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Martin Butler at Montreux, Switzerland. "I hate lecterns and need to walk my talk...thank you to all those who have asked me to speak at their gatherings. Here's just a small selection of the feedback I receive - I'm particularly proud of the number of times people mention: inspiring, exciting and challenging..... it's much appreciated. But above all, I really love to be remembered for being different!" |
I shared a speaking platform with Stuart Fletcher, President, International of Diagio at the prestigious Henley Business School - we were both there to talk about 'Developing Board Level Skills'. Stuart delivered spell binding insights into his hectic world, skillfully delivering pearls of wisdom with precision and passion. He was kind enough to send me a note on my lecture which included:
"I truly enjoyed, and learned from, the session Martin led and would recommend him as a speaker to any organization seeking to shift their thinking and performance in the whole area of customer service and loyalty."
Jack Smith, founder of Sports Authority, America's first big-box sporting goods super-stores, was kind enough to write me a note following the New Zealand Retailers Association's conference in Auckland.
".....Martin I must admit I was totally taken back with your presentation at the NZRA's conference. Your observations and comments of the various retailers from around the world and the way you presented them, made the long trip to NZ more than worthwhile. The only problem I had with your presentation was that the hour went by too fast! I also enjoyed reading your book and now recommend it to everybody I know in retail."
I recently shared a speaking platform on 'Leadership' with Marc Jones, Associate Professor of Management, at Deakin University's Graduate School of Business in Melbourne. Marc was talking about the really 'big' global issues and how these might inform best practice leadership...I'm obviously delighted he dropped me this note:
"I truly enjoyed, and learned from, the session Martin led and would recommend him as a speaker to any organization seeking to shift their thinking and performance in the whole area of customer service and loyalty."
Jack Smith, founder of Sports Authority, America's first big-box sporting goods super-stores, was kind enough to write me a note following the New Zealand Retailers Association's conference in Auckland.
".....Martin I must admit I was totally taken back with your presentation at the NZRA's conference. Your observations and comments of the various retailers from around the world and the way you presented them, made the long trip to NZ more than worthwhile. The only problem I had with your presentation was that the hour went by too fast! I also enjoyed reading your book and now recommend it to everybody I know in retail."
I recently shared a speaking platform on 'Leadership' with Marc Jones, Associate Professor of Management, at Deakin University's Graduate School of Business in Melbourne. Marc was talking about the really 'big' global issues and how these might inform best practice leadership...I'm obviously delighted he dropped me this note:
"...Martin Butler's knowledge of retailing is encyclopedic. He is able to make the connections between the broadest trends shaping the global economy and your daily experience at the neighbourhood 7-Eleven in a clear and compelling manner...he combines wisdom and excitement in a unique take on leading edge retail knowledge and practice."
In the heart of the City of London I was delighted to address some of the best brains in Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Christine Cross, the incredibly well connected and globally ubiquitous, 'queen of retail' had invited me to open their annual Talkshop conference as the Stimulus Speaker.
In her capacity as Chief Retail and Consumer Advisor of PwC, Christine asked me to 'wake-up' the audience and open the conference - she was kind enough to comment:
"Martin Butler's keynote stimulus session was just that...and not at all what the audience had anticipated! A refreshing and informed view of the issues facing the 'high street' and the ways in which good leaders are addressing these. Martin was provocative by challenging the audience to adopt some of the best traits in their own work and to never dismiss the opportunity to seize the moment to effect positive change. A great speaker who left a lasting, positive impression on the audience."
Perry Timms, head of Organisational Development at The BIG Lottery Fund - the UK's largest distributor of lottery money - recently engaged me to talk to his high-fliers on organisational change and true customer centricity. For an organisation whose primary objective is to allocate funds to the 'deserving', it was an interesting mind-set challenge for me as well as my audience. Perry was kind enough to write me a note that included:
"Martin Butler is a provocateur of the first order – and someone who shows us the world is about retailing, about customers, and about power – the power we have in our buying choices, our leadership choices and our personality choices…he has such fascinating insight from those who’ve made successes out of leading in that most challenging, fast-paced and creative arena – ‘selling stuff’…… from talent management through to organisational change, it’s all made so relevant that I can guarantee you’ll be better off from Martin’s wisdom and provocative delivery. He’s perfected the art of being chosen himself, so maybe you could learn more than you think from him...!"
