Lindsay Willott, founder of the CustomerThermometer app
How She Did It showcases your stories of working success. Here, experienced entrepreneur Lindsay Willott explains how she launched Customer Thermometer - a company that provides real-time customer feedback for businesses around the world
At 24, Lindsay Willott founded The Marketing Practice. Within eight years she grew it into a top 20 marketing agency with £5m turnover and 80 members of staff. But she had one problem: she didn't really know how her customers felt.
It was then Lindsay came up with the idea for a one-click customer satisfaction app, which would enable her to track customer sentiment in real-time. She sold her business in 2010 - while nine months pregnant - and focused on her new idea, now called Customer Thermometer.Today, it's used by businesses across the world, including BT and the Red Cross, to monitor and track customer sentiment.
Lindsay, now 37 and based in Oxford, is also passionate about the role that women have in enabling business success. She often speaks about the value of women on the boards and creating a pro-female agenda in the workplace.
Here, she explains how she did it.
Lindsay Willott and her son
It was then Lindsay came up with the idea for a one-click customer satisfaction app, which would enable her to track customer sentiment in real-time. She sold her business in 2010 - while nine months pregnant - and focused on her new idea, now called Customer Thermometer.Today, it's used by businesses across the world, including BT and the Red Cross, to monitor and track customer sentiment.
Lindsay, now 37 and based in Oxford, is also passionate about the role that women have in enabling business success. She often speaks about the value of women on the boards and creating a pro-female agenda in the workplace.
Here, she explains how she did it.
Lindsay Willott and her son
Lindsay Willott and her son
Customer Thermometer was founded to solve survey fatigue. I wanted to enable businesses to do real-time customer, guest and employee mood monitoring.
The beauty of Customer Thermometer is the high response rate. It works like a traffic light system whereby the respondents can hit gold (delighted), green (happy), yellow (a few concerns) or red (unhappy). So if I send a survey now, I’ll know if a customer is unhappy in seconds, rather than days or weeks. Crucially I can then address that problem – enhancing my customer retention. I set it up in 2011 and we now have over 2,500 customers in about 30 different countries.
What motivated and inspired you to start your business?
As my first business grew, I wanted to be able to find out how my customers were feeling. I didn’t want to hassle them with a long survey every month - all I wanted to know was, ‘how are we doing for you?’ I also wanted to know who had said what, so if there were any issues, I could fix them immediately.
Around the same time I met Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-Porter, for a coffee. She explained that you give yourself a much greater chance of success in founding any new business when you start with what you know best. Her own success stemmed from knowing the fashion and tech spaces inside out. This really encouraged me to setup Customer Thermometer, as my background lies in technology, marketing and customer service.
Natalie Massenet
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
I had a complete picture in my head of how I wanted the Customer Thermometer app to look. But because I was not from a technical background, I knew I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. I put in a call to someone who’d really impressed me in a previous business and worked hard to convince him to join me. We both worked freelance on other projects to fund the build.
The early app was very simple compared to what it is today. But we figured that it was better to get a good working model out, get feedback on it and have income coming in, than to over-develop something.
This is one of the great things about an online business - our customers constantly tell us what they want to see in the app next, so we release an updated version about four times a year.
How have you raised awareness?
In the early days I sold it to everyone I knew personally. Woe betide if I invited you out for a drink, as I’d inevitably end up sending a survey out to your customers by the end of the evening!
Our friends and families have been wonderful and you do need to lean on that network when you start up. Once we had a base of customers, it was easier to get the message out by writing and filming video case studies, so that they we could share the compelling stories. Word of mouth has been really valuable for us too – because the app is so effective, we do get a lot of customers joining us just because they’ve been sent one of our surveys. Our marketing is currently 99 per cent online – we use Google Adwords, Twitter, SEO and partner with other leading tech companies.
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Learning the ropes of a whole new industry. Running a tech marketing company is completely different to running a tech business. Understanding the way a subscription-based software company attains and grows profitability has been challenging, but fascinating.
How do you overcome challenges?
I often refer to the book “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holliday. It describes a very practical process for overcoming the obstacles you face and I use this approach for my own challenges. The point is not to avoid your obstacles but to embrace them – there is always a solution. Take small steps each day to overcome them and have the will to keep on going. Know that you will overcome it eventually.
