Ross Shafer

Hilarious Leadership & Change Expert

Expert on

  • Motivation
  • Humor
  • Customer Service
  • Leadership
  • Change
  • Innovation

Fee Range

$15,000–$30,000

Travels from

CO, US

Biography

Ross Shafer grew up in the Pacific Northwest and graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington where he studied business management and played varsity football (linebacker). After college, he took a job as a training manager for a department store (Yard Birds) and was able to save $10,000. He launched his life as an entrepreneur and became the owner/manager of America’s only Stereo and Pet Shop in the small town of Puyallup, Washington (population 5,000 at the time).

Cleaning pet cages wasn’t as appealing as it sounded, so after 3 years he closed the store and took a job as an advertising manager for the 28 store Squire Shops retail clothing chain in Seattle, Washington. Writing ad copy and concocting radio and TV campaigns paid the bills, but at night Ross haunted local comedy clubs in search of a career in joke-telling. After years of slogging around the comedy circuit, he won the Seattle International Comedy Competition and immediately became an opening act for performers like Crystal Gayle, Eddie Rabbitt, Nel Carter, Neil Sedaka, and Dionne Warwick.

In l985, Ross pitched a TV show idea to the NBC affiliate in Seattle (KING). Serendipitously, KING-TV had a hole in their broadcast schedule. So, ALMOST LIVE was born and for the next 5 seasons Ross hosted the comedy talk show while he and his team collected 36 Emmys. ALMOST LIVE even won the Esquire Magazine dubious Achievement Award one year for attempting to change the Washington State song to “Louie, Louie.” During those years Ross also hosted an afternoon drive radio show on the 50,000 watt KJR-AM.

In l988, Ross was wooed by the Fox network to take over The Late Show. The Late Show was a nightly talk show that competed with The Tonight Show and David Letterman. The show lasted a year and Ross next found himself in New York co-hosting Days End on the ABC network. It was here that he sat beside Matt Lauer and Spencer Christian as they interviewed the movers and shakers of New York and the world. Dick Clark told Ross, “Always have a backup plan, my boy, TV is terminal” and predictably Days End was finally cancelled. Ross always wondered what happened to Matt Lauer ☺. The next stop for Ross was hosting the revised Match Game on the ABC network. Another game show (this time on the USA network) Love Me, Love Me Not and numerous TV pilot projects followed.

By this time, Ross was headlining all of the leading night clubs and casinos in North America. He produced a highly acclaimed comedy album about the Clinton administration titled Inside the First Family. He also wrote a comedy cookbook that became a best seller; Cook Like A Stud – 38 recipes men can prepare in the garage with their own tools.

In 1994, Ross heard Bill Gates give a speech where he said, “Someday you will all be watching television on your telephones.” Ross took that message to heart and he made the decision to leave TV and get back to his corporate training roots. Human nature and the human condition were always fascinating to Ross because that’s what comedians do; they study the laughter and tears business. To date Ross has produced (14) Human Resource training films on Customer Service, Motivation, Leadership, and Peer Pressure. He has authored the business books, Nobody Moved Your Cheese, Customer Empathy, The Customer Shouts Back, Are You Relevant? 12 Reasons Smart Organizations Thrive in Any Economy, Grab More Market Share: How to Wrangle Business Away from Lazy Competitors, Absolutely Necessary: Bulletproof Tactics That Will Put You in High Demand, Behave Like a Startup, Success: It’s on You and No More Customer Friction: A Bold Blueprint for Raising Customer Scores.

Today, Ross is one of the most sought after keynote speakers and seminar leaders on the subjects of Customer Urgency and Empathy, Personal Motivation, Reinvention, and Market Relevance. The father of Adam, Ryan and Lauren, Ross lives in Denver, Colorado.

Speaker Videos

ARE YOU STILL RELEVANT?

How to Future-Proof Your Company & Yourself

In this fun and enlightening Keynote, you will learn how to future-proof your company while energizing your team members. Your attendees will leave with the tools to achieve a 2-year lead on their competition. Ross encourages your audience to accept that Relevance is a moving target. Securing your growth, in this ever-evolving economy, requires the vigilance to respond to constant changes in customer (and employee) expectations. Ross unveils inspiring case studies that span the landscape of retail, manufacturing, B2B, construction, tech and healthcare.

Takeaways

~ Your Future Will Remain Secure if You Always Matter to Your Teams, Your Customers, & Your Clients
Being current is far different from being relevant. Relevant means taking action to continue to matter to your constituents. What do your clients/customers want from you in 2020? How can you retain valuable employees with so many tempting job opportunities available to them? Relevant leaders are able to sustain growth because they are vigilant, fearless and can adapt more quickly than their competition.

~ Why We Must “Marry” Humanity with Technology
Technology will continue to drive new profits and improve complex processes. Today, our customers and clients will communicate with us via chat, email, text, social media, and web conferencing. But we cannot allow our humanity to atrophy as we embrace tech. Humanity tells a better sales/brand story. Humanity heals errors inadvertently caused by technology. Ross underscores how to integrate emotion and curiosity with your technology efforts; to make relationships “stickier.”

