Differentiating Experiences To Dominate Your Industry

Differentiating Experiences To Dominate Your Industry

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

Stacy Sherman interviews Stan Phelps, author of the Goldfish series, about how to gain a competitive advantage and achieve bottom-line impact. 

Stan explains “Your brand today is no longer what you tell people it is. It is the differentiated experience (DX) your employees deliver. It is what you stand for and how your customers feel about you. And most importantly, your brand is what your customers tell others about their experience.” See podcast transcript below for details on topics and key takeaways.

Get Updates About Doing CX Right

Follow On Social Media

Join eNewsletter

Watch Stacy Sherman’s Interview on Youtube

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Differentiating Experiences To Dominate Your Industry

Stacy Sherman: Hello, Stan Phelps. Welcome to the Doing CX Right show. 

Stan Phelps: Yea, thanks for having me, Stacy. 

Stacy Sherman: We have known each other a really long time and life just keeps us coming back at different stages of our life. And I have to say, I feel really lucky. 

 

Show More

Stan Phelps: Thanks. Good to reconnect. 

Stacy Sherman: Yes. So I of course know who you are and how magnificent you are, but tell the audience a little bit about yourself professionally.

Who are you? What do you do? 

Stan Phelps: Yes, Stan Phelps. I am a certified speaking professional. I’ve written an entire series of books called the Goldfish series, which is all about this idea of creating a DX, and I really spent a lot of time looking at. Brand strategy, customer experience and employee engagement.

Yeah. And then I write and do keynotes and workshops for a living. 

Stacy Sherman: Why what’s your why behind this whole DX experience management, we’re going to dive into DX. So we’ll, won’t go there yet, but what’s your passion? Why?

Stan Phelps: Yes, great question. So I spent over 20 years over two decades working in traditional marketing. And I started out on the agency side in sports with a group called IMG. And then I spent time on the brand side, about a decade with Adidas and the PGA of America. And then I went back to the agency side where I worked with a number of brands and I worked specifically in experiential marketing.

So this idea of creating an experience for, for customers, a brand experience, and what I realized back in 2006, 2007, that marketing was rapidly changing, Stacy. It used to be that it was a one-way conversation, kind of a tell and sell. And I realized that the through social and through the web, today’s customer has much more access to information.

They have much more impact on the overall experience. And so it led me to really think about what I was doing was not what I thought should be happening going forward. And I, and I had this kind of moment of truth in New York city where I realized this idea that I think the greatest myth we have is the idea of simply

just meeting the expectations of a customer we serve. And so, that started me on a quest of starting to look for companies that purposefully put an emphasis on the experience and did little things to differentiate their brand and promote word of mouth. And that quest led me to the first book, which was purple goldfish in the city.

Stacy Sherman: What’s one thing that many people might not know about you personally or professionally? 

Stan Phelps: Well, I so I’ve written 17 books now in the series, but though the one book, it’s not a goldfish book, it’s the only book I have. That’s not a goldfish book. It’s called Bar Tricks, Bad Jokes and Even Worse Stories.

And so yeah, so I, I absolutely love a bar trick is not like a magic trick. You know, a bar trick is something that you do amongst friends and you always show how the trick is done. And I’m a, I’m a fan of storytelling and, and, and jokes. So that was just a fun little passion project. 

Stacy Sherman: Awesome. What a great answer.

So let’s dive into, first of all, because it’s Doing CX, Right. What does CX, what does customer experience mean to you now? Cause I know it’s changed over time. So where are you today in your, in your mindset of what it means? 

Stan Phelps: Everyone has their own definition. Of CX. I was fortunate enough back in 2014 to create a course for the ANA around customer experience design.

And I did it with a guy named Mike Wittgenstien and Mike shared something with me that is stood with me to the day he looks at it kind of as an equation, that customer experiences, everything that your brand does, for the customers that you serve. So all the value that you bring, but the equation is this it’s minus all of the things that you put your customers through all the business processes and what it’s like for them to deal with you.

So you got all the pluses, which is the value you got the minus of what it’s, you know, the things that you put them through, and the, the equation at the bottom is essentially how the experience makes them feel, right? It’s the feeling that they get, and more importantly, it’s what they share with other people.

