Making the Fan

Previously on Flip the Switch, Brittany Hodak shared her ‘SUPER’ framework that brands can leverage to increase loyalty and fandom. With her new book, Creating Superfans coming out today (January 10), David Millay welcomes Brittany back to the show to discuss new frameworks and models that small businesses and global brands everywhere can implement to convert customers and employees into superfans.

-----

2:29     Creating Superfans Podcast

6:53     SUPER Framework Overview

9:57     Ladder to Superfandom (Customer Apathy)

19:57   STORY framework

25:04   Getting to Know Your Customer’s Story

28:13   Digging into Customer Struggles

30:42   Pitching the Transformation

33:41   Simplifying Journey Maps

41:05   Measuring the Customer Experience (CSAT and EgR)

45:18   Prioritizing the Employee Experience

48:20   The Platinum Rule

-----

For more from Brittany on Creating Superfans, check out:

BrittanyHodak.com

Purchase Creating Superfans: How To Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Advocates

Listen to the Creating Superfans Podcast

Subscribe to the Creating Superfans newsletter

Brittany's Twitter | LinkedIn

-----

Listen to Brittany’s previous appearance:

Episode 66: Cultivating SUPER Fans

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

When it comes to identifying your purpose or purposes, it’s all about having a clear intention for your time, your talents, your energy and your focus. What makes you happy.  But more importantly, it’s about turning your purpose or purposes into something actionable and making them matter.  After helping thousands find their purpose through her companies Ning and Mighty and her Community Design course, CEO and Founder of Mighty Networks Gina Bianchini joins the show to discuss the frameworks to finding purpose and manifesting it as a future story from her new book, Purpose: Design A Community & Change Your Life.

4:04    What is Purpose?

10:01    Key Insights Around Purpose

14:53  The Purpose 30 Challenge

21:58  The Intersection of Purpose and Community

27:00  How to Host a Community

33:46  Design and Scale Culture, Not Just Community or Content

37:15  Manifesting Your Future Story

43:31  Identifying Ideal Community Members

49:37  5 Elements of Community Design

56:59  Building Community within an Existing Audience

-----

For more on topics covered in this episode:

To purchase Purpose: Design a Community & Change Your Life, check out Purpose.co 

Connect with Gina via email | Twitter | LinkedIn

--

Other books referenced

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

--

Join the Sports Learning Online community

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

Following a 20-year career at Disney, Dennis Snow identified 10 key lessons that all organizations could follow to achieve the same success in customer service and company culture.  Since leaving the magic, Dennis has spent the last 23 years inspiring organizations on how to adapt those 10 lessons and apply the core service principles to their operation.  

In this episode, we unpack the lessons from his two books, “Lessons from the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World's Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life” and “Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service”.

Show Notes

3:40     More Than a Summer Job

6:56     Empowering the Magic

10:33   Lessons from the Mouse

12:40   Everyone Has a Customer

13:35   Don’t Be a Customer Service Robot

19:14   Figure Out What Ticks Off Your Customers

28:01   Language Matters

35:04   Hiring vs. Coaching Empathy

37:41   Unleashing Excellence and the Service Improvement Team

41:29   Internal Improvements vs. External Training

44:38   Accountability

48:03   Drafting Job Descriptions

50:58   Onboarding and “Brag worthy” First Days

59:11   Define What the Experience Should Be

-----

For more information on topics covered in this episode:

Connect with Dennis

Snow Associates | Email 

Dennis’ books

Lessons From the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World's Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life

Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service

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

The baseball business is a relationship business and has the same core values as any other hospitality industry.  It’s a practice that Eric Weisberg preaches as the Vice President of Fan Experience.  In this episode, Eric discusses the influences roles with Disney and the Kansas City Zoo has on his career in baseball, his “Fan Host for a Day” program and how to show up for a job in the sports industry.  

Show Notes

3:43     Eric’s Career Journey to Tampa

11:09   Hiring for Skill Sets over Industry Experience

13:44   Fan Host for a Day

21:02   From Negative Experience to Brand Ambassador

26:45   Reviewing the Savannah Bananas

32:12   The Tech Driving the Future MLB Fan Experience

34:27   The Effect of Promotions and Theme Days

43:07   Influencing the Fan Experience Vision Across Departments

45:45   The Best Fan Experience: Naturalization Ceremony

48:46   Breaking Into the Industry

55:46   Parting Advice: Place Emphasis on the Staff

-----

Connect with Eric via email

Join Sports Learning Online -  a cross-functional community of sports business professionals coming together to share best practices and foster professional development.

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

In this episode, we’re joined by Lisa Holladay, Chief Experience Officer at Tiger 21, a high wealth membership organization.  Lisa has spent her career in service hospitality, with stops at Mercedes-Benz and Ritz-Carlton.  By viewing customers as owners, guests or members, each of these brands have created more personal relationships, resulting in more memorable experiences.  

We break down the principles that make these brands synonymous with guest experience, from their customer framework to the strategies that empower staff, encourage trust and enable transparency within the memberships.  

-----

Show Notes

3:12    Lisa’s Career “Homes”

6:00    Guests vs. Owners vs. Members

8:09    From Rational to Emotional Purchases

9:47    What is Tiger 21?

