Lisa Ford

Biography

Lisa Ford is a speaker with over 20 years of experience presenting to businesses, associations and government. She speaks throughout the United States and internationally on topics of customer service, leadership, team issues and change. Lisa is best known for her work in the areas of customer service. She is the author of the videotape series How to Give Exceptional Customer Service, the #1 selling business tapes in the U.S. for over 3 years. Her other videos and audiotapes include: Developing a Customer Retention Program, Building a Customer Driven Organization: The Manager’s Role and Personal Power. Her recent book is Exceptional Customer Service – Going Beyond Good Service to Exceed the Customer’s Expectations.

Lisa designs content personalized to the audience and issues they face. She has also customized numerous videos for clients to use in their ongoing education efforts. Lisa’s experience includes working with Pfizer, Viacom, Edward Jones, CSX, Kaiser Permanente, Morton’s of Chicago, Citgo, American Gas Association, American Diabetes Association and American Veterinary Medical Association.

In 2002, Lisa was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association. She is one of 200 speakers who have been honored over 30 years. She also serves on the Alumni Board of Directors for the University of Tennessee.

Videos

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Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

Why Customer Service Is NOT Enough

This speech is a combination of content, examples, and motivation. It's about the challenges of getting customers to love your products, services, and people. Business speaker Lisa Ford relates statistics, strategies, and stories so the audience leaves with skills and the desire to win and keep customers.

Extreme Customer Service

In this session, Lisa Ford covers six ways to rethink your service. These ideas will help you create ways to exceed your customers' expectations, see your service from the customers' view, and set service standards to make service delivery a reality.

Exceptional Customer Service

In this seminar, Lisa Ford addresses the role of front-line employees who have the daily demanding job of serving more sophisticated and educated customers.

Create an Energized and Motivated Service Team

Learn what works when it comes to creating exceptional service and creating loyal customers. In this session, Lisa Ford describes the environment you must create to encourage a strong, involved team, your role in modeling the right behavior, and the strategies to maintain the right service attitude.

Testimonials

Lisa was and is phenomenal! She captured the attention of a very diverse audience. All were engaged and responded to her presentation. When rounding in the hospital, all I hear is how awesome she was and how she touched people to look at their behaviors on service. She has a great sense of humor and her stories are wonderful and entertaining. We found her very responsive to the language and key messages we were trying to create in the forum, as take home messages for our staff and MDs. I find Lisa exceptional to work with and have already recommended her to my peers in the organization. I am a true fan of Lisa Ford.

– Kaiser Permanente

To share a few comments, “It was the best conference – Red Cross or other wise – that I’ve ever been to. If this doesn’t inspire our staff, nothing ever will.” “Lisa Ford was great! Did you notice how everyone dashed back after break? No one wanted to miss a minute.

– American Red Cross

All the feedback we received regarding Lisa and her presentation was very positive. The message and the steps she provided served tangible take- aways our leaders can use immediately. Lisa’s style was different from our previous presenters, her integrative approach was well received and we were successful in keeping the event relevant, impactful and fresh for our leaders. Thank you again! To bottom line it, our expectations were exceeded!

– Cox Communications

Lisa’s program exceeded my expectations and our employees will look at how they approach customer interactions differently. Her humor and real-life stories really make it easy to relate and understand.

– Allstate Insurance Company

Lisa hit a home run. I have received only positive feedback! Please convey my appreciation to Lisa for her great presentation and preparation with us. Many of the concepts Lisa presented not only resonated with our chiefs and administrators, they have inspired new direction and focus in our work to lead our market and industry in exceptional care experience delivery. Thanks!!

– Robert Blair, Administration, Kaiser Permanente, South Bay

I wish to compliment you on the thoroughness of your pre-conference research on our Association and the work that we do in support of our mission. It made it relevant to our audience. Our staff left the meeting motivated to strive for excellence in customer service and more importantly, with a strong sense of how to create that environment in their office and communities in the year ahead.

– Tom Bognanno, Executive Office, American Diabetes Association

For the past two days I’ve heard over and over managers say to one another….”remember when Lisa said this or Lisa said that!”. A greater compliment couldn’t possibly be extended. I believe my group is inspired to build a strong foundation of loyalty among their customers and that what they learned from you will find its way into every day practice.

– George Hellen, Resident District Manager, Aramark

Lisa’s real life stories and examples not only entertained our team, but caused us to reflect upon how simple acts can turn an everyday guest experience into an exceptional one. Ms. Ford seamlessly wove our training and service standards into her presentations, demonstrating key insight into our business and helping our team gain clarity on what needs to be accomplished to deliver a truly great guest experience.

– Jim Hicks, Director, El Pollo Loco

Booksby Lisa Ford

Exceptional Customer Service

Only The Best On Success

Only The Best On Leadership

For Meeting Planners

Photos

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Blog Posts

Elevate Your Event With These Skills: Insights from Gabriella Robuccio

Think event planning is all about checklists and timetables? Think again. Emmy‑winning strategist Gabriella Robuccio shares more on The Keynote Curators Podcast.

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Learn how intentional Juneteenth programming paired with transformative keynote speakers can turn commemoration into sustained equity and inclusion.

AI, GEO, & SEO Marketing for Speakers: The 2025 Authority-Building Playbook

How Professional Speakers and Speaker Bureaus Can Leverage AI to Build Unshakeable Authority and Increase Visibility in the New Search Landscape

Rethinking Events: Bite-Sized Surprises and Live Interaction with Seth Godin

Seth Godin shares his strategies and suggestions for unforgettable events—from riff-based teaching to co-creation through communication and creativity.

Aligning Prosperity with Purpose: Money Lessons from Doug Lynam

Marine. Monk. Manager. Behavioral finance expert Doug Lynam helps you heal your relationship with finances, aligning prosperity with a deeper, personal purpose.

Expert Mental Health Keynote Speakers That Can Elevate Your Attendees’ Experiences

Learn how the right mental health keynote speaker can help transform your events by fostering connection, resilience, and lasting impact that last a lifetime.