Author

 Aligning People for Greater Success 

Nick’s expertise is developed over 25 years of helping clients to reduce sales costs and improve revenue growth in a “must win economy” 

After leading behavioral research and sales productivity projects over 25 years he has a deep understanding of what takes to prove what actually works. He is passionate about impacting bottom-line results through changing behavior. So what you may say – let his track record speak for itself, for example:

Results Achieved -Examples

Telecoms – $USD 51m (in just 19 weeks)
Pharma (Canada) –  $CDN 120m (in 9 months)
Data Analytics (Canada) – $CDN 10m (in12 mths)
Food Process Engineering– saved $USD 2.7m (6mths)
Large Life Insurance (UK) –£ 82m (in 12 mths)
Steel Fabrication– $USD 10m (from $USD 20m base)
(in 2 years)

“If you can’t measure it, forget it. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”

Specialties

• Experienced Project Manager
• Inspirational Leader
• Accomplished Trainer, Facilitator & Public Speaker
• Negotiation & Partnering Consultant
• Strategy development facilitator
• Learner & Curricula Designer
• Business Coach
• Performance Improvement Consultant
• Organization Alignment Expert
• Broadcaster & Writer

Mission

A seeker of pure light on whose journey fulfills others

My focus is to illuminate the links between behavior change and improved performance. After leading behavioral research and sales productivity projects over more than 20 years has deepened my understanding of what takes to align people for change – Getting People on the Same Page. I am passionate about impacting bottom-line results through changing behavior and increasing their competitive advantage.

Over the last 10 years we have developed and matured ALEx™ – Aligning Expectations. This journey started with diagnosing misalignments and distractions to sales change initiatives. Now, AlEx™ is a web application management system which progressively aligns and focuses management teams to develop a climate where accountability and coaching is the norm.

My abilities range from change strategist, behavior researcher, skilled coach and learning designer. All these skills require presenting to large groups and facilitating leadership teams in difficult and often tense situations.

Objective

Developing successful change initiatives that demonstrate measurable performance improvement for the organization, leadership and employees

Values

My operational values are rooted in generating sustainable improvement and believe that you can only do this if you have the time to help clients reap such benefits. It is through this value that stronger revenues can also be sustained

Experience

Senior Partner at PDS Group LTD

August 1999 – November 2011Present (12 years 3 months)

The focus throughout my career has been to illuminate the links between behavior change and improved performance. After leading behavioral research and sales productivity projects, the last 15 years has deepened my understanding of what it takes to align people for change – Getting People on the Same Page. I am passionate about impacting bottom-line results through changing behavior and increasing their competitive advantage.

Significant Client Assignments includes:

Turner Construction – CALTRANS Project

Royal Bank of Canada

IMS Health Canada

Qwest Telecommunications – Government & Education Division

For others see Project Summaries

Glaxo Wellcome/GSK

Developed CAM (Competency Assessment Models”!) for sales reps managers & marketeers for GlaxoSmithKline which we co-developed an intranet tool for managers & reps to measure each reps competency development. Corporately analyses of sales competency are used to drive sales management to impact productivity (See Project Summary)

Sales Effectiveness Projects

Northern Trust

  • Differentiating NT’s approach to passive trading from the two leading competitors

Qwest Telecommunications

  • Diagnosed alignment problems between sales, sales engineering and customer service. As a result

–       Ran account planning sessions which led to $51m additional sales in 19 weeks

Glaxo Welcome (Canada)

  • Designed & implemented a sales coaching strategy (550 Reps) which led to $130 CDN (15%) increase in sales within 6 months
  • Acting Training & Development Director during the GSK merger in Canada and recognized as playing a significant role

Genzink Steel

  • Developed a vision for change and reduced dependency on the owner’s day-to-day management.
  • Created key alignment components to achieving greater market responsiveness and help the Owner devote time to his other businesses
  • AlEx™ (Our proprietary process to Align Expectations and software) was then configured specifically for Genzink Steel

Broadcaster & Blog Writer

May 2006 to Present

Radio Scripts and presents a monthly radio show: Walk the Talk – Radio Show for Agile Minds. This show covers topics of business interest which can be listened to @ pdsgrp.net Current  Show

BlogWalk the Talk – A Blog for Agile Minds pdsgroup.wordpress.com – See sample

Top Down or Bottom Up Change

This material is being used as the basis for a book “Getting People on the Same Page”