Stacy Sherman: Love that. What is, DX? Not a lot of people use that, that term. So please share what is DX and, and why is it important? 

Stan Phelps: So the DX is simply a stands for differentiated experience. So I think, I think about everything that we do a lot of times we focus on CX, not realizing that employees are a huge part of the.

A lot of times we focus on CX and not realize the overall impact it has on the brand. So during, during COVID and the pandemic, I actually created in what I call my DX manifesto. I’ll share it with you, Stacy it’s you know, your brand today is no longer just what you tell people it is. It’s the differentiated experience your employees deliver.

It’s what you stand for and how your customers feel about you, and most importantly, your brand is what customers tell others about their, their experience. And I am the manifesto with all else is derivative of this and only this. 

Stacy Sherman: Yes. So now speaking of that and so many companies, I don’t care what size they are.

They want to differentiate. They want to differentiate their products. They want to differentiate their brand, and we know that price is not the way to do it. 

Stan Phelps: Right. 

So here to your point, research shows that 70% of people will pay more for a better experience. And so to me, if you try to stick with the other 30%, it’s simply a race to the bottom, right?

Because whoever can be lowest is the one that’s going to win. I think what smart brands have realized is that they want to compete with the 70% who will pay more for a better experience. So to me, it’s about two things. One it’s about ways that you can add value to elevate that experience. In a unique way.

And second, it’s about what I call maintenance, which is what is it like to have to deal with me? So some of the things that you can do can be, how do you manage and become more convenient to do business with? How do you manage waiting as part of it? How do you do any type of added service that again, removes friction and makes it easier?

And so what I think brands need to do is realize, look, it’s important for us to stand out. We know that our best marketing vehicle are the customers we actually have. And, and I know you had Jay Baer on recently, Jay Baer will tell you that over 90% of companies will say, word of mouth is the number one thing that drives their business.

Yeah. When he asked those companies, which how many of you actually have a word of mouth marketing strategy 1% do so to me, thinking about and understanding that the experience that you provide needs to be differentiated, it needs to be that thing that gets people talking about that brand. 

Stacy Sherman: Well, it’s so much research is out there.

And people like you and Jay Baer and others are continuing to emphasize the point of taking care of your current customers. And why are companies falling short of that, ignoring that, and so focused on going to get new, new, new, why do you think that is? 

Stan Phelps: A couple of things. I think one of the worst things we do,

frankly in terms of being, trying to be different and create these strategies is we get, we get caught up in benchmarking, right? We look at whoever is the leader within our category, right? And we start to break down the things that make them a leader. And then whether we want to admit it or not, what do we do next?

We start to emulate and do a lot of those same things and that doesn’t lead to being different. That leads to being more of the same. So I think what the challenge is that it’s not a matter of either or you certainly always need to keep people coming into your funnel, but it’s almost looking in that funnel

like Joseph Jaffe says like a bow tie. So you have the top part of the funnel, but what are you doing with those customers once they become part of your brand. And what I, what I think the great brands do is that they exude both high warmth. So their customers understand why they do what they do. But two they’re also very good on the competence part of the equation.

They’re reliable. They say what they’re going to do. They’re easy to do business with. And it’s not much harder than that. 

Stacy Sherman: Get the basics right. Well, talking about that, I want to bring up one controversial topic, which is about keeping your employees engaged. Some are proponents of tying your customer satisfaction metrics to linking, to pay to bonus.

And others are very against it. What is your perspective on motivation and this topic? 

Stan Phelps: Yes. I’ve written an entire book on this, which is called The Green Goldfish. And that was the second book in the series. So I, the first one was all about the customer. I’m a marketing guy. I thought the sun rose and set on the customer.

Right? But what I realized from studying over a thousand companies that did signature little things to differentiate their experience, is that the ones that truly got it, that did multiple things, Stacy, actually put more emphasis, on their employees than they did on their customers. And it’s not a hard concept to understand if you don’t have engaged bot in employees, you’re never going to be able to deliver that, that great experience.

So one of the reasons I call it Green Goldfish is to me, it’s about going beyond dollars. And what studies have shown is that money is not a long-term motivator for getting people to change their behavior. And so I, I, you know, I studied again another thousand companies that do signature little things beyond compensation to reinforce their culture and drive engagement.

