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Navigating the Customer Experience

Join host Yanique Grant as she takes you on a journey with global entrepreneurs and subject matter experts that can help you to navigate your customer experience. Learn what customers really want and how businesses can understand the psychology of each customer or business that they engage with. We will be looking at technology, leadership, customer service charters and strategies, training and development, complaint management, service recovery and so much more!
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Now displaying: April, 2023
Apr 25, 2023

Brad Hawkins has been with ServicePower:Field Service Software since 2004, where he currently serves as Senior Vice President of products and solutions, overseeing operations, development and product management. He's a long-time veteran in the world of field service technology and Brad brings more than 20 years of experience in workforce management software. 

 

Questions

Could you share a little bit about their journey, how is it that you got to where you are today. And just in your own words, why you're doing what you're doing and how you got there.

Could you explain to our listeners a little bit about what field service is exactly? Maybe just break down some examples of what types of work does that entail?

What has your experience been with field service? And do you find it differs based on maybe the culture of the country? Or how do you optimize for a great experience with all of those variables that are so uncontrollable? 

Can you share with us what you've seen AI's role been in elevating field service to create better customer experiences?

Could you also share with us maybe I would say let's say 1 to 3 different types of solutions that you've seen that have been pretty innovative in the whole field service space? Have you seen things being done differently, more efficiently? Are there trends that you're seeing you think organizations should be tapping into more in order to improve on their service delivery? Or has your company been pioneering that in any way?

Could you share with our audience what's the online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in running your business every day?

Could you also share with our listeners, maybe one or two books that have had a great impact on you, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you've read recently, but it definitely has impacted on your professional competencies as a Chief Solutions Officer?

Could you also share with our listeners, Brad, what's one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people.

Where can listeners find you online?

Do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you’ll tend to revert to this quote? It kind of helps to get you back on track if for any reason you got derailed.

 

Highlights

 

Brad’s Journey

Me: Now, Brad, before we start off our conversation with our guests, we always like to give them an opportunity to share in their own words, a little bit about their journey, how is it that you got to where you are today. And just in your own words, why you're doing what you're doing and how you got there.

 

Brad shared that it's an interesting journey for him as somebody who's been with ServicePower for a long time. And in field services in general, even longer. Because he started out as a self-taught programmer, he had sort of one other career job before coming to the field service world, which was all about data management, he worked down in the Caribbean, where they had very innovative ways, this was back in the 90s, of how they captured data across various mechanisms, the biggest being intelligent character recognition, where you're scanning things, and he can intelligently read what he can decipher off of a piece of paper.

 

And in that job coming to an end, he came back from living in the Caribbean. It was in need of finding work and he ended up at a place called Key Prestige, which was then acquired by ServicePower but that was where they built a warranty management platform.

 

And that was his first foray into the world of field service. It was understanding, there's this world out there of workforces that are out in the field, how do you optimize them best? How do you use an employee versus an independent contractor and then building out that initial platform, they then became part of the ServicePower world.

 

Along that journey, he ran development. He’s since run their consulting and professional services organizations. He’s on his second tour running product. But they then combine those platforms, again, with the sort of the ServicePower ecosystem to provide all of these various ways of field service solutions where sort of a big differentiator of ServicePower is do I work with an employee workforce? Or do I work with an independent contractor? And what's the best way to do that?

 

So, just over time, he’s had new and interesting challenges at ServicePower, he’s been able to take on other areas. And he’s got to work basically, across the business. He runs product, but he still works very closely from a development standpoint. He’s working with marketing and sales all the time. So, it's still exciting to him as a long timer but that's kind of how he got there.

 

What is Field Service?

Me: So, you've done a lot of work in field service. Could you explain to our listeners a little bit about what field service is exactly? Maybe just break down some examples of what types of work does that entail?

 

Brad shared that he'll give a couple of examples of some industries. But specifically, when you think about, I'm an end consumer and I have a product or a service that requires someone to come out and do some type of service. And there are organizations then who have these workforces that they leverage. 

So, an example would be very simple a homeowner example. I'm in my house, I'm an in consumer, I've got a refrigerator, it breaks, who do I call? Is it in warranty? Is it under a service contract, depending on that, that's going to determine, let's say it's Electrolux, I'm going to call them about my fridge, I'm having an issue, it's not cooling.

They make the decision, oh, we're going to send a resource to your house to fix that. 

So, the entire process of entitling that service event, the transparency to the consumer of everything that's going on, if you think about those events happening on a larger scale, the optimization of that workforce to gain efficiencies, identifying contractors in the moment to say who's the right guy to go out and run this job, ensuring people are getting reimbursed for their work properly from the proper organization. And again, just to come back up a little bit high level there, think of that across multiple industries. 

So, major appliance, consumer electronics, actually anybody who has a home warranty on any products in their home, the insurance industry who has adjusters for you may have a catastrophe event and have a need to call up your homeowners’ insurance, they're going to come out and do inspections. It can get larger, apartments, facilities, they have needs for workforces to come in and do inspections, repairs, any of that really. 

So, it's any organization that has a field workforce, whether that workforce is employed, or they're leveraging independent businesses. The goal of a field service platform should be how do I optimize that? How do I ensure a world class customer experience along the way? How do I defend my brand along the way? But that's high level.

 

Me: So, you touched on quite a few things. So, field service is definitely something I believe that all consumers at some point will have to engage in throughout the course of their lifetime. How has it been for you on the end of as you mentioned, optimizing to get the best experience when you have to deal with so many different personalities. And I hear you mentioned that you lived in the Caribbean for a while, would you mind sharing with our listeners, which Caribbean island or country that was?

 

Brad stated that he was going to ask, he feels like Yanique’s accent got to be Caribbean, he could be wrong. But yes, I lived in Grenada for about a year.

 

What Has Been Your Experience with Field Service?

Me: So, I am Caribbean, I'm Jamaican, and I am currently in Kingston, Jamaica. Here in Kingston, Jamaica is listening to you speak just now about the fact that you would have a fridge for example, and the fridge breaks down and you call the person that you purchased the fridge from, especially if the fridge is still under warranty. I have found, for example, in Jamaica, contract persons like plumbers, carpenters, painters like those kinds of trades people, they are highly unreliable. They tell you, they're going to come tomorrow and probably you’ll see them in another two weeks, you have to be constantly following up with them. And I find the service experience to be extremely poor. What has your experience been? And do you find it differs based on maybe the culture of the country? Or how do you optimize for a great experience with all of those variables that are so uncontrollable?

