The Art of Customer Transformation (with Chris Hood)

Angela Frank: 00:00:00

Welcome to The Growth Pod. Today on the podcast we have Chris Hood, who is the CEO of Muddy Robot Games and the CMO of Poly API.

He is a keynote speaker and thought leader in digital strategy.

With over three decades of experience in online development, his expertise has been applied across many industries including finance, healthcare, retail and non profits. Chris, welcome to the podcast.

Chris Hood: 00:00:23

Thank you. Great to be here.

Angela Frank: 00:00:25

I am so excited you're going to share the art of customer transformation with us today and I am so excited to learn more. Before we get started, can you share what is customer transformation and how can we use it to unlock growth in our businesses?

Chris Hood: 00:00:40

Yeah.

So customer transformation is a framework that I developed that basically takes a customer centric view so that you can help your organization, your business, your company have a different mindset in terms of how you serve your customers. And it's a seven stage framework. It starts with the customer, obviously customer first, and then it goes all the way into the business side of it.

So we take this kind of outside in perspective, start with the customer, go from the outside inwards to generate business value and along the way ensure that your culture, your technology, all of the business operations are all aligned with what your customers expectations are.

So how you really start to benefit from this is the more that you are aware of what your customers are asking for and what they need from you, the more that you're able to solve their problems, then the easier it is for you to generate more money.

Angela Frank: 00:01:42

I love this perspective.

I think that as somebody, you get into business to solve a problem for somebody and you have a vague idea of who that person is, but you don't really understand how they necessarily relate to your business.

So I think it's so important that you're taking this concept of starting with the customer and then bringing it all the way through to create more value in your business. You've worked with companies like Google and Fox Broadcasting, with shows like Glee and American Idol.

How do you see these companies leveraging customer transformation? And did your work at larger companies inform your process of customer transformation?

Chris Hood: 00:02:20

Yeah, it's a great question because in a lot of spaces, crazy enough, they're not focused on this type of philosophy. You would think that the larger organizations, the big brands that we're familiar with, are all in on this, but unfortunately they're not.

And that's also one of the reasons why I wrote a book specifically on customer transformation was to help not just small companies, but also enterprise larger companies go through this process. One of the biggest challenges that we see is that they are Focused on the wrong things. A lot of times they're focused on the technology.

This is especially true right now with something like artificial intelligence. So many people want to focus on AI, but not focus on, well, do your customers even care about it? Do your customers want it?

So we jump on these bandwagons of new technologies like AI, and then we forget about what the actual need of the customer is. So these strategies, this framework of customer transformation acknowledges that it's actually the customer that is transforming first.

It's the customer that is having new expectations of how they want to engage with you. And you, as a business, have to learn how to transform to meet those needs.

And when we think about large companies, they are often very slow to make that transformation happen.

And then smaller companies can do it, but they're so worried about the hype of whatever the newest trend is that they've got to go and jump on that also without really talking to their customers first to figure out what they need and then adapting to that.

And so, again, customer transformation really is all about starting with the customer first, understanding what those specific needs are, and then making the adjustments accordingly.

Angela Frank: 00:04:23

I think that's so important.

If somebody is listening to what you're saying now, and they want to take that first step into making sure that their business is utilizing customer transformation to set them up for more growth, where do you recommend they start?

Chris Hood: 00:04:38

Sometimes the simplest answer are the most obvious answers, which is, go talk with your customer. Like, I've had this same question come up I don't know how many times. And I say, well, have you actually talked with your customers?

Oh, no, we haven't done that yet. And this is more than just surveys. This is more than just going and doing some type of focus group.

This is genuinely sitting down, having conversations, and doing it on an ongoing basis. Having those focus groups having the surveys, but also checking out social media. What are people saying about you reading the reviews?

What are they thinking about you? How are your employees engaging with your consumers? What are they hearing? It's amazing. I'll tell you a quick story.

I went into Chipotle for dinner last night, and I was getting out the mobile app so that I can get my loyalty rewards points. And I couldn't find the QR code. And so the individual who was behind the register said, oh, just tap here and tap there and scroll down.

And there it is. I'm like, man, that's confusing. And the employee said, yeah, it's really bad. It's so confusing. And I just don't understand why they keep doing this.

Now there's an employee who manages those transactions on a daily basis who is more than familiar with what the customers think. Go talk to your employees.

They probably know how your employees are feeling about you and that kind of insight on a regular basis, that continuing of talking with your customers and your employees to figure out what they want is the easiest, simplest, quickest, cheapest way to start.

Angela Frank: 00:06:28

I love the focus on starting with the customer and actually talking to them.

I think that a lot of entrepreneurs, business owners, and even corporate leaders maybe feel like they're diminishing their value by having these conversations.

What would your response be to somebody who is a little bit iffy on, you know, if we're asking for feedback, that means, you know our product isn't completely right, or they have some other hesitation similar to that your customer is.

Chris Hood: 00:06:57

Your most important asset. Like, again, I struggle with this because I think in my mind, I'm a business leader. I want my customers to be happy.

Without my customers, I don't have a business. So I really don't have any higher priorities than ensuring that I am meeting the needs of my customers.

And so if it means that I have to sit down with them and have a conversation and talk about it, then that is in benefit to the company. I hear so many executives that say, I just don't have time to do this. Oh, it will all be okay. We'll just do a survey and hear what they have to say.

Reality is that if you spend the time and dedicate a portion of your time and your priorities to having those conversations, sitting down with them, talking, you are going to be more successful. It's guaranteed.

