A $6 Gift That Won a Six-Figure Contract: The Power of Actually Listening to Clients with Neen James

On Amazon, I ordered him an annual subscription for Fly Fishing Magazine. It cost me $6. Now, it showed up on his desk each month. By the second or third edition, he reached out to me and he said, "Nien, you were paying attention. I noticed that you— I like this subscription, blah blah." I ended up doing a very significant contract with him because of a $6 magazine subscription. Because Jeff, I listened. Satisfied clients are the biggest concern you should have because those satisfied clients don't feel any kind of loyal to you, if you're not paying attention to them, staying connected to them, exploring how you can continue to serve them, that satisfied client can easily go somewhere else. That's why your competitors will eat your lunch if you're not paying attention.

Hey everybody, I'm Jeff Dudan. Welcome back to the Unemployable Podcast. I'm here today with Neen James, uh, an Australian who is an expert and an author and a speaker in the luxury industry. But you don't just have to have a luxury luxury brand to give people the white glove service. Welcome, Ning.

G'day, Jeff. What an honor it is to be on your podcast. I love the name of it because so many entrepreneurs listening to this would absolutely claim that they are unemployable, and I'd put my own hand up for that as well.

Guilty, guilty, and guilty. Here's the opener. Should every business, no matter who they are or who they serve, strive to provide a white glove experience for their customers?

Absolutely, 100% yes. But the white glove, or I prefer to say the red carpet experience, Jeff, because I think white glove has some connotations that are different now. And so I'm really about being more inclusive. And so yes, I think we can all roll out the red carpet experience, but depending on the kind of business you have, Jeff, determines what that looks like. So for example, I have a private aviation client, Jeff, and they literally put a red carpet at the bottom of the jet stairs when their clients come off their private jets. That makes sense, right? But then I might also have a small business and their level of red carpet experience is calling clients in advance and saying, hey, this is about to be something we're offering in store. I'd like to offer you the first impression, the first view of this. Let's make some time for you to have a private viewing. That is a red carpet experience. And so for those of you listening, exactly like Jeff says, you don't have to have a luxury product to provide a luxury level of service, and you can provide that exceptional experience for people.

There's a service provider that I've used in the past. It, it is a luxury product, but it seems like every year I will get a communication from them that says something like, Hey, you know, I've got, I've got these dates available. I've got these times available. They're only for you.

Does that feel like luxury to you, Jeff? Does that feel like it's customized for you?

It certainly does. It certainly does. And it feels, it feels very personal. It feels very family. And, and it, it creates a certain amount of loyalty.

Yeah, and Jeff, you know what I love about working with luxury and legacy brands? Besides the fact I get to go to the coolest places around the world, work with some of the most amazing people, what I love that luxury brands get, and that everyone listening to this podcast can also take on board, is exactly what you're talking about. Luxury brands are exceptional at personalization and customization. Now, when we think about that, when someone says, 'I've personally held these times for you, Jeff,' you are hearing your name, you're hearing they care enough about you, they're being proactive in their outreach, that is a lovely red carpet experience. In my book, Exceptional Experiences, I talk about this concept where if you think about, uh, a fabulous hotel you've been at, chances are when you arrive at the hotel, there is a bellhop there. We love a good bellhop. A bellhop's job is to very efficiently move those bags through that lobby into your room as fast as they can. And that's their job. They're vital in the operation of a hotel. It's very transactional. They move on very quickly. But the concierge, Jeff, the concierge is one of the most revered positions in a hotel. They are the go-to person. They know that hot restaurant. They can get you a table at that restaurant. They will give you all of this information about the surrounding area. They'll share things with you you didn't even know you needed. Because when a concierge is working with you, they are anticipating needs you didn't even know you had. That's transformational. I think a bellhop is transactional and a concierge is transformational. And so I want to Encourage listeners, those of you who are running businesses or leading teams, I want you to think like a concierge. Think about how can I anticipate needs my clients didn't even know they had? How can I share with them the services about the roofing and the extras? How can I share with them how these windows are going to be hurricane resistant as opposed to just going with this type of glass? When we are anticipating needs for our clients, they feel like we care for them even more. Just like the brand that reached out to you and said, I have these times available for you, Jeff.

So one of our fast-growing brands is a fencing business. Mm-hmm. And generally I think it's a one-time service. Of course, uh, people putting in a pool, there's a requirement. You gotta have a fence around it. People getting a dog, people moving to a new home, to a new community. Yeah. I mean, these are all the reasons why, uh, maybe, maybe a, a neighbor moved in next door and they want a taller fence. Show up. They want Yeah, they want to, they, you know, it's not about keeping the dog in, it's about keeping the neighbors out. So, but there's all, you know, all reasons people want fences. But what, just spitballing here, it's a one-time thing. What would be some ideas that you would have to provide that red carpet experience for a potential fencing customer?

