My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle - the podcast for ambitious business owners.

Bill Ringle and Steve Robinson discuss the pivotal decisions and marketing campaigns that built Chic-fil-A into a national brand with lessons for small business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

1. Customer experience is the best marketing. When customers are happy, they not only come back, but they recommend you to others!
2. Advertise your product in a way that gets people talking.
3. Never be an absentee owner. Instead, be involved and active in your business.

• The massive difference between passive responses like ‘OK’ and the generic ‘you’re welcome’ and the words ‘my pleasure’ delivered with eye contact and a smile creates a measurable difference in customer service. This is a tip learned from studying operations at the Ritz Carlton hotel, Apple stores, and other places where top service is experienced. [01:25]
• Ritz Carlton is as far from the chicken industry as you can imagine, but hospitality applies to every business. Truett Cathy gave his team the hospitality edge no matter the source. [03:55]
• Chick-fil-A’s hospitality earned them regular customers and free publicity, almost doubling their sales, as customers shared their experience with Chick-fil-A. [06:28]
• Steve shares his perspective on a nearly 6-month hiring process to be hired by Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, as the company’s first dedicated marketing professional. [07:54]
• Confused at first with what his boss wanted from him as a marketing manager, Steve quickly learned his role through the support and encouragement of Truett Cathy. [10:05]
• How a cow ended up as the best salesman for chicken sandwiches. Steve shares the origin of the popular Chick-fil-A mascot. [13:23]
• When people buy not just your primary product (food), but cow merchandise like t-shirts, toys, and even calendars, you know you have succeeded in creating an iconic brand. [18:26]
• Stan Richards said, “if people love your advertising, they’ll love your brand.” [20:01]
• Chick-fil-A’s brand strategy: We said we want to be known as the premium fast-food brand that truly cares for its guests but also has fun. [20:03]
• Avoid doing things that make you look like everybody else in your industry. [21:03]
• What it means to be the ‘mayor of the mall.’ [26:07]
• My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [29:09]

Steven A. Robinson is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc., 1981-2015.

Prior to joining the company, Steve was the director of marketing for Six Flags Over Georgia theme park in Atlanta, Georgia. This role was preceded by marketing positions at two other Six Flags properties and as a communications manager at Texas Instruments.

After beginning his career at Chick-fil-A as director of marketing, Steve went on to serve as vice president of the department before becoming chief marketing officer. In his most recent role, he was responsible for overseeing marketing, advertising, brand development, menu development, and hospitality strategies.

In addition to serving on Chick-fil-A’s board of directors (2016-2018), Steve serves on several boards for organizations and ministries, including FamilyLife, Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Atlanta, Links Players International, Atlanta Hall Management & College Football Hall of Fame, and the National Football Foundation.

He holds an associate degree in business administration from Faulkner State Junior College, a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Auburn University, and a master’s in advertising from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Steve and his wife, Dianne, have two children and four grandchildren.

• Primary website
• Travels from: Atlanta, GA
• Connect on: LinkedIn

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

• Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A
• Chick-fil-A corporate site
• The original Chick-fil-A diner, called the Dwarf House, was established in 1946.
• The Richards Group, advertising partner to Chick-fil-A
• Blue Ocean Strategy and the Blue Ocean Strategy book, used by the Chick-fil-A executive team
• The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

Bill Ringle and Barbara Oakley discuss the advantages that improved learning abilities give you and your people to add capacity to your business.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

1. We are fortunate to live in a time when excellent online courses are available for learning and a teaching platform.
2. Use the Pomodoro method to eliminate procrastination. Minimize distractions and focus on the task at hand for 25 minutes, then reward yourself for 5 minutes of relaxation. When you return to your next task, your brain will thank you with better focus, recall, and productivity.
3. The assimilation of new ideas and new skills takes time to marinate. We just don’t scoop them up, dump them in our brains, and expect the best results despite how frequently people attempt to do just that.

• Barbara’s Dad inspired her at key junctures in her career path. [01:07]
• How Barbara, someone who hated mathematics growing up, became a prominent engineering professor and online instructor with over two million students worldwide. [03:23]
• Business owners today don’t have to pause their careers to go back to university due to the abundance of online courses online. [07:38]
• Why do we need to be cautious of people telling us that we don’t need analytic skills? [09:23]
• Where and how to choose the best online courses. [10:38]
• What makes online courses successful and effective? [13:04]
• Barbara talks about bringing online courses to a higher level. [15:44]
• An introduction to the Pomodoro technique. [17:35]
• Developing work and productivity habits that allow us to be our best. [20:04]
• How to stop procrastinating? [23:18]
• My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [25:36]

Dr. Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering at Oakland University and McMaster University. Her online courses on learning are some of the most popular MOOC classes in the world and her research interests range from STEM education to learning practices.