15:18  It’s the Little Things That Matter 

20:38  Curating Trust and Transparency in Community

26:28  KPIs to Building a Successful Community

29:30  Recognizing Loyalty

34:16  Joshie the Giraffe and Empowering Staff

40:00  The Value of Kudos

41:28  Linking Experience to Brand Promise

46:35  Hot Take: Don't Fake It ‘til You Make It

-----

For more on topics covered in this episode:

Tiger21

Ritz-Carlton and Joshie the Giraffe

Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn or Instagram

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

In today’s episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy are joined by Brooke Sellas, Digital Customer Experience Specialist and CEO of B Squared Media.  With more than 15 years of marketing experience and 10 in social media management, Brooke recently authored a new book, "Conversations That Connect."  We dive into several tactics and strategies from the book, demonstrating the value of social media listening to connect with, converse with and convert customers. 

-----

Show Notes

2:52     The CF Community Bar Crawl

7:12     Social Penetration Theory

8:52     Social Cliches

10:40   Getting and Giving Opinions

13:55   Sharing Brand Feelings

18:06   Embracing AI in Marketing

19:13   Demonstrating Brand Values and Personality

29:03   Conversations That Connect

31:07   Digital Customer Journey Flywheel

34:11   Attribution Models

35:31   Social Led Customer Care and Social Media Listening

40:38   Preparing for Primarily Social Media Customer Service

45:10   SEO is not dead

46:36   Acquiring New Customers through Social Listening

50:27   Social Media Manager Role Clarity

-----

For more information on the topics that we covered today:

Read Conversations That Connect

Check out Brooke’s work at BSquared.Media

Follow Brooke on Twitter or LinkedIn

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

To orchestrate a compelling game day experience for all fans requires thinking more like a play caller, an offensive coordinator, rather than simply directing a run of show.  In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy sit down with Guido D’Elia, a consultant in strategic communications and college athletics game day experience.  As Penn State’s Director of Football Branding and Communications, Guido was the mastermind behind the “Penn State Whiteout”, an experiment that has resulted in one of the greatest game day experiences in college football. Through insights from the Whiteout, we unpack how to deeper engage your fans and strategies for successful change management.

-----

Show Notes

3:47     “Offensive Coordinator” Show Calling

8:33      The Need for the Whiteout

11:30    Selling before Social Media

13:48    Communicating the Vision & Benefits in Change Management 

18:26    Expanding the Whiteout Stadium-wide

20:45    Holding Back on Change

23:11    Applying the ‘Playbook’

29:11    Combating Falling Attendance Numbers

32:56    The Pain Points in the Fan Experience

37:32    The Impact of Parking

40:19    Making the Perimeter Something That Happens

45:09    Perfecting the Current Experience

47:55    The Ramp Up to Kickoff 

-----

For more information on topics covered in this episode:

ESPN College Game Day feature: The Origin of Penn State’s Whiteout

America’s favorite family outings are increasingly out of reach

GConsultsU.com

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

It’s 5x cheaper to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one and increasing retention by 5% can increase profits by 25 - 95%. Yet so many companies still prioritize customer acquisition over retention.  In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy sit down with Ed Frame, CEO and Founder of Exemplify CX and discuss his 7-phase approach to Customer Longevity, converting buyers into repeat customers and brand advocates.  

—--

Show Notes

2:35     About Exemplify and the Retention Funnel

3:59     Working Backwards - The Ideal Customer Experience

7:49     The 7 Phases of Customer Retention

11:32  Solving a Problem - Known and Unknown

16:15  Creating a Tangible “Unboxing” for Experiences

20:43  Overcoming Buyers’ Remorse

23:42  Giving Customers More 

25:49  Driving Customer Loyalty

29:19  Inciting Loyalty through Social Media

32:45  The Cost of Retention vs. Acquisition

38:28  Cultivating Brand Advocates

41:08  The Value of Service Recovery

43:43  Hot Takes 

46:30  Parting Advice

-----

For more info on topics covered in this episode:

Connect with Ed on LinkedIn 

Learn more about Exemplify | 7 Steps to Customer Longevity 

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

Today’s guest is Phill Agnew, a senior product marketing manager at Buffer.  After struggling as a marketer in his early career, Phill discovered behavioral science and started applying psychology principles to improve his work. From distinctiveness, social proof, primacy effect and framing, Phill developed the Science of Marketing course and The Nudge Marketing Podcast to help others understand how to boost their marketing strategy.

This episode explores key strategies to apply in each of the sales funnel phases - awareness, consideration, acquisition and retention. 

-----
Show Notes

2:42    Breaking Down the Nudge Marketing Podcast

5:08    The Framework to the Science of Marketing Course 

6:58    Awareness and Countering the Sea of Sameness 

13:23  Consideration and Social Proof

16:37  The Scarcity Impact

23:19  Reciprocation in Acquisition

31:59  Choice Overload and Simplifying Decision-Making

39:19  The Pratfall Effect and Highlighting Your Flaws

47:30  The Replication Crisis

49:57  Phill’s Parting Advice on Consumer Psychology

—-

For more on topics covered in this episode:

Follow Phill on Twitter | LinkedIn

Subscribe to the Nudge Podcast

Subscribe to Phill’s Newsletter

Check out The Science of Marketing course

—-

Dr. Robert Chaldini - Influence at Work

Pret a Manger’s “Random Acts of Kindness” 

Sweden’s Speed Camera Lottery

@ShitLondonGuinness 

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

In the daily grind, it’s hard to find time to work on the business when you are working in the business.   

Staff retreats offer teams the opportunity to reset, reframe the operation and define goals for a new chapter.  

In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy break down approaches to team retreats and key activities to include to break the cycle and improve your operation.

We cover:

• Defining goals of the retreats
• Establishing success metrics
• Evaluating realities of your industry
• The role of a facilitator

——

To find out how we can help you reframe your staff retreat and set a new path for the year, email David or Katie for a free strategy call.

——
Other topics referenced in this episode:

Greg McKeown: Where You Learned to Handle Conflict

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