Ep88: Some Top 2022 Moments of Gold Dust

Speaker A: Welcome to the Customer Service Goldust podcast. This is the UK's only podcast where customer experience professionals share their journey, insights, challenges and current focus in an ever changing customer service landscape. My name is Gavin Scott and I invite you to join us as we delve into another great conversation. Whether you want to increase customer satisfaction or decrease customer complaints, sure to be plenty of gold dust that will help you to stand out.

Speaker B: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Customer Service Gold Dust podcast.

Speaker A: I'm your host, Gavin Scott.

Speaker B: Now, in this week's episode, I'm joined by the host of the CX Goalkeeper Podcast, Greg Ulioni. Now, uh, Greg shares best practices and insights on, on customer experience, transformation, innovation and leadership. Um, and I'm sure that this week's episode is going to be packed full of gold dust. Maybe just a few references to football here and there. Greg, welcome to the Customer Service Goldust podcast.

Speaker C: Hi, Gavin, thank you very much for the invitation. I am really thrilled to discuss with you on your outstanding podcast about customer experience and, I hope, about soccer.

Speaker B: Listen, it's great to have you and, uh, thanks for making the time to come on the show today. Now, let's get stuck in to the story behind the CX goalkeeper. So tell us some more about that then, Greg. Where did that come from?

Speaker C: This is a question that I often get. Ah, the story is not so strange as you could think at the end. The summary is I linked two of my passions and one is customer experience and the other one is soccer. And what I did or when I was a child, I was playing soccer in a small team and I was the goalkeeper and I really enjoyed being the goalkeeper. And I said, now it's time to bet to put my both passion together and create something around that. And here I am.

Speaker B: And it's interesting because my granddad was also a goalkeeper, um, and he played at a decent standard. And it's always great to be able to put two passions into the workplace, like have that double passion. So you've got to be, you know, in terms of the stuff that you do each day, you've got to enjoy what you do. Right, you must do.

Speaker C: Yes, yes, correct. I think that's really what it's important. Working and doing stuff that we like and we have passionate. At the end, I can say I was a consistent goalkeeper. I was not so bad and not so good because if I would be so good, then I would play tonight and not now speaking with you.

Speaker B: Well, listen, it's a great way of looking at it, saying, you know, it wasn't so good. It wasn't so bad. So you were a consistent goalkeeper. And we're going to talk later on in the podcast about a passion I've got for uh, football refereeing. But before we do that, what's the link between customer experience and football then Greg, for you?

Speaker C: Uh, I would like to start asking you some questions. And as you said you are already free and, and therefore I think you can quickly answer them. But let's try linking soccer together with customer experience. And I am asking you some questions. I know you are the host, but I allow myself to ask a three question to you.

Speaker B: Let's do it. Let's do it.

Speaker C: In soccer, who is the customer?

Speaker B: In soccer, who is the customer? That's gotta be what the audience, the fans. Would you say the fans are the customers?

Speaker C: Yes. Correct. This is the right answer. First answer, Right. The second question is from your point of view, what is the successful customer outcome? When are you happy as a fan?

Speaker B: Well, you got to be happy when your team wins, right? Then they win trophies.

Speaker C: Correct. Let's stay on one game. And you mentioned correctly that it's when the team win the game. And how do you measure the delivery of this success?

Speaker B: By winning the league or winning a game?

Speaker C: Exactly. It means you need to score more goals than the other team. And with these three small question, I can start creating a story or I can start explaining you for example the focus on the successful customer outcome. I want to be really transparent. This is something I learned from James Tokins and I am elaborating on that. I'm working on that. I'm playing also with this story because I am the six goalkeeper and I'm a great fan and in the meantime also friend of James. But basically. Exactly this is the key. The complete team, goalkeeper, defender, midfield players and strikers have all the same goal and creating this successful customer outcome. Let's quickly think about what would happen if a uh, complete company works towards the same target to make customer successful, to make customer happy. I think this would create quite a lot of good customer experience and at the end also great business result for, for the business, correct?

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker B: Yes, definitely.