With more than 2 million participants in the Coursera course thus far, Barb’s work proves that learners appreciate practical methods and materials grounded in research about how the brain learns.

She is based in Rochester MI and is here to talk about her book, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra).

• Primary website

• Travels from: Rapid City, SD

• Connect on: LinkedIn | Instagram

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

• Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects
• Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential
• Learning How To Learn for Youth
• Uncommon Sense Teaching
• Uncommon Sense Teaching Specialization

• classcentral.com

• Scott Young – MQ4B Ep 314: Prepare to shatter your limits of what you thought could be learned quickly

• Andrew Ng – co-founder and head of Google Brain and was the former chief scientist at Baidu, building the company’s Artificial Intelligence Group into a team of several thousand people

• Francesco Cirillo – Originator of the Pomodoro Technique

• Dr. Terrence Sejnowski, Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies website | Coursera page

• Pathological Altruism by Barbara Oakley (Editor), Ariel Knafo (Editor), Guruprasad Madhavan  (Editor), David Sloan Wilson (Editor)

• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Bill Ringle and Phillip Stutts discuss how to use analytics to reduce uncertainty and gain insights that make it easier and less expensive to do more business.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Phillip is the founder and CEO of Win BIG Media (a corporate marketing agency) and Founder/Executive Chairman of Go BIG Media (a political marketing ad firm).

Phillip has spoken in front of 50 million+ people in his career across all television, radio, podcast, print media, and live appearances.
VaynerSpeakers and Keppler Speakers represent him for speaking engagements. Phillip has made more than 350 national media appearances including ESPN, CBS, FOX BUSINESS, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, and CNN. Phillip has been interviewed by renowned business, entertainment and health leaders including: Anderson Cooper, Gary Vaynerchuk, Peter Diamandis, James Altucher, Michael Hyatt, Adam Carolla, Dr. Drew Pinsky, and Dr. Steven Gundry.

Phillip has written multiple best-sellers, including his latest book titled “The Undefeated Marketing System: How To Grow Your Business and Build Your Audience Using The Secret Formula That Elects Presidents” (which hit the top #65 out of 6 million titles on Amazon).

FOX BUSINESS has lauded Phillip for creating “a marketing system that has generated record sales” for his clients and also described him as a “marketing genius.”

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

Bill Ringle and Julie Winkle Giulioni discuss constructing new professional development paths using a new prism for small and mid-sized business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Julie Winkle Giulioni is a champion for workplace growth and development. She believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential. And she supports organizations and leaders who want to make that happen with keynote speeches, consulting and training.

Julie is the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want, translated into seven languages. Her latest book, Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development Help Employees Thrive, will be released by ATD Press in March 2022.

She is a regular columnist for Training Industry Magazine and SmartBrief and contributes articles on leadership, career development, and workplace trends to numerous publications, including The Economist.

Named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Julie’s in-person and virtual keynotes and presentations offer fresh, inspiring, yet actionable strategies for leaders who are interested in their own growth as well as supporting the growth of others.

Her firm, DesignArounds, creates and offers training to organizations worldwide and has earned praise and awards from Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top Ten Training Products, New York Film Festival, Brandon Hall, and Global HR Excellence Council.

Julie lives in her 100+ year-old house in South Pasadena, California, with her husband, daughter, and rescue pooch, Pixel.

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

Bill Ringle and Anne Janzer discuss common and uncommon mistakes to avoid when sending email for small business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

1. Too many details are as bad as too few details. One dilutes the message, the other creates more work to get the necessary details.
2. When you write an email, think about what the recipient needs to give you the decision or support you need.
3. Be clear with your intention and the details on your email, starting with the subject, and if it’s a task, better add not only what needs to be accomplished but the date on when it should be done. We all want our emails to be acted upon.

• Anne recalls her late father, whose sincere and careful writing letters inspired her work. [01:22]
• How to achieve the goal of effective communication through emails. [03:01]
• Anne introduces us to the ‘Goldilocks Zone,’ what we learned from the fairy tale can help improve our emails. [06:09]
• Why the address should come after the content? [08:21]
• Helpful tip: You can set a time frame in Gmail when you can recall a sent email. [09:04]
• What we all can learn from marketing emails. [10:43]
• Anne explains the importance of intonation and how we can apply it in written or typed form. [11:27]
• People often forget that emails are not private. [13:50]
• As spammers become smarter, we should be more cautious with the emails we receive. [14:50]
• Anne advises on how to communicate effectively via email. [16:58]
• My Quest for the best lightning round begins. [19:32]

Anne Janzer is an award-winning author, nonfiction writing coach and unabashed writing geek committed to helping people positively impact their writing. She supports and encourages writers and authors through her books, blog posts, webinars, and teaching.
Her writing-related books explore the science and practice of effective writing.

