Challenging the C-Suite to Get On the Phone With Customers

What happens when traditional B2B customer surveys fail spectacularly, yielding less than 1% response rates and delivering feedback that's months too late to act on? 

Gerard Hutchings, Head of Business Development Strategy at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, found himself facing exactly this challenge in the asset management industry. But instead of accepting defeat, he created something revolutionary: a customer feedback program where the entire C-suite: CEO, CFO, COO, and department heads, personally conduct 15-minute customer calls using Net Promoter Score (NPS) methodology. 

The result? Nearly 100% response rates, real-time actionable insights, and clients who comment positively on the organizational culture.. 

In this episode, Gerard shares how he transformed the fear of feedback into executive leadership opportunity, why "now's not a good time" actually means "now is the perfect time" for customer conversations, and how applying scientific methodology to sales relationships can unlock billion-dollar client insights that traditional surveys simply can't capture.