In the ever-evolving landscape of today’s business world, titles and roles frequently change to reflect the dynamism of the marketplace. However, my friend, Jack Miller, the General Manager of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, has taken a step that resonates far beyond mere semantics. He has rebranded himself as the “Chief Inspiration Officer.”
I wrote extensively about Jack and the Scottsdale Princess in my book, “ICONIC,” as a shining example of distinction. Jack is a leader who understands what it takes to be not just the best IN the world but the best FOR the world. This latest move is a profound testament to his commitment to leadership that inspires.
Leading Through Inspiration
The traditional view of leadership often involves guiding, directing, and managing. For some, it may even (unfortunately) mean ordering and dominating. But the truly transformative leaders are those who inspire. Inspiration fuels passion, sparks creativity, and nurtures the courage to innovate and take risks.
The Chief Inspiration Officer
Jack Miller’s title change is more than a novel moniker to which other leaders should aspire. It symbolizes a shift in focus from managing to actively inspiring a team. This isn’t about overseeing operations and finances; it’s about creating a culture where every team member feels driven to excel and contribute their best.
As the Chief Inspiration Officer, Jack embodies a leadership style that motivates his team through shared vision, purpose, and enthusiasm. He recognizes that his role is not just to tell people what to do but to help them discover why they do it and what they can achieve while simultaneously delivering an Ultimate Customer Experience.®
A Culture of Inspiration
This shift in leadership perspective fosters a culture where inspiration infuses every level of the organization. It encourages employees to think creatively and to strive for more than just meeting quotas or targets. It creates an environment where innovation thrives, and success is measured not merely by numbers but by the positive impact and distinctive contributions made.
When my favorite bartender, Jaimie Werling, announced he was moving from Indianapolis to Scottsdale, I suggested he contact the Fairmont. He’s now been there for several years – and tells me constantly that he continues to be inspired by Jack and his fellow leadership team. This resort attracts the best – like Jaimie – because they inspire.
The Ripple Effect
When a leader like Jack Miller emphasizes inspiration, it sets a precedent that extends beyond his immediate team. It conveys to the entire industry that leadership is not about maintaining the status quo. It’s about challenging it, growing, and constantly finding new ways to stand out and create distinction.
The Takeaway: Be the Best FOR the World
Jack Miller’s evolution from General Manager to Chief Inspiration Officer is more than just an interesting anecdote. It’s a lesson in how leadership can—and should—evolve to meet the unique challenges of today’s world.
If we want to lead teams that are not just efficient but exceptional, not just productive but passionate, we must lead through inspiration.
Jack’s example serves as a beacon for any leader aspiring to create distinction within their team or organization. It’s a reminder that titles and roles are flexible, but the core principles of leadership remain. Leaders inspire, elevate, and bring out the best in those around them.
May we all strive to be Chief Inspiration Officers in our respective fields, for it is the path to true distinction and enduring success.
Unfortunately, many businesses still fall short when it comes to delivering an Ultimate Customer Experience®. Because of this, they not only suffer in terms of retaining customers, but they also lose out on the referral business that can group their company. I’ve been on a crusade for over two decades to move organizations to this high standard – yet the vast majority still are not hitting the target.
Even as businesses all over the world are currently spending billions on enhancing consumer experiences, there are still several reasons why this is the case.
The top four are as follows:
Lack of training: Many team members are not properly trained on how to interact with customers. This can lead to misunderstandings, frustration, and even anger.
Automated systems: Automated systems can be helpful for simple tasks, but they can also be frustrating when customers need to speak to a human being. The challenge is that when it’s difficult to hire quality employees, and the cost of good team members has risen, more organizations are shifting to this approach.
Long wait times: Customers do not have the luxury of waiting for hours on end. If they can’t obtain assistance right away, they’ll probably go somewhere else to do business. Wouldn’t you?
Unhelpful employees: Some employees are simply not interested in providing good customer service. They may be rude, dismissive, or even incompetent. And some of younger generations may not expect the types of experiences we want them to deliver. We can’t presume our team can deliver an experience they cannot relate to receiving.
