Episode Details

Improve customer experience with active listening frameworks, the three universal satisfaction drivers, and how penalty versus reward communication impacts leadership and relationships. 

Tom Vander Well is the CEO of Intelligentics, a customer experience research and training firm. With over 30 years of experience analyzing recorded business conversations across corporate America, Tom is a pioneer in call quality assessment, active listening, and CX coaching. He is the author of This Call May Be Monitored: What Eavesdropping on Corporate America Taught Me About Business and Life and host of the Wayfarer podcast. 

Conversation Highlights

• How listening to more than 100,000 business calls shaped Tom’s approach to communication and service
• Why active listening reveals the real issues behind customer frustration
• How theater training helped Tom become a stronger coach, communicator, and leader
• The three universal drivers of customer satisfaction
• How Tom’s faith shaped his approach to business, leadership, and perseverance
• The difference between urgency and long-term excellence in business
• What it looks like to lead with candor while still caring for people

Full Episode Details: https://www.clearauthenticbrands.com/podcast/ep62-lessons-from-100000-customer-calls-tom-vander-well

Links & Resources 

• This Call May Be Monitored: What Eavesdropping on Corporate America Taught Me About Business and Life — Tom Vander Well
• Intelligentics
• Wayfarer Blog
• TomVanderWell.com
• ClearAuthenticBrands.com

Timestamps

• 00:10 - Introduction: Amy Dardis welcomes Tom Vander Well
• 01:08 - The pioneer days of call monitoring using cassette tapes
• 04:51 - How a college theater degree built a foundation for active listening and CX analysis
• 08:28 - The story behind the viral "10 Ways Being a Theater Major Prepared Me for Success" post
• 14:40 - Identifying individual motivators to successfully coach hardheaded sales reps
• 20:50 - The Intelligentics research-to-coaching flywheel
• 24:07 - The 3 Universal Drivers of Customer Satisfaction
• 29:50 - Penalty vs. Reward Variables in business operations and marriage
• 34:01 - Why short-term corporate fixes destroy long-term customer trust
• 39:14 - Presenting uncomfortable customer data to executive leadership
• 45:48 - Managing entrepreneurial risk and handling the unexpected loss of key revenue
• 53:50 - Practicing the "Chain Reaction of Praise" through business crises
• 56:28 - Staying committed to your long-term calling through difficult seasons
• 1:08:31 - Paralleling the service excellence journey to the Exodus wilderness