Ross Shafer

Topics

Presentations

Inspirational/Human Resources
Nobody Moved Your Cheese!

Change Part 1
The Customer Empathy™ Solution Part I

Change Part 2
The Customer Empathy™ Solution Part II

Customer Loyalty, Customer Experience

Motivation

Masterful MC

Summary Profile

ROSS SHAFER is a SIX-TIME Emmy Winning Comedian, Writer, and TV Host who in l994, turned his energies and enthusiasm toward the corporate & association world. As a lifelong student of human behavior, Ross has written and produced (14) Human Resource training films on customer service, motivation, and leadership. His ability as a master performer quickly propelled him as a highly demanded corporate and association Keynote speaker.

With a fearless perspective, Ross challenges audiences to be wary, "You can't solve unconventional problems with conventional wisdom." 

To that end, Ross has authored NOBODY MOVED YOUR CHEESE!, THE CUSTOMER SHOUTS BACK!, CUSTOMER EMPATHY, ARE YOU RELEVANT? (12 Reasons Smart Organizations Thrive in ANY Economy) and his brand new book, GRAB MORE MARKET SHARE (How to Wrangle Business Away from Your Lazy Competitors).   BUT, he is most proud of his bestselling cookbook... COOK- LIKE -A -STUD; 38 recipes men can prepare in the garage... using their own tools! No wonder his friend, Jay Leno says, "Finally, a motivational speaker without the speech!"

Grab More Market Share: How To Wrangle Market Share From Lazy Competitors

The only way to grow your organization in a sputtering economy is to take market share away from your lazy competitors. This is especially important when the world's best economists are predicting a mere 1-2% global organic growth. Ross can show you how progressive companies are getting 10-20% growth; even when your available market is stagnant or declining. 

The Take-Aways

1. Spy on Your Competitors   You must capitalize on your competitors' weaknesses. Because the Internet and social media publish such vast public information and conversation, Ross will teach you how to legally "spy" on your competitors so you can see what they are doing right or wrong - see what kinds of innovations and best practices they are using that you may not be - and discover what they're customers are responding to. Also, Ross can coach you about your own Internet Reputation Management to make sure you keep the share you've already earned . 

2. How to Keep the Culture From Destroying You If you ignore cultural changes in technology and buying trends, the public consciousness has the power to destroy you, virtually overnight. "They" will gladly buy goods and services from your competitors. Ross will teach you how to spot new buying habit trends - trends that are hiding in plain sight - before it's too late.

3. Customer Urgency is Replacing Customer "Service" Broadband connections and sophisticated e-commerce sites have conditioned your clients and customers to believe they can buy anything (and everything) they want "on demand." Urgency and Empathy are more important to them than what we used to consider "service." In fact, if you don't respond at Internet Speed, your customers and clients will consider you lazy, substandard, and undeserving of their business. Ross can coach you how to deliver more urgency and empathy in order to retain current customers...and attract new business.

4. User-Generated Leadership is the Future We've all heard that we should use "The Crowd" (crowd sourcing) to help us determine the next direction of focus as they pertain to our products and services. But which crowd? When & how do we use them? When is it a mistake to listen to the Internet Herd? Ross will help you navigate this treacherous (yet potentially profitable) terrain and cite inspiring case studies. You will be able to emulate these case studies for your own business growth.

5. Contrarian Thinkers Win During a Recovery While an economic recession debilitates some companies, it unleashes creativity in others. Some contrarians find wild success by defying tradition. Uber-savvy businesspeople know the "old school" ways are gone so they are quick to question conventional wisdom. You'll hear inspiring ideas (and rationale) like, "Discounting is over. Quality dictates the new economy." "Don't follow predictions, follow the science." "Social networks can't just be our chat room. They has to be our knowledge base." Ross will share specific strategies and show you how these outliers are destroying the usual paths to complacency and replacing them with new highways for profiteering.

ARE YOU STILL RELEVANT?   (Innovation and Change Management)Are You Still Relevant?
We all saw globally-recognized brands shrink or die during the recession. Conversely, we witnessed young, nimble companies swoop in to dominate market share.

Could that happen to you? Ross dissects the reasons for the staggering success stories-and he pinpoints the warning signs that were ignored by those who failed.

Remaining Relevant (to your customers and team members) is the ONLY way to substantially grow your organization during a recovery. If you're relevant, you can take market share away from your competition. But it won't be easy. You will have to accelerate your "A" Game to earn that market share. And, you will have to re-double your efforts to retain the base you already have. ??????Ross unveils inspiring case studies that span the landscape of retail, manufacturing, B2B, construction, and healthcare. He describes what it will take for your organization to reap incredible rewards during "The Recovery."

