Alternative Exit
Alternative Exit is a dedicated to educating small business owners about the possibilities, benefits, and challenges of transitioning to an employee ownership model.
There are over 200m SMEs with an owner who will be retiring in the next 10 years, many of which will never find a buyer for their business, forcing them to close their doors.
There is an alternative. This show will explore various the different forms of employee ownership and best practices for successful transitions.
Each episode features interviews with experts in employee ownership, business owners who have made the transition, and consultants who facilitate these changes.
Alternative Exit
Alternative Exit #52 | Live from the EOA, Measuring What Matters - Jonathan Winchester on Customer and Employee Experience
Episode: Measuring What Matters - Jonathan Winchester on Customer and Employee Experience
In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Jonathan Winchester, CEO of Insight6, a customer experience specialist who keynoted at last year's conference with a memorable twist: he mystery shopped the audience.
Key Takeaways:
Jonathan brings a unique outside perspective to employee ownership. Insight6 helps businesses transform customer experience through six methods: mystery shopping, inquiry handling, employee and client listening platforms, online feedback analysis, focus groups, customer journey mapping, and mentoring/coaching/training.
The conversation reveals a critical gap in how most organisations listen to their teams. Annual surveys with 30-40 questions that 50% of staff fill out begrudgingly, followed by months of board review and often no action. Jonathan shares the story of an optician where deep listening revealed the problem wasn't massive - it was the tea room. Old sofa, broken coffee machine, no milk. Basic stuff. But the CEO ripped it out over a weekend and satisfaction went up.
The key insight: CX is all about making people feel special through human connection. And that requires asking the right questions at the right cadence. Not annual surveys - regular net promoter scores every two months. Not questions written by "Mary" who doesn't understand what you're trying to achieve. And critically, taking visible action so people feel listened to.
Memorable Moments:
- "You bugger" - how attendees greeted Jonathan after last year's mystery shopping exercise
- EO businesses handle inquiries three times better than accountants (and twice as good as most sectors)
- The tea room transformation story and why deep listening matters
- "If you were me, what would you do?" - the simple question that unlocks real feedback
- Why asking the wrong questions is worse than not asking at all
- "No knobs" - the rule of business Jonathan loved hearing at the conference
Guest: Jonathan Winchester, CEO at Insight6
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanwinchester/overlay/photo/
- Company: https://www.insight6.com
- Email: jonathan@insight6.com
Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by EOT Expert by Christian Wilson – providing technical expertise and compliance support for EOT transitions and ongoing governance. Learn more at eotexpert.co.uk