Access the Experts
1001 Ways to Wow Your Customers
http://1001waystowowyourcustomers.blogspot.com/Share your stories of outstanding customer service to inspire the world and contribute to a new book!
Alexander Consulting, LLP
http://www.alexanderconsultingsbiz.comAlexander Consulting can help you transition to the next level of services performance with minimum hassle. Alexander Consulting's sound advice and practical strategies result in increased profitability and competitive advantage. The company's services include:
- creating a strategy for professional services creation,
- being the voice of customer research,
- training in how to sell and market professional services
- providing services and solutions best-practice assessments
Authors of the best-selling services book: S-Business: Reinventing the Services Organization
Erika Andersen
http://www.proteus-international.com/erika_andersenSince 1980, Erika Andersen has become known for her ability to create learning solutions uniquely tailored to her clients' challenges, goals, and culture. She focuses on thoroughly understanding each organization and on designing approaches that are engaging, direct, simple, and "learner-friendly." Some of the clients for whom she has designed programs include PepsiCo, MTV Networks, Simon and Schuster, Reader's Digest, Taco Bell, and Lifetime Television.
Peter Block has said of her work, "You have a wonderful gift and talent for taking the essence of things and expressing them in a simple, yet powerful way." Erika uses metaphor and models to help people learn about themselves and their organizations, and then to decide how to move toward the future they envision. While she encourages clients to think deeply and to examine their assumptions and patterns of behavior, she also offers practical methods and skills for individuals, teams, and companies to achieve their hoped-for-future.
Much of Erika's recent work has focused on organizational visioning and development, executive coaching, and collaborative change and learning. In these capacities she has served as consultant and advisor to the CEOs and top executives of a number of corporations, including Coors Brewing Company, Regeneration Technologies, Inc., the French Culinary Institute, Bravo Networks, Union Square Hospitality Group, Emerson College, and Comedy Central.
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AMR Research
http://www.amrresearch.comAMR Research is a strategic advisory firm that provides business and technology executives with the critical analysis and practical advice needed to manage resources, mitigate risk, and increase business value. The company's industry-specific research initiatives focus on key trends, issues, and developments in Enterprise Management, Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, and other strategic business applications and enabling technologies that drive the market. AMR Research, founded in 1986, is headquartered in Boston with offices in Atlanta and Irvine, and European headquarters in London.
Dr. Jon Anton
http://www.benchmarkportal.com/Dr. Jon Anton (also known as "Dr. Jon") is the director of benchmark research at Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality. He specializes in enhancing customer service strategy through inbound call centers and e-business centers, using the latest in telecommunications (voice), and computer (digital) technology. He also focuses on using the Internet for external customer access, as well as Intranets and middleware.
Since 1995, Dr. Jon has been the principal investigator of the annual Purdue University Call Center Benchmark Research. This data is now collected at the BenchmarkPortal.com Web site, where it is placed into a data warehouse that currently contains over ten million data points on call center and e-business center performance. Based on the analysis of this data, Dr. Jon authors the following monthly publications: "The Purdue Page" in Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine, "Dr. Jon's Benchmarks" in Call Center News, "Dr. Jon's Industry Statistics" in Customer Interface Magazine, and "Dr. Jon's Business Intelligence" in the Call Center Manager's Report.
Dr. Jon has assisted over 400 companies in improving their customer service strategy/delivery by the design and implementation of inbound and outbound call centers, as well as in the decision-making process of using teleservice providers for maximizing service levels while minimizing costs per call.
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Basex
http://www.basex.comThroughout the last two decades, Basex has delivered the critical research and strategic consulting services necessary to build effective Fortune 500-level knowledge management systems. Basex' focus on the collaborative aspects of knowledge management, from expertise and presence to idea management, has made it the key go-to company for those companies that wish to see a clear return on their technology investment.
Now Basex has further expanded its research to cover web services, which it has identified as the single most critical technology now available to drive the management of business knowledge to the top of your short list of high-priority development projects. Knowledge is power, and web services will allow you to deliver that business knowledge as a clear-cut strategic advantage.
Maureen Blanford
http://www.mindtimegroup.com/Maureen Blanford -- author of Branding Doesn't Work in Business to Business.
Maureen Blanford is CEO of the Mindtime Group. Her world is B2B. A former columnist for American Cities Business Journals, she was honored with a spot on the Dayton Business Journals Top 40 under 40 list. Maureen has more than 20 years of experience working with clients such as NCR, the IAMS company, AT & T, Cincinnati Bell and Standard Register.
Jeanne Bliss
http://www.customerbliss.com/jeannebliss.htmlJeanne Bliss is not an evangelist, nor observer of companies.
She's been inside them for 25 years, arm wrestling them on behalf of their customers! As "Chief Customer Zealot" for five large U.S. market leaders, Jeanne's fought valiantly to get the customer on the strategic agenda, redirecting priorities and creating transformational changes to the brands' customer experience. She has driven achievement of 95 percent loyalty rates, changing customer experiences across 50,000-person organizations ... convincing even the staunchest curmudgeons to help push the customer rock up the hill.
Jeanne has been at the apex of remarkable customer creations and has driven achievements inside large corporate machines.
Jeanne's vim and vigor and passion for customers are the result of the collision of her Italian heritage and the serendipitous circumstances that brought her to the Wisconsin farmlands in 1983.
She developed her passion for the customer at Lands' End, Inc., where she reported to the company's founder and executive committee as leader for the Lands' End customer experience.
She was Senior Vice President of Franchise Services for Coldwell Banker Corporation.
Jeanne served Allstate Corporation as its chief officer for customer satisfaction and retention.
She was Microsoft Corporation's General Manager of Worldwide Customer & Partner Loyalty.
At Mazda Motor of America, she initiated the brand's retention effort as senior manager, customer satisfaction.
Now managing partner of Customer Bliss, Jeanne coaches leaders on how to wrap their companies' focus around customer profits. She is a worldwide keynote speaker on sustaining the energy and effort required to keep pushing that customer rock up the hill.
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JoAnna Brandi & Company
http://www.customercarecoach.comJoAnna Brandi & Company is a training and consulting firm specializing in customer retention and loyalty since 1990. They publish the Customer Care Coach -- an email based weekly training and coaching program designed to teach smaller and mid-size companies "The Art and Science of Exquisite Customer Care."
Capital Source Partners
http://www.capitalsourcepartners.com/index.htmlCapital Source Partners was founded by businessman-entrepreneur
Ted di Stefano. Ted has owned over a dozen businesses including a large CPA firm, land development firms, jewelry manufacturers, and banking and mortgage banking firms. He was also an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Rhode Island.