So again, I don't think that you have to think about this from a, well, I have higher priorities or I just don't have time to do this, or there's other things that are more critical. There aren't. Go sit down, take a moment, have a conversation. I'll give you a very quick example of this.

If you think about meetings, whether or not you have a meeting with a team member internally and a meeting with a customer, there are so many people who will continue to have the meeting with their internal team before having the meeting with their customer. Or if it runs over, like, oh, I'm sorry, I'm five minutes late, and then you go over to your customer call. All of that sets precedence.

Like, if you really care about your customer, you're not scheduling meetings that overlap with your customers and you're stopping those internal meetings so that you're on time with your customer meetings. Simple practices like that speak volumes for what your focus is.

Angela Frank: 00:09:07

I love that you're taking the focus and putting it on the customer. I'll add to your story with a story of my own. I consulted for a company that was very customer focused.

And at every all hands, they would bring a real customer, somebody who loved the product, onto the all hands, but they would leave it till the very end.

And so if the all hands ran over, you know, the marketing department liked to talk really long about everything that was going on or product had something new.

The customer who we brought to showcase at the all hands was left and given, you know, increasingly fewer moments to share their appreciation and the things they loved about using the platform. And so I think that it's so important what you're saying. Make sure you're making them a priority.

They could have taken that and moved it to the beginning of the meeting using your suggestions and then made sure that they were the star of the show and then went into the company business.

Chris Hood: 00:10:01

Absolutely 100% make them first. And you know, what, if they went the entire hour and you ran out of time, who cares? Go reschedule all of your internal meetings for a later point.

Like, your focus is the customer. Make them the star. As you said, take all the time you need for them to share whatever they want to share with you.

All of your internal stuff can wait.

Angela Frank: 00:10:25

I think that's so important.

If somebody is looking to start implementing customer transformation, what are some pitfalls that you've seen other people fall into that you can help us avoid?

Chris Hood: 00:10:37

Yeah, your biggest pitfalls are one, you think you're already doing this. There's a lot of times where I'll go and I'll consult with a business. Maybe I'm doing a workshop and I'll ask people to raise their hand.

How many people think that you are doing this right now, and usually 90% or plus are raising their hand. And then as we go through the workshop, at the end of that time, I ask the same question.

Now, after doing this, how many of you feel like you're actually doing what we've talked about and no one is raising their hand? So it shows you that your belief is that this is something that is already happening, and in most cases, it's just not happening.

So that's one pitfall. The other pitfall is assuming that you already know what your customer wants.

There's a lot of organizations that say, no, we've got the data, we've looked at the data, or I'm the Executive, I've been doing this for a long time. I know what the customers want.

And when you start to put that kind of bias and opinion into your decision making, you're going to lose customers because you actually have to look at the data and have those conversations to be sure. And then one more pitfall is you're kind of jumping to the conclusion.

Usually we see this in technology, which we've already talked about, which is, hey, there's this great new technology like artificial intelligence, let's go bring that in. Without also first asking, do your customers even care? Do they want it? Is this something that they need?

So when you kind of fast forward and work backwards from what we call the inside out as opposed to the outside in, then you're making a whole bunch of assumptions and you're leading down the wrong path and you've got to kind of reverse that and again, go back and start with that customer first.

Angela Frank: 00:12:30

I think that's so important. Chris, you've written a book on the concept of customer transformation and you said that there's a seven step process.

What is the TLDR version on those seven steps? Can you give us a brief overview?

Obviously I'm not asking you to give away all of your secret sauce because that is in your book, but how can we map this out in our mind and start planning to implement customer transformation in our businesses?

Chris Hood: 00:12:56

Yeah, sure. So it starts with customer. So that's just talking with your customer and understanding what their needs are.

The next step is interfaces, and that is how does your customers interface with you. And it could be anything from a mobile device to a website. And there's more which you can go find in the book. And then the third one is journeys.

We talk often about the customer journey, but this actually gets into a deeper, multidimensional type of perspective on what that journey really means. Fourth is ecosystem. This is around your community and developing unique ways for your consumers and your employees to engage with each other.

And then we get into culture. How is the culture of your organization helping to look at the customer first? And then we get into technology as number six.

And that's data and other forms of technology that you're going to use to meet the needs of your consumers. And then the last one is all about the business.

It's about leadership and a recognition that you have to align yourself with your customer in order to generate value.

Angela Frank: 00:14:07

Amazing.

Chris, you are somebody who's worked with Google Fox Broadcasting, you are CEO, CMO and co founder, and I'm sure all of your projects keep you really busy, but I'm curious to know what's next for you.

Chris Hood: 00:14:20

What's next? Oh, I've got a lot of things going on right now. I'm working on building a series of videos, like a masterclass on customer transformation.

I'm building a video game, which I'm excited to get out and launched. Writing another book for customer aspirations. And we'll continue to do all of the other things that I'm doing. I stay busy.

Angela Frank: 00:14:43

It definitely sounds like it.

If somebody is interested in learning more about customer transformation or keeping up with some of the projects you have coming down your pipeline, where's the best place for them to do that?

Chris Hood: 00:14:55

Best places on my website. So you can find me at chrishood.com c h r I s h o o d.com and there you can connect with me through social media.

You can find my blog, you can find my podcast, my videos. Anything you want to know about me is right there on my website. Chris.com amazing.

Angela Frank: 00:15:13

Chris, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing the art of customer transformation. I know I got a lot out of it, and I'm sure our audience did as well.

Chris Hood: 00:15:20

Thank you.

Angela Frank: 00:15:20

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Growth Pod. I look forward to seeing you in the next one.