I founded Reality Distortion Ventures to help companies provide their customers and employees a branded experience that is meaningful, relevant and memorable.  It is about finding customer value and building organizational and operational excellence that will result in companies earning more revenue and reducing their costs.    

Creating our own reality is about controlling one’s destiny not misinterpreting the world around us.  It is deliberate reasoning, intentional action and adaptive learning.   

I have been driving innovative customer strategies and business operations for companies ranging from early stage start-ups to billion dollar companies.  With some companies it was opening the first door and for others it was going to work for 3,200 colleagues.  

My professional history includes working  for GoDaddy (Acquired by KKR & Co, Silver Lake Partners and TCV),  HomeRun.com (Acquired by Rearden Commerce), Mobile Mini (NASDAQ: MINI),  Homestead Technologies (Acquired by Intuit), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), NeoPlanet Inc. (Acquired by Compaq Computer Corp.), and ING (NYSE: ING).  I earned my MBA with distinction from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Science in  Accounting from Colorado State University.  

---

Below are some of our stories that were created with people, teams and companies centered on the Power of the Human Spirit, Putting the Customer in the Center, Systems and Lean Thinking, Trust, Teamwork and Personal Accountability.  This also included opening 7 new offices in 5 different cities and 3 different states.  

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets credit" - Harry S Truman

Revenue and Sales

• $105 million YOY growth for $500 million sales, service and customer marketing operation by being accountable as leaders and focusing on structure, flow and alignment
• Increased revenue per employee by 31% with over 1,700 employees in seven months by living up to our definition of success for the customer
  
• 46% YOY growth for outbound programs and improved margins by 27% for a $65 million division by removing the focus on activity
• 24% YOY growth and 74% higher revenue per quantity with targeted campaigns for $302 million customer marketing division by becoming more relevant to our audience
• Grew sales 90% YOY, increased revenue per employee 86% and company went from $8 million annual burn rate to cash flow positive in seven months by getting out of our own head, a relentless commitment to the customer and embracing our opportunity to build a special story in the lives of our employees and customers
  

Scale and Profit

• Transformed two customer service centers from costing millions a year to cash flow positive, becoming the fastest growing revenue channels and generated millions in bottom line profits by building a purpose driven organization, redefining success for our customers, systems thinking and relentless pursuit of continuous improvement.   
  
• Improved bottom line of a $300 million sales and service organization by over 200%, generating tens of millions in additional profit while handling over 14 million annual customer interactions by reducing hierarchy, conflict and behavior controls while increasing empowerment, trust, accountability and outcome controls 
• Lowered cost to acquire a merchant by 65%, improved margins by 54% and achieved 90% annual retention in a hyper competitive space of social commerce by changing our definition for sales and the positioning of our product in the market
• Hired 107 new employees within five months and Improved sales performance for a billion dollar company by 47% with a 29% lower cost of sale with new hiring, training, compensation and performance strategies while making it easier for customers to buy from us
  
• Reduced cost to acquire a customer 71% and improved retention 17% with 40% YOY subscriber growth for a $170 million SaaS company by redefining the business from a customers perspective, hiring to a different competency, promoting the right management and commitment to excellence as individuals and teams
• Improved margins for a professional service offering from 2% to 51% while increasing revenue 75% and improved customer satisfaction scores by 30% by defining and measuring to a common definition of success from a customers perspective and removing waste and failure demand from the system

Customer and Employee Engagement

• Three organizations achieved world class net promoter scores and two were confirmed as the leader in their industry by outside sources by actively seeking the failures from a customers perspective, continuously asking what could we do better and never being satisfied with our current performance
• Saved 27% of customer initiated cancellations with win-back programs without any promotion or discounting tactics that had both employees and retained customers cheering 
  
• Received hundreds of stories and letters from customers weekly calling out what a difference we made in their lives and their businesses that became inspiration for many
• Improved historic turnover for sales roles from 86% to 12% with 47% higher performance by allowing the village to raise its young
  
• Reduced turnover for a 2,200 employee organization by 22% and drove 21% growth in sales because of our shared beliefs and values that brought us together
  
• Reduced turnover from 93% to 14% and improved sales by 90% YOY by internalizing the vision and removing the inner conflict of how we got paid and what we know is right
• Promoted hundreds of employees who became high-performing managers and leaders with distinction for our companies and embraced the responsibility and fulfillment that comes from helping others succeed
  
• Never hired a sales or service manager from outside the company by the commitment of hiring for talent, ambition and character and always developing and assessing the bench 
• Every major holiday was staffed with only volunteers to allow their friends and colleagues to enjoy the time with their families.  
• Organizations achieved the highest employee engagement scores for two companies named to Fortune's "Top 100 Companies to Work For" because our cause was much larger than a survey or award 

  

Bob Olson / 8711 Pinnacle Peak Rd Suite F-108 / Scottsdale, AZ 85255 / 602.690.5750 / [email protected]