SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Scott McKain.Scott’s a globally recognized authority on how organizations and professionals create a distinction to attract and retain customers. He’s a member of the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame. And he’s one of 24 members of the “Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame.” And Scott’s the author of eight best-selling customer experience books including his latest - The Ultimate Customer Experience: 5 Steps Everyone Must Know to Excite Your Customers, Engage Your Colleagues, and Enjoy Your Work.Here’s what we discuss:Scott learned the value of customer experience from his father’s grocery storeWhile customer expectations have changed, the basic premise is still the sameCustomer loyalty is only created through emotionWhat James Cameron’s The Titanic teaches us about word of mouthCustomers don’t want you to make it right - they want you to get it rightThe ultimate customer experience drives customers to repeat and referCustomers compare you to every great experience, not your direct competitorsHow the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort created the ultimate experience with golden retrieversThe right way to be empathetic to customersLeaders need to model the behaviors they expect from employeesRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Scott’s siteScott’s book - The Ultimate Customer ExperienceScott on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Heather R. Younger, author of The Art of Active Listening: How People at Work Feel Heard, Valued, and Understood!Heather’s an international keynote speaker, and she’s the Founder and CEO of Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement firm.She’s also the host of Leadership With Heart podcast.And she’s the author of three best-selling leadership and employee engagement books including her latest - The Art of Active Listening: How People at Work Feel Heard, Valued, and Understood.Here’s what we discuss:How active listening helps people feel valuedWhat’s causing the barrier for people to be able to listen effectivelyThe five steps needed for active listening“Closing the loop” motivates people to be comfortable sharing with you in the futureMost employees and customers hate surveys because they feel nothing will come from itWhat to do when you can't actually give someone what they're asking forHow to help your employees become better listenersRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Heather’s siteEmployee FanatixHeather’s book - The Art of Active ListeningHeather’s podcast - Leadership With HeartHeather on LinkedIn

This week's SIMPLE brand  episode features a "From the Vault" discussion with Dee Ann Turner discussing her book, Crush Your Career!Dee Ann is the former head of Talent with Chick-fil-A. She was the company’s first female officer and was instrumental in building and growing Chick-fil-A’s well-known culture. In her 33-year career with Chick-fil-A, she was responsible for franchisee selection, talent acquisition, management and development, diversity and inclusion, culture and engagement, social responsibility and sustainability. Today, she’s a speaker, consultant and author where she helps organizations create and strengthen culture and talent to better serve their customers.With all her experience, it’s safe to say that Dee Ann knows what it takes to teach people how to develop, build and manage a fulfilling career.RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODEDee Ann ‘s book: Crush Your CareerDee Ann’s book: Bet On TalentDee Ann’s siteDee Ann on InstagramDee Ann on TwitterDee Ann on Facebook

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Jeannie Walters.Jeannie’s an award-winning customer experience expert, international keynote speaker, and Founder of Experience Investigators - a firm helping companies increase sales and customer retention through elevated customer experiences. And she’s the host of the Experience Action podcast.From the importance of creating and instilling a Customer Experience Mission to approaching your customer journey map as a verb, and not a noun - Jeannie and I discuss the right ways to help you and your team demystify the process for improving your customer experience.Some of the topics we discuss include:How to create fewer ruined days for customersWhat customers expect from brands todayUnderstanding a customer’s journey helps you know what they want at each interactionCustomer journey mapping is a verb, not a nounHow to use “micro-mapping” to truly understand customers along each interactionIf you recognize a poor interaction across the customer journey, there’s no need to validate it with dataA CX mission statement empowers your employees to know exactly how to deliver on your brand’s promiseA focus on customer experience helps create a better employee experienceRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Jeannie’s siteJeannie’s podcast - Experience ActionLeave your question for Jeannie to answer on the Experience Action podcast hereJeannie on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Emmanuel Probst.Emmanuel’s the Global Lead of Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos. He’s an adjunct professor of Consumer Market Research at UCLA. And he’s a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of two brand strategy books including his latest -  Assemblage – The Art and Science of Brand Transformation.Just like a master blender uses the art of assemblage to know how to orchestrate, assemble and combine all the right elements to make a fine wine or cognac, a master brand strategist can do the same with their brand. But they have to be able to recognize and understand which elements to use and exactly how to combine them to craft meaningful, impactful brands.That’s the art and science of creating a transformative brand.Some of the topics we discuss include:Not all brands need to demonstrate a purpose, but they do need to help their customers transformHow your brand can be empathetic, relatable, authentic, and genuineYour customers need to understand “the one thing” your brand can do for themWhat the history of James Bond can teach you about assembling and evolving a brandThere is nothing original. Most creations are remixes and recreations of existing elements Brands are now open-source and need to allow for co-creation with customersYour brand is not the hero of the customer story, but there are important roles it can playYour brand is what people say it is, not what you say it isWhat’s driving a decrease in consumer trust of brands RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Emmanuel’s siteEmmanuel’s book - Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand TransformationEmmanuel’s book - Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Consumer Quest for MeaningEmmanuel on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Robert Patin.Robert’s an international best-selling author and he’s the founder of Creative Agency Success, a consulting firm dedicated to helping creative agencies scale. And he’s the host of the Agency Blueprint podcast. Robert and I discuss lessons on how to take your team’s operations from complex and out of hand to a simple, scalable machine. A machine that helps you ultimately have more time to focus on the right work to move your business forward.If you want to simplify and make things much smoother for you and your team, this episode’s for you.Some of the topics we discuss include:Giving your team space and frameworks to solve problems is much more valuable than solving problems for themOur desire to be immediately responsive causes us to complete work 5x-10x longer than necessaryThe approaches to work that drive complexity across most teamsHow you can accomplish more by focusing on doing lessThe steps and framework to take to eliminate complexity from your teamThe ideal method for delegating work to othersThe value of videoing all of your processes as processes documentationYour processes have typically been put together by everyone else except for youConnecting with community outside of your business can help you learn how to simplifyRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Robert’s siteRobert’s book - The Practical Agency (get it for free here!)Robert’s podcast - The Agency Blueprint

