The Champagne Strategy Podcast – Episode 9 – Modern Customer Experience Strategy

1 September 2020

Matt Watkinson is famous enough to be reverred worldwide within the discipline of customer experience (CX).

He was talking about customer experience even before it became a boardroom buzzword. By 2012, he’d already published his first book on the topic and commercial success propelled his career forward quite dramatically.

Now a successful author and practitioner for over a decade, his work has branched into a mix of design, growth, marketing and finance – using customer experience principals and concepts as a way to approach this work. He looks at the CX discipline from a far wider perspective than most. By drawing on a knowledge of multiple disciplines, his craft has been honed to the point where he is now a deadly effective problem solver.

Two things are apparent immediately. He’s well-read and highly intellectual, so in this episode we get to delve deep into many areas aide from the topic at hand. So if you’re more interested in marketing, design, strategy, growth or finance, don’t be mismayed. There’s a lot of content in here which you’ll be able to related to and take away from golden nuggets of wisdom.

Which hotel did he say in that costs $14000 per night and what is the secret to a good whisky?

What is his personal history with global Ogilvy god, Rory Sutherland? What is the CX holy trinity, and the fuse box project tactic?

What’s the fail-safe way to create your own buzzword and why are they are so prolific? Which of the 450+ books on CX does he recommend you read?

Which statement about CX has made him very unpopular?

What’s the one thing you shouldn’t forget to do if you’re ever invited to speak at an event?

What’s the difference between a CX practitioner vs an expert? The easy way to spot the difference.

What is the one customer feedback question every hotel (and every business for that matter) should be asking their customers but fail to do so?

What mistakes did he make when writing his books which he would change?

All of this and more answered in a long, but ‘worth it’ episode – especially if you like whisky.

Teaser Interview

Full Interview

Part 1

Part 2

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References Made in the Episode

Kilchoman Machir Bay Scotch Whisky (independently owned and vertically integrated)

Talisker whisky 10yo (owned by Diageo)

Byron Sharp – How Brands Grow

Methodical – where Matt works

Honda Cog Ad – everything just works case study 

Brian Balfour – T-shaped skill sets

Book – Financial Intelligence

Quote from Brian Solis (Salesforce) RE Customer Experience and Tom Fishburne Marketoonist

Rory Sutherland’s book – Alchemy

Klarna – Smooth Payments ad

Matt Watkinson’s project list on his website

Matthew Dixon – The Effortless Experience

Ian Williams – Linkedin Profile

 

Books Matt Recommends or is Reading

Howard Marks – The most Important thing

Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows

Rory Sutherland’s book – Alchemy

Simply Better – Patrick Barwise

Gap Selling – Keenan

The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart

The Nature of Technology – W. Brian Arthur

Founders at Work – Jessica Livingston

The Halo Effect – Phil Rosenzweig

Thinking in Bets – Annie Duke

Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs by Karen Berman and Joe Knight

Mastery by Robert Greene

 

Favourite Website

Methodical – Matt’s business

 

Favourite Hotel or CX Example – side discussion

Saffire Lodge – Tasmania

 

Piece of tech Matt can’t do without

Mac, Kindle, Camera – Model Q Leica, G-shock watch, Swatch watches

 

Shameless Plug

The Grid – Matt Watkinson’s second book

The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences – Matt Watkinson’s first book

 

Best Method of Contact

LinkedIn  – Matt’s profile is here

Twitter – Matt’s handle is here

 

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Credits

This episode was edited and produced by:

John James and team

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