You know, I want to challenge the idea that it is a one-time thing. They might make a purchase from you once, in a lot of years. But I think the goal of that opportunity, Jeff, is for them to become advocates for you and your brand. So while they may not be investing in another fence in the near— next 5 years, but they might be able to recommend you to others. So what I would think about as the owner of that business would be, what red carpet experiences could I provide to ensure that I've not just captured the attention of this client by doing an amazing job— that's the benchmark, right? Delivering on what you said you would do. But how do I help them become an advocate for my company? And the ways I would consider that would be, for example, if you knew that you were installing a fence because someone got a new furry baby and they are going to put one of those fences that are underneath the grass. I'd never seen those before I moved to America. Um, but you have the, the electronic fence kind of thing. So the puppy wears the collar and then they don't go any further, which I thought was incredibly cruel when I first moved here. I had no idea how it worked. Now I appreciate it fully. What I would do is I'd learn the name of that pet. I would probably go to Etsy.com or some website. I would have a little, uh, bone engraved with their name, monogrammed, and I would deliver it to that homeowner and I would say, just to make sure your little puppy Harley doesn't get out of the fence, we wanted to make sure that this— and it doesn't have your brand on it. It just is something that when Harley, that puppy dog, plays with that bone, they're always gonna think of you. Now, if you are able to do things that elevate the experience for someone's kids or their furry babies, you will be so memorable. So what I think it's about is giving them a story, a connection point, not just about making them feel good, Jeff, that they did business with you, but I guarantee they tell 5 of their friends, you'll never believe what Jeff's company did. They did this for us for what, $5 maybe on Etsy. So I think we need to get creative, Jeff, about the way we do things. You could also just take a photo of that furry baby Harley. You could put a little frame around it and you can say it was such a privilege to keep Harley safe for you. And we wanted to make sure you had this to add to your mantle. We know what an important part of your family Harley is to you. There are so many ways you could do this with fencing. And so what I want people to think about and listen to is let's get creative because that personalized, customized attention, you can also systemize, Jeff, because what we need to think about as entrepreneurs is doing it once is lovely, but we need it to be repeatable for our team to be able to execute on as well. So for me, for example, the reason I use the monogrammed dog bone is example is the moment I hear a client has a new furry baby, I have a site on Etsy and I literally go in, I choose the color, the size, and ship it direct to my client with a love note. It's all, it's a system, right? It's so easy for me. My team knows I do it. My clients love it. And you know what they always do, Jeff? They send me a photo with that puppy or that cat playing with that toy. So what am I going to do then? I'm going to print it, frame it. Ship it back. Like, these are things that cost me— I'm not even kidding— like less than $5, but it's what I call systemized thoughtfulness. We need systems in place as business owners to remain thoughtful and top of mind for our clients. So that's how I would do it if I was a fencing company.

Brilliant. Are you familiar with the concept giftology?

Yes, of course. Oh my gosh, the late John Ruhland and the amazing work that he did.

Yes.

Did you know John is featured in my book?

Yes. Is he?

Okay.

In your, in your new book, Exceptional Experiences?

Correct. I believe 1000% in what he and the team, his legacy will live on because of the amazing work that he did. And so yes, I'm a big fan. I think strategic gifting as a business, providing it is congruent with the offering you have, it feels authentic to the founders and the team to execute on that, is a brilliant way to have an artifact of your time together.

For example, I love working with Tiffany, and I love giving Tiffany.

And so I— that's very congruent with me and my brand. I personally use it, I love giving it. But what's interesting about that, Jeff, is some of my meeting planners that I give— I'm a keynote speaker, as you know— when I give that meeting planner Tiffany, some of them will say, this is my first Tiffany box. That is such a joy for me to bring them a little bit of luxury into their everyday, whether it's a Tiffany coffee mug or glasses. I think gifting is a really great way to have an artifact. Now, I'm not talking about branded things. I'm not talking about swag. That's marketing. I'm talking about an artifact that says, I thought of you, and this is something that I think you'll enjoy.

Let's unpack that. Let's unbox it because I want to make it clear for the listeners what the, what the difference is between a giftology style gift and a trinket or something like that. So, uh, you know, I met John, oh gosh, I don't know, a long time ago. Uh, he came and spoke at one of our YPO meetings and I got to know him there. And we, we incorporated giftology into our YPO chapter. Love it. And, and then, uh, and then it seems as I bounced around in different groups, John had been there. I mean, he had really, he, you know, he, he, he's recently passed. Um, but you know, he, his, his work was, you know, it shouldn't, the concept of it really shouldn't have been as transformational as it was because, you know, giving people memorable things that they're interested in, right? That means something to them that are personalized and customized to them. Wow. That's sh— that's as opposed to giving 'em something, here's something with my name on it so you can remember me versus Here's something for you. So what we did in YPO and, and, and so these gifts can be expensive. Sure. But if you think about the cost of acquiring a new customer, thank you. The co— especially if you're a, a, a consultant or a, the cost of a, for us acquiring a franchisee could be anywhere between $20,000 and $50,000 to acquire a franchisee.

So that beautiful custom gift is a Drop in the bucket.

A drop, a drop in the bucket. So one of the things that, that I did as the chapter chair of that YPO is we sent out knives, like beautiful.

Oh yes.

Beautiful Cutco knives.

Cutco knives. And they engraved them with your name, with the name. Amazing.

Yes. The so-and-so family.

Mm-hmm.

And you know, and you would just, and, and it was just like, what? And, and when I got mine, uh, my family got ours, they were just blown away by it. And it's an artifact that still stays in the box and it comes out on holidays and special occasions when you cut something that needs to be cut properly, right?

