In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Darrell Amy, author of  Revenue Growth Engine: How to Align Sales and Marketing to Accelerate Growth!

When it comes to revenue, most businesses don’t appear to have a true revenue growth strategy or the processes in place to even drive growth. Outside of that,  some companies are really good at focusing on driving revenue through new customers while others are really good at cross-selling to existing customers. Unfortunately, very few appear to be good at doing both.

But it is possible to focus on and be good at both. And If you can drive simply reasonable growth in net-new business while also cross-selling your current clients, then you can actually double your revenue in less than 3 years.

But it does take an intentional strategy and it does take the right alignment between Sales and Marketing.

And this week’s guest is here to help you learn how to do just that. It’s Darrell Amy.

Darrell’s the author of the best-selling book Revenue Growth Engine: How To Align Sales and Marketing To Drive Accelerate Growth. He’s the host of the Revenue Growth Podcast on the C-Suite Radio Network and the co-host of the Selling From the Heart podcast. And he’s a member of the Forbes Business Council and a C-Suite Advisor. Darrell and I discuss his lessons around aligning your Sales and Marketing teams, growing your revenue aggressively yet realistically, and the number one way to differentiate yourself among your competitors. SPOILER ALERT: It’s all in the experience you deliver.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• The law of exponential revenue growth
• The value ratio of net-new customers vs existing customers
• How the experience we deliver drives whether customers continue to buy from you
• The difference between a customer and a client
• How to break down the Sales and Marketing silos
•  How to ensure all your teams view everything from the eyes of the customer
• The importance of having your frontline team members understand what it feels like to receive the level of experience that your customers expect
•  Darrell and I discuss a hypothesis on how the identity given to your team members empowers them in delivering your customer experience
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RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Darrell's site
• Darrell's book - Revenue Growth Engine: How to Align Sales and Marketing to Accelerate Growth

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Pamela Slim, author of  The Widest Net: Unlock Untapped Markets and Discover New Customers Right In Front of You!

Pamela’s a best-selling author, business coach, and co-founder of the Main Street Learning Lab in Mesa, Arizona along with her husband, Darryl.

Pamela’s the best-selling author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, Body of Work and her latest: The Widest Net.

In The Widest Net, Pam teaches us how to build strong diverse relationships, identify and connect with new partners, expand markets, generate leads, and find new customers in places we may never have considered. And she shows us how to connect with potential clients and customers using the true breadth of the marketplace, which she calls an ecosystem of living connections.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• How. to search outside your own "lens" to target your ideal customers
• How to more authentically learn about your customers
• How you and your customers can help each other grow through a trusted reciprocity framework
• How to build a community of customers and partners through relationship-building
• How to simplify your marketing and content strategy by focusing on a "beacon" - one primary communication vehicle
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RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Pamela's site
  
  
• Pamela's book - The Widest Net: Unlock Untapped Markets and Discover New Customers Right in Front of You
• Pamela's book - Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur
• Pamela's book - Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Brittany Hodak! 

I think a fanbase is absolutely key to momentum and growth. Fans are not just loyal, they're devoted. They’ll consume whatever it is that their favorite artists or teams put out. 

Fans are advocates. They'll visually show their support with branded clothes and merchandise. 

Fans are evangelists. They'll tell all their friends about their favorite things and try to show them why their friends need to be fans too.

But what if your customers could be fans of you and your brand. Not just loyal customers, but actual SUPER FANS. 

It’s totally possible. And it can happen. But it takes a lot of work on your part. It takes you delivering the right experiences to them that helps them turn into super fans.

That’s why I had such a fun time talking with this week’s guest - Brittany Hodak.

Brittany’s an international keynote speaker and award-winning customer experience leader. She’s been a regular contributor for Forbes, Adweek, and Success Magazine. And she’s been featured on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, and more.

Brittany’s been named in Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40 list, and Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list, and she was awarded Most Disruptive Marketing Entrepreneur at the UN’s Empact Awards.

 And Entrepreneur Magazine calls Brittany an “expert at creating loyal fans for your brand,” and she’s widely regarded as the “go-to source” on creating and retaining superfans.

