In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Ben Guttmann.

Ben’s a marketing and communications expert who’s on a mission to train leaders in effective connection through simplified messaging. Ben’s the former co-founder of Digital Natives Group, a professor at Baruch College, and the best-selling author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win - and How to Design Them.

Here’s what we discuss:

• Why simplified messaging is necessary
• Why your messages aren’t breaking through the noise
• The different roles of communication “senders” and “receivers”
• How empathy should be used in communications
• The distinction between “complex” and “complicated” communications
• Five design principles to use when crafting a message
• How to avoid Frankenstein messaging
• The value of constraints in creating your message

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Ben's website
• Ben's book - Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win and How to Design Them
• Ben's 1,000 Words Checker
• Ben on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Blake Morgan.

Blake is known as the “Queen of CX.” She is a customer experience futurist and one of the top keynote speakers in the world. She’s the host of The Modern Customer Podcast and the author of three books, including her latest, The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: New Rules for Building a Business Around Today's Customer.

Blake and I talk about her blueprint for creating customer-focused leaders and how the customer experience mindset applies both on - and off - the job.

Here’s what we discuss:

• Why customer experience must start with leadership
• Why the CX mindset needs to be a lifestyle
• How to define customer-centricity
• The importance of a simple framework for enacting change
• How leaders can instill the CX mindset in their employees
• How leaders can become customer-experience futurists
• Using customer-focused leader skills as a spouse and parent

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Blake's website
• Blake's book: The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: New Rules for Building a Business Around Today's Customer
• Blake’s podcast: The Modern Customer Podcast
• Blake on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with David Avrin.

David is one of the most popular Customer Experience speakers and consultants in the world. In fact, over the past 25 years, David has shared his lessons on competitive advantage with leaders and teams from thousands of organizations in 26 countries around the world! And David is the best-selling author of six books including his latest, Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With: A Practical Guide to Giving Customers What They Want, How and When They Want It.

David and I talk about how to discover what’s causing your customers friction so that you can begin delivering a “ridiculously easy” experience to them.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How to move from being competent to being preferable
• Why being simple causes you to stand out
• How to tell if your policies or procedures are prohibiting an easy customer experience
• The importance of your team knowing what they can do for customers
• How to future-proof your business
• Why informal feedback is just as critical as formal feedback
• The value in walking your customer’s journey

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• David's website
• Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With: A Practical Guide to Giving Customers What They Want, How and When They Want It
• David on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with John DiJulius.

John is the founder and Chief Revolution Officer of The DiJulius Group, a customer experience consulting firm that helps clients build customer care strategies that lead to happy customers, employees, and shareholders. John has spent decades becoming the authority on building world-class customer and employee experiences. John is the bestselling author of six books, including his newest, The Employee Experience Revolution: Increase Morale, Retain Your Workforce, and Drive Business Growth.

John and I talk about the little-known secret of how to become a more profitable company in both the short and long term: happy employees.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How we got to the point of “quiet quitting”
• Why the power of purpose trumps the paycheck
• The importance of storytelling in vision-casting a career
• How to make your employees feel as cared for as your customers
• How to avoid creating accidental managers
• Why onboarding needs to be more than a training class
• How to design an employee-specific career journey
• The importance of focusing on the whole person, not just the job
• How the employee experience starts during recruitment
• The “Columbo method” of interviewing

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• John's website
• The Employee Experience Revolution: Increase Morale, Retain Your Workforce, and Drive Business Growth
• John on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Ali Cudby.

Ali is the CEO of Alignmint Growth Strategies. With over 15 years advising startups and global companies, Ali’s specialty is transforming customer experience, increasing customer lifetime value, and building customer loyalty. Ali is also the author of the bestselling book, Keep Your Customers: How to Stop Customer Turnover, Improve Retention and Get Lucrative, Long-Term Loyalty.

Ali and I talk through the significant impact customer retention, versus customer acquisition, has on the bottom line and the direct tie between customer experience and customer loyalty. Ali explains her perspective on the different levels of customer loyalty and how to move more of your customers to the highest level of loyalty.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How to define customer loyalty
• How to let leaders know that customer loyalty matters
• The different distinctions of customer loyalty
• Strategies to take around “bad revenue” customers
• The two major components of customer retention
• Who within a company owns customer experience
• How to keep an entire company on track with customer experience
• The ideal way to track customer loyalty progress

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Ali's website
• Keep Your Customers: How to Stop Customer Turnover, Improve Retention and Get Lucrative, Long-Term Loyalty
• Ali on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Steve Woodruff.

Known as the "King of Clarity," Steve's passion is helping companies and individuals communicate clearly and effectively. Steve is the author of two books, including his latest, The Point: How to Win with Clarity-Fueled Communications.

Steve and I discuss how the use of his "Clarity Fuel Formula" helps communicators break through the noise to quickly grab - and keep - the attention of their audience without creating confusion.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How anyone can learn to be a simple, effective communicator
• A business's main competitor isn't another business - it's noise
• Understanding how the brain works is crucial to communicating clearly
• Why seconds matter in gaining your audience's attention
• How jargon and too much information shut down the attention center of the brain
• Why assuming your audience shares your same level of knowledge is a critical mistake
• The importance of defining terms to bring clarity to the conversation
• Why storytelling and analogies are brain-friendly communication tools
• How poor communication within an organization can lead to a 20% loss in efficiency per week

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Steve's website
• Steve's book - The Point: How to Win with Clarity-Fueled Communications
• Steve on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Chris Wallace.

Chris is the co-founder and president of InnerView Group - a brand consultancy that helps organizations improve alignment between their frontline teams and their go-to-market strategies.

Chris and I chat about how to create a more collaborative relationship with your frontline team and how to get your frontline to care more about your brand.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How to move a vision from the C-suite to the frontline team
• Why spoon-feeding the frontline is not a bad thing
• Why “asking” is a much better strategy than “telling”
• How to create evangelists in your frontline employees
• How to put your customer insight into action
• Why influencing your frontline workers is the best way to influence the customer
• How your frontline employees double as your customers’ best consultants
• How customer and employee experience tie to your company’s overall brand and culture
• How to balance digital experiences with the human touch of the frontline

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Chris's website
• A Guide to Frontline Insights - eBook
• Chris on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Derrick Daye.

Derrick is the managing partner of The Blake Project, a strategic brand consultancy that helps businesses gain an emotional advantage, a distinctive advantage, and a connective advantage, moving them from brand awareness to brand insistence.

He’s the founder of Branding Strategy Insider - an online publication to help marketing-oriented leaders and professionals build strong brands.

Derrick and I discuss what goes into building a lasting brand that connects with customers and keeps them for the long term.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How brand strategy has evolved vs. what has stayed the same
• The best definition of a brand
• How to tie brand and business strategy together when starting a brand
• How branding and customer experience relate
• The best way to build a brand
• How to create a strong emotional connection with your customers
• Why storytelling is key to the brand conversation

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Derrick's website
• Derek's publication - Branding Strategy Insider
• Derrick on LinkedIn