Customer Experience Leaders

Nick Palumbo is the Founder of Gelato Messina, one of the most-loved gelato brands in Australia (if not, the world!). Known for their creative specials, Gelato Messina is obsessive about the quality of their product, to the point where they even bought a dairy farm! In this episode, Nick shares how Gelato Messina’s attention to detail results in delivering an exceptional experience to customers, even when they’re stuck waiting in a queue.   Resources mentioned: Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)   Key takeaways (starts at 32:49): Quality and craftsmanship really matter. Control all the inputs to your experience. Specials can be used to add excitement to a product range. Think about the physical experience people have with your service. Look for moments of frustration and how you can turn them into positive experiences.

Joe Picco is the Director of Guest Services at The Madison Square Garden Company, an organisation that runs a collection of iconic venues such as Madison Square Garden. Joe and his team are responsible for making sure up to 20,000 people have a great experience each and every time they visit. In this episode Joe shares the secrets behind the Madison Square Garden playbook and why the company focuses on delivering personal experiences to every one of their guests.   Resources mentioned: Excellent Wins (book), by Horst Schulze Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)   Key takeaways (starts at 23:05): The details matter. "What's your bottle cap?" Use feedback to take immediate action. You can make the very big, very personal. Handle service recovery in the moment. Make sure you can influence the key moments that affect customer experience.

Over the last 2 years on the show, we have interviewed 40 of the world’s leading customer experience leaders. During these conversations, we noticed several universal themes and best practices emerge which show how world-class brands manage their customer experience. And so, we collated these insights into four mega-themes and built an overarching model which will help you create amazing experiences for your customers. We call it The Customer Experience Flywheel, and it's our gift to the CX community.   Resources mentioned: The Customer Experience Flywheel (Article and image) Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)

Neil Perry is the Culinary & Brands Director at Rockpool Dining Group. Neil is an iconic Australian chef who runs 60 world-class restaurants and 16 award-winning brands. He is also in charge of menu development for Qantas. In this episode Neil shares his secrets for managing customer experience across so many restaurants and brands. Plus you’ll learn why staff at Rockpool Dining Group are taught to CARE about every person in the food chain.   Resources mentioned: Gourmet Traveller (Magazine) The French Laundry (Restaurant), by Thomas Keller Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)   Key takeaways (starts at 29:37): What matters is delivering a seamless experience end-to-end. Start fresh every day Be clear on your values and use the CARE principle. Know the points that contribute to building memories.

Patrick Campbell is the Co-Founder and CEO of ProfitWell, a company focused on helping subscription-based businesses reduce churn and build loyalty with their customers. In this episode Patrick shares his tips for finding the right price for your product, and the secret behind fixing pricing problems without damaging your customer relationship.   Resources mentioned: Google Scholar (website) The Comprehensive Guide to Reducing Churn (eBook) Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)   Key takeaways (starts at 37:18): Pricing is about an exchange of value with your customers. Customers build expectations based on price, packaging, and product delivery. There’s a simple process for setting your price, so make sure you use it. Watch for signals that indicate a pricing problem. Look for the reasons why customers leave so you can reduce churn.

Sonya Lacore is the Vice President of Inflight Operations at Southwest Airlines, an airline known for delivering on customer experience. Sonya runs a team that manages the 16,000 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines and is responsible for making sure staff deliver on the organisations core values. In this episode Sonya shares her tips for how to bring large teams of staff along on your vision, and why it’s important for management to always spend time with their front line employees.   Resources mentioned: Grit (book), by Angela Duckworth TED (website) Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)   Key takeaways (starts at 36:29): Care about staff so they can care about your customers. Management should spend time with front-line staff on a regular basis. Empower your staff to make decisions and take ownership. Invest in your internal communications to keep everyone on the same page.

Michael Momsen is the Founder and CEO of RateIt. RateIt is on a mission to end survey hell, and is the most delightful way to collect feedback from your customers. Michael is also the co-host of Customer Experience Leaders. In this very special episode, Michael explains how to capture more useful feedback from your customers and how to use that to create amazing experiences. Michael also shares his top lessons from over 30 episodes of Customer Experience Leaders. And … we go behind the scenes of how we make this podcast.   Resources mentioned: Principles (book), by Ray Dalio. How To Win Friends And Influence People (book), by Dale Carnegie. The Lean Startup (book), by Eric Ries. RateIt (website) Michael Momsen (LinkedIn) Adam Jaffrey (LinkedIn)   Key takeaways (starts at 47:29): Remember to build experiences for all consumers. Take action on any feedback. Close the loop by telling customers what you did about feedback. All businesses are about people. Don't be afraid to be truly purpose driven.