But there's a beautiful association, Jeff, with the gift you gave and you're using it to celebrate special occasions and you think every time about YPO or, you know, the person who gifted it to you. I think one of the things we need to think about is often too, we give the kind of gifts we love to receive ourselves. Right? And so there's a little bit of a selfishness to it as well. I love Tiffany. I love giving Tiffany, but I also love giving it to people because it's the first thing, but it doesn't have to be Tiffany. I remember a client, Jeff, once, and he had mentioned to me in passing that he and his son love to go fly fishing. Now let's be super clear. I'm 4'10.5". I'm from Australia. I have no idea about fly fishing. I don't understand it. The waders would come up to my chin, but it was a thing he was into. Right? So on Amazon, I ordered him an annual subscription for Fly Fishing Magazine. It cost me $6. Now, I showed up on his desk each month. By the second or third edition, he reached out to me and he said, "Nean, you were paying attention. I noticed that you— I like this subscription." I ended up doing a very significant contract with him because of a $6 magazine subscription. Because, Jeff, I listened. It's what my friend Donovan challenged me about. We also write about this in our book, Exceptional Experiences. My friend Donovan, when he was I was 5, he said to me, "Ning, listen with your eyes." And I loved it. And I've never forgotten it because we as business owners need to always listen with our eyes and our ears and our heart and our soul. And then we have to take it a step further, Jeff. We have to make a note somewhere. We have to put in our CRM, in our system, on your index cards, however you capture client information. Jeff, for example, loves fly fishing, whatever it is, because taking notice, paying attention— here's the stealth message of my book: people want to be seen, heard, and valued. That's it. When I wrote the book, what I know is everyone on this planet, Jeff, wants to be seen, heard, and valued. Luxury brands do that better than most that I know, and they have systems in place. So inside the book, you will find 21 systems of elevation that every business can apply now. There's not just luxury examples in the book. I have applied these to emergency rooms and hospitals, to a mechanic. There are so many different examples in the book. It's not just about luxury brands, but I do think that we can look to other industries to inspire us. In the home services industry, where we are protecting their most valuable thing, their family, right? We can look to see what other brands are doing great jobs that we can take some of those best practices, those lessons, and apply it to our own. Business at whatever scale is comfortable for you. And so I would suggest the easiest thing we can start doing is using people's name. It costs you nothing, and yet people love the sound of their own name. Dale Carnegie once said in his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People— I mean, Jeff, I think it was written in the early 1900s— he says a person's name is the sweetest sound, right? Like, imagine if someone pulls up to your place of business and you have digital signage or hand— or signage that says, welcome, Jeff, we're glad you're here, or this parking spaces for Neen James, one of my financial advisor clients. They started doing that. It's the most talked about thing. They're, they're managing gajillion dollar accounts for their clients, and you know what they remember? The parking space had their name on it. So we love this level of personalization. It doesn't have to be expensive, but it needs to be systemized.

It's amazing what we'll pay for people to recognize, uh, our status on an airline. Sure. You know, we, we, we want to be, look, I don't get upgrades anymore. They've packed these flights full. Um, but my, you know, I will pay to, to build status with an airline.

Mm-hmm.

Because for, for that one occasion once in a year where I need it, where something went wrong or I need to get somewhere, or, um, I changed, if I was coming back from the UK and I, I, I wanted to change the flight. And I was in the business class, but not the upfront class of the, of the flight. And I changed the flight. There's no seats available in there. So I call and I said, hey, I, I'm, I'm not showing any seats available. And they're like, no, no, no, there's seats available. Let's, we'll go ahead and change you, uh, Mr. Dudan to that flight.

Mm-hmm.

I'm like, but I don't, but I really need, I need to, I need to work on this flight. So I, I need to make sure I'm in the, they're like, no, there's seats available. You just can't see 'em. Well, they knew they were gonna upgrade me to the front of the bus, right? And put me in one of those lay down koozie hole things. And, but, but they just couldn't tell me. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and you know, I talked to two different reps and then when I got there, you know, they're just, they already had me ticketed up for the front of it. And, and I was like, okay, they, you know, and I have good status with that airline cuz I do fly a lot.

Yeah.

And like that was a thing, right? And that one, that one, that one upgrade, I mean, that flight was, I mean, that was probably a $5,000 upgrade. Right.

It's, it's amazing. We use Delta as the case study in my book because I love what Ed and the team are doing there. They really are delivering an exceptional— and of all the airlines in the US particularly, they are providing a more luxury level of service. What's really interesting about what Ed and Tim— is the chief communications officer. I loved interviewing him for the book and we've spoken on stages together. What's really interesting is how they look at every touchpoint in the journey, Jeff. So. Yes, those upgrades, they are harder to get. I agree with you. But gosh, when they happen, they're amazing. But what they've done for their Diamond Medallion customers, if they knew that a client is making a really tight connection, sometimes they will send a Porsche to pick them up plane side and drive them across the tarmac to get them to the next plane. Wow. Their level of customization is incredible. They're always looking ahead. Oh, this family's not seated together. How do we juggle it so we can put them back together? But what was really cool—

Hey, maybe, maybe they booked it that way, you know? Yeah. Maybe, but maybe they did.

But one thing I loved is they extend it to not just to their Diamond Medallion. What they were the first to do is when you start watching a movie on Delta, let's say the flight, the plane lands before you get to finish the movie. Next time you fly with them, there's your movie. Neen, welcome back. Do you want to pick up the movie you didn't watch before? Genius. Because they've built systems to personalize it. My name is on the screen. We love seeing our own name in the hotel television when we come down the escalator and the driver's got a a sign with our name on it, Jeff, we will pay more for our name for sure. But I think as you're listening to this, I would challenge you to talk to your team about how can we use our clients' names more? Where are the opportunities for the handwritten notes, for the digital signage, for the hand signs, for the contract, for— look for places in your newsletter communication, sending voice notes or video messages instead of emails. What are ways you can really elevate your communications so that you are speaking the luxury language that clients need to hear? People love their own name.

Anytime you hear about a legacy brand, these types of things are interwoven into the story.

Yes. Yes.

Think about— What makes a legacy brand? Like, when you— if you were going to deconstruct it and what are the characteristics of a legacy brand? And do— why are so many people want to be associated with them?

