Capturing an audience's attention can be tricky, particularly in a corporate setting. If you can master the art of storytelling, delivering your message becomes more enjoyable for everyone.

If you’re a fan of movies or TV shows, you’ll recognize good storytelling as soon as you hear it. They’re captivating. In a corporate setting, as a leader or speaker, you can borrow some of Hollywood's methods to tell your own stories to craft a memorable message that resonates with your audience.

In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution, Chief Revolution Officer John DiJulius of The DiJulius Group talks with LaQuita Cleare, CEO of Clear Communication Academy, a highly sought-after international speaker and storytelling expert who believes in the power of communication to create change. Her degree in psychology enables her work to be science and research-based, while her theatre degree helps her clients’ executive presence, delivery skills, and ability to connect.

LaQuita believes in the power of words to create change, and she is on a mission to help audiences use stories to create tangible business impact. She shares with John how her Hollywood background taught her what a good story is, the importance of vulnerability to your storytelling, and why a good story always includes a journey with change and conflict.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• LaQuita’s background in theatre and how she became a storytelling guru who teaches others how to clarify the direction of their visions
• Why storytelling is critical to becoming a successful leader
• Where people can find stories to implement into their presentations and why every story should have a journey with a change and a conflict
• The common mistakes leaders make when they try to be storytellers
• What you can learn from comedians and TED Talks about being a good storyteller
• The role of vulnerability in storytelling and how it can connect you to your audience
• When the details are important to a story and when they’re unnecessary

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

LaQuita Cleare’s website

Storytelling Summit

Follow LaQuita on Linkedln

Follow and Review:

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

Layoffs are all over the news lately, and the word “recession” is everywhere. As a business owner, you may be fielding your employees’ questions about how a recession will affect your business. Smart business owners recognize the need to prepare for a recession before it becomes a reality.

Preparing for a recession may feel counterintuitive--like you’re bracing for a car crash. However, having the right plan in place can help ease your mind and soothe the concerns of your employees. You won’t wonder what you should do when the recession hits; instead, you’ll implement a plan with a cool head.

Jonathan Slain spent the Great Recession huddled in the fetal position on the floor of his office. He borrowed $250,000 from his mother-in-law to stay afloat, eventually paid his mother-in-law back, and is now a highly sought-after consultant. He leverages his experience in investment banking and as an entrepreneur on the keynote speaking circuit because he doesn’t want anyone else to borrow money from their mother-in-law in the next recession. He is also the bestselling author of Rock the Recession: How Successful Leaders Prepare For, Thrive During, and Create Wealth After Downturns.

In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast, Jonathan joins John to discuss preparing your business for a recession before it starts. He outlines his four-tiered Emergency Brake companies should be ready to execute, how to identify who you’d have to let go during an economic downturn, and why you need to have a tiered recession plan in place before a recession hits.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• The definition of a recession and where we are in our economy concerning a recession
• How a recession can be an excellent opportunity for companies, and how transparency about a recession can help avoid panic in your workforce
• The four tiers of an Emergency Brake that companies need to be prepared to execute
• What non-economic recessions are that can affect businesses
• How to identify which employees you want to keep in a recessionary environment
• The benefits a recession can bring to your company
• Why you should always have a tiered recession plan in place

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

Jonathan’s book Rock the Recession

recession.com

20 Questions to see if you are Recession Proof

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

Follow and Review:

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

Millennials and Gen Z often get a bad rap, but they may be the best generation to hire. As they’ve watched their parents and grandparents steeped in hustle culture to stay ahead, it’s given them insight into what they don’t want for their own careers. Their mantra seems to be, “Work smarter, not harder.”

While they may not believe in hustling to get where they want to be, millennials and Gen Z value purpose and relationships. They want meaning behind the work they’re doing. And they don’t want their personal relationships to be collateral damage from hustling too much. They’ve experienced a professional awakening

Matthew Kennedy Stewart is co-founder and CEO of National Service Group (NSG), which operates College Works Painting, Empire Community Construction, Home Genius Exteriors, and SMJJ Investments. In addition to his role at NSG, Matt serves on the board of directors for multiple organizations and is consistently recognized for his leadership and management expertise. In particular, Matt is passionate about mentoring millennials and generation Z.  He is the host of “The Edge of Excellence” Podcast and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur magazine, Inc. magazine, and Fox Business News and on ABC, CBS, and more. Matt is a University of California, Santa Barbara graduate, living in Laguna Niguel, California, with his wife, Jill, and their two children.