Steve Hopkins is the Director of Customer Success and Support at Culture Amp - a company focused on helping businesses measure culture and gain insights from their employees. In this episode Steve shares his tips for how to measure culture, how to change your culture, and the importance of listening to your staff on a regular basis.   Resources mentioned: Culture Amp (website) Dare to Lead (book), Brené Brown The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (book), by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, & Kaley Klemp.   Key takeaways (starts at 30:37): Think about the five views which make up culture. Listen and act on data, and then re-measure. Ask your staff whether they are proud to work at the company. Get the day-to-day things right for effective culture change.

Jacco vanderKooij is the founder of Winning By Design - a company which helps businesses grow and improve their sales. Jacco is an expert at breaking down sales to its core elements so you can focus on what’s important to your customer. In this special episode Jacco will share his secrets for building a customer-centric sales team, and explains why it’s important to stop selling customers and to focus on helping them buy.   Resources mentioned: Winning By Design (website) The Art of Making Love (video) The SaaS Sales Method (book), by Winning by Design Spin Selling (book), by Neil Rackham The Challenger Sale, by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson   Key takeaways (starts at 46:53): Customer focused sales is about helping people buy. Make sure you’re using the right approach for the right situation. Double your sales by improving the whole system by just 10%. Use a sales framework for everything you do. Reward people along the journey rather than at the end of the year. Invest in training and make sure it’s ongoing. Show your team that it’s okay to fail. Take action.

Eric Almquist is a partner at Bain & Company and is the author of The Elements of Value framework. In this episode, Eric shares insights from Bain’s Elements of Value research and provides useful tips on how you can identify what your B2B customers actually want.   Resources mentioned: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (article) The Elements of Value (website), Bain & Company The B2B Elements of Value Pyramid (image) The B2B Elements of Value (Harvard Business Review, 2018), Eric Almquist, Jamie Cleghorn & Lori Sherer The B2C Elements of Value Pyramid (image) The B2C Elements of Value (Harvard Business Review, 2016), by Eric Almquist, John Senior & Nicolas Bloch    Key takeaways (starts at 34:15): The Elements of Value is ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ brought to life. Customer experience is the customer’s experience of the value you create. You can do a self-assessment to get started with implementing the ‘Elements of Value’ framework. You get extra points if you hit on emotional aspects of the pyramid.

Dominique Levin is Managing Partner at Winning By Design and is one of the champions of the Customer Success movement. In this episode Dominique will share her secrets for implementing customer success and help you build business impact with your customers.   Resources mentioned: Winning By Design (website)   Key takeaways (starts at 32:03): Customer success is about taking responsibility for business impact. Everyone should think about customer success. Invest in the technology needed to find out what’s happening with your customer. Use the ‘SPICED’ method with your customers.

Nancy Friedman is the president of Telephone Doctor, an organisation dedicated to helping companies deliver great experiences when dealing with customers over the phone. Nancy is an expert at making sure your staff can get the information they need from callers, and in this episode shares why you should always be open and honest with your customers, plus shares her tips on how to deal with angry callers.   Resources mentioned: Telephone Doctor (website) Service Skills (course) Nancy Friedman (website)   Key takeaways (starts at 36:43): Great service involves setting clear expectations. Tell your customers what is happening so they can empathise with you. The magic starts with hiring the right people. Don’t be afraid to ask direct questions. Training needs to happen on a regular basis to be effective.

Robert Spector is the author of The Nordstrom Way, a book which dissects how the company’s intense focus on the customer allows them to survive and thrive when other stores have failed. In this episode Robert will share the secrets from his interviews with three generations of the Nordstrom family, giving you practical tips to keep your customers coming back.   Resources mentioned: The Nordstrom Way (book), by Robert Spector Robert Spector (website)   Key takeaways (starts at 22:37): Start with the customer and work backwards. Culture can keep your business thriving. Have a laser focus on service. Remember that every customer is precious.

James Dodkins is the Customer Experience Rockstar. After a career touring the world as a guitarist in a heavy metal band, James now uses his real-life experience to help brands deliver rockstar experiences for their customers. In this episode you’ll learn why organisations should put customers second, and James shares his four steps for proactively dealing with complaints.   Key takeaways (starts at 30:02): Be proactive with complaints by using the 4 step process (Identify, Monitor, Communicate and Compensate) Make sure metrics are aligned with the customer Use storytelling to sell initiatives Don’t use war-like wording when talking about customers.

James Dodkins is the Customer Experience Rockstar. After a career touring the world as a guitarist in a heavy metal band, James now uses his real-life experience to help brands deliver rockstar experiences for their customers. In this episode you’ll learn why it’s important for brands to think about the customer on a personal level and how doing this can help you think about what a successful experience means for them.   Key takeaways (starts at 16:28): Start with empathy Challenge your perceptions Think about what goal the customer is trying to achieve Look for ways to remove friction (same outcome + less touchpoints = better experience)