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.”

This discussion revolves around the tactics great organizations employ to wrangle business away from their lazy competitors. The world’s top economists are predicting a dismal 1-2% average growth through 2015. So, the only way to grow your organization is to take market share away from your lazy competitors. Ross can show you how progressive companies are getting 15-25% growth; even when their available market is stagnant or declining. You will learn tactics like: How to mine the social media to find your Competitors’ Achilles Heels. How to spot trends so the culture doesn’t catch you by surprise. How to transcend the customer experience to — customer urgency and empathy. And, how to tap into the Internet herd in relevant ways that will swing new business toward you.

While this program is a high energy Keynote on its own, many of our clients often expand this topic into a Break Out session.

Due to accelerating technology, your customers’ expectations have changed. They can get their TV, music, shopping, and friends all “on demand” 24/7/365. 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 (nearly) Internet Speed, they will consider you substandard, lazy, or that you don’t need the business.

On top of that, they want you to empathize with their busy schedules, their lack of education (re: your products/services) as well as their personal 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.

This high energy and hilarious keynote is perfect for setting the opening tone or 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. You will learn how to shed blaming the economy, management, competition, etc…and start realizing THIS is the economy we are dealt and we have to leverage it to our advantages. You’ll also learn how to reinvigorate your curiosity engine to take YOURSELF to the next level of performance. Finally, you’ll learn how to keep your personal and professional life in the proper perspective. You can’t perform well at work if your personal life is in tatters.

While economic turmoil debilitates some companies, it unleashes creativity in others. Uber-savvy businesspeople know the “old school” ways are gone forever – so they have learned to embrace unconventional 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 have to be our knowledge base.” Ross will describe the path he took from pet store manager – to Emmy® winning TV personality – to Hall of Fame Speaker…while unveiling specific ‘contrarian tactics’ and showing you how outliers are trailblazing new channels for profiteering.

Everyone likes the same type of sales style and the same type of service…right?  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The truth is that what your sales team doesn’t know about the four generations impacts the bottom line.  Each generation, with their unique values, defines a quality sales or service experience in their own unique way.  What Gen X may prefer, Matures may think is outright rude.  What Boomers define as “rapport building”, Millenials may define as a waste of time.  In “Sales and Service Across the Generations” Marston explores the sales and services biases of each of the four generations and gives simple, easy to execute ideas for how to best work with each.  It is highly energetic, highly engaging, and full of immediately actionable ideas that translate into increased sales.

Employers and managers need to understand the attitudes and expectations of each of the four generations so they can best work with each.  The days of “treat everyone the same” are no longer with us; now we must accept the needs and desires of the individual.

What causes the generations to differentiate from one another?

Affluent societies:

• create the generational change by repeatedly causing youth to push back on adulthood
• create threats to the apprentice-to-master model
• change the definition of ‘success’

This insightful and entertaining presentation introduces audiences to the four generations of employees in today’s workplace and how to work with and manage each.  Case studies are brought to life and recommendations for best practices are shared.

This presentation can be highly customized to feature census data (where appropriate), company initiatives, company demographics, etc.

Worksheets are available for a quick 5-minute exercise to ensure take-away ideas and behaviors.

Recruiting and Retention concepts can be added if needed.

Quality employees are your organization’s most valuable resource.  How do you find the best candidates, and how can you keep the ones you have?  Who is on your ‘lifer list’?  What are you doing to make sure they’ll stay?

Is it the right thing?

This presentation uses best practices across industries to show how today’s most competitive companies are competing for, winning, and retaining their top people.  It breaks down the motivations of each of the generations of employees and illustrates how companies “in the know” are using those motivations to better attract and retain their talent.

Worksheets are available for a quick 5-minute exercise to ensure take-away ideas and behaviors.

Wheelhouse? Yes, literally. Managers and executives have always turned to CEOs and generals to study leadership, but there is a hidden crucible for inspiring front-runners that deserves our attention: the wheelhouses of the captains who navigate the mighty Mississippi.

