From Satisfied to Superfan: How to Build Raving Customers With Regie Tiu

In this episode, I talk with Regie Tiu, a physical therapist and customer experience expert, to explore how businesses can move beyond just having “satisfied customers” to building an army of raving fans. Reggie shares the foundational elements, mindset shifts, and tactical strategies that helped him grow a thriving practice in one of the most competitive markets in New York. You’ll learn how to create magical moments, define your differentiators, and turn everyday interactions into long-term loyalty.

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Transcript

From Customers To Raving Fans

Jennifer Johnson 0:01

Welcome. I am so glad that you're joining us today. We all know that getting customers is important, but there's something even more powerful than just having customers. It's having raving fans. You know those people that you don't have to that just come in and buy from you, but actively tell absolutely everybody that they know about your business. They defend your brand, they celebrate the wins with you, and they become your most powerful marketing force. But here's the thing raving fans don't just happen by accident. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Reggie Two, who's a sought-after speaker, mentor, and healthcare professional. He is the architect behind proven systems for building an army of raving fans that generate consistent referrals. We're going to dive deep into the art and science of turning regular customers into passionate advocates for your business. Welcome, Reggie.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Thank you very much for having me, Jennifer.

Jennifer Johnson 1:08

I am so I'm so excited to have this conversation with you because there's so many people that wonder how they can do this and how they can do it right, what it looks like, what the, you know, what are all the components of it? And when I found out that that you're kind of the architect, you kind of really know how this works, it's worked for your brand. I I wanted to really show our audience or have you show our audience how that works. So when kind of a question for you to start off, but when you think of the difference between a satisfied customer and a rating fan. So two different things, right? What makes somebody actually cross that line from, you know, I'm I'm happy to I cannot stop talking about this business? What is it that separates that? Where is that line that gets crossed?

SPEAKER_00 2:01

So that's a great question, Jennifer, because for me, I look at a satisfied customer is someone who, okay, I'm happy. I'm not gonna put out a bad review. So that's that's very important. That's that, right? Because we know how damaging it can be to a business. And they may or they may or may not come back to your business again. It doesn't matter what it is. Like for me, I have a physical therapy practice, so they may or may not come back. But the raving fan is somebody who is going to recommend their friends, recommend their families, recommend other people in the neighborhood,

Reggie’s Journey And Hard Lessons

SPEAKER_00 2:36

see people in the bus, and then they will tell people that, hey, go to this place.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

So there is a fine line that separates between a satisfied customer and someone who can be a raving fan. The way I see it is if they're satisfied, you met the standard that they have in their mind for whatever that business should be. They you met the status quo.

Jennifer Johnson 3:01

The bare minimum.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

The bare minimum, yes. Now, if you have a raving fan, this is for you created that experience for someone. You created that experience that they cannot, well, they cannot forget that they trust you, because that is very important for a raving fan. Because people do business with people they know, like, and trust. Right. And if they don't trust you, you're not gonna be raving fans.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

So I think that's very important to to remember. That's one of the differentiators between are you gonna have somebody who will be raving about you versus someone who's just happy and maybe come back.

Jennifer Johnson 3:46

Right, right. So I'm curious on your journey with this. Um, was there a moment in your business that you realized the difference between the two? And you know, maybe it was maybe you watched another business go through this and you went, huh, and then dug deeper into it. What was your journey with that?

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Yeah, so I learned that through experience because when I was working for another, I was working for another physical therapy practice back in the days. I saw that that practice slowly grew through the years. So when I started working there, they just, I think it was a year after they started, they opened up. And then when I joined them in the 10 years I was with that company, we grew it to twice the size. So I was leading them most of the time already. So we grew it to twice the size, we have patients there. And the patients, they're mostly word of mouth and referrals. And then when I looked at that, I said, it's because of that experience that they're getting. At that time, I was new to private practice, and I was new to the country, actually. I didn't really realize what that is. I we just know that they're happy and they love coming in. And then I said, you know what? There is something to this because I enjoy being with them and they enjoy being with me, right? For the as a patient therapist relationship. And then after after 10 years, after a little more than 10 years, the company fired me.

Jennifer Johnson 5:14

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yes.

Jennifer Johnson 5:16

Unexpectedly, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Came out of the blue. Wow. It was uh it was one of the darkest times in my life. That was the I would say, the second time I was broke, or the third, around there. Broke multiple times.

Jennifer Johnson 5:31

Nobody's counting, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yes.