And, and so for me, I do think it’s important to measure it, but I don’t think necessarily that compensation is the right way to, to reinforce it. How about you, where do you fall on that? 

Stacy Sherman: I’ve been on both sides of the fence, where I’ve been in an organization where I was the only one with CX metrics, tied to my performance and pay. And, everyone around me did not. In one scenario in one job. And one of the problems with that was that when I brought important customer insights to those people, they didn’t make it a priority. And that shouldn’t be the case. It shouldn’t take money, but once the next year that everybody shared the same metrics as I did, behaviors changed. So, I don’t like that answer, yet that’s what happened. I experienced one year with, and one year without, and we need to get to a place where it goes further than that because it’s the right thing to do. 

Stan Phelps: Yeah. I was going to say one of the things I think individual, not so good tying metrics to the organization as a whole,

I am in favor of that. But I think sometimes when you get it down to the individual, you start to throw in gaming into, into the mix and people start to game the metric, and that’s really not why you’re measuring it to me, there should be a higher purpose behind it. 

Stacy Sherman: Yes. And organizations need to make sure that all of the goals are aligned,

in other words, this is the worst experience, I’ll put myself in the customer’s shoes when you buy online, and then you want to return something at a store, and they say, sorry, you have to return that to the online group. We can’t take it back. And I’m like, you’re one company. But so what happens is that they don’t share the same metrics and therefore everybody is working in silos and even their own customer experience metrics don’t match.

It’s that’s a recipe for disaster. Probably spend the whole time just on this topic, but, but it’s, it is controversial if it is. 

Stan Phelps: Yea.

Stacy Sherman: So I want to go into more about leadership because forget the numbers. If you don’t have them, if you don’t have the right leaders in place, no one’s going to meet any goal, individual or a team.

Now, Colin Powell just passed and a big leader model. What’s your perspective? What can we learn about leadership from such an icon? 

Stan Phelps: Oh God, I think there’s so much we could learn from him. In fact, I wrote an entire thing, kind of five big takeaways that, that I, I, you know, just admiring him from a distance and looking at some of the quotes that he shared.

One of the things that I think. The biggest influence from him is that he said, no battle plan ever survives first contact on the battlefield, right? You can have the best strategy, right. But it’s, once you start to put it in place, you have to have the ability and flexibility to adjust that plan. So that’s one big takeaway.

I also appreciated the humility he had to admit that he acted on bad, bad information and, and didn’t do exactly the right thing in the humility to be able to admit that not making excuses for it is something rare. I think it’s rare we don’t see from leaders. How, how about you as you look back on his career in life?

Stacy Sherman: I agree. And I like what you just said. Keeping it human and not trying to be above anyone else. And I think that actually customers and employees expect that from us, you know because if we try to look perfect and not be transparent, people see through it. So there’s an advantage to, keeping it human and, and owning it and being real.

And, you know, I, I was at a Qualtrics, a big event a couple of years ago, and I remember Obama was speaking and, and this was not about politics. This is not about who you like and who you don’t like. It’s about, he said he always surrounded himself around people that were smarter than him. I thought that was fantastic because it takes a strong, confident leader to say that,

Stan Phelps: Right.

Stacy Sherman: and also to choose to be around people that can constantly teach you and you give value but keep getting value and learning you’re never done, and so I think there’s a lot of leaders out there that can do that and, and, and, and embrace that mindset. 

Stan Phelps: Yeah, I love, I love that you talked about this idea of being authentic, that the, my most recent book is an update to Pink Goldfish.

So it’s Pink Goldfish 2.0, and the whole concept is the idea that our flaws and our imperfections are actually the things that make us interesting and awesome. Or as we say flawsome, and so flawsome is the acronym for, it used to be seven ways, but we added the E, and specifically the E is what we call exposing.

So not being afraid to kind of really open things up and admit your mistakes or to own your negative reviews. Right. And I think people appreciate that. You, when a brand is even acting in a human way, right, and being transparent and being authentic, you know, it really stands out. 

