Would Recommend: Real Stories From Businesses Worth Talking About with Nikki McKnight

Nikki McKnight
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship

Some businesses get reviewed. Others get raved about. Would Recommend goes behind the five stars with the founders who earned them. Every episode is a real story from a real business that figured out how to turn their client experience into their most powerful growth engine, without more ad spend, without more content, just by designing something worth talking about. Host Nikki McKnight is a CX and operations strategist with 15+ years across wildly different industries and geographies. Each week, she talks with founders about the specific decisions, the costly experiments, and the moments of truth that separate a satisfied client from a raving one. Some episodes are solo deep-dives into a CX principle or framework. Others bring two founders from the same industry together to show how the same problem can be solved two completely different ways, and why both work. This is not a marketing podcast. Client experience is not a layer on top of your marketing strategy; it is the growth engine your marketing can't replace. If your clients are happy but not referring you, this show is for you. Would Recommend is for founder-led businesses in retail, hospitality, food and beverage, professional services, wellness, events, and beyond.

  1. 3d ago

    How Do You Build Client Trust When the Stakes Are High? Lessons From Accounting and Law

    Is customer experience only for businesses with pretty packaging? Client experience still gets treated as the artsy-fartsy extra you add once business is good, so Nikki sat down with two people who work where the stakes couldn’t be higher. Both Staci Millard and Elena Favaro Viana work in heavily regulated industries. Getting it wrong there can mean back taxes, penalties or a lawsuit, and most clients walk in scared before anyone has said a word. Together, they break down how to design an experience people trust when the deliverable itself can’t flex. What you’ll hear in this episode Why trust has to be earned fast, and then earned again, when clients show up expecting bad newsHow demystifying your work changes the way clients engage with youWhat going beyond the bare minimum looks like, and why clients have to take part for your advice to workHow to rebuild trust with someone who was burned by the last person they hiredIf you’ve ever wondered whether client experience matters outside the lifestyle brands, this conversation makes the case that the higher the stakes, the harder your experience has to work. Staci Milard Staci Millard is the founder of Thrive Accounting, a firm that helps entrepreneurs understand their numbers and use them to build stronger, more profitable businesses. At Thrive, business owners don’t just file taxes—they get support to grow with strategy, confidence, and momentum. She’s also the host of Small Business School, a podcast that simplifies strategy for entrepreneurs. Staci is passionate about helping business owners build a business that works for them, not the other way around. https://thriveaccounting.co/ https://www.instagram.com/staci.millard/  Elena Favaro Viana Elena Favaro Viana is the Founding and Managing Partner of EFV Legal Professional Corporation, an all female boutique law firm built on a mission to professionalize the small business landscape. Recognizing a gap where female founders often felt intimidated by traditional legal environments or assumed their businesses were not "big enough" for dedicated counsel, Elena established EFV Legal to bridge the divide between risk protection and business growth. With a client base that is over 90% women-owned, she provides approachable, practical guidance across corporate law, contracts, real estate, and strategic advisory. Beyond direct representation, Elena expands economic access for female entrepreneurs through accessible lawyer drafted contract templates, keynotes at major women's business events, and pro bono legal workshops for newcomer women. To date, EFV Legal has supported and protected over 800 small businesses, giving female founders the tools, legal foundation, and confidence to build, scale, and exit successfully. https://www.efvlegal.ca/  https://www.instagram.com/efvlegal/  Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  2. Oct 27

    How to Map Your Client’s Emotional Journey (and Find the Moments Worth Celebrating)

    What is your client feeling between the emails? Today is a Nikki Talks episode and it follows up on my Thanksgiving episode about gratitude and recognition, and it comes straight from the DMs that showed up right after that one aired: people loved the idea of recognizing clients on their schedule instead of ours, but they wanted to know how to find those moments.  So I went back through a year of Spark Sessions, strategy calls and working sessions (a home organizer, an accounting firm, a coaching program for contractors, a pool builder and more) to bring you my best tips, tricks, and examples on how to figure this out. What you’ll hear in this episode Why your client journey needs a second map, one that tracks what clients are feeling and not only what your process is doingThe questions that show you where your clients are emotionally, and where your highest-risk and highest-reward moments are hidingThe emotional shifts most clients go through, from deciding to get help to running it without you, and how it directs how you’re showing upIf you’ve ever wondered when to show up for your clients beyond the kickoff call and the invoice, this episode gives you a place to start mapping it for your own business.  Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  3. Oct 20