Ted is an active business writer and columnist. He has written for such periodicals as Hoover's Online and the E-Commerce Times. He is also the author of the book You Can Buy a Business and has won numerous academic, writing, and speaking awards.
Ted personally participates in and oversees all of the services of Capital Source Partners. He brings a wealth of entrepreneurial and communication skills to each client. His focus is on problem-solving as well as identifying opportunities to bring value-added and additional profits to a company.
Capital Source Partners is a boutique private investment banking firm that helps the small to medium-sized company prosper and add value to its business.
With the economic environment constantly changing, both nationally and internationally, financial challenges are ever present. Capital Source Partners believe that these challenges can be surmounted and turned into positive events for your company -- events that will make your company succeed and thrive.
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Contact Information
Ted can be contacted at: Ted@capitalsourcepartners.com
Brian Carroll — CEO of InTouch, Inc.
http://www.startwithalead.comInTouch, Inc. is one of the first companies to provide lead generation strategies for the complex sale. CEO Brian Carroll is the former president of Carroll Communications. Brian has worked on lead generation programs for premier companies including Cray, Honeywell and Piper Jaffray. He is also a professional speaker on subjects related to improving sales effectiveness and lead generation strategies for the complex sale. His weblog, B2B Lead Generation Blog, is read by thousands weekly. He is also author of the forthcoming book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale.
CIOview
http://www.cioview.comCIOview is the market leader in delivering ROI/TCO tools to help CIOs make more informed purchase decisions. Established in 1997, CIOview offers a full range of modeling tools that provide insight into the ROI/TCO of Content Management, Server Consolidation, ERP/CRM, eCommerce, Portals, and Linux Migration, for example, using industry benchmark data from IDC and others. Increasingly CIOs are standardizing on CIOview tools to assess new/existing projects, likewise IT vendors and consultants use CIOview to illustrate their value proposition.
Louis Columbus
Louis Columbus is a member of the Cincom Complex Manufacturing Business Solutions Team and a former Senior Analyst at AMR Research.
Louis Columbus' career has included senior management positions with Gateway, Ingram Micro and a software start-up, where he served as Vice President, Marketing and Business Development.
Mr. Columbus is also currently a lecturer at for graduate-level International Business and Marketing courses at Webster Loyola-Marymount University, contributing in this role for the past four years. He's also taught graduate level courses at University of California, Irvine, and California State University Fullerton. Mr. Columbus focuses on global economic theory, balance of trade, international marketing strategies, global product introductions, and international expansion strategies including join ventures and subsidiary creation. Courses have been taught onsite at Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation.
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Ron Crabtree
www.MetaOps.comMr. Ron Crabtree, CPIM, CIRM, is president of MetaOps, Inc., - a consulting firm that specializes in strategic business transformation -- aligning "Inside Realities" with "Outside Perceptions." He is an internationally recognized expert and author in cutting-edge business process improvement methodologies. He serves as adjunct faculty for Villanova University developing and teaching Lean Six Sigma for the University Alliance Online professional education program. Mr. Crabtree writes the "Lean Culture" Department in APICS Magazine for APICS, The Association for Operations Management -- the global leader and premier source of the body of knowledge in operations management.
Mr. Crabtree serves as adjunct faculty for Villanova (Operational excellence on-line professional certification program) in cooperation with the University Alliance developing courses and teaching Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, and Business Analysis.
He holds a BA in Management and Organizational Development, and is certified through APICS, the Educational Society for Resource Management, in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and certified in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM). Currently, Crabtree serves as a Director-at-Large for the Greater Detroit Chapter of APICS and is also a member of the Greater Detroit Section 1000 ASQ Chapter. Mr. Crabtree is currently co-authoring a textbook on Lean Six Sigma for Villanova University and is considered a leading Master Six Sigma Black Belt by his peers.
In addition to contributing to many other publications, Crabtree is active in consulting and conducting seminars and training across the country, for businesses and professional organizations of all kinds. Crabtree has spoken to diverse audiences, such as software user groups, APICS, The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), The Engineering Society for Advancing Mobility in Land Sea Air (SAE), PMA (Precision Metal Forming Association), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), SAVE, and CPA Societies, ASQ, PIA/GATF, AME (Society for Manufacturing Excellence), the DBM Association, CPA Societies, and others too numerous to mention here. For a past and current calendar of events on the web, go to http://www.metaops.com -- news/education.
Drawing on a lifetime of experience in implementing operational excellence methodologies, Crabtree has worked as both an insider and as a consultant in many different international industries -- from automotive assembly plants to A&D suppliers, process, printing, injection molding, complex manufacturing/job shop, finance, service, remanufacturing, distribution, and retail operations.
He has held many different manufacturing industry and consulting positions, including: Director in the world's largest Lean consulting and training practice, Materials and Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing Operations Management, General Plant Management, and Oracle Practice Leader for a top-ten accounting and management consulting firm.
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Contact Information
Ron Crabtree, CPIM, CIRMPresident MetaOps, Inc.
30425 Munger Street
Livonia, MI 48154
Cell: 248-568-6484
Office: 734-425-1455
rcrabtree@MetaOps.com
Kevin Craine
http://www.document-strategy.comKevin Craine is the author of the popular book, Designing a Document Strategy, which has now sold in over 30 countries worldwide. His new DVD has just been released. With over 20 years in the field as a document systems director of organizations like BlueCross BlueShield, Syntex and Hughes, Kevin has served his time in the trenches. He is also the founding editor of Document magazine and is considered to be an authority on corporate process improvement and document strategies. He received his BA in organizational communications and his MBA in the management of science and technology.
CustomerThink
http://www.customerthink.comFormerly, CRMGuru, CustomerThink's mission is to help business leaders develop and implement customer-centric business strategies, by publishing high-quality articles, blogs and discussion; conducting research on key issues and trends; and by facilitating interactions with a global panel of experts. If you're in business, you need CustomerThink!
Doculabs
http://www.doculabs.comDoculabs is a consulting firm that helps organizations develop sound technology strategies for document and content applications and processes. Our recommendations lower the risk of document and content technology operations through client-specific guidance, objective analysis and in-depth market knowledge. Founded in 1993, Chicago-based Doculabs provides consulting services that are based on our fundamental belief that in order to protect a client's long-term interest, technology advisors should not be implementers.
