Sure… we could talk about creating an organization with customer excellence, hostmanship, the 9+ NPS experience… We could make it as complicated as we would like. But let’s start with the basics. It’s about being kind to one another, to our visitors and to our customers. It should not have to be any harder than that.
It is not about working harder, but working from your heart.
Customer service, generosity, and friendliness are all known as hospitality. These are of huge importance to any organization. In fact, it does not even matter in which branch you are active in. At a bank, in a supermarket, in education or in healthcare: we just forgot how to interact with one another, with our customers and our visitors.
You would hardly expect it, but Niek loves to be in the spotlight. Noted, only to share his inspirational story and messages with the world. Proudly, he spoke to big organisations such as Unilever, Hyundai, L’oreal, Maxwell Leadership, and Heiniken. Furthermore, Niek is often asked as a guest on TV-programmes, YouTube channels/videos and on podcasts.
Being customer-focused actually applies to many situations throughout our lives, and it’s in the smallest things. If you travel by train and somebody says “good morning” out loud, you know it can only be the conductor, right? Everyone else present is keeping a low profile, rather avoiding any contact.
Is that a bad thing? No, it’s actually quite funny. However, sometimes it is worthwile to discuss what we consider normal customer-focused and hospitality behaviour. Maybe not the American “How are you?”, but what is? When you start work, do you only pour a cup of coffee for yourself? Are you heading to your computer right away or do you pop by your colleagues to say hi? As speaker customer-focus Niek often finds himself in these situations. Be honest: do you still say good morning to the receptionist every day?
”My head is a playground full of memories
Niek has more than 15 years of hospitality experience. From being a dishwasher to being a chef, from waiter to host, from working in a café to a Michelin-star business, from cleaner to owner. As speaker customer-focus he enjoys telling stories about what we can learn from the hospitality industry. What is service – and is it still relevant today? What is appropriate and what is wrong?
At all events where Niek is speaking, it’s just about one thing: connection. Connection with our customers and each other, because did we not lose that just a little (read: quite a lot) in recent years? There are more (technical) systems, protocols and rules than there have ever been before. Organizations and employees seem paralysed by this. It’s time to step out of this systems-dictated-world and time for some rascal behaviour!
Many organizations have the ambition to become more customer-focused and create more enthusiastic customers. They do NPS research, map customer journeys, improve touch-points and train their employees who have day-to-day contact with their customers. But to improve the customer experience sustainably, you need more. That’s why Niek, as speaker customer-focus, believes only one thing is important: “winning outside is starting inside”.
The key to enthusiastic customers and employees is building a customer-centric culture. A culture that stimulates and facilitates customer focus. A culture that makes sure to involve everyone in helping customers a little better, every day. After all, this is not only the job of people on the front line, but of everyone in the organization. Everyone in the company directly or indirectly impacts the customer experience. Organizations that win customers’ hearts in the coming years will be those that succeed in building and maintaining a customer-centric culture. That is the future.
Do you think you can make money quickly by investing in a better customer experience? No, it’s not the fastest or easiest way to more sales or profits. It is, however, the best and most sustainable way! It simply takes time to make the necessary changes in culture, products, processes and service. But in the end, it pays off twice as much.
As speaker customer-focus Niek is determined to give managers, entrepreneurs and executives practical tools to build and strengthen a customer-focused culture. Niek has been advising Dutch (and international) businesses for over 15 years and knows the way to strong management of corporate culture with extensive leadership-programs. He supervises leadership programmes and coaches top executives and entrepreneurs. Do you want to help your colleagues become more customer-focused? Book Niek as speaker customer-focus. Together we’ll get to work!
Besides speaker customer-focus, you’ll also find Niek on stage as speaker healthcare, education, resilience en leadership.
In 2010 Niek’s life turns into a living hell, to put it mildly. On July, 16th he crashes his motorcycle and suffers a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Plus something extra: he has a syrinx, a cavity within the spinal cord that continuously threatens the body parts that do still work. According to Niek, paraplegia and a syrinx are the perfect combination for only the toughest guys. But as long as you can live with it, you’d better do so, he says. And in that case, you’d better do it good. Accepting his accident, Niek now feels the spinal cord injury changed his life for the better. He met the love of his life, is proud dad of three beautiful daughters and by helping others, he gained a sense of purpose.
Niek pitiful? Heck, no! With unstoppable energy Niek knows how to transform his suffering to something else: resilience. Mr. Featherforce was born! The heavy pains in the morning are still there, as well as the 37 pills per day, but he knows how to transform a terrible event into love, courage, perseverance, humor and success. Niek helps and inspires a wide variety of audiences in topics as customer-focus, leadership and dealing with change for more than 12 years already.
As speaker resilience Niek gave inspirational talks for a wide variety of organisations and at big events. His clients are happy to share their experiences about this stage animal.
Lara Leenhouts-Regnault
Manager Cosentino City Amsterdam
"With his positive outlook on life he manages to whoo his crowd and elevate their spirits. I have a lot of respect for how Niek has overcome adversity and has given it a positive twist."
Uwe Reimer
Director Sales bij Hoshizaki Europe B.V.
"What a great inspiration presentation during our kick - off. Great to see you get our people moved to think about their own situation and motivate them to look from different points of view."
Is it time for change or rather time for a party? Book Niek as speaker resilience, hospitality, leadership, customer-focus or healthcare and your audience returns home reborn with a bagpack full of inspiration! Go! Go! Go!
Mr. Featherforce \ Niek van den Adel Keynote speaker & best-selling author
+31 (0) 85 004 3074
info@niekvandenadel.nl