    How to Turn Client Transactions Into Emotional Connections [Would Recommend Part 3]

    Are you deepening your client relationships, or just maintaining them? This is part three of my Nikki Talks deep dive into the Would Recommend Standard, and it’s all about Would Return: why some clients keep coming back to you (whether that’s next month or three years from now), while others walk out the door without ever saying why. It comes down to whether you’re completing transactions or building emotional connections, and I get into the three things that turn one into the other: moments, measurement, and mending. What you’ll hear in this episode Why “satisfied” is the most polite way a client can tell you there’s no real reason to come backThe warning signs a client is pulling away, and how they show up in behaviour long before they show up in a surveyWhat a home builder, an airline, and a pizza chain all did when things went sideways, and how a mistake can leave a client trusting you more than beforeThe shift from transaction to connection happens inside your client experience; in the moments you design, the signs you track, and how you show up when something goes wrong. Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  4. Oct 13

    Gratitude Is a Customer Experience Strategy: How to Thank the People Who Make Your Business Possible

    How do you thank the people who make your business possible in a way they’ll remember? In this Nikki Talks episode, she makes the case that gratitude belongs in your client experience as a designed moment, for your clients, your team, and the people standing behind both of them.  What you’ll hear in this episode: Why your thank-you's belong on your client’s calendar (their first win, their first launch, the day they graduate) instead of your invoice schedule.The people almost nobody thinks to thank: your client’s partner, their assistant, and the family at home who picked up the slack while your team member worked late.Why timing matters as much as the gift itself, and the window when your thank-you turns into one more box in the pile.Recognition is one of the moments that matter most in your client experience, and designing it in on purpose is how a satisfied client becomes one who comes back and tells everyone they know about you. Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  5. Oct 6

    Why Doing MORE Won't Make Your Client Experience Better

    Why isn't all this extra effort making my clients any happier? In this Nikki Talks episode, Nikki looks at the reflex almost every founder has when they want a better client experience, which is to add MORE.  What you'll hear in this episode: How Nikki's "value stack" turned into a value lack, and why her clients couldn't use most of what she gave themWhy the same resource can overwhelm a client in week one and be exactly what she needs in week sixWhy precision is more generous than volumeWhere to look this week to find out which parts of your client experience are landing and which are just noise A better client experience comes from choosing where your effort goes, and the moments your clients can feel are the ones they'll recommend. Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  6. Sep 29

    How Do You Sell Without Being Salesy? Why Your Sales Process Is Part of Your Customer Experience

    Is your sales process built to get past your customer's resistance, or to help them make the right decision?  In this Nikki Talks episode, Nikki breaks down two ways of selling: selling as convincing and selling as helping. The one you choose shapes a lot more than whether someone buys; it shapes whether they trust you, whether your delivery can keep the promises your sales made, and whether anyone recommends you afterward. What you'll hear in this episode: Why selling as convincing turns every conversation into a tactic for overcoming resistance, and what that costs you even when you get the yes.Why every sales conversation is a promise your delivery has to keep, and what customers feel when your sales and your delivery run on two different standards.How charisma-driven sales builds a ceiling into a founder-led business, and why selling as helping is the version you can teach and hand to your team.Why convinced customers give you a sale and helped customers give you referrals.One of the biggest moments that matter in your client experience is the sales conversation, and this episode is about making sure yours feels like the beginning of something people want to recommend. And thank you to Kristen VanderHoek for hosting the original panel that inspired this episode. Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  7. Sep 22

    80% of Businesses Think They Deliver Great CX. Only 8% of Customers Agree ft. Erica Wood & Katrina Scarlett

