Why Experience Matters as Much (Or More) Than Product With Dan Thumberg, Swan Brewing

Tony interviews Dan Thumberg, founder of Swan Brewing in Lakeland, Florida. Dan's background spans the carnival and amusement park industry, beer distribution, and leadership roles at American Express and Apple. He now combines enterprise-level service systems with small-business hospitality to build community-centered experiences.

Plus, Dan shares insights from his journey across large customer service organizations and into entrepreneurship - and how those lessons shape the way he leads today.

Key Takeaways:

• Design your service like a system. Customer service skills are more important than any of the hard skills you can teach.
• Customers have no patience for friction or hassles in today's market.
• There is a structural shift in hospitality expectations. Guests want an experience designed to be intentional, not accidental.
• It is crucial to hire people with service spirit, personality, and the ability to empathize because you cannot train for that. Be selective when you hire and continue to nurture them after you bring them onboard.
• The keys to building a customer-focused team are autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Train and empower your team to solve problems and support decisions that are not detrimental to the business.

Book time with me to learn about our speaking, training, and consulting services: https://calendly.com/thetonyjohnson/strategy

Links & Resources:

📌 Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-johnson-ccxp/

📌 Order my book Together We Serve: https://amzn.to/4pwGvPL

📌 Book hospitality training for your team today: https://www.igniteyourservice.com/summits

📌 Learn more about Dan and Swan Brewing: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielthumberg/ + https://www.swanbrewing.com/

📌 Visit Swan Brewing: 115 W. Pine St, Lakeland, FL 33815

Tony Johnson is a Customer Experience + Hospitality Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Trainer, and Author with a wide background including higher education, restaurants, retail, travel, city government, chambers of commerse, and leisure. He regularly speaks and coaches organizations to IGNITE THEIR SERVICE using his common sense approach to Customer engagement and retentions. Tony has spoken to government agencies, airlines, universities, and many Fortune 500 companies to unlock their amazing capacity for excellence.

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