Instructor

Svetlana Smirnova

Specializing in communications, telephone sales skills, leadership and management, Svetlana’s strength lies in making difficult concepts easy for her clients.

A valued member of Business Performance Group’s international team of consultants, Svetlana will be instrumental in directing the Inside Sales Representative (ISR) initiative in Russia for our client, a leading global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment and diesel and natural gas engines.

In addition to her work with Business Performance Group, Svetlana is a professional training instructor

with Quality Training Excellence, located in Moscow.

Recognized for her style and methods Svetlana serves as a consultant for organizations throughout Russia, including the Russian Railway Education Institute where she is responsible for communication and psychology. The institute also utilizes the Business Operations simulation game Svetlana developed.

The game is symbolic of Svetlana’s mission to cultivate a fun, interactive learning environment. “They never fall asleep at my sessions,” she confides. She also works to make the theoretical practical, applicable, useful and as close to what her clients are living as possible, Svetlana makes her courses fun and keeps participants busy all the time.

Svetlana coaches and trains organizations with effective communication, performance appraisal, corporate culture and values, cross-cultural communication, counselor salesperson skills, telephