SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Jon Picoult, author of From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles For Turning Customers and Employees Into Lifelong Fans!

We know customers will leave after a bad experience. But we don't stop to realize that they also leave for an okay experience - a satisfactory experience.

Think about it. You may keep buying from a brand because they’re meeting your expectations, and you feel okay as long as they continue doing that. But what if you find a brand that'll exceed your expectations? What if you find a brand that'll deliver a remarkable experience every time? 

Now combine that with how easy it is to switch brands today. Buh-bye satisfactory experience!

And that’s just what your customers are doing with your satisfactory experience.

That’s why I was happy to talk with Jon Picoult this week. 

Jon’s the founder of Watermark Consulting. He’s a keynote speaker and one of the most noted authorities on customer and employee experience. He’s been featured by dozens of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NBC News, and Forbes.

And Jon is the author of From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles For Turning Customers and Employees Into Lifelong Fans.

Jon and I discuss his lessons around building customer loyalty through his 12 customer experience principles. What’s great is that these principles can be applied to most any type of business. And they can be applied to your employee experience to build more loyalty from your people.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Jon's book: From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles For Turning Customers and Employees Into Lifelong Fans
• Watermark Consulting
• Jon's Annual CX ROI Study

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Joel Bines, author of The Metail Economy: 6 Strategies For Transforming Your Business to Thrive in the Me-Centric Consumer Revolution!


We’re at a point in time today where consumers are armed with more information, more technology, more access to alternatives than at any point in history. And all this power has pretty much inverted the traditional power dynamics in the retailer-to-consumer relationship.

Basically, your customers are now in charge. And they expect a lot more from you.

And if you want to survive and thrive in this new economy, then you have to recognize, embrace and adhere to new consumer demands. That can feel pretty intimidating.

And that's why I was happy to talk with Joel Bines this week. 

Joel co-leads the Global Retail Practice at AlixPartners. He’s a frequent contributor to major media outlets like NPR, CNBC, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. And he’s now officially a published author.

Joel’s first book is out this week! - The Metail Economy: 6 Strategies for Transforming Your Business to Thrive in the Me-Centric Consumer Revolution.

Joel and I talk about this new retail industry power shift where the consumers are essentially now in charge. But thankfully, Joel shares his methods that brands can use to connect with the Me-centric consumer and thrive in this new world.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Joel's book: The Metail Economy: 6 Strategies for Transforming Your Business to Thrive in the Me-Centric Consumer Revolution
• The Metail Economy site
• AlixPartners

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with Emily Morgan of Delegate Solutions!

One of the lessons I teach leaders in simplifying what they do and becoming truly effective in their role is:

“You should only do those things that only you can do. And everything else should be automated or delegated.” 

When you strip away all the things that you shouldn’t be doing or those things that anyone else can do, and you focus on only those things that you can and should do, your accomplishments become exponentially larger.

But it’s not easy to strip those things away. And that’s why it was such a big help for me to talk with Emily Morgan this week. 

Emily is a keynote speaker and the head of Delegate Solutions where they provide virtual executive support services and delegation coaching. And she's been featured in Forbes, HuffPost, The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, CNBC and many other outlets.

Emily and I discuss her lessons on how you can better manage your time and priorities. And we discuss how you can use the right delegation strategies to free up your time and energy to do more of what you love - more of the work that only you can do.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Delegate Solutions' site - it's a specially curated page just for SIMPLE brand listeners!

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with Brian Rafferty of Siegel+Gale!

Siegel+Gale just released their latest World’s Simplest Brands study. And I was able to get a sneak peak into the study earlier this month and sit down and talk about it in-depth with Siegel & Gale’s very own - Brian Rafferty.

Brian’s the Head of Siegel & Gale’s Business Analytics and Insights practice, and he leads the charge in the World’s Simplest Brands study.

Brian and I talk about what we can learn from the study including how customer’s expectations have changed over the years, who’s doing simplicity really well today AND the benefits that businesses get when they deliver simple experiences.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Siegel+Gale’s World’s Simplest Brands study
• Siegel+Gale's site 

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with Anthony Iannarino, author of Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away From Your Competition! 

 Here’s a scary truth as it relates to your customers. Your customers don’t have an abundance of opportunity for you.

 Your customers have finite time, finite resources and finite attention. None of them are able to, nor do they want to, accept all competing offers and solutions thrown their way.

 That’s why - like it or not - sales is often a zero-sum game. Your win is someone else’s loss. Most growth, most achievements, most wins require you to take market share from your competitors, while they’re trying to do the same to you. I mean - how else can you grow your business by double digits if you’re in an industry that’s only growing at a lower rate?

The point is: if you don’t win over and persuade your customer, someone else will.

 And (no matter what your role is) if you’re trying to persuade others for anything, that means you’re in sales.

 But how can you persuade others in a crowded world when your customers are bombarded with competing experiences, competing requests and competing relationships every day?

 How can you create, and continue to offer value to others so they view you as a long-term partner?

 Thankfully, Anthony Iannarino is here to share how to do that this week. 

 Anthony’s an international keynote speaker and the Founder and CEO of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, a boutique sales coaching and consulting firm where they provide individual and corporate training to sales teams. 

 And he’s the author of The Lost Art of Closing, The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need and Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away From Your Competition.

 Anthony and I discuss his lessons on winning, developing and managing client relationships. While Anthony approaches his lessons from a Sales perspective, they’re valuable for anyone that needs to build relationships in their career. That includes you and me!

 RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Anthony's book: Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away From Your Competition
• Anthony's site: The Sales Blog

Throughout the month of November, we’re shining the spotlight on a number of nonprofit organizations who are doing some really significant work in the world.

My guest this week in the November nonprofits series is Tim Nelson, CEO of Hope For Justice.

Hope For Justice is a global organization that works to bring an end to modern slavery by preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives and reforming society.

Tim and I discuss some disheartening and shocking information around slavery. You’ll find out that there’s a lot more to slavery than sex trafficking. And you’ll hear the surprising places where it’s happening. While it happens around the globe, it also happens right in your backyard.

But you’ll also hear the positive difference that Hope For Justice is making in the world to free and restore slavery victims an to advocate for more awareness of how and where we can all play a part in ending slavery.