About The Chip Bell Group

The Chip Bell Group is a select confederation of highly experienced consultants who passionately pursue one core vision—to help their clients become famous for the kind of service experiences that result in devoted customers.

All members of this long term alliance are independent consultants with their own consulting practices. They periodically work together as a high-performance team on selected consulting projects. All share four key values: making cutting edge contributions both to the profession and to their clients; demonstrating impeccable ethics that would make their mothers very proud; practicing the world-class service they encourage their clients to emulate; and, working to leave their clients with the capacity and competence to be more successful.

The Chip Bell Group has no logo…instead they have a proud legacy of many highly productive client relationships. They occupy no office complex…instead they spend their time on their clients' site delivering value. The Chip Bell Group’s brand strategy is to consistently do remarkable work on behalf of their clients.

Who is The Chip Bell Group?

The Chip Bell Group configures each consulting project with a team based on the unique requirements of the project. There are no junior staff consultants eager to fill billable time. As noted in the bios below, all our consultants are highly experienced through many customer satisfaction management projects. Since the group was formed in 1980, The Chip Bell Group has conducted many consulting projects aimed at evaluating how customer service is managed and lead in small, medium and large-sized organizations in the public, private industry, not-for-profit, and volunteer sectors.

Chip R. Bell is the founder of The Chip Bell Group and works both from the Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia areas. Prior to starting the firm in 1980, he was Director of Management and Organization Development for NCNB, now Bank of America. Dr. Bell holds graduate degrees in organizational psychology and human resource development from Vanderbilt University and the George Washington University. Chip is the author or co-author of several best-selling books including Customer Loyalty Guaranteed, Service Magic, Customers as Partners, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service, and Magnetic Service: Creating Passionately Devoted Customers. His newest book is Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. Chip has served as consultant and/or trainer to such major organizations as IBM, Microsoft, GE, Home Depot, Bank of America, Chase, Marriott, Merrill Lynch, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, USAA, Verizon Wireless, Duke Energy, Pfizer, Monsanto, Harley-Davidson, Shell Oil, Cadillac, Universal Studios Hollywood and Victoria’s Secret.

John R. Patterson is President of Progressive Insights, a CBG alliance firm in Atlanta and brings 20 years of executive leadership experience in the hospitality, business services and real estate industries to the project. John holds a graduate degree in business from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. His consulting practice specializes in helping organizations around the world effectively manage complex culture change built around customer and employee loyalty. He is the co-author of Customer Loyalty Guaranteed and his newest book Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. His articles have appeared in such journals as Customer Relationship Management Magazine, MWorld, Electric Light and Power, Recognition Review, Customer Think, SBusiness, Customer Service Excellence, and Leadership Excellence. Prior to founding Progressive Insights, his work experience included positions with NationsBank (now Bank of America), Homestead Village, Inc., Guest Quarters Hotels, Post Inn Hotels, and Trammell Crow Residential. His clients include Kaiser Permanente, Northeast Utilities, Freeman Companies, Pegasus Solutions, Southern California Edison, McDonald's Corporation, Olmsted Medical, Manheim, TravelClick, Hospitality Risk Controls, Cousins Properties, Cannon Company, The College Board and the Navy Federal Financial Group, a subsidiary of the world’s largest credit union.

Lindsay Willis has 26 years of marketing and market research experience, focused primarily in the business-to-business, health care, and services industries. For the past eight years, Lindsay has provided strategic qualitative research consulting to Fortune 1000 firms, on both internal and external issues. She has moderated hundreds of focus groups and executive interviews for clients throughout the United States. Prior to that, Lindsay worked at Custom Research Inc; the only research firm to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for eleven and one-half years, leaving as a Senior Vice President of qualitative research. She has consulted with such diverse clients as Medtronic, Abbott Diagnostics, Banta Corporation, Starwood Hotels, Verizon, Coca-Cola, MasterCard, Thrivent, University of Minnesota, and Fiser.

Susan Oldham brings to her consulting work over 20 years of professional experience with both large corporations and smaller non-profits. In her 13 year career with Duke Energy, she taught workshops on service excellence and worked in the areas of customer research and focus group facilitation. Through her experience in management development at Duke, she helped develop an internal organization design process for middle managers. She served as project manager for Duke's 24-hour Customer Service Center. In her volunteer work in Richmond, Virginia, she was recognized for launching several initiatives in the inner city, including the development of a professional skills training program for individuals working hard to better themselves. She and her family reside in Spartanburg, SC.

Sandra Tacuri has 27 years experience in Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness and Quality Implementation with 20 years at a senior level. Her expertise is in the implementation of organizational enhancements to meet business strategy and in coaching individuals to assess and enhance personal competence. Through her dynamic Coaching, Facilitation and Consultative skills, Sandra is most recognized for her success in helping organizations build capability and achieve leadership positions within their markets. Sandra has been sought after for her ability to guide organizations to higher levels of service delivery to create long-term customer loyalty. Her office is near Toronto.