VP Sales at First Telecommunications

August 2004 – May 2007 (2 years 10 months)

  • Managed 8 sales people
  • Developed of a communications solutions strategy & plan to transform FTC
  • Helped set up multi-carrier services relationships
  • Led FTC to be an exclusive business partner with Inter-Tel
  • Consulted on the shift from a branch to a functional structure
  • Implemented a series of improvements in the recruitment, training & coaching of sales people
  • FTC went from 23rd to 13th in the Inter-Tel Dealer rankings (n250)

Head of Development at Holden

December 1996 – September 1998 (1 year 10 months)

Re-engineered Holden’s core products from design to international roll out.

Results achieved included:

  • Holden’s main distributor found that the level of learning and quality of sales planning of learners improved markedly.
  • Clients like Royal Bank of Canada, Sun Microsystems and Hill-Rom found the new designs improved learning
  • Developed Learning Object Oriented Design – an original adult learning approach.
  • Designed and delivered a new approach to facilitator training
  • Enabling more participants to be willing and able to change their behavior. (60+ people trained worldwide). This contributed toward increasing learner participation from 40%-60% to 60%-80%, which is attributed to the results achieved above.
  • Developed and delivered diagnostics, customizing, and evaluation tools to support the above reengineering
  • Designed and implemented a new sales management suite of training covering establishing the requiring environment, building sales teams, coaching for impact plus four other modules.
  • Sales and implementation of projects in EDS, Ernst & Young, Canadian National (CN Rail), Hill-Rom, Royal Bank of Canada, ITT Cannon
  • Developed a design group, whose work covers relationship management, value creation, executive calling, account planning, sales management etc.

Head of Effectiveness Consulting at Huthwaite Research Group

May 1985 – November 1996 (11 years 7 months)

What value has Nick Anderson added?

Over 12 years of selling and leading training and consultancy projects, in Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as USA:

“Nick has made a huge contribution…(He) sold and managed several major research projects, including a huge piece of research for Abbey National. Indeed, he has been the most successful person in Huthwaite in terms of research over the past 10 Years..and…has been a major fee earner regularly earning in excess of 200,000 GBP per annum and has kept up a work rate that many would have been impossible for most people.”

(Richard Graham, Executive Director Huthwaite Research Group).

Consultant at Huthwaite Research Group

1985 – 1996 (11 years)

  • Implemented sales and negotiation training projects
  • Conducted behavioral research which led to skills development projects that improved performance, by showing links between behavior change and hard performance criteria
  • Helped a large firm of actuaries develop their strategy for their core business
  • Implemented two large projects of cascaded change
  • Developing approaches to improving consulting effectiveness for a major consultancy
  • Coached executives in negotiation and partnering skills

Clients included

  • Abbey National sales research and rollout led them to securing “Mortgage Lender of the Year” (6400 branch staff)
  • Prudential Portfolio Management’s outsourcing of global securities to Mellon and Midland Banks.
  • Prudential Assurance included evaluating sales training effectiveness via 3000 calls life sales by new sales reps. The study showed that $30m training budget was wasted and that changes to training processes could yield, 70% increase in revenues per sale.
  • APV covered establishing global sales strategies. Results included saving 15000 engineering hours in one year, resolved channel conflicts
  • The London Stock Exchange – developed influencing strategies that increased 50% in sales of investment software
  • Watson Wyatt Worldwide – business planning and role clarification
  • Friends Provident – sales productivity project increased sales by 50%
  • American Express (EMEA) – increased sales (5% – 15%)
  • Infolink – Two heads of sales reporting back to their board that the total project costs were recovered inside 6-8 weeks from start.

This involved working with executives developing new sales and marketing strategies. Such work often challenged long cherished views of organizational direction, management culture and market positioning.

Marketing Services Manager at The Boots Company

May 1984 – June 1985 (1 year 2 months)

Managed 70 people to design, produce and distribute 5000 sku’s to 2,100 retail stores. This ranged from self edge price tickets to store displays.

