Video call starts, audio signal goes “Bloop bloop phreee…”
(Diogo Melo de Carvalho) Suzanne, hello. Can you hear me?
(Suzanne Williams) Hi Diogo, yes I can hear you well. Is my sound going out ok?
(DMC) It’s wonderful Suzanne. Nice to meet you!
(SW) Good start at least… I’m not a very techie person you know?
(DMC) I understand. And yeah… these days it’s all about these video calls, isn’t it? But now you’re here. It works! And I appreciate your time. Would you tell me about why you joined Musiversal and your musical story so far? I’d love to know you a bit more about you.
(SW) Nice! Of course. I’m Suzanne Williams, singer songwriter… I’ve been keeping these songs in my desk for decades, didn’t have much budget neither the time to pursuit them. But now I’m retired, I have all the time in the world! On the other hand I’m really not sure if Musiversal is the right move for me… but I joined and am excited to start! Can you help me with my songs?
(DMC) I can Suzanne, and I will. Let’s take your songs to the next level. But first, how are you doing today?
Hi. I’m Diogo, Head of Customer Success at Musiversal. And the lines above sum up most of my current days: customer relationships, customer experience, and customer success. Customer, customer, period.
I joined Musiversal in September 2019. When “pandemic” was still a word of the XX century…
(DMC) Suzanne, my job is to make sure you get the most out of Musiversal, as a customer. I’m here for you and because of you. In this conversation we will explore how you can use Musiversal to its full potential, and how that can impact your music from now onwards. Hold tight. Your music making experience will never be the same again… Welcome to Musiversal!
I’m a musician and producer. Music has been part of my life since I remember, and from my teenager years onwards I focused on performance in drums and percussion.
Since then, I’ve been touring Portugal and abroad, having recorded and played thousands of shows with all sorts of acts - from accompanying independent and aspiring songwriters in the London scene, to support established and major celebrities in massive live production shows for TV. I’ve performed in the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympic Games, at TEDx, in the Barbican Centre, Lisbon Coliseum, CCB, and other major venues. Some names I’ve had the privilege of sharing music with include Portuguese guitar master António Chainho - with whom I performed next to Rui Veloso, Rão Kyao, Pedro Abrunhosa, Ana Bacalhau, Paulo de Carvalho, Sara Tavares, Paulo Flores, Helder Moutinho, Fernando Ribeiro and Monda:
I've also performed with Viviane, Tora Tora Big Band, Rogério Charraz, Michal Atkins, Miguel Gizzas, among others.
Currently, I’m playing with my ensemble Al’Fado:
...and accompanying the band The Lucky Duckies:
You can watch me bashing out some drums in my YouTube playlist.
I’m also a Yogi and nature lover 😊
Over time, these experiences all equally confirmed a visceral feeling I had when I was a child and which at that time I couldn’t express clearly… which is that music is humanity’s universal language.
Before joining Musiversal I was exploring this feeling in any way I could. I joined bands, organized concerts and productions, studied drums, took a musical sciences degree (aka Musicology), one other degree in popular music performance, and more recently a master degree in music education.
Professionally speaking, there came a time when I was teaching music during the day, and playing concerts during the night and on weekends. And… it was way too much. That was when I found Musiversal…
It was a summery night in Lisbon, I was laid out in my sofa relaxing after a long day, navigating LinkedIn… and voilà! I was re-targeted by a job ad from Musiversal. This was the second time I was seeing it. On the first time I read it twice and I was a bit in defense mode. Couldn’t quite believe it. Skeptical, I should say. But on the second time I gave it a deeper reading, and after reading it multiple times from top to bottom, I stood up from the sofa and immediately started preparing my application. It was 11pm in the night, and I felt flooded with the possibility Musiversal was describing in that job add, and how I could be a part of this journey.
Shortly after sending my application I was called for an interview. There I met André Miranda (CEO and founder), Rita Tulha (Head of Orchestras and Executive Producer), and Martin Quach (co-founder).
The interview quickly turned into a conversation, which quickly turned into a brainstorm of ideas and then possibilities started being created out of nothing. The whole ‘thing’ lasted for 3 hours... It was not a normal interview, and I knew right away I was stepping into something very special.
(SW) Excuse me Diogo, and how do I bring my music to life with Musiversal?
This was the question that was in our heads right from the start. In that interview, before it (as I’ve come to learn), and after it. It’s always been there. And since I joined, we’ve been deeply engaged in creating the grounds and structures for music creators of all types to see their music realized by world-class musicians, producers, audio engineers and orchestras.
