Defining Moments Lendio Podcast

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.”