It was one of those days. It had been an extremely long one and there was still much to do. I was sitting at my desk thinking about what I needed to do so I could get home and see my family when I get a very uplifting email from a client. I was completely blown away.
The email was from Bo Bandy at ReadyTalk. She let us know that they have a monthly employee appreciation program that they run called “Fame Donuts”. It’s a way of recognizing various teams within ReadyTalk that work behind the scenes that have had a significant impact on the business by sending them some delicious donuts. I’m talking gourmet donuts – not Dunkin Donuts or Timmies.
In the email I received, Bo explained how they decided to move the concept of “Fame Donuts” beyond their own team and award the entire Influitive team to celebrate ReadyTalk’s successful launch of their advocate program and to thank everyone at Influitive for all of their hard work. Wow!
To me, the donuts didn’t matter. It was the concept behind this demonstration of appreciation that really moved me which is why I wanted to share this moment with you.
How do YOU measure customer success?
This token of appreciation goes well beyond any measurement of success that I’ve ever created on my customer success dashboards that I’m known for. This set a new standard for what we should strive for and validated the changes to the onboarding process we made and the fantastic culture that has been developed at Influitive. These donuts weren’t just for myself or the Customer Success team – they were for the entire company. This gesture also demonstrates what an amazing company ReadyTalk is.
Just after reading the initial email (before I even tasted that bacon encrusted glazed donut), I thought of a conversation I had at a previous company and couldn’t help but shake my head. I was speaking with an account manager at the time and he said to me “but Chad, in my role, I really don’t care about customer satisfaction. I’m paid to renew clients and that’s my focus.” That’s a very short-sighted approach. 
Our #1 goal that we have at Influitive in Customer Success is to make our customers successful and to turn them into advocates for Influitive. Our Coaches who own the relationship with the client are bonused based on the percentage of clients that have performed certain advocate activities. This goal of course goes well beyond the Customer Success team.
On the day that the donuts arrived I changed my role from Director of Customer Operations to Director of Donut Operations. I had to make sure we recorded the moment and that our development team didn’t eat all the donuts before everyone joined me for a quick celebration. 
As we enjoyed our donuts, we took a few moments as a company to reflect on our company’s commitment to providing an amazing customer experience and to develop Influitive advocates. It was a sweet moment on many levels.
I want to thank ReadyTalk again for awarding Influitive with those amazing Fame Donuts as well as a recent gift for my new baby girl. I would also like to thank ReadyTalk for all of the advocacy and support that they have provided for Influitive.
Chad H.
@chadtev
PS – I do want to note that Influitive is also a customer of ReadyTalk.
Chad Horenfeldt
Enlightened Customers 