If you read my tips or follow my tweets @KeepEmHappy, you know I recently spoke at the North American Conference on Customer Management – NACCM . I’ve been there almost every year since it began and it’s one of my favorite shows because it allows me time to get filled up with inspiration from the people who really do the work on a large scale with their customers and co-workers.
My schedule allowed me to stay for only two days, so I sat in on every session I could and chatted with all the speakers I could find. Even two days was enough to leave me optimistic and really excited about where customer-focused businesses are going and how committed they are to creating positive customer experiences!
Business leaders like Jasmine Green of Nationwide Insurance, Jamie Naughton of Zappos, Tom Feeney of Safelite, and Melinda Parks of Sprint are candidly speaking out, with great passion and transparency, about the journey to becoming truly customer-focused. It’s not always a straight road, it’s hardly ever easy, it requires enormous discipline and focus and it’s truly worth all the effort!
Stunningly, so many of the speakers talked about the same underlying fundamental – how taking great care of employees leads to measurable results in customer loyalty efforts. It was terrific! You can almost imagine the perpetual grin on my face and the continual nodding of my head as I was listening in the audience.
I had the honor of kicking off the first day (The Loyalty Summit) and spoke on “The Spillover Effect: How Positive Work Cultures Enable Loyalty.” I started my talk by sharing some of the evidence-based science behind positivity – how positive emotions biochemically and measurably affect the brain and the body in beneficial ways. I talked about how the body is “electric” and emotions contagious.
I shared the fact that Positive Emotions evolved in humans because they serve an important purpose – to build and broaden our capacity to create solutions! When you can shift from the focus on the negative to focus on the positive you literally create an opening in the brain – one that makes you smarter, quicker and more creative. We’re way beyond the “smiley face” stuff! This is way beyond having a positive attitude. This is about the deliberate creation of positive emotion.
There’s an enormous payback to business when we focus on creating more “Positive Capacity” in our organizations. More positive emotions bring more Creativity, Connectivity, Resilience, Cooperation, Collaboration, Enthusiasm, Energy, Meaning, Appreciation, Psychological Health, Physical Health, Growth, Flexibility, Respect, Empathy, Expansion, Motivation, Willingness and Openness (not to mention less fear and less narrowed thinking). WOW!
In fact nearly every business outcome is increased when people are happier about coming to work – sales, productivity, accuracy, customer engagement and yes, profitability.
I shared how managers can use this science to create a positive workplace and engaged employees – and that’s the best competitive edge you can have in any economy!
I wish you could have been there.
I’d like to show you my appreciation for subscribing to my bi-monthly tip by sharing my entire PowerPoint presentation from the event with you. Simply click on this LINK to review my slides and consider the profitable power that a positive approach to management can have on you, your team and your customers!
(Know what else is cool? Both clients and readers of my tip tell me that when they apply these concepts to their personal lives, they see benefits there as well. Love it!)
I’m happy and humbled to say that, according to the NACCM, this presentation hit home with attendees. I received a 4.8 out of 5 rating from attendees, and a beautiful endorsement from NACCM Conference Director Kelly Schram. I share it with you because it illustrates what happens when I myself follow the positivity and happiness lessons I have learned through my research and from the teachings of my wonderful mentors.
When I spend time in my strengths fully engaged in what I do, foster positive emotions amongst my clients, and manage my stress and energy, my business benefits. Here’s what Kelly wrote:
“Very rarely do we invite speakers back to the NACCM from one year to the next. JoAnna Brandi is the exception – and for good reason. JoAnna consistently brings us new content and fresh perspectives that keep attendees engaged, and kindles their customer care passion so much so that they take action when they return to their organizations. JoAnna’s talks are both inspirational and highly applicable, and attendees make sure we know this by rating her one of our top three speakers at every conference.”
Thank you, Kelly, and NACCM team! And thank you for being part of my journey.
Practice positivity!
JoAnna Brandi
PS As always I will continue to share some of my NACCM learnings and conference highlights in future tips and in my blog. I’ve been on the road presenting a lot. Now that I’m back in the office I will have more time to go through my notes and share them with you.