Doculabs helps clients deliver on their business objectives through customized services that address technology initiatives related to business challenges in areas such as strategy development, technology acquisition, and go-to-market initiatives. Doculabs' consulting services are completely objective because the firm does not sell software or integration services. For over 10 years, our research methodology has provided customers facing mission-critical challenges with the information and advice they need to make confident and well-informed decisions. Hundreds of leading organizations within the Fortune 1000 -- from financial services companies to major technology software providers -- have turned to Doculabs for assistance with their technology strategies.
Meryl K. Evans, Content Maven
http://www.meryl.net/Meryl K. Evans is a writer, editor and consultant who often covers technology, books, Web design, blogging, Internet marketing and writing.
Her expertise is writing and editing content ensuring her clients get the best results from every word. Meryl writes two columns for PC Today Magazine and an advice column for MarketingProfs.
She's the managing editor of email newsletters for Shavlik, Intel, TailoredMail and InternetVIZ. Meryl has done writing, research and editing for books published by O'Reilly, Penguin, Pearson, Sams and WROX. Her degree in education comes in handy in her work with New York University's online graduate program in management systems.
Prior to becoming a full-time content maven, Meryl worked in business process management and technical writing in the software development shop with two telecommunications companies listed in Fortune 500. Check out her blog at http://www.meryl.net/blog/.
Marsha Friedman/EMSI
http://www.emsincorporated.com/?page_id=2As a co-founder of the American Economic Council in the late 1970s, Marsha Friedman's PR and marketing expertise helped create one of the largest and most important investment and economic forums for investors and economists alike. These seminars attracted thousands of investors from all over the world to hear internationally renowned economists and legislators such as former President Gerald R. Ford, General Alexander Haig, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and Nobel Prize laureate, Frederich Von Hayek.
With this background, Friedman launched Event Management Services, Inc. (EMSI) 15 years ago and has firmly established the company as a public relations player for a diverse group of consumer-related products, politics, finance, law, music, food and beverage, and healthcare. Additionally, Friedman has been giving back to the community that has served her. A mother of three and a grandmother who is also raising one of her grandchildren, Friedman co-founded a charity 15 years ago called, Cherish the Children Foundation. It aids foster children in the Tampa Bay area and was recognized by the White House.
Fujitsu Consulting
http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/consulting/Fujitsu Consulting is a leading provider of management and technology consulting services. The consulting arm of the $38 billion Fujitsu group, Fujitsu is a full-service consultancy with core capabilities in program and project management, technology consulting, management consulting, systems delivery, and management of the information technology function.
Nettie Hartsock
http://www.nettiehartsock.com/Nettie Hartsock is a 15-year freelance business journalist veteran with an extensive background in editing, writing, and press communications. Nettie has been published in well over 200 outlets including print and online media during her career. She is highly regarded for her interviews with some of the most respected e-business and Internet visionaries including Dr. Peter Sealey, Andrew Goodman, Jon Nordmark, Zach Nelson, Dr. Larry Ponemon, Steve Rubel and Royal P. Farros.
Nettie is a weekly contributing writer for multiple Ziff-Davis Media publications including Publish.com and PDFZone.com. Nettie is also the moderator for the Independent Writers Forum at WhitePaperSource.com. Nettie specializes in writing compelling case studies and success stories for companies.
Kimberly Hathaway, Managing Partner and Lead Strategist
http://www.hathawaypr.com/index.htmKimberly Hathaway has over 18 years of high-technology, B2B & consumer public relations experience. Her broad PR background includes managing accounts and media consulting for a wide variety of technology clients including Tyco Electronics' AMP NETCONNECT division, TriCN, Inc., Cincom, Inc., PSC Inc, West Corporation's Teleconferencing Division, Terayon Communication Systems, CrossCommerce, Intraware, eTime Capital, LAN SuperVision (LSVi), Executive Counterparts, SoftAd (now ChannelNet), ZAP! Electric Vehicles and Videometry.
Her B2B & technology background includes semiconductor IP, e-commerce, telecommunications, financial services, supply-chain, networking and enterprise technology. She has garnered extensive trade and business press and placed clients on CNN, CNBC, Fox News, The Today Show, 20/20, Good Morning America and numerous regional/local newscasts and programs. Hathaway served as account executive for several IDG Books' famous For Dummies series campaigns following the success of DOS for Dummies.
Her background includes book publicity, event production, community relations and product launches.
Hathaway's diversified consumer experience includes being a principal on the award-winning launch team for Anne Geddes, internationally-renowned New Zealand photographer, yearly book publicity for San Francisco Cuisine, publicity campaigns for author Elson Haas and numerous titles for Cedco Publishing, including Dilbert and the World Wildlife Fund.
Hathaway has booked keynotes and other strategic speaking engagements for conferences including Selling Power's Sales Leadership Conference, Red Herring's Venture Conferences, Design Automation Conference (DAC), Fabless Semiconductor Association Expo, Intel Developers Forum, National Retail Federation, RFID World, Electronic Retailer's Association Annual Conference, Networld + Interop, Forrester Executive Strategy Forum, Gartner Executive Edge Summit, Technologic Partners Outlook events, CFO Magazine's e-CFO Conference, DCI's B2B World Conference & Expo, IEC's DesignCon, IEC National Communications Forum and speaking engagements at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club.
Hathaway is a board member of Sunburst Projects, Steering Committee member for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Man & Woman of the Year and Gala Steering Committee member for the Richmond-Ermet AIDS Foundation.
Her event production includes The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Man & Woman of the Year event in San Francisco, Sunburst Project's 1st Annual Biotech Classic, IDG Book's Wine for Dummies launch at the Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, the Russ Coughlan Classic, an annual fundraiser for the San Francisco Child Abuse Council, and numerous Bay Area charity events including the San Francisco Firefighter's Toy Drive, Camp Sunburst, Mission High School's Athletic Scholar Program, the Rose Resnick Center for the Blind, The World Affairs Council, Richmond-Ermet AIDS Foundation, Project Inform, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Hathaway is a California native based in San Francisco and holds a marketing degree from Arizona State University.
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Contact Information
760 Market St., #925San Francisco, CA
94102 415.989.0230
info@hathawaypr.com
David Henderson, Emmy Award winning former CBS journalist and author
www.davidhenderson.comDavid Henderson, an Emmy Award winning former CBS journalist and author, has joined Cincom Expert Access as a contributing expert. David is based in Washington, D.C. with global credentials. He regularly lectures at communications and media relations workshops in the U.S. and Europe and is an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia.
