Takeaways From 18 Amazing Presenters at the Customer Service Revolution
The DiJulius Group held our annual Customer Service Revolution September 11th & 12th in Cleveland, Ohio. It has grown into the #1 Customer Service conference with a community of 700 extremely passionate revolutionaries, from all over the world, looking to create brands customers cannot live without and make price irrelevant. This year marked The DiJulius Group’s 11th conference with the highest ratings ever. Here are the key takeaways from the amazing lineup of best-selling authors, subject matter experts, and world-class brand executives.
Mark Scharenbroich
- “Nice Bike” is all about how we acknowledge, honor and truly connect with others to fuel growth.
- Core values must be stated and lived to move the needle on customer service.
- The rules of a “Meat Raffle” are simple: You have to buy a ticket and you must be present to win which means – earn the return with your customers and be fully present with them.
John DiJulius
- Today’s illiterate are those who have an inability to truly make a deep connection with others.
- Technology is changing the world, and not always for the better. For all the benefits it is bringing to businesses, it is coming at a significant cost. The cost is weaker human relationships that are vital to customer experiences, employee experiences, and happiness.
- In a Relationship Economy the primary currency is made up of the emotional connections made with customers, employees, and vendors that results in your organization becoming the brand customers cannot live without—which ultimately makes price irrelevant.
Christine Cashen
- The way to get good ideas is to have A LOT of ideas!
- To turn your brainstorm into a brain hurricane, play the “What If” idea quota game of coming up with 25 ideas, then picking the top solutions.
- Develop a creative culture. Begin meetings with 3 ideas from all to improve any aspect of the business and make a list. At the end of the month/quarter, review the list and choose the best to implement. Consider offering incentives for ideas. Give a percentage of cost savings, etc.
Kyle Maynard
- Simplifying and getting to the point of a story makes me a more powerful communicator.
- Only saying yes to things I am most aligned and excited about is so important to my life and business.
- Service to others creates a powerful and deeply connected tribe.
2019 Customer Service Revolution Conference Audio
Whether you were at the Revolution seeing it unfold live or you were unable to get a ticket, we now have the 2019 Customer Service Revolution audio available for you to hear and share with your entire organization.
Tami Evans
- Personality and passion upstage perfection.
- Leading with levity will create a culture of connection.
- Don’t be afraid to be aDORKable.
Jesse Cole
- Mirror Moment – Every business needs to have a mirror moment and look at what they are doing that’s upsetting their customers. What friction points are you creating for your customers?
- Love your customers more than you love your product. Focus on who you serve and not what you do. How do you map the experience from the first impression to the last impression?
- Love your employees more than you love your customers. If you want to deliver a great experience for your customers, you have to deliver a great experience to your employees. It often starts with recognition.
Robert Stevenson
- The day you forget you are in business for the customer is the day you start going out of business. There are lots of business models out there: B2B, B2C, C2B … but the most important model is H2H (Human to Human). That is the one that will differentiate you from your competition.
- Great companies have no confusion about what they need to do to be successful. They understand: What it takes to be great in their business; What has made them so successful; What it is that they do best; What they will be concentrating on this year. By knowing these answers, they are able to get everyone in their organization to FOCUS on what matters most, which all starts with the customer.
- Success is not magic; it is a process. Great companies realize they must make sure the customer is fully satisfied at every point where he or she comes in contact with their company. The key words here are “at every point.” It is imperative that they meet the needs of changing consumer desires.
Bonus from Robert – 14 Customer Service Articles
*Related – Tickets available for 2020 Customer Service Revolution Oct 7-8 at $1,050 off
Jeff Mowatt
- When growing relationships, consider that our goal is not necessarily trying to be the customer’s friend. Customers already have their own friends, and they’re free. Instead our goal is to become the customers trusted advisor. Customers will pay a premium to receive the services of a trusted advisor.
- Everything we say, do, or write either increases or decreases trust. The fastest way to orchestrate trust is to a) make promises (when you don’t have to) and then b) keep those promises (no matter what it costs you).
- Choose words that build trust and make people remember you. For example, when making promises, rather than saying, “I won’t be able to do it until tomorrow.” Instead say, “You’ll have it within 24 hours.” When you do deliver on your promises, to ensure people appreciate and remember, start the communication with, “As promised…”
Particia Fripp
How Leaders Inspire Action and Commitment
- A great way to teach good customer service practices is to encourage your team members “to pretend they are business consultants” when they are customers themselves. Discuss as a team what were their good and bad experiences, and how we can apply or be avoided.
- To inspire action and commitment, tell stories that make heroes of your audience members. Populate your stories with flesh and blood characters they can relate to.
- Stories are the best way to share your philosophies such as corporate citizenship. How would you explain them to your children?