Mari Pat Varga is founder and managing director of Varga & Associates, Inc., a CBG alliance company. For over 20 years, she has supported businesses and individuals in building organizational cultures and robust communications practices that engage people, customers, and communities while driving profitable results. Most recently she was the Head of Communication & Leadership for Banco Popular North America and responsible for all internal and external communications, along with overseeing the Banco Popular Foundation and community outreach efforts for the bank. Mari Pat and her team were instrumental in supporting BPNA as it achieved such prestigious honors as the 2005 Fortune "Best Companies to Work For" and the 2006 USA Today "Make A Difference Day" Award for Community Service. She is the author of two books, Great Openings and Closings and The Presenter’s Journal and as well as a number of articles on communication excellence. Mari Pat received her B.A. in Communication from the University of Dayton. Her office is in the Chicago Area.

Catherine Glawson is President of Premier Training Solutions (a CBG alliance firm) in Tampa. She is a training consultant with more than 20 years of domestic and international experience in the insurance, financial, telecommunications, energy, transportation, government, and health care industries. As a facilitator, she designs and develops new programs, facilitates training programs, delivers train the trainer programs, and coaches trainers in the Customer Service, Leadership, Sales, and New Employee Orientation programs. She has worked with such organizations as American Airlines, Air Canada, USDA, American Express, Bank of Montreal, United Health Care, Mayo Clinic, British Telecom, and Scottish Hydro Electric. Catherine has a B.S. in Business Administration and is fluent in English and French.

Mike Horne is the founder of Leadership Acts, a CBG alliance partner. Prior to starting a consulting practice in the late '90s, Dr. Horne was director of executive development for Marriott Lodging. An experienced facilitator of executive teams, Mike is a veteran at designing and linking human resources strategies to business performance and has extensive experience enhancing executive talent and improving organizational performance. His clients have included Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster), ExxonMobil, The Gap, HP, Marriott International, Nortel Networks, Office Depot, and Watson Wyatt Worldwide. His forthcoming book is on leadership and integrity. Mike holds a Ph.D. in organization development and resides with his family in the San Francisco area.

Lisa Gaspar is Director of Training with Premier Training Solutions, a Chip Bell Group affiliate company. A veteran corporate and small business trainer and designer with over 18 years experience, she has delivered customer service, sales, and management training to a variety of organizations ranging from large companies like JPMorgan Chase to smaller organizations like Forum Personnel Agency. She is known for her energetic and engaging facilitation style. Lisa holds a B.S. degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.

Clyde Rupert is a Dallas-based consultant with over 30 years experience with Texas Instruments where among many other duties, he played a significant role in discovery and analysis of critical internal business processes that affected productivity and overall customer satisfaction. Mr. Rupert has consulted for both large and small companies in areas which include business process mapping, strategy formulation, organizational design, and change management. Clients have included defense contractors, telecommunications providers, biosciences, and the hospitality industry. Mr. Rupert has the ability to map current business process and discover how they fit the organizational objectives and strategies. Further mapping into organizational barriers often creates a template for likely deficiencies in customer service levels. Mr. Rupert has a BSME from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Sharon Decker has been consulting with The Chip Bell Group for several years. She spent over 17 years in the public utility industry with Duke Power Company (now Duke Energy), one of the nation's largest utility. Starting as a Consumer Education Representative, she moved rapidly through the company to become the youngest and first female vice president in Duke Power's history. As Vice President of Customer Service, Sharon was responsible for the creation of Duke's 24-hour Customer Service Center with accountability for creating a new culture for service excellence at Duke Energy. While at Duke, Sharon also held positions as Chief Communications Officer and Vice President and Executive Director of the Duke Power Company Foundation. After Duke Energy, she was named President of the Doncaster Division of Tanner Companies. She has served on the public boards of Family Dollar Stores, Inc. and Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated, Inc. and is a past Chair of the Charlotte, NC Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, she is the founder and president of The Tapestry Group in Rutherfordton, NC.

Tom Connellan is President of The Connellan Group (a CBG alliance firm) and operates out of Orlando. He has had an alliance with The Chip Bell Group since 1990. His specific consulting practice focuses on the use of performance management techniques to create high performance, customer driven climates; improve productivity; enhance quality; and build winning teams. The author of five books including Sustaining Knock Your Socks Off Service, Inside the Magic Kingdom and Bringing Out the Best in Others, a New York Times best-seller. Dr. Connellan’s clients have included Stew Leonard's, IBM, Marriott, Radisson, WellPoint, Lockheed-Martin, Allied Signal, Buick, Disney, Raytheon, GlaxoSmithKline and Motorola.

Alicia Jacobs has provided consulting services for over 20 years to Fortune 500 companies, small organizations, educational institutions and government agencies including Honeywell, AT&T, Universal Studios, Sony, MTA, Montgomery Watson Harza, and Los Angeles Unified School District. As a strategic partner, Alicia assists senior executives in determining the best solutions for their human resources issues. Her key focuses are in organization development, business development, and customer service. Her expertise includes bringing together professionals from diverse disciplines to talk and share ideas and processes that enhance their professions. As an adjunct professor at California State University, Fullerton, Alicia teaches Entrepreneurial Management in the MBA Program. Alicia earned her MBA from the Presidential/Key Executive Program at Pepperdine University.