Stacy Sherman: I think companies need to think about how to apply this now more than ever as we’ve hit this,

I forget the term, the world’s calling it the big rags resignation. Like so many people are leaving companies right now everywhere, and, now leader’s get a chance to really walk the talk and self-reflect and figure out why and do exit interviews and close the loop with it more than ever than before,

and I don’t know that it’s happening everywhere, but that is a huge opportunity. 

Stan Phelps: My friend Marcy was talking about this the other day, Marcy Raider, and there’s a great term for it. It’s called outboarding. No, we spend a lot of time thinking about how do we get new people and onboard them into the organization.

We should also be thinking about outboarding. So how are we handling them as they’re going out and managing that? I think it’s both. I think you’re going to get a certain amount of turnover. I don’t care how great you are as an organization right now. It’s going to force everyone to kind of raise their game.

And so I think it’s a matter of rethinking onboarding in a more hybrid world and also managing that outboarding process to make sure that you’re changing and addressing things in real time. 

Stacy Sherman: But then it also goes back to what we talked about employee engagement, because really we, it needs to be very conscious to keep your A-players.

Stan Phelps: Yeah. Now you’re talking about, my third book in the series. It’s called the Golden Goldfish, and that really is about understanding who your top 20% of customers are and your top 20% of employees. Because not, I used to think you should treat everyone fairly and I no longer believe that Stacy, everyone brings different value

to an organization, all your customers are not created equal, and so you, you treat everyone, you don’t treat them the same, you treat them fairly based upon the value that they provide. So absolutely understanding who your key employees are being proactive to make sure that they understood how valued they are.

It’s investing in your leadership and making sure your leaders are engaging. You know, one of the craziest stats that I’ve seen is that 70% of people who voluntarily leave an organization, so people that quit do not get fired. 70% of the people who quit an organization do not quit their job. They quit their boss.

Stacy Sherman: That’s a huge number. 

Stan Phelps: Yeah, and here’s the thing, I mean, the studies will show you that people don’t really start leadership training, with managers within their organization. And I remember seeing the stat, it was like the average age was like 36 before they really start to invest in management training.

The average age where they’re putting people into those positions is like 28. There’s just a big disconnect between what you’re asking people to manage people and the skills that they have to be able to do that correctly. 

Stacy Sherman: Speechless. I am. We can dive into each of these topics at great length.

We only have a few minutes left. So let me ask you these two final questions. One is if I had all the CEOs and big leaders and entrepreneurs in my room right now, what is the most important takeaways from everything you said today, what do you want them to remember? 

Stan Phelps: I’ll go to the first part of the manifested. Your brand today is no longer what you tell people it is.

You know, it’s what your customers experience. It’s how they feel, and most importantly, it’s what they tell other people. And until they realize until CEOs realize that there’s a huge difference between a traditionally acquired customer and one that comes via referrals, because that referred customers up to four times as valuable to the organization until they put an emphasis on the customers that they already have for me in my, in my kind of purpose, what drives me,

my work will never be done.

Stacy Sherman: I like that. Now last question. If you could go back in time to your younger self, what would you tell 20 year old Stan that you didn’t know then that you know now, 

Stan Phelps: You’re are much more capable than you realize, and you should take bigger leaps quicker.

Stacy Sherman: Is it because fear gets in our way? Do you think that’s the shared common human factor? 

Stan Phelps: I don’t know so much as fear is sometimes you’re looking for others to be able to validate who you are and the older we get, I think the better we understand who we are and what we bring to the table, and, and so, yeah.

Stacy Sherman: Yeah, I think as also we get older, we also recognize the importance to speak up, to have a voice. 

Stan Phelps: Right. The other thing I would tell CEOs is don’t try to fix, you know, your weaknesses, right? Everyone tries to do the same thing. They try to play to the same strengths, they try to correct the weaknesses they have. Behind every weakness is a corresponding strength.

So instead of this is personal as well as brand, instead of trying to change who we are, right? And try to hide those things, what my co-author Dave and I try to tell people is those may be the things that truly make you special. And instead of trying to hide those things actually shine a light on them, and aluminate those imperfections because, you know, interesting we’ll be perfect any day of the week and twice on Sunday. 

Stacy Sherman: Perfectly said. Even when it’s flaw, flawish? 

Stan Phelps: Flawesome. Thank you awesome Stacy. 