Max Yoder
Transforming Team Culture and Performance
- Compassion and accountability are compatible.
- Modeling the behaviors you want to see is the best you can do, and if you make a mistake, just say sorry.
- On average, teammates who understand the impact of their jobs will outperform teammates who don’t.
Mark C. Perna
Today’s younger generations are the most intelligent, resourceful, and pit-bull-like generational cohort we have ever seen in this country. In a word, they’re incredible. When they see a “want-to” in their life, they will move heaven and earth to reach it. Our biggest challenge as employers, educators, and parents is getting them to want something with that level of intensity.- You can look at young people (age 39 and younger) as either a challenge to be solved or a tremendous asset to be unleashed within your organization, home, or training facilities. If you view them with the latter perspective, you are well on your way to connecting, engaging, and motivating them to greater performance in their lives and your organization.
- Generations Y and Z can collectively be called the “Why Generation” because they need an answer to that question for everything they do. To maximize their performance, they must see their own light at the end of the tunnel. Answer their why, create vision, and allow them to take pride in the shared journey towards your organizational objectives and their own career aspirations and lifestyle goals.
Today’s younger generations are the most intelligent, resourceful, and pit-bull-like generational cohort we have ever seen in this country. In a word, they’re incredible. When they see a “want-to” in their life, they will move heaven and earth to reach it. Our biggest challenge as employers, educators, and parents is getting them to want something with that level of intensity.
Andy Bailey
- The puzzle. The first thing we do when putting a puzzle together is look at the picture. Knowing what it’s ‘suppose’ to look like allows us to pick and place the pieces much more effectively. The same is true with our lives. If we have a clear picture of what we want it to look like, we, and those around us, can build it to that state much more effectively.
- Be specific. Clarity of a goal requires it to be very, very specific. ‘I want to get in shape’ is not a specific goal. It’s an idea, but not a goal. A goal, for the brain to draw the picture, requires that it is vivid in its description. The clearer we do this the more readily we achieve our goals. Specificity is a superpower!
- Go slow. People have a tendency to set goals that they struggle to meet because they start too big.
Mark Moses
- Good is not good enough. Hire the best. Think Big. No limiting beliefs.
- Define the specific and measurable activities that will lead you to the outcome that you want.
- Have a best practices system of accountability. A coach can help you with this.
Brittni Walker
Implementation – Bringing Your Ideas to Life
- “Being world-class is not an event… it’s a cultural evolution.” Implementation takes time and never truly ends.
- When laying the foundation of your idea ask yourself: What, Why, When, Who, Where, and How. If you can’t answer one or more of these questions, your idea needs more time before implementation.
- Consistency and Continuity are critical in implementation in order for the idea to not just become flavor of the month.
Dave Murray
How to Create Your World-Class Internal Culture 
- Awareness and Behavioral— a great training program needs to focus on both! You need to build initiative awareness, then drive it home with repeatable behaviors.
- Company Culture happens—whether you work on it or not. Take some steps to keep it top of mind in your organization and make it a priority.
- What is your Waveability score? How well do your internal teams greet each other and visitors? If they are not practicing this important behavioral fundamental internally, they will not have the habit externally.
Jess Bound Pischel
Creating your Customer Experience Cycle
- Awareness of the service defects that happen in each stage with the customer force you to establish a solution to correct those areas you drop the ball. Creating solutions to these areas allows for systemized consistency.
- Most companies only focus on SOPs (standard operating procedures) and never spend time on the experience they provided to a customer. Creating experiential standards for each stage in your customer’s journey will set yourself apart from the competition and make your brand the one that customers cannot live without.
- Going Above & Beyond is an opportunity to surprise and delight your customers. Spending time creating Above & Beyond standards will encourage your team members to look for the opportunity to WOW your guests in every customer interaction.
Awareness of the service defects that happen in each stage with the customer force you to establish a solution to correct those areas you drop the ball. Creating solutions to these areas allows for systemized consistency.
Max Lowenbaum
Win the War on Talent
- If every person looking for a job got one tomorrow, we would still have 2,000,000 open jobs in America.
- The applicants you want to hire aren’t searching job boards, they are starting at Google and landing on your website.
- In order to win the war on talent, you have to treat your candidates like you treat your customers.
Fredrik Tunvail
Top Customer Service AI Uses to Improve Engagement and Reduce Costs
- AI and automation is emerging as a key priority for exceptional CX.
- Businesses want AI to help people be smarter, not replace them.
- There is a misconception that AI projects need to be large and expensive – businesses need to know they can start small and start now at little to no cost.
CSRev 2020
We look forward to seeing you at the 2020 Customer Service Revolution, October 7th-8th, in Cleveland, Ohio. Tickets are available now at a savings of $1,050.