Let me answer that in two ways. First, let's define, uh, so legacy is defined heritage brands. They are often associated with words that we use to describe luxury. In, uh, I have the only luxury research study of its kind in the world into luxury as a mindset. There's plenty of studies, Jeff, on how luxury makes you feel, but I wanted to know How do people think about luxury, make decisions about luxury? What is luxury, right? Luxury was defined as high quality, long-lasting, authentic, unique, and indulgent. Now, when you think about those words, they could also describe us as leaders, but they also are very much attributes of legacy and heritage brands. I have the privilege of working with Chanel, and when I do events with Chanel, what's really interesting is If you go into any Chanel boutique, let's take the makeup stores, for example. There are a dedicated number of makeup stores in America where that's all they have is sunglasses, small accessories, and beauty products. Every product has a connection to Coco herself. Even the merchandising displays are designed to showcase elements of her life. For example, there is a lipstick. It's a refillable lipstick, which no one on this call probably needs to know about, but here's what's fascinating about it. The merchandising of that lipstick, it is in a mirrored box. It is a mirrored step merchandising piece to reflect the staircase her models used to walk down before a show. This is the level of detail that Chanel goes into. Any sales associate you work with in Chanel, no matter whether you're buying a $30 lipstick or a $30,000 bag, they will tell you about the story behind the product and they will always attribute it back to her. Every naming of every product, every scent, every combination somehow connects to her. So if you are a legacy brand, one of the best things you can do, especially the founders listening to this podcast, is tell the team your story. Why did you create this company? What was the pain points? What was the excitement? Tell us why you did it so we can connect deeper to that. And then give us insight into the colors you chose, the branding you decided on, why the location was where it was. Because the more you equip your team to continue the storytelling, telling, the more powerful it will be. You were so fortunate to have Brittany Hodak on your show. She's a fantastic speaker, a phenomenal friend, and author of the book called Creating Superfans. A big fan of Brit. And Brit talks about the power of stories. She told you some stories about her roofing company in her neighborhood. I want everyone to go back and listen to that episode. But we need to be able to tell stories. Heritage brands, legacy brands, they get good at telling their story. In our book Exceptional Experiences, there are what we call the 5 Luxury Levers. And the first of those luxury levers is called Entice. How do you capture someone's attention so they think, why should I pay attention to you? You know, one of the best ways you can do that, Jeff? Storytelling. If you really want to have legacy, if you want generations that come after the one you're working with to talk about you and your brand, Give them the stories. The more you can tell stories— look, I know you may want to tell all the tech specs of this temporary wall, and this is what it does, and this is all the features and benefits. No, what people want to know is, how does this keep me safe? If you tell stories about safety and families you've saved, businesses you've saved, that's what we pay attention to. Then, by the way, oh yeah, I need this temporary wall. Like, that's the things we need to do. We need to sort of flip our thinking lead with story and proudly as sales associates, as founders, as entrepreneurs, as business owners, tell people our story because that's what people buy.

We, we coach when I do the training with our franchisees, we do a lot of work around creating their story, curating their personal story. This is who I am. This is what I've done. This is the journey that I was on. And this is why I've decided to open up Top Rail Fence in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to be a continue. And because this brand— and then they tell some brand stories— aligns with my story in this way. And that's how I've gotten here. Now, is every customer going to get that story? Probably not. But every business associate, meaning referral partner, pool company, contractor, homebuilder, people that are going to work with over and over again, they will invest the time in the story. And one of my greatest— I love the definition of culture that Herb Kelleher used from the book Nuts, and he talks about it being setting organizational boundaries, and he says it's an organization's memory. And if I were going to improve on that, I would say that lives in the stories, because I, because I still use— I use a story in training from 2004 where we had a 19-year-old call center person, uh, that couldn't get anyone to respond to an emergency. So she forwarded the phones to the answering service, got into a service vehicle, and drove to the customer's house and signed up a $100,000 job, uh, because it was a flooded apartment building, and signed it up because it was— we were in the middle of this huge ice storm and our crews had been out all night and it was early in the morning and she couldn't— she couldn't get anybody. To respond within the time that we were supposed to respond. So I use that story as an example of time-based. The reason she did it was because we had— we were running a clock on our responses and she knew that we wouldn't— we wouldn't— if we didn't get there within an hour, that we wouldn't meet our goal. So once she realized that she was the only, the only one that could get there within the hour, she took the action and went out there. And, and signed up the job. So basically that—

yeah.

So time-based, time-based metrics will lead to high-performance organization. Everything needs to run on pace. Everything needs to run on a clock.

Yeah.

And, you know, so we use that story inside of that. But I think we, you know, I know we at Homefront Brands, we, we've, we've not stepped back and done a good enough job with creating these personalized, customized experience for our owners. I know some of our franchise owners have. Have, and some of them have developed things that they do, and it's the best ones, right? They're like, I'm gonna be connected with the— 100%. Well, so there's a Humane Society. You're in Tampa, I believe.

You're in Tampa. I am. I love my Humane Society. I volunteer there.

There's a— okay, so that huge Humane Society in Tampa, our Top Rail Fence opened up there, and they gave away free fences to 5 people that adopted dogs, and they had their grand opening there.. And, uh, it, it's, you know, so, but they've, they've connected deeply with the community around pets.

Yeah.

And I, and it's, it's helped them create a, a story around their business.