Jennifer Johnson 5:33

Well, you were, but right.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

What's important is what happens afterwards, right? But that was tough because for me it it led to my my marriage falling apart because of the financial strain.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

And at that time, I said to myself, do I work for somebody else or do I open up my own practice and take everything? Because I just felt like at that time I didn't want to put my faith in anybody else's hands again.

Jennifer Johnson 6:04

Understandably.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

So I decided that I think that was the push I needed. I decided to start my own practice. Now, I'm in New York, so here rent is pretty high. We're in Queens and Manhattan, rent is pretty high. And in that residential area, competition is tough also. Because to give you an idea, we have five physical therapy practices in a four-block radius. Oh, wow. Your blocks are pretty, they're not avenue blocks, these are street blocks, so they're pretty narrow. In that area, it's a residential area. So that means real estate is very expensive. Rent is expensive. And I didn't have money to start. So guess where I started? Well, not

Differentiators And Values As Foundation

SPEAKER_00 6:44

in that four-block radius because I couldn't afford it. Although reasoning, logic will tell you you have to start there because that's where the people are. Right. I started 10 blocks away from that because rent is a little cheaper. Sure. Now I have to come up with a way or a reason why people will come to me, travel 10 blocks, either walk or commute, versus going to a clinic just where they live. And mind you, the patients, they have a hard time walking, and here I am asking them to walk or commute. That's why they're coming to therapy. They have pains, they can't walk, or they had surgery, and then asking them to make that trip. So I said to myself, you know what? I will do this because I will create an experience that's well above and beyond what everybody else has provide, so that they will travel to come and see me. That's when I realized that I have to create that great customer or patient experience. So that's where it all started.

Jennifer Johnson 7:49

So on the heels of that, what I want to start with the basics, okay? The foundational elements that that need to be in place before you can even think about fostering those raving fans. What things do you have to be have in place before you can go to that level?

SPEAKER_00 8:09

I think the foundation there is you have to know what service or what experience you can provide that's going to be different from anybody else.

Jennifer Johnson 8:19

A differentiator kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yes. Why do they have to go to you? So what do you have that what do you provide? What do you offer that other people don't have? And it doesn't have to be an expensive equipment. You don't have to spend a lot of money. Because some businesses they think that way, oh, I don't have this equipment. Right. Oh, I have to spend a lot of money, I have to give away free stuff.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

It's not that. Those simple things matter to people, but you have to find out what it is, what separates you, what separates you apart from anybody else. And then you have to align your values with that if your values are not yet aligned with it. In my experience, most of the time, those two are aligned already. But if it's not, then you have to align them because you want to be consistent with this. So and if you're not if you're faking it, fake it till you make it, it's not gonna work here. Because if you're faking it, it's hard to do that every day.

Jennifer Johnson 9:20

It's gonna be it is it's tiring. It's tiring.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

And people people they will sense that, they will feel that. You can see through it. Yes. So if you're not authentic there and it's not you, then you won't be able to consistently do it. Patients will not be happy. So that's the bare minimum, that's a foundation of everything.

Jennifer Johnson 9:44

You know, I think a lot of business owners think that, well, I have a great product. That's gonna carry me, that's gonna be enough. And, you know, whether it's a physical product, I guess, or a service, they think that's all I need, and they they will come. I'll open my doors and they're coming, they're gonna come and it's just gonna, I'll have raving fans all over the place. But you're saying that's just not, you have to give them the experience.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yes, because if you have a product that you think, oh, I have a great product, you don't have, I have to break the news to you then. You don't have the greatest product. Right. Right. Somebody will always come out with something that's greater than your product. If it's not out yet, it's gonna come out. And if you are, let's say you have the most modern equipment, somebody's gonna come with something. You have the biggest space, somebody's gonna come up. And this is what I this is what I tell my team, and this is what I tell my my members in my membership community. It's easy for people to have a bigger space, a cheaper price, more certifications. I hear that a lot in the medical field. So it's easier for people to get that, but it's not as easy for other people to have a bigger heart.

Jennifer Johnson 10:58

I love that. That is great. I love that. Uh, you know, there's been heavy, I don't know if you've uh read the book or heard the book, Unreasonable Hospitality. Um, it's actually uh a gentleman who had a restaurant in New York City, and he created this book about creating the unreasonable hospitality and how that gets you to where you want to go in a success, successful business. But he talks a lot in there about touch points and customer journey mapping. So you look at all of the touch points that you have in your business that your customers are going to interact with, and that has to play some kind of role in this. How do you design touch points or look at those touch points and refine them so that you move that satisfied customer to that passionate and raving fan customer?