When customers have a bad experience, research shows that they are likely to take their business elsewhere – even if it’s only been a single negative encounter. They may also share their negative experience with others, whether in person with friends or online with the world, which can damage a company’s reputation.
What can businesses do to improve their customer experience? Here are four tips:
Train your employees: Make sure your employees are properly trained on how to interact with customers. This includes teaching them how to be polite, helpful, and understanding.
Use human beings: Don’t rely too heavily on automated systems. Customers appreciate being able to speak to a human being when they need help.
Keep wait times short: Customers don’t have time to wait on hold for hours. If you can’t resolve an issue quickly, offer to call the customer back as soon as possible.
Hire helpful employees: When hiring new employees, look for people who are friendly, patient, and eager to help.
In addition to the above, businesses can also improve their customer experience with these three steps:
Making it easy for customers to do business with you: This includes having a clear and easy-to-use website, offering multiple ways to contact customer service, and providing clear and concise information about your products and services.
Personalizing the customer experience: This means understanding your customers’ needs and preferences and tailoring your interactions with them accordingly. For example, you can use customer data to send personalized emails or offer special promotions.
Going the extra mile: This means going above and beyond what is expected to make your customers happy. For example, you could offer a refund or replacement if a customer is not satisfied with their purchase, or you could send a handwritten thank-you note to a customer who has made a large purchase.
By following these tips, businesses can improve their customer experience and boost their bottom line.
The goal of my forthcoming book, “The Ultimate Customer Experience® — Five Steps Everyone Must Know to Excite Your Customers, Engage Your Colleagues, and Enjoy Your Work,” is to provide in a concise and compelling form the primary steps that EVERY employee must integrate into every customer reaction.
One major automotive company just purchased over 1000 copies to present to frontline employees. This is the book that each team member should read to provide a baseline for every customer interaction.
“The Ultimate Customer Experience®” will be released in two weeks – but you can pre-order now! Go to https://UltimateCustomerExperience.com for all the information.
Look, I realize that I’m prejudiced. However, I genuinely believe that in today’s world, the customer experience is everything.
Customers, whether B2B or B2C, expect to be treated with respect, courtesy, and efficiency when interacting with your organization. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
Many companies fail to deliver the Ultimate Customer Experience®, leaving customers frustrated and unsatisfied. Let’s examine three reasons why the consumer experience in so many enterprises is so terrible.
Lack of Training
Lack of training is one of the primary reasons why the consumer experience of so many enterprises is terrible. The majority of companies do not devote enough time or money in educating their employees to provide the type of customer service that generates repeat and referral business. Training is necessary for employees to learn how to effectively manage difficult consumers and resolve issues. Failure to do so results in lengthy wait times, incorrect orders, and an overall negative consumer experience. When employees lack the skills and knowledge necessary to provide a positive customer experience, the company suffers.
Training should be continuous and consistent, as well as tailored to the specific requirements of the organization and its customers. It is not nearly enough to conduct a single training session and then forget about it. Regular updates and feedback should be provided to employees to develop their skills and ensure customer satisfaction.
“No organization would invest in an activity—or ask their employees to invest in an activity—in which they had little interest! Just as you wouldn’t buy season tickets to the games of a sports team you didn’t care about, or you wouldn’t watch every episode of a television show you didn’t enjoy, your company would not have given you this book if they weren’t interested in this content and focused on your important role in enhancing customer experience.”
Unfortunately, it is often the case that companies who claim to be “all in” on the customer experience are not. If they were, they would properly invest in the training and education that ensures their frontline teams can deliver what their marketing promises.
Inadequate Communication
Inadequate communication is another reason why the consumer experience of so many businesses is so poor. When customers have questions or concerns, they want to be able to communicate with the business easily and quickly. However, many businesses do not provide adequate communication channels for their customers. This can result in frustration and discontent as customers can feel ignored and insignificant.
Effective communication is crucial for a positive customer experience. Businesses should provide multiple channels for customers to communicate, such as email, phone, and chat. Customers should be able to reach the business easily and receive a prompt response. Additionally, part of the previously mentioned training should include effective communication skills, such as active listening and clarity in communication. This will improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Lack of Empathy
A lack of empathy is the third reason the customer experience is so awful from so many businesses. It’s one of the five steps to an Ultimate Customer Experience from my forthcoming book.