Speaker C: And this is only one example. I could speak and make quite a lot of example. Our teams are, are playing together the role of the, of the referee that perhaps we can discuss uh, a bit later or also let's say thinking about the different roles, who is playing which or. But let's start the discussion and then perhaps I can bring again some good example from soccer that we can use in customer experience.

Speaker B: Okay, uh, and let's look at that then, shall we? So in terms of, we're talking about the players all having a goal to achieve and ultimately wanting to win the match. And so they have to be united in terms of what the overall goal is. And um, what happens then when people aren't united? From a customer service perspective, what are some of the things that you've noticed here? When teams aren't joined up and they're not all on the same page, and they haven't all got the same focus when it comes to wanting to win the game for their customers, then this

Speaker C: is a great question. And if we are speaking about customer service, I think that quite a lot in customer service get measured. And we can compare that also with soccer. In soccer, you can measure the number of tries, ah, uh, making a goal, or the number of passes, or the number of, uh, tackles, or the number of yellow or red cards. You can measure a lot. But at the end, what really counts is scoring the goals and scoring more goals than the other team. And the same is in customer service. We are measuring a lot in customer service. We are measuring how quick our, uh, employees are working. We are measuring the quality. How many mistakes do they make them? We are measuring, for example, if customer would recommend them, it was it easy to work with these employees. And at the end we need to tell to our employees what it's really the final target. Because if we focus everything on speed, and there are companies that need to do that because they, for example, they need to reduce the cost to serve, then let's be clear with these employees and tell them, um, for us the most important thing is speed and therefore answer the call as quick as possible and get rid of the customer as quick as possible, solving its issues so that you can achieve first contact resolution. But then please don't speak about high quality standards and this stuff, because if our employees are pushed to the maximum to deliver within a short time of period, then they are going to make mistakes. And I think there, it's important to, uh, have also clarity in customer service. What is the final goal that we want to achieve? And every company is different. Every company is in a different period, has different targets. But let's be clear about which targets need to be achieved.

Speaker B: And when you think about targets, Greg,

Speaker A: you know, I think many companies we

Speaker B: thinking, okay, well, speed is absolutely important. So the quantity of customers who you deal with is crucially important, but also the quality is important as well. And so how do companies get this right when it comes to that balance between quantity and quality.

Speaker C: I think your audience perhaps will be not happy with my answer. But, but you need to decide because speed and quality, it's quite difficult that you can achieve both of them. For me, in this example, these are concurrent targets. And at the end, the employee needs to know what is most important. And for sure, at the end you can find trade offs and saying, okay, we measure you the speed, but for us it's also important the quality. And therefore you create trade off. But you need really to be extremely clear what you want from your employees, because then they can make the trade off and they can also act based on what the request is.

Speaker B: And then just continuing with the analogy around football, I mean, and we know that soccer, as you call it, Greg, we've got, uh, 11 players on each team. And so just imagine walking out onto the field of play, 22 players on the field of play, and there were no goals. I mean, what sort of a football match would that be? I mean, what's the striker going to do? What's the goalkeeper going to do?

Speaker A: That'd be a pretty boring match, right?

Speaker C: Yes, correct. But at, uh, the end, you cannot always win. Also in business, you need to continue working, you need to continue training, and you need to get better that perhaps you will win the next match. I think this is important. Every game, every day we are working, we learn something new, we try to, to get better. And our target is to win the game. And in businesses, increase the, uh, acquisition, increase market share, improve profits. But at the end, I think we need to play, we need to get better and try to win the match.