Back in September 2019, solid operations or procedures were something still in the in “the realm of the ideas”, and not materialized in any formal manner. Everything was still to be created. All the dreams, ideas as aspirations were still in the ether.
(SW) Do I need to send a score? I don’t write sheet music…
Could we cater for Suzanne’s case? She doesn’t write music... “We should cater for her case”, we thought. For her and for hundreds of millions of people that have music stuck in their heads. They all have stories and dreams, in music! In that universal language which we all understand, relate to, and can be touched by, like magic! We knew we had to tap into this… Is it by chance that Music and Magic start and end with the same letters?
So we soon realized that we were on a mission to change the music industry. A mission to shake this universal language upwards, and produce a worldwide impact.
And whilst everything was still to be created, we had to start somewhere…
So since joining Musiversal, the journey has been nothing less than a massive rollercoaster. I’ve done mainly Customer Success, Executive Production, Legal/ Compliance, and Sales, as well as a fair bit of Marketing and Product. And alongside all these rather important domains, I’ve put my mind and soul into other similarly noble endeavors such as Listening, Engaging, Empathizing and Nurturing both customers and team colleagues. Because Music requires the same as Magic: People.
So for example… one may have to assist our CTO, Javier Mey, opening up a coconut halfway through his work day… this is important stuff!
… While at the same time, making sure customers give us their honest feedback:
(DMC) Suzanne, one thing that is really significant to us is that after each session, we want to know how it was, how you felt it. Let us know! We’re always listening out to our customers input, learning and evolving.
And because that was (and is) so significant to us, we created individual feedback forms, even before we had any engineers in the team (way before coconuts). Creating these took me less time than taking a Computer Science Degree, but of course it is not as good as what we will have in the future!
Here’s how they look:
But how far are we willing to stretch this desire of impacting such a big industry?
Far. Very far.
This is a screen shot of the Customer Satisfaction goals we set up in the beginning of 2021:
The Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) goal was already above major world-class brands’ results, and the NPS goal was also world-class level. Did we make it? No! We smashed it 😎
We ended 2021 with an average of 96% CSAT, and 72 NPS.
That is Customer Satisfaction Jupiter-class level!
And how come this is possible?
(DMC) Suzanne, our office team is made of music professionals, amateurs and music lovers. And our team of service providers is made of the crème de la crème of world-class musicians, producers, audio engineers and orchestras. They are a different breed. You will notice the difference.
(SW) What if I need help? I can’t write music sheet, remember? I have this song I’ve been working on for years…
(DMC) We got you Suzanne. We have extended our services to cover the entire Music Production spectrum. Do you require an arranger? A producer? A drummer? A singer? A mastering engineer? We got you covered. You’re in the best hands.
And that’s partly how we make it, day in day out. We provide for what our customers require. If you twist it and look it from the opposite angle, we are “simply” empowering them, using the power they put in our hands in the first place.
The other part is not visible to the public because Customer Success is like Magic: It’s not always what you see…
And sometimes things are beyond trivial comprehension… like some meetings ending up like this:
(SW) Ok I’m curious now! What else about the company can you tell me more about?
(DMC) Many things Suzanne, many things… But it all comes down to:
Our Culture of Integrity, our conduct, our guide of language and tone of voice, our operations and procedures (which were nonexistent in 2019), that put the customer first.
We ask and listen to what our customers have to say about what we do.
We act on what our customers say, if it represents our customers’ interests.
What we do is based on the intention of putting the customer’s interests first.
We promote human-musical engagement, continuously deliver high value and create long-lasting impact for our customers, partners and the industry.
(DMC) My job is to fulfil and marvel customers. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s certainly not a one man’s job. This is a team’s effort, and I’m beyond proud of being part of it.
In a typical day at the Musiversal rollercoaster, I might go from the top of the mountain to the very low valley base, and back up to the top again. It’s a live experience of creating meaningful relationships with you, our customers.
That includes identifying what success means to each customer. Meaning “Suzanne” times thousands. Understanding meta-profiles and main goals, and also desires, interests, problems, pains, issues, etc. Establishing, developing, and building relationships with customers, through pro-active communication. Work hand-in-hand with them to help meet and surpass their goals, in progressive stages, and in every aspect of their journey. Facilitating the successful implementation and use of services and products. Bringing the voice of the customer up to the discussion board. Serving as liaison between departments on behalf of the customer, interacting with all departments (Music, Financial, Product, Engineering and Growth), in order to promote successful experiences.