  

Brad shared that culture and geography does matter, it absolutely matters. Again, as somebody who lived in the Caribbean, he knows the differences there. As a company, ServicePower, they very prominent in North America, but also in Europe, they rolled out in multiple countries in Europe. The geography and sort of the interaction that the customer can have, can change. But the key that they try to push along the way is, you're going to have a better experience, if you understand how best to interact with the resources involved, or he’ll give you a word that they use in the product world is the personas involved. 

So, he has to understand that he has an end consumer who has expectations of a level of service, he has to provide a way for that consumer to have full transparency of everything that's going on. One of the things he thinks is, in our world today, it's very clear that consumers, they want to know up to the minute what exactly is going on in any event they're doing whether it's where's my pizza that's on the way to my house? Where's my Uber? Same thing. 

When he books a technician to come out to his home, he wants to know everything that's going on, if he's trying to order a part and it's delayed, you have to give full transparency to that. 

That's better than not hearing anything, it's like you said you're constantly having to follow up. So, one of the key things is to have a system that is very proactive and is going to inform the consumer and keep them in the loop of everything that's going on all the way up to the point of “I'm on my way, I'm in route.” And ensuring that the resource that you do send, how do I make sure in the moment, that that's the best possible resource that's going to provide the best possible outcome for that end consumer. 

And again, that's all about what the ServicePower platform does is it understands whether it's an employee or a contractor, if it's a contractor, who is the contractor that is performing to the level that I expect them to, so I can rate and rank them. It's again, it's really about those principles.

 

AI’s Role in Elevating Field Service to Create Better Customer Experience

Me: Brilliant. So, you've mentioned optimizing for a better customer experience and the fact that you have real time up to date information for the client so they know every step of the way what's happening, as you mentioned, if the person is en route, if a part hasn't been ordered, that kind of stuff. So, artificial intelligence is pretty big now. There's a ChatGPT, there's Bing search engine.

There are lots of them and lots of organizations are using the AI to integrate into their current systems to make it smarter, to make it bolder, to make it more informative for consumers.

Can you share with us what you've seen AI's role been in elevating field service to create better customer experiences?

 

Brad stated absolutely, and he’ll add another term in there along with AI, which is machine learning. It's very much in the forefront of what everybody's doing these days. But in the world of field service, again, if you think of that service event, and somebody, whether they make the phone call, they go on a website to schedule service for self-service, it's in that moment, based on what he knows about that event. What can I predict? That's what AI and machine learning offer in their world. And that's the biggest one right now is, if he knows it's this product, this model, this is the description of what is being told to him that's wrong and he can even then look at past repair history, how can he just use AI to predict? 

Well, the technician, he needs to send out likely needs these three parts. Or he can triage them, he can give them some information to say, try this first, try that. And it's using AI and machine learning to make those intelligent predictions. What they’ve really learned about it is, people are using historical data to do that today, it's really about building the feedback loop of as you continue to get that data and ensure that the model you've created continues to learn over time. 

But again, another good field service term for this is if you can make those predictions intelligently and he can send a tech out with everything he needs ahead of time, that ensures a first-time fix. Because again, imagine when your contractor comes out, he looks at it, he goes, “I don't have the parts on the truck. I'll reschedule you for next Tuesday.” That's a bad experience. So, using AI and machine learning, they can make the predictions of how do I ensure you have all the tools you need so that when you get on site, you are insured of doing a first time quality fix, because that will lead to a happy customer.

 

Innovative Solutions in the Field Service Space

Me: Could you also share with us maybe I would say let's say 1 to 3 different types of solutions that you've seen that have been pretty innovative in the whole field service space? Maybe especially since we've been emerging out of the pandemic, have you seen things being done differently, more efficiently? Are there trends that you're seeing you think organizations should be tapping into more in order to improve on their service delivery? Or has your company been pioneering that in any way?

  

Brad shared that he thinks we've certainly pioneered it. There’re two things he’ll talk about there. Because there's actually not that many field service companies that have, they have already thrown around the term optimization. And every company will tell you they do optimization but what we've learned and we've seen, is there are some specific definitions of things you need to be able to do to truly optimize a workforce. And there really, again, not many companies that actually do it. 

So, when he talks about optimization, imagine an employed workforce. So, let's just take North America as an example. If he were to have 2000 resources across North America, he’s got jobs that where he has to offer up appointments to consumers, he may have SLAs for inspections. So, a job comes in where he’s got to be there in three days, that's his agreed upon contractual SLA. But he has emergency jobs that may be coming in throughout the day. 

True optimization, and one of the things they offer is they can continually evaluate a schedule that's been built out over time. And that's one of the ways where they use AI, they use a specific algorithm as part of that, to be constantly evaluating that schedule. And as events are coming in, he can sort of rip that schedule apart, move jobs around, understand what's the best possible most optimal schedule for all of his resources across however many jobs he has. And that's running constantly, throughout the day. 

When most field service organizations tell you they do optimization, what they're really doing is, “Well, I have an optimized route. Like I went to Google Maps, and I made sure that my optimized route.” And that's fine. They can use the term optimization for that. But that doesn't necessarily take into account things like you can have your route, you can have drive time, is there access hours to a particular building, you may be going in and doing an apartment maintenance or facilities maintenance, and there's access hours. What's the cost of overtime? And am I considering that in the schedule? Just the schedule in general, my text, the knowledge and skills that those texts have. Again, how do I ensure that I'm taking all of that account into the schedule I'm creating. 

And again, that's sort of what creates that again, that's how they refer to optimization. They know others use the term but they're not doing AI based optimization like they are that can really based on any number of parameters that any of their our clients want to use. The KPIs that drive the business, the important key indicators of the business, all of those with AI. So, that would be one of them. 

The other one that again, this is technology and just sort of a general shift in where field service has gone is most software platforms that relate to field service, they sort of choose one method of solving a problem or another and the two main ones are, do I have an employed workforce? Or do I leverage independent businesses, and where most make a mistake and what they’ve really driven in the in the field service world, he would even tell you, he feels like ServicePower is the one who has been on the forefront of this all along, is the idea that you have to understand both of those types of organizations work very differently. But you still have to be able to blend them together because whether he sends his own employee or an independent business, he has to ensure that the experience is exactly the same for the customer

Again, when he employs someone, he has control of their schedule, he can dictate technology to them, he knows everything about them. When he’s working with an independent business, he sort of have to be able to rate them and score them based on how they performed for him, and he has to know like, “Okay, you're an independent business, I have to authorize you to work for me, which means I want to ensure your background check. You've been through all the proper trainings.” And again, some of those terms he talked about, what are your first time fix rates? What are your costs? He needs the transparency to see into that business because he’s only giving them maybe 10% of the work they actually do, they're not dedicated to him. 