What do you love about running your own business?
The best part of running my own business is that I am in control of my time and effectiveness. I can work hours that suit my family – enabling me to work around my son’s nursery hours and take him to the park in the afternoon. It doesn’t diminish my effectiveness; I just ensure that the hours I'm working are incredibly efficient.
The other part of my job that I love is that - right now - there are businesses all over the world being alerted to happy and unhappy customers - and critically, doing something about that feedback. It’s amazing to watch the real-time analytics and see what we are enabling businesses to do.
How do you stay motivated through difficult times?
In dealing with any difficult times I think it’s important to get perspective first. We recently had a few tough weeks because we were growing so fast our systems were becoming overloaded. I found the best way to shake off the stress was a long run - followed by talking it through calmly with family and friends.
Do you have a business philosophy?
The critical thing to understand about any business is that the execution is more important than the idea. If you think of any great business, they are typically not setting the world alight with what they do – more often than not it's how they do it. Take Pret-a-Manger or Virgin Atlantic. Selling sandwiches and operating an airline are not original ideas, but their execution is second to none. It strikes me that when people consider starting their own business; they think they have to have had an idea no one else has ever had before.
My philosophy is that if you care about your customers and get the execution right, you’ll be a roaring success.
What advice would you give to other budding entrepreneurs?
Read like mad! It can save you from falling into some very big holes. The resources available to would-be entrepreneurs are better now than at any time in history. Stanford Graduate School of Business School’s YouTube channel and the Harvard Business Review’s blog are two resources I’d single out. There are innumerable free articles and downloads.
Customer Thermometer was founded to solve survey fatigue. I wanted to enable businesses to do real-time customer, guest and employee mood monitoring.
The beauty of Customer Thermometer is the high response rate. It works like a traffic light system whereby the respondents can hit gold (delighted), green (happy), yellow (a few concerns) or red (unhappy). So if I send a survey now, I’ll know if a customer is unhappy in seconds, rather than days or weeks. Crucially I can then address that problem – enhancing my customer retention. I set it up in 2011 and we now have over 2,500 customers in about 30 different countries.
What motivated and inspired you to start your business?
As my first business grew, I wanted to be able to find out how my customers were feeling. I didn’t want to hassle them with a long survey every month - all I wanted to know was, ‘how are we doing for you?’ I also wanted to know who had said what, so if there were any issues, I could fix them immediately.
Around the same time I met Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-Porter, for a coffee. She explained that you give yourself a much greater chance of success in founding any new business when you start with what you know best. Her own success stemmed from knowing the fashion and tech spaces inside out. This really encouraged me to setup Customer Thermometer, as my background lies in technology, marketing and customer service.
Natalie Massenet
Natalie Massenet
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
I had a complete picture in my head of how I wanted the Customer Thermometer app to look. But because I was not from a technical background, I knew I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. I put in a call to someone who’d really impressed me in a previous business and worked hard to convince him to join me. We both worked freelance on other projects to fund the build.
The early app was very simple compared to what it is today. But we figured that it was better to get a good working model out, get feedback on it and have income coming in, than to over-develop something.
This is one of the great things about an online business - our customers constantly tell us what they want to see in the app next, so we release an updated version about four times a year.
How have you raised awareness?
In the early days I sold it to everyone I knew personally. Woe betide if I invited you out for a drink, as I’d inevitably end up sending a survey out to your customers by the end of the evening!
Our friends and families have been wonderful and you do need to lean on that network when you start up. Once we had a base of customers, it was easier to get the message out by writing and filming video case studies, so that they we could share the compelling stories. Word of mouth has been really valuable for us too – because the app is so effective, we do get a lot of customers joining us just because they’ve been sent one of our surveys. Our marketing is currently 99 per cent online – we use Google Adwords, Twitter, SEO and partner with other leading tech companies.
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Learning the ropes of a whole new industry. Running a tech marketing company is completely different to running a tech business. Understanding the way a subscription-based software company attains and grows profitability has been challenging, but fascinating.
How do you overcome challenges?
I often refer to the book “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holliday. It describes a very practical process for overcoming the obstacles you face and I use this approach for my own challenges. The point is not to avoid your obstacles but to embrace them – there is always a solution. Take small steps each day to overcome them and have the will to keep on going. Know that you will overcome it eventually.
