The Account Experience Podcast

The JOLT Effect & Overcoming Indecision w/ author Ted McKenna

In a world with so many choices, can you blame buyers who have such a hard time making decisions? Adam meets Ted McKenna, probably the worlds leading expert on customer indecision, and co-author of the hot new business book “The JOLT Effect” - how high performers overcome customer indecision. 
In this podcast, Ted explains the origins of “over-choice” - and how to spot the signs of a buy who is struggling to choose. The issue is not FOMO (Fear of Missing out) but more FOMU (Fear of Messing up). In fact, learning into the fear can make things worse. Better to not say anything!
He outlines the four-point playbook - yes, JOLT is also an acronym - of how you can get a customer to move forward. 
It’s also not just for acquisition sales. Adam and Ted talk about how understanding the issues help customer success teams as well as new logo sales. 
It’s a fascinating talk for all that are interested in sales performance. 
Contacting Ted: Ted is a founding partner of DCM Insights, a customer understanding lab that uses data and research to help companies grow customer relationships. Find out more about the JOLT effect at https://www.jolteffect.com/ - there are workbooks and resources to help you succeed. 

Making the Experience Magic Happen at Scale w/ Mark Elston, PowerforceGB

Mark Elston, Strategy Director at the multi-award winning sales solution agency Powerforce GB joins Adam today. He explains how CPG brand owners like Molson Coors, Haribo, Nestle, Tetley (Tata) and Pladis (formerly United Biscuits with brands like McVities)  use collaborative sales and merchandising to grow sales in the retail trade. 
He describes how technology is able to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds - for example, Lenovo buyers often look online before touching and feeling a brand in store. UK retailers, faced with new HFSS regulations (High Fat, Salt and Sugar) have adapted to use more shelf space to present Digestive Biscuits (hey US listeners, that’s like graham cookies, only better). And how crunching EPOS and merchandising data can help predict sales increase. 
Of course, it’s a people business. Mark explains how they train and motivate staff to deliver on the brand promise - and then measure how they make the experience a success.
Finally, stay tuned to hear Adam’s terrible dad-joke Haribo/Molson Coors mashup!
 

Is TrustID the new Net Promoter? w/ authors Ashley Reichheld and Amelia Dunlop

Can you define trust? Is it possible to measure it? The answers are yes and yes. In this episode Adam Dorrell talks with Ashley Reichheld and Amelia Dunlop, the authors of the new book “The Four Factors of Trust”
They talk about how it’s possible to measure trust - by understanding Humanity, Transparency, Capability and Reliability for both company as a brand, and for employees. And they introduce the new metric, TrustID which they have open-sourced (in a very transparent and trusting way!) to help make the world a better place. 
Ashley talks about how different cultures treat trust, and what to look for in the measurement. Amelia brings very practical examples of how to apply the lessons. 
Trust could be the next frontier in customer experience - it’s a must-listen and also a strongly recommended read from the CustomerGauge team. 
 
Check out the Four Factors of Trust here: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Factors-Trust-Organizations-Lifelong/dp/1119855012

Speaking Truth to Power w/ James Pannett of William Grant & Sons

Adam Dorrell is joined today by James Pannett - Commercial Director of the UK family-owned distillery group William Grant & Sons. You’ll know the brands: leading whiskies like Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Tullamore, the distinctive Hendricks Gin (Adam’s choice of drink for the podcast), and newer brands like Discarded. His background includes Mars and Molson Coors. 
James talks about how joint business plans should not be just fiction - or a nice piece of paper that gets ignored. He highlights the importance of Speaking Truth to Power - making sure that the buyer wins just as much as the seller. He describes how he aims for the “Triple Win” and how he is addressing the brand's aims are just as important as “Don’t screw up the basics”.
This is a fascinating dive into the workings of a well-known beverage company, and how taking into account the experience of the channel is all important. 
https://www.williamgrant.com/gb/we/#our-brands

The 2022 Account Experience Year in Review

Wow, 2022 is officially over and what a year it was for Account Experience! In this episode, your host, Adam Dorrell, takes us through some of the highlights in Account Experience for 2022 and chats with a few of our resident "Gaugie" experts about their favorite moments. 

How BILT Improved Their Customer’s Customers NPS by 30 Points

In the latest episode of the Account Experience podcast, Adam Dorrell welcomes Nate Henderson, CEO of BILT Incorporated, a SaaS company that improves assembly instructions into a user experience revolution that fundamentally changes the way users interact with the brands and products they buy.
Nate explains the impact of having digital interactive instructions for brands like Weber and Siemens. Of course, it reduces paper, but analyzing the way users interact with instructions helps continually improve them, and the immersive environment helps with registration and voice of customer feedback.
According to Nate, BILT’s 3D Intelligent Instructions increase Net Promoter Scores by up to 30 points. Reviews with higher star ratings have a dramatic impact on revenue. And the improved out-of-the-box experience also leads to fewer returns and up to 45% fewer calls to customer support.
Nate is also a passionate believer in the principles of Net Promoter and “Winning on Purpose”, the latest book by Fred Reichheld. He uses the book to provide a common purpose for the entire company and asks all prospective BILT employees to read the book before being interviewed. But Nate takes it a step further with a company book club to ensure the ideas of Customer Love are fully embraced by all employees!
This is an inspiring talk with a customer leader that has built a culture of empowerment. If you love NPS, you will enjoy listening to Nate.
Book suggestions:
How Will You Measure Your Life? - Clayton M Christensen
The Innovator's Dilemma - Clayton M Christensen
The Outward Mindset: Seeing Beyond Ourselves - The Arbinger Institute
From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles for Turning Customers and Employees into Lifelong Fans - Jon Picoult
For more information on how to start a CX bookclub, click here.