Of course, your goal for your brand should be to deliver an experience that creates loyal customers who come back again and again. That’s a given. But then your goal should be to take that even further. You want to deliver experiences that convert customers into DEVOTED SUPERFANS — repeat clients who will always advocate for your brand without you even having to ask. And in this week’s episode, Brittany gives us lessons on how to do just that.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• How being customer-centric means never resting on your laurels
• What we can learn from superstars with engaged fanbases and instill those lessons into our brands
• How a conversation with 16-year-old Taylor Swift turned into a lesson around creating a two-way street relationship with your customers
• Your competitors are happy to treat your customers the way they deserve to be treated if you won’t do it
• The definition of a superfan and how they can be the best marketing for your brand
• Brittany’s five-step framework for creating superfans
•  Why every employee is in both the Experience and Sales departments
• Why your customers are comparing you to every great experience they've had, not just your direct competitors 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Brittany's site (you’ll also get access to Brittany’s Superfan WAVE video course here!)

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Annette Franz, author of  Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business!

Recently a CapGemini study showed that “while 75% of businesses believe they’re customer-centric, only 30% of their customers actually agreed with that.”

So you can say that your brand is customer-centric all day long,  but if your customer doesn’t agree with you, then you’ve got a big problem. And that problem is even bigger when you’re oblivious to it.

Delivering a truly customer-centric experience is pretty simple. It may not be easy, but it is simple. And it starts with your culture. It starts with you recognizing that your customer experience will not improve until you have an understanding of your customer and their needs instilled into everything that everyone across your organization does - not just those teams that are customer-facing. 

A truly customer-centric experience starts with having a truly customer-centric culture.

I don’t think enough leaders are talking about how to truly accomplish this, but this week’s guest is - it’s Annette Franz.

Annette’s the founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc., a customer experience strategy consulting firm that helps clients ensure that the customer is at the center of all they do.

As a seasoned Customer Experience veteran with over 30 years of experience, Annette’s held CX leadership roles at some of the top brands in the country including J.D. Power, Fidelity, and Mattel.

 And her latest book was just released this month! Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture That Drives Value for Your Business.

While lots of experts talk about the value of customer-centric experiences, there aren’t enough lessons out there on how to build a customer-centric culture in your organization and how to ensure that the customer is fully ingrained into your organization’s DNA. And that’s just what Annette focuses on in Built to Win, and we take a deep-dive discussion into those lessons.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• The difference between being customer-focused and being customer-centric and the value of a customer-centric culture
• The barriers to creating a customer-centric culture
• The value of defining both behaviors and anti-behaviors that tie to your organization’s values
• Why your employees should come “more first” [that’s not a typo!]
• How to ensure your customer experience thinking is outside-in vs inside-out
• How to apply the Platinum Rule to your customer experience

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Annette's site
• Annette on LinkedIn
• Annette's book - Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture That Drives Value For Your Business
• Annette's book - Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the "Customer" in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your Business) 

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Jeremy Miner, host of the  Closers Are Losers podcast!

When I was in college twenty-plus years ago, a handful of us loved watching the movie Glengarry Glen Ross.

And we absolutely LOVED Alec Baldwin’s scene where he’s teaching his lesson to on closing deals. At one time, some of us could even quote his monologue verbatim.

 Always Be Closing.

Now whether that way of selling truly worked or not was up for debate. What isn’t up for debate is that method (even if it did work at one time) is completely outdated.

Today’s consumers, today’s customers, today’s buyers are different. With the tools and information they have, they’re savvier than ever. They have the ability to take their money and give it to someone else quicker than ever.

The way they research, the information they have available to them, the way they interact with (and choose to interact with) sales reps - has completely changed.

But too many brands aren’t recognizing this change. Too many brands aren't recognizing the need to change their approach to selling. And they’re starting to fail and become completely irrelevant to their customers. And when that happens, they can’t figure out why. They can’t figure out how to adapt.

Thankfully, this week’s guest has the lessons and strategies to help brands adapt to these changes - it’s Jeremy Miner.

Jeremy is the Founder and Chairman of 7th Level, a Global Sales Training company. He’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, and lots of other publications.

Jeremy and I talk about his lessons on being able to influence and sell to anyone today. SPOILER ALERT: it’s all about being a problem finder AND a problem solver... NOT a product pusher.

What’s great here is that you can apply these lessons in most any aspect of your career or business. Whether it’s client relationships, whether it’s your leadership, whether it’s other teams you collaborate with, whether it’s your customers -  If you’re wanting to influence someone else to take action - this discussion is for you.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• Why we need to become problem finders and problem solvers, not product pushers
• How to find customers' problems through questions
• Why no one trusts you when you say you’re better or even the best
• Why top marketers and top salespeople are collaborative
• The value of learning psychology and human behavior in order to sell more
• How dialogue is the most persuasive form of selling
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RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Jeremy's free Sales Revolution group - [LOTS of great resources here!]
• Jeremy's podcast: Closers Are Losers  

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