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Yes. So that's a that's a great point. I've heard of the book. I have not read that. It's a great book. It's a great definitely I'll check that out. One book that it has something similar to that is the book by Dan Heath. It's the power of moments. So in that book, they mentioned that they I think they surveyed people who went to Disney World or Disneyland. Basically, it's the Disney.

Designing Moments And Touchpoints

SPEAKER_00 12:19

And what they found out is so they asked people when they went in, how was your level of uh that lever experience? Uh how satisfied are how happy are you? Different points. And I think this is in Disney World, so it's in Florida. And people who are waiting in line under the uh the melting Florida sun, they were not happy. It's hot in Florida, it can be hot there.

Jennifer Johnson 12:44

That's where I'm at.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

Oh, that's where you're at.

Jennifer Johnson 12:47

Right now.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

So it can be hot, and then you have lone lines for the rides, lone lines for the food, and you have a crime baby. So they saw that the average experience is not great. Sure. But then when you ask people after the trip, how was your Disney trip? It was awesome. It's magic. That's okay, right? And this because of the those moments. It's not all the time, like you were saying, those touch points. You have to have, they said the book ends are very important, and then key points in the middle where you create those highlights. And that's what I created in our in our clinic. We have a five-page manual just about patient experience that everybody has to know. Everybody has to go through. Doesn't matter what position you are, you have to know that by heart.

Jennifer Johnson 13:41

That's a great point because then everybody's on literally the same page.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yes, it has to be consistent because you don't want that the patient interacts with your front desk, have a great experience, and then interact with your therapist, doesn't have a great experience. You have to be consistent. And also in business, you know you're gonna have turnovers. So when you have the new people come in, you want them to be able to provide the same level of experience to the patient as well.

Jennifer Johnson 14:11

This kind of moves into my next my next topic about getting tactic and coming up with specific strategies or actions that businesses can take. And and I loved your idea of basically the playbook of how you interact with a customer. That is wonderful. Besides that, what can can businesses do to actively cultivate these razy, raving fans within their business?

SPEAKER_00 14:39

I think that's something that once you have the playbook there and everybody's following, you let them be their authentic self. Because you don't want to dictate and control everything because then they become like robotic, right? We have that as a guide so they know this is the experience we're providing. But each individual person puts their own, their own twist to it, their own magic to it, so that they can see, oh, you know what, this person talks very sweet. Then you have this other person explains very well. So it may not be the same person, but all in all, when you have the team combined, it provides them the great experience. Because somebody provides leadership, some provides the caring, some provides the all those different things. And somebody has to be stern also.

Jennifer Johnson 15:29

There always has to be that one.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

My front, yes, if you tell her, hey, you know what, I'm not paying your copay, she that's not gonna fly. That's not gonna fly. She still provides the great experience, but she put you in place.

Jennifer Johnson 15:41

Right, right. And you know, you that was my next question, and you kind of answered that about the personalization. You're allowing your employees to have the autonomy to still be who they are, but still have that playbook to be like, these are the things you know you should do when the customer comes in or when this happens. It's a guidebook, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Yes, it's a guidebook for them so everybody knows that this is the goal, this is the outcome that we want. And then there's there are different ways how we create that outcome. And these are the guides. So you have the guidelines, so they're not like all over the place. I just don't leave it to chance. And a lot of like all our patients when they come in and they tell me, Oh, Reg, you always you're lucky, you always get the nicest people. And in my mind, I'd say thank you very much, but in my mind, this is not luck.

Jennifer Johnson 16:31

Right, right. And you know, one interesting thing, which is kind of off topic here, but you know, I find that businesses who have like a um core values, right? And their employees know what the core values are, and you as the employer hire according to those core values, then you get people like that who really align with all of the points that your business, you know, the touch points essentially, and with all of the values, and it meshes very well.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Yes, and the core values that you said, it's it's a crucial part of our hiring process. Because let me share with you a story, um, my personal story, and this is true. A few years after I opened up the practice, I went through a rough year, meaning I had 27 people came in and out of my clinic in one year.

Jennifer Johnson 17:27

Employees.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

And I had employees, yes. 27 in and out, and I only had a team of six at that time. Imagine the turnover.