Solving the CPG Experience Paradox

Nigel Tordoff is the former Chief Customer Officer USA  for the brewer Molson Corrs. Now semi-retired he continues his passion for customers, in particular the independent trade, and is now chair of the industry group Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Experience Council.
Nigel talks about what he learned in a 4 am discussion on the brewery product line - using the concept of positively framing a seemingly unsolvable paradox. 
And with more than 2% of the global working population involved in the CPG value chain, he talks about how it’s more important than ever to spread best practices of customer experiences. He’s a passionate believer that companies can pool resources to go beyond the capabilities of today - and that’s for the greater good of all the employees in the traditional trade. 
Nigel Tordoff can be contacted via https://www.cpgexperiencecouncil.org/
 

The Untapped Potential for CX in the Caribbean w/Roger Nicholas

Today Adam Dorrell chats with Roger Nicholas of Caribbean Based Cite-Up, which is a leading regional distribution and promotion company, giving  real-time feedback on in-store product performance. The company covers 20 territories in the Caribbean, representing 180+ brands, in nearly 1000 outlets with nearly 6000 visits a month. 
Roger is based in San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago. He calls himself “the hunting dog” because of his deep experience in companies large and small. He is also a certified Net Promoter professional. 
Adam is fascinated to learn the cultural differences - and Roger talks at length about how customer service in the Caribbean is different to the US or Europe. According to him,  it’s initially less urgent - but way more friendly. There is an opportunity to deliver even better service, and with the mineral wealth of the country, and the highly educated workforce, he says this is a new frontier of growth. 
And now Roger is starting a “Customer Experience movement” in Trinidad and Tobago - his vision is to bring the untapped potential of the country for happy business relations, and make the connection to sustainable revenue. His  goal is to get the Caribbean to better CX as soon as possible. 

The Prospect Experience Needs Disarming Honesty w/ Adam Clay @Tomorrow.io

Today Adam Dorrell speaks with Adam Clay, who takes us to upper stages of the sales funnel and talks about the prospect experience. Two Adams on a podcast is obviously better than one! 
Adam Clay is Chief Revenue Officer for Tomorrow.io, where he leads the global sales and channels teams. He brings experience scaling revenue teams for growth-oriented SaaS organizations - Beyond Identity, Logz.io. Black Duck Software (acquired by Synopsys), Mendix (acquired by Siemens)
We often talk about Account Experience - which for most people sits in the post-sales stage. Adam encourages us to think about  what happens before you even close a deal. Adam is passionate about this - he contends that most selling is NOT customer centric. In fact it can be an off-putting and terrible experience.
To make it work he talks about using Disarming Honesty and Self Deprecation. And this can be hard for salespeople. Few companies are disciplined in this. 
Adam Clay maintains its better to qualify out opportunities that are not a good fit - it makes better use of everyone’s time. And that’s equally useful as an experience carrier. 
If you are in sales or account management there is a lot to unpack in this episode. Adam Clays approach is calm and measured - it’s not just his content but his style that is good to learn from.
 
Don't forget to join us in Amsterdam September 13th-15th for Europe's biggest and most exciting VoC conference of the year! Fred Reichheld (inventor of NPS) will be headlining with a great supporting cast of brands with Heineken, Coca-Cola, SuperOffice, Briggs, WAJAX, etc. 
 

The Resident Experience w/ Russell Markou of Quintain

In today’s podcast Russell Markou of Quintain Living talks to host Adam Dorrell about the growing area of CX - that of asking Resident Experience for private individuals and companies that rent living and working space. 
He talks about “Home is where the heart is” - and how important the personal touch is to making sure residents are content - this impacts retaining the renter and making referrals. 
Russell is Head of Operations at Quintain Living, the management and operations platform of Quintain’s Build to Rent business, effectively a platform that designs, manages, owns and operates homes for renters. Capturing Resident feedback based on Net Promoter is essential to the ongoing success of the brand.
He joined the Quintain business in 2015 as Head of Operations to support the growth of Quintain Living, the management and operations platform of Quintain’s Build to Rent business, effectively a platform that designs, manages, owns and operates homes for renters – BTR is a relatively new sector in UK, renters benefit from an elevated level of customer service along with well thought out designed homes with additional amenity spaces exclusively for Residents to enjoy.  
Russell talks about how his previous roles in Radisson Blu and Hilton Hotels helped shape the service expectations for joining Quintain.
At Quintain, Russell oversees the operations for a portfolio of over 3,000 apartments across nine developments at Wembley Park. His original remit of 141 apartments in 2016 demonstrates the growth the business has achieved.
 This is an interview that has a lot of insight into the new and growing business of build to rent, and shows how Account Experience is becoming mainstream in a number of segments. 
Find out more about Quintain living. https://www.quintain.co.uk/quintainliving