People Heroes Rising: Being Passionate About People with Lina Tonk CXO of isolved
Nov 20, 2023Season 2Episode 9
William Tincup
Are you aware of how customers experience your organization? In today's episode of People Heroes Rising, William Tincup discusses the challenges of understanding customer needs with Lina Tonk, the newly promoted Chief Experience Officer at isolved. Live at the isolved Connect roadshow in Palm Springs, she discuss the key role that customer engagement plays in creating invaluable experiences for customers and employees.
Deeply impacted by a particular customer's story about their transformative journey with isolved, Lina emphasizes the significant personal and professional changes that the right technological experiences can inspire. Encompassing various aspects, from culture to empathy to problem-solving, their conversation delves into the integral role passion and relationships play in shaping these experiences. Lena applies this perspective to her new role, where she aims to enhance the internal and external experience for employees, customers, and partners.
Learn how to better appease your customer's needs in this insightful episode. We're excited for you to tune in!
Are you aware of how customers experience your organization? In today's episode of People Heroes Rising, William Tincup discusses the challenges of understanding customer needs with Lina Tonk, the newly promoted Chief Experience Officer at isolved. Live at the isolved Connect roadshow in Palm Springs, she discuss the key role that customer engagement plays in creating invaluable experiences for customers and employees.
Deeply impacted by a particular customer's story about their transformative journey with isolved, Lina emphasizes the significant personal and professional changes that the right technological experiences can inspire. Encompassing various aspects, from culture to empathy to problem-solving, their conversation delves into the integral role passion and relationships play in shaping these experiences. Lena applies this perspective to her new role, where she aims to enhance the internal and external experience for employees, customers, and partners.
Learn how to better appease your customer's needs in this insightful episode. We're excited for you to tune in!
This is William Tincup, and you're listening to the Recruiting Daily podcast. We are broadcasting live from isolved Connect in Palm Desert, Palm Springs, at the JW Marriott, and we've got Lena on with us today, so we're going to talk about all kinds of fun stuff. We will not talk about football. Both try not to. We will try not to talk about football because both she and I love football. Both football, football and college football. Yes, yes. But we have, we've discovered that we have some alliances and some differences of opinion because, but we are professionals and we will still enjoy one another's company no matter what our differences are. I believe I heard a rumor that your title Or your role might've changed? Yes. What, first of all is a rumor? True?
Lina Tonk:
Uh, the rumor is absolutely true. it was announced two weeks ago. I was promoted to, uh, CXO Chief, uh, um, experience officer for is also super, super excited. Uh, you know, in my career when I think of all the roles I've taken and I right. I've been doing it all over the place, um, this is very, very me, it's, it's me to the You've cared about this all the time. So much. Yeah. So much. And I think even before we started, uh, recording, we said that, I mean, there's something about the HR industry, the passion they have for what they do, they'll do what it takes, that For me to be able to be involved with their experience and how they feel about us It doesn't get better than that.
William Tincup:
You can't fake passion. You can't teach passion. You either have it or you don't. HR people Like football fans. They do. They
Lina Tonk:
care. They care.
William Tincup:
They care, and again, you know, there's nothing worse than people that are kind of apathetic. And again, other professions or other silos, they sometimes have that apathy. HR? They don't have it for long, or they're
Lina Tonk:
not in the position for long. Right, and I think so too, and it's like the deep care they have for, I mean we're in the people business. Right. And that's, to me, what makes it very special, and when I think of experience, an experienced officer, I'm like... I get to impact people, like, this is amazing.
William Tincup:
Well, you're in the people, people business, so not only do you service your own employees, right? So you use your product, so whatever the Silicon Valley, you drink your own champagne, eat your own garbage, whatever that is, you all use the product. Which I think is good. Then, then, then you go in there and do road shows and check with your customers, you're not running for your customers, which, again, I think it's hard. Like when I talk to people about y'all's road shows, I'm like, listen, this ain't easy. Getting in front of customers and going, hey, how we doing? Cause you're gonna then get the unfiltered, I have a problem with this, and then you're gonna answer it. A lot of people run
Lina Tonk:
from their customers. Look, I'm going to be perfectly honest. Last year, uh, when we started the roadshows, uh, it took us, uh, two or three... You did about 20 plus? Yeah, we did about 25 last year, but the beginning wasn't that easy. Oh, I don't think any of them are easy. Yeah, and you get... And just what you said, uh, yeah, so how are you guys feeling? And there's some of them, I'm like, whoo,
William Tincup:
why is she sucking on her thumb? I don't understand. She's down in the fetal position. Somebody get a doctor. No, but when we were in Dallas, Ryan and I were lucky enough to come to the Dallas event, and um, there was a group that had a list. So there was a list. Yeah. So they all had their laptops out, which I felt when I walked in the room, I'm like, I'm in the wrong room, like what's going on, do I have to, I don't even bring a laptop. So everybody's got their laptop out, and I can't remember, I think it's Jeff who's up at the front, and this, this group, like launched into a lit, like they were just, okay, number one, number two, number three, and he was just rapid fire handling it, and then he told me a little while ago, he's like. Yeah, after that bit we sent, we solved all the problems and after that bit they bought more stuff and did a multi-year deal because we A, answered their questions. We didn't run from them, and oh, by the way, we could solve the problems.
