Never Eat Alone

Never Eat Alone was advice that I followed a few years ago when I attended the North American Conference on Customer Management. I had lunch and conversations with like-minded people that wanted to learn more about customer service excellence. Experts gave presentations of the best practices of building relationships with clients, as I nibbled on my croissant. At the cocktail reception, I connected with other attendees and presenters as they shared their passion for customer service. After I returned home, I connected with many of my contacts. One of the exceptional speakers was Kelly Cook, Senior Vice President of Marketing at DSW. As a founder and Board Director of Texas Women in Business, I asked Kelly to keynote at the annual anniversary luncheon. Her presentation on Women in Leadership Roles was well-received and DSW even hosted a reception at one of their Austin locations.

At the Total Customer Experience Leader's Summit coming soon in Miami, Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone, will speak on Changing Behavior Towards the Customer Experience. His insights on helping others and ourselves break bad habits will be helpful in our personal and business lives. Ferrazi, son of a steelworker and a cleaning lady, developed the practice of connecting with others that helped him earn a scholarship to Yale, a Harvard MBA and top executive positions. His principles are based on generosity & genuine relationship-building. As you attend the Total Conference, a few key principles to follow are:

• Don't keep score: It is never simply about getting what you want. It's about getting what you want and making sure that the people who are important to you get what they want, too.

• "Ping" constantly: The Ins and Outs of reaching out to those in your circle of contacts all the time - not just when you need something.

• Never eat alone: The dynamics of status are the same whether you're working at a corporation or attending a social event - "invisibility" is a fate worse than failure.

Each day there are opportunities to follow thought-leaders on the topic of Factoring Empathy into the Stakeholder Equation. Amazing speakers are on the agenda and you will have the opportunity to not only connect with the experts but determine your own strategy for exceptional customer experience. Learn from my personal experience and set the intention to never eat alone but to create relationships with attendees and experts.