, how do you create a good one?‘
A fascinating insight into one of today’s most important thinkers, this podcast is a great companion for execs thinking about innovation, and guiding customers to the right choice  

Planning the Right Experience w/ Aidan Bocci

In this episode of the Account Experience Podcast, host Adam Dorrell talks with Aidan Bocci, an expert in the global consumer goods and retail industry. For many years he was instrumental in improving consumer goods companies’ customer business planning processes.  In his career, he has worked with most of the top 100 FMCG companies (like Procter and Gamble) and advised C-Suite leaders in more than 30 of them. And now he’s the co-founder of Growzz, which is a platform to help Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies innovate on processes and to design growth activities that deliver real results.
Aidan is on a mission to change the way that consumer goods companies do better retailer business planning. Because if they change the process, or make the process much, much better, they don't just save themselves lots of time. They make great decisions. The decisions drive great behavior and the behavior drives great results for them. The impact is significant – he describes on the podcast how improving the planning process can make a 35% difference in efficiency and add nearly 5% to the growth rate.
Large CPG companies utilize key customer playbooks, and rely on complex planning processes for success – but as Aidan says “the ugly truth is often that when you peel it back, they're still doing it all in PowerPoint, and Excel”
He talks about some horror stories in modern retailers like Tesco, Walmart, and Carrefour of the waste of money when the wrong POS is delivered, and it’s then consigned to a stock room. 
And he’s outspoken on the benefits that planning adds to the experience that retailers have with CPG vendors – it’s the next battleground for improvement with digital transformation.
It’s a must-listen for players in the B2B CPG and retail channels.