Jill Griffin Speaker Biography
Leading Expert on Branding and Customer Loyalty
Jill Griffin is a seasoned independent public board director; internationally-published, Harvard Working Knowledge author; and noted corporate advisor on customer loyalty.
Turnaround Specialist
From the boardroom, she has provided oversight on the turnaround of the beloved Luby’s cafeteria brand (NYSE: LUB); acquisition and renewal of the Fuddruckers brand; and development of Luby’s Culinary Services and its launch into major hospitals and institutional food service arenas. She chairs the Board’s Personnel and Administration Committee, with HR oversight for the corporation’s 10,000 employees, Restaurant Operations, Customer Experience, Marketing/Social Media, and IT.
Customer Loyalty Advisor
As a customer loyalty advisor, Jill consults with Fortune 500 firms. Clients include Microsoft, Ford Motor Company, AMD, Dell, Sprint, Subaru, Toyota and the like.
Awards
Jill is the recipient of the 2005 Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of South Carolina Moore School of Business and has endowed an MBA Fellowship. In 2007 and 2014, Jill was honored as a “Profile in Power” finalist by the Austin Business Journal.
Affiliations
She serves as Chair of the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau. (ACVB is the ‘marketing and sales arm’ of the City of Austin and is entrusted with bringing conventions and visitors to the “Live Music Capital of the World.”) Additional board service includes: Trustee for the Univ. of South Carolina Moore School of Business, Advisory Board Member of Broadway Bank, Founding and current board member for the Texas Tri-Cities Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. She serves on the Austin chapter’s program committee.
Books
Launching her consulting firm in 1988, Jill saw early the trend toward customer loyalty. Her first book, Customer Loyalty (1995, 1997, 2002), was originally published by Simon & Schuster/Lexington Books and was one of the two first books to appear in-market on the topic. Published in six languages, Customer Loyalty was named to Harvard’s “Working Knowledge” book list. The US Postal Service bought 22,000 copies for business promotion. Two awarding-winning books followed: Customer Winback (co-authored) and Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer. She is currently at work on How to Win Your First Seat On a Public Company Board.
Career
Upon completing her Bachelor of Science (Magna Cum Laude) and MBA degrees at the University of South Carolina, Jill began her career in brand management at RJR/Nabisco. She moved steadily upward to ultimately lead the brand management team for Winston, the corporation’s largest brand. Seeking a more entrepreneurial experience, Jill joined Texas-based AmeriSuites Hotels as its first Director of Marketing & Sales. She helped lead the brand’s national launch. (The brand was ultimately acquired by Hyatt Place.)
Currently
A sought after speaker, Jill leads conferences, presents keynotes, conducts seminars and moderates panels world-wide. She is passionately working on a new book that focuses on how to land your first seat on a corporate board.
Jill Griffin Speaking Topics
Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It
Based on the how-to principles captured in Jill’s Harvard “Working Knowledge” book by the same name, this program teaches participants a proven process for turning non-buyers into loyal advocates.
Customer Win Back: How to Recapture Lost Customers and Keep Them Loyal
Research suggests that recovered customers can be worth 10 times more than new customers. Yet, most firms have no processes or programs for winning back lost customers. Adapted from Jill’s award-winning co-authored book by the same name, your custom-tailored presentation can address a wide range of win back learning objectives.
Selling By Serving
Designed for customer care and customer service , this program teaches attendees why serving means selling and why selling means serving.
Delivering the ‘Wow’ Customer Experience
This program will show you how to distill what your customers value most about your brand and how to apply that information to design and deliver a compelling experience that turns your buyers into passionate advocates.
Earning Customer Referrals: How to Turn Customers Into Advocates
Getting happy customers to spread the word is your best source of advertising. Yet, most firms fall short on strategies for driving positive word-of-mouth.
Taming the Search-And-Switch Customer
Drawing from her ground-breaking book by the same name, Jill Griffin addresses these tough, complex realities with proven solutions every B2B and B2C firm can harness.
Jill Griffin Books
Taming the Search-And-Switch Customer
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Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It
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Customer Winback: How to Recapture Lost Customers–And Keep Them Loyal
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Jill Griffin Speaker Testimonials
"Thank you again for participating in Ford Division’s Winter Dealer Meetings. Dealers told us that the Owner Loyalty discussion was particularly helpful in that it provided good anecdotal information on what other small businesses had done, and then clear direction on what they could do at their dealerships. Clearly, your message was one to which they could relate. We also appreciated your willingness to work with us ‘down to the wire’ in preparation for the meetings. Your responses to our suggestions were timely and helpful to the overall process."
- Don Cook | Executive Director Customer Loyalty, Ford Motor Company
"I found Jill's message so inspiring that we asked her to address our 2,200 owners and general managers through a series of regional meetings. Her message engages the audience and her ability to 'customize' her remarks toward the brand's particular issues is an outstanding asset."
- Joe Kane | President & CEO, Days Inn
"Thank you for providing the opening presentation to our kick-off of Digital Imaging University, here at Colorado Digital Imaging division. Our division efforts to bring the customer alive to our employees is a key deliverable over the next year, and your presentation hit the mark for bringing the importance of customer loyalty to life for the team……We received multiple comments regarding your energy, approach and insight as key to the learning experience."
- Jodi Schilling | Customer Satisfaction Manager, Hewlett Packard
"You did a great job speaking to our Residence Inn managers and owners on customer loyalty at their annual meeting in San Antonio. I enjoyed your remarks very much. Thanks for your great remarks and thanks, too, for taking time to get to know Residence Inn before your presentation. That time you spent was very impressive to all of us."
- William Re. Tiefel | President, Marriott Hotels