Lina Tonk:
Yeah, well guess what? The customer that you're likely talking about, I thought next to her. Yesterday at dinner and her whole experience and how it transformed the way she feels about us, absolutely incredible. But that's just it. Like, I mean, this is the passion that you see an entire professionals. So like, I mean, I was, uh, when I arrived here, I was at the bar and one of them had their list, ready to roll. Yeah. I'm like, I'll let you have lunch. And she's like, no, I'm ready to go through this. No, we can go now. We can go now. But I think that's what made us, uh, completely different from anything else out there is that we use the roadshows to... Truly impact their experience and the way they feel about us, uh, what we're doing for them. And next thing you know, you advance to like a customer roadshow five, six. We were bringing customers that we knew were actually at risk. Oh yeah. So we changed the strategy completely. Like bring them all. Yeah.
William Tincup:
Don't bring happy customers together. We already got those folks. And they
Lina Tonk:
talk to each other. Try to solve each other's problems. Yes. And that's the, that's the. That's a secret sauce, too, seeing, so I stopped by one of their dinners yesterday. They had their own dinners going on. And I stopped and I'm like, wait, how do you know each other? That would terrify
William Tincup:
normal vendors. No, seriously, normal vendors, I can tell you, it would terrify them. I mean, customers are getting together. We don't, that's a bad idea. They'll start talking about pricing and all of this stuff. It's like, you're getting customers together as a community. Yeah. They can solve each other's problems, but not only that, but they, they, they feel like they're a part of something else. Something
Lina Tonk:
bigger than themselves. That's exactly it. Oh, gosh. So yesterday I was with Mary Kay, one of our longtime customers. You might have spoken to her or not. So Mary Kay transitioned to a new company. And she is back with iSolve in that company, I'm not surprised, but... Oh, I got something
William Tincup:
about that. Yeah. When she, she heard the radio ad, it was a radio ad she heard on the way to work, right? And then when she looked it up, she saw that in the, in the URL, it was iSolve. So she knew that they were using iSolve technology. Yes. Which made the job, which she, which she told us, she said, that's the reason I applied.
Lina Tonk:
Yes, which is insane,
William Tincup:
right? No, no, it's, it's, it's the highest, one of the higher forms of compliments. Is when somebody, cause there's a lot of technology out there, when they see the ATS in the URL, and they've had a bad experience with that particular company, whatever it is, they won't apply. So technology can be, um, a magnet, or it can be a repellent. And so y'all are a magnet. I mean, with your customers, especially customers that are now, and they move for whatever reason, they move to a new co, they're going to bring you with them. Yeah.
Lina Tonk:
She said, so we had a session yesterday where we were sharing, like, because now she arrives in this new company, she's building a roadmap ahead. I mean, she didn't have, she's starting from a theorem in some areas and how she's going to go build that out for them. And at the end of the session, this is where I was. Just kind of connecting it to your comment, I said, and I said, Hey, we, we didn't discuss this, but I want to know how has isolved connected or what has isolve done for you personally, for you? And, and I truly, many times this goes back to, Oh, the product did this for me and whatnot. And she, she was very vulnerable and you know, we had tears in the room and she said, it's changed my life. It's changed the way I feel about myself. Um, I wouldn't be on this stage if isolved had not advocated for me. I love presenting now. I love being in front of people. I love, uh, discussing what I'm building. That is when you know you've hit some type of magic.
