REALLY Know Your Customer

The COVID-19 crisis has nudged businesses worldwide to pivot, not only with the pandemic itself but with the changing nature of the economy. As we enter the new decade, we usher in a new economic paradigm – a transformational economy where value creation is most seen in customer transformation. This is an economy where the foundational tenets of client relationships become even more critical to business success. Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh talk at length about these transformations in their book, ProphetAbility. In this episode, they evaluate what they have learned since the book’s publication in terms of the salient topics that entrepreneurs have to consider during this era of change: building client relationships, working with a client advisory board, acting on customer feedback, and closing the loop.

Making sure you’re delivering value to your customer means knowing who your ideal customer is. In this episode, Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh talk to Ross G.D. Fulton about the ideal customer and the increase of blending customer success and customer experience for value creation. Ross is the Founder and CEO of Valuize, a company that helps B2B software companies retain and expand their customers and revenue at scale. Ross discusses the four phases of the customer life cycle and the biggest challenge about understanding value for B2B software companies. He also touches on how tech companies convert from perpetual licensing to the subscription model and the importance of alignment between the customer success and product teams.

Small businesses typically have a family-like dynamic that is often very crucial to their success. As soon as a business starts to scale and increase their workforce, this family feel is often the first to go out of the window. A professional employer organization helps you keep your employee engagement healthy even as your business grows. Jay Hornbuckle is the Founder and CEO of Abatys, a PEO that helps employers with their HR and employee benefit needs. Sitting down with Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh on the show to share what his company does, Jay’s business philosophy revolves around really knowing who his customers are and who they aren’t. He also talks about the human side of customer support, employer-employee relationships, positivity, and employee culture.

Much of our healthcare is built upon the transactional framework – the patient comes to the hospital, gets admitted, and is subjected to medication and medical procedures to cure whatever ails them. At PALM Health, an integrative medicine and wellness center in St. Louis, Missouri, clients get to have a whole new experience with its patient-centered philosophy and personalized care that is based on a deep understanding of what the patient needs. Dr. Lauren Munsch Dal Farra, founder, CEO, and a physician at the center, joins Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh on the show to talk about the way PALM Health conducts its operations – from its navigator program for patient experience optimization to its varied services that combine the best of boutique medicine and integrative lifestyle medicine. Join in as she shares the center’s approach to healthcare and how it has successfully shifted its services in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Customer support is a big driver of customer success in the B2B sphere. In the B2C space, however, things can be more challenging as you’re dealing with hundreds to thousands of customers daily. How can you design your customer service program so that it translates into customer success as you scale your business? José A. González, the CEO of Infolink-EXP and founder of Zahoree, joins Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh to explain how his company’s customer journey support model works. José has been in the IoT business for more than twenty years, learning along the way that scaling your business is much more about customer relations than product design or marketing. Listen to him share some of the ways his company accompanies customers on their journey towards having the best experience with their IoT products in the middle of a technological revolution.

Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh continue to discuss ways to reduce risk mitigation in Part 2 of their discussion with business growth strategist Mark S A Smith. In this episode, Mark breaks down the eight ways businesses can reduce perceived risk to ensure they are the safest choice. He shows how customers experience purchase risk and helps salespeople understand how they can make the essential pivot in the way they sell. Being safe is the new science of selling. Follow Mark’s eight ways as well as the five Rs of ROI to create wealth for your customers and, consequently, for yourself.

It is natural for business owners to aim at producing the best products in their respective industries. After all, who would want to buy products that are sub-par? Contrary to this, business growth strategist Mark S A Smith believes it is not about being the best choice out there that gets the sale but about being the safest choice, especially in our recent environment. He joins hosts Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh on the show for a two-part series to talk about risk mitigation. In this first episode, Mark defines what risk is, how it impacts sales, and the four fundamental risk mitigation factors. He taps into the mindset of the leaders who are succeeding in crisis, why purchase decision risk matters, and what the two riskiest decisions leaders are making in the massive transition happening in the business environment. Don’t miss out on Mark’s great insights in this jam-packed show so you can make your product the safest choice and close the sale.

How well are you getting to know your customers? Making an active effort to learn more about your customers and improve your customer relationships comes with fantastic opportunities to learn and grow. Ryan Schreiber, CarrierDirect’s Director of Engagement, chats with Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh to discuss why customer relationships should be at the center of your universe. While continuing to work on these customer relationships might be more difficult in the “New Abnormal,” you have to invest in keeping these connections and providing transformation and value to your customers.

Brand experience is what gets customers talking about your business and word of mouth is certainly the best advertising one can ever hope for. Building a brand that gives a consistent experience is something on which all entrepreneurs should be focusing their energy. Joining Tony Bodoh and Betsy Westhafer on the podcast today is Mark DiMassimo, founder and chief executive officer of DiMassimo Goldstein, a marketing, design and advertising agency based in New York City. Mark believes that entrepreneurs should take the time to really know their customers and build a brand that inspires action. Key to this is the concept of identity, which he believes is the most important concept in business. He encourages every entrepreneur to put focus on building their identity and to be a host for creativity during crisis.

The quickest and most efficient way to innovate on a product or service is to know your customers and acquire a genuine understanding of the problems they encounter on a daily basis. Customer-driven innovation is Nick Ripplinger’s guiding principle that drives his success in rapid innovation technology commercialization. Nick is the Founder and President of Battle Sight Technologies, a startup that finds ways to market innovative technologies that cater to the needs of warfighters, first responders, and emergency management professionals. Nick joins Betsy Westhafer and Tony Bodoh in today’s episode to talk about technology commercialization, customer-driven innovation, veteran entrepreneurship, the coronavirus pivot, success through strategic partnerships, and more. To Nick, bringing in customers to the development process is a no-brainer – a point that entrepreneurs from every business sphere should ponder upon.