The Account Experience Podcast

In this episode, Host Adam Dorrell spoke with Ragna Ghoreishi, a seasoned Vienna-based customer experience (CX) leader and owner of RagnaDigital, a boutique CX consultancy. Ragna spoke candidly about her experience at a global IT organization working on a large B2B CX project when suddenly the project sponsor and champion left. This is a situation Adam has seen in many companies. He asked Ragna to open up about how it affected her and how she salvaged the project.  Her tips:  Don't focus on just one strong leading figure; build early on a network of strong advocates with closeness to the board. Carry it on the shoulders of multiple strong leaders Make it everybody's topic as part of the growth/revenue targets Ownership needs to be with the functions who can make an impact; make them accountable — you cannot improve CX from a CX team only. It is a business effort! This episode is a great conversation that can help you plan a large project.

"Our ambition is to be the undisputed LATAM CX leader, delivering experiences 'Only Coke can do.'" In a special edition of the Account Experience Podcast, Adam Dorrell is in Bogota, Colombia, where he was one of the presenters at The Coca-Cola Experience Summit Latin America 2024. For its second year, the conference had 80+ attendees and 31 bottler operations represented, continuously serving as an inspiring and highly operational meeting.  The Coca-Cola team invited speakers across the continent to help evolve the vision of experience in the region, which can be summed up as Coca-Cola's ambition to be the undisputed LATAM CX Leader, delivering B2B experiences only they can do. To understand some of the successes and challenges, Adam interviewed some of the key people there, including:   Luis Carlos Mira Olarte   Customer Experience (CX) Director LATAM, The Coca-Cola Company Mariana Lozano OrtizGil  Loyalty and Customer Experience Manager, Arca Continental Christian Nunes Christian Nuñez  Customer Experience Manager, Coca-Cola FEMSA, Mexico Mauricio Hernandez Senior Consultant, The Click! Paulo Mendes LATAM Value to Market & Consumer Head, The Coca-Cola Company,  Cary Self Vice President of CX Education and Development, CustomerGauge  

In this episode, Adam talks with a friend of the podcast and CustomerGauge Vice President of Customer Experience, Cary Self. He’s got years of optimizing experience and energizing entire workforces around navigating customer feedback and managing the follow-up process. Discussion topics include the right timing to follow up (48 hours is just the title of an Eddie Murphy film, not the time it should take you), how to follow up with detractors, passives, and promoters, thank-you notes, and overcoming the “fear of feedback." And they even take a deep dive into whether it should be called “Closing the loop” or “Following up” — what’s your opinion? Listen to this episode and see if you agree! Cary Self can be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cary-t-self-41393640/ His popular webinar series “Champions of Change” can be seen here in the archives: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Adam’s guest is the outspoken and often hilarious Ben Phillips CCXP, leader of Customer Experience at Fujitsu. He’s an author, a CX professional, and a top voice in the customer experience world — one of the few real experts in B2B CX. Ben is open about how the program is run at Fujitsu, talking through some of his challenges and how the program is evolving. He’s also generous in talking about real benchmarks in the business.  Adam and Ben discuss the pros and cons of competitive benchmarks: when to use them and how not to get tripped up. Ben also makes a good point about CX and how it is nothing like Harry Potter. Ben is reachable at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-phillips-ccxp/ and the link to the B2B benchmarks he refers to is here: https://customergauge.com/ebook/b2b-nps-and-cx-benchmarks-report and https://customergauge.com/ebook/cpg-experience-benchmarks-report

Jackie Kesterson, Director of Client Experience at Orion Advisor Solutions, opens a treasure chest of B2B experience knowledge. Orion's client base consists of 1000s of investment advisors and wealth managers. As you can imagine, that’s a very demanding customer base! Jackie ensures the voice of the customer is acted on and maintains a client-centric culture to drive business growth.  This discussion covers how rewarding staff on NPS is difficult and asking customers for feedback several times a year is best managed.  Today's episode is a great journey into a real B2B technology company that prides itself on customer experience.

Zahra Eid is the Customer Experience Manager at Beyon, a regional Digital Communications/Telco business based in Bahrain. She explains how she energized their customer experience (CX) program, growing it from research roots to a company-wide, silo-busting program based on action and connecting CX measurement to revenue growth. Host Adam Dorrell leads her to talk about the transformation from the Batelco brand to Beyon and how her CX program has become more digital, just like the company's services. Zahra also discusses how the company’s commitment to excellence has helped elevate the brand. She is a pioneer in identifying market trends, optimizing customer touchpoints, and creating a customer-centric culture within the organization. This is a fascinating insight into the diversity of CX programs worldwide and how customer experience is evolving in the Gulf region.

