Rick Barrera is a marketing consultant and author known throughout the Fortune 500 for his extraordinary speaking ability and his unique approach to brand building. His research on the strategies used by breakthrough brands like Hummer, Starbucks, Chico’s, Yellowfreight, WAMU, Lexus, and Google will change your thinking about marketing forever. Rick has helped hundreds of companies re-design their systems and implement a holistic approach to serving customers.

It’s an old cliché in business that smart companies UNDER promise and over deliver. But in today’s crowded market, that’s a one way ticket to oblivion. In his bestselling book Overpromise and Overdeliver (Penguin Putnam), Rick illustrates how an increasing number of cutting edge firms are building breakthrough brands in record time. Overpromise and Overdeliver offers powerful and easy-to-apply lessons not only for senior managers but also for individuals at any level -- for anyone who wants to create extraordinary customer experiences. Drawing on more than 20 years of hands-on experience, this breakthrough book sheds new light on how brands are really built and offers practical advice you can use to immediately differentiate your products, services and company.

Rick’s previous books include Non-Manipulative Selling published by Prentice Hall, Collaborative Selling published by John Wiley and Sons and the self-published Dollars and Sense of Exceptional Service Delivery.

His impressive client list includes Abbott Labs, AutoZone, Bayer, Caterpillar, IBM, Intel, Merrill Lynch and Verizon. Because he continues to consult with a few select clients each year, his material is always relevant, fresh and grounded in the current realities of the marketplace.

Rick’s passion for truly understanding the company and industry he’s addressing, along with his trademark Deep Customization is unparalleled in the speaking industry. His depth of corporate experience, research and education has given him the unusual gift of appearing to be an industry insider to even the most discriminating audiences.

MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:

Branding/Customer Loyalty— Overpromise and Overdeliver
This topic is essential for any company that wants to stand out from competitors while leading their industry in growth and profit. Overpromise and Overdeliver shows you how to differentiate your brand and your customer service by designing and managing the appropriate Product, System and Human TouchPoint interactions in the appropriate blend for your customers. Senior executives will find the research and examples compelling. Line managers will learn what has been missing in their execution and the front line will learn what they must do on a daily basis to ensure that customers drive the buzz that builds breakaway brands.

Innovation — Fast Forward
This intense presentation underscores the necessity for companies to redesign their systems and processes to permit flexibility, innovation and speed. Your team will learn practical, action-oriented steps to capitalize on key trends driving the future of management, marketing, sales and customer service delivery. Participants in Fast Forward will discover their own "innovation quotient" and learn how to improve it so they can accelerate the pace of their innovation.

Customer Service — Rethinking Customer Service
As we hurtle along technological pathways in our quest to do more and do it faster, we run the risk of becoming "faceless" to our customers. While we revel our digitalization, we must redesign our organizations to ensure that customers continue to have access to gratifying human interaction. Yet, most companies are not structured to deliver quality customer service. Superior service delivery is a systems issue, not a front line personnel issue. Punctuating his program with examples that epitomize service excellence, Rick delineates what companies must do to win and keep customers in a hyper competitive marketplace.