Speaker A: I wanted to use this episode to share some top tips on setting and achieving your goals. In fact, I read an article recently about New Year's resolutions, and it said that only 8% of people stick to their resolutions and, um, achieve them. And if you think about it, we're really good at starting the year with good intentions. And after just a small number of weeks, we lose a bit of focus and we often fall back into old habits. Let me ask you this question. How many of you said that you wanted to have a dry January? And, um, after just a few days or even a day, you found yourself pouring a glass of wine or opening a beer that was left over from Christmas? I'm sure there are a few of you who are smirking to yourself, thinking, yes, Gav, that was me. Um, and for those of you who have remained dry, a big well done to you. From personal experience, once you get through the first three to four weeks, it does get a lot easier. In fact, last year me and my wife Amy decided to have a dry January and then we ended up doing the first six months of the year without a drink. Um, and boy did I have real clarity of thinking on a Monday morning. I wasn't suffering from jet lag from the weekend, so it's certainly worthwhile doing it. And I'll encourage those who have still stayed dry to continue. And I'm sure you'll feel great in a few weeks time and beyond. The same can be said for some of the business goals that we set ourselves. We have good intentions at the start of the year, but we quickly lose focus as we get distracted by the daily acts of trivia that can consume a lot of our time. We allow ourselves to get bogged down with the minutia, the noise, or even the sand, rather than focusing on our big rocks, as Stephen Covey would say. And so, in today's episode, I wanted to share some top tips that I've used and have worked for me, as well as some best practice lists that I've come across over the years. But let me start off by sharing a story that demonstrates the importance of the power of focus. Now, when I was nine years old, I took up martial arts and I joined the local taekwondo club in Runkorn where I was born and bred. I've always enjoyed keeping fit and exercise and I wanted to have some skills to be able to protect myself should the need arise. Now, in taekwondo there are over a thousand different moves and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to master all of them and so I focused on being an expert at just two. And I was very good at uh, three to four other moves. And um, the two moves that I mastered was the sidekick and the back kick. And I practiced them every day and um, became an expert on each move to the point that when our club did demonstrations to the public, I was wheeled out at the end of each demonstration and I broke a piece of wood in two using the side kick. The crowd loved it and many other juniors did joined the club as a result. Not bad for a ten year old, eh? And I fought in competitions in the under 30 kilogram category. I mean under 30 kilos, you can see how small I was. And I managed to win three gold medals. I wasn't the most flamboyant of fighters as I focused mostly on nailing my sidekick, which stopped my opponent from hitting me. And I occasionally threw a few back kicks in here and there. It was pretty boring, but Guess what? It was simple, effective, and it worked. But why are you sharing this story? I hear you ask, well, how can you develop a level of mastery or expertise with a certain skill or a couple of skills that will help you to achieve your goals? With my Taekwondo, I simply developed a level of mastery with a couple of moves. And, um, I followed the process of applying that mastery when competing and carrying out demonstrations. And the outcome took care of itself. We saw an increase in junior membership, so the future of the club was secured. I achieved a number of gold medals myself. And so I had some personal success for me, as well as some great stories that I can share with my three kids and you, of course. So what's my first tip for you? Well, the first tip is this. At the start of the year, it's great to make a list of some of the top goals that you want to achieve in the year ahead. And so I would encourage you all to make a list of maybe the top 25 goals that you want to achieve in 2022. And I'm a firm believer of thinking on paper, and so make sure that you write these goals down somewhere. Next up, I want you to look at these 25 goals and then maybe circle the top five most important goals on your list. And so when you've got these top five, then we need to rank them in order of priority from 1 to 5. And so with the other 20 that you've got, then just discard these for now because these will simply take your focus away from your top five most important goals that you want to achieve. And you can refer back to these, uh, only when you've achieved the top five. And if you're good at drawing, then I would strongly encourage you to draw a picture for each of your top five goals. There's a lot to be said about drawing and being able to visualize what it is that you want to achieve. Back in 2008, 2009, I drew a picture of a detached house with lots of trees around it. And as I look out of my office window today from the back garden where I'm based, that's exactly what I see. A nice detached house with loads of trees. And, um, with these top five goals, make sure that you have them on display somewhere where you can see them every day. If you have them in sight, then they will always be on your mind, and therefore you have a better chance of being able to achieve them. So now that you have real clarity of the top five goals that you want to achieve in 2022, these are the key things that you want to focus on or nothing else matters. Now, some of these things might be achieved quite quickly and others may take a bit more time. And, um, that's okay. So what can you do to help to make sure that you focus on delivering against these five goals? I would encourage you to answer this question for each of these five goals. And the question is this, why is that important to me? By answering this question, when you do have a bit of a, uh, wobbly moment, you can remind yourself as to why this goal is so important. And this will help you to get back on track or even just stay on track. It's important to really understand what's the why that sits behind this. So spend time looking at each of those five goals and just write down next to them. Why is that important to you now? At the end of each workday, make a list of the top six things that you want to achieve the following day. And, um, some of these things need to be linked in with your top five goals. And at the start of each workday, simply work through your list of the top six things and make every attempt to get these nailed. And if you don't manage to achieve them all, then carry them over to the next day. And um, if you develop a level of mastery in following this process each day, then it will help you to move closer towards achieving your goals. Have a think about how you can make sure that you can remove any distractions that you might have as you focus on your list of six things to do. Maybe you can put your mobile phone into a draw or even switch it off while you focus on your top six things. If you can switch off your email and maybe check it after completing one of your six things and then quickly get back to the next thing on your list, then do that. When you achieve one of your top five goals, be sure to celebrate success and treat yourself to something. This will give you extra motivation for the next goal that you want to get nailed down. It can be something as simple as, I don't know, buying yourself a new pair of jeans or something like that. And, um, for those of you who already do a lot of reading, much of the advice and tips that I've shared have appeared in a number of books and publications that I've read. And I would certainly encourage you to get a copy of Eat the Frog by Brian Tracy, the Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, and, um, the Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. All of these are great resources when it comes to achieving your goals and being productive in both your business and personal life. Right now that this task has been nailed and this episode is ready for publication, I'm going to quickly check my emails before I move on to the next item on my list. See what I did there. Wishing you all every success in smashing your goals and may 2022 be your best year yet. Now today's guest has been a CX practitioner for over 17 years. He has been instrumental in setting up large scale CX programs across the markets of India, Singapore and Malaysia. And he's a firm believer of data driven decision making and predictive analysis to take informed actions in driving customer centricity. Joining us all the way from Mumbai in India, let's give a warm welcome to Rushi Kulkarni. Hello Rishi.