David is a recognized authority on media trends and today's dynamic convergence of mainstream media with New Media and the digital revolution driven by Web 2.0. His new book - "The Media Savvy Leader" - is scheduled for release in January 2009. The Media Savvy Leader profiles some of today's most recognized executives who know the competitive importance of personally taking change of communicating the vision, brand, and reputation of their organizations ... and their own value, as leaders. The book is built upon years of research, interviews and experiences with friends and colleagues such as Bob Scheiffer, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Mark Cuban, Stuart Elliot (New York Times) Michael Deaver, and about 150 other people you'll probably recognize. The book profiles some of today's most recognized executives who know the competitive importance of personally taking change of communicating the vision, brand, and reputation of their organizations.
"All the great leaders in this book are great communicators. But they have one really exceptional ability. That ability? To get to the point - the true purpose of their message - quickly, clearly and in simple words so that we stop what we are doing to listen, understand and believe what they say. They leave the fluff in their pillows"
David’s areas of expertise to share with Cincom Expert Access readers include:
- Strategic communications: The intelligent use of the most effective public relations methods with today's communications styles of mainstream media and New Media to achieve meaningful results;
- Strategic media relations: Global media expertise in support of reputation and brand development, outreach to online New Media and bloggers, crisis management and litigation;
- Digital strategies and online advocacy: Using the latest dynamic tools for effective contemporary public relations, including blogs and interactive online content/information management platforms and RSS to impact change and favorable outcomes;
- Competitive positioning: Strategic communications planning and methods to create winning differentiation.
As senior vice president at Edelman Worldwide, David led the corporate brand and reputation management group and advised major clients including CSX Transportation, BF Goodrich and Bombardier. In his role as vice president of global marketing and communications at Gulfstream Aerospace, he favorably positioned the company's brand image for a successful IPO and helped enhance sales of Gulfstream business aircraft.
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Casey Hibbard
http://www.compelling-cases.com/index.htmlCasey Hibbard is President of Compelling Case Studies, where she manages client relations and operations, ensuring that Compelling Cases delivers exceptional case studies when and how clients need them. In 2001, she founded Compelling Cases, bringing 10 years of diverse journalism, marketing communications and business ownership experience. Her career includes serving as a reporter and high-tech columnist for The Colorado Springs Business Journal; as editor and project manager for a division of the University of California at Davis; as the editor of an employee newsletter for a large home health agency; and more than 400 published news and feature stories. She holds a bachelors degree in communications from Trinity University. In her spare time, she enjoys the Santa Fe outdoors and volunteers for Girls Inc. of Santa Fe.
Contact Information
Tom Hortel
Inventor, artist, prototyper, author, humorist and cartoonist with 30 years experience in upstream technologies, new product development and inventive problem solving. Tom spent 23 years within Procter & Gamble across a variety of challenging assignments such as Corporate Visioneering, Systematic Innovation Systems, Consumer Understanding, New Business Development, Trainer of Creative Problem Solving and Upstream Packaging design.
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Contact Information
InfoTrends/CAP Ventures
http://www.capv.comCAP Ventures is a strategic consulting firm for providers and users of digital business communication technologies and services. CAP Ventures provides knowledge and business strategies through timely research, analysis, forecasting, benchmarking, and strategy recommendations to make a competitive difference in its clients' businesses.
InternetVIZ
http://www.InternetVIZ.comInternetVIZ is a publisher of custom e-journals and e-newsletters for B2B clients (including Expert Access). Every month, almost one million readers receive interesting, relevant content from InternetVIZ clients.
Successful e-newsletters are about the reader not about the company sending them. The professional staff of editors, journalists and designers at InternetVIZ develop e-newsletters that not only "brand," but also bond with the recipients -- moving prospects and existing clients through the sales cycle at a faster pace.
Contact Information
If you have questions on e-newsletter strategy, contact:
Jack Scharff, VP Marketing & Sales,
709-704-7049,
Jack@InternetVIZ.com
Hank Stroll, Publisher,
612-871-4000,
hank@InternetVIZ.com
Michael Kaselnak
Piece of Pie Strategic Coaching Hoard Clients SystemMichael Kaselnak's affinity for investing and financial matters started more than 20 years ago when he began investing in the stock market via a class in high school. After spending several years in the US Navy as an instructor in the Submarine Nuclear Power Program, he finally was able to tie his love of finance to his career as a financial planner.
After building a multi-million-dollar practice, Michael systematized his practice and incorporated Piece of Pie Strategic Coaching. He franchised the financial-planning-practice system to over 150 financial planners nationwide, and within three years, grew Piece of Pie to gross revenues of over $20 million a year.
In 2006, Michael created a web-based marketing system called Hoard Clients System, Inc. Hoard incorporates much of the marketing tools and information that he had up to this point, but it was only offered to his exclusive coaching clients. The Hoard system's primary tool is its ability to write a single handwritten note and have it sent to thousands with the authenticity of the original note.
Mike believes the success that he and his coaching clients have experienced comes down to one thing: personal contact. Time, money and hassles get in the way of business people delivering that personal contact. Therefore, Mike has created Hoard as the simple, easy and inexpensive delivery tool of the personal contact for busy business people.
He has been quoted in several national periodicals including Wealth, Kiplinger's, Bull & Bear Magazine, and Your Money Magazine on issues dealing with seniors and their finances.
Michael lives with his wife and two school-age boys in Rochester, MN. When not creating new marketing tools for his clients, Mike coaches little-league baseball and is active with several local charities.
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Contact Information
Jill Konrath
http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com/Jill Konrath, a leading-edge sales strategist and business advisor, is a popular speaker at national sales meetings and association events. She helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, speed up their sales cycle and achieve their revenue growth goals. She's the author of the instant sales classic, Selling to Big Companies, an Amazon Top 25 sales book.
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Market Wire
http://www.marketwire.comMarket Wire provides comprehensive distribution of corporate press releases and media advisories directly to leading newspapers, broadcast outlets, newswires, consumer and trade publications, analyst terminal systems, Web sites and online databases around the globe.
Find out what companies from the Fortune 500 to emerging start-ups already know: quality distribution, world-class client service and affordable pricing make Market Wire an unbeatable value.
Contact Information
For more information:
call 800-774-9473 x 3818
or visit http://www.marketwire.com.
Nielsen BuzzMetrics
http://www.nielsenbuzzmetrics.com/Nielsen BuzzMetrics is the global measurement standard in Consumer-Generated Media. With solid data-mining technology, superb research and Nielsen's unrivaled experience in media measurement and client services, we help today's companies, brands and business professionals better understand the influence and impact of CGM on products, issues, reputation and image.
We help promote and protect brands by measuring CGM and listening attentively to the pulse in online "buzz." CGM encompasses the influential insights and opinions found in online discussions, opinions, experiences, recommendations and word of mouth.
