Instructor

John Dieseth

John Dieseth is president and founder of Business Performance Group, an elite group of business consultants who assist clients with launching and maintaining a successful sales or training program.

With 20 years of experience in the sales training, learning product development and coaching field, John consults with client organizations regarding inside sales, selection and hiring, sales manager, customer service, technical and salesperson training, accidental sales, leadership, coaching, mentoring and knowledge transfer.

John conducts classes and boot camps around the world on business-to-business telephone sales, employee selection, customer service, hiring, and training and development support. “The Inside Sales Rep Boot Camps we present multiple times a year are one of my passions,” shares John. “I love to see the ‘light bulb come on’ when the participant says, ‘I get the strategy now!’”

Globally recognized for his ability to coach and mentor both business leaders and their sales team, John has been invited to partner in the development and implementation of training programs for many Fortune 500 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Prior to forming Business Performance Group in 2000, John was president of Seminars International (a division of what’s now known as InfoUSA) — the world’s largest compiler of account information used in business-to-business direct marketing and telephone selling. During his tenure, he represented the company as a platform speaker and presented at the American Society for Training and Development convention and at such diverse gatherings as the WoodProducts and National Speaker’s Associations.

As president, John assisted in the sale of Seminars International to Baker University. When the transition to Baker was completed, John joined American Media, the world’s largest producer of training video products as Vice President of Sales and Marketing with a mission to help position the business for sale. During the next two years, the company grew from $10.5 million in revenues to $18.5 million before being sold to Provant, a publicly held company.

Early on in his career with Seminars International, John developed and presented seminars on direct marketing, ISO 9000, Quality Function Deployment and sales and business transitions. He consulted at over 24 organizations, including the world’s largest manufacturer of industrial paints, the industrial robotics manufacturer for Ford Motor Company and a white-shoe law firm located in Chicago’s Sears Tower. He covered such diverse topics as Maximizing Value for Your Organization, Sales Team Leadership, Total Quality Management, Direct Marketing, Excellent Customer Service and Telephone Selling.

John has become fascinated with photography, commemorating his many trips abroad to business idea exchanges in such locations as Beijing, China; Geneva, Switzerland; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Cairo, Egypt; and Panama City, Panama. Representations of his collection can be viewed in the main Business Performance Group offices in Des Moines, Iowa.

A native of Minnesota, John, his wife, Jane, and youngest daughter, Anne, make their home in Urbandale, Iowa.