Ross Shafer is one of the most sought after keynote speakers and seminar leaders on the subjects of Customer Empathy, Personal Motivation, and Business Relevance. He is a six-time Emmy Award Winning TV producer/writer who, in l994, turned his inexhaustible energies to the question, "What cultural influences cause some organizations to die...while others grow exponentially?" To that end, Ross has written and produced 14 Human Resource Training films and penned the acclaimed business books, "Nobody Moved Your Cheese," (2003) "The Customer Shouts Back," (2005) "Customer Empathy,"(2006) "Are You Relevant?" (2009) and "Grab More Market Share." (2011). Ross is also the founder of the Customer Empathy Institute in partnership with California State University at Monterey Bay. 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 took that money and launched his life as an entrepreneur. His first venture was as the owner/manager of America’s only Stereo and Pet Shop in the small town of Puyallup, Washington (population 5,000 at the time). After three 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 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). It was a risky idea to emulate a local Letterman-like comedy talk show. Regardless, ALMOST LIVE was born and for the next 5 seasons Ross hosted the show while he and his team collected 36 Emmys. In l988, Ross was wooed by the Fox network to take over The Late Show. Ross later found himself co-hosting Days End, ABC's Match Game, Love Me, Love Me Not and other TV pilot projects. By this time, Ross was heading all of the leading night clubs and casinos. 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." By l994, Ross moved back to his corporate training roots. Ross delivers 85+ Keynote speeches a year to Fortune 500 organizations as well as small to mid-sized trade associations. Shafer is widely known for his hilarious delivery and ability to crosspollinate innovations between diverse industries, often revolutionizing profits and cultures. Titles Grab More Market Share The Customer Empathy™ Solution Part I The Customer Empathy™ Solution Part II Are You Relevant? (skills to generate customer service innovations that spike revenue) Customer Experience: Is Your Business Staying Relevant? Customer Empathy as the new Market Share Engine Customer "Service" is replaced by Customer Empathy and Urgency Nobody Moved Your Cheese! Relevance: The Event (3-hour, 3-speaker executive briefing: customer service/market share, generational sales/workforce and social media/technology) Unconventional Thinking: The Masters Course Topics Humor, Change, Customer Service, Relationships, Marketing, Entertainment, Goal-setting, Emcee Click topic above to see more speakers on that topic Speaker's Asking Fee Range $15,000 or more Click on fee range to see more speakers. This is the starting keynote fee range - other programs may be higher. State CO Click on state above to see more speakers from that state. Fees The fee range quoted means the speaker's fee starts somewhere within that range. Note that speaker's fees are subject to change and some speakers may have special fee quotes.