Why You Must Become Relevant

Becoming relevant is very different from being ‘current.’ Relevance is taking action to make sure you matter to your customers, clients, team members, and partners. Ross will coach you on how to conquer complacency and regain your swagger. He will cite case studies of (formerly significant) organizations that have since gone extinct – and you will celebrate the companies that have remained vital and relevant. How to Engage the “On Demand” Customer Mindset

Due to next generation technology, your customer expectations have evolved to become “on demand.” They expect customer “service” to mean customer “urgency.” They want what they want – when they want it. Furthermore, if you don’t respond at near Broadband Speed, they will think you and your company are substandard, lazy, or too “old school.” Because your customers, clients, and team members are able to manipulate how they watch TV, when they shop, and how they make friends, they expect real-time communication from you. Ross will show you how to make sure you purposefully grow awareness and execute with empathy. The outcomes will put you in the best positions to wrangle business away from your competitors. How to Generate Tiny Innovations that Produce Explosive Profits

The organizations that thrive today have the ability to build a culture of ongoing innovation. These companies are growing share points by dominating the bleeding edge of employee reten-tion, product and/or service offerings, and more emotional customer engagement. You’ll get an exclusive peek inside the organizations that leverage change to find previously unseen revenue streams. Obsess about your Competition (Business Intelligence is your friend)

Professional sports teams watch countless hours of game film to spot the weaknesses of their competitors. So must we all find the flaws and foibles of our competition by harvesting business intelligence. More than ever you need to relentlessly check your blind spots to see who is gunning for your business. Ross will reveal his top five tactics.

Are You Still Relevant?In this fun yet enlightening Keynote, Ross dissects which organizations succeed, which ones have failed…and the reasons why.

Becoming Relevant (to both customers and team members) allows you to get a 2-year lead on your competition. Market Relevance is the ONLY way to secure your growth in an ever-evolving economy. Ross unveils inspiring case studies that span

the landscape of retail, manufacturing, B2B, construction, high tech, and healthcare.

Who is Ross Shafer? Ross Shafer knows quite a bit about becoming relevant. He has Re-invented

himself from a small town pet shop manager...to a headlining stand up comedian...to a multiple Emmy Award winning TV host...to a leading Human Resource training film producer...to one of the most sought

after motivational keynote speakers on the on the subjects of Market Relevance, Fresh Practices, Customer Empathy, and Unconventional Thinking.

Who hires Ross?Microsoft - Bayer - Intel - Wells Fargo - Toyota - Apple - KPMG - General Electric - Honeywell -

FedEx - Nordstrom - Hyundai - Allstate - State Farm - Progressive - Northup Grumman - Pfizer - The Hartford - GlaxoSmithKline - Canon - Marriott - Motorola - Citigroup/SmithBarney - McKesson -

Hewlett Packard - Costco - Ernst & Young - Shell Oil - Sprint - Verizon - Carpet One Stores - Perkins - McCormick & Schmick’s - and about 2,200 more.

ABSOLUTELY NECESSARYBulletproof Tactics That Will Put You in High Demand

This is a personal and professional development program that will re-energize your team members and leaders. Maybe your industry practices have changed and you want to shift your collective thinking to “reinvention mode.”

Maybe you want to get Buy-In for revolutionary ideas. Maybe you want your team to become Absolutely Necessary contributors to your organization’s growth.

Here’s how:

ELIMINATE CORPORATE TUNNEL VISION: (aka Creativity Under Pressure)Valuable people need a panoramic view of all the opportunities. They are careful not to fall into the trap of tunnel vision. Tunnel vision causes stress and anxiety; opposite conditions of those needed for creative thinking. Worse, stress can cause us to default to what we know; which is likely no longer competitive. Ross encourages you to “go to the wrong meetings” in order to push past complacency…and to discover an endless supply of revolutionary ideas.

MAKE GOOD DECISIONS UNDER PRESSURELeaders are paid well because they can make tough decisions, quickly. No doubt you’ve seen football coaches consult a long sheet of paper after each play. They are making play-calling decisions based upon known parameters, new circumstances, and predictable outcomes; “In a 3rd down and 8 yard situation, on the 12 yard line, we have scored 83% of the time with THIS play.” High performance leaders who can make confident decisions inspire their team members and their customers.

OBSESS ABOUT YOUR COMPETITION (Business Intelligence is your friend)Professional sports teams watch countless hours of game film to spot the weaknesses of their competitors. So must we all search for the flaws and foibles of our competition by harvesting business intelligence. More than ever you need to relentlessly check your blind spots to see who is gunning for your business. Ross will reveal his top five tactics.