So, one of the things again that they think they brought to the world of field service, and they continue to innovate on is, how can I have a rules engine around that understands? 

He’s got two different types of workforces he’s working with, but he’s going to provide one unified world class customer experience where that customer doesn't know any different. He doesn't know that it’s an independent business who showed up, he just thinks, again, “My GE product or my LG product, I got it fixed, they did it the first time, that's all that matters. It was a great experience. So yeah, that's a couple there.

 

App, Website or Tool that Brad Absolutely Can’t Live Without in His Business

Me: So, we’ve spoken a lot about optimization and what are some of the pioneering, I would say, talents and attributes that ServicePower has been demonstrating and those are excellent, really, really a good way for us to dovetail into my next question. And so, we'd like to know if you could share with us, Brad, because it's all about the tools and resources that you're using to ensure that you're being most efficient in whatever task you're completing. Could you share with our audience what's the online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in running your business every day?

When asked about an online resource that he can’t live without in running his business, Brad that in running the business, he can name some tools here. But he tell you, they all have a common theme, which is tools that provide analytics. We live in a data driven world and understanding the analytics underneath your business are crucial. 

And some examples of that, again, when you think of ServicePower as a software company, it all start by coming at it from the development side, they have to know exactly the velocity of their development staff, they have to know how much time they're spending on which initiatives are they putting their time into innovation and roadmap versus support and issues, implementation, whatever, they can break all that down. That way they can plan and forecast for the future, what directions they want to go. 

Obviously, from an analytics standpoint, sales pipeline matter in that. So, they have a bunch of tools underneath that they obviously use things like HubSpot, as it relates to sales and marketing. And there is a component of Salesforce, they use for that for the development side. There's a couple of tools they use Jira being one to sort of track and it facilitates them gathering that data. They actually have their own, why say their own, it's a tool that they use called Domo, that it's basically a data warehouse with an analytics engine over the top of it. So, from their use, again, anything related to analytics. 

And that's the other thing he would tell you beyond just their business is they then have to take all that data that comes out of their platform and present it the same way to their clients, where they can see how is your network performing, how are your employees performing? What's your customer satisfaction? 

He'll just give you one example of that, there was a sort of a great story at ServicePower was, they came out, it's probably been about three or four years, they came out with their consumer portal, that's where consumers are notified of everything of their service event. They can be driven into a portal which gives them information about it. 

One of the great key value points of that was their clients who are receiving calls from consumers just like you said, going, where's my contractor? Their call volume went, they were able to show through their analytics that their call centre volume went down by 40% when they put that tool out there to say, I can now have a system that's informing the consumer, there's no need for them to call you because they feel informed. So, again, back to the question, he'll just tell you anything analytics based. So, again, data driven world and you want to be on top of the things that are driving your business through analytics.

 

Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Brad

When asked about books that have had the greatest impact, Brad stated that he'll tell his, because in his schooling days long ago, he sort of became very enthusiastic about the idea of culture in business. And there's a book called The Culture Code: The Secret of Highly Successful Groups, it's by Daniel Coyle, and it is all about how do I build a culture that brings your workforce together? Has you all enthusiastic about working towards a common goal, it gives you the tools for that. He read it a couple years back, in his opinion, it's more relevant now because post pandemic, you have people who are disconnected, a lot more people working at home, and it just gives you tools of how do you bring about a workforce that they're just as much invested in the mission and the goals as you are? So, that's the book he would recommend, as it's called The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle.

 

What Brad is Really Excited About Now!

When asked about something that’s going on now that he’s excited about, Brad shared that for him, he'll give a personal one, because this is a podcast, and he finds podcasts can be fun that way, and he'll try to do both. But for him, he’s in a kind of a new transition in life, maybe he shouldn't say this to the public, he’s 53 years old. Through the pandemic had some struggles in life, and started reinventing things with a new blended family. And so for him, personally, he feels like he’s getting another round of being a dad again, his children are grown. So, personally, that's very important to him, he’s a huge believer in family, and creating a tight knit family. And so, that's a big thing for him. 

From a work standpoint, he'll just tell you that ServicePower has been around a long time. But it does feel like they’re always on sort of the edge of innovation as it relates to field service. And this is a year that they actually talked about heavy investment from their ownership. So, it's an exciting year from the things they’re building, they’re kind of reimagining the entire user experience of the platform, so they find that very exciting. So, even in his 20 plus years that he’s been doing this, he still finds it rewarding, exciting, the initiatives they’re driving. So yeah, again, he’s done this for a long time but hopefully you're getting that from this podcast is that he’s still very passionate about all of it.

 

Where Can We Find Brad Online 

Website – servicepower.com

LinkedIn – Brad Hawkins

 

Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Brad Uses

 

When asked if he has a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Brad shared he does. He’ll quickly look it up. He did this on a previous one he did, it'll just take him a second because he missed to be prepared for that one. This is one of his favourite quotes, matter of fact, he will tell you that all of the people at ServicePower have heard this multiple times from him. This is the quote, “Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that they've been robbed. Most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey there's delays, sidetracks, smoke and dust, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to be thankful that you are on the ride.” He loves that quote.

 

Me: And do you know the author of the quote? Is it anonymous?

  

Brad stated that he’s seen a couple people attributed to it, the person he knew that said it his name is Gordon B. Hinckley.

 

Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest

 

Links

·      The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle

 

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Apr 18, 2023

Robert Jordan is the CEO of InterimExecs, which matches top executives with companies around the world. Based on research with thousands of leaders and companies, he and co-founder Olivia Wagner wrote Right Leader, Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company, and they've launched the FABS Leadership Assessment, a free assessment at RightLeader.com designed to help leaders and organizations perform better.

Jordan also authored How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America and help plug publish Start With No, Jim Camp’s bestseller on negotiation. 

 

Questions 

Now, we always like to give our guests an opportunity, especially guests that we've been interviewing for the very first time a little bit for you to share in your own words about your journey and how you got to where you are today.

Could you take some time to share with our listeners a little bit about the book Right Leader Right, Time, just some of the core things that the book talks about?

Now, do you believe that there's any examples globally, of a leader who embodies each of the four leadership styles that we would have just looked at the fixer, the artist, the builder, the strategist?

Could you give me one example for each leadership style that our listener could take away, maybe a practical activity that they could do or something that they could do to strengthen them to be a better fixer, a better artist, builder or strategist?

Could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business?

Could you also share with our listeners, maybe one or two books that have had the biggest impact on you? It could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you read recently?

Could you also share with us what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people.