Jennifer Johnson 17:36

It's hard.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

It's hard

The Playbook With Human Autonomy

SPEAKER_00 17:38

because I and then realize, you know, what's going on. At first at the beginning, I was saying, oh, I'm getting bad people. Right. Later on, I realized it's not, they're not all bad people. It's on me too. Yeah. Well, but don't get me wrong, some of them deserve to be fired. Some of them deserve to get fired.

Jennifer Johnson 17:56

There is that, but we always have to look inward too, sometimes, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Yes. I realized my I was hiring a lot of, oh, they have a nice resume. Oh, they're this, this. I was missing the point. That's when the core values came in, and that's why now I change my questioning in my interview process. One of them is what are your values? I asked them, and they tell me, and then I match it if it's the same. Love that's just ours. I don't tell them first because at the earlier stage I made the mistake. I tell them, and then the thing is this this is interesting because somebody with half a brain will repeat that to you. Right. I still had people who did not say that. I was like, oh wow. Oh, this is bad. This is bad. This is bad, yes. But then after I reached, I changed that. So now I ask them, and then I look at it, okay, are we on the same page there? Because if it is, then great. We have the same values or similar values, we have similar vision, and this can be a good fit. Right. If it's not, doesn't matter how how how exemplary, how glowing your resume is, it's just not the right fit.

Jennifer Johnson 19:12

You know what I ended up doing? I ended up taking our core values, I put them into AI, and I said, give me some good interview questions to ask people without them knowing what our core values are. Ask them questions that pertain to these core values so that we could ask those questions. I didn't want them like you said, you know, you don't want them to know, but you need to ask them the questions to see if they align.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

But that's great. Now we have AI, we can do so many things. It makes it a lot easier for us to come up with different ideas. Absolutely. I love that idea.

Jennifer Johnson 19:51

So, what about timing? Is there a specific time, or do you just feel it's the right time when it's you know you can take that customer who is a fan, but you know, they're they're satisfied and push them into that rating, or do they just kind of follow their own timeline and do their own thing?

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yeah, so that's a that's a great question again, because this everybody's different there as you go through that journey. But the more for me, you have important key points there. I mentioned earlier is the bookends, the beginning and an end. You only have one chance to get create a great first impression. You better make it count. So we do a lot of training on the person who's gonna pick up the phone, the person who's greeting the patient. There are different things that key things that they will have to say or do on that time. And then at the end, there are ways, there are things that we do to celebrate the patient getting discharged from the therapy program. So those are important. In the middle, it's a it's you have to let it flow freely because some people come in spectac uh skeptical, right? And then they're like your cold leads. So it takes them a little bit to warm up. And it also depends on the personality. Some people come in, they're just they're very serious, they don't want to have anything to do with anybody. But then you have some people come in warm. They they like to have fun, so they it they will go and uh switch over to that raving fan quicker. Everybody has a different different timeline. So you have to just let it flow. And but we provide those similar experiences to everyone.

Jennifer Johnson 21:31

So you go through this process, you have your customers, and you you realize that you know, I have this this group of customers, or maybe it's just one who they're just I I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to satisfy them, or or they're satisfied. I don't know that I'm ever going to be able to move the needle into the I'm a raving fan. What do you do?

SPEAKER_00 21:54

So in business, we serve thousands of people, a lot of people. You're not gonna be able to please everyone. Right. You're not you're not for everyone.

Hiring For Core Values

Jennifer Johnson 22:06

So we it's hard to think about sometimes though, right? As a business owner.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

As a business owner, yes. I realized that and I accepted that. As long as everybody follows our playbook, we do our best for all the patients. And then if some of them are still not happy, then maybe it's not the perfect fit for us. Right. It's not uncommon though that this happens. They may still complain about something. We don't like burn bridges. We tell them, hey, if you're not happy here, you can go to another place that you think is going to help you more. We're going to be happy for you. If you still need us in the future, don't hesitate to give us a call. We told we don't tell them to just get lost and don't let the door go away. No. We still tell them we're always going to be here. And this is interesting what happens. They go someplace else and then they come back later on. They have a different attitude now because they had a lot worse experience someplace else. And then when they come back, they're ready.

Jennifer Johnson 23:17

Right. It's the saying, grass isn't always greener on the other side.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

But you know that is true. And when it comes to that, a lot of times the patients who have came to us and they tell us, let's say, oh, I've been to three other therapy clinics already. Those are the ones that become some of our most raving fans. Because now they know that, like you said, the grass definitely was not greener over there. And then now, you guys are doing this, you are that's nice. And you gave me this result. Right.