(SW) Ok… I see…
(DMC) Overwhelming right? I know Suzanne. But even though that sounds… “great” and “ok”, what exactly will I do for you, you're maybe wondering?
I set some of the communications you receive. If needed, I’ll talk with you about your subscription, your music, your payments, or if you're not happy with your experience and why. Possibly something went wrong? Did we act to our word? Did we not? Did something extremely positive happen and you want to share it with the Musiversal team?
At Customer Success we get to speak, talk, converse, chat, and email you, day in day out. I can talk to you if you’re unhappy to the point of wanting to leave Musiversal #sadface
We work with the service policies, and make sure they suit the experience our customers are requiring.
At Customer Success we also create and maintain the Help Center, as well as provide a customized support, if you require it.
Further, do you want to refer Musiversal to your friends? Do you want to try a different service than the one you’re currently using? Let’s explore all the possibilities. You’ll be amazed with the results. Let’s talk and put some oxygen onto your musical “fire”!
And lastly… have you published your music? We want to know about it! :)
So it all looks a bit like this:
(SW) And will I get to work with kind people? Put it this way: Are they happy in their jobs?
(DMC) You will. I’m at home as you can see from my background. We all work remotely. For me that means greater mental stability, enjoyment in the work-life balance, and motivation to deliver the best version of me every time I show up. I love it!
And the musicians, they work from their homes/studios too.
One day I hopped into a musician’s meeting room to ease up the mood after a tough session… (It can’t be all roses, right?) I got to influence that person’s day by simply sharing some of my thoughts, and coming from a new perspective. We sat there, listening to each other. We shared thoughts, words and silences. And at the end it made my day to have impacted, for the better, the day of a team colleague working in New York, which I actually never been with physically!
I’ve hosted more than 150 calls with customers. Most of them were to explain what Musiversal is, how it works, and how can that customer make the most out of it. I’m now hosting Webinars, for the same purpose. And sometimes I have to hop on calls with customers that are not happy with the way things are going for them. That’s part of my job too. Do I like it? Yes, I do. I love it. Because I get to connect with music creators that have dreams and aspirations just like us, at “the office”. They have blockers and needs that we fully relate to and deeply understand. It feels like we’re all on the same boat! And when I hold hands with them, I use the Magic Music has: the universal capacity of bringing humans together, in a creation mode, thinking of solutions and putting positivity above all. That is also why I love my job. I feel like I’m part of a massive movement that is influencing the world positively. Contributing to the happiness of so many people. And while doing that, growing as a professional and musician myself. I hope this ‘dream’ keeps alive and growing!
(DMC) Suzanne, it doesn’t matter that you don’t write music sheet. What matters is that you have music inside you. It matters that you’re here with us, that you chose Musiversal to make your best music ever. And from now onwards, you’re contributing to the healing of the music industry. So that it works for everyone. It works for you, for me, for our musicians, their families, their families’ friends, etc.
Do you see the impact in the horizon? It’s huge.
You too, reading this words, can be part of it - if you’re not already.
This is the Magic that we’re creating, together. The new era of Music Production, adapted to the XXI century. Not only technologically adapted, but humanly adapted. It’s not only the livestreaming technologies and fast web browsing. That’s all great. And on top off that, it’s the words and the actions between us all. In a world inspired by music. With no borders, just like magic. Where your music is our work. Where your work is our music. We are one in this. Creating Magic. Creating Music.
(SW) Oh one last thing, I almost forgot… my brother John, he’s more into orchestras and that sort of music. He’s been quite successful I should say... Do you reckon he could use your orchestras?
(DMC) Absolutely Suzanne! Simply share my email with him, and let John know that our Orchestras are ready for his music :)
And to wrap up, as I’m writing about the past and the present here at Musiversal, I’m also figuring out what the future could look like. And here’s something that I imagine in the future year of 20??...
Musiversal Live @ Radio City Music Hall
Opening act: “Suzanne Williams and her brother John” featuring the Musiversal European Orchestra, streaming live on your screens, and Musiversal city’s jazz band, live on the main stage. Here to perform their new track “Carrots’ Magical Stretch”. Enjoy.
The future is to be created. Fasten your seatbelts folks… You and us are already creating it on a daily basis. We’re creating a new era in Music. A new Magical era. And with great power, comes great responsibility. We got you. We hear and feel you. We’re here for you. And we thank you for being our customers.
(DMC) We speak again soon. The meeting link will be the same for the next time. Bye!
“Bloop bloop phreee…”