Could you share with our listeners where can they find you online?

Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you'll tend to revert to this quote? It kind of helps to get you back on track if for any reason you got derailed?

 

Highlights

 

Robert’s Journey

Robert shared that in some ways, he’s your classic entrepreneur. He was in graduate school, but he was not the greatest student and dropped out to start a publishing company and started the first magazine in the world that covered online services and then the internet. 

And in the beginning, he made every mistake you could make in business. But eventually, of course, the internet came around, the worldwide web and then he could do no wrong and the business grew very fast to put him on to the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing businesses in the US. So, that was his first company. 

And then he kind of fell into a very weird job title. He was an interim CEO for a number of technology companies, mostly early stage and that led to forming an organization called InterimExecs and he gather they’re going to get into this because at InterimExecs, they had about 7000 executives show up who wanted to be placed, they’re a matchmaker around the world in organizations that need leadership, and fractional or interim executives. And so, from that, they also wrote the book just referred Right Leader, Right Time.

 

Me: Amazing. So, this book was published in 2022.

  

Robert stated yes, Right Leader, Right Time just came out.

 

About the Book – Right Leader, Right Time

Me: Could you take some time to share with our listeners a little bit about the book Right Leader, Right Time, just some of the core things that the book talks about?

Robert shared that when you've been asked something a long time, you can spot patterns, and with all these 1000s of executive showing up, they spotted a pattern which was not so good and then another pattern that was really good, and the not so good pattern was that the majority of executives were having career experiences, leadership journeys that you would describe as okay, but you wouldn't say they were remarkable.

The flip side was that if you just looked at the top 2%, 3%, 4% of executives, they're having exceptional careers and leadership journeys. And in that exceptional group, they saw 4 distinct styles of leadership, leadership style referring to somebody having a system or an approach or a process. And they gave them 4 labels, Fixer, Artist, Builder and Strategist.

 

Me: So, Fixer, let's start with that one. Tell us a little bit about what are some of the key skills or competencies that you'd have to be considered in the fixer category.

 

Robert shared that Fixer is the energy, it's the person that has to run into the burning building time after time. So, they’re not trying to pigeonhole any one person into one style, they think all leaders, they bring all their capabilities to bear. But fixer energy is this dominant kind of style that needs crisis. And for a fixer-oriented leader, it may take them 6 months, a year, 2 years to solve the client relationship, to fix a broken division. 

When that is done, that person needs to move on to a new crisis. Does that give you a picture?

 

Me: It does. So, this could be applicable to any type of leader in any type of organization?

 

Robert shared that it could be, what they're saying is that if you have dominant energy around fixer, it is best for you and for the organizations you're with that most of the time - you need crisis, you need a hot mess. And if things are too stable, or going too well, as one of the leaders put it you'll break it just so you can go fix it.

 

Me: It's almost like you're self-sabotaging because that's how you perform, that's how you're at your best.

 

Robert stated that you need to be in those roles so if you look in the world today, as he and Yanique was talking, there's a business called FTX, headquarter’s in the Bahamas and of the leading Crypto Exchanges, and it went bankrupt a few months ago, and the CEO who was appointed, who is a classic kind of fixer, because there are a million creditors and there's alleged fraud. Well, that executive prior to FTX, he was at Enron, he was correcting Enron, he wasn't the cause of the problems in Enron, but that's his wiring.

 

Me: So, we have Fixers, those are the ones that are good at solving problems, and they need things to be broken in order to fix it. What about our Artists?

 

Robert shared that artist is the energy that sees the world as a blank canvas, or a piece of clay to be molded. So, you think about right now a leader like Elon Musk, he is driven by his innovative ability. Historically, you look at someone like Thomas Edison, or Steve Jobs. This is that kind of creative drive coming out.

Artist energy though, the way they put it in the book is sometimes it's at that leader’s peril. And he’s strongly worried with artist energy and he gets that, which is to say you can't stop thinking up ideas, that doesn't mean they're all going to come to fruition, they're all going to be great, they're all going to be operationally terrific, which is why you need a mix of styles around you.

 

Me: Agreed. It's almost like that book by John Maxwell, How Successful People Think and there is a thinking activity that he does in there that has a different thinking styles. So, you have big picture thinker, focused thinker, creative thinker. And in order for an organization to really function at its best, you need a blended approach in terms of people's thinking style versus just all of your team members thinking in a particular way.

 

Robert agreed. Absolutely right. And one of the things exceptional leaders do better is they're better at collaboration. All of us talk about it, and he thinks everyone thinks they're good at it, the problem is that if you're not really confident and directed in your own style, it's less likely that you're actually effectively collaborating with everyone else.

Because the primary thing they saw in this average of leaders who were having okay career experiences, but not great. The primary flaw was attempting to be all things to all people, it never works but it is the thing that a lot of people do knowingly or unknowingly.

 

Me: Yeah, that is crazy. So, we looked at the Fixers, the Artists, what about the Builders?

 

Robert shared that everyone in organization loves to be a builder, they get that. They mean something specific here with builder, which is the energy that can take the small, the nascent product, service, team, client relationships, and take it to market domination.

So, you can think of, for example, someone who creates a new technology, and it grows fast, and they have an IPO, that's builder energy. What you tend to see with builder is that when that person has achieved an IPO or has achieved market domination, in many cases, they need to move to a new company, a new division, a new product, new client relationships, because they need the challenge of taking something small and getting to market domination.

 

Me: All right. And then we have our Strategist. And it's funny, but would you say that most people believe that in order for you to be a great leader, you need to be an excellent strategist because business is all about the strategy and executing that strategy?

 

Robert shared that it's a good question. And all leaders have to be good at strategy, strategy, he would say with a small s, the leader label strategist, we could have called pilot, conductor, captain, quarterback, it's referring to the kind of energy that excels within large vast or complex organization, the kind of language that strategists leaders use, it's around loyalty, and being mentored and mentoring other people. It's about longevity, typically within one organization, it's being cross trained, it's about gratitude to an organization. And that kind of language, you're just not going to hear that from typical Fixer, Artist or Builder leaders.

 

Leaders Who Embodies the Four Leadership Styles – Fixer, Artist, Builder and Strategist

Me: Now, do you believe that there's any examples globally, of a leader who embodies each of the four leadership styles that we would have just looked at the Fixer, the Artist, the Builder, the Strategist?

 

Robert stated that that's a good question. So, when we're talking about Fixer, John Ray, who's now the CEO of FTX, has a massive job to clean up FTX, it's a disaster. The founder is now facing all kinds of criminal charges and there's funds missing and that would be fixer energy. And as they said, he had been at Enron before. 

