Super glad to be back with you! I took some time away from the podcast during this pandemic. And now that I’m back and this is going to be a GREAT show for you!

Now that COVID is becoming part of our history, things are OPENING UP! We have the pandemic on the run! People are thinking about what it’s all going to be like when we can start calling things “normal.”

One of those things is going to be weddings! Remember those? Lots of people, two of whom are pledging their life-long love and devotion for each other, and then there’s drinking, and dancing, and all-around partying? Yeah! That was actually a thing! We did that!

I know a few couples who have actually put off getting married because they wanted to have that “thing,” and now people are really starting to think about making it happen.

Our guest happens to be one of the larger wedding entertainment companies in the New York / New Jersey area. So, if you want to talk about big weddings, amazing entertainment (where the musicians are often Broadway performers), these are the folks who set that up.

And this podcast is about all things Customer Experience, so what is one of the most intense customer experience situations around? Weddings! Our guest, Mike Saulpaugh, has a really interesting take on what it means to deliver a great customer experience.

Michael Saulpaugh is Managing Partner at Elegant Music Group, based out of Montclair, NJ. In addition to his 18 years in the events and entertainment industry, Michael has a professional background in creative advertising. His work has been featured in Adweek and BuzzFeed has called him, “hilariously clever.” Michael, as you’ll hear, is all about leveraging the experience of the customer to drive business growth, and was selected to and is now a contributing member on the Forbes Business Council.

Elegant Music Group Website: https://elegantmusicgroup.com/

To connect with Pat Perdue:

Instagram: @pat_perdue_brand_strategist

Twitter: @patpatperdue

SHOW NOTES

Traditional retail has been on a slow, but steady decline for probably the last decade. So much so that retailers were getting super creative to find a way to bring you into the store. In-store mini concerts, dining options like great coffee shops or pop-up kitchens, were becoming a trend in some of the higher-end stores. And then – you guessed it – COVID-19 hit and the way we used to shop is pretty much history.So, since you probably can’t go to that favourite store of yours, or maybe these days you’re less inclined to, what if there was a way to somehow bring that in-store magic to you, in the comfort of your home?Today’s guest, Oscar Sachs, is the CEO and co-founder of Salesfloor. Salesfloor empowers store associates to provide the personalized service customers love by connecting store associates to shoppers both in-store, and online. Think Facetiming with your favourite sales associate right there in the store. Salesfloor has over 45,000 associates from leading retailers in apparel, beauty, jewelry and baby items and toys. Salesfloor is redefining the role of store associates in N. America, and globally. And with retail trending how it’s been trending, simply put, they’re the future of retail. About Our Guest

Oscar Sachs

Oscar Sachs is the CEO and co-founder of Salesfloor. Formerly a retail executive responsible for store operations at the Aldo Group and Best Buy, Oscar led some of retail’s earliest omnichannel initiatives to create a bridge between the online and bricks and mortar retail worlds. Oscar Sachs is the founder of several successful start-ups in the retail digital space, such as Ad Splash Media, the first company to develop a digital media program for the top online ecommerce sites. Oscar earned his MBA degree from McGill University.For the Salesfloor website, click here.

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Click here to leave a rating / review on iTunes

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Thank you for listening.

SHOW NOTES

Today’s guest is Raymond Reddy, co-founder and CEO of the highly successful Ritual – which enables social ordering from restaurants in major cities across North America, The UK, and Australia. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about:

a) How digital in traditionally non-digital industries, like food pick-up and delivery, can have a transformative effect on the overall customer experience.

b) How digital ordering is transforming the fundamental design of the restaurant, and how Ritual helps their restaurant partners create space that maximizes flow, prevents line-ups, and improves the in-store customer experience.

c) How specific, customer-by-customer, and order-by-order data, can help restaurants survive in hyper-competitive markets, and how working with Ritual can help them.

d) Much, much more…

About Our Guest, Raymond Reddy

Raymond Reddy is the co-founder and CEO of Ritual. Prior to Ritual, Ray co-founded the mobile commerce company PushLife. In 2011, Google purchased PushLife and Ray joined the Google team, leading mobile product management for shopping and commerce. Ray soon recognized the potential of better leveraging a social application to unlock mobile commerce and thus, Ritual was born.

Click here to visit Ritual

Leave us a review on iTunes

I really appreciate all the support I’ve been receiving on this podcast! Thank you! If you want to leave a rating and review on iTunes, that’s always helpful for people to find the podcast.

Click here to leave a rating / review on iTunes

Contact Pat Perdue on Twitter

I always love hearing from folks on Twitter. Click here to send me a Tweet:

@PatPerdue

Thank you for listening.