Speaker C: Hello there.

Speaker D: Thank you so much. Very warm. Good morning, good afternoon to everyone listening

Speaker A: to this podcast, Rushy Namaste. Is that right?

Speaker D: That's correct.

Speaker C: That's correct.

Speaker A: I spent some time in Bangalore working for a large, uh, telecommunications provider many years ago. And so I learned just a little bit of the language, if memory serves me right, Namaste M. Does that mean good morning or welcome or something like that?

Speaker D: Oh, that's absolutely correct. Namaste here means a hi or hello. And uh, you could use it any part of the day. So that's great. And in fact, as you rightly said, I'm um, in Mumbai, which is the financial capital, whereas Bengaluru or Bangalore is more of the IT hub. So you are at the right place there.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And so yes, and it's 9 o' clock over here in the UK and I believe it's around about 2:30 over there in Mumbai.

Speaker D: Oh yes, very much. Um, it's, it's, it's 2:30 and the weather is quite pleasant out here. So kind of enjoying it. Yeah.

Speaker A: Good. When we're coming here from the UK, it's currently about 1 degree, so a bit, bit cold this morning. But I, I guess we get used to that over here in the uk, the cold weather. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying a little bit of sun across there in Mumbai. And before we get stuck in and talk more about the work that you do, Rasheed, you know, I'm just keen to find out. Tell me some more about your background and what got you into, into cx.

Speaker D: So if I were to a bit rewind back to share with you. I have done my graduation in mathematics. That was sometime way back early 2000. And then of course I did my MBA in marketing. You know, it's uh, a, it's a full time two years course out here. So having passed out fresh off MBA days, I always had in my mind that I should do something which will help me capitalize on the data part which I did in my graduation days on maths as well as look at something which is more long term, you know something like marketing or, or it would be customer experience and to be able to do that. I actually started with a sales job in life insurance that gave me a very much, I would say hands on experience, meeting a lot of people on a daily basis, understanding what their needs are, uh, you know, that kind of a thing. So, so that's where I did start my journey I would say in cx.

