Today I am beyond delighted to introduce you to my friend Dan Gingiss to talk about how to create remarkable experiences that your customers can’t wait to share. Dan is an international keynote speaker and coach who believes that a remarkable customer experience is your best sales and marketing strategy.  His 20-year professional career included leadership positions at McDonald’s, Discover, and Humana. He is the author of two books, including The Experience Maker which we will discuss today, and is the host of two shows, the Experience This! podcast and The Experience Maker LinkedIn live show.  While Dan’s insights are valuable at any time, it is very much intentional to have this as the last episode of the year. This is a time many reflect on the year that has just ended and think about what they will be doing next. If your plan doesn’t already include an improved customer experience and having a business that people can’t wait to share about, it should. Listen to today’s episode as you consider your customer experience and look to improve it in the new year.  Show Notes: [00:39] Today I am beyond delighted to introduce you to my friend Dan Gingiss to talk about how to create remarkable experiences that your customers can’t wait to share. [03:36] Dan shares his experience speaking at Social Media Marketing World for the first time.   [04:30] Dan shares his background of 20 plus years in corporate America.  [05:04] We all know that word of mouth is the holy grail of marketing. It is much better when someone is saying nice things about us than if we are saying nice things about ourselves.  [05:29] A remarkable customer experience is your best marketing strategy.  [08:34] We have so much data on our customers that we don’t use and we forget to come back to.  [11:03] Experience can happen anywhere. It is about knowing when to provide the right experience when your customers need it most or don’t expect it.  [13:47] There are so many little things that we can do. Some people may advocate to only focus on one side, but Dan (and Melina!) suggest you both get rid of pain points and create positive moments.  [14:26] If we keep focusing on the little things, they absolutely add up to something amazing.  [15:48] We have got to empower all of our employees to truly believe they are in the customer experience business.  [16:56] Become a customer of your own business.  [18:49] Remove pain points and create peaks in your customer journey.  [20:08] If your customer is frustrated with your company, they are going to be more open to a TV commercial or social media ad for your competitor.  [22:16] The WISER Methodology teaches you how to create the kinds of experiences that people want to talk about. You have to be intentional about the experience to make it so someone wants to share it.  [22:55] W stands for witty, I is immersive, S is sharable, E is extraordinary and R is responsive.  [25:18] Millennials and Gen Z in particular want a relationship with the brands they spend their hard-earned money with. In order to have a relationship, you have to have human interaction.  [26:48] We don’t have to delight in the same way every time.   [28:57] There is a part of every business where either you do it the same way as everybody else or the same way it has always been done and you can turn it into something that can be an experience when people least expect it.  [30:43] Whenever you can play to peoples’ kids or pets, you are going to hit them in the heart.  [32:36] There are lots of opportunities, but we just have to seize them and look for chances when people don’t expect it.  [35:07] With gift-giving, make sure you are giving a gift you would like to receive (i.e. don’t slap a giant logo on your “gift”).  [37:00] Shareable is the end goal and it has to be strategic and intentional.  [39:27] There are so many opportunities where we can kick it up a little notch and do something unique—it is a great way to stand out. You don’t have to spend more,