Customer Confidential: Untold Stories of Earned Growth

If you’re struggling to find pants that fit, the last place you probably turn is the Internet. But men's clothing retailer Bonobos is using customer service, feedback and design to challenge this assumption. On the latest episode, Bonobos Cofounder Andy Dunn shares his philosophy for creating memorable customer experiences both online and in stores.

Mobile phone stores increasingly depend on loyalty economics to drive their businesses. As a result, every customer interaction in one of these stores is vital. It’s a chance to wow a customer with a great experience, or to frustrate them with long waiting times, pushy salespeople or poorly trained technicians. Yet store owners generally struggle to get enough customer feedback to know how their c...

Why are so many of the global loyalty leaders run by their founders or their founders’ family members? What do they do that increases their ability to achieve and sustain customer loyalty? James Allen, head of Bain's Strategy practice, has studied successful founder-led companies in great detail. On the podcast, he discusses how companies can preserve what he calls the Founder’s Mentality while th...

A few years ago, Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith realized that there were 130,000 different versions of Net Promoter surveys in the survey company's system. The Net Promoter Score had become wildly popular among its customers, yet there was little consistency in its application. Ryan saw an opportunity to make it easier for Qualtrics customers to measure their Net Promoter Score. On the podcast, Ryan tal...

DonorsChoose founder Charles Best and CMO Katie Bisbee discuss how their nonprofit gives schoolchildren the supplies they need and donors the transparency they want. Learn more about this episode

In this Net Promoter System Podcast short, Rob Markey explains why it's important to create conditions that will help employees succeed before connecting Net Promoter Scores to compensation. Learn more: Your best employees work for love, not money Converting loyalty into economic advantage

In a previous episode of the Net Promoter System Podcast, we heard how Safelite applied the Net Promoter System and became a "people-powered" and "customer-driven" organization. It started with helping frontline workers change the game so they could build customer loyalty. In our latest discussion, CEO Tom Feeney and senior executives Natalie Crede and Renee Cacchillo explain why it's equally impo...

Innovative restaurant companies such as Patxi's Pizza and Tomatina are putting a range of technologies to work to collect Net Promoter feedback from customers. One tool in particular, Thanx, offers restaurants a prepackaged rewards system and an easy way to gauge diner sentiment through a mobile app. Learn more: The economics of loyalty Closing the loop The infrastructure behind a Net Promoter Sys...

Leading practitioners of the Net Promoter System seek feedback not only from their own customers but also from their competitors' customers. Competitive benchmark Net Promoter Scores provide an objective and fair basis for comparing your company's feedback to the feedback your competitors earn. Done right, they can provide the basis for goal setting and prioritization at the highest levels of a co...

The LEGO Group nearly went bankrupt a decade ago. It's hard to imagine. The company's return to profitability came from refocusing on its core: the bricks and the people who love to build with them. Conny Kalcher, vice president of marketing and consumer experiences at the LEGO Group, discusses how the company introduced the Net Promoter System and started collecting regular feedback to learn what...

E.ON's Olivier Mourrieras, Rene Matthies and Guntram Wurzberg discuss how market shifts prompted the energy provider to change its approach to service (3:45), its use of internal NPS (17:00) and loyalty economics (34:20).

In part two of our conversation with former Telstra CEO David Thodey, he discusses the benefits of regular team huddles (1:48), his approach to evaluating potential investments (10:40) and what he would do differently if he could (16:31).

In the first of a two-part interview, former Telstra CEO David Thodey discusses his decision to put customers first at the Australian telco (2:50), the difference between satisfaction and advocacy (10:50), and his approach to balancing investor expectations (25:50).

Darrell Rigby, head of Bain's Global Innovation practice, discusses what it takes to turn a great idea into an innovation (2:30), the "BothBrain" innovation concept (4:25) and the dangers of multitasking (35:00).

In honor of the podcast's 50th episode, Rob Markey highlights some of his favorite stories and lessons from podcast guests, including former Disney executive Lee Cockerell (2:05), hotelier Horst Schulze (9:53) and JetBlue's Bonny Simi (19:49).

Joshua Rossman, who leads loyalty efforts at eBay, discusses the early challenges the company faced as it adopted the Net Promoter System (2:30), the importance of building trust (13:20) and what it takes to become customer-centric (38:45).

Leela Srinivasan of restaurant reservation service OpenTable discusses the challenges of running a restaurant (8:10), shares key lessons from Net Promoter feedback (12:20) and talks about the company's mobile payment app (23:21).

Bain's Fred Reichheld returns to the podcast to share his early experiences with team huddles (1:50), the ways that companies use them to connect employees to the larger business mission (7:45), and tips to make them more effective (31:55).

Jeanne Bliss, who pioneered the role of chief customer officer, discusses the dangers of reactionary behavior (3:00), the traits of an effective chief customer officer (15:30) and the companies she admires (23:50).

Bonny Simi, vice president of talent at JetBlue, shares the airline's approach to inspiring employees (8:00), encouraging teamwork (10:45) and creating a culture that puts customers first (23:05).

Ann Goggins Gregory and Mark Andrews of Habitat for Humanity discuss their efforts to pilot the Net Promoter System with volunteers (9:27), the surprising clarity that open-ended questions can provide (16:00) and the complexities that come with running a major nonprofit (30:00).

Birchbox cofounder Hayley Barna discusses how the beauty e-commerce company got its start (3:02), how it rigorously tracks customer buying behavior (14:36) and its decision to open physical stores (27:46).

Telecom executive John Dwyer discusses the benefits of the Net Promoter System's outer loop process (13:45), the company's approach to delighting mobile customers (16:10) and its strategies for supporting frontline employees (27:09).

Former Disney executive Lee Cockerell shares what it takes to maintain high-quality service at the company's theme parks and resorts (4:52), anticipate customers' needs (16:41) and spread that signature Disney magic (26:52).

Alan Balmer and Fernando Cadena of Elwood Staffing discuss how they use Net Promoter to improve conditions for employees in temporary placements (18:34), build lasting relationships (35:28) and improve the staffing experience for clients (42:43).