Yeah. Jeff, there's two things I would add to that brilliance. And by the way, your team member is a gem. Protect her with your life. But one of the things that it made me think about was you had the legendary Jay Baer on your podcast as well. We love Jay. He's written so many great books, Talk Triggers, but the one that came to mind when you said that was the time to win. And he has a research study in the responsiveness, and he talked about that on your podcast. That's another podcast everyone needs to go back and listen to. Now, Brittany and Jay, but the other thing I want to add to the toolkit of your franchisees in the training as they're developing their own story is I believe in the power of metaphor. We use metaphor in the book, and the reason that I think this is important for all the listeners today is it's free. But here's what a metaphor does. You've already heard me using metaphors today. You've heard me say, think like a concierge, not a bellhop. Now I want you to anticipate needs that your clients don't even know they have, but let me explain to you the importance of metaphor. For example, one of my clients is Al Hai. Al Hai is Associated Luxury Hotels International, and they have beautiful luxury properties all over the world. And they specialize in having hotels that have event space for meeting planning. So their clients are the meeting planners who are booking these events for their clients. So when Mike and I were trying to come up— Mike Dominguez is the CEO of the company— when we were trying to come up with a metaphor for him, I said, you know what I think you are? He loves red wine. I said, I think you're like a sommelier because you pair the perfect hotel with the perfect space for the perfect meeting planner for the perfect experience, just like a sommelier pairs a beautiful wine with a delicious meal. So now he and all the team say, "Aloha," they're like the sommelier for the hotel, blah, blah, blah, blah. So the reason metaphors are so powerful, Jeff, and I would encourage your franchisees to think of a metaphor for themselves, what are they like? And here's why. The metaphor is fascinating because it lights up the right hemisphere of our brain, and metaphors are memorable and repeatable. And so what's really powerful is you want to have people tell the story for sure, but you want those people to repeat that to someone else. We want the roofing company to be talked about in the neighborhoods. We want the fence. You might have only worked with that client once, but what's a great metaphor? They tell their neighbor who they do like, hey, you would need to work with this company because they're like this. The moment you name something for people, make it easy to stick in their brain. It creates a visual image in their brain that is theirs. They own it now and they associate you with that metaphor. As a keynote speaker, often meeting planners will call me the Energizer Bunny because, and for those of you who are listening, not watching, I'm 4'10.5", I'm often in pink, I have a lot of energy, and I am paid to bring energy to the stage. I often follow the CEO as the opening keynote speaker, right? And so Energizer Bunny to me is an incredible compliment, but sometimes people will say, you know that girl, she's the Energizer Bunny. And that's how meeting planners talk about me, which is such a compliment. So think about, As a business owner, what do you like? What is something that people will then associate with you? So I'd extend your storytelling, Jeff, to encourage people to come up with a metaphor that feels true to them, that helps them describe really quickly what it is that you do, because that makes you more memorable, repeatable, and referable.

That is so good. And it's, and it's so on point and it's such a great reminder for those of us who are building businesses. Not to forget the customer inside of the conversation, because we work on our processes and our pricing, but we forget that the customer experience. I have question about the experiences here, but I do want to say I appreciate you with the including the half inch in your height because it matters. Well, it does. But if you round it up to 4'11", which most people would do, Over time, you would start rounding up to 5.

Wow. With a pair of stilettos, I can hit that target, Jeff.

Now, now you're, now you're being disingenuous, right?

It's so funny, but I think what's really interesting too, and some people, because you're listening, you can't see. One of the things that I think we need to consider too is as business owners, there are things about us that are unique. I sound like I'm 5. Now, if you add 50 years, you're gonna get much closer to my real age. And so what we need to think about is I'm a professional speaker. I literally get paid to talk. But when I started in the speaking profession, you better believe every person, including the head of the National Speakers Association, said, "Nean James, you will never make it with that voice. No one will pay you. You will never get paid. You need voice coaching." So as business owners, we also have to be really careful who we listen to as well, because if we want to provide exceptional experiences We know our clients. My friend Jesse is the owner of the Savannah Bananas. And if any of you know the Savannah Bananas, they're an incredible baseball team. But here, Jesse and his wife are amazing. And I literally remember stories about them sleeping on the air mattress. Look them up if you don't know them, but they're fab. But here's Jesse, no matter what, he has had a gajillion people offer to buy that team, but he is fan first. Every time, everything they've designed, it is always fan first. So using them as an inspiration as a business owner, there are plenty of things people had opinions on, but Jesse stuck to what he wanted to do, and that was fan first. So lots of people have lots of opinions about your business. You have to decide how are you going to elevate that experience for your client, your customer, your patient, your guest, the pet, whoever you are serving. That's who we Who do we start with? Because if you design an exceptional experience around them, it makes it easy to deliver. And then they tell their friends. And what we're really trying to do is create advocates, advocates who want to refer other business to you, because then they're an extension of your sales and marketing team. I've spent zero money on advertising. I just don't need to because I've been so blessed and fortunate to have people who have seen me speak or work with me as a strategic advisor. You know, Jeff, CEOs tell other CEOs, hey, I worked with Neen, she did this. You know that to be true, but it's the same in neighborhoods. I'll never forget, we moved from, uh, outside halfway between Philly and New York, and then we moved to Tampa, Florida. Now I have never lived through hurricanes. Apparently that's a thing. So we bought this house. It had been totally renovated, brand new roof, all the things, but they never replaced the glass. Glass and they never replaced the doors. So me thinking, okay, I want to like be safe in a hurricane apparently. So what do I do? I start like, you know, asking for all of these quotes. Wouldn't you know, we worked with this amazing company. And by the way, my house is an L-shape. The whole entire back of the house is floor-to-ceiling glass, those crazy big doors that are all glass. So in a hurricane, it could be a problem. So we work with many different places, but it was Benko Garage Doors who came out and they They were so human. They were so kind. They were so fun. They gave us a quote and we said, we don't want like the ugly garage doors like everyone else has in the neighborhood. We want modern doors. We want them to have glass panels. And they're like, okay. So they showed us this design. We loved working with them. Wouldn't you know, probably at least 9 of our neighbors have said they stopped by. They would take photos of our garage doors. They'd say, who did you use? Because we were able to not only have an amazing experience with them, but we could then help people in our neighborhood. So I'm not on commission. I'm not an affiliate for this company, but I really love every time I go and see a house is being renovated and they have these hurricane doors that look beautiful, all because we had a great experience. You never know who your clients are going to tell about you, and you never know if you are telling the story, sharing a metaphor, describing it in a way that resonates with them, how it sticks in their brain until they need you.