The Take-Aways

1. Why It's Critical To Stay Relevant.   If you are losing market share - or sales are lagging - it's probably because your customers, clients, or accounts don't think you matter to them as much anymore. In fact, it's likely that if your organization went away you wouldn't be missed. (example: Circuit City closed 570 locations and customers just went to Best Buy instead). Ross will coach you on how to make sure you continue to be important to the people who are paying to keep you alive. He will cite case studies of organizations who have gone extinct - and why - as well as the companies who remain relevant and vital. It's fine to let your competitors live in denial...just not you. Maintaining a strong market share is inextricably tied to how nimbly you can remain relevant - and adapt to changing market conditions.

2. How to effectively engage the new "on demand" customer. Because of technology, your customers' expectations have changed. They want everything "on demand." They expect customer "service" to mean customer "urgency!" They want what they want - when they want it - and how they want it. So, if you don't deliver at an almost Internet Speed, they will think you are substandard, lazy, or don't need the business. Because they can manipulate how they watch TV, listen to music, when they can shop, how they make friends (Facebook, Match.com, etc) they expect real-time feedback from you. Oh, and they want you to empathize with their pain, vulnerabilities, and frustrations. Ross will show you how to make sure you are consistently aware, empathetic, and urgent so you can retain your current customer base...while you are wrangling customers away from your competitors.

3. Ross will teach you how to generate tiny innovations that produce explosive profits. The organizations that thrive in The Recovery...and own dominate market share afterward...have been creating a culture of ongoing innovation; with minimal or no cost. They are growing profits and share points by dancing on the cutting edge of employee retention, product and/or service offerings, and more emotional customer engagement. You'll get an exclusive peek inside the organizations that consider innovation (and change) their reason for living.

4. Accountability is a Major Growth Engine. More than ever, social networks and user-generated content has been able to expose poor practices. From unseating New York congressman Anthony Weiner - to toppling Hosni Mubarak from his Egyptian Presidency - the public consciousness (i.e. buying habits..and "buying into" habits) gravitate toward pure authenticity and accountability. Ross will talk about the power of transparency to generate more revenue. He will inspire you to be more responsible and accountable for your efforts..and the efforts of your team. He will teach you that, "You are the leading expert on you. Your greatest power lies in articulating your true intentions and expectations."

NOBODY MOVED YOUR CHEESE! (Motivating Personal Accountability & Responsibility)

A high energy and hilarious keynote - perfect for setting the opening tone or as the closing message for your conference.  From small town pet shop manager...to Emmy award winning TV host..to renowned business author and speaker, Ross is a fierce proponent of taking personal responsibility (and being accountable) for what happens in your professional and personal life.  He shows you how to create an unlimited roadmap for yourself and your organization

The Take-Aways

1. Learn to stop blaming the economy, management, another business unit, or your competition. Real growth and opportunity only follows when you accept that nobody cares more about your career and success than YOU do.  Success will be your own fault.

2. Avoid time-robbing distractions. Staying focused and "on task" promotes confidence in your coworkers and allows you to become a trusted advisor to your customers/clients/patients. You'll see exactly how the "world's best" accomplish this feat...and how you can repeat it.

3. Advertising and marketing aren't powerful enough to grow your business (or your career). You learn how to transform your customers/clients/patients into unpaid spokespeople for YOU and your company.  Exponential growth happens when your biggest fans insist their friends MUST DO business with you.

4. How to jump start your curiosity engine to create instant (yet genuine) rapport with team members and customers. These are methods used by TV hosts and trial attorneys. These are methods go beyond "transactional acquaintanceship."  Start using these simple "tricks" tomorrow and you will  reduce costly miscommunications, inspire productivity, conflict resolution, and stimulate fresh ideas team-wide.

5. How to keep your business and personal life in perspective. Understanding the difference between Making a Living and Making a Life is what will keep you curious, hungry, and excited about your profession; as well as your place in the world.

THE CUSTOMER EMPATHY SOLUTION PART 1 (Customer service now needs to be Customer EMPATHY)

While this is a high energy Keynote on its own, many of our clients often want to expand this topic into a Break Out. There is plenty of great material to accomplish that.

The evidence is clear. "If you want lifetime loyalty, stop training customer 'service'...and start coaching customer EMPATHY."  This dramatic attitude shift goes straight to the heart of the customer experience. Ross defines Customer Empathy as, The ability to identify, interpret and appropriately respond to the customer's emotional state - before, during, and after the transaction.

