Geoff Ramm — Speaker, Author, Marketer and the genius begind Celebrity Service
With Geoff Ramm — Speaker, Author, Marketer and the genius begind Celebrity Service
In short
Geoff Ramm, a UK-based speaker who has worked in 42 countries, explains how he moved from marketing consultancy to full-time speaking, why original observed stories beat borrowed ones, and what "celebrity service" means: asking what you'd do differently if your next customer were an A-list star, and treating that difference as the gap in your service you didn't know existed. The one takeaway: The service gap is invisible until you measure your normal treatment of customers against what you would do for an A-list celebrity.
Who is Geoff Ramm and what does he actually do?
He is a professional speaker based in the north-east of England, between South Shields and Sunderland, delivering celebrity service keynotes across the UK, Europe, Africa and North America. He has been a professional speaker for 12 years and has run his own business for 18. He is married to Hayley and they have two children, Grace and Elliot.
How did he get from marketing into speaking?
He fell in love with business studies at school, then spent years advising startups with no budget on getting free publicity, before becoming marketing manager for a motor retail group handling 11 dealerships and brands including Honda, Toyota and Peugeot. He launched Mercury Marketing on 1 March 2002, where speaking was five per cent of the work.
What made him decide to speak full time?
A Christmas conversation with his wife Hayley, seven years into the business, when he was exhausted from saying yes to everything. She asked what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He named speaking, and by 2 January had launched a second brand under the domain geofframm.com.
What is the difference between telling stories and being a storyteller?
Being in the story rather than reporting it. Ramm plays multiple parts — the shopkeeper, himself, his son Elliot — so the audience feels present in the moment. He gathers material constantly, photographing anything in daily life that makes him laugh, smile or shed a tear, then builds it into a slide and a talk.
How does a story about an ice cream shop help an insurance company?
He twists the ending. The story itself need not relate to the sector, but Ramm changes the outcome at the very end to show what it means for that particular organisation. That relevance is what makes it memorable — people contact him on LinkedIn years later recalling specific stories.
What is celebrity service?
It is a single question: if your next customer were an A-list Hollywood celebrity, what would you do differently? Whatever you would change — staying open late, returning the proposal faster, not sending a cut-and-paste email — is the gap in your service you don't realise exists. It now accounts for about 97 per cent of his bookings.
Why isn't "go the extra mile" good enough?
Because nothing new has appeared in customer service for three decades, and the two phrases always trotted out — go the extra mile and exceed expectations — never describe what that actually looks like. Audiences typically rate themselves seven or eight out of ten; celebrity service is designed to bridge the remaining gap.
What should a business do with the ideas that come out of the exercise?
Pick two and nail them rather than attempting a hundred. Once embedded, they become part of the culture and how new staff are taught to work. Competitors will replicate them eventually, but by then you have moved on and reset the dial again.
What has he done with a diary emptied by the lockdown?
He is writing his fourth book, the follow-up to Celebrity Service, interviewing clients worldwide over Zoom. He also takes virtual bookings, including a session for a thousand home-working members of an Indian client, and contacts one customer a day by text, email, video or card.
In their words
If your next customer were an A list celebrity Hollywood movie god or goddess, so the next tweet you get is from an A list superstar, the next phone call, the next person that knocks on your door.
If nobody's talking about you right now for the great service that you've delivered, you're not delivering a great service worthy of being talked about.
I think there's one big difference between telling stories and being a great storyteller. I am in the story. I'm always in the story. So I will play multiple parts.
I'm not saying do all 100 tomorrow. I'm saying just do two and nail them and it becomes part of your culture.
Be proud of what you did in the time that you had.
Key takeaways
- The service gap is invisible until you measure your normal treatment of customers against what you would do for an A-list celebrity.
- Two well-executed service ideas embedded in a culture beat a hundred that are never actioned.
- Original stories drawn from your own observed life cannot be copied by anyone else, and they are what audiences remember years later.
- Marketing habits learned working with businesses that have no money remain useful even when the budget becomes large.
- If nobody is talking about your service right now, it isn't worth talking about — customers are the ones doing your marketing.
- Virtual delivery is not the same as a room, a bacon sandwich and corridor conversations, but technology still allows a business to keep serving clients.
Show notes
On this episode I chat with Geoff about how he got into the speaker and training business. He also shares some of his philosophy regarding celebrity service. He is an inspiration and quite literally buzzing with energy. If you want to know anything about customer service or the customer experience he is your man.
Frequently asked questions
Where can the books be found?
On Amazon, searching for Geoff Ramm. There are three: the second edition of Celebrity Service, and two marketing books under his OMG Marketing brand. All three contain stories of businesses he has met in South Africa.
What are his books like to read?
Short and practical rather than dense — he describes them as full of stories, ideas, photographs and images, not a war-and-peace text where you plough through 24 chapters for one idea. The intention is to dip in, take an idea and use it.
How many countries has he spoken in?
Forty-two, from Japan to Ecuador to Iran to Australia, including South Africa 14 times. He names the Drakensberg among his favourite places, describing it as the Swiss Alps with no snow.
What one thing does he suggest doing during lockdown?
Reach out to one customer a day — a text, email, video message or a posted card — simply to keep in contact and offer help. He credits Facebook Messenger and LinkedIn with keeping people out of a darker place.
Where else can Geoff Ramm be found online?
geofframm.com, which he calls the mothership, plus a YouTube channel under his name carrying 94 videos, many of them stage footage, and LinkedIn and Facebook.
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