Senior Project Manager, Retail Research at The Boots Company

September 1981 – July 1984 (2 years 11 months)

Running projects in the design, management and cost effectiveness of 1200 Pharmacies and Departmental Stores. Many of these projects led to significant efficiencies in retail operations, such as cash handling project ($1.8m p.a.savings)

Graduate Development Manager at The Boots Company

May 1979 – June 1981 (2 years 2 months)

Managed the first two years of 200+ graduates’ careers. This included liaising with Universities, designing curricula for Merchandising Buyers, IT Consultants and Developing Retail Research Consultants.

Education

Nottingham Trent University

Masters, Human Resource, 1990 – 1997

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (FCIPD)

1977-1995

Interests

Choral Singing

Horses

Walking

Mountain Biking

RECOMMENDATIONS

“Nick is a very detail oriented and experienced consultant. His techniques and methods are applicable in so many industries. His teaching style makes putting his recommendations into play a smooth transition for all staff involved. He pinpoints key issues in company behaviors and suggest accurate measures in dealing with potential business changes from all aspects of the company structure. Analyzing everyone from the CEO to the entry level staff member. He was key in aligning my staff to “be on the same page” through staff alignment and staff downsizing. A very informative and detailed consultant.”                    November 17, 2010

Top qualities:                            Great Results, Expert, Creative

Kateri  Johnson, Cortexx   hired Nick as a Business Consultant in 2009

“In working with Nick, I have found him to be very insightful, practical and experienced. In many ways his experience is so fresh and deep that I did not have to finish complete explanations of our issues, before he understood completely. I strongly recommend Mr. Anderson as bringing real value to organizations and their people.”

Paul Lemley, CEO Bouma Construction

“Nick, it is my pleasure to recommend you to any company that is seeking to increase the productivity and effectiveness of their people. You have the ability to bring insight and innovation to the world of high level performance. I am still using many of the coaching techniques that you introduced me to in my global training initiatives. Feel free to use me as reference on the power of your workshops.”

Dan McBride, Senior Consultant, Holden International, worked directly with Nick at PDS Group

“Nick is a gifted management consultant with exceptionally strong capabilities in the areas of business development, value chain management, and performance improvement. Those businesses looking to enhance strategic their agility and create clear alignment around people, processes, and productivity would be very well served by Nick and his PDS Group team.”

— Joe Braidish, Managing Principal, Newbridge Services Group, LLC,

“Nick has the ability to engage teams of people in the most insightful conversations that surface the root cause of problems in organizations. As he works with organizations he creates learning models that teams can grasp an integrate into meaningful performance.”

Linda Marsh, Research and Design Manager, Huthwaite International

“Nick Anderson is a professional. Nick knows exactly how to ask the right questions to get to the responses and answers that he wants. I consider working with Nick an honor and anyone who has worked with him has learned something from his amazing work habits to his solution selling mentally. Well prepared in any situation that he approaches and I would recommend him to any client.”

Eric Hamilton, Account Executive, First Telecommunications, reported to Nick

“Nick is a creative and supportive organizational, “thought-leader”. He not only uncovers data-based connections that bring immediate bottom-line results to organizations, but also supports colleagues in applying their only creativity to organizational problems.”

— Linda Shelor, Senior Associate, PDS Group LTD,

“What can be said about Nick Anderson….? I had the pleasure of working for Nick and did not realize the impact until AFTER I returned to my previous job. Nick is expert at analysis, program development, and major account selling strategy. The strategies we developed together have propelled me on to more successes than I ever imagined. Nick comes highly recommended as a business consultant and has a knack for recognizing and developing strategies to cope with change. If you are concerned about change or need a consultant, hire Nick right away! You will not be disappointed.

James Dimmer, Major Account Manager, First Telecommunications, reported to

“Nick and I have worked together for 5 years now. He is “top shelf” in his business profession. He is extremely experienced and has a work ethic second to none. I have personally seen what a huge impact he has with companies that he decides to work with to improve their bottom line. I would give Nick my highest recommendation for anyone looking to work with him.”

Robert Rix, CFP & Vice President-Investments, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.,

“Nick is a person that often is my frame of reference as I consider my experience. Nick got me started. I admire his intelligence and focus. When I become a college President in about five years, I would hire Nick in a heartbeat.”

Kenneth Trzaska, Dean, SLCC,

“The independent members of our business exchange center for the private capital marketplace were extremely impressed with Nick’s professionalism and innovative approach to business planning.”

Michael Nall, Founder of AMAA

“Nick is an excellent speaker and facilitator in the alignment of people and organizations to achieve results.”