An example of Artist, Elon Musk is a good example. If you think about any friend of yours, and they're highly creative on the team, they may be the renegade, they're the rebel. They're not necessarily the most popular, but they're the one that's capable of these discontinuous leaps for companies, and it's absolutely the energy that a stagnant company needs, that's the artist builder. 

So, if your listeners are familiar with Sheryl Sandberg, until recently, she was the number two at Facebook now known as Meta. Sheryl Sandberg’s, first 7 years at Facebook were phenomenal, she took an organization of a couple 100 employees. Facebook at the time was probably about $100 Million Dollars in revenue. Seven years later, there were 70,000 employees, it was $70 Billion Dollars in revenue, if that's not the standout example of builder leader in the modern world, he doesn't know what is.

Sheryl was also a cautionary example of what were one of the points they make in Right Leader Right Time because she ended up staying at Facebook, Meta for 14 years and what happened in the second 7 years, Cambridge analytical scandal, election scandals, the pivot to VR Meta which might not have suited her as well. Taking tonnes of arrows in the back for writing a best-selling book called Lean In.

And it's a little cautionary because again, builder energy tends to be focused on market domination and once market domination has been achieved, that leader really kind of needs to move to a new company, new project, new division.

So, strategist leader, great example would be Fred Smith. He just retired from Federal Express, FedEx. He was there 51 years and most leaders, we think, it's not like you have to round the basis, you don't have to have tried everything. In the book, they’re fond of this phrase, highest and best use. And that is something we all aspire to as leaders to arrive at a point. There's no arriving but kind of a Zen concept of coming to understand your highest and best use. 

Fred Smith started FedEx as a paper he wrote while in college, that's pretty innovative, artistic. He's famous, he's been interviewed many times. When he couldn't meet payroll early on, he went to Las Vegas and gambled just to meet payroll and if that's not fixer energy, he doesn't know what is.

Builder, of course, to scale an organization like that was amazing. But he really arrived at a place of being one of the best strategist leaders of the modern era.

 

Me: Okay. So, we have some real-life practical examples that our listeners can definitely envision or even tap into because they're a part of what we know. They've written books, we've seen their history to see what they've done so that they can really identify what the leadership styles are and what are the qualities that they embody.

 

Examples of Practical Activity To Strengthen Your Leadership Style

Me: Now, let's say for example, you want to develop these skills or want to develop in these four areas. Could you give me one example for each leadership style that our listener could take away, maybe a practical activity that they could do or something that they could do to strengthen them to be a better Fixer, a better Artist, Builder or Strategist?

 

Robert stated that it's a great question and one thing you also touched on earlier, they’ve launched at rightleader.com, a free 3 minute assessment is called FABS Leadership Assessment for any of your listeners who want to get a little bit of input and they'll get a result after 3 minutes. And they’d also appreciate feedback to asked whether they got it right, how you're labelled. But they'll also get a free summary in terms of descriptions of each of the styles. 

So, each one of the 4 is different. And it's not a generic answer. So, for example, fixer energy, it tends to be the someone in organization, they're smart, they're hardworking, and someone around them throws a problem that nobody else could solve. And that's how fixer energy tends to develop. And it is in the best interest of fixers, if they're hooked and they solve that problem that no one else could solve, the best thing they can do is to seek out the next crisis. You have to pick yourself for these things. 

Artist energy, they think, and they’re going to see how the research goes based on all the FABS Assessments being done, feels to them a little more like a mode that is internal to you that you cannot help. And what that energy needs within an organization is to be surrounded by people who are more operational. As a way of kind of protecting the ability to keep on doing it.

Builder is an energy in a way similar to fixer, it's more linear. A fixer tends to only work on one problem, one company, one crisis at a time, or put it this way. If you have a friend and they say they're a great fixer, but they're trying to put out fires at the three companies at a time, that's not a great fixer, that's probably not going to work. The opposite is you have a friend and they're strongly artists energy, very renegade, rebellious, they need multiple canvases to paint on at the same time. It's not an accident that Elon Musk has SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company at the same time.

He's also a cautionary example because as he and Yanique are talking, he still has Twitter and Twitter was not his classic playbook, Twitter was a broken or maybe he contributed to making it a broken organization and he's using a playbook there and there's no other fixer on the planet that gets to do what he does. It doesn't tend to work well.

But builder energy, what that person needs is to put themselves into situations of maybe not unproven product services, companies technologies, but something that has not yet reached scale, has not reached domination, they need to be in the position of where they're helping the product, the people, the process, the team to grow, their putting system and process in place.

And strategist, strategist just needs to be within an organization where cross training and mentorship are going to be those components. So, those are some of the things that people should be aware of, that the overriding thing that they would say is that in observing exceptional leaders, they tend to reject more of what is not for their highest and best use.

They reject more of what's not for their highest and best use. And so, it's easy to say, and it's very hard to do, very hard to do. But that's the thing on your career journey is, as you're going along that you become more and more intentional. Your first job, you need the money, you need the direction, your family is looking at you and you can't refuse anything. But what happens over time, as you discover what you like, and what you don't like is you start gravitating in one place or one direction over another, you start making more and more intentional decisions. And decision comes from the Latin word, meaning to kill off. And you have to do that with options that are not right for you, as you got to kill them off. That's very hard because we live in a time of FOMO, the fear of missing out.

 

Me: Agreed. And, just listening to you speak and explaining that. I've definitely seen my career grow in that way as well, in terms of being more intentional about the jobs that I take, or things that I invest my time into and the ones as you mentioned that don't serve me, I tend to not get involved in, maybe 10-15 years ago, my decision would have been completely different.

  

Robert agreed. Exactly and hindsight is 2020, it's hard to see at the beginning of your career, it's just easier when you look back. And so, that's the thing to kind of inform where you are now and where you want to go is to look at your journey and not to judge it, just to observe it. No judgement…..just observation.

 

App, Website or Tool that Robert Absolutely Can’t Live Without in His Business

When asked about an online resource that he cannot live without in his business, Robert shared that it's an obscure one but he’s on the road a lot and he has to send people PDFs and so he uses a TurboPDF app.

 

Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Robert

When asked about books that have had the biggest impact, Robert stated that he'll share two books, one is personal bias, because he was involved with it. Yanique mentioned it, Start With No: The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don’t Want You to Know by Jim Camp. It's one of the foundational books on how to be a better negotiator. And they think is something that just stands everybody well, because the foundation of that book is understanding your own mission and purpose. And the clearer you get on that you start getting clear on how it is that you're negotiating with other people and to have a sense of mission and purpose in those negotiations.