In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution, Chief Revolution Officer John DiJulius of the DiJulius Group talks with Matthew about how he built numerous successful brands from the ground up, incorporating his unique leadership philosophies. More importantly, all his businesses depend on millennials and generation Z. Hear how Matthew helps keep them inspired and motivated.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• Matthew Stewart’s first exposure to entrepreneurship, how that led to his career as a business owner, and what a typical week looks like for him
• What Human Service means to him
• How millennials and Gen Z approach work ethic and why meaning and purpose play a significant role in what they want from work
• The Five Factors of Success for college students
• How Matthew nurtures his relationships at home and maintains life balance
• The hardest things about being an entrepreneur and leader
• What he finds most challenging about being a father and husband
• The accomplishments he’s most proud of
• Why millennials and Gen Z are the best generations to hire

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

The Family Economy

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

Creating a customer service revolution doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s actually pretty simple. It requires effort and a willingness to view your company and employees from the customer’s perspective.

The number-one thing to remember about customer service excellence is that you’re in the customer perception business. It doesn’t matter what you think about your customer service policies and procedures if the customers aren’t in agreement. Why do so many of us overrate the experiences we provide?

In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution podcast, you’ll hear John DiJulius, Chief Revolution Officer of The DiJulius Group, present a keynote at the Customer Service Revolution Conference in Cleveland on Nov 7th, 2022. The presentation was based on John’s bestselling, ground-breaking book, The Customer Service Revolution.

John explains why you have to understand that price, convenience, and other factors are irrelevant because they want the experience you offer. He also breaks down the three pillars of the customer experience action statement, what it means to be a duck during customer interactions, and why a smile should be part of the uniform.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• Why you’re in the customer perception business
• How to make price, convenience, etc., irrelevant to your customers because they want the experience you offer
• The need for a customer experience action statement and what it does for employees
• What TOMA and ATOM stand for and how to implement them
• What the three pillars of the customer experience action statement are
• What a Customer Bill of Rights is and why you need it
• How to be a duck when it comes to customer interactions
• Never make the customer wrong and instead make it right
• Never criticize team members, competitors, or make excuses
• A smile is part of the uniform
• Creating a shortlist of nevers and always propels the customer experience
• Building instant rapport with people has a huge impact on your professional and personal lives
• The greatest give you can give is your attention

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

Order John’s books

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy 

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

Chief Revolution Officer and best-selling author John DiJulius shares What it takes to be a Revolutionary. 

In order to be a Revolutionary, you need to:

• Never say or accept “I gave my best”
• Understand the Reality Distortion Field
• Ask yourself ‘What belief system needs to be changed in your world’?
• Understand the mindset of a Revolutionary

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast/

http://cxcoaching.com/

[email protected] 

If you enjoyed this episode, we’ve created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from the episode. Just go over to our podcast page at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast to download it. 

According to Forbes, the CXE, or Customer eXperience Executive, is one of the fastest-growing roles. The DiJulius Group even offers a 12-month master’s course in customer experience called Customer eXperience Executive Academy. Its graduates have many success stories but have been through some of the same challenges and roadblocks your organization may be going through as it attempts to improve the customer experience.

Rolling out new training to a team can be a tremendous undertaking. The customer experience that Chick-fil-A has today didn’t happen overnight. Instead, it improved incrementally over time, and they constantly strive to improve further.

Jess Pischel, a Customer Experience Consultant and Speaker with The DiJulius Group, spends her time helping clients generate ideas, turn them into systems, and implement them enterprise-wide. Jess has a Master's in Business Administration and has worked directly with world-class brands like LUSH Cosmetics, Celebrity Cruises, and Lexus. She has a passion for working on meaningful projects and growth while creating leaders that move results through their people, leading to culture shifts, which bring new initiatives and successful project plans with measurable results.

