Tom Peters is co-author of In Search of Excellence - the book that changed the way the world does business and often tagged as the best business book ever. Sixteen books and almost thirty years later, he’s still at the forefront of the “management guru industry” he single-handedly invented. What’s new? A lot. As CNN said, “While most business gurus milk the same mantra for all its worth, the one-man brand called Tom Peters is still reinventing himself.” His most recent effort, released in March 2010: The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence. Tom’s bedrock belief: “Execution is strategy—it’s all about the people and the doing, not the talking and the theory.” His blog is ranked #9 among “The Top 150 Management and Leadership Blogs.”

“Tom Peters is the most provocative and engaging (as well as annoying and threatening) management guru running loose in America today.”—CBS MarketWatch

“In no small part, what American corporations have become is what Peters has encouraged them to be.” - The New Yorker

“Peters is ... the father of the post-modern corporation.” - Los Angeles Times

“We live in a Tom Peters world.”—Fortune

“Mr. Peters is an enthusiast, a storyteller and a lover of capitalism. He says that effective management is management that delivers more value to customers and more opportunity for service, creativity and growth to workers. He is saying that the decent thing to do is also the smart thing. It’s a wonderful message.”—Paul Weaver, Hoover Institute, in the Wall Street Journal

Bill Rancic
The Original "Apprentice"
Inspirational Entrepreneur
Author
You're Hired: How To Succeed In Business And Life From The Winner Of The Apprentice

"Get Fired Up!"
Several years after his introduction to America as Donald Trump’s original Apprentice, Bill Rancic continues his commitment to entrepreneurship throughout the country. Today, he is building businesses, seizing opportunities and sharing his views on how to succeed in business and in life.

Currently, Bill is developing real estate in Chicago, producing and appearing in several television programs and speaking to businesses and organizations on motivational and business topics.

Bill also regularly appears in The Board Room on NBC’s primetime show “The Apprentice,” Style Network’s reality series “Giuliana and Bill” and is the executive producer of “Airplane Repo,” airing this summer on Discovery Channel. He makes regular appearances on numerous daytime broadcast and cable television programs such as Today, The Tonight Show, The View, Rachael Ray and various CNBC programs to talk to viewers about business and entrepreneurship. He also regularly appears in many major national, regional and local print outlets throughout the country.

A published author, he wrote Beyond The Lemonade Stand to help educate and motivate young people worldwide about the value of money and how to leverage skills, talents and abilities at an early age. All proceeds from the sale of this book have gone to charity. Beyond The Lemonade Stand is the follow-up to the New York Times best-selling book, You're Hired: How To Succeed In Business And Life From The Winner Of The Apprentice, which chronicled Bill's successful life, experience and proven advice.

A budding entrepreneur at a young age, Bill got his first taste of success by founding Cigars Around the World in a 400 square foot studio apartment in Chicago.

Highly engaged in charitable activities, Bill was recently named national spokesperson for Gradiant Gives Back – a program awarding financial makeovers to deserving families during today’s challenging economic climate. He is also an active board member for the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls.

Face-to-Face with Female Customers – Are You Making the Mistakes Most Great Sales Professionals Make?
We all know that a woman doesn’t want to be sold “like a girl.” But did you know that treating her exactly the same way you treat your very best male customers will backfire too? Even great salespeople rarely realize how women’s buying process, purchasing priorities and interpersonal expectations are different from men’s. As a result, they overlook easy opportunities to connect, and often make missteps that cost them the sale altogether.

That’s where The Gender Code™ can help – a simple system of insights and tips that will help you close more sales with women customers, lock in their loyalty, and secure their enthusiastic referrals. You’ll learn:

• Why typical prospecting strategies don’t work with women and what you can do differently that will more than double your conversion rate
• What you’re doing wrong when you introduce yourself to a woman prospect and how you can shift her from turning off to tuning in
• The one simple signal that most men miss when a woman is losing patience with a salesperson
• Why asking for referrals from women won’t work and what you can do instead that will guarantee she raves about you to all her friends

Selling Across Gender, The Sales Process and Application Workshop
The most significant variable in every sales situation is the gender of the buyer, more importantly,how the sales person communicates to the buyer’s gender. It is now a validated and documented fact that men and women communicate differently, very differently. Everything from eye contact, to body language, to the usage of language and the processing of information is different in men and women.

In this hands-on workshop Jeffery Tobias Halter will work through every step of the sales process and examine the pitfalls that every salesperson makes when it comes to gender. This will not only include learning how to sell to women, but we will also explore women’s blind-spots when selling to men. In this session we will:

• Conduct a Gender Traits Test to determine your strengths and weaknesses
• Explore the six steps of every sales call with an eye on gender differences
• Explore if building rapport is important to women or just a waste of time
• Examine communication styles and learn the one thing that women hate about salesmen and the one thing men hate about saleswomen
• Selling FAB’s (Features, Advantages, Benefits). Is this foundational selling principle applicable to women?
• Learn that when handling objections No means No! or does it...

Selling Across Gender, The Deep Dive – An Application Workshop Part 2
Building on the first session of application, we explore tools and techniques that every sales person needs to know to be able through-out the sales process. We will:

• Explore how your personal bias can show up and derail every sales presentation
• Learn the 12 words that every sales person needs to say to be effective when selling to women
• Learn how to listen with a male and female ear
• Learn when preparing to close how to use the Engage/Empathize structure
• Bring all the work together and discuss how to apply these techniques when selling to men and women at the same time

Selling to Women: The Biggest Economy in the World
No matter how many times a woman sees an ad, or how much research she's conducted online, the critical purchasing moment often comes down to that "last three feet of the sale." This is when she's talking directly to a salesperson, trying to decide what to buy. It's in this moment that mistakes are frequently made and sales are lost, simply because women have different expectations of the sales process than men do. In this dynamic and eye-opening session, Brennan teaches audiences how women make purchasing decisions and respond to sales pitches and selling environments. Participants will learn female-focused techniques that help increase closing rates, including:

• How women view the sales process differently from men, and what this means to your sales pitch
• How to develop a pitch that has female appeal
• Follow-up methods that resonate with women buyers
• How to leverage service as your most powerful advantage

Defending the Caveman is a hilarious play about the ways men and women relate to each other. Without taking sides, this insightful comedy discusses the ongoing battle for understanding between the sexes. Caveman was written by comedian Rob Becker over a three year period during which he made an informal study of psychology, sociology, and prehistory.

Originally opening in San Francisco in 1991 Defending the Caveman soon moved to Dallas. After a year in Dallas—now an irrefutable comedic phenomenon - Caveman went on to sold-out engagements in Washington DC, Philadelphia and Chicago, before opening on Broadway in 1995. Running two and a half years, playing 702 performances at the Helen Hayes Theater, Caveman entered the record books as the longest running solo play in Broadway history.

Still holding that record today, Defending the Caveman has gone on to become a worldwide hit that has been translated into 18 different languages and performed in more than 45 countries. Couples all across America (and around the world) are in love with Defending the Caveman.