Making the Fan

Steven Van Bellegham is a best-selling author and an international keynote speaker, largely focused on the future customer experience. He’s given keynotes in over 40 countries, and he’s worked with some of the biggest companies in the world, from Google to Mercedes Benz.Steven is the author of multiple international bestselling books including ‘The Conversation Manager’, ‘When Digital Becomes Human’, ‘Customers the Day after Tomorrow’, ‘The Offer You Can’t Refuse’ and a futuristic technology thriller called Eternal, which we discuss at the beginning of the episode.To preview what this episode is about, I’m going to steal this from his website’s About page: “Steven believes in a bright future where companies play the long-term game with their customers. His passion is spreading ideas about the future of customer experience. Steven believes in the combination of common sense, new technologies, an empathic human touch, playing the long-term game and taking your social responsibility to win the hearts and business of customers over and over again.”  If that’s up your alley, you’re gonna love this episode.Show Notes(5:30) Getting to know Steven Van Belleghem(9:00) Reinventing a global business during the COVID-19 pandemic(12:00) The balance of technology and in-person engagement on business(17:45) How do you add value at the exact right moment without being intrusive?(21:30) Taking a commodity and making it an ecosystem(22:00) How subscription models change markets(25:00) Building a sponsorship community with Club Brugge(29:30) Creating ethical guidelines for dealing with emotions(30:08) Your why should be where you are going, not where you’ve been(38:15) Magical moments curated by Disney(43:15) What would Joy do? (Lessons learned from Disney’s Inside Out)(47:15) Setting policies that will serve the greatest number of fans(52:30) The downsides of technology - removing the human element(54:30) It’s not about knowing what customers want, but how they want itAdditional Resourceshttps://www.stevenvanbelleghem.com/E-book "From CX to XC"Where to Reach StevConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

Today's guest is Kami Testa, Guest Experience Program Director of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. Kevin Gober and Kami dive into how to drive change in your organization, the process of hiring a large team of employees all at once, training your staff, and how mindsets impact actions.Kami's unique background with the Walt Disney Company has helped her bring fresh insights to the NBA's Phoenix franchises. Before the NBA and WNBA, Kami held a wide array of roles with different parts of the Walt Disney Company. She's spent time as a Facilitator for Disney Institute; a Training Manager for Disney Cruise Line; she's been a Traditions facilitator (training Cast Members on their first day at Disney); she's worked in premium sales for Adventures by Disney (the company's travel planning agency); and more.   Show Notes(7:00) Kami Testa Intro and Background(9:30) Parallels of Guest Experience and Employee Experience - The Disney “Chain of Excellence”(14:30) Lessons from the Phoenix Suns’ Virtual Hiring Fair(16:00) Hiring for Attitude vs. Aptitude(17:30) Shaking Up the Interview Process(18:30) Training the Hiring Managers - Getting Your Staff on Board to Your Vision (20:40) Disney Insights - Skills-Based Recruitment is Fatally Flawed(22:00) Challenges of Virtual Training / On-boarding(27:00) Discovering Talent - Outlining Opportunities for Growth for Part-Time Staff(30:00) Cultural Overall of Changing the Phoenix Suns’ Game Day Staff Uniforms (34:30) How to Change Your Staff’s Perspective Beyond “Job Description” (39:00) The Suns’ Vision for the Future(46:00) How to Formulate a Culture Committee(49:30) Tools for Balancing Your Team’s Mental HealthConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

Jonathan Daniels, Co-Founder and Director of CX Brussels, joins us on today's episode as we go over the various steps of the "ICON Process" from his book The Customer Experience Playbook. Consisting of Initiate, Co-Create, Operationalize, and Nourish, David and Jonathan breakdown a customer experience transformation to its core and show how these fundamental CX steps can be leveraged as a growth strategy for your business. Time Stamps:(4:45) Who is Jonathan and CX Brussels?(7:47) Trends in CX conversations outside of the U.S.(12:15) Digital transformations and the transitions in between(16:10) The Customer Experience Playbook - ICON ProcessInitiate(19:50) Keys of a governance structure for customer centricity(22:48) Power of the voice of the customer and ROI(26:45) The importance of detailed goals to become customer-centricCo-Creation(30:37) Focusing on co-creation after measurement of CX growth(33:33) Incorporating employees in co-creation is necessaryOperationalize(36:40) Making sure to operationalize and add standardsNourish(39:52) Reinvesting and implementing changes and improvements to your CX transformation(42:19) The toughest aspect of the ICON processResources Mentioned in This Episode:The Customer Experience Playbook by Jonathan DanielsCX Centric - https://cx-centric.com/CX Conversations - https://www.cx-centric-training.com/conversationsWhere To Reach the Guest:LinkedIn - Jonathan DanielsTwitter - @mrdansoultionsEmail - jonathan@cx-centric.comConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