Fran Sims is a coach, trainer, and consultant with the Chip Bell Group and works in the areas of leadership skills, customer relationships, team development, career management, training skills, and stress management. Her 30 years of experience, worldwide, includes work in health care organizations, financial institutions, governmental environments, corporate organizations, manufacturing organizations, professional associations, private enterprise, and volunteer organizations. She holds bachelor and master degrees in education, and has co-authored articles for magazines and training books. For 15 years Fran was also Executive Director of Suncoast Management Institute, a management development consortium affiliated with the St. Petersburg, Florida, Area Chamber of Commerce. She has worked with organizations such as Boeing, US Army, USA Today, Kindercare, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Honeywell, Bell Canada, Bristol-Myer-Squibb Pharmaceuticals, Marconi, LTD, Cisco Systems, Continental Airlines, Cleveland Clinic, Alberta Power, Hewlett-Packard, Kimberly Clarke, Pepsi Cola, Mercury Marine, BASF Corp, Raytheon, and TNT Global. Her office is in the Tampa area.

Mary Johnson has over twenty five years training and consulting experience in the corporate world. Mary served as the VP of Training and Development for several large banks in Southern California and was instrumental in creating environments that promoted life-long learning. She has enjoyed long term consulting projects with such major companies as Ernst & Young, Red Robin International and La Mesa RV. In these organizations, she actively collaborated with both leaders and line employees to undertake exciting and challenging culture initiatives in their quest for greatness. Other clients include Sempra Energy, Southern California Edison, American Electric Power and California Credit Union League. She has served as an instructor at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Extension Program.

Ann Thomas is a trainer and facilitator with The Chip Bell Group and specializes in service quality improvement and executive coaching. Ms. Thomas brings more than 20 years of experience in human resource development, supervisory training and management development in retailing and financial services to her work in service quality and the challenges of meeting customer expectations on a daily basis. Ms. Thomas’ clients have included Turner Broadcasting Systems, Daimler-Chrysler, Honeywell, The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, UltraLink, Inter-American Development Bank, and the American Management Association. She was a former manager with Target Corporation.

Andy Crook is the Founder of Walking O Brand Leadership Consulting Services and an alliance partner with The Chip Bell Group. A graduate of Cal Poly University with a degree in agricultural business management, he retired from a 30 year career with Eli Lilly's animal health division, Elanco Animal Health where he served in various management roles including marketing management, strategic planning, sales management, and training. The core of his consulting practice focuses on helping companies develop and integrate core customer values into all aspects of their brand identity and service delivery experience. He resides near Indianapolis.

Elys Brewda is a Training Specialist with Premier Training Solutions, a Chip Bell Group alliance partner. She has more than 20 years experience assisting organizations in maintaining a focus on the customer. Her professional experience includes training and program design in such areas as customer loyalty, communicating for results, conflict resolution, facilitation skills, managing change, organizational effectiveness, and presentation skills. She has been a consultant or trainer to such organizations as AT&T, American Airlines, Bank of America, Boeing, British Telecom, Columbia Records, Fingerhut, First USA, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Ocean Spray, QVC Shopping Network, RomTelecom (Romania), Sprint, Texaco, United Health Care, Verizon, Warner Lambert Pharmaceuticals and Wells Fargo. Elys holds a M.A. degree in Organization Development and a B.A. degree in Human Resource Development.

Mary Dettmers has more than 30 years experience promoting human resource development. She received her master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University in a program emphasizing both communications and psychology. In her early career, working for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, the National Association for Retarded Citizens, and the American Psychological Association, she implemented public information programs designed to maximize the utilization of mental health services. During the past 28 years, she has worked in the corporate sphere, first as Personnel Director for Design Engineering Corporation of America in Miami and presently as Vice President of Mechanical Design Resource in Jupiter, Florida.

Mary’s commitment to personal and personnel development has guided her ongoing education in both individual and team dynamics. Grounded in recognition of the diversity and interrelatedness that comprise all living systems, she is pleased to promote training programs that proceed from an appreciation of these values and maximize their potential for transformation.

Marcia Wilson has over 20 years experience writing, editing, and designing materials for businesses, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Her professional portfolio includes client brochures, marketing materials, seminar and workshop materials, feature articles, newsletters, press releases, technical reports, proposals, and sales letters. She has also worked with organizations and entrepreneurs to compose their Web copy.

Marcia has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Massachusetts College of Art. She holds a Technical Communication Certificate from the University of South Florida and is a member of the National League of American Pen Women.

Sandra Samudio is a freelance translator/interpreter who works extensively with The Chip Bell Group. Fluent in English-Spanish, Spanish-English, Portuguese-Spanish, she has served as interpreter for hundreds of conferences, seminars and workshops around the world. She has worked with a range of clients including Pan-American Life Insurance, Inter-American Federation of Insurance Companies, Cable & Wireless, Banco Continental, Rover Cars, BMW, OAS, United Nations, Chemoil, Inter-American Association of Industrial Property, United Kingdom Customs & Excise and many others. She holds a Bachelor in Law and Political Sciences from the University of Panama.