Before she started writing books, Anne was a freelance marketing consultant, working with more than a hundred technology businesses to articulate positioning and messaging in crowded markets.

She’s been writing business emails longer than she cares to admit—and has made all of the mistakes in her latest book, and more, over the years. She wants to save others from the same problems.

• Primary website

• Travels from: San Luis Obispo, CA

• Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears

• Mary Roach, author of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

• My Quest for the Best Episode 192: Understanding Subscription Marketing with guest expert Anne Janzer

Bill Ringle and Lance Loya discuss improvements you can make to allow the team you have to do their very best for small business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

1. Being the manager or the leader does not guarantee loyalty. Loyalty is created by being proactive, invested, empathetic, and loyal yourself.
2. While the leader is the head of the pack, she or he is still a team member and not above others.
3. Intentional listening is thoroughly absorbing what the other person is saying instead of thinking about what you have to say next while the other person is talking.

• Lance talks about his high school chorus teacher Vicky Smith and how she sets a great example of being a good teammate. [01:02]
• Ms. Smith’s influence on him helped him handle problems within the team and recognize leadership skills, like when one of his teammates, AJ forgot the team uniform. [05:09]
• Lance talks about what builds a great team. [07:10]
• Why your title as team leader does not entitle you to loyalty. [08:18]
• The familiar misconception people often have with loyalty, explaining his acronym ALIVE: active, loyal, invested, viral, and empathetic. [13:20]
• CASE: Jimmy and how he became more proactive in delivering his best when he committed to being fully part invested after understanding more purpose of his job. [14:32]
• This activity allows Lance to help others have a clear understanding of each team member’s values. [16:55]
• CASE: George exemplifies how casual conversation can strengthen the relationship with your team members. [19:31]
• My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:01]

Lance Loya is the founder and CEO of The Good Teammate Factory. A former sports coach turned bestselling author, blogger, and professional speaker, he specializes in getting organizations to improve teamwork and create better teammates. Lance has authored eight books on the art of being a good teammate, including the adult nonfiction title “The WE Gear,” which made Forbes’ list of “20 Books to Make You a Better Coach or Mentor.” His books, keynotes, and seminars have inspired readers and audiences around the globe. Other experts concentrate on improving teamwork, but Lance concentrates on improving the teammate. Lance’s method works!

• Primary website

• Travels from: WINDERMERE, Florida

• Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

• Publix Grocery Stores.

• T. Harv Eker

Bill Ringle and Terry Begue discuss how any entrepreneur can attract and retain customers by going the extra mile consistently.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

• People don’t always remember what we did, but they will never forget how we made them feel.

• If you are believable, if people trust in you, if your clients like you, and most of all if you wow them with your abilities, you can turn prospects into customers.

• Our clients will trust us if we provide quality work even when no one is looking.

• Despite not being spoken in words, his father’s actions that clearly define his work ethic made a lasting impact on Terry. [01:21]
• A glimpse of Terry’s career as a painter, starting at a very young age at 18, and how his first client meeting pitch went. [03:24]
• Terry recounts the minute his life changed when he decided to pursue more in his career. [05:54]
• A synopsis of how Terry manages his pipeline and how he benefits from scheduling. [08:51]
• The four-step abilities: Likability, believability, trustability, and WOWability. [10:10]
• How Terry differentiated his company from the other painting companies.[12:39]
• Author T. Harv Eker quoted, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” This quote reflects how Terry runs his business. [14:35]
• How to deliver the ‘wow’ experience. [15:46]
• My Quest for the Best lightning round begins.[18:03]

Terry Begue is living proof that every single one of us has the ability to overcome our challenges and create the most extraordinary life we can imagine.
Terry started his painting business fresh out of high school with no money, no experience, no connections, and no skills. Armed with nothing more than a pick-up truck and a dream, he spent years refining his painting skills only to discover no matter how good he became he was just another painter in an overcrowded market.
Refusing to settle, he stopped working on his painting skills and began perfecting his people skills. Learning what motivates people to buy, and taking away the reasons why they wouldn’t buy, his business blew up! He more than doubled his income in just six months and over the next year, doubled it again!
Since then, Terry has fine-tuned his process for business and personal growth, into an easy-to-follow, four-step system. His proven system has allowed his company to grow year after year, even though he hasn’t advertised since 2012!
Today, Terry is an international speaker and author of, “Attract & Keep Customers for Life: Four Abilities to Build Trust, Communicate Your Value and Charge What You’re Worth”
He recently launched his brand-new course, “Unnoticed to Unforgettable” designed to give even greater access and insight to his proven strategies in an effort to help as many people as he can fulfill the unlimited potential that lies within them.

