In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Steven Van Belleghem.

Steven is one of the top customer experience thought leaders in the world. He’s helped world-leading companies like Disney, Mastercard, Mercedes, and Salesforce learn how to be more customer-centric. 

And Steven is the author of six bestselling books including his latest - A Diamond in the Rough: Over a 100 Specific Tips to Build a Strong Customer Culture.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How to know if your brand is truly customer-centric
• The value of adding emotion to customer relationships
• How details make the difference in your customer experience
• The barriers that keep brands from being customer-centric
• How to instill effective empathy in your customer experience
• The secret to customer loyalty is being more loyal to your customers

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Steven's website
• Steven’s book - A Diamond in the Rough: Over a 100 Specific Tips to Build a Strong Customer Culture 
• Steven’s free resource - How to Become a Shiny Diamond Workbook
• Steven's YouTube channel 
• Steven on LinkedIn
• SIMPLE brand Podcast #35 - Create a Customer-Centric Experience

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

Michael’s the founder and president of customer experience consultancy McorpCX where they help brands make customer experience easier for their leadership, their people, and their customers. He’s recognized on over a dozen "Top Global CX Influencers" lists. 

And Michael’s the co-author of two best-selling books including his latest - Experience Rules! The Experience Operating System (XOS) and 8 Keys to Enable It.

Here’s what we discuss:

• Who really defines your customer experience
• It takes more than surveys to understand your customers
• How to align silos in your organization
• Non-customer facing teams still impact the customer experience
• How your culture drives your customer experience approach

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• McorpCX
• Michael’s book - Experience Rules!: The Experience Operating System (XOS) and 8 Keys to Enable It 
• Michael’s book - Smart Customers, Stupid Companies: Why Only Intelligent Companies Will Thrive, and How To Be One of Them 
• Michael on LinkedIn

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

Part message designer, part English-to-English translator, part magpie, Tamsen helps leaders craft their case for large-scale change. As a sought-after speaker and consultant, she’s spent more than 25 years developing the field and practice of persuasive message design, with a particular focus on the principles and processes that build buy-in that lasts.

And Tamsen is the author of the best-selling book - Say What They Can't Unhear: The 9 Principles of Lasting Change.

Here’s what we discuss:

• Why so many change initiatives fail in the long-term
• The biggest mistakes in change communication
• How to understand what’s important to your people
• How co-creation with others leads to more buy-in
• Dealing with antagonists and indifferent stakeholders in your change approach
• BONUS: Applying change principles as parents

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Tamsen’s website
• Tamsen’s free resource for you - The Compact Case
• Tamsen’s book - Say What They Can't Unhear: The 9 Principles of Lasting Change 
• Tamsen’s book - Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible 
• Tamsen’s Message Design Institute
• SIMPLE brand #75: Tamsen Webster – Find Your Red Thread

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

Jennifer is a master of innovation practices having held senior roles to drive innovation for companies like Accenture, Booz Allen, Gartner, Wells Fargo Bank, Cisco, and Stanford Research Institute.

Today she works with teams and organizations to help them fuel their innovation, performance, and revenue.

And Jennifer is the author of the best-selling book - The Innovation Mindset: A Proven Method to Fuel Performance and Results.

Here’s what we discuss:

• How to make innovation a practice instead of sporadic ideation
• The barriers that hinder innovation in teams
• The importance of co-inventing and building trust within teams
• How gender balance impacts an organization’s innovation capacity
• Jennifer's six-step practice model for fostering innovation
• How innovation drives employee satisfaction and retention

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Jennifer's website
• Jennifer’s book - The Innovation Mindset: A Proven Method to Fuel Performance and Results 
• Jennifer on LinkedIn

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

Sean is an internationally recognized thought leader, speaker, and transformational coach with 20+ years of leading customer experience initiatives for companies ranging from startups to the Fortune 200.

And Sean is the author of the award-winning book - 4ROCKS: Reduce Effort, Drive Loyalty, Transform the Customer Journey.

Here’s what we discuss:

• The four types of “rocks” that disrupt your customer experience
• How to find and eliminate the “rocks” from your customer journey
• Connecting silos to create a seamless experience
• The need for cross-functional teams to address customer experience
• Connecting upstream and downstream effects in your customer journey
• The Colorado DMV’s seamless customer experience

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Sean’s website
• Sean’s book - 4ROCKS: Reduce Effort, Drive Loyalty, Transform the Customer Journey
• Sean on LinkedIn

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

Aidan is a change consultant and executive coach who helps organizational teams improve how they engage and innovate. He’s the host of The Innovation Show podcast.

And Aidan’s the bestselling author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life.

Here’s what we discuss:

• Overcoming resistance to change
• Recognizing change as an opportunity for reinvention
• The difference between optimization and true innovation
• If you start adapting once you recognize change, it’s too late
• How the most successful companies can be disrupted 
• You can’t innovate if your employees operate in a culture of fear

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Aidan’s website
• Aidan’s podcast - The Innovation Show
• Aidan’s newsletter - The Thursday Thought
• Aidan’s book - Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life
• Aidan on LinkedIn

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

Scott is the founder and CEO of Swoz Consulting where he helps startups, family enterprises, and Fortune 500 companies create raving fans of customers and employees.

And Scott’s the bestselling author of Make Your Brand Legendary: Create Raving Fans With the Customer Experience Engine.

Here’s what we discuss:

• The secret to creating raving fans
• Customer Insight is the fuel that powers your customer experience engine
• Operational excellence is more important than wowing customers
• A healthy leadership team is needed for excellent customer experience
• How Scott’s faith drives his customer experience approach

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Scott’s website
• Swoz Consulting
• Scott’s book - Make Your Brand Legendary: Create Raving Fans With the Customer Experience Engine
• Scott on LinkedIn
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore
• No Rules Rules: Netflix and The Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings
• The Four Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney and Sean Covey
• The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

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

Erica is an international keynote speaker, a bestselling author, and a workplace strategist who partners with some of the most well-known companies in the world. She's one of Marshall Goldsmith's Top 100 Coaches. 

And Erica’s the Wall Street Journal best-selling author of the “Human Workplace Trilogy” that includes Bring Your Human to Work, Rituals Roadmap, and her very latest, The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company.

Here’s what we discuss:

• Pretty much everything we know about work has changed
• The need to rethink how we approach employee retention
• The value of staying connected with employees
• The right approach to flexibility
• How being intentional avoids employee resentment
• The role of meetings and how they can provide value
• Why middle managers are the MVPs

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Erica’s website
• Erica’s book - The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company
• Five Ways to Embrace Your Humanity in the Age of AI
• Erica on LinkedIn

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