Jennifer Johnson 23:53

Mm-hmm. You know, with that said, what is what is the role of community? And with community, what I mean is, you know, especially because you have physical therapy. So I'm guessing that some of your patients are in together, um, much like, you know, I have a store and customers are shopping right next to each other. But how do you get your your fans to connect with each other? Because that creates an even um tighter bond of, you know, hey, I love this place. This great place is great, isn't it? And oh my gosh, yes. Then all of a sudden, you know, it attracts a crowd. How do you do that? And is there a place for that?

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Oh, yes, that's very, very important. Because people want to belong. It's in their community or in our clinic, we don't even call it a community. We call it a family. And I sincerely mean that because I'm in this location. So I was I worked for somebody else more than 10 years, and I'm here 12 years in the same neighborhood. I've been in this neighborhood since I came to America, uh, which is 2023 years ago. Wow. This is home to me. This is my family. I see people in the church, in the store, in the pharmacy, sometimes good, not good. But it's all great though. But it's a family because then they like to belong. And then when they're here, we have cubicles for each patient for privacy. Sure. But then we have a gym area because they exercise. And when they go in the gym area, some people you're gonna see, especially this. I know the seniors, it's like sometimes it's like we have uh a senior center here. They go together, they like and they know each other, they're from the neighborhood, they chat, and they just it's and then they oh, you come here, oh I know this person. Oh, I recommended this person.

Jennifer Johnson 25:47

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

They take pride in that. And and this is the other thing. When they had surgeries, they would talk, oh, you had the knee? Oh, that's easy. I had the hip, it's harder. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

It's just sharing tips.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

And then the the staff, they know that, hey, you know what, we're not gonna be, we're not too serious, like, oh, let's do this and they get you out of it. No, you you go into that. We make it a fun experience because who wants to go to therapy and get stretched and get hurt? Like, who wants to go to see a doctor? Yeah, you make it fun and then they enjoy so that when they are outside, they do the same thing. Either they become friends. I even had I even had patients before who met and then they they went out, male, female. One of them I remember, I saw them in the Chinese restaurant I was eating. I was like, I said, I I I know those people. That's funny. No, it's seriously in the clinic. And I'm like, I I'm so happy for them. That's the kind of relationship that you want your people to have. Because when they tell other people and other people felt good or they had a great experience, it comes back because guess what? Of course, they would thank them, and they're all of a sudden now like, yeah, I'm good because I sent you to that place. You're happy, right? So it pads their ego. That's wonderful.

Jennifer Johnson 27:07

Once you have

Timing The Ask And Knowing Fit

Jennifer Johnson 27:09

raving fans, how do you keep them engaged? How do you keep them passionate? Because, you know, time as time goes on, people can can move on, right? But how do you keep them engaged and excited to keep sharing your brand with people?

SPEAKER_00 27:25

That is a crucial question. Because business, we rely on that. Like for our business to give you an idea, most of when I say most of our patients, meaning 60 60% of our referrals every month are word of mouth or former patients.

Jennifer Johnson 27:41

That's pretty high.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Yes. So that's we really want to work on that. And how do we keep them? Because these are people who, if let's say they had arthritis today, you know chances are they live long enough, they're gonna have a knee replacement if arthritis on the knee. So it's chronic conditions, and as people get older, and even young people, they are active, they can get hurt. I always like to follow up and keep in touch with them. The question is, how do you do that? Is if in the neighborhood, because we have a number of seniors, big population here also, we go old school, we can send them newsletters. Or now, if it's more modern or some company, some of my uh my members, they tell me, Oh, Rich, I want to spend that. I understand. You go email. That's a pretty well-known strategy. The question now is what do you put in your email? Right. Because if your open rate is very low, if people unsubscribe, well, you have to ask yourself, are you sending them something that's useful to them? So for me, I send them tips on how to get rid of different types of pain, all those things. So I send that on a weekly basis, so we're always top of mind. So that's one. It's a you has to be useful for them. I do create YouTube videos, I post them weekly. Yes, we get ad sense on that one, so you make some revenue there. But for me, the most important part is I link that to my newsletter, to my weekly email. So, because some people can read and they can understand what you're trying to tell them with the exercise, but some people, oh, I like I can't follow. Yeah. Then they see it in the video. So now you have both of and then they will share it with other people. The video. So the video, the email, right? Yes, and the other part there is you have to be authentic when you're viewing the email. I I I see this a lot. Clinic owners, oh, I hired a marketing company that knows nothing about your business. They don't know about your business, they don't know your core values. People can see that they can sense it if it's you. And if you're authentic, sometimes I share parts of my story, and those are the ones that has the highest open rate and highest click rate. So I think that's important.