One of my more unusual invitations to speak came from Sepehr Tarverdian - founder of one of the Middle East's up and coming conference organisations based in Tehran. I was asked to deliver a keynote address on 'global advertising and marketing trends' to nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs and top executives from the oil, banking and retail companies in Iran. I'm glad I visited and experienced this 'closed' society before diplomatic relations were severed and Sepehr was kind enough to drop me a note:
"Martin Butler - THANK YOU for your GREAT contribution. I myself have totally enjoyed your message and the presentation. It was beyond almost all the delegates expectations and simply the top 10 for me among the 120 speakers I have ever worked with. I really enjoyed your humble, and down to earth personality. You are a man of integrity, and wisdom."
James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, kindly invited me to come and talk to the senior figures of this august sporting establishment. Headquartered next door to the MCG in Melbourne, I was honoured to address the Main Executive including the various regional bosses on the finer points of 'being chosen' by the passionate Australian sporting public. James kindly dropped me a note including:
Steve Holloway is the Group Learning and Development manager for Imperial Tobacco and he kindly invited me to run one of the four days on their Employee and Customer Engagement workshop for a select group of their key Global General Managers. I was delighted when he sent me this quote:
In her capacity as Chief Retail and Consumer Advisor of PwC, Christine asked me to 'wake-up' the audience and open the conference - she was kind enough to comment:
"Martin Butler's keynote stimulus session was just that...and not at all what the audience had anticipated! A refreshing and informed view of the issues facing the 'high street' and the ways in which good leaders are addressing these. Martin was provocative by challenging the audience to adopt some of the best traits in their own work and to never dismiss the opportunity to seize the moment to effect positive change. A great speaker who left a lasting, positive impression on the audience."
Perry Timms, head of Organisational Development at The BIG Lottery Fund - the UK's largest distributor of lottery money - recently engaged me to talk to his high-fliers on organisational change and true customer centricity. For an organisation whose primary objective is to allocate funds to the 'deserving', it was an interesting mind-set challenge for me as well as my audience. Perry was kind enough to write me a note that included:
"Martin Butler is a provocateur of the first order – and someone who shows us the world is about retailing, about customers, and about power – the power we have in our buying choices, our leadership choices and our personality choices…he has such fascinating insight from those who’ve made successes out of leading in that most challenging, fast-paced and creative arena – ‘selling stuff’…… from talent management through to organisational change, it’s all made so relevant that I can guarantee you’ll be better off from Martin’s wisdom and provocative delivery. He’s perfected the art of being chosen himself, so maybe you could learn more than you think from him...!"
One of my more unusual invitations to speak came from Sepehr Tarverdian - founder of one of the Middle East's up and coming conference organisations based in Tehran. I was asked to deliver a keynote address on 'global advertising and marketing trends' to nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs and top executives from the oil, banking and retail companies in Iran. I'm glad I visited and experienced this 'closed' society before diplomatic relations were severed and Sepehr was kind enough to drop me a note:
"Martin Butler - THANK YOU for your GREAT contribution. I myself have totally enjoyed your message and the presentation. It was beyond almost all the delegates expectations and simply the top 10 for me among the 120 speakers I have ever worked with. I really enjoyed your humble, and down to earth personality. You are a man of integrity, and wisdom."
James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, kindly invited me to come and talk to the senior figures of this august sporting establishment. Headquartered next door to the MCG in Melbourne, I was honoured to address the Main Executive including the various regional bosses on the finer points of 'being chosen' by the passionate Australian sporting public. James kindly dropped me a note including:
"Martin Butler's presentation really set the platform for our two-day conference....it was pleasing to receive positive feedback about his content and to hear the participant’s reference examples he raised....we know we need to find new ways to capitalise on being unique and different and to master the 'art of being chosen' in everything we do...we all gained a fresh insight from the world of retail and thank Martin for his time in connecting with Australian cricket."
Steve Holloway is the Group Learning and Development manager for Imperial Tobacco and he kindly invited me to run one of the four days on their Employee and Customer Engagement workshop for a select group of their key Global General Managers. I was delighted when he sent me this quote:
"Martin Butler is fun, pacy and highly engaging, demonstrating in action what he preaches. Having a deep and clear understanding of the subject matter Martin provides thought provoking insights into how major retailers of the world have been chosen by their customers based on reality not theory. He is truly inspiring and provides real challenge about what customer service really means and how organisations ‘Can be Chosen’..."
John Albertson, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Retailers Association, was kind enough to write a note thanking me for my part in his National Conference...I'm always delighted to hear from the boss of a conference and I thank John for his generous comments
“Martin Butler - thank you, thank you, thank you.
Your presentation to our conference was the highlight of the day and I’m sure we sent the delegates away in a very positive frame of mind – thinking about how the consumer chooses them (or doesn’t, as the case may be)…..to get such a large sector of New Zealand retailing focused on their businesses in a different and totally constructive way, certainly met the objectives of the conference.”