Contact Information
To schedule a demo or speak to a sales representative:
sales@buzzmetrics.com
or call 1.877.999.7335.
For general inquiries:
info@buzzmetrics.com
or call 1.877.999.7335.
Lisa Nirell
http://www.energizegrowth.com/Lisa Nirell is the founder of EnergizeGrowth in Sunriver, Oregon. She helps successful entrepreneurial leaders who are unable to reach the level of achievement they know is possible. Through her research, experience, and highly interactive strategy workshops, Lisa's clients have closed $83M in new business. She has worked with Oppenheimer Funds, CTX Mortgage, Morgan Stanley, Reuters, Sony, and over 100 small and medium-sized companies. Nirell was the first global account manager in Siebel Systems' (now Oracle's) history to lead, design and implement a formal account strategy for Microsoft Corporation, yielding an additional $11M in sales. In addition to being an award-winning business columnist, Lisa has designed multimedia programs around the results of a one-year study of high-performing business owners, and from exclusive interviews with leaders such as Dr. Stephen Covey. Visit http://www.energizegrowth.com for news and updates. When you subscribe to EnergizeNews, you will receive a complimentary copy of the 35-page "Five Strategies to EnergizeGrowth" Field Guide (a $37 value).
Anthony Parinello
http://www.vitoselling.com/Anthony is the best-selling author of books like Getting to VITO, Selling to VITO, Secrets of VITO: Think and Sell Like a CEO.
Tony Parinello started a revolution. He created his own brand of sales training called Selling to VITO™, the Very Important Top Officer. Today, the majority of Fortune 100 and over 1.5 million salespeople create bigger deals in less time using his programs. He personally coaches sales and marketing professionals and entrepreneurs all over the world: from distributors in Europe to manufacturers on the islands of Malta to service organizations in Australia. He is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author and creator of Selling Across America, the first radio talk-show (broadcasted on the Business Radio Network in 107 major markets) dedicated to salespeople and the art of selling, which currently broadcasts on the World Wide Web. He helped create and hosted The Sales and Marketing Show for Entrepreneur Magazine and for three years was the sales and marketing and expert on Entrepreneur.com, a site that is visited by more than 2 million unique visitors each and every month.
Tony has written six powerful, practical and tactical books on the topic of selling: Getting to VITO, Stop Cold Calling Forever, Getting the Second Appointment, Think and Sell Like a CEO, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dynamic Selling and his massively popular Selling to VITO™, the Very Important Top Officer, which has sold over 800,000 copies. Tony has delivered more than 2,000 speeches and seminars on the topic of sales.
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Contact Information
Bill Porter, Porter Research
http://www.porterresearch.comAnthony is the best-selling author of books like Getting to VITO, Selling to VITO, Secrets of VITO: Think and Sell Like a CEO.
Bill Porter is Founder and CEO of Porter Research, a nationally recognized B2B IT market research company based in Atlanta. He is author of two IT business books including a newly published sales strategy book, Seller's Edge, now available on Amazon. He was formerly an executive with what is now a division of CAP Gemini Ernst & Young and holds masters' degrees from both Rice University and the University of Texas. Porter has been a visiting lecturer on customer loyalty and sales strategy for MBA programs at both the University of North Carolina and Emory University's Goizueta Business School in Atlanta.
Skip Press
http://www.skippress.com/Writing for radio, television, video and film, Skip Press won a Silver Medal at the New York International Film Festival and is listed in numerous Who's Who books. A seasoned journalist and editor, his most recent Hollywood book is The Ultimate Writer's Guide to Hollywood from Barnes & Noble Books. He is also the author of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting. He has taught writing classes for the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and the UCLA Extension Writers Program, and somehow manages to continue writing and marketing his own screenplays.
Rafferty Consulting Group
http://www.raffertyconsulting.comRenata J. Rafferty is among the most engaging and sought-after media guests in the nation today. As personal advisor to some of the wealthiest families and institutions around the globe, her unparalleled perspective on the high-stakes world of charity and philanthropy has made her a popular expert and analyst.
Producers and editors alike have been attracted by her unique message and dynamic no-holds-barred style. She has been profiled in INC. Magazine, writes the nation's only syndicated business column on charity, and served as a featured columnist with WORTH.com (Worth Magazine). She has been interviewed by Forbes, Kiplinger's, Publisher's Weekly, Money Magazine, and US News & World Report and by major dailies across the country including The Washington Post, Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times. She is a frequent guest on national radio and television shows as diverse as The O'Reilly Factor, The Dolans and Canada A.M., to a wide range of shows on Bloomberg, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR and top-20-market radio programs.
"Every once in a while, a book comes along that unsettles the status quo in an entire facet of society ... this is that book!" That's how American Philanthropy Review characterized her best-selling book, Don't Just Give It Away: How to Make the Most of Your Charitable Giving. Endorsed by the leaders of major charities, financial institutions, and corporations, this innovative -- and controversial -- guide to social change through wise and meaningful giving has drawn unprecedented national attention, with reviews echoing philanthropist-actor Paul Newman's endorsement in the book's Foreword: "I wish (it) had been written years earlier."
More than an "outside" analyst, Mrs. Rafferty is highly respected within the charitable sector itself. She has taught or lectured on philanthropy and charitable sector issues at the top universities in America, and has addressed major conferences on topics ranging from social change to personal philanthropy. In her work overseas, Mrs. Rafferty has advised foundations and charities in Eastern Europe, and served with the staff of the Vatican.
Mrs. Rafferty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University of Chicago, a Master of Arts degree from Tufts University in Boston, and is a former Fulbright Scholar with the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.
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Realtimepublishers.com
http://www.realtimepublishers.comRealtimepublishers.com is the worldwide leader in corporate-sponsored e-publishing. A privately held company located in Santa Rosa, California, the firm publishes high-quality e-books, which are free to readers, on the websites of industry-leading companies around the world. Their e-books are published on a chapter-by-chapter basis, as they are written. This unique concept of publishing in "real time" provides readers with the information they need on today's critical IT topics. Topics include wireless LAN security, tips for securing .NET Server and more.
Ries & Ries
http://www.ries.comAl Ries is one of the world's best-known marketing strategists. He is also the co-author of the best-selling book Positioning. Along with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries, of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, their Atlanta consulting firm, Ries & Ries, works with many Fortune 500 companies.
