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

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.

HOW TO SELL YOUR BRAND IDENTITY & CUSTOMIZE YOUR SALES STORY

A funny and unforgettable keynote by six-time Emmy-winning comedian, TV host, and business author, Ross Shafer.

Takeaways:

  1. Authentic, Emotional Storytelling – Ross will teach your teams why telling an interesting story proves you care about your customers. Great stories explain why your company matters more than a competitor with similar products or services.
  2. How to Weave Your Personal Story into your Brand Story – Many people in your audience strive for World-Class success. Ross uses his own life story as a blueprint for how they can achieve it, too. Want a hint? You will learn how Ross coached (and launched) Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
  3. Create Compelling Stories Your Customers Repeat to Their Friends – We live in a recommendation economy (Yelp, Trust Pilot, Trip Advisor, Amazon Reviews, Anji, et al). Your customers use such forums to either brag about you – or undermine your brand credibility. Ross will show you how to create positive, memorable stories your customers cannot wait to share.
  4. You will Never Run Out of Stories – Ross can teach you a reliable and ethical way to harvest fresh ideas from outside your industry. When you know Ross’s secret, you will be able to create an endless supply of interesting tales that will help grow your organization.

HOW TO SUSTAIN A RELEVANT CULTURE

A fun and engaging keynote for Future-Proofing your organization.

Takeaways:

  1. Relevance Is a Moving Target – A truly relevant culture must be constantly curated. Your organization needs to be nimble enough to adapt on demand. Ross will inspire your teams to replace complacency with out-of-the-silo thinking. Ross will share his tactics for breakthrough solutions.
  2. Customer Expectations Have Evolved – In his book, No More Customer Friction, Ross Shafer reveals research, which shows why his WOW vs POW customer experience coaching escalates satisfaction scores. Cracking the code evolved by preventing customer gut punches, fixing reckless disappointments, and eliminating inexcusable blunders..
  3. The Relationship Secret that Builds Instant Rapport – Ross shares a TV talk show technique that generates instant trust and loyalty. No fluff here. Just consistent results.
  4. The Final Moment of the Transaction Determines Loyalty – Loyalty hinges on the emotional story you tell in the last few moments of every transaction. Beware: the wrong post-sale survey can undo an otherwise perfect engagement. Ross will reveal how to craft closing interactions that can cement customers for life.

WOW-ING CUSTOMERS DOESN’T GUARANTEE LOYALTY

Ross explains why eliminating the POW moments (organizational failures, unforced errors, feeling neglected) raises satisfaction scores more than many WOW “gestures.”

Takeaways:

  1. Real-World Experience – Ross will explain how he rescued 23 companies from bankruptcy simply by delivering honesty, resolving problems quickly, and focusing on fun. 
  2. Proven Thought Leadership – Ross takes this subject very seriously. He’s written 5 best-selling books on the Customer Experience, 16 human resource training films on customer effort, customer empathy, and reducing customer friction.
  3. Research-Driven Simplicity – Traditional loyalty strategies no longer work like they did in the past. Ross’s method simplifies customer satisfaction by removing the pain points, making it easy to train frontline teams to execute WOW vs. POW smoothly. The C-Suite loves the results.
  4. Engaging Style – Ross’s energetic style—fueled by humor, storytelling, and real-world examples—makes complex customer strategies easy to understand and implement. His fast-paced, inspiring keynotes resonate from the C-suite to the sales floor. The WOW vs. POW method is simple, scalable, and effective.