Ken Schmidt

Customer Loyalty Expert; Reputation and Brand-building Authority; Senior Role in Harley-Davidson Turnaround; and Author, Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance

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Traveling from:

District of Columbia

Ken Schmidt- 3 Things That Drive Human Behavior

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Topics

Corporate Culture Speakers Branding & Advertising Marketing Speakers Customer Service Business Growth Leadership Speakers Storytelling Virtual Keynote Speakers

Ken Schmidt

Customer Loyalty Expert; Reputation and Brand-building Authority; Senior Role in Harley-Davidson Turnaround; and Author, Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance

Add To My Favorites Check Fee/Availability

In-Person Fee Range:

$20,001 - $30,000

Fee Details

Virtual Fee Range:

Inquire for Fee

Traveling from:

District of Columbia

Why Book

Ken Schmidt is a top customer loyalty speaker, author, and former Director of Communications at Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
Ken shares stories and insights on the road to building a fanatically vocal customer base, creating a passionately loyal corporate culture, and developing leaders who inspire and motivate.

Biography

When customers can’t associate any positive human qualities among possible suppliers, they know they can buy from anyone and be satisfied with what they get (quick: name an industry where this isn’t reality). Instead of fighting this dynamic, most businesses roll over, mimic their competitors, use price as a weapon and unwittingly weaken their competitiveness — along with any chance of creating customer loyalty. Which means, in every industry, the doors are wide open for dominators to emerge.

This is a dynamic Ken knows intimately and capitalized on in his leadership role in the against-all-odds turnaround of Harley-Davidson Motor Company. In his supercharged, high-energy speeches, Ken inspires companies and individuals to become dominant competitors by becoming memorable – not for what they make or do, but for who they are. In more than 1,000 keynotes around the world, he’s shared his proven techniques for harnessing simple drivers of human behavior to create customer experiences that delight, build reputations, fuel preference and foster tattoo-worthy levels of loyalty.

He’s the author of Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance, host of the Tailgating with Geniuses podcast and co-founder of Torque Sessions Leadership Training. In everything he does, he lives by his credo of, “Never do what’s expected, make yourself as noticeably different as possible and have a lot more fun than you’re supposed to.”

Programs

Make Some Noise: Open the Throttle and Dominate Your Marketplace

The road to creating a passionately vocal, fanatically loyal customer base starts here. Ken Schmidt’s most-requested business keynote speech is a fascinating story of how businesses of any size and scope can position themselves to ignite customer demand, maximize sales growth, and dominate their marketplace, even in the most commoditized environments. His signature ingredients: Harnessing basic drivers of human behavior for competitive advantage and bulletproof reputation building. Schmidt leaves audiences knowing their businesses can’t become dominant until they can answer three vital questions: What do your customers – and other important publics – say about you? What do you want them to say? And, What are you doing to make them say it?

Building Tattoo-Worthy Customer Relationships

We’re not wired to be loyal to products or services, no matter how well they perform. We’re only capable of being loyal to people and to well-managed businesses that successfully humanize their presence by creating emotional resonance with us. It’s time for your customers to evolve from “folks who buy from us,” into “loyal friends who recommend us without being asked,” which means your relationships with them have to evolve from superficial to meaningfully permanent. Customers come and go. But loyalists, like Harley-Davidson tattoos, become part of you and never leave. Building tattoo-worthy customer relationships isn’t the marketing department’s job; it’s yours. This is how it’s done.

Thrive Among Thorns: Untapped Growth Opportunities for Financial Services

A startling presentation designed specifically for banks, investment firms, credit unions and insurance companies that is now Ken Schmidt’s second-most requested topic. With little differentiation among competitors and media-fueled erosion of trust in financial services providers, it’s no wonder potential clients opt to work with “whoever’s closest to my house,” instead of “whoever can best serve my needs.” Or stay away altogether. Where others see futility, Schmidt sees unprecedented opportunities for growth. He’ll show you how to change the culture of your financial services business to stand out, create demand in your local markets, fuel client referrals and take advantage of the look-alike/act-alike competitive environment.

Positioning Your Business to Dominate in a Commoditized Market

When customers care more about what they’re paying than who they’re buying from, businesses lower prices to stay in the mix, which breeds commoditization and kills loyalty. While leaders in every industry are focusing inward to improve efficiencies – when they should be focusing outward to improve their competitiveness – the passing lane’s wide open for small players to make a run to the front of the pack. Ken Schmidt can show you how to do that. As a major player in one of the world’s most celebrated turnarounds, he helped transform Harley-Davidson from a laggard in a me-too market into one of the world’s most beloved and dominant competitors. In this hands-on, how-to session, he teaches how to position your business to ensure that it’s memorably different than competitors and how to strengthen your reputation so your customers stay fiercely loyal and refer you to others, even when your prices are higher. This is a natural follow-up to any of Ken’s presentations.