Customer Confidential: Untold Stories of Earned Growth

Ep. 227: Richard Watts | "Would You Do That to Your Mum?" The Simple and Powerful CX Litmus Test

Feb 8, 2024

Richard Watts, former sales and service president at Progressive, discusses the power of the question, 'Would you do that to your mom?', in improving customer service and decision making. He explores how this approach revolutionizes customer focus, influences satisfaction and loyalty, and shapes his leadership. Topics include the evolution of customer service, empathy driving business success, challenges in embedding this philosophy, and balancing data-driven strategies with ethics.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Creating a Customer-Centric Culture and Growth Strategies

01:46 • 11min

Understanding Customer Experiences, Analyzing Cancellation and Reinstatement Processes, and Optimizing Referrals

12:20 • 2min

The Importance of Simplification in Organizations

14:44 • 5min

The Importance of CEO Belief in Customer Loyalty

19:33 • 12min

Humanizing the Customer Experience with the 'Would You Do That to Your Mum?' Rule

31:46 • 3min

How does an insurance industry leader integrate a simple yet profound question—Would you do that to your mom?—to transform customer service and decision making? In this episode, Richard Watts, board member at Farmers Insurance and former sales and service president at Progressive, discusses how asking this question improves business operations. He explores how this unique approach revolutionizes customer service and sets a new industry standard for empathy and customer focus.

Richard also shares insights into how this philosophy transformed internal practices, significantly influenced customer satisfaction and loyalty, and how it continues to shape his leadership and strategic decisions. We'll also revisit Richard's journey from biology to computer science and his shift toward customer-centric innovations in insurance.

Guest: Richard Watts, board member, Farmers Insurance

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Episode Highlights:

Introduction and background [02:05]
The genesis of the "Would You Do That to Your Mom?" philosophy [05:10]
Reflections on the evolution of customer service in insurance [11:25]
How empathy drives customer loyalty and business success [14:15]
Challenges and triumphs in embedding this into organizational culture [18:30]
The ongoing influence of this approach in Richard's career [22:45]
Balancing data-driven strategies with ethical considerations [25:50]

Quotable Quotes:

"There isn't a single business initiative or change program that people don't say has to be CEO-led or have the CEO's blessing." [21:19]

"Having someone out there to take the machete and, hack through the jungle of all these processes, being able to go there and say, 'Okay, we need real-time processing. We can't live with these batch systems anymore." [22:30]

Host: Rob Markey