This episode is from Jess’s presentation at the Customer Service Revolution Conference in Cleveland on Nov 7th, 2022. In this tell-all session, the top Customer Experience Executives from multiple industries unveil how to overcome roadblocks and hurdles while avoiding costly mistakes. Find out what it takes to lead an organization’s entire customer and employee experience from those who have mastered it.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• What the CXE role is, and why it’s one of the fastest-growing positions

• What the Customer eXperience Executive Academy is and the methodology behind it

• How to roll out new training material and implement change management best practices

• Some examples of internal communications practices and how to implement them

• Why you should weave training and reinforcement into your organization’s culture

• The challenges you may face when you’re communicating to different locations and the importance of consistency

• How certification can increase learning retention from training workshops

• What the keys are to measuring success

• How to gain buy-in from the critics and cynics

• Why you should be consistent with the teaching so that it’s consistent in practice

• How to ensure that your program doesn’t become “flavor of the month”

• How to gain executive sponsorship

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

We often don’t consider that the internal culture directly inside our organizations impacts our external culture. Building teams that work together allows us to focus on the customer. Departments operating in silos, poor internal handoffs, and miscommunication are all employee dissatisfiers and negatively impact customers.

Some of the same tools we use externally can also be used internally to evaluate what we can improve internally. Roleplay exercises, using negative cues to identify the tone of your messaging, and team-building activities are just some ways you can begin to improve your organization's culture.

In this episode, Dave Murray will present how you can build a world-class internal culture. As VP of Consulting with The DiJulius Group, Dave strives to make all participants feel comfortable--creating an ideal environment for idea generation and sharing. Dave has more than 25 years of experience in customer service, marketing, and sales.

Learn how to fix the common pitfalls of internal culture and get all team members focused on your customer’s experience. You’ll hear some of Dave’s tricks for transforming your company’s internal culture. This presentation is from the Customer Service Revolution Conference held in Cleveland on November 7th, 2022.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• Communication is the most frequently reported problem in company cultures

• How internal communication impacts the external customer experience

• Creating internal culture with a focus on the employee experience has to be purposeful

• Empathy is important for internal and external culture

• Roleplay exercises can help you achieve results

• Use negative cues to identify the tone of your message

• Consider performing an internal negative cue audit

• Evaluate your internal communication best practices and create non-negotiable standards

• Identify the communication gaps and develop standards around that

• Don’t deliver bad news in writing--call first

• Who are the invisible service providers in the organization?

• Internal culture serves people in the organization who serve external customers

• How team building can strengthen an organization’s internal culture

• Build a process for internal handoffs

• Consider internal journey mapping

• Build in experiential standards

• Create a culture that instills pride

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

Complaints to any organization are a gift, especially today since consumers have so many options. Are your teams handling these important interactions consistently well? Are you tracking the issues and outcomes to monitor trends and bigger issues?

Many organizations have implemented acronyms to help frontline workers deal with conflict when customers complain about their service or products. One common thread in these acronyms is the ability to listen, apologize, solve the issue, and thank the customer for bringing it to your attention. This simple methodology has proven effective over and over.

As VP of Consulting with The DiJulius Group with more than 25 years of experience in customer service marketing, and sales, Dave Murray strives to make all participants feel comfortable--creating an ideal environment for idea generation and sharing. Dave is also an accomplished keynote speaker who can bring energy and passion to a room, all while connecting with audience members and delivering motivational and actionable content.