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Greg Kihlström, author of House of the Customer: A blueprint for one-to-one, customer-first, employee-driven business transformation. Greg’s a speaker, entrepreneur, and consultant to top companies on marketing technology, customer experience, and digital transformation initiatives.He’s the host of the Agile Brand podcast.Greg and I discuss:What customer-centric brands do that are different than all the othersHow customer expectations continue to riseToo many brands misunderstand what it means to create a customer-first approachFocusing on intrinsic and extrinsic values motivates employees to focus on the customerAgile principles help create an employee-driven cultureThe value of creating a culture of experimentationGreg’s 4 North Star goals that brands should have for a customer-first experienceWhere most brands get personalization wrongThe 7 elements of Greg’s "House of the Customer" blueprintGreg’s take on who in an organization should own and govern the customer experience  RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Greg’s site Greg’s book - House of the Customer: A blueprint for one-to-one, customer-first, employee-driven business transformation

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Erik Huberman, author of The Hawke Method: The Three Principles of Marketing that Made Over 3,000 Brands Soar.Erik’s the Founder and CEO of HawkeMedia, the fastest-growing marketing consultancy in the United States that’s helped develop marketing strategies for more than 4,000 businesses. Erik and I discuss the Hawke Method principles along with how any brand can apply them, no matter their budget.Some of the topics we discuss include:The first thing brands need to consider if they want to growHow to understand your customer’s purchase cycle and consideration periodErik’s 3 principles of marketing simultaneously needed to acquire and retain customersThe right tactics to take to grow awarenessDon’t confuse your target audience and your brand persona - they can be differentHow to balance nurturing tactics alongside awareness tacticsThe need for using content as a way to nurture and create trust Why 3rd party validation is an ideal way to build trustOver time, what you deliver consistently becomes your brand - good or badHow marketers can use AI in the right way to help cut through all the noiseRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Erik’s site - Hawke MediaErik’s book - The Hawke Method: The Three Principles of Marketing that Made Over 3,000 Brands Soar

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Joe Mull, author of Employalty: How to Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of Work.Joe’s an international keynote speaker, he’s the founder of BossBetter Leadership Academy, and he’s the host of the BossBetter Now podcast. Employalty releases on May 9, but it’s quickly becoming one of the most talked about HR and workplace culture books.Joe and I discuss his lessons from Employalty all around turning your organization into a destination workplace to attract and keep top talent. Some of the topics we discuss include:What’s REALLY driving record-setting job switching todayThere is no staffing shortage, there’s a great job shortageThe desire of professionals to seek a higher quality of life without their job encroaching on thatWhy leaders want to move their team from a departure organization to a destination workplaceWhere commitment really comes from in the workplaceWhat’s broken in the work environment and made it more dehumanized latelyThe MYTH that employees are just lazy todayWhat too many leaders get wrong in offering flexibility to their employeesMeaningful work isn’t only for nonprofit or purpose-driven brandsThe way employees are recognized is typically all wrongGreat bosses are advocates for their employeesRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Joe’s siteJoe’s book - Employalty: How to Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of WorkJoe’s podcast - Boss Better Now

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Adam Toporek, author of Be Your Customer's Hero: Real-World Tips & Techniques for the Service Front Lines.Adam’s an internationally-recognized customer experience expert, keynote speaker, and customer service trainer who helps organizations transform their relationships with their customers through better strategy, training, and communication. He’s the founder of Customers That Stick®, and the former co-host of the Crack the Customer Code podcast.Some of the topics we discuss include:It doesn’t take grand, superhero actions to become your customer’s heroThe need for focusing on peak emotions in the customer experienceConsistently focusing on positive “brand deposits” buys you goodwill with your customersThe service “triggers” that can set your customer offGet the biggest return on your customer experience efforts by identifying and removing your customer’s biggest hasslesWhy you should regularly assess your policies and procedures and cut the ones that hinder your employeesHow curating and sharing success stories is one of the best ways to train employeesEmpowering your employees can deliver hassle-free experiencesAdam’s 3S process for employees to follow when resolving customer issuesRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Adam’s siteAdam’s book - Be Your Customer’s HeroSIMPLE brand episode 38 with Lisa Bodell - we talk about killing stupid rules and policies