David Millay and Kevin Gober are back with another Jam Session as they discuss ways to create your own value and finding ways to bring that value to your organization. With Covid changing the working environment and structure, David and KG get into adapting your skillset to fit in any situation and learning universal ways to lead during the pandemic.Time Stamps:(2:00) What it’s like for sports to be back but not able to be in the building(4:30) Worries of making an impact in your organization during Covid-19(6:00) Find a way to bring value - the importance of acquiring new skill sets(8:50) Kevin’s retail experience & demonstrating versatility(11:00) Adapting the principles of sports business to other industries(14:40) Different strategies of energizing your team as a leader (17:47) Speaking from the heart vs. speaking from a script (20:44) How should you be leading in these times?(22:12) Inside the relaunch of events at State Farm Arena - Crawl, Walk, Run Mentality(32:38) Recruiting and hiring in the midst of social distancing(37:37) Enhancing your skill sets to be ready for the next opportunity(40:06) Re-imagining the onboarding process - creating a mentoring buddy system(42:49) Acknowledging and caring for the mental health of employees in this time(47:59) How can we create better workplace cultures with hybrid work schedules?Resources Mentioned in this Episode:Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David EpsteinNew Orleans Pelicans Virtual Career EventConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

This week's episode is another jam session with Kevin Gober, and we're joined by Jesse Cole. Jesse is the owner of the Savannah Bananas and Fans First Entertainment. He's one of the most innovative sports execs in the industry, and his insights from running his baseball team will inspire you to try some of your own experiments. Time Stamps:(6:50) Taking big risks and experimenting: Example of FansGiving - Learnings, not failures(11:10) How to learn and debrief after events that have wins and losses(13:25) Inside the Savannah Bananas’ Think Tank and creative process(15:54) The Importance of Experience and Experiments(16:50) What should you start doing, stop doing, and continue doing?(19:17) How to become a 24/7 brand and stay relevant (22:23) Sports teams focusing on what they can control and regaining it (24:40) The 5 Stages of a venue or live event (25:38) What can you take from outside your industry?(30:08) Growing the culture of an organization (32:03) Cultivating a younger fan base(34:54) Re-envisioning the season ticket membership for Gen Z(37:40) How do you keep fans coming back game after game?(39:24) The Savannah Bananas’ interview process(40:59) The employee culture at State Farm Arena(44:43) Knowing what you won’t be and how to adapt(51:40) Reflections on 2020 - What to start, stop, and continueConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

Time Stamps:(5:50) Dan’s background / What is Trapital?(12:32) Sports and Hip-Hop: “We want to be them, they want to be us”(13:12) How artists have engaged fans without live events(17:55) Example of how music can scale into sports and entertainment(24:37) Creative models to replace revenue  (26:05) Key partnerships for at-home entertainment(29:52) "Name-Image-Likeness" Parallels(31:40) Disruptions in the music industry(34:17) Framework for analyzing business models(37:52) The role that music videos have had in revenue generation for the music industry (44:08) Modern-day lessons from music business leaders (47:19) Generating Passion vs. Influence(50:46) If Dan were the Athletics Director for a day...Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Harvard Business School case study on BeyonceBen Thompson Business Model Michael and Janet Jackson Scream Music Video Where to Reach the Guest:Trapital NewsletterEmail -  info [at] trapital.coLinkedIn - Dan RuncieTwitter - @RuncieDanConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

In today's episode, David and Kevin talk with Drew Berst about the combination of digital and physical experiences and how to infuse that in your customer experience. How will stadiums utilize their space going forward? With many stadiums transforming and restructuring their format, how can you maintain the culture and tradition while also keeping with the times and adapting to new experiences?  With covid accelerating the demand and structure of sports, how can you balance this all?Time Stamps:2:55 - Who is Drew Berst?3:43 - How Raiders are utilizing their 3D printed stadium torch7:00 - Understanding what history tells us about short term and long term 8:10 - Covid's biggest fear; people are afraid of people 10:10 - When sports come back you need to offer a new experience11:14 - Covid is accelerating certain demands in sports12:51 - What are the positives and innovations of Covid?13:50 - If sports become more premium, where does that leave the nosebleed fans?15:53 - How State Farm Arena and the Atlanta Hawks balance the average and premium fans18:47 - Experience is the center of attention at venues20:40 - How to optimize the stadium and atmosphere at limited capacity23:40 - How to approach older stadiums for restructuring and layout while keeping the              culture and tradition27:20 - What does the conversation with executives look like when redesigning traditional stadiums?30:20 - The success of Dimensional Innovations 32:18 - The Masters and NBA Bubble infusing digital with physical experiences34:06 - Digital experiences are here to stay 35:27 - How the NHL has approached their season 37:30 - The digitization of experiences from Dimensional Innovations 42:03 - Emotional connections are at the heart of the experience43:00 - Digitization of consumer experiences44:30 - How will clients return to communication? Who will stay digital?45:24 - Future of sponsorships and fan experiences 49:28 - What data needs to be gathered and measured along with what you do with it is changing50:59 - checking in employees at stadiums is still a hassle; Engagemint's solution to that: CheckdIn54:08 - Where can you find more from Drew?Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Dimensional InnovationsDimensional Innovation's Project with The RaidersConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