This episode is from Dave’s breakout session at the Customer Service Revolution Conference in Cleveland on November 7th, 2022. Learn some easy-to-implement standards and how to create a service recovery playbook as he shares the essential lessons he’s learned about customer service during his career.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• What the term zero risk means, and how it applies from a customer service standpoint
• Customers are 80% more likely to go somewhere else after a bad experience
• Employees don’t have the training to deal with conflict
• LATTE: Listen, Acknowledge, Take Action, Thank, and Encouragement
• BLAST: Believe, Listen, Apologize, Solve, and Thank
• LEAST: Listen, Empathize, Apologize, Solve, and Thank
• GATE: Gather all information, Assess the situation, Thank and empathize, and Explain the solution
• Leap to Action: Listen completely, Empathize, Apologize and clarify, Provide next steps, Thank, and Own it
• How you can develop your own tool for frontline workers and design it for your needs
• A-1 Care: A blameless apology, Own the situation, Clarify and assess, Action, Reassure and resolve, and End with a follow-up
• FORD: Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Dreams
• FORD is the information that’s most important to us as humans, and focusing on that allows you to build a relationship
• Create your own acronym for handling difficult conversations
• Don’t punish 98% of your customers for what 2% are trying to do
• Complaints often come from a company’s own policies
• Assume positive intent and train for consistency
• Why it should be easy for customers to provide feedback
• When the experience should override the policy, and the policies should become guidelines
• How to solve the problems that aren’t your fault but harm the customer experience
• Why you should be tracking your organization’s complaints and compliments

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

We all have different answers to the question, “What is company culture?” Some say values. Others say purpose. However you define it, it encompasses behavior, knowledge, beliefs, and habits.

Great coaches motivate teams and maximize their performance - both on the field and in the workplace. Learn how to cultivate a coaching culture in your organization by changing the leadership playbook to one that empowers and engages coaches and their teams.

Brittni Walker is a Certified Customer eXperience Executive and is the Director of Customer and Employee Experience at Advance Financial, where she’s worked for the last ten years. She began her tenure as a Customer and Employee Affairs Coordinator and quickly advanced to the management level. In 2018, she took her skills to the next level by earning her Customer eXperience Certification from the Customer eXperience Executive Academy. She is also a Customer Experience Consultant for The DiJulius Group.

This episode is from a presentation presented by Brittni at the Customer Service Revolution Conference in Cleveland on November 7th, 2022. She explains why leadership means having a coaching culture. It all begins with building rapport with your team. You’ll hear the four main takeaways she wants you to remember from this session, along with some recommended reading.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• How to define company culture
• Why 47% of employees leave companies because of engagement and culture
• Why culture reflects leadership
• Losing an employee costs a company about 33% of the employee’s salary
• Why company surveys may do more harm than good
• Energy givers are coaches, while energy suckers are bad managers
• Why you should be cheering for your team members and helping them achieve their goals
• How building rapport with your team creates trust and engagement
• Why listening is the key to communication
• Asking questions help shape conversations to create an outcome
• Guidance can lead your employees to success
• Brittni’s recommended reading

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com

How’s the Culture in Your Kingdom? Book

The Energy Bus book

The High 5 Habit book

The Relationship Economy book

The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

The 2023 Customer Service Revolution Conference

Customer Experience Executive Academy

Customer Experience Executive Online Academy

*** EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.

On this episode of The Customer Service Revolution, Chief Revolution Officer John DiJulius of The DiJulius Group talks with Jason Reid. Jason is a serial entrepreneur, author, ironman athlete, and, most of all, a great family man. In 2018, life couldn’t get much better until he and his wife received the devasting news that their youngest son Ryan had taken his own life. Today, Jay is on a mission to reach every parent and every family about the conversations they need to have with their kids.

Jason Reid is the founder of ChooseLife.org, a leading youth mental health advocate, and a father who lost his teenage son to suicide. That became the catalyst for releasing his documentary, “Tell My Story,” in 2021. He’s on a quest to prevent teen suicide and help parents take ownership of their kids’ mental health.

This interview was one of the hardest John has conducted, but it could be the most important as Jason shares information about teen depression, suicide, and how you can help prevent it.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• Depression in children and teenagers is at an all-time high
• Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death in kids ages 10-14
• Teen depression isn’t prejudiced
• Mental health is an unknown — and to help our kids, we need more support than Google can provide
• What signs we should be looking for if a child is struggling with depression
• The questions we should be asking
• How you can help your teens struggling with depression

Resources mentioned:

www.thedijuliusgroup.com  Tell My Story | Documentary Jason Reid's Ted Talk https://www.tellmystory.org/  https://www.tellmystory.org/documentary The Customer Service Revolution Podcast

*** EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com.  Let them know I sent you.