E340 | Integrating AI & Automation Without Sacrificing Personal Customer Service with Joseph Michelli

Curious Leadership with Dominic Monkhouse

Joseph Michelli is an internationally sought-after speaker, author, and organisational consultant who transfers his knowledge of exceptional business practices in ways that develop joyful and productive workplaces with a focus on customer experience. His insights encourage leaders and frontline workers to grow and invest passionately in all aspects of their lives.

A Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Nielson BookScan, and New York Times #1 bestselling author. Joseph’s most recent book, All Business Is Personal, features proven strategies for boosting customer loyalty, engagement, and sustainable growth, and offers insights leaders can apply across industries to create high-performing, customer-focused organisations.

Joseph holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA). He is a member of the Authors Guild, an editorial board member for the Beryl Institute's Patient Experience Journal (PXJ), and is on the founders' council of CustomerExperienceOne. Other achievements include winning the Asian Brand Excellence Award and being named as one of the Top 10 thought leaders in Customer Service by Global Gurus. He received his master's and doctorate from the University of Southern California.

In this episode, Dominic explores the intersection of AI and human interaction, questioning the ability of AI to replicate genuine human care and creativity, and the complexities of customer experience, loyalty, and referrals. With Joseph advocating the necessity for CEOs to be passionate and unreasonable in their pursuit of exceptional customer service. He explores strategies for activating referrals, the importance of emotional engagement, and the design of customer journeys that foster loyalty.

Joseph shares his insights on the transformation of patient experience in US healthcare, and the innovative approach that led One Medical to being acquired by Amazon. Emphasising the importance of redesigning processes to enhance care delivery, he highlights the cost reduction achieved through proactive health management and the role of technology in creating human-centric services.

Discover

The Power of Emotional Connection in Business: Building an emotional connection with customers, beyond merely offering a product or service, fosters loyalty and helps establish a strong brand identity.

The Importance of Customer Experience: Exceptional customer experience can significantly impact a business's success. By fostering emotional connections and going beyond basic transactional value, businesses can create loyalty and referrals among their customer base.

Word-of-Mouth as a Powerful Marketing Tool: Customer referrals play a crucial role in business growth. Companies that focus on delivering exceptional experiences often benefit from organic word-of-mouth promotion, resulting in reduced sales and marketing costs.

Balancing Cost-Cutting with Customer Experience: While reducing costs is a strategy some businesses consider, focusing solely on cost can lead to commoditisation. Prioritising customer experience and value can differentiate a business and create long-lasting success.

The Influence of Net Promoter Score (NPS): Net Promoter Score is a useful metric for understanding customer loyalty and satisfaction. By asking customers how they found the business, insights can be gained that highlight the importance of customer recommendations and the overall impact of positive experiences.

Book recommendations:

Joseph’s book All Business Is Personal - is out now

Dominic’s book Mind Your F**king Business is out now