This episode is a little bit of a throwback. It's a conversation from the end of July, but we're airing it now, 3-4 months later. It still holds up tremendously well, as our guest's message on service and reinvention is timeless.Our guest today is Brandon Steiner and he's been in the sports marketing business longer than I've been alive. Literally. Brandon was the founder and former CEO of Steiner Sports, which is now owned by Fanatics.  Steiner Sports started out as an effort to pair up athletes with businesses, trying to attract customers; classic sports marketing.Before long though, the company got into what Brandon is primarily known for, memorabilia. In 2005, Brandon partnered with the Yankees to create Yankees-Steiner collectibles, where Brandon had the rights to license and market a wide variety of game-used items from bats to baseballs, you name it.From there, he built similar deals with national brands, like the Cowboys, Notre Dame, Madison Square Garden, and many more iconic sports brands. He built a memorabilia empire, creating relationships with thousands of athletes and helping fans get their hands on exclusive items and experiences. Steiner Sports is now owned by Fanatics and Brandon is on a new journey.Brandon is currently the founder and CEO of CollectibleXchange and The Steiner Agency. We're going to talk about both of those ventures, among other things. We take a couple of minutes to get going, but pretty quickly we jump into a ton of different topics.The biggest themes of the episode really revolve around entrepreneurship and how sports and entertainment organizations can ultimately become more entrepreneurial, which is incredibly important right now in this time of the pandemic where everybody's reinventing. And innovation is key. Brandon is in his sixties now, and starting a second career.Brandon stresses that it's never too late for an organization or an individual to learn new skills and start new journeys. We talk about lessons learned from his parents, and we dive into customer service lessons that he's picked up from serving millions and millions of customers over the years.Brandon Steiner's Content:Brandon Steiner's BooksPodcast and BlogContact BrandonBrandon's LinkedInBrandon's TwitterBrandon's Companies:CollectibleXchangeThe Steiner AgencyConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

In the second episode of our new format with Kevin Gober, Kevin and David get into the importance of leadership and structure that top-level executives need to be taking during the ever-adapting covid and digital age.  With an overarching framework of leaders establishing, operationalizing, and sustaining the values and vision by which organizations thrive, David and Kevin discuss leaders' responsibility to help our employees in the emotional & mental, relational, physical, financial, purposeful, and employable spectrums.  From employee journey maps to improving meeting tactics, this episode gets into the ins and out of running an organization in the new digital era. Time Stamps:00:00 - What’s on the top of the mind? 2:00 - Organization principles for leaders3:50 - Leader behaviors and processes5:52 - Having courageous conversations8:45 - How does EngageMint foster innovation with clients?9:50 - Journey mapping with EngageMint10:54  - Creating service blueprints13:48 - Helping the organization see the true behind-the-scenes impact15:45 -  The building process of State Farm Arena 16:53 -  Atlanta Hawks innovation of day-to-day meetings20:27 - Importance of note-taking and tangible actions from meetings21:28 - Playbook - Rules of Engagement for Meetings24:37 - Ramp up meetings - meetings to discuss all functions to get ready to open doors25:44 - Fans in venues for NBA? - tipping off Dec. 2228:34 - State Farm Arena - using the venue for polling; now flipping to get ready for basketball29:30 - Deeper dive into Kevin’s role of “Chief Experience Officer” for Atlanta Hawks31:50 - Employees want to know what are you going to do to protect me and keep me safe in a covid space?33:09 - Discussion on trust in the workplace, from excess Zoom meetings to “prove” you are “working from home” to accepting employees will now get their work done34:11 - KG talking about strategies Atlanta Hawks' owners have used to have the backs of employees during the pandemic37:58 - Easy ways for leaders to be present now that we’re digital39:15 - Big things grab headlines.  Little things drive culture.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Jared Spataro Podcast Episode71 Tips: How to Build Virtual CultureConnect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay

Kevin Gober, the Senior Director of Arena Employee Experience and Learning & Development for the Atlanta Hawks, joined us for today's episode. For context, we recorded this episode on November 1, before the US election. We got tons of positive feedback on the episode we did earlier this year with Kevin, so we brought KG back to talk about what's on his mind. Not our typical interview format, Kevin and I brainstormed different ideas we are working on; we discussed trends we're thinking about; and we shared obstacles we're stuck on. We're experimenting here with this new format, so please send me any feedback on Twitter - @davidmillay or on LinkedIn.  Enjoy!Connect with Host, David Millay:Connect w/ David Millay on LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmillay/Follow David on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/david.millay/Follow David Millay on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DavidMillay