Debra Schmidt

Debra J. Schmidt, also known as the Loyalty Leader®, is an author, consultant, corporate trainer and professional speaker. She helps companies boost their profits by leading the way to greater customer, employee and brand loyalty. Debra is in demand as one of the nation’s top customer loyalty experts -- helping her clients keep more customers, retain more employees, get more referrals and sell more products.

As the owner of Loyalty Leader® Inc., Debra provides training, consulting and keynote addresses for Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, professional organizations and trade associations throughout the United States. She has developed customer service standards and delivered training for companies such as Northweste Mutual, Miller Brewing Company, Wells Fargo, Roundy’s, American Family Insurance, Kohler Co, Lucent Technologies and the Green Bay Packers.

She has a master’s degree and over 30 years of business management and sales experience in a wide range of industries. Debra was nominated for an Emmy award in 1991 and has won six national marketing awards. In addition to her monthly television appearances on Fox News in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Debra has been a featured guest on radio shows throughout the United States. Her articles have appeared in hundreds of magazines and on-line publications.

Debra is the author of three books: Building Customer Loyalty from the Inside Out, The Extra Mile--15 True Stories of Exceptional Service and 101 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty. She is also a featured author in the following books: You Can Increase Your Sales In Any Economy and Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman’s Soul.

Debra is past president of the National Speakers Association-Wisconsin, an accredited member (APR) of the Public Relations Society of America and past president of the Association for Women In Communications, Inc. She is also an adjunct professor at Marquette University.

Debra's energy and enthusiasm is a reflection of her adventurous spirit. She has ridden her bike 1,700 miles from Canada to Mexico, taught downhill skiing to the blind, hiked the rainforests of Costa Rica, paddled a canoe 125 miles down the Rio Grande River, backpacked 37 miles through the Grand Canyon and skied 55 kilometers in the American Birkebeiner, North America’s largest cross country ski marathon.

How Debra can help the media:

• If you are looking for customer service success stories, I can share sources and contact information.
• If you need articles, columns, tip sheets, or other short items, I can meet even the toughest deadlines without fail.
• I can provide more than 50 customer service and sales-related articles you can reprint--and adjust the word count to meet your needs to save you time editing. See my Free Articles page for a partial list.
• I write freelance articles for a variety of publications and have built a reputation for suggesting off-the-wall topics, writing clean and compelling copy, and respecting deadlines.
• I can provide a list of other experts and contact information on the topics of customer service, selling techniques, building customer and employee loyalty.
• I can provide expert commentary, background and story ideas on the topics of customer service, customer retention, customer loyalty and management.