Employees who lack empathy may not be able to relate to their customers’ concerns or emotions. This can lead to a lack of understanding and a failure to provide the level of service that customers expect. Customers want to feel heard and understood, and when businesses fail to provide this, they are likely to lose customers.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It is essential for employees to have empathy when interacting with customers. This means actively listening to their concerns, showing understanding and compassion, and taking action to resolve issues. Businesses should foster a culture of empathy and understanding, starting with hiring employees who possess these qualities. Additionally, businesses should provide ongoing training to reinforce empathy and customer service skills.
The Ultimate Customer Experience® is essential to the success of any business. Unfortunately, many businesses fail to provide it, leaving their customers feeling frustrated and dissatisfied. When businesses prioritize the customer experience, they will see increased customer engagement, loyalty, and, ultimately, success.
In my first business book, “ALL Business is Show Business,” I wrote about the importance of emotion in creating and delivering the Ultimate Customer Experience.®
Emotions are powerful drivers of behavior–and they have been since the beginning of time. It seems that we’re hardwired to feel certain ways when we encounter certain stimuli: we feel happy when we see beauty; we become sad when someone close passes away; angry when someone does something unfair or wrong; and fear activates our fight-or-flight response when faced with danger.
When you think about it, emotions are what causes customers to fall in love with your product or service — and emotions keep them coming back time and again.
Emotions drive people to share their experiences with others, which will grow your business by increasing awareness and word-of-mouth referrals. If your customers are experiencing strong emotions when interacting with you — whether positive or negative — they’ll be more likely to remember those feelings later when making purchase decisions.
This means that a focus on emotional design is an important part of the customer experience. It can help you create a positive image and improve the overall experience for your customers.
Emotional design helps build trust by creating a heightened emotional connection between you and your customers, making them more likely to purchase from you. This connection can also help increase loyalty among existing customers by reinforcing their positive feelings toward your company or product line.
Research shows that consumers who feel positively about a company are more likely to recommend it on social media platforms as well as through word-of-mouth recommendations. This would mean there is less need for advertising expenses because your emotional design increases brand awareness without additional marketing investment required!
The future of emotional design for you and your organization is in your hands. Start by using data as a tool for understanding what people say they feel and how their emotions affect their behavior and decision-making processes. Once you’ve got that information at hand, use technology (like chatbots, for instance) to improve how customers interact with each other and with businesses like yours — then measure the results.
If you want to deliver an Ultimate Customer Experience® so your organization gains more repeat and referral business, consider the importance of designing how you can enhance the emotional engagement that a customer has with you with as much passion and precision as you seek to delineate their customer journey.
Pre-order my new book, “The Ultimate Customer Experience ®” for your company and receive some extraordinary benefits! Contact us for more information.
If you want to get better at what you do, there are few limits to how far you can go. With the right mindset, you can become more successful than ever before.
(That’s why Jason Bradshaw and I are conducting the “Stand Out / Earn More” program this week. You’ll discover how to register for FREE at the end of this post!)
As with any skill, learning new things and improving takes time and effort. Here are some tips for lifelong learning that will help elevate your career and your business:
Learning is how we grow as professionals
Learning is a lifelong process, and it’s not just about getting a degree. Learning is about keeping up with trends and new technology. It’s about staying ahead of the curve to keep providing your best work for customers and continue to be an asset to your company or organization.
If you want to stay current, there are many ways to learn while working:
Attend conferences and conventions related to your field (if possible).
Plan out time each week for learning new skills – whether through books, online courses, or other resources — even if it means reading just five pages daily!
You can keep getting better with discipline and action
It’s possible to keep getting better at your craft with discipline and action. That’s because self-discipline is a crucial ingredient for success. You might not know precisely what it takes or how much time it will take for you to do something well—but if you’re disciplined enough, this will show itself over time when nothing else matters but doing what needs doing right now! Whether you want to be an expert in programming, marketing, or sales, the only way you’ll get there is by setting goals and following through on them.