James Robertson
http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogViewJames Robertson has 20 years of experience in the software development industry, as a line developer, a consultant, a pre/post-sales engineer, and most recently, as the Product Manager for Cincom Smalltalk. James has given talks at a number of industry conferences, including Smalltalk Solutions, Ot/SPA, LinuxWorld/NetworkWorld, ESUG, and XP/Agile conferences. James is also the author of the Cincom Smalltalk Product Management Blog, "Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants", and the leader of the "Industry Misinterpretations" weekly podcast. James is also the author of open source tools such as the RSS/Atom news aggregator BottomFeeder, and the Silt Blog server.
James has deep experience in Smalltalk and OO methodology. He has also pioneered various kinds of product evangelism at Cincom, including the use of blogging and podcasting as a way of expanding mindshare for the products he manages. Most of the tools James uses in those endeavors are implemented in Cincom Smalltalk, as a way of "eating his own dog food." This work has given James a background in grassroots-level PR and marketing.
James has contributed articles to PCAI Magazine, and has been quoted or linked to on numerous online trade press sites.
Contact Information
Email: jrobertson@cincom.com
Blog: www.cincomsmalltalk.com/userblogs/cincom/blogView
Website: www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView
David Meerman Scott
http://www.davidmeermanscott.comDavid Meerman Scott is a bestselling author and an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist. The programs he has developed have won numerous awards and are responsible for selling over one billion dollars in products and services worldwide.
He is the author of the number one best selling PR and marketing book The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to use news releases, blogs, viral marketing and online media to reach buyers directly which was named by BNET (the management and strategy site run by CNET Networks) as one of the top ten business books of all time. The New Rules of Marketing & PR is being translated into Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Czech, Finnish and others languages.
Scott has lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, Boston, and Hong Kong and has presented at industry conferences and events in over twenty countries on four continents.
Search Security
http://www.searchsecurity.comSearchSecurity.com provides comprehensive news, links, and online resources to help you secure your company's networks, data, websites, and hardware. It's free for the asking!
They provide you with access to experts in the following categories:
- Platform and System Security
- Infrastructure and Network Security
- Security Policy and User Awareness
- Viruses, Worms, and Trojan horses
- E-mail, E-commerce, and Encryption
- Infosec Training and Certification
Dr. Woody Sears
http://woodysears.googlepages.com/Dr. Sears is the author of the five management skills books in the Front Line Guide series released early in 2007 by HRD Press. You can find them described on his website at http://woodysears.googlepages.com/.
Woody Sears has been training managers and leaders since 1967. Tested in more than 200 organizations and presented in more than 100 public seminars, his techniques for resolving organizational conflicts have helped thousands of managers just like you to solve problems, develop employees, and enhance their personal effectiveness.
Early in his career, Woody was lucky to have been accepted as a resource person by Leadership Resources, Inc., one of the early behaviorally-oriented consulting firms. That provided opportunities to work with and learn from many of the scholars and consultants who were developing the framework for what subsequently became Human Resource Development. Chief among those mentors was Leonard Nadler, Woody's major professor in the doctoral program at The George Washington University. Professor Nadler coined the term HRD and is the creator of that academic and professional discipline. Those experiences followed a Master's program in change management at N.C. State, and a tour as a Marine officer.
Beyond consulting and presenting public seminars (mostly on project management), Woody has designed customized project management systems for a number of companies and government agencies. Throughout his career, he has worked to simplify essential management information so it's accessible to everyone.
If you'd like Woody to share his ideas and experiences directly with your staff, he's just a travel-day away.
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Contact Information
Contact him at:
woodysears@gmail.com
or at 370 6 99 26734 in Vilnius.
Rick Sidorowicz
Rick Sidorowicz, BA, MBA, CEO of High Performance Retail, Publisher and Editor of The CEO Refresher, Moderator of The Mindful Network and 1001 Ways to Wow Your Customers.
Leading change from the inside!
We offer consulting, interim executive, performance improvement and training services to revitalize businesses, lead change and achieve breakthroughs in performance, with significant and sustainable increases in sales and bottom line profits; accompanied by aligned, positive and committed people; and exceptionally satisfied and loyal customers.
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Contact Information
Email - vfr@sympatico.caHigh Performance Retail
29 Hagersville Court
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada M9C 4A2
Shaun Smith
http://www.shaunsmithco.comOver the last decade, Shaun has been a key catalyst in expanding management focus from the tactical issues of customer service to the much wider and strategic issue of customer experience. He has developed some of the latest thinking and practice around this subject, helping organizations worldwide to create a compelling customer experience that achieves brand differentiation and long-term customer loyalty.
He is co-author of three critically acclaimed business books. His first book Uncommon Practice, researched and written in partnership with Interbrand, examines those companies that create exceptional customer experiences. His second book Managing the Customer Experience reveals how leaders can build this kind of competitive advantage for their own organizations. Shaun's latest book See, Feel, Think, Do -- The Power of Instinct in Business co-authored with Andy Milligan of Interbrand, explores how highly successful business leaders and entrepreneurs use the power of instinct to achieve results.
Shaun is also contributing author to The Economist's Brands and Branding and author of the Organizational Alignment Survey (OAS™) and the Customer Experience Management+™ survey (CEM+™) research tools that enable organizations to evaluate and improve their customer experience and align their people with company values and strategy.
Shaun began his career in the airline industry, where he became Head of Customer Service, Sales and Marketing Training worldwide for British Airways. He later moved to Hong Kong to head up Cathay Performa Consulting, where he specialized in airline customer service strategy, before starting his own company providing customer service consultancy to international organizations in Asia. He returned to the UK in the late 1990s as Senior Vice President of The Customer Experience Business, a specialist consulting division of Forum Corporation, a leading provider of workplace learning.
Over the last 25 years, he has built up a wealth of practical experience with organizations throughout Europe, Asia Pacific and the US, working with senior executive teams on key issues such as brand strategy and implementation, leadership, customer experience and organizational alignment.
Shaun has worked within a diverse range of sectors, including both business-to-business and business-to-consumer organizations. These include retail, telecoms, travel, leisure, professional and financial services, technology, automotive, manufacturing and the public sector.
Shaun has featured a number of times on the "Ask the Expert" programme on CNBC and is sought after to speak internationally on key business issues such as Brand Leadership and differentiation; the alignment of marketing, customer service and HR to create customer-focused change and motivating and training employees to deliver the brand.
Shaun now runs his own customer experience consultancy, shaunsmith+co, which is firmly rooted in the "keep it simple" ethos. He doesn't talk paradigms, complex methodologies or seven magic bullets; instead his approach is refreshingly straightforward, always pragmatic and at times, controversial.