Stacy Sherman: And now I got it. Well, thank you for being awesome with your flaws and perfections and keeping inspiring people for so many years, where can they find you?

I’ll add the links to the show notes, but for those listening? 

Yeah, so I spent a lot of time on LinkedIn and can find me there. I write each day under a hashtag called #the1299. #The1299 and then my books, all the Goldfish series books are on Amazon. And then my site is stanphelpsspeaksstock.com.

Well, I know people are going to look for you, and thank you for being here today. 

Thanks for having me, Stacy.

About Stan Phelps:

Founder of PurpleGoldfish.com, a think tank based out of The Frontier in Research Triangle Park. He is a TEDx speaker, former Forbes contributor, IBM futurist, and Certified Speaking Professional that focuses on the future of customer and employee experience. Throughout his career, Stan held many marketing leadership roles with Adidas, IMG, the PGA of America, and Synergy. He’s the author of the Goldfish Series of books. They all focus on the little ways to drive differentiation, increase loyalty, and promote positive word of mouth. He has spoken at over 500 events in 16 countries. Stan holds a JD/MBA from Villanova University and a Certificate in Achieving Breakthrough Service from Harvard Business School. He lives in Cary, North Carolina with his wife Jennifer two boys Thomas and James.

WebsiteLinkedIn, Twitter

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.

7 Signs You’re a Good Boss

7 Signs You’re a Good Boss

Simon Sinek says “Leaders Eat Last.”
Scott McKain says “Leaders Eat With”  (🎧Hear “Iconic” author on my podcast)

How do you know you’re a good boss?

Some people will tell you. Others may not. It’s important to pay attention to the signs as 70% of workers who voluntarily resign don’t quit their job…they quit their boss. They leave bad cultures where they don’t feel valued, appreciated, and have a sense of belonging.

My featured guest article, written by Max Klein, helps you know how people perceive you and what great leadership looks like.

7 Signs You’re A Good Boss

 

People know if they bring you a problem you won’t lose your cool, shoot the messenger, or otherwise make them wish they hadn’t brought it up.

They know you won’t make the problem worse or more complicated. They aren’t afraid to walk into your office and openly discuss possible solutions.

They know you value the truth even when it’s hard to hear.

On the other hand, you’ve given them enough autonomy and latitude to make their own decisions and use initiative to solve most problems. So they’ll handle most things themselves but when they need help they’ll come to you.

This quote from General Colin Powell sums it up:

“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

 

You can be a feel-good rah-rah leader all you want, but if you have no clue what you’re doing operationally or technically, leadership skills will only get you so far.

The good news is, being a good leader is the tough part. If you’ve got that, you are most of the way there. You can learn technical skills anytime.

But good leaders do study their craft. They are always learning more about what the team, the company, and their people do. They ensure the team is well trained, including themselves.

Technical and tactical proficiency must be combined with solid leadership skills for leadership to be most effective.

“If you’re technically and tactically proficient, comply with Army standards and policies, and lead by example, you won’t have any problem. If you don’t, you’ll have problems with your soldiers. You can’t fool them. You never could, and you never will.” — SMA Glen E. Morrell

 

Insecure bosses hoard information and use it to feel more powerful.

They feel if they hold information people want or need or could grow from, they hold power over those people.

Good leaders are confident enough to share everything they know.

Of course, there is a need-to-know and there’s such thing as too much information sometimes, but generally, you should keep your people informed as much as possible about anything that could affect their job or company policies that may affect their personal lives.

“Information and ignorance are like light and darkness… When light comes into your room, darkness must fly away. When information rules your mind, ignorance finds its way out!”― Israelmore Ayivor

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” — Publilius Syrus

You are adept at maintaining bearing and emotional control.

Of course, you aren’t a stoic, unemotional robot, but your mind and especially your behavior are never as chaotic as the situation around you.

People know you won’t melt down, explode, or otherwise lose all effectiveness in the face of adversity.

You may even be among those best of leaders who get better during adversity. They take that challenge and become more focused, more calm, and more emotionally controlled in order to meet the situation with the competence it needs for resolution.

“When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master.”
Baruch Spinoza

 

A good leader is like a laxative in the bowels of business operations.