Jennifer Johnson 30:04

I love all of this. How do you though leverage these fans without making them feel like they're unpaid salespeople? Ah because that would be a concern if it's not done correctly.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

And correct. Because you don't want to come out salesy. No, you don't. You don't want to come out for me. I don't, I guess I never thought about it as do we come out salesy. Because I focus on just providing them a great experience. And then when they're happy, people are smart. They know how to support your business, and they know the same thing as they know how to hurt your business by putting a bad review. They know that, oh, I want ABC therapy, or in my case, we want Restore Plus Physical Therapy to be around the neighborhood for a long time. Because the next time I need them, I want them to be there. So we would recommend other people there. So they know how to support you.

Jennifer Johnson 31:03

It's altruistic on their part. They're doing it because they want you to be around.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Yes. And even if they didn't think of that, because I always believe that to a certain extent, people may be need to be told what to do. They do. Tell them, right? They do. So we tell them to send people over, prefer their family, their friends, but it has to be on a key, it's a strategic part of their journey with us. So that you don't come out salesy. When they're on that level that they really

Community, Belonging, And Pride

SPEAKER_00 31:36

they would tell you, if I have, let's say I have a patient come to me and tell me, you know what, Reg, your staff, it's just awesome. I love him or I love her. That's the best time to ask for a referral. Because they're raving about you already. And then when you ask them for a referral at that time, they're not gonna think, oh, he just he he just sold me, or like, oh, he's so salesy. No. No. Because it came from them.

Jennifer Johnson 32:03

Right. Mm-hmm. What do you think the biggest mistake is when companies are trying to go on this journey? What's the the number one mistake that you see them make?

SPEAKER_00 32:13

The most common mistake I see business makes is this is across different industries, is they look at their customers or their patients as a number, as a transaction. Yeah. I I look at them as a person. Yes, we know the numbers count. We have to keep track of our metrics. We have to keep our lights on, we have to pay the bills. But they are not just numbers to me, they're part of my family. And my staff, all of them, they feel the same way. Because if you don't, then you're not a fit for my company.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

I think that's the most common mistake. And your values it goes, yeah, it goes back to the values. And the second one is when it comes to the follow-up. Because, like you mentioned, life happens. They forget. After let's say a couple of years, even if you provide them the greatest research, after a couple of years, they can't remember, they it's like it gets blurry in their mind. Sure. And then they forget. So if you do the follow-up correctly, they will keep remembering you. And when they need something, yeah, you're there, they're always top of mind.

Jennifer Johnson 33:20

You know, the we're always gonna have negative feedback, we're always gonna have criticism. How could you handle a customer who had a negative experience or feels they had a negative experience and turn that disappointment into a raving fan?

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Every business goes through something like that. If you haven't had a negative experience, negative review, that means you have not had a business long enough. Or maybe your reviews are all fake, which I know companies that I get emails from them. They sell those reviews.

Jennifer Johnson 33:59

Oh gosh, they do.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

They do. Do so for me, when somebody is not happy, it depends on if they're in person or let's say they express online. First is we we acknowledge it. We acknowledge them first because a lot of times they want to be heard. A lot of them, they don't really want to hurt you or your business. They just want to be heard, and then there's something that they want to get out of it. So, first is you acknowledge them and then let's see what it is that caused a problem. Is it a miscommunication or is it something that maybe we can do on our end to make it up? Because sometimes we do make mistakes. Right. And when we do, we own up to it. And then the question is, how do we make it better for you? So when they're here, like just an example. When the patients come in, we have a rule, nobody goes home. Meaning nobody goes home without getting the treatment.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Example will be let's say the patient comes in, they made the mistake with their appointment. It's for tomorrow. They came in today. A lot of places I see, oh, you know what, uh oh, we don't have time for you today, go home, come back.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

I

Keeping Fans Warm With Useful Content

SPEAKER_00 35:18

tell my staff I don't want that. But I tell them why also, because they think, oh, you just want the money, blah, blah, blah. It's not that. I tell them this. Look at it this way. They took time off from work, they paid Uber, they paid the subway, and they came in.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

How about if it that's you? You're not gonna be get paid in your job already. You already spent the money for you to hear a no, and they didn't even try. How would you feel about that? So for me, we try to accommodate them. If we have a full schedule, we tell them, hey, you know what, Jen, we have a full schedule right now. We do have in the next hour, we do have something opening up. Will you be okay with we're gonna wait a little bit at that time and then we would want to see you because I just don't want you to have just wasted your trip here. That way they can decide. So that's what I mean. At least, even if it's not the perfect situation, you're avoiding that conflict, right?