After 14 years of writing, researching, and producing Human Resource training films, Ross unveils frightening case studies of organizations that ignored the customer because they were blinded by fantasy sales goals, outdated operational procedures, and frozen mission statements. Then, he reveals the smart (yet humble) teams who gobbled up market share by responding to their customers' evolving emotional state.

The Take-Aways

1. Learn why your customers/clients/patients feel so vulnerable, helpless, anxious, and out of control, today. The customer has been through a stock market collapse, home equity meltdown, two Iraq wars, rising fuel prices, and regardless of news reports that say, "the recession is ending."  there is still the reality of unprecedented  unemployment. You'll see how these (emotionally draining) cultural events have dramatically changed their buying habits...and how you can adapt to these new attitudes.

2. Customers want you to provide Empathy...NOT "service." Empathy, as a sales and collaboration skill, means you need to become an expert at reading faces, body language, and voice inflection. You will learn how to listen to learn...not listen to respond.  You will learn how to identify telltale facial expressions.  You will learn how become a trusted advisor (as perceived by the customer/client/patient.)

3. When people love you, they will give you more money. You'll learn that when  your customers/clients get what they interpret as "love" from you, they will reward you with their lifetime loyalty. When your customers feel an emotional connection with you, they will literally stop dating other companies - and start spending more time and money with you.  Better than that, they will start championing you and your organization to their friends...becoming unpaid spokespeople for you and your brand. We'll show you what it takes to "love" your customers.

4. Why the iPod, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have made it vitally important that YOU must create a "personal brand" with your customers. Because personal identities and social networking have become such an enormous part of our culture, the best brand differentiators today revolve around the personal brands you can create for your customers and clients.  It's not about you anymore. They want you to be all about them. We will discuss the best options based upon your own experiences.

5. Learn why Customer 'Evaluations' can do more harm than good. We often depend upon customer evaluations to help us gather valuable feedback and input. But customers see evaluations as a nuisance...an irritant that can severely degrade their experience. You'll learn which types of evaluations enhance the customer experience - and which types of evaluations can destroy the customer relationship.

THE CUSTOMER EMPATHY SOLUTION PART 2 (more workshop detail in this format)
This is a great follow up to Part I - Same point of view but with - Tons of New Stories - Interesting New Case Studies - More Inside Customer Psychology.  Funny and Plenty of Audience Interaction.
This is the deep dive material we use in our full day Customer Empathy seminars and workshops.

THE ULTIMATE EMCEE:                                                                                                                                                       Ross hosts a select number of multi-day events for his high-end clients each year.
Because Ross is a trained talk and game show host (helmed over 1,000 network broadcasts) he is the perfect choice for moderating your executive panel discussions and complex award banquets. Ross will keep the programs lively and on task; drawing on his vast experience and lightening wit to navigate (and rescue) even the most unpredictable situations.

CORPORATE "TALK" SHOWS:                                                                                                                                           Ross is adept at handling back-to-back breakout sessions that may feature a myriad of presenters. He has hosted such luminaries as President George Herbert Walker Bush, Jack Welch, Colin Powell, Bob Dole, James Carville, Larry Bossidy, Tom Peters, Marcus Buckingham, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to name a few.  Since many high profile presenters are more comfortable being interviewed by a "pro," Ross is able to show the utmost respect from the opening introduction throughout the Q & A - yet he doesn't shy away from the probing questions your people want answered.

CORPORATE "GAME" SHOWS:  Finally, Ross is a popular favorite for hosting custom game shows. Not only do these formats lend themselves to imparting important training information about your company (in a fun way), they also encourage participation of the entire audience. Ask us how Ross and his game partners at (Game Show America) can create a custom "TV" show for you.

                                                                              ROSS' SPEECH INTRODUCTION:

ROSS SHAFER is 6-Time Emmy award winning comedian, and producer. He's hosted (5) network shows - some were wildly successful - others were a disaster.

So, armed with show business savvy, Ross started drawing parallels between which organizations continued to grow - while others became extinct. Since 2003, Ross has written several books on this subject including;  Nobody Moved Your Cheese!, The Customer Shouts Back, Customer Empathy, Are You Relevant? 12 Reasons Great Organizations Thrive In ANY Economy and his recently-released Grab More Market Share: How to Wrangle Business Away from Lazy Competitors. Today, Ross is one of the most sought after keynote speakers on the subjects of Change, Personal Motivation, Customer Urgency, and Business Relevance.

BUT, he is most proud of his bestselling cookbook... Cook Like a Stud -38 recipes men can prepare in the garage... using their own tools!

Please welcome...the very unconventional... ROSS SHAFER