• Primary website

• Travels from: Hartville, OH

• Connect on: LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

• T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of a Millionaire Mind
• Jeff Olson, author of The Slight Edge

Patty Beach founded LeadershipSmarts to further a more conscious form of leadership that balances business acumen with socio-emotional intelligence, what Patty calls Versatile Leadership.

Patty is an inclusive Leadership Evolutionist, author, CEO, and coach who combines leadership best practices and adult learning principles to make the hard work of inclusive leadership easy to master.

Patty is the author of The Art of Alignment: A Practical Guide for Inclusive Leadership and the Versatility Factor Profile, an assessment to support gender intelligent and inclusive leadership. 

For over 25 years, Patty has designed and delivered leadership programs for the public and private sector that transform managers into the best boss ever and executives into inspirational role models that can scale and grow the company.    

Patty is also an ICF Master Certified Coach with two master’s degrees, one in Organizational Development from Pepperdine University and a second in Geology from the University of Tulsa. Before becoming a coach, Patty worked as a geoscientist and manager leading initiatives in new technology and emerging markets in the Energy industry.  

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources we discussed so that you can explore further.

Bill Ringle and Stephen Guise discuss how to liberate yourself and others from the logjam to external productivity and higher self-esteem called perfectionism for small business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Stephen Guise is an international bestselling author, blogger, and entrepreneur. His books are read in 21 languages. He loves psychology, cats, and basketball, which completely defines him as a person.

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

Bill Ringle and Giovanni Dienstmann discuss the importance of relying on your commitments rather than your motivation for accomplishing more as a small business leader.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

• Commitment should be the foundation on which we build change, not motivation, because, unlike motivation, commitment does not fluctuate. Commitment is not about how we feel today. Regardless of our mood, commitment is non-negotiable.
• Meditation can be helpful in boosting our ability to focus, which could be very advantageous when it comes to pursuing our goals.
• Respect the commitment you made for yourself by channeling those thoughts into energy and action.

• Giovanni was inspired by the teachings of Buddha, which he read about growing up, which led him to embrace mindfulness practices. [01:13]
• When he first discovered the happiness and contentment in meditating. [04:24]
• Mediation gave him the power of focus, which is advantageous in his different careers. [03:53]
• Defining self-discipline and clearing the misconceptions surrounding it.[04:49]
• CASE: Adam, whose serious YouTube addiction made it hard to focus on his work, finds his way past the distractions. [06:52]
• The difference between awareness and willpower. [09:07]
• The ‘never zero commitment.’ [12:46]
• Giovanni shares his strategy for achieving aspirations. [MM:SS]
• From working for the Brazilian government’s labor court to being an entrepreneur, Giovanni talks about his career transition. [MM:SS]
• Giovanni shares how he reoriented himself after his career shit. [MM:SS]
• My Quest for the Best lightning round begins [MM:SS]

As a self-discipline coach, Giovanni Dienstmann has helped hedge fund managers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, ambitious professionals, artists and pro athletes to live a more focused and disciplined life. Since 2014 he has been successfully coaching people to overcome distractions, procrastination, self-doubt, fear, and other forms of self-sabotage.

Whatever self-discipline challenges you face, and whatever excuse you are telling yourself—Giovanni has seen it, and has developed a tool to deal with it.

Whether you need help building a consistent morning routine, breaking bad habits, finding your life purpose, increasing motivation and willpower, achieving your goals, or simply being more effective with your time and energy, Mindful Self-Discipline can help.

As a meditation teacher, Giovanni runs LiveAndDare.com, which is one of the top five most visited meditation blogs on the web. His first book, Practical Meditation, is available in eight different languages and has popularly been called “the meditation Bible”. Giovanni has over 10,000 hours of personal meditation practice and is a sought-after consultant to award-winning meditation apps. His meditation programs have helped over 20,000 people start a daily meditation practice, improve their psychological well-being, and master their minds.

• Primary website
• Travels from: Cheero Point, NSW Australia
• Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
  

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

• Courses offered by Giovanni Dienstmann
• Articles and blog posts are written by Giovanni Dienstmann
• Practical Meditation: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide
• The Buddha
• Insight Timer