Jennifer Johnson 36:20

And you're being accommodating.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

You want to at least try because the worst is they feel like you didn't even try. Right.

unknown 36:27

Yes.

Jennifer Johnson 36:28

Now, if it's that I mean, it makes complete sense and it it would make me feel good.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Yes. And that's why I put I tell my staff if you're in that uh situation. And now, if it is, let's say, online, they put out a negative review. I often see companies don't they don't even respond. They don't well, I see companies don't even respond to a positive review. That's true. Let alone a negative one. And then also I see companies just respond and say thank you to positive reviews, and then they ignore the negative one. I think that's even more important for you to acknowledge and to respond to the negative one, because then other people who are looking at it will be like, oh, not everybody's perfect.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

But this is how they handle this kind of situation. It shows the values that the comp the character that the company has.

Jennifer Johnson 37:23

I could not agree more. I think that's a really, a really great way. So as we start to wrap up, I know that a lot of our listeners right now are probably going, okay, you know, I really want to start doing this, but where do I start? Do you have any suggestions? Maybe step number one, what can they do to start this process?

SPEAKER_00 37:44

The process, the fundamental process that I mentioned earlier is find out what you what sets you apart. And then deep inside, if you don't know your core values yet, I think it will be the best use of your time to analyze, find out what your core values and have them come together. Like you mentioned earlier about AI, then maybe put everything in AI and then see what it comes up, come up, come out with. So that way you have your foundation. I think that has to be the beginning. And then the tactic, there's so many ways you can go about this. But there's no way you will be able to create those tactics if you don't have a stable base. Because the house is gonna the foundation, if not your house is gonna collapse.

Jennifer Johnson 38:37

I talk about foundation a lot because it's so important you have to lay the ground so that you're right, the house doesn't fall down. So agree with that. Well, I am we're we're coming to a close and I have what I call the final four. It's four questions, and I ask all of my guests because I am so intrigued by what my guests' answers are. And I've received so many wonderful ideas from this part of the podcast. So I know that our listeners probably have as well. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Yes.

Jennifer Johnson 39:10

You're ready for the final four. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

I'm gonna answer them the best that I can.

Jennifer Johnson 39:14

The first question is what is your favorite book that you've read, and what was it that made

Asking For Referrals Without Feeling Salesy

Jennifer Johnson 39:20

it stick with you?

SPEAKER_00 39:22

Interesting part there is most of my life I've been just reading technical books because I'm in the medical field. Right. It's after graduated that's reading more, more on leadership, especially when I went through those hard times in my business. But the one that I would say resonates with me the most right now, because different stages, different books resonate with me. At this stage in my life, in my journey, the book that has resonated with me the most is the book by Jen Gottlieb, the Be Seen book. I finished that a few months ago. And the reason why is because I've always been an introvert. I grew up poor in the in the Philippines. I was always bullied. I grew up with I didn't have a voice. People made me feel like my opinion don't matter or I have dumb ideas. And that made a big impact on my mind because I there was one point I I couldn't even ask waiters for water because I was just so scared of opening my mouth.

Jennifer Johnson 40:31

Oh. And look at you now, Reggie.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

And and that's the thing. If it wasn't for Jen, I would not be where I am now sharing this with you being on other podcasts. I have a keynote coming up in a couple of months. I would, if it wasn't for her and that book and in her her membership, I would not be able to share this with everyone. So she's a good one.

Jennifer Johnson 40:56

She's a great person.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

She really is. She is. She is.

Jennifer Johnson 40:59

She is. Do you have a favorite quote or a favorite piece of advice that really helped form you, shape you?

SPEAKER_00 41:11

For me, I think this is uh quote that I don't see it or hear it very often. It's a Japanese proverb. It says, fall seven times, get up eight. Because my life is my key thing, is my superpower is persistence. Going up poor, being bullied, being disrespected, coming here, being broke three times. Just so many struggles. I just keep going. And it's I'm stubbornly, stubbornly, really like persistent. Right. That's a good trait. And that's something, thank you. And that's something that's a quote that I always keep in mind. Because you're gonna you're gonna always have struggles. Life is gonna knock you down, that's a guarantee. But to stay down, that's a choice.

