The Account Experience Podcast

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.

Meditating on Hardcore Sales with Guru Ganesh Khalsa

Get out your yoga mat because, in this episode of the Account Experience Podcast, host Adam Dorrell talks with Guru Ganesh Khalsa, probably the most sought-after sales trainer in the world. Through his company Concious Selling Inc  he’s trained 1000s of high-tech professionals in companies like LinkedIn, Slack, Dropbox, Elastic, BMC, Dell, Oracle, and Cisco.
 
He’s one of the most entertaining people you will meet, and his rich life experiences (he was at Woodstock!) inform his view on sales as a win-win for all parties. So much to digest here, from his hippy roots to developing hardcore sales techniques, to meditating in order to win at basketball (as well as deals), and discussing his favorite guitar.  
 
It’s a complete treat to listen to this marvellous human being. More details on his company:  https://www.consciousselling.com/ 

Satisfying Customers is the Path to the Business Graveyard w/ author Jon Picoult

Jon Picoult joins Adam to talk about his fascinating new book, “From Impressed To Obsessed: 12 Principles For Turning Customers and Employees Into Lifelong Fans.” 
In this episode, we talk about obsession.  Jon Picoult, the founder of Watermark Consulting and a leading expert in customer and employee experience helps companies go beyond just impressing their customers. In fact, he says that if you just satisfy your customers, you’ll go broke. 
It’s a wide-ranging discussion that covers the formidable power of fints o drive business, how to engineer great experiences, and in a stomach-churning segment, how Jon’s approach to CX was shaped by an incident involving Maggots on a Plane. Yes, you read that right. Don’t eat while you listen to this podcast! 
Adam and Jon scratch the surface of the book with some entertaining and thoughtful discussion - but there is so much more - Adam also recommends “From Impressed to Obsessed” as a companion volume to “The Ultimate Question” - check out Jon’s site on https://watermarkconsult.net/jon-picoult/books 

Engineering Relationships for Health w/ Mark Ebbens

In this episode of the Account Experience Podcast, host Adam Dorrell talks with Mark Ebbens, who ran the consulting businesses for two of the largest global med-tech businesses,  Philips Health and GE Health. He’s spent his career helping large hospitals and healthcare groups transform the way that healthcare is delivered by harnessing technology, digital and change.
After starting his career in the most demanding of engineering professions - aviation engines - he moved to healthcare consulting which surprised him by having the same challenges. Mark tells about how he’s used Six Sigma in business - and about how many organizations struggle to get past the “Four Sigma Wall”. And he shares some heartfelt stories about how a London healthcare provider had to face up to their worst problems, and what it took to get through it. 
Mark talks candidly about how businesses need to work on experience and quality together to get the best outcomes. Enjoy it, especially if you are in the healthcare business. 

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