What do you love about running your own business?
The best part of running my own business is that I am in control of my time and effectiveness. I can work hours that suit my family – enabling me to work around my son’s nursery hours and take him to the park in the afternoon. It doesn’t diminish my effectiveness; I just ensure that the hours I'm working are incredibly efficient.
The other part of my job that I love is that - right now - there are businesses all over the world being alerted to happy and unhappy customers - and critically, doing something about that feedback. It’s amazing to watch the real-time analytics and see what we are enabling businesses to do.
How do you stay motivated through difficult times?
In dealing with any difficult times I think it’s important to get perspective first. We recently had a few tough weeks because we were growing so fast our systems were becoming overloaded. I found the best way to shake off the stress was a long run - followed by talking it through calmly with family and friends.
Do you have a business philosophy?
The critical thing to understand about any business is that the execution is more important than the idea. If you think of any great business, they are typically not setting the world alight with what they do – more often than not it's how they do it. Take Pret-a-Manger or Virgin Atlantic. Selling sandwiches and operating an airline are not original ideas, but their execution is second to none. It strikes me that when people consider starting their own business; they think they have to have had an idea no one else has ever had before.
My philosophy is that if you care about your customers and get the execution right, you’ll be a roaring success.
What advice would you give to other budding entrepreneurs?
Read like mad! It can save you from falling into some very big holes. The resources available to would-be entrepreneurs are better now than at any time in history. Stanford Graduate School of Business School’s YouTube channel and the Harvard Business Review’s blog are two resources I’d single out. There are innumerable free articles and downloads.
How I did it
When I face a big challenge I…
Consider all the angles. Think it through like a chess game and consider the outcomes before jumping in. I find long walks are essential for this kind of thinking.
My greatest fear is…
Not doing opportunities justice.
The most courageous thing I’ve ever done is…
Sell my first business when I was 32 and 9 months pregnant. It was pretty terrifying – walking away from what you know at the same time as becoming a mum for the first time. I remember thinking “Was I lucky starting a business the first time? Can I really do it again?”
If I could go back in time to when I was 20 I would tell myself…
To think more and worry less.
I believe…
You can choose how to attack each day. If you’re dreading something, you can stop yourself feeling that way by just deciding not to. It sounds flippant but you really can train yourself to do it. It makes such a difference.
The biggest lesson I have ever learned is…
Not to react immediately. There is always a better way to do a deal, make a product and overcome a challenge when you think it through. A few hours’ research beforehand can save an awful lot of heartache later.
My favourite business tool or resource is…
Skype. When we were building Customer Thermometer I lived in the Cayman Islands and was using Skype to speak to my business partner, as well as customers and developers all over the world – I don’t think we’d be where we are without it.
My favourite quote is…
“Nothing is an unmixed blessing” - Horace. Nothing that happens is universally good, or universally bad. It’s such an insightful observation and good to remember in our, often, binary world.
When I face a big challenge I…
Consider all the angles. Think it through like a chess game and consider the outcomes before jumping in. I find long walks are essential for this kind of thinking.
My greatest fear is…
Not doing opportunities justice.
The most courageous thing I’ve ever done is…
Sell my first business when I was 32 and 9 months pregnant. It was pretty terrifying – walking away from what you know at the same time as becoming a mum for the first time. I remember thinking “Was I lucky starting a business the first time? Can I really do it again?”
If I could go back in time to when I was 20 I would tell myself…
To think more and worry less.
I believe…
You can choose how to attack each day. If you’re dreading something, you can stop yourself feeling that way by just deciding not to. It sounds flippant but you really can train yourself to do it. It makes such a difference.
The biggest lesson I have ever learned is…
Not to react immediately. There is always a better way to do a deal, make a product and overcome a challenge when you think it through. A few hours’ research beforehand can save an awful lot of heartache later.
My favourite business tool or resource is…
Skype. When we were building Customer Thermometer I lived in the Cayman Islands and was using Skype to speak to my business partner, as well as customers and developers all over the world – I don’t think we’d be where we are without it.
My favourite quote is…
“Nothing is an unmixed blessing” - Horace. Nothing that happens is universally good, or universally bad. It’s such an insightful observation and good to remember in our, often, binary world.
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