"Our company mission is to help people experience the joy of food" - Scott Porter
What comes to mind when you think about customer service? Do you think about United Airlines and the infamous passenger escort? Do you remember that restaurant server who rolled her eyes when you asked for gluten-free? Or do you think about that grocery store clerk who remembered your first name and asked if your child was feeling better?
We all know what it feels like to have an incredible customer experience. We evangelize, we promote, and we rave about those companies. The same is true of horrible experiences. Happy customers spend 140% more than unhappy customers yet, too often, founders obsess over profit margins or process flows and then wonder why they are struggling to grow, or much less, survive. My guest this week is Scott Porter, founder of San Diablo Artisan Churro's. Scott has a unique perspective when it comes to customer service. In fact, Scott leveraged customer service to rescue a nursing home from bankruptcy. It might be fair to say that Scott worries more about his customers than his own business. On the other hand, that's probably why his business is booming!
Throughout this season of SalesFounders we have covered a number of themes that seem to exemplify winning startups: Leveraging domain expertise, validated learning, mentorship, and strategic sales growth. Josh Ellars, founder of Patri, exemplifies all of them. In fact, his startup story is a case-study in how each of these components blend together to create a powerful growth trajectory. Josh believes that a founder needs critical feedback and an openness to adaptation. On this episode Josh explains how he has leveraged 10 years of public sector sales expertise, 10,000 linkedIn connections, a powerhouse advisory board and a lean methodology to bootstrap a solution that is will forever change the way companies sell to the public sector.