Empower Your Business Through Salesforce Utilization | Marcus Smith

Hey CX Nation,

In this week's episode of The CXChronicles Podcast #271, we welcomed Marcus Smith, CEO at Cloud Trailz based in Atlanta, GA. 

Cloud Trailz offers their customers Saleforce help without all of the hassle by providing professional, expert users that come with the playbooks required to achieve utilization & success with the world's largest CRM. 

In this episode, Marcus and Adrian chat through the Four CX Pillars: Team, Tools, Process & Feedback. Plus share some of the ideas that his team think through on a daily basis to build world class customer experiences.

**Episode #271 Highlight Reel:**

1. Salesforce utilization management in today's world 
2. Why you might be over-building your CRM
3. Implementing tech changes within an organization 
4. Building playbooks to guide your team & create consistency 
5. Leveraging 360 feedback to build high-performing teams

Click here to learn more about Marcus Smith

Click here to learn more about Cloud Trailz

Huge thanks to Marcus for coming on The CXChronicles Podcast and featuring his work and efforts in pushing the customer experience & contact center space into the future. 

For all of our Apple & Spotify podcast listener friends, make sure you are following CXC & please leave a 5 star review so we can find new members of the "CX Nation". 

You know what would be even better?

Go tell your friends or teammates about CXC's custom content, strategic partner solutions (Hubspot, Intercom, & Freshworks) & On-Demand services & invite them to join the CX Nation, a community of 15K+ customer focused business leaders!

Want to see how your customer experience compares to the world's top-performing customer focused companies? 

Check out the CXC Healthzone, an intelligence platform that shares benchmarks & insights for how companies across the world are tackling The Four CX Pillars: Team, Tools, Process & Feedback & how they are building an AI-powered foundation for the future. 

Thanks to all of you for being apart of the "CX Nation" and helping customer focused business leaders across the world make happiness a habit!

Transcript

Quick recap

Marcus Smith, CEO of CloudTrails, joined the discussion to share his background in product management and discuss Salesforce optimization services that focus on simplifying the platform's usage for businesses. The conversation covered CloudTrails' approach to team building and service delivery, emphasizing a flexible work environment and unlimited free consultation for clients seeking to understand Salesforce capabilities. The discussion concluded with insights on managing customer and employee feedback, including experiences from Marcus's time as head of CX at One Fine Stay, and the importance of leveraging feedback for continuous improvement in leadership and service delivery.

Next steps

• CloudTrails marketing team: Expand marketing efforts and LinkedIn presence
• Marcus: Continue working with newly hired marketing coordinator on expanding CloudTrails' marketing initiatives

Summary

Seasonal Changes and Customer Stories

Marcus and CXChronicles discussed their weekend experiences and the changing seasons, with CXChronicles expressing concern about the end of summer and his golf routine due to early snow in Buffalo. They briefly touched on Marcus's experiences living in Virginia and their mutual connection to Alexandria. CXChronicles shared a story about a friend in Woodstock who became successful in real estate and property management over 20 years. They agreed to proceed with their planned discussion, with Marcus prepared to share customer stories and CXChronicles planning to guide the conversation through set pillars. They also addressed potential technical issues and agreed on a plan to reset if connectivity problems occurred.

Salesforce Optimization and Simplification

Adrian Brady-Cesana welcomed Marcus Smith, CEO of CloudTrails, to discuss Salesforce optimization and customer experience. Marcus shared his background in product management and emphasized his focus on simplifying Salesforce usage for clients. He explained that CloudTrails offers services like training, coaching, and optimization without hourly billing, aiming to make Salesforce more accessible and practical for businesses. They discussed the importance of keeping Salesforce implementations simple and tailored to specific business needs, rather than creating overly complex systems.

CloudTrails' Team and Service Focus

Marcus discussed his team-building philosophy at CloudTrails, emphasizing the importance of hiring people who value productivity and autonomy. He explained that he looks for candidates who can focus on results rather than time spent working, and he provides a flexible environment where employees can complete tasks efficiently. Marcus also described CloudTrails' main service of explaining Salesforce possibilities to clients, noting that customers often have questions about the platform's capabilities and that the company offers unlimited free consultation.

Complex Change in Customer Settings

Marcus and CXChronicles discussed the challenges of implementing complex organizational change language in customer settings, emphasizing that small businesses often require simpler, focused tools and strategies. Marcus highlighted CloudTrails' limited toolkit, consisting mainly of Salesforce, Slack, and advertising platforms, while expressing a preference for mastering fewer tools rather than adopting a wide array of them. They also touched on the growing importance of AI in business, with Marcus noting that while AI tools like Agent Force may offer significant benefits, customer adoption and acceptance will depend on overcoming initial fears and errors.

AI Adoption and CX Integration

Marcus and CXChronicles discussed the challenges customers face in understanding and implementing AI solutions, emphasizing the need for an "AI comfort service" to address misconceptions and prepare customers for effective use. They highlighted the importance of a solid foundation, akin to "cleaning out the pantry," before integrating AI into business strategies. CXChronicles introduced their CXC HealthZone, a tool for evaluating performance across CX builders, and discussed the integration of AI as a new foundation supporting the existing four CX pillars. They also noted that many customers already use AI tools with built-in features, provided they understand how to utilize them effectively.

Process Standardization and Brand Consistency

Marcus discussed the importance of standardizing processes to ensure consistency and brand representation, particularly for repetitive tasks. He emphasized the need to consider the long-term utility of processes and acknowledged that not everyone is naturally inclined towards process-oriented work, which can lead to different approaches based on personality and leadership style. Marcus also touched on the importance of personality tests in identifying process-oriented individuals and highlighted the value of looking at business design from an external perspective. The conversation then shifted to the topic of customer feedback, but the transcript ended before further details could be provided.

Customer Feedback Management Strategy

Marcus discussed his approach to managing customer and employee feedback, emphasizing the value of open-ended customer interviews to identify key issues and themes. He explained that he treats feedback as a coaching opportunity rather than a hierarchical power dynamic, encouraging open communication and self-improvement. The discussion highlighted his preference for annual customer feedback surveys and his focus on addressing foundational service delivery issues based on customer input.

Leadership and Feedback Insights

Marcus shared his experience as a head of CX at One Fine Stay, where he managed high-profile hosts and guests, and received his first 360-degree feedback, which was both enlightening and challenging. He emphasized the importance of leveraging feedback for continuous improvement and highlighted the risks of ignoring it, citing a previous leader's downfall due to a lack of concern for feedback. Marcus also discussed his approach to leadership, acknowledging the difficulty of receiving constructive criticism but understanding its necessity for growth. He concluded by encouraging listeners to consider the value of feedback in leadership and shared contact information for CloudTrails, where he is working on expanding marketing efforts.