Jennifer Johnson 42:03

So like that. That is that is really great. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Yes, that always is in my mind.

Jennifer Johnson 42:11

What is one habit or practice that has changed your life?

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Actually, it's two combined together.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

And I know a lot of people talk about their morning routine. Yes, it depends, everybody's different there. But for me, I put this in the morning because it's the start of my day, gets me off in the right place. One is I do cold showers. I don't have the cold bath, I don't have the space for that, but I have a cold shower. And why it's important to me is because whenever I go in a cold shower, it reminds me that I have to do things that

Biggest Mistakes And Follow-Up

SPEAKER_00 42:50

I'm not comfortable with.

Jennifer Johnson 42:52

Excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

I have to do things that I'm not comfortable with. That prepares my mind to lean into the discomfort, to lean into the challenges. Because there's no morning, especially winter here in New York, there's no morning that I wake up. Yeah, I'm gonna take a cold shower today. That hasn't happened yet.

Jennifer Johnson 43:13

I can't imagine. I wouldn't I would be the same.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

So that prepares my mind to tackle and just keeps reminding me of that. And plus, I don't need coffee to wake up because when that cold shower hits you, you wake up. The second one is my meditation because that centers me and that keeps me focused on what are important to me, which is right now three things. One, it's important to me to serve my people, meaning my patients, my staff, and also people online. And that's why I started doing the keynote speaking. The second is to lead with values because I owe it to my staff and they're my family, and I take that responsibility very seriously. And the third is to be there for my family. I'm divorced, I'm a divorced dad, I have one son, and I want, I love him to death. I want to be there for him all the time. So being able to do my some people call it visionary work, or I can focus on those three things. What are the things that I have to do on my schedule that aligns with those? So those two things for me are very, very powerful, and that changed my life.

Jennifer Johnson 44:29

They're powerful pieces, except for the cold shower. And then if you could have dinner with anyone who is living or not living, who would it be and why?

SPEAKER_00 44:45

Interesting. For me, one thing, one person I would think of there is I would think of Nelson Mandela. The reason is because I guess the journey that we had, it's I know it's it's a different time. He was he I can't imagine the hardship he went through. But just reading about it, it's it's the the hardships that he he lived through. He was in prison for many years. And still, when he came out, he was, I don't know if he wasn't bitter, but he definitely didn't show it because he served the people. Right. He forgave and he still led. So for me, like that's how were you able to do that? Because I I'm gonna tell you, I'm human. Because some some of the people who bullied me back then, I have a chip on my shoulder. Hey, I get you. I you know something that fires me, right?

Jennifer Johnson 45:43

Right, but it that moves you forward, that makes you it adds to your fuel.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

Yes, because this is one thing. I know positivity is a big thing now, but when life gets really tough, when things get really, really bad, sometimes

Turn Negatives Into Loyalty

SPEAKER_00 46:01

I feel like you have to go into that dark side. Because I use the uh the story of uh Star Wars, the light and the dark. Usually the dark side is a lot more powerful. It's just that the good usually prevails because they know how to use the power even if it's less. So sometimes you really need to dig in deep. Sometimes you need that, but you have to be careful not to stay in that dark side too long, though, because it consumes you. So for me, that's the his story really resonates with me a lot about the persistence and just to forgive.

Jennifer Johnson 46:36

Reggie, I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversation today. Lots of little nuggets that you've dropped in here that I know our listeners are going to be able to use. So I'm very thankful for you coming on the show. And if our listeners would like to get in touch with you, how can they do so?

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Yes. So I would love to have them get in touch with me. Uh, I still man my own social media. I I don't think that I would want to give that uh up. My profile is Regit2, R-E-G-I-E-T-I-U. So just one G. So a lot of people make a mistake in Swan.

Jennifer Johnson 47:11

So R E G I It's how it's on the screen. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

Yes, and uh in uh so in LinkedIn, in Facebook, Instagram, and even on TikTok.

Jennifer Johnson 47:21

You're on TikTok. That's awesome. That is wonderful. Thank you again so much, Reggie.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

You're welcome. And it was my pleasure, Jen.

Jennifer Johnson 47:31

Thank you, and thank you to all of our listeners.