What are some of the other luxury levers?

Oh sure, yeah, let me go through them. So the 5 Luxury Levers— I say lever, you say lever.

Okay, and you're from Australia, you're Australian.

I get a pass, right? Okay, I am also an American citizen. I became a citizen too. But let me explain to you what we call the Experience Elevation Model inside the book. It's like the DIY model for everyone listening to this podcast. It's the consulting model I use with a lot of luxury and legacy brands around the world when I do that work. So let's start at the beginning. Let's start at the idea of we want to be able to entice someone's attention. How do you capture their attention? So that's where we start, by telling great stories and making sure we have these phenomenal collaborations. And then we move into the luxury lever of invite. This is where we want to roll out that red carpet experience, Jeff, we talked about earlier. This is where we want them to feel like they belong into our community, that they are important to us. And then what we do is we get to excite them. Excite is one of my favorite luxury levers. We all hear about, you know, surprise and delight. No, no, we need to excite and delight. Excite is thinking about, gosh, for example, how would you engage the 5 senses in the offering that you have, right? Good brands usually engage 1 or 2 senses, but if you and the team really tried to elevate the experience, how do you engage all 5 of the senses, through the words you use, the collateral, your website, the materials you share. Then we move up to, as I said, so we go excite and then we move to delight. And so when you move into delight, this is where we systemize thoughtfulness so much more. This is where we look at what I call BDA— before, during, and after the experience. Many of us are exceptional at attracting client attention. Many of us are good at delivering great experiences. But where we miss out is the after. Jeff, so often we get a client and we overestimate the client loyalty and we underestimate how important it is to talk to them after we've done work together. So the after, get really creative with that. And then ultimately the pinnacle of the Experience Elevation Model is called Ignite. Ignite is where you create advocates for your business. It's using strategies. We've talked a few about the strategic gifting. Exclusive events, like being told you have this window of time just for you. That opportunity is fabulous. And so it's really wiring your clients to become advocates for you. It's teaching them what is a great referral. It's rewarding that as well. Now, the Experience Elevation Model was designed, Jeff, because every executive I work with is measured on two things: mindshare and market share. How do you capture the attention of clients you want to work with? Mindshare. How do you stay top of mind and how do you drive revenue? Market share. So when you think about that, everyone on this call is measured very similarly. They're trying to attract new clients into their business, no matter what kind of business you have, and they're trying to drive revenue for whatever reason. Because what I love about Homefront Brands is that you are really focused on creating these lifestyles to enhance the wellbeing of of the franchisees, the people that work with you. And isn't that why most of us work? We work to create a lifestyle for people we love. So when you apply the Experience Elevation Model, I've literally mapped out the framework for you. Now, it doesn't have to be linear, Jeff. You might be really established in the business and you might be looking to really accelerate that top-tier client level. You might move right into Delight and Ignite. Or you might be starting out. You might be a brand new franchisee who has just decided to become part of this window business and you're like, 'Where do I start?' You might start at Entice, capturing the attention of the people that you want to be in business with. So you can join the model wherever it makes the most sense for you.

That's brilliant. And that is in Exceptional Experiences.

Yep, 5 Luxury Levers to Elevate Every Aspect of Your Business. We also have a playbook that sits alongside this as well, which is full of videos, AI prompts, downloadable PDFs, checklists, decision promotes everything a business can use for that cultural transformation.

You've been very generous to speak to our businesses, the service industry, and clearly the, the practices, uh, tools, techniques that, that you teach and that you consult apply to any business whatsoever. Correct. But in the luxury market, when, when, when as a customer begin to truly value experiences over possessions in our life. And, and, you know, there's a lot of business owners on here, so there's going to be business owners that are taking vacations maybe that they've never had before. And they're, uh, you know, as, as people scale their business, they have the opportunity, they have more choice, uh, more optionality in the things that they do, how they spend their money, And at the end of the day, it's like, okay, what am I, what am I working so hard for?

Right.

So, when— I'd love to get your take on experiences and kind of how you, how you elevate the awareness in people that experiences should matter more.