William Tincup:
100%, 100%. All right, so the new role, what does it encompass? What is the, what's the goal of the
Lina Tonk:
new role? Yeah, so I will own employee experience, so anything from the inside out. So employee experience. experience, customer experience, and in our case, partner experience as well. Wow. The way they feel about us, I've, I've talked about this for a couple of years now, is the importance of, you know, many companies do it this way, I think it's, it's not the way you should do it. Your brand has to bleed, and in our case, bleeds pink. Yes, it does. From the inside out. Right. So, the way our employees feel about our company, about... How they feel about the way we are with them, what we provide to them, to do their jobs, to be successful, it's the way they will treat our customers and what they will do for that customer experience. 100%. So, culture, all of that, uh, will be under my remit, so employee experience all the way to customer experience and, and partner experience as well. Well,
William Tincup:
again, it's, it's focusing on the relationships and the experience of those relationships. It's not looking at it myopically and looking at it one way or one group of people like our partners. Like you could literally just focus on your partners, which is, wouldn't it be great. Yeah. But they're connected. All these things are connected. Employees, customer, partner, all those things are connected to one another. So having somebody that's at the head of that, that can actually think about experience in a different way, I think is beautiful. So, I think you've cared about experience for a long time, because I told you last time we talked, I love how you've rebranded isolved, I love all, I like the imagery, the iconography, the language, the website, the colors. There isn't anything I'd change, which, as a recovering marketer myself, is hard for me to admit. But, but it's the experience, like the experience that we have felt at the road show, the experience that I felt last year in Nashville, uh, at, at Connect here. Like there's an experience that you've manufactured in marketing from, from the jump. Yeah. From the moment someone comes in, the way they experience the brand, et cetera. So, you've kind of had experience in your bag
Lina Tonk:
all along. All along. I, you know, if I go back, I think I was born with a bit of it. Yes. I really, I really was. It's the way I build my relationships, the way I build what I do every day, even at home. Right. I am a relationship person through and through. I think there's so much that we can accomplish, that we can change the world by the way we interact with each other and how we're empathetic. I think experience is very attached to empathy, it's like, how do our customers, yeah, how do our, let's put ourselves in that customer position, how they're feeling, how, how are they feeling about us, it's, and culturally,
William Tincup:
uh, because you're Colombian, um, it's been my experience, Colombian women. Have, they're passionate.
Lina Tonk:
Yes.
William Tincup:
That's a compliment. That's a compliment. Latin women in general. But Colombian women in particular, because I've had a bunch of Colombian women work for me. And it's like, there's a passion and empathy that's just, it's woven in culturally. Yes, I don't know how, but it's there, it's innate.
Lina Tonk:
It's in you. I was, you know, I was asked this yesterday. We were like prepping for a women in leadership panel yesterday. They asked me that where does it come from? It actually didn't end up at the stage and I do go back to, I actually think that I got that from my parents, but my dad specifically, you know, he was a big carver guy and I remember it being very, very little and him bringing his first rollerback. And I remember saying, well, I'm going to have a roller bag when I'm old, dad, and I'm going to go through the airports like you do. And he, I remember vividly him saying, you're not only going to do that, but you are going to go change lives. You will do this. And to me, that was always ingrained with me, how I would do it. I don't know. Right. Yes. And. This is why I think this is special for me, because I think I could really make an impact on people, on people's lives.
William Tincup:
You've already made an impact in everything you've touched. Thank you. Now it's just a matter of, now you're, which is a, it's a high compliment for the rest of the executives to go, we need someone to actually go here and help with this. And again, marketing is so great, you've, you've, whoever's going to run it or whatever. They, they really can just kind of keep doing what they're doing. Like, they don't have to do all, like, this isn't a tear down and build back up, like, you can just kind of, like, tweak a little bit, I mean, I know it's going to be hard for them to think about, like, next year and how to up the game that you've already created from this experience, but outside of that...
Lina Tonk:
I think we can up our game even so much more. I hope you get to meet, actually, our new CMO is here. I love her. I work great with her. I've known her for a little bit now. Uh, she, uh, she brings tremendous experience, too. You know, as we continue to grow in our next... So, it's a great stage of growth, uh, for her experience to come in into what we will evolve as a company, too, because we have to keep up with this growth, and they asked me yesterday, actually last week on HR Tech, there was a big topic about experience. Why invest in experience now, um, our, many SaaS companies are already on that boat, many have not jumped on the boat of having a C level executive, uh, own experience, and I, My, my perspective on that is you have to be ready as a company, you have to be ready as a culture, and I believe isolved is there right now. They are, we are in a position where we have a pretty stable, exciting, Cultural experience with our employees and transferring to our customers, but I hope you get to meet Celia. Celia is tremendous. I can't wait to see what we do together. It's gonna be fireworks. It is gonna
William Tincup:
be fireworks. So last question, your favorite part of Kinect so far?
Lina Tonk:
Yeah, one thing. I think it was my, my session with Mary Kay, what I did share with you, the impact that we bring people personally will connect them to. Your brand, to your company, to your product, to anything you do, and to see that we have gone all the way that deep, uh, brings a tremendous reward on the work that we're doing at ISOF.
William Tincup:
Drops mic, walks off stage. Lina, thank
Lina Tonk:
you so much. Thanks so much. I enjoy talking to you always. Vice
William Tincup:
versa. And, uh, thanks for everybody for listening. Until next time.