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Contact Information
shaunsmith+co
22 Springalls Wharf
25 Bermondsey Wall West
London SE16 4TL
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 207 064 4775
email: jd@shaunsmithco.com
Software Business
http://www.SoftwareBusinessOnline.comSoftware Business is focused exclusively on the software industry and provides industry leaders with twice-monthly eNewsletters, an information-packed Web site and two well-attended conferences. Readers and attendees are top executives and managers of companies that provide software-based products and services including packaged software, customized software, and information technology products and services that are based on proprietary software code.
Types of companies include:
- Major software product companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, SAP, Adobe, Autodesk.
- Independent Software Vendor (ISV), Application, Enterprise, and Vertical Market software companies.
- Web Services and Application Service Provider (ASP) software-as-service companies.
- IT, Internet and E-Commerce companies whose core product or service is based on proprietary software code such as Amazon.com, eBay, SalesForce.com, Travelocity, Expedia.
- System software companies providing operating and embedded systems as software products such as Red Hat, Wind River.
- Software business units of computer, electronic and industrial companies with significant software product lines such as Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Fujitsu, Siemens, Hitachi, GE and ABB.
- Development Tool and Software Component companies.
- Entertainment, Information and Education software companies.
Editorial, eNewsletter and Web site content includes news and feature articles covering all aspects of business and technology for software and IT companies, including industry news, market trends, strategy, finance, sales & marketing, customer support, development and distribution.
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Contact Information
John Cargile
Managing Editor
Software Business
720-528-3770 x 108
www.SoftwareBusinessOnline.com
Dave Stein, Founder, Chairman and CEO
How Winners Sell The Stein Advantage Effectiveness Solutions ResearchAfter an early career as a professional trumpeter, Dave Stein held many diversified technical, sales and executive positions: programmer, systems engineer, sales representative, sales manager, director of worldwide sales development, VP of sales, VP of international operations, VP of client services and VP of strategic alliances. He worked in the technology sector for Fortune Systems Corporation, Datalogix International (acquired by Oracle Corporation), and Marcam Corporation (acquired by Invensys, plc).
In 1997, Dave founded the sales consultancy, The Stein Advantage, Inc. The company provided expertise and assistance to its clients in these, among other critical areas: hiring of top sales professionals; more effective positioning in the eyes of industry analysts; development of corporate and selling strategies to overcome tough competitors; increasing compliance by their sales organizations to sales methodologies that were installed; and re-engineering their selling efforts to achieve new levels of credibility and differentiation with higher-level customer executives. Among the many companies with whom Dave worked are: ALLTEL Corporation, CGI-AMS, ASAP Software, AT&T, BASF, Bayer, Cardo, Centra Software, Inc., Convergys, Enterprise Ireland, Hewlett-Packard Company, Honeywell, IBM Corporation, Infor, Intermec, The Irish Software Association, Global Crossing, Ltd., Hall-Kinion (Kforce, Inc.), Kronos, Lorentzen-Wettre, MCI, Manugistics, Inc., MAPICS, Inc., Matrikon, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Microsoft, NEC Japan, NPD Group, Oracle Corporation, Pitney Bowes, Progress Software Corporation, RCM Technologies, Richardson Electronics, Inc., Siemens Energy and Automation, Standard & Poor's, SunGard, Towers Perrin, Unisys, United Technologies, VSP (Vision Service Plan) and Xerox Office Systems.
Through Dave's past work as a sales consultant, coach, and trainer, he has a unique view of sales methodologies, sales training approaches, and the cultural as well as business changes required for corporations to excel at the sales function. Dave understands what works and what doesn't when it comes to the ever-dynamic challenges of gaining and maintaining competitive advantage through sales organization effectiveness.
Dave is quoted and recognized in leading business magazines and websites, including Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Inc., Fortune, and Forbes. He writes the featured monthly column for Sales & Marketing Management magazine. Dave is a professional member of the National Speakers Association as well as a member of Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI), NASP, ASTD and AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). He is a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the Fisher Institute for Professional Selling, one of the many institutions of higher learning where his book, How Winners Sell is being used.
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Contact Information
ES Research Group
246 Vineyard Meadow Farms Road
P.O. Box 1356
West Tisbury, MA 02575
Tel : +1 (508) 313-9585
Fax: +1 (508) 629-0210
email: info@ESResearch.com
Ken Sutherland
http://skbigm.googlepages.com/kensutherlandKen Sutherland is a native New Yorker, now living in Texas, where he spends time juggling several careers. Ken is an award-winning composer for film and television and an accomplished artist who designs and installs murals for businesses and residences. He and his team recently completed the largest mural in Texas (almost 10,000 square feet). Partnered with two Hollywood heavyweights, Ken is currently raising capital to produce six feature films through their independent production company, BFS Entertainment.
The first of these films, RECKONING, is in development.
Ken also scored the award-winning film Savannah Smiles, which to this day ranks with some of the best all-time family classics.
Sutherland spent the requisite 10 years in Hollywood doing films and TV before returning to Texas to continue writing, painting, and chasing his wife of fifteen years around the house. He recently finished co-writing and producing a CD with gospel artist, Benita Arterberry Burns and he composed an original score for the documentary Dancing With Torah for director Robert Curry and the Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Center.
Sutherland has just completed the book, words and music for an original musical play based upon the wildly unconventional life of an early Renaissance Master scheduled to debut in 2009 either in New York or London.
Ken holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Case Western University.
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Contact Information
E-mail: bfscine@swbell.net or murals@swbell.net.
Phone: (214) 321-7002
Technology Evaluation.Com
http://www.technologyevaluation.comTechnology Evaluation.Com (TEC) and its satellite site, the ERP Evaluation Center, are working to reshape the landscape with regard to how "better" IT decisions are made.
TEC's business is predicated on the fact that every year, in excess of 100 billion dollars are lost due to IT projects that fail as a result of poor planning and selection. With the vast majority of these failures and cost overruns attributed to projects not implemented, our mission is simple: Provide IT decision-makers and advisors with ready and affordable access to the advanced tools and expertise they require. Like any organization, success is to be realized through the dedication and hard work of its people. TEC's team consists of former senior executives of Accenture and the Gartner Group, while their knowledge bases are ceaselessly maintained by their own in-house APICS-certified analysts who verify the data submitted by software vendors. Never before has any industry seen an organization that meshes the needs of both buyers and sellers quite the way TEC does. For IT decision-makers, the benefits are obvious. The true testimony of TEC's coming of age in terms of market dominance however, lies within the manner in which the software vendors themselves have gotten behind the program.