The other book is more recent, it's a book called The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks. And if you consider first mountain, are the things you do in career that are about money and power and status, fame, whatever. More of the earning your living, as opposed to second mountain, which is when you're going for significance. What is it that you are called to? What are you committed to? He thought that that was pretty powerful.

 

What Robert is Really Excited About Now!

When asked about something that is going on right now that he’s really excited about, Robert shared that that's a great question. He has to go back, this assessment has them really energized because they would just love to see what happens as more and more people take it. We are recording this, and it's very new, it just came out and only about 1000 people have taken it so far. So, they're putting forward a lot of ideas here and they may be wrong or right about them, they’re going to see as all of the data comes back in how it plays.

 

Where Can We Find Robert Online

Website – InterimExecs.com

 

Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Robert Uses

When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Robert stated that that's such a good question. “I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm as I spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done by me.” 

Robert shared that’s a recording he heard many years ago, a Minister named Jack Boland and he was quoting his mentor. I can't remember the name of his mentor. But he said that on a number of recordings, and it just hit him between the eyes. 

And so, in his spare time he paints, and he actually painted a Canvas at one point with that expression, because it just energizes me.

  

Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest

 

Links

·  Right Leader, Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company by Robert Jordan

·  How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America by Robert Jordan

·  Start with No: The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don’t Want You to Know by Jim Camp

·  The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks

 

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Apr 11, 2023

Matt Swain is Head of Communications Insights & Experience at Broadridge. He is a recognized Customer Communications industry thought leader and the host of the Reimagining Communications podcast. From delivering keynotes around the world to defining best practices, hundreds of well-known companies have relied on Matt's expertise and research for their current and future omni-channel communication initiatives.

As Head of Communications Insights & Experience at Broadridge, Matt brings invaluable market research and consulting expertise to clients relative to benchmarking, customer experience optimization, and digital transformation.

 

Questions 

  Our last interview was maybe about a year ago, how have things been for you in the last year? Any new changes or new emerging trends that you've identified in the last year?

  Your 2023 CX and Communications Consumer Insights Report, one of the first things I'd like for us to start off talking about is, there is a very big disparity between customer expectations in 2019 being 35% versus 2023 being 69%, that's like basically a double, it's about half more than what it was before. What do you think is a primary reason for this? Why are customers’ expectations not being met?

  One of the things that your report also generated and spoke about was personalization. And even if companies have a good handle on it, are they really executing it in such a way that the customer feels like that experience is personalized? Could you share a little bit about the data on that that was collected?

  Now, in delivering that quality experience as you mentioned what the customer is looking for. In the report you spoke quite a bit about digital transformation and just making things easy and simple for customers to access. Could you share with our audience, maybe two or three key takeaways or trends that may have come out of the report as it relates to that particular area?

  I found it quite interesting that there was your mention, or the reporting gave mention to the fact that there was preferences for physical mail versus digital. So, can you explain to us a little bit about why it is you still have some people that are interested in physical mail? Do you think it's generational? Or do you think it's just as a backup?

  Based on the report, what are maybe one or two things that organization should be focusing on based on what the data is showing you because we do want to make data informed decisions.

  Is there any new books/content that you've been exposed to that you think you'd want to share with our audience that you think would add value to their journey?

  Could you also share with us what's one thing that you're working on right now or going on in your life right now that you're really excited about, either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people?

  Could you tell our listeners where they could find you online?

 

Highlights 

New Emerging Trends Identified in the Last Year

Me: So, we are having you back on based on the fact that you have published a new paper that we're quite intrigued for you to share with us some of the high points from that paper. But before we jump into that, could you share with us? I think our last interview was maybe about a year ago, like last year May I think. So, just a little bit under a year, how have things been for you in the last year? Any new changes or new emerging trends that you've identified in the last year?

 

Matt stated that certainly, there's been a lot happening in the past year, certainly, they looked at some of the changes in the economy and how that might change the way that consumers and customers would want to interact with the companies they do business with. The other one that has emerged even more recently is Chat GPT. And looking at generative AI and how advanced that has gotten, has certainly had a lot of their clients asking about how and where they might be able to apply that in the future.

  

Disparity in Customer Expectations

Me: Amazing. I'm so happy you brought up Chat GPT, because it's certainly a hot topic these days. So, back to the report, your 2023 CX and Communications Consumer Insights Report, I had a chance to look through it and I'm quite intrigued with some of the insights. So, one of the first things I'd like for us to start off talking about is, there is a very big disparity between customer expectations in 2019 being 35% versus 2023 being 69%, that's like basically a double, it's about half more than what it was before. What do you think is a primary reason for this? Why are customers’ expectations not being met?

  

Matt shared that this is one of his favorite stats. And he bet they talked about it last year as well, when it was at 65% of consumers that said that most of the companies they do business with need to improve the experience they provide. So, that 35% in 2019, jumping to 69% in their latest report. Over the last five years they are headed from a consumer perspective where businesses are not delivering quality customer experience and the caveat is, it's most businesses, right?

 

So, we all have our favorite and whoever offers the best customer experience for you today, that kind of sets the bar for what your expectation is for how you interact with all companies you do business with. And what concerns them is that those leaders are pulling further ahead. So, they mentioned generative AI and Chat GPT. Let's say those leaders start using that as something to simplify his customer experience. Now, how does everyone else catch up that might not necessarily have as deep of pockets or might not have the resources to deliver on that experience? We're seeing a bigger gap from the leaders and the rest of the field.

 

Me: Amazing. And would you say that based on the disparity in the percentage that it's more prevalent in some industries than it is in others?

 

Matt shared that he thinks so, the way they asked the question was generically across all of the companies you do business with, but he thinks when they look at who's providing the best experiences, consumers lean toward banking as providing among the best experiences, but that was still only 3 in 5 consumers that suggested that their banking relationship was best.

 

The next one after banking was credit cards and that was less than 2 in 5 consumers only 38% of consumers thought that their credit card provider had the best experience. So, it does show banking is a clear leader, there's still 39% of banking customers that don't think their banking relationship is among the best. So, it really is dependent on the specific company, more so than the industry.

 

Me: Now, one of the things your report also mentioned is that what the leaders do better than the persons that are clearly lagging behind them are things like, ease of transaction in terms of navigating account details, that was 43%, communicating clearly was 43%, making it easy to talk to a real person 41%, sending notification when there's important things to be looked at 34%, and allowing the customers to select how they want to receive communication is 25%. So, what I noticed across all of those, they could actually be grouped under one topic communications, right?