I could have come up with a better metaphor there as I’m sure your company doesn’t produce a crappy product, but you get the picture.

You can keep things moving operationally and knock out decisions relatively quickly but also wisely. Of course, you put due diligence and appropriate thought into each, but you don’t hesitate too long out of fear or lack of confidence.

You know a good decision now may be better than a perfect one too late.

“An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.” — Mae West

 

You know your team is your team.

You adopt an attitude of caring and support for even the most wayward and irritating team member.

You are unselfish you put your team’s welfare above yours and you always assume the best in them.

You publicly and privately credit them for success. You don’t let customers or other managers run all over them. You protect them from BS rolling down the hill.

“You’ve got to give loyalty down, if you want loyalty up.”— Donald T. Regan

 

This is perhaps the most important way to know if you are a good leader. Do you take complete ownership of everything that happens around you? For failures? For problems?

Or do you reflexively blame the economy, the customer, the weather, your management, policies, or worst of all your own team?

A great leader takes responsibility for everything that takes place in their world.

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”— Lou Holtz

 

It’s tough to know how well you are doing as a leader, but if you have any of the qualities above chances are you are doing a good job.

The most important trait above is taking complete ownership. That is the prerequisite and foundation for good leadership.

But remember, “owning it all” doesn’t mean you own the successes.

Those belong to your team.

“While there is no guarantee of success in leadership, there is one thing that is certain: leading people is the most challenging and, therefore, the most gratifying undertaking of all human endeavors.” — Jocko Willink

Learn how to attract and retain great managers. Watch The Heart of CX podcast. I joined as a guest.

Learn more about  seeing the signs and ‘how attention pays.’

Watch my interview with Neen James.

 

10 Impactful Ways To Authentically Thank Employees

10 Impactful Ways To Authentically Thank Employees

It’s no secret that happy employees yield better business results. There’s a lot of research indicating customer satisfaction and loyalty rise when employees enjoy their jobs and workplace. They go hand-in-hand. As leadership expert Simon Sinek says, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.

Research shows (work.com):

“69% of employees work harder when they feel appreciated.
79% feel motivated when recognized.”
“51% of workers are recognized once a quarter.” I’ve been in organizations where it’s more like once per year. 

I know that creating a great company culture does not happen automatically or overnight. It requires intentional design and ongoing focus. As Thanksgiving approaches (and beyond), take time to express gratitude. It’s in your control!   

 

10 Authentic Ways To Thank Employees:

  1. Send personalized thank-you notes. Recognize your staff for delighting customers.
  2. Do something that shows your team they matter. If you don’t know what that is, simply ask.
  3. Invite teams to an Executive meal (virtual works) based on results & positive customer feedback. 
  4. Publicize awesome work. Compliment individuals & teams on the company website.
  5. Enable people to recognize each other. Gamify experiences. Tie prizes to customer value.
  6. Send small gift or balloons to top performers & those with Y/Y improvements.
  7. Buy lunch for people resolving customer issues daily i.ecustomer service reps. survey team, etc. 
  8. Create a CEO video message thanking employees for creating customer promoters.
  9. Offer a bonus or day off to those who routinely demonstrate customer excellence.
  10. Feed employees and show up. I’ve seen Executives literally serve happiness at employee Thanksgiving lunch.

For more inspiration and actionable ideas, watch my interview with Ryan Estis. His true stories will touch the core of your heart as he beautifully portrays a Starbuck barista, Lily, who “pours happiness” every day.

You’ll appreciate my interview even more by watching I’ll never forget that cup of coffee. Play it at your workplace and discuss it as a team as you’ll get people engaged and motivated to show up as their best selves.

Doing CX Right Reminders:

  • Small acts of kindness go a long way. “People may forget what you said or did, but never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
  • Employees are your heroes. If they don’t feel important, your customers will feel it.
  • Don’t wait for formal end of year reviews. If you’re not appreciating employees throughout the year, your competitors will. They’re searching for great talent.
  • Don’t overthink it. Thank people everywhere i.e. meetings, LinkedIn “kudos” posts, etc.
  • Be empathetic and sincere. Employees know when managers are “checking a box.” 

Employee Satisfaction and DoingCXRight Source: Ashley Johnson

 

What do YOU do show appreciation in authentic and meaningful ways?  