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Jeff Thull, CEO and President, Prime Resource Group
http://www.primeresource.comJeff Thull is a leading-edge strategist and valued advisor for executive teams of major companies worldwide. As President and CEO of Prime Resource Group, he has designed and implemented business transformation and professional development programs for companies like Shell Global Solutions, 3M, Microsoft, Siemens, Citicorp, IBM, Raymond James, and Georgia-Pacific, as well as many fast-track, start-up companies. He has gained the reputation for being a thought leader in the arena of sales and marketing strategies for companies involved in complex sales.
Jeff is a compelling, entertaining and thought-provoking keynote speaker with a track record of over 2,500 speeches and seminars delivered to corporations and professional associations worldwide. Jeff Thull's work is published in hundreds of business and trade publications. He is also the author of the best-selling books Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High, and The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale. Jeff Thull's new book Exceptional Selling: How the Best Connect and Win in High Stakes Sales was released September 2006.
Prime Resource Group is a sales and marketing strategy and performance development, consulting firm. We design and deliver integrated business development solutions and proprietary programs for organizations involved in complex sales. Our programs assist clients in optimizing and executing their go-to-market strategy by connecting strategic value to their customer's business drivers.
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Contact Information
Prime Resource Group
3655 Plymouth Boulevard,
Suite110,
Minneapolis, MN 55446
Tel: 1.800.876.0378 or 763.473.7529
email: support@primeresource.com or
http://www.primeresource.com
John I. Todor, PhD
http://www.TheWhetstoneEdge.comJohn I. Todor, Ph.D. is the managing partner of The Whetstone Edge and author of the book Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company. The book reveals the psychological principles that underlie compelling customer experiences and lays out business strategies to put these principles into action.
As a psychologist, he is constantly applying behavioral science to real-world buyer-seller dynamics. Based on this foundation, he helps client companies build customer equity, increase profitability and thrive in today's fast-changing business climate.
He has owned and managed a marketing firm with clients like General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Domino's Pizza. As the director of business development for Indigo America, Inc., he was responsible for evangelizing digital printing to the marketing community and building strategic relationships with CRM companies. As an analyst, he assesses which strategies lead to success in today's fast-paced business climate. As a consultant to Hewlett-Packard, worldwide, he helped their customers see how new business strategies and digital technology can strengthen customer relationships and profitability.
He has served on the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing and is the co-author of Winning Mindshare: The Psychology of Personalization and One to One Marketing.
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Contact Information
John I. Todor, PhD
The Whetstone Edge
415 Saddlebrook Lane
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Tel. 925-372-0251
email: jtodor@TheWhetstoneEdge.com
http://www.thewhetstoneedge.com
Steven Van Yoder
http://www.getslightlyfamous.comSteven Van Yoder is the author of Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort. Van Yoder is also a seasoned journalist published in over 200 publications including The Washington Post, Financial Executive, Home Office Computing, Costco Connection, Industry Week, INC, Business 2.0, The Wall Street Journal, CFO, Brand Marketing and dozens of trade, business and consumer publications.
Contact Information
Steven Van Yoder
email: steven@getslightlyfamous.com
Telephone: 415-294-4133
Mobile phone: 415-218-3075
http://www.getslightlyfamous.com
The VAR-City
http://thevarcity.com"The VAR-City" is a dedicated team of seasoned channel professionals with years of real-world partner program design, implementation, and development experience. They feature reseller programs for:
- technology start-ups
- small to mid-tier vendors embarking on their first channel venture, and
- organizations with direct sales to indirect sales transition initiatives.
"The VAR-City" name was selected to emphasize commitment to the Value-Added Reseller channel, and underscore recognition of the common goals and concerns shared by the citizens of the information technology partner community. Each VAR-City professional has held key management positions with many of the industry's leading IT hardware manufacturers and software developers. Their unique skills and expertise can be a valuable addition to your channel development team.
Lou Washington
Cincom SystemsLou Washington started his career in information management from the somewhat misunderstood field of Records Management. Following four years of working for the University of Missouri System's Office of Records Management, he joined Tab Products Co. in 1980. Shortly thereafter, he became interested in the software business, PCs and how those systems would shape the enterprise of the future.
In 1990, Lou returned to Cincinnati and joined Cincom Systems where he began to learn about and work with mainframe-oriented products and systems. In those days, there was a real "split" between the mainframe forces and the desktop proponents. He always found this to be amusing since both had so many positive things to offer an enterprise. He could never understand why anyone would offer one at the exclusion of the other.
Lou's present role at Cincom involves a number of things including product security, pricing, finance packaging and industry research.
Lou and his wife Barbara reside in Park Hills, KY. He is a member of Blessed Sacrament Church and is active in a local car club, Cincinnati Cruisers. It is a group of PT Cruiser owners who enjoy tricking out their cruisers and driving around annoying people who have to drive boring cars. He is the Webmaster for the Cruisers and invites everyone to visit http://www.cincyptcruisers.com and check out the awesome rides! Lou and his wife both enjoy photography, travel and their two four-legged canine children, Chloe and Cookie.
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Dale Wolf, Senior Global Marketing Executive (SGME)
"Pursuit of the Perfect Customer Experience"Dale began his career as a sports journalist, where he worked closely with Sports Illustrated, and later as a reporter at the Cincinnati Enquirer and as weekend night sports editor for the Cincinnati Post. He moved on to work as a copywriter in the marketing department at Union Central Life, then one of the top 50 insurance companies in the US. From there Dale worked for a couple of years as a writer and account executive at a promotion agency, working for Champion Spark Plugs, Owens-Corning and Jeep.
Dale then made the big jump, opening a sales promotion agency with partners Richard Blumberg and Barron Krody. Over the next two decades, they built the agency up to one of the 50 largest in the US, serving Procter & Gamble, Toshiba, Florida Power & Light, 3M, Imation, Quaker State, Pillsbury, St. Paul Insurance, among others.
Contextual Marketing
What made them successful were the best practices developed around what Dale called "contextual marketing" -- a data-driven direct marketing discipline that delivers more relevant customer-centric messages and offers across the customer lifetime. Dale sold the agency to join Cincom Systems -- one of the pioneers of the software industry and most probably the longest established successful software only company.
Customer Experience
Marketing Contextual marketing was a discipline that enhanced the ability for companies to deliver positive customer experiences. Of late, this concept of Customer Experience Management has become the next big thing (and the right thing) in how companies will become more successful.
Dale is also the proud owner of a new blog called "Pursuit of the Perfect Customer Experience." The blog focuses on "marketing leadership for those with courage to change the customer experience."
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Contact Information
Dale Wolf
Senior Global Marketing Executive (SGME)
Cincom Systems
55 Merchant Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
513-612-2300
email: dwolf@cincom.com