Your presentation to our conference was the highlight of the day and I’m sure we sent the delegates away in a very positive frame of mind – thinking about how the consumer chooses them (or doesn’t, as the case may be)…..to get such a large sector of New Zealand retailing focused on their businesses in a different and totally constructive way, certainly met the objectives of the conference.”
I was recently invited to speak to the Westfield shopping centre management Forum at their world headquarters in Sydney. The audience of over 100 executives came from every business function and my key objective was to highlight how world-class retailers think and operate around the world and also, how this might impact the non-retail-specific functions at Westfield. It was a grand ambition and I was delighted to receive a thank you note from Ian Cornell, boss of HR for this giant corporation.
"We were looking to achieve a “fast track” update on what’s working in the rapidly evolving world of retail. Martin Butler's exceptional content, and in particular, his unique perspective and retail insights received very positive feedback from our diverse group...Martin hit the mark with his engaging presentation style...and his ability to understand and interpret the subtleties of what really matters and to communicate to the audience the attributes that make a truly world class retailer"
Dr Terry Boulter, MBA Director at Deakin, kindly invited me to be part of the inaugural Professional Development series and thoughtfully dropped me a note including:
“Martin Butler's riveting presentation was delivered with gusto! The interactive powerpoint slides and audience engagement is why Martin is such a delightful presenter. Love to have him back when he returns to Australia.”
I recently spoke to the International Retail Banking Council in Rome - my narrative was to investigate what banking might learn from global best practice retailing. I was particularly struck by the desire to learn and the appetite for change expressed by the distinguished audience - Karl Westvig, Chairman of the Redwood Group from South Africa kindly wrote to me:
Russell Zimmerman, boss of the Australian Retailers Association, opened a recent conference in Sydney where I was the keynote speaker - he dropped me a note which I was proud to receive - here's an extract:
"Martin Butler was both very informative in his talk but kept the audience interested by the injection of some great humor in his delivery... The ARA is a member of the Federation of Asia Pacific Retailers Association and as I was very impressed with Martin’s talk, I am suggesting to them that they might consider Martin as a speaker for their Singapore conference."
David Duncan has, for many years, served on the Executive Committee on the World Conference for Detergents. This highly respected scientist asked me to speak alongside the CEOs of P and G, Unilever and Henkel - they were a hard act to follow but David kindly dropped me a note afterwards that included:
"Martin Butler's speech at Montreux was delivered in a commanding, highly professional way from someone who is clearly a highly respected, knowledgeable and experienced retail expert."
Alexandra Uhlmann, who is the Client and Programme Director at the world famous Ashridge Business School, invited me to give an evening lecture to her MBA students on 'success'. With strategic business examples from my global research, we had a lively and highly interactive debate - I thank Alexandra for the opportunity and her tribute below:
"Martin Butler has at his fingertip, a wealth of examples from the retail industry that keeps his audience looking for the next inspirational snippet."
Chris Matchan is a visiting Executive Fellow at Henley Business School, Associate Tutor at Warwick University Business School and Tutor at Maastricht University - over the years Chris has asked me to talk on many subjects to his students and clients, including the importance of choice, trust and emotion in business. He generously wrote to me and this is part of what he said:
"Martin Butler takes a creative personal style and weaves impactful content into the ways he works his audience. He is highly interactive and he quite literally has people in the palm of his hand. They walk away from his sessions inspired to do something differently... I do not hesitate to endorse Martin to you and would ask that you contact me if you need any further information."
For 20 years Stan Kaufman ran the Oxford University Summer School at Keble College
on behalf of the BSSA
"The fact that Martin Butler was invited to such a prestigious event year after year is testament to the outstanding job he consistently did. He is an inspirational marketer, equally skilled with top execs as he is with middle managers....I have no hesitation recommending him to any organisation lucky enough to secure his services."
Jack Hanrahan must be one of the most 'connected' executives in the world of retail....he runs Westfield Shopping Centre's much admired global retail tours - 40 or so top level retailers scouring the world for best practice and innovation. I was delighted to share my views on world retailing and leadership to this audience and Jack kindly wrote:
"Martin Butler, on behalf of Westfield
I had a great evening at The Chambers retail consultancy. It's always very challenging speaking to fellow retail consultants about ones observations on 'success' and as expected there were some tough questioning on my conclusions - Tom Hayhoe, the Chairman, was kind enough to write me a letter which included the following quote:
"I would strongly recommend Martin Butler to anyone looking for a speaker looking to stir up and excite a management team by providing a window onto what makes the best retailers successful."