~ Adaptive & Fearless Means Being Able to Innovate Under Pressure
Your competitors stay awake at night – scheming to take you down. That kind of pressure can often paralyze your teams, making them unable to “hatch” fresh angles and processes. Ross teaches a bulletproof technique for staying ahead of your competition, while invigorating your organization to harvest an endless supply of new ideas. Professional sports teams watch countless hours of game film to spot the weaknesses of their competitors. So, we must do the same; 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.

~ What Challenges are YOU Facing?
Talk to Ross in a complimentary 1-hour phone call. Tell him about your company initiatives and the objectives for your meeting. You will find that Ross is instantly engaging and able to offer insight and ideas from the
(18) different industries he studies to make your event fun, memorable and impactful.

NOBODY MOVED YOUR CHEESE

Who Moved My Cheese? was a popular book about how two mice dealt with catastrophic change. Ross believes that Nobody Moved Your Cheese is a more practical, real-world approach. In this high energy and hilarious keynote – perfect for setting up your opening tone – or ramping up your conference’s closing message – Ross will teach your audience that when you are the architect of your own life, you will have more time, money and happiness.

Takeaways

~ No Excuses. No Blame. No Surrender
We can no longer blame “government regulation,” “the economy” or “the competition” or “changes in management.” Focus on what you can control. 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 in work and life. 

~ What is More Important than Networking?
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 clients into unpaid spokespeople for you and your organization. Exponential growth happens when your biggest fans insist their friends do business with you.

~ How Paying Attention to the Small Stuff Returns Big Rewards
Some people say, “I’m not a detail person.” Then you need to collaborate with someone who is “detailed.” Paying attention to nuances and staying “on task” leads to respect from your coworkers and allows you to become a trusted advisor to your customers/clients/patients. You’ll learn how the best-in-class organizations accomplish this feat.

~ The Life You Dream About is Closer Than You Think
Ross’ 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. By learning to dispel self-imposed limitations, you can ‘win with what you already have.’ Ross urges you to believe in your current inventory of skills – yet redirect them to serve your new aspirations.

~ Blueprints Shorten Your Distance to Success
We hear many people say, “I’m NOT happy. I need to reinvent myself!” They recognize something has to change but they don’t have a plan. An idea without a plan is simply daydreaming. Ross will show you how to find an already existing blueprint for success in any profession or career.  

~ Resilience is the Cure for Disappointment                                                Things will go wrong. Processes will fail. Friends may undermine you. Ross encourages you to expect disappointment and create a plan “B.” Ask anyone who is successful and they will tell you, “I was resilient in the face of failure. In fact, I needed to fail in order to take myself to a higher level. When Ross discusses his own failures and how he overcame them (personally and professionally), you will learn how to conquer yourown.

POW VS. WOW

Cracking the Code on Customer Loyalty

The fallout of the On-Demand Economy has caused customer expectations to change. They can get anything they want – anytime they want it – which has forever altered how they judge your performance. In this highly entertaining and inspiring presentation, Ross will share the simple blueprint he developed to help his clients dramatically improve their customer experience scores. (EXAMPLE: one of his clients raised their JD Power scores 21 points in 90 days).

Takeaways
~ “WOW-ing Customers Doesn’t Work Anymore
We’ve all been told that we are supposed to “WOW” the customer. The WOW moments are a nice surprise (in the moment) but WOWS don’t guarantee loyalty. CSAT & CES Customer Metrics support that WOW-ing customers does NOT grow loyalty. We need to be far more aware of our POW moments. A POW moment is when the customer suffers anxiety about a possible confrontation with you. A POW moment happens when you don’t deliver on your brand promise. A POW moment is when you blame the customer for a problem. POWS are so formidable that our research shows five (5) WOW moments can be completely erased by one (1) POW.

~ Customer Expectations Have Been Set by Amazon.
Think about it. You will probably never have human contact with anyone at Amazon but literally everyone buys from them! People are loyal to on-demand companies because every transaction is perceived to be reliable, dependable, and friction-free. Amazon, Netflix, Apple, and Google have virtually erased all of the POW moments. Their famously friction-free experiences are so impressionable that even B2B companies are influenced by these ecommerce companies

~ Why Complaints are Your Friend
If you only fix customer complaints, your score will go up. If your employees can provide friction-free solutions you will regain your customer, client, and member loyalty. Ross will show your team how to seek out and eliminate the devastating POW moments.

~ Here’s Why POW vs. WOW Works so Well
Using the POW vs. WOW comparison is easily understood by both entry-level employees and seasoned leaders; which makes the POW vs. WOW method so simple to teach. With this system, everyone is instantly on the same page. You’ve only just heard about it, but now, you will never forget it.

THE ULTIMATE EMCEE

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 lightning wit to navigate the most unpredictable situations.

TALK SHOW HOST / PANEL MODERATOR / GAME SHOW HOST: 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, President George W. Bush, Alec Baldwin, 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.

Ross is Highly Interactive and Very Comfortable On-the-Fly
Ross Shafer is frequently asked if he can be interactive with your audience. The answer is a resounding YES. His style is to engage the audience at several points during his appearances. He often likes to present “from the floor” so that he can ask questions of your audience members.