Okay. So, I mentioned to you earlier in our fabulous interview that I have the only research study of its kind into luxury as a mindset. I always believed luxury was a mindset. Mindset. By the way, for those of you listening, I do not come from luxury. I come from a tiny town in Australia where there was one traffic light when I was growing up. I was raised by a single mom. We lived in a caravan. Um, Jeff, in America you call that a trailer park, right? So I don't come from luxury, for all of you listeners. I want you to know that. But I've always believed luxury was a mindset because of my mom. She role-modeled this to me. And so when I went to the research firm, I said, you know, luxury is a mindset, just make sure I'm right. Well, apparently I was There's not one mindset, there's four. And so when people understand their luxury mindset, and we have a self-assessment they can take, I can share it with you, Jeff, it's free, it'll take them 5 minutes. You can like, we'll put it in the show notes or something. But what it does is it helps you understand how we all see and experience luxury. But what was fascinating was no matter what luxury mindset you have, whether you are reluctant and removed, whether you're confident and content, a pro-prioritiser, or a luxury lover, 2 things everyone agreed on: luxury is a reward for hard work. And here's what hundreds of people in this, in the study said: luxury is about experiences, not things. Right now we're living in the experience economy. We are more valuing time with people that we care about. We are looking— your franchisees may be having their first vacation because finally they've got the systems in space to have the team to be able to deliver the business while they can create memories with people they love. And so where I think, you know, still some people love a thread count or a fancy bag, I get that, but truly what we remember is those opportunities and those experiences. Now when you're working with the luxury industry, especially because I work with some of the ultra-high net worth clientele, they value privacy privacy, discretion, and safety. And when I think about home front brands, you provide privacy, discretion, and safety. And so what I want us all to think about is that we're— what we're— regardless of what kind of clientele you're serving, we all want to have this opportunity to feel seen, heard, and valued. Experiences allow us to do that. You can turn everything into an experience. Instead of an email, you can make a phone call. Instead of a phone call, you can send a text message. Instead of a text message, you can send a video message. Instead of a video message, you can send a voice note. There are so many ways. Instead of a voice note, you can send a handwritten note. There are a thousand different ways to elevate everything we do if we just decide to think like a concierge, to anticipate needs. And here's what happens. Jeff. In the book, I talk about this idea of champagne moments and a champagne moment. And maybe you don't drink, maybe it's a sparkling water moment for you, but a champagne moment is where you take something ordinary and you make it extraordinary. And for each of us, we can find these champagne moments for our clients. We can celebrate the new furry baby who joined the family. We can celebrate the renovation they did on their house with a beautiful new plant that says, we hope this adds a lovely amount of decor to your new roof. It looks beautiful. There's so many ways that we can create champagne moments for our clients and also for our team by really making sure that we prioritize them as a leader and that as a leader we show up and provide exceptional experiences too. So as business owners listening to this, think about how can you be a more exceptional leader? And remember, luxury is defined as high quality, long-lasting, authentic, unique, and indulgent. Indulgent. Now, maybe not indulgent as a leader, maybe some of us are, but all those qualities, Jeff, they still relate.

You've done some work on attention.

I have. Yes.

I wrote a book called Attention Please. Yeah. I saw a comment that said there's a hidden cost to not paying attention. Mm-hmm. I'm one of, um, I used to coach football and, uh, there was a, a guy that I coached with. He was a linebacker. He was, I think, loosely in the New York Giants organization for for a while, and he would say to the kids, first rule of football is pay attention. And, you know, I've, I've adopted that. I've never forgot that because we find ourselves splitting our attention, uh, and not everything matters equally. So what— when you say there's a hidden cost to not paying attention, what do you mean?

You know, let's talk about— we were talking about safety before. Let's talk about safety. There's a hidden cost of not paying attention. Think about the amount of car incidents that are occurring on the road because people are like texting and driving. Think about the relationships that are damaged because people are choosing to have their faces in their phone or their devices as opposed to having a real conversation with someone. Our clients that are leaving us because we're not paying attention to them. We think once we win the business that the client will stay with us. Not the case. Just satisfying that client's need, that's, that's a bare minimum. Satisfied clients are the biggest concern you should have because those satisfied clients don't feel any kind of loyalty to you if you're not paying attention to them, staying connected connected to them, exploring how you can continue to serve them, that satisfied client can easily go somewhere else. That's why your competitors will eat your lunch if you're not paying attention. There are so many hidden costs to not paying attention. Safety, health. When we don't pay attention to our health, then the first time we pay attention is when the doctor tells us our cholesterol is high or we're having a heart attack. I don't want people on this call to be sitting at the funeral of a friend. Hand or beside a hospital bed of someone before they realize this power of truly paying attention today. Let's not wait for something dramatic to happen, some catastrophe, before we start paying attention to how we show up as a leader. I believe in making moments matter. I am on this mission, Jeff, to create more significant moments for people that matter to me. And so what that does is it makes me look for those opportunities to put things away, to eliminate distractions. Yes, There's about 1,000 emails we get in a day and so many voice messages and so many people want your attention. Everybody wants your attention. Not everybody deserves your attention. Right. And you need to decide who deserves your attention, who has earned your attention. And unfortunately, sometimes you give it to the loudest, squeakiest, noisiest, most uncomfortable, unhappy person. And there is a time to take care of those clients, but we also need to make sure we're paying attention to the clients who don't tell us a lot and the people who don't always tell us about the things they're not comfortable with. There are so many costs to not paying attention, but what if we all choose to pay attention and to apply the advice of my little friend Donovan, to listen with our eyes more?

Our client as a franchisor, our first-level client is our franchisees. Yeah. And the word disenfranchised comes from somewhere. And if you, what, how could, how, what kind of relationship would you have with a spouse or significant other if you only saw them once a year at a 2-day conference?

Right.

There would be nothing. Right. Nothing. So, so what are, you know, and I think we're all in business together and we're all thinking about the end user customer. How do we serve this end user customer? How do we get more customers? How do we, how do we serve them? Them? How do we retain them? How do we get referrals from them? And inside of that, this relationship we have with our franchise owners is, it's intentional and scheduled, but the peanut butter doesn't spread evenly because they all engage differently. And I think, so if there's somebody that's just keeping to themselves and they're doing the work and they're relatively satisfied with what they're doing, but they, but they don't raise their hand, are we really Am I really paying attention to them enough? Or is it gonna go 12 or 18 months and I'm gonna realize, you know, this person invested half of what they owned in this franchise business and I haven't, I have not spoken to them or I haven't sent them anything. So one of the best CEOs in our industry is a lady by the name of Katherine Monson and she runs Fast Signs and there's 3 or 4 other, other brands over there. I don't know if you know Katherine or have heard of Katherine.

Yeah. Fast Signs, of course. Yeah.

Yes. Yeah. So she's fantastic. And, and she, I mean, handwritten cards, she sends about 200 a month out.

Mm-hmm.

Yep. And I don't know how she does it. I bought the cards, Nene. I bought the cards to do it. They're in the box.

Gotta be a system, Jeff. I literally write a handwritten note every single day. Like before I go to sleep, I have to publish a handwritten note.