Speaker A: Okay, so graduated with mathematics, did your MBA in marketing and you wanted to capitalize on the data part in the long term. And so when you started off you started as a sales job in life insurance and that provided you with some hands on experience when it comes to interacting and engaging with customers. So there's a little bit of a whistle stop tour of how you got to where you are today. And so tell me some more about some of the work that you do today Rushi.

Speaker D: So some of the work that we do more in the cx I would say customer experience or the employee experience ex space in, more in the, I would say the VOC programs where we connect uh, back with the customer or the employee in ex case and try to understand what is it uh, that they were one expecting from the brand. Yeah, it is always a function I feel of what is the brand promise to the customer and then trying to understand from proper feedback mechanism whether they have been, I would say the brand has been able to deliver on that experience or is there a gap. So, so what we are doing currently as a CX consultant that I work um, more to understand from the voice of customer what are the great things that the brand is doing and we can capitalize on it. Whereas what are some of the concern of pain areas where maybe the brand can focus on, you know, so that's, that's where I am.

Speaker A: And tell me Rushi, why is it important for an organization to have a good brand and have a good brand promise? Why is that important as far as you're concerned?

Speaker D: Well I think it's, it's quite important because if you look at traditionally when we started with the TV commercials and then we went on to have more of the digital marketing era where we, where we had influencers and we had so many blogs and articles written that was great to have your acquisition plan in place but with time I feel the age old thing that we keep talking about that it's quite expensive and difficult to I would say get a new customer to your brand whereas retain your existing customer. So I think that retention part is very important and the focus is hence if ABC is my brand promise by a brand xyz am I delivering it or not? Or rather am I exceeding that trend promise or not? I think that's where some of the themes in CX are.

Speaker A: And in your experience then Rushi do those organizations who are absolutely delivering against their brand promise and their brand lives up to customer expectations, what's the impact that those sort of customers have when it comes to the retention of their customers?

Speaker D: Well I think a couple of benefits there. One is it gets lot easier to retain them so that least they think of switching over to competition brand or they don't even want to check on their portal or social media saying what are competition customers saying? No, I'm quite happy, I'm quite, I would say looking long term with my current organization who's delivering me on brand promise. The other part I have seen is that these customers, you know they, they don't waste the time to go on to Internet and in the social media space they want to talk about something positive that the brand has done. Yeah, I remember one of the posts that I read from a uh, customer who had been out of the way saying that the usual turnaround time for a credit card is around five days in India to kind of get it home right from the application stage and the customer was so delighted to get it in three days because she was won't fly for a domestic flight and she requested for three days versus five that she went all about mentioning about the brand and how they had looked at, you know, were promising and they had delivered on it. So I think that's, that's the moment of truth that the customer had and they went all about talking about it to others. So I think that's the power of, I would say the customer being really really happy because of a brand prompts delivered great.

Speaker A: And um, when you think about some of the organizations that you worked with and potentially some of the organizations that you're working with now then Rushi what are some of the things that they do when it comes to the approach that they take with their brand?

Speaker D: Right, so I think the uh, approach they take with their brand is that, I mean you must have heard it n number of times that data is the new oil And I feel some of the brands that I work with, they're very serious about, one, the authenticity of the data. Second is the completeness of the data. And third, how do I look at deriving some kind of actionable insights? It could be with the help of some, um, internal business metrics. It could be operational data that you typically get from your call center, or then adding that all up on a layer of the feedback mechanism, which is more of, uh, external data coming from the customer. So I think that's where brands are completely leveraging the power of that data that they have at their disposal.

Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the customer Service Goldust podcast. I'm sure that there were plenty of ideas you can take away and apply to your business today. Three things to do now subscribe to the podcast so that you can benefit from every episode. I'd also love to see a little review as well. This helps to spread the word and, um, the gold dust, of course. Head over to Amazon to get a copy of my latest book, Finding Goldust how to Create Exceptional Customer Experiences. The book is endorsed by a former executive vice president of Walt Disney Resorts. And finally, visit my website at, uh, www. GavinScott me and sign up for some more free content. Until next time, stay memorable.