  

Matt stated exactly and where he was headed with that is he thinks that that is one of the big takeaways for them is, they think so much about customer experience being broader than communications, which it is there are aspects that are not communications driven, but the communications play a really critical role in what that overall customer experience is.

 

Me: Agreed, agreed. And it's something I always think that a lot of times, it's always the little things that can make an experience amazing or fantastic or phenomenal, versus making an experience unbearable, and uncomfortable and just frustrating.

 

Simple things like maybe just as you mentioned, a follow up telephone call or an email to let you know where things stand. Just yesterday, I was speaking to a friend who is looking to switch insurance companies for his health insurance. And he mentioned that the previous provider that they had, had a portal that you could log in, and each time you had a health claim, you could see the status of the claim online.

 

Whereas this new company, even though their rates are better, and they're known as the industry leader in the market, it's just so frustrating. He has to call the broker and sometimes he's not aware of the process. And, of course, there's no online portal to log on so there's no way for you to know what's the status of your health claims. So, again, communications, because one of the reasons why he thought the previous provider was better was because of the fact that it was easy to get information instead of him having to take so many steps to get the same information.

 

Matt shared that he thinks that that aspect of friction, certainly, we talk about friction in any process relative to customer experience, but for accessing information for just being able to get into the system and navigating to the things that are most important to you, those are really centered around a strong communication strategy.

 

Personalization vs. Customization in Customer Experience

Me: Indeed. Now, one of the things that your report also generated and spoke about was personalization. We've been hearing that word for quite a few years now, I don't know if every company has a good handle on what personalization really is. And even if they have a good handle on it, are they really executing it in such a way that the customer feels like that experience is personalized? Could you share a little bit about the data on that that was collected?

  

Matt shared that from a consumer perspective, the people that responded to the survey, personalization, certainly for them means make it about me, make it relevant to me. For the company that's sending that communication, which is the Broadridge client, if you will, they're more thinking customization or not necessarily one to one personalization, but configurability and configuration. So, certainly with your data, obviously that is personalized to you because that is your account balance or how much you owe or whatever it is.

 

But then there are those peripheral things, marketing messages, the cross sell, the upsell, the imagery, and those are all things that can turn somebody off if for instance, there's a picture of a retired couple, and the consumer is just starting his career, and they're talking to him about early retirement, certainly early retirement would be great. But he doesn't think that that's going to be the reality for him today. And then that makes him question the rest of the communication, because he’s been put off by that initial visual as an example.

  

Me: Very true. So, could you maybe give our audience one strategy of how an organization could combat that type of perception of customization versus personalization?

 

Matt shared that he doesn't even know if it's combating it, he thinks it's for the recipient. It's just making sure that they recognize that who they are. So, he guesses the way that you would do that is you have various personas, or different demographics. So, if he’s using that image personalization, as an example, since we started down that route, it might say, anyone who is 18 to 25, show this image, 26 to 45, show this image, 46 plus, show this image, just as an example of how you'd still be able to do that at a customer level, but not fully personalized one to one.

 

Digital Transformation – Takeaways That Came From the Report

Me: Now, in delivering that quality experience as you mentioned what the customer is looking for. Technology is also very, very big. And I did know for this report that you spoke quite a bit about digital transformation and just making things easy and simple for customers to access. Could you share with our audience, maybe two or three key takeaways or trends that may have come out of the report as it relates to that particular area?

 

Matt shared that certainly, one that comes to mind, right away is around that simple way to interact across all channels. So, as a person in the industry, he would be talking about this as an omni-channel experience, but for the consumer, they simplified it to just make it easy for him to interact however he wants to interact. And they had 92% of consumers in the survey that said that that's important to them and that was up from 87% last year.

 

But then when they asked if these consumers were getting those communications delivered across channels in a simplified way, they only found that 35% were receiving them this way. So, 92%, it's important, but only 35% are actually seeing that from the companies they're doing business with.

 

Me: And again, it goes back to their strategy. Yes?

 

Matt agreed absolutely. And there's a strategy component to it and there's also a platform like the underlying technology component. Sometimes the companies aren't organized in a way to make it easy for their customers to interact across channels. There are companies that have a mobile team, an email team, a print team and if those teams are working on separate platforms, or with independent strategies, it's really hard to roll up to a consistent unified experience.

 

Me: So, your recommendation would be that they should either all be on the same platform, or they should be talking to each other, so the customer at least feels like it's one experience versus silos of experiences.

 

Matt stated that ultimately, if you can get to a unified communications platform that everyone's working from, they can still have their own processes and add ons to that platform. But if everyone's working from a central platform, where all of the data is stored, preferences are stored, so if his preferred nickname is Matt, instead of Matthew across all channels, across all communications types, everybody looks for that same data point, what's your preferred nickname? Instead of having him to provide that multiple times. The same point would be for communications preference, if he’s working across different lines of business. 

 

So first, he was just talking about channels like mobile, print, email, but then different lines of business within the same company. Sometimes those are siloed as well. So, he has to set his preferences in for banking, but then again, for his mortgage, and then again for his insurance or for his investments. And it's really important to have that more centralized to provide a better experience for the customer.

 

Preference for Physical Mail Versus Digital

Me: So, another big thing that I found interesting, this was a definitely a personal topic for me because I'm all about digital. I found it quite interesting that there was your mention, or the reporting gave mention to the fact that there were preferences for physical mail versus digital versus physical and digital. For me, for example, there are some organizations that you do business with and depending on how the print is prepared and given to you, it can fade over time which doesn't make any sense, in my opinion, because if I wanted to keep that as record for, let's say, 24 months down the line, it's quite possible, I won't be able to read what's on the paper.

 

But if it came in a digital format, it can last a lifetime, because it's not going to fade once it's in your email, or on your computer. So, can you explain to us a little bit about why it is you still have some people that are interested in physical mail? Do you think it's generational? Or do you think it's just as a backup?

 

Matt shared that it's interesting to address your fading comment, he actually hadn't heard that as one of the primary reasons and it's one of your key reasons. But it's really an interesting angle that they haven't uncovered yet. The research what they had was, in what they’ve seen over time, has been that consumers like to keep a paper record, so that's usually the top reason that they hold on to paper is for the hardcopy archive.

 

The second point is that it's a reminder and if it's a bill, it's a reminder to pay, if it's a statement, it's a reminder to review account balances. But it's a trigger and that might be a reminder that to then go online, and review but the physical document, cut through the clutter for some people.

