Scott Porter | How Customer Experience Can Set You Apart

No matter what industry you’re in, the one thing that can set you apart from your competitors is excellent customer experience, says Scott Craig Porter, founder, and CEO of San Diablo churros.

To call Scott’s career eclectic would be an understatement. He’s worked in PR and as a nursing home administrator, founded a subscription airline, and now he’s selling churros. But his focus has always been making customers and staff happy and eager for more.

During his stint turning around underperforming nursing homes, Scott discovered the key to creating a brand experience that turns customers into diehard supporters. And it’s actually pretty simple.

“People want to be treated as humans,” Scott says. The way you do that is by delivering on small but meaningful details. “It's smiling, eye contact, calling people by their name. Treating people with respect.”

Extra touches work too. “When a doctor would come to visit, we would have their favorite chocolate bar waiting for them,” he says.

This extended to the staff. Scott believes that creating a company culture of respect, appreciation and a shared sense of mission is the foundation from which strong customer service grows.

Scott took these lessons with him into his future businesses. When he started Surf Air, the first all-you-can-fly subscription airline, his onboarding meetings weren’t about paperwork and procedures. 

“We would spend two days focusing on why we are doing what we're doing and why it makes a difference in people's lives… Helping each member of our team feel empowered to create something truly extraordinary,” Scott says.

Since 2016, he’s been applying that philosophy at San Diablo Churros.

“We are just looking to deliver deep-fried happiness to people. We want to be a vehicle for happiness: It happens to be that we make churros.”  
 

👨‍🦲 Name: Scott Craig Porter

⚙️ What he does: Entrepreneur, customer experience strategist, former nursing home administrator, speaker, and founder and CEO of San Diablo Churros. 

😊 Company: San Diablo Churros

💎 Words of wisdom: “I've been inspired by this deep internal drive to make a difference in people's lives and to make the world a better place. It's innate inside us: we want to make a difference, we want to help others progress and grow and develop. And I have been continually looking for opportunities for my profession to reflect that.”

🔍 Where to find him: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Website  

💡 Business remedy: Nursing homes were not in Scott’s plan, but they require the same problem-solving skills and resourcefulness as any business — often on a low budget.

💡 Humans first: In any competitive market, Scott believes creating an extraordinary customer experience and a supportive workplace will make you stand out.

💡 All aboard: Scott founded subscription airline service Surf Air using the same principles of treating staff and customers like humans.

💡 Loyalty pays: Motivated staff and dedicated customers aren’t just nice-to-haves. They increase revenue and repeat business, decrease turnover, and save time, money and effort.

💡 Making nice: Don’t just focus on customers who are already happy. Scotts tracks negative feedback and responds with a sincere apology and a real attempt to rectify the situation.

💡 Company care: The COVID-19 pandemic and demands for racial justice have ensured that now more than ever, people expect companies to care about them for more than their money.

💡 Close the social distance: Making people feel appreciated can be as simple as following public safety guidelines and broadcasting enthusiasm even when they can’t see a smile.

Scott Craig Porter:

“I started to learn from everyone, from Trader Joe's, In-N-Out Burger, Disney, Ritz-Carlton, Zappos, Chick-fil-A, looking to see what they did to create an experience that people talk about at the dinner table.”

“I saw the tremendous impact of focusing on a thriving cultural foundation and using your brand experience as your biggest and most important marketing tool and competitive advantage… I've got to implement this whenever possible, because this is what people want. People want to be treated as humans. People want something special.”

“We are so accustomed to mediocre and terrible experiences that when someone does something like just look us in the eye, smile, say ‘Welcome,’ or ask us how our day went, it goes such a distance in establishing this idea of an extraordinary brand and customer experience, because they treated you as a human instead of a transaction.”

“We are humans interacting with humans and the companies that realize that are the ones that will continue to win.”

“Social distancing has underscored this idea that we need other humans. We want other humans to interact with us, and to be heard and seen and understood. It presents an awesome challenge for us as business leaders to create within the confines of social distancing and health guidelines and other recommendations we're being given. It means we need to get wildly creative.”