Dr. Joseph Michelli

Joseph Michelli shows audiences how innovative leaders have managed to build a unique brand by inspiring and engaging a community of hospitality entrepreneurs―a feat unparalleled in the shared economy. 

Key Takeaways:
•  Airbnb’s strategies and practices that drive customer engagement and loyalty
• How to provide phenomenal customer service in the shared economy
• Proven principles for getting the most from all stakeholders―including those who share resources and services

You are not alone in wanting to deliver outstanding customer experiences.  According to Forrester Research, customer experience elevation is on the strategic priority list of 92% of businesses; 23% of those small, medium and large companies have customer experience as their #1 priority. Despite that prioritization, consumer satisfaction research suggests customer engagement is at a 9-year low.  This presentation outlines the difference between companies that “aspire to” and those like Mercedes-Benz USA that “execute to” deliver customer delight. It outlines the role leadership vision and alignment play, as well as offers approaches to inspire customer-centricity for everyone who represents your brand. Moreover, the presentation offers practical tools on how to integrate technology with human service delivery to create a uniquely special bond with your customers.

Imagine running a business that requires the innovation of Apple, the commitment to safety of NASA, and the customer service of The Ritz-Carlton. Further, imagine your mandate demands you are a world-class educator, your work product holds life and death in the balance and you are responsible for discoveries that shape the future of medicine. That is the charter of the UCLA Health System. As such, UCLA tackles a diverse set of challenges faced by most businesses. Borrowing from transformational leadership at UCLA, Dr. Michelli outlines lessons on how to catapult your business to preeminence at an unusually rapid pace, transform the satisfaction and engagement of your customers through a service-centric approach, achieve enviable profitability during economic downturns and re-design, elevate, and humanize your customer experience. Through the context of business principles like Commit to Care, Make the Best Better, and Create the Future, Dr. Michelli offers insights about elevating service excellence by consistently executing against the highest service standards.

The drivers of customer loyalty are changing! Consumers no longer stay loyal to brands that simply satisfy them. Increasingly, customers churn because brands are difficult to do business with and/or those brands don’t develop emotional or lifestyle connections with them. In this customer loyalty presentation, Dr. Michelli looks at best practices from brands like Mercedes-Benz USA, Zappos, and Starbucks as they forge emotional connections at high-value touchpoints. He also demonstrates how an entire workforce listens to the voice of customers and looks for ways to remove pain points and enhance delight. This presentation also explores the role of employee loyalty to customer loyalty and the leadership behaviors needed to achieve both.

From Dr. Michelli’s perspective, leadership involves engaging people to do the right things to profit people. While much research has been done on leadership success principles, Dr. Michelli focuses on two unifying aspects of leadership greatness – positive influential communication skills and the ability to develop leaders who develop leaders. Utilizing a leadership legacy model, Dr. Michelli helps managers and leaders understand the importance of finding ways to engage what is likable about those they lead. Further, he guides leaders in the process of understanding that their influence is shaped by both their effort and by the scope of leaders they develop. “Leadership – The Art of Lasting Significance,” takes participants through a process to define their own personal “Leadership Legacy Statement.”