Leading a team of colleagues to success is a challenge in any business. Throw in the forces of nature and all the hazards of one of the world’s busiest trade routes and you’ve got an even sterner test. The captains who pilot cargo up and down the Mississippi are responsible for billions of dollars worth of commerce in an environment where failure might be measured in terms of life or death, not just dollars and cents. This unique combination of intense pressure and everyday tasks calls for steadfast, effective leaders – reacting quickly to change and making it possible for diverse personalities to work together toward a common goal.

Cam Marston has spent hundreds of hours in the wheelhouse interviewing captains and crew, watching them react to environmental challenges and manage through generational discord in an environment where failure is simply not an option. Today, he brings those leadership lessons together with his demographic expertise to help you reach your leadership and business goals in the swirling currents of today’s workplace.

SocialTech is the hottest trend in technology at the moment. Leaders are trying to figure out how to harness this powerful new suite of tools.  In this presentation, Scott gives a top to bottom tutorial on the best practices for implementing a SocialTech strategy with impact.  It is important to note that this is not a session that teaches best practices for using LinkedIn or Facebook.  This is a robust keynote backed by strong graphical explanations of why SocialTech matters, and how it is changing the sales process, customer service and marketing.  Areas specifically covered are subjects like online reputation management, crowdsourcing, building rivers of knowledge, and becoming industry experts.

Best Audience – This talk is perfect for executives that are struggling to learn how to use SocialTech.  It also plays really well with marketing, advertising and sales professionals.

There are thousands of leadership books out on the market, and what all of them seem to be missing is any discussion of what a leader now needs to know about technology in order to be effective going forward.  We have a plethora of Baby Boomer and Traditional generation leaders that did not grow up with technology and really have no idea how to leverage it or manage the people that do.  This talk is a very practical discussion of a handful of new concepts and ideas for what a leader now must be able to do well in order to lead effectively in the information age.  This includes a better ability to see into the future, leverage technology holistically as if it were digital plumbing, and mature the institutional culture of the organization so that the younger technology savvy generations can prosper.

Best Audience – This session is specifically targeted at the C-Suite and executives.  It is best delivered to high level people that are open to learning new ways of leading, and that understand that they must continue to grow in order to be effective leaders.

One of the most speculated questions people (especially parents) have about technology is how it will impact us as a human race.  Will all these new digital tools be good or bad for us over time?  What is it doing to us today?  This is also a very thought leading speech meant to get people thinking big thoughts, such as, what will happen to the coming generations as they are augmented heavily with technologies their parents did not grow up with.  How will organizations change as they become more virtualized and people communicate more and more through, and with, technology?

Best Audience – This is clearly a talk intended for an audience that has heard lots of speakers and is looking for something new.  This plays well with any level of participant because it applies to both their work life and home life.  This talk really benefits from the use of wifitti.com so that audience members can communicate with Scott by text message right to the screen.

As human beings, we are in the middle of an era where technology is systematically integrating more and more into our lives. The role that technology is now playing has a huge impact on our quality of life, and our careers. The impact of technology over the next 50 years and how it will integrate into our lives and even into our bodies will be staggering.  This presentation examines ten steps in which technology will integrate into our lives. Executives will be able to take the futuristic views and apply them to their current strategies.

Best Audience – This talk is best targeted at executives that think they have heard it all, or general audiences that hear lots of speakers every year.

Technology is simply a tool, but in the right hands, it can almost be magical in its ability to give us new capabilities.  For this reason, it is critical to understand how technology can be fully leveraged in order to drive top-line revenues, or lower bottom-line costs.  This is a talk that is both thought provoking and practical.  Scott combines highlighting a few new trends that people might be aware of, and adds a few over the horizon trends that are completely new.  To this Scott adds the delivery of practical technology tools, or concepts that can be used as soon the attendees get back to the office.  In the end with a fast paced and entertaining style, Scott creates context for many of the words and concepts that they have heard about but cannot really apply just yet.

Best Audience – This is a general talk that works for any audience.  Scott will customize this talk for the industry he is speaking to so that the trends discussed are specifically appropriate for the listeners.