Check out >Doing CX Right®‬ podcasts for more inspiration and actionable tips about Doing Customer & Employee Experiences Right.

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

Creating A Speak Up Culture For Greater Fulfillment

Creating A Speak Up Culture For Greater Fulfillment

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

Get Updates About Doing CX Right

Follow On Social Media

Join eNewsletter

Watch Stacy Sherman’s Interview on Youtube

About Stephen Shedletzky ~Creating A Speak Up Culture

Every day Stephen wakes up to engage with people in meaningful ways so that we connect with depth and live in a more fulfilled world. He supports humble leadersthose who know they are both a part of the problems they experience and a part of the solutions they can createwho intend to put their people and purpose first.

Feeling stifled on his own corporate track, Shedletzky was introduced to Simon Sinek’s work and was immediately inspired by it. He met Simon in 2010 and became the fourth person to join his team. He began answering fan emails and became the first person outside of Simon to lead his social media efforts. He moved on to hold the roles of Chief of Staff, and head of Brand Experience, Training & Development. Leading a global team of speakers and facilitators at Simon Sinek, Inc., Stephen worked to ensure the team’s culture, products, and communications authentically reflected the organization’s most deeply held values and beliefs. He also had the opportunity to narrate the audiobook for Simon Sinek’sbook, Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team.

Stephen has led hundreds of keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development programs. Though Stephen still works to share Simon’s message, helping to create a more inspired, safe, and fulfilled world, he also works to advance his own thought leadership on leadership, culture, and psychological safety through keynotes, writing, coaching, and advising. Stephen has worked with leaders and organizations around the world and serves clients in any industry where human beings work. Stephen graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business with a focus in leadership, communication, and strategy and received his coaching certification from the Coaches Training Institute. Stephen lives in Toronto with his wife and two young children.  

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.

How To Bring The Human Back In Human Resources

How To Bring The Human Back In Human Resources

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

Stacy Sherman interviews Dan Naiman (Senior Human Resource Director at Pfizer) about his human-centric approach to employee and customer experience. He dives deep into the importance of creating a corporate culture, where employees feel valued and empowered. He shares many actionable tips that you can apply at your workplace.

 

Key Takeaways for Human Resources & Cross-Department Leaders:

  • Look at the human side of change and partner with leadership to drive an employee experience, which results in excitement and engagement.
  • The employee experience begins before colleagues step foot into the company. Companies need to continually evolve their employee experience to attract and retain them.
  • When employees provide feedback, aim to understand what story the data is telling you, and leverage it to change the experiences of your colleagues and customers.
  • Human Resources and Customer Experience (CX) intersect when companies encourage HR and employees to walk in the shoes of their colleagues as well as the experience that customers feel. There are many ways to accomplish this, including a visit to a manufacturing facility or a company store where consumers test and try products.
  • Build a culture that values employee experience and an environment where they feel empowered. Pfizer developed a culture that drives innovation, before the start of the pandemic, which enabled the company to pivot quickly to develop and launch a vaccine in a short period of time. Ultimately, when employees feel valued, customers are the ones who benefit.
  • In the past year and a half, with the pandemic and social causes that arose after the killing of George Floyd, companies around the globe needed to take action and shift their work-life strategies. It’s important to create open and trusting environments to bring outside issues into the workplace, whereby companies can encourage courageous, inclusive, and reflective conversations.

 

Quotes:

“My approach to human resources has always been from a people perspective. We all need to put the human back in human resources.”

“Organization leaders can build momentum. You can’t just turn it on overnight. Culture is a process, and it has to start at the top and be embraced bottoms up.”

“You have a customer experience job whether you realize it or not, regardless of your position, and includes the back-office support.”

Watch Stacy Sherman’s Interview on YouTube

Get Updates About Doing CX Right

Follow On Social Media

Join eNewsletter

About Dan Naiman ~Bringing The Human Back In HR

Senior Director, Human Resource at Pfizer with many years of global HR and consulting experience. Through understanding the business strategy and operating plan, Dan is responsible for partnering with business leaders to drive key human capital strategies that further business productivity and results. He is actively involved in Organizational Design, Change Management, Talent Management, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.