GET BUY-IN FOR YOUR IDEASYou have an idea that could revolutionize your company and make you a hero. But how do you get upper management to listen? How do you get buy-in from your team? First, you must make a studied, viable case for change. Medical device manufacturer Welch Allyn’s CEO, Julie Shimer, told her board, “Our future is hopeless unless we change.” Dire words from a leader who asked 2,700 employees in 26 countries to follow her into the future. She rallied her teams and the result was an ecosystem that has propelled her company to even higher heights. Ross will show you how to best engage your team; at every level of the organization.

USE TECHNOLOGY AS YOUR NEXT BIG WEAPON. If you want to be thought of as an Absolutely Necessary member of the organization you must realize that Big Data and Digital Marketing are the future of generating a potent virtual sales force (ask 3,000 Great Clips locations how they’ve invigorated their revenues!). Make it your mission to have an ROI understanding of people, processes, and the emotional triggers that happen along each buyer’s journey. Ross deciphers these seemingly complex principles into common sense initiatives that everyone can embrace.

WIN WITH WHAT YOU HAVEAre you charged with delivering more performance with fewer resources? You aren’t alone. Regardless of size or influence, we have never met an organization that got everything they wanted…exactly when they wanted it. And once you think you’ve become 100% relevant, your industry changes. However, valuable leaders (and team members) refuse to make excuses or assign blame for what they don’t have. Instead they find a way to win with the resources they do have.

Nobody Moved Your Cheese

No Excuses. No Blame. No Surrender.

We can no longer blame “the economy” or “the competition” or “changes in management.” Personal growth and opportunity always emerge from realizing that nobody cares more about your career and success than YOU do. Be accountable and you won’t have to wait for anybody to elevate your position. How Paying Attention to The Small Stuff Returns Big Rewards

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 how the best-in-class organizations accomplish this feat. How to Cause Your Efforts to “Go Viral”

Networking can be valuable but don’t bank your career upon “who you know.” True success comes from “who knows YOU.” Become a World Class performer and you will be known as the Go-To person in your field. You will be able to transform your clients into unpaid spokespeople…for YOU and your organiza-

tion. Exponential growth happens when your biggest fans insist their friends do business with you. 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 and excited about your profession; as well as securing your legacy in the world.

“Ross Shafer is one of the funniest guys I know.” Jay Leno

High energy and hilarious keynote - perfect for setting your opening tone - or ramping up your conference’s closing message. Ross Shafer’s personal story will inspire your team members. He went from small town pet shop manager...to Emmy® award winning TV host...to renowned business author

and Hall of Fame speaker. He accomplished ‘the impossible’ by being a fierce proponent of taking personal responsibility in your professional and personal life. Ross will teach your team how to

become World Class.

THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY(ART MEETS SCIENCE)

“Ross Shafer was the best guest speaker I’ve ever booked. He was fantastic’ (Ross) gave me great ideas for personally improving the customer experience.”

Sr. Meeting Planner CMP, Wells Fargo Bank

BEYOND ‘CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAPPING’Customer Science is the next generation of CRM. Customer Service Manage-ment analytics & behaviors evolve as they increasingly interact with ecom-merce, smart devices, kiosks, and digital push. We coach organizations on how to design, engineer, and execute a deliberate Emotional Customer Journey enhanced by those technologies.

‘THE DASHBOARD’ GETS TURBOCHARGEDNext generation organizations should be doing more than offering a historical “dashboard” of customer information. Companies preparing for year 2020 are incorporating Social Listening, Predictive Analysis, Trend Spotting, Automat-ed Marketing, Social Campaigning, Content Management, and Ethno-Analyt-ics. Big Data and Digital Marketing will fuel your revenue and accelerate your virtual sales force.

(1) WHERE DO WE START?We encourage organizations to build a Digital Relationship Engine; designed to leverage both inbound and outbound marketing. This engine creates de-mand, captures the customer, and retains the ‘asset’ – digitally and emotionally.

(2) LEVERAGE THE INBOUND CHANNELSCustomer buying habits should be tracked using curated information, Linke-dIn, email, blogs, chat, ecommerce, mobile apps, and websites. Inbound chan-nels are the source of collecting Big Data (at every touch point) that can be used to test new product and/or service offerings, as well as shape your new mobile apps.

(3) EXPLOIT THE OUTBOUND CHANNELSThe digital revolution has enabled us to reach the customer faster, more efficiently, and (best of all) more emotionally. Outbound channels that drive demand for your goods and services include Videos, PowerPoints, Blog posts, Whitepapers, Infographics, Social media, Forums, and Ratings Sites.

(4) THE EFFORTLESS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEWhile the task of designing and engineering a Next Gen CRM system may seem daunting, the profitability of the upside is unquestionable. We can help you make transactions feel effortless. Developed by our consulting team at Future Point of View we now have the precise toolkit to create an individually designed “journey” where the customer feels respected, rewarded, and eager to return.