 

And then the third reason is one that they see both sides of, those that hold on to paper say they're concerned about data security and privacy going digital. And then conversely, they hear the same thing from people that are digital and not print that say, sending a paper copy feels like there's a concern about data security and privacy if that paper copy goes to the wrong householder, somebody else opens it. So, they see both sides of that one, but obviously, it is an important factor for consumers on either side of the discussion.

 

Me: And so, did you find that it was more generational in terms of it was more, let's say, baby boomers who had the concern of wanting to keep the paper trail or it creating a trigger, as you had mentioned, for them to go online? Or for them to review their statements? Or is it a case where across the board regardless of age 25, 38, 56, pretty much everybody was in that bracket?

 

Matt stated that it tends to be generational that you'll have more of younger demographics being comfortable as digital only and more of older demographics, baby boomer plus being more comfortable in paper. But it is interesting, because they have clients that will state that as fact and say, everybody wants to be digital, our client of the future is this up and coming generation and everybody wants to be digital, therefore we will only be digital. And the reality is, you still have some preferences, some people that that say, “Hey, I get everything digital.” So, the paper, like he said, cuts through the clutter.

 

So, you have some younger demographics that actually say, “No, still send me something by mail, because I actually don't get all that much mail anymore. So, this actually is something that I look at.” There is also the kind of the longer-term strategy of moving as many people to digital as feel comfortable and as aligns with what's important to you as a business cost reduction, quality of experience, etc. But then there's going back to that simple way to interact across channels, it's really important that we still think in this omni-channel strategy.

 

So, even if you have 80% of your customers that want to be digital, or that's your goal to get digital, you still have 20% that you need to service in a paper-based environment and how do we optimize that communication and make that the best possible experience as well?

 

Summary from 2023 CX and Communications Consumer Insights Report and Recommendations for Way Forward 

Me: Can you just give us like I would say a summary, maybe three key things that came out of the report and recommendations for audience depending on whatever industry they're in, whatever role they play in their organization as to going forward where we basically completed the first quarter of 2023 and we're embarking on our second quarter. What are maybe one or two things that they should be focusing on based on what the data is showing you because we do want to make data informed decisions.

 

Matt shared that there were three key takeaways that came out of the research. The first was where they started, which is that CX expectations continue to rise, where they found that 69% of consumers were underwhelmed by most company’s customer experience, and that had nearly doubled since 2019. So, the takeaway for listeners is to really look at where your customer experience is falling short, across the customer journey, and then implement a get-well plan.

 

The second point was one that they did not address, but they talked around it, which is relative to the importance of the communication as relative to a consumers’ view of how innovative your company is. So, 61% of consumers said that they judge a company's innovativeness based on the communications it sends. So, he thought that was a really interesting aspect, which also ties back to how important communications are to overall customer experience. So, for their clients, and for companies at large, it's how do you ensure your communications in print and digital are working for you, not against you.

 

And then the last point is, they have a lot of companies that comes to them with a desire to take paper out of the process, because they're looking to say it's the operational savings, can I remove print and mail. And the challenge is, those consumers that they talked about that have digital access, but still hold on to the paper. And what they found was those double dippers that have paper and digital, 82% of them would go paperless if they received a more engaging digital experience. So, they really think that part of what creates a better digital experience but also helps achieve these paperless goals of their clients is to really focus on creating a better mousetrap, creating a better digital experience, a more engaging digital experience that gives somebody a reason to let go of that paper. And it's not the reason that the companies they do business with have which is saving on print and postage, the consumer doesn't care about that, they want a better experience.

 

Books/Content That You’ve Been Exposed to That Is Value Added

 

Me: Could you share with us, I know we would have asked you this question last year. But I want you to think about the books that you've read in the last year. If you've read any new books that you'd like to share with us, that you think would support a lot of what you've mentioned in the report, but also just support the overall customer experience initiative that organizations are embarking on. Is there any new content that you've been exposed to that you think you'd want to share with our audience that you think would add value to their journey?

  

Matt shared that last year, he probably leaned toward an interesting book, which was QR Codes Kill Kittens: How to Alienate Customers, Dishearten Employees, and Drive Your Business into the Ground and it was a Scott Stratten book that's more of a flipbook but it shows you examples of poor implementation of QR codes, but also speaks to the importance of being smart about how and when you incorporate technologies like QR codes into your communications. Now, he will say in their research, they found that 57% of consumers want companies to use QR codes and print to drive them to more information digitally. So, there is a way to balance that.

 

Now, in terms of something else that came to mind that he didn't read in the last year but is another one that he really enjoyed. It is Seth Godin’s book, which is Meatballs Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync.

 

It's probably 10 or 11 years old now but it's geared toward marketers. And it focuses on doing what you're good at, but also telling a good and cohesive story. So, he thinks it's actually a really good analogy to tie in the research that they do with the products and services that Broadridge offers. So, it's the research supports the storyline on how and why they’re developing their products and services the way they are to deliver on that better experience for their clients and those end consumers.

 

What Matt is Really Excited About Now!

When asked about something that he’s really excited about, Matt shared that it can't be the research it because that's what he’s most excited about.

  

Me: Are you planning to take the research outside of just doing podcasts interviews and talking about it? Are you going to do like a workshop around it? Are you thinking of maybe having an international conference, there's so many things that could spin out of this research?

  

Matt shared that they use it throughout the year. And so, he always gets excited when they’ve launched the newest, latest research, and it's always a great time to catch up with Yanique because it's fresh and new. And then they use it over the course of the year in presentations at events, not their own events but sometimes their events as well, but presentations at events, but also it creates a really good client dialogue.

 

And so, he gets really excited about bringing the research to clients saying, “Here's what we're hearing in the market from your customers, and how does this align with some of your priorities as a business today? And where are you headed?” And they get into some really great strategy discussions that ultimately leads toward their clients adjusting their priority list or adding new items to that list. But also, it gives them a chance to validate the findings within each of those clients and across those industries.

  

Me: That’s a very good point, because now you're actually using the data to see if the decisions that you're making will actually come in alignment with what the market is saying. And you get to see if it was a success or a fail.

 

Where Can We Find Matt Online

 

Website – www.broadridge.com

Podcast – Reimagining Communications Podcast

LinkedIn - @askmattswain

Twitter - @AskMattSwain

 

CX Survey Landing Page: https://www.broadridge.com/report/brcc/2023-cx-and-communications-consumer-insights

 

Meatball Sundae: https://www.amazon.com/Meatball-Sundae-Your-Marketing-Sync/dp/1591845351

  

Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest

 

Links

·  QR Codes Kill Kittens: How to Alienate Customers, Dishearten Employees, and Drive Your Business into the Ground by Scott Stratten

·  Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? By Seth Godin

  

Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners 

 

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