Track your progress
Track your progress and celebrate your achievements as you go. This will help you stay motivated, focused, and on track.
One way to stay motivated and on track is to set a time-based goal. For example, if you want to run a marathon in under 3 hours, set a date and commit to training. Once you’ve completed this goal, select another one that will help keep you motivated.
Having multiple skills is an essential part of being a professional
To be a distinctive professional, you need to have multiple skills. There are many ways that you can learn new skills: taking classes online, attending virtual summits, reading books about it, observing someone who already has those skills (i.e., watching your boss), and so forth.
Learning builds confidence so your efforts are taken seriously
Confidence is a key part of being a distinctive professional. As your experience grows, so does your credibility and, thus, your confidence. Learning new skills helps build this credibility and also helps to keep you interested in what you do.
Learning new skills helps us gain both confidence in ourselves and attractiveness as an employee or entrepreneur because our customers know we are always looking for ways to improve ourselves professionally.
Lifelong learning is key for the true professional
Lifelong learning is critical for the true professional. Lifelong learning is a skill that can be developed, taught, learned, and improved. It’s not just about what you know today; it’s about how you’ll be able to apply that knowledge in years to come.
The world is changing. To survive in this dynamic environment, it’s essential to be flexible and adaptable. Lifelong learning allows you to do just that—it keeps you informed about the latest trends and developments so that you can stay current with the ever-changing landscape.
In the end, lifelong learning is essential for anyone who wants to keep getting better.
Professionalism isn’t just about keeping up with the latest trends or being busy all the time; it’s also about taking time to reflect on your skills so that you can use them well in the future. Learning new things is important because it gives us confidence in ourselves and our work, moving people to take us more seriously.
Why wait? Go forth and learn!
This is my personal invitation to you to attend our “Stand Out / Earn More” event this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – and I hope to see you there! You can attend for FREE!
It’s hard to describe how nervous I was to meet with my new speech coach. My career was ascending rapidly, but Ron Arden was the coach to the speaking heavyweights — Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Patricia Fripp, and many more. I had invested an amount that made us really stretch for his insights — and now it was the time for our first meeting at his home in San Diego.
As our meeting began, he asked a simple question: “Tell me something that would describe your speaking style.” Being sincere and transparent are qualities essential to me.
I told him, “I speak from my heart.”
“Oh Lord,” Arden replied, “not another one. Not another speaker saying they ‘speak from the heart.’” I didn’t understand. What could possibly be wrong with doing that for your audience?
“Let’s say your wife calls right before you go onstage to tell you that your son has stumbled from his bike and broken his arm. They’re on the way to the ER. Do you really want to speak from the heart now? What if you get a call from your attorney and your business partner has embezzled thousands from you? You’re going to share your heart with the audience?”
He continued, “The audience is not your therapist. If you’re a professional speaker, you work for them. That means you WRITE your presentation from your heart. But when it comes time to deliver for your customer…you SPEAK from your SKILL. Our job is to develop your skills.”
It was one of the most significant examples of coaching I could imagine.
We all need coaches.
Ron Arden’s coaching was a turning point for me. He showed me that it’s essential to be genuine and sincere when speaking from the heart but that you also need to have the skill to back it up. Public speaking is not about sharing your feelings with the audience; it’s about delivering a message to help them achieve their goals. Coaching is critical to advanced success in any field. Whether you’re a CEO, a manager, or an individual contributor, having a coach can help you take your career to the next level.
Public speaking can be a daunting task for many. However, with the help of a good coach, it can be an enriching experience. Coaching is critical to advanced success, as it helps speakers develop their skills and deliver effective and engaging presentations. To be a successful public speaker, it is crucial to write speeches from the heart — but speak from your skill when it is time to deliver your presentation. With the help of a good coach, you can learn how to do this and become a more successful public speaker.
If you want to advance your speaking skills, I’d love to help. I’m only taking six people for a 90-day sprint to speaking success. As of this writing, two of those slots were filled. Just connect with me here for more information.
And, if now isn’t the time but the idea of speech coaching is something you’d like to pursue, just let me know. I will gladly recommend a top-flight coach who can help you achieve your goals.
It’s time for you to become a distinctive speaker!