This week Adam Dorrell sits down with CustomerGauge client Lucas Mistelske, Vice President of Client Experience at Involta. Involta is an enterprise-class IT infrastructure partner that provides advanced colocation, hybrid cloud solutions, superior data center experiences, and connectivity with first-class fiber. Lucas has led the deployment of Involta’s Managed Infrastructure Services offering and spearheaded their Net Promoter Score program. In this episode, Adam dives into the value NPS brings to Involta, the mechanics within the program, and what Lucas has learned throughout the process. You won't want to miss this conversation if you're a mid-market to enterprise company looking to scale your customer experience.

Anna-Maija Tanninen is a female entrepreneur who started CX Agency in Helsinki, Finland. CX Agency helps B2B companies successfully develop and lead customer-centric changes through services like customer experience strategy to business design. Previously she was a partner at Futurelab and a management consultant with Accenture and elevator company Kone. To use a terrible pun, Anna-Maija can LIFT all your programs.  In this episode, she talks about culture: “To understand if we truly are customer-centric, we cannot observe culture from the corporate level only. We should have ways to experience the culture from the frontline, as well.” You won't want to miss Anna-Maija's insights on “Silent Information” and her top three tips for B2B CX.

To heat things up with the first episode of the New Year, Host Adam Dorrell welcomes Nick Wood, the Global Marketing Director at Teledyne Gas and Flame Detection; a division of Teledyne Technologies Inc. Teledyne is coming up on its 75th birthday, marking almost 100 years of providing reliable customer experiences to its long-standing customers. Adam and Nick dive into why the business made the turn towards a structured strategy (hint: it's all about the data), the importance of closing the loop on feedback, and Nick's lightbulb moments he's had throughout his career that have led to long-term CX success.

The pint is making its way west, and Americans are now beginning to understand why it's been a staple across the pond. During this quick episode, Nigel Tordoff, Chairman of the CPG Experience Council, joins Adam Dorrell to walk through the article "Americans are discovering the joy of a true pint of beer" in The Economist. Why is this a trend in the market? How might a trend like this affect the convenience store? What might be driving this new experience? Join Adam and Nigel as they break down this market shift through a customer experience lens.

When we care, it makes all the difference. Adam Dorrell, CEO & Co-Founder of CustomerGauge, sits down again with Nigel Tordoff, Chairman of the CPG Experience Council, to consider the ways customer experience can grow a business.  Nigel kicks off this episode by sharing his 'CX Hypothesis' on what he thinks is the best approach for reaching customers and making an impact. Adam and Nigel dive into testing the hypothesis through an Airline Industry example along with discussing the four groups of people businesses generally have to please + just HOW many people make up each. If you've been following along with the CPG Experience Council podcast series, this is a fantastic topic to end on.  

It's all about surpassing customer expectations. Back for the fourth CPG Experience Council-edition episode, Nigel Tordoff joins Adam Dorrell to explore CX drivers and what leads to Promoters, Detractors, and Passives.  What happens once you have a happy customer? What is the consequence of not taking the proper action on an upset customer?  The two take a deep dive into Net Promoter Score (NPS), the pitfalls everyone should avoid when leveraging NPS, and how to close the loop reactively and proactively. 

Are you listening to 80% of your B2B customer base? Nigel Tordoff, Chairman of the CPG Experience Council, joins Adam Dorrell to discuss the scale of the CPG industry and the impact it can have on customer experience. When you look at the consumer packaged goods industry from a wide lens, there are so many different relationships that must work to provide for the end customer.  Adam and Nigel discuss the impact of scale in CPG, embracing technology, setting out what 'good' looks like, and a handful of CPG CX best practices. Any CPG industry professional won't want to miss this breakdown of the context of scale and how to strengthen every B2B relationship in the process.  

Host Adam Dorrell welcomes back Nigel Tordoff, Chairman of the CPG Experience Council, to discuss how a customer's trust in a business ultimately leads to revenue growth.  The two dig into what happens when you open the lines of communication and provide feedback — whether it's a relationship with a consumer, a business (or even a significant other!)  They also highlight Adam's research on how many times companies use the word 'customer' in their public pronouncements. And one well-known brand has revealed just how customer-centric it really is. If you're looking for a deep-dive on where the roads to revenue begin with your B2B customer-base, this is a must-listen.

Host Adam Dorrell welcomes Nigel Tordoff in the first of five CPG Experience Council-edition episodes. Nigel, with 30 years of CPG industry experience under his belt, is now Chairman of the Council and ready to recruit those in the trade just as eager to make an impact. Together they share how to kickstart great CX in CPG and break down the acronym that must be at the core of every program: CLiCS. What is CX? And why bother? What goes into a program that CLiCS together? Both pull back the curtain on what good looks like and share their own real-life experiences along the way.

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.

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

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  

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. 

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.