Like this is— Nobody, I can't read my own writing. How am I supposed to do this?

This, that's an excuse. I don't take that. There's so many people on this call who'll say, oh, but you can't read my writing. I would still rather get a scratchy handwritten note than an email. Not even kidding. Like, that's an excuse.

Yes.

Use the cards. Buy some stamps. Put the stamps and the cards and a pen in a place. Make it a system. I literally, if I showed you, I carry this everywhere. It's got stationery in it and stamps. I guarantee if I open it up, look. Stamps. You can't— like, literally, I carry stamp stationery everywhere because there's always someone to thank, Jeff.

All right.

I think with our franchisees, we have to have systemized thoughtfulness. We have to think about making time. So in the book, I use this as a system. I have an appointment with myself on the first Monday of every month at 8:30, and I sit down and I have a list of advocates or people I'm trying to deepen relationships with, and I make a conscious effort to reach out to them. It could be I send them a TED Talk, or I could have bought them book of a friend who has written a great book, or I write a handwritten note, or I see an article and I think of them, but I've scheduled the time in my calendar to make it a priority. What we need to think about as franchisees and as a franchisor is how do we put systems in place to be more thoughtful, to extend that kindness, to say, I see you, I value you, you're important to me. And sometimes it's the simplicity of a handwritten note.

There's nothing more important to us than the success, the financial success, and also the experience. You know, we do, we say franchisee experience versus franchisee satisfaction.

Ooh, I love that. And here's what's also really important. Our franchisees tell other people about what it's like to be a franchisee with you, what you're like as a franchisor. So they're also our best recruiters. They're the people who are going to be an extension of our sales and marketing team. Our team. You said it cost $20,000 to $50,000 to recruit someone potentially as a franchisor. But imagine if our franchisees loved us so much they couldn't help but tell all their friends and neighbors and community, their church, their temple, wherever it is, that this is the brand you want to work with. So that is also why it's also very important, is they're an extension of us, the experience we give for them.

Yeah, and nothing matters more than their, their success, their results, their experience and our relationship with them.

It is. And the other thing I would add is I love you highlight wellbeing on your website. That was really important. You show that the human is at the center of the business and that you're surrounding the human and their wellbeing. I really admire that on your site.

Yeah. Well, it's a reminder and we're not perfect, but it is a reminder that this is a human-centered design and every franchise owner They're all individuals with different backgrounds and they all have slightly different needs. And it's, it's, is there a pattern? Yes. Can we categorize them by personality analysis and, you know, how they behave and all of that stuff. So there's some definite science to it, but the, but the delivery of the experience is uniquely human.

Always. That's the thing in our digital AI world. It is the human connection that creates the experience and people need to remember that. Yes.

Yeah. Neen, what haven't I asked you that I need to ask you? What, what else would you like to share with us? This has been incredible, by the way.

Oh, it's been my absolute privilege. If I can ever come and play with your franchisees, please let me know. The best way to connect with me is LinkedIn. If you reach out on LinkedIn and tell me me it's because of Jeff that we are connected, I would love that. But if you want to follow my adventures on Instagram, that's where I play every day, @neenjames. But if we haven't answered a question that you have and you want to reach out to me directly, I answer my own email, and my email is neen@neenjames.com. I think if you want everything we talked about today, I'm going to be blatantly promoting my book. My publisher will be so proud, uh, Exceptional Experiences: 5 Luxury Levers to Elevate Every Aspect Your Business.

I do not have the book yet. I should have—

we will fix that.

But I will, I will have— you don't have to send me the book. I will be ordering the book, and I will also be, um, making this podcast mandatory listening for our staff at Homefront Brands.

Oh, that makes me so happy.

Yeah, because look, you, you always need to check in on what is the experience that your franchisees and their customers are having, right? And it's— there's, there's— and I guarantee you, and I know this because I can think of examples right now where we have certain franchise owners that have taken it upon themselves to create a unique experience for their customers, and they do things. And, and, you know, and sometimes maybe the ideas are already out there in practice.

Learn from them, have them share. Yeah, that would be so great.

Yeah, we just institutionalize those, uh, across it. And that's, that's one thing a good franchisor does is high engagement will lead to high adoption.

And 100%.

So, well, this has been great. Now I do have a curveball and a fastball for you if you're interested in playing.

Always.

Okay. Here's the curveball.

I cannot play American sports to save my life, but I think I know what you mean. So keep going.

Okay. Well, here's the curveball. Gun to your head. If you have to, or I mean Crocodile Dundee, a huge Bowie knife to your head.

There you go. Make it Aussie customized. Good for you.

There you go. Go, uh, a, a, a cloud of mozzies coming at you.

Um, which is mosquitoes for those listening. Australians are lazy, we shorten every word. Yeah, so mosquito— mozzies is mosquitoes.

Yep. Uh, you have to start a business in the next 30 days. It can't be something that you're currently active in. Where do you see the opportunity in the market? Where would you start a business?

Concierge services. Anything that's going to give people time back. You are dealing with an organizational mentality right now where we have both partners. If you are fortunate to have a home with two people in it, they're both working. And if they have little people in their life, they're also managing and juggling sporting calendars and, and then they have furry babies who need to go to the pet. So I would think that any lifestyle business that gives people time back to create experiences with people they love, that would be where I would put some money.

Awesome. Fastball right down the middle. You've got one sentence to make an impact in somebody's life. What would that You are valued.

You are seen. You are important and you are loved.

Oh, perfectly said, Neen. Thank you so much for being on today.

Oh, it was my privilege. Thank you for the work that you do. It makes such a big impact.

Absolutely. So this is Jeff Dudan here with the incredible Neen James on The Unemployable Podcast. Thanks for listening.