    Eighty percent of businesses believe they deliver a superior client experience but only eight percent of their customers agree. Is this a delusion, or an urgent gap in perception? Nikki is joined by two of her new favourite people, Erica Wood of Client Journey Advisors and Katrina Scarlett of Scarlett & Co., to react to the data, argue with the word "superior," and pull apart why so many founder-led businesses have convinced themselves they are delivering something their customers are walking away from.  What you'll hear in this episode Why the word "superior" is a red flag on its own, and what it tells you about a leadership team's self-awareness before you even look at the numbersThe Yelp problem: how a five-star rating means something completely different to your CEO than it does to your sales team, and why an uncalibrated rubric turns every dashboard into decorationHow to design a feedback loop that actually catches problems, including why you should incentivize the act of giving feedback, not the rating itselfThe "I sure f*****g hope so" test for figuring out whether what you are calling a benefit is actually just the bare minimum About My Guests Erica Wood Erica Wood is the founder of Client Journey Advisors, where she helps service-based businesses turn client experience into their biggest growth strategy. With more than 20 years spanning pediatric healthcare, virtual staffing, and founder-led service businesses, Erica has built her career on one belief: retention is not an accident, it is designed. Website: https://www.clientjourneyadvisors.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericadwood/ Free resource mentioned on the episode — Client Experience Audit Checklist Katrina Scarlett Katrina Scarlett is a partnership-centric Client Experience Strategist and founder of Scarlett & Co. She works with relationship-driven founders to get ahead of client-related issues before they ever happen by helping them rethink their client experience as an intentional business strategy. Website: https://scarlettandco.ca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinascarlett/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/scarlettandcoltd Free resource mentioned on the episode — 17 Ways to Reduce Friction & Frustration in Your Client Work: https://scarlettandco.ca/reduce-friction/ For Your Enjoyment: Lean More About Entreprenistas The Conversations Founders Avoid That Are Costing You Your Best People (and Your Best Clients) ft. Lia Garvin What Is Customer Experience and Why Does It Matter for Your Business? How to Layer Surprise and Delight For a Big Payoff (Without a Big Budget or a Big System) Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

  8. Sep 15

    Marketing Earns the Yes. Then What? [Would Recommend Part 2]

    What actually happens between the yes on the sales page and the moment the engagement  falls apart two weeks later?  Nikki opens this episode with a five-figure cautionary tale, the kind most founders have lived through on both sides of the invoice, and uses it to unpack the first paradigm shift in the Would Recommend Standard: Would Buy.  This is part two of the Would Recommend Standard deep-dive series and the follow-up to What Disney, Lego, and 11 Madison Park Know About Growing a Business. What you'll hear in this episode: The bait-and-switch story that made Nikki rethink what a working "yes" really looks likeWhy Promise is not a tagline or a mission statement, and how The Ritz-Carlton's laminated card turns a standard into a decision-making toolHow Ikea engineered every step from front door to soft-serve on purpose and how you can do the sameWhy an ideal client avatar built on age, income, and zip code is a filter setting on a Meta ad account, not a PersonWhat changes across marketing, delivery, and retention when Promise, Path, and Person are firing togetherThe yes at the sales page is easy but the yes at renewal is the one that means your business is working. Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck  The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about.  Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard  A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't.  Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Some businesses get reviewed. Others get raved about. Would Recommend goes behind the five stars with the founders who earned them. Every episode is a real story from a real business that figured out how to turn their client experience into their most powerful growth engine, without more ad spend, without more content, just by designing something worth talking about. Host Nikki McKnight is a CX and operations strategist with 15+ years across wildly different industries and geographies. Each week, she talks with founders about the specific decisions, the costly experiments, and the moments of truth that separate a satisfied client from a raving one. Some episodes are solo deep-dives into a CX principle or framework. Others bring two founders from the same industry together to show how the same problem can be solved two completely different ways, and why both work. This is not a marketing podcast. Client experience is not a layer on top of your marketing strategy; it is the growth engine your marketing can't replace. If your clients are happy but not referring you, this show is for you. Would Recommend is for founder-led businesses in retail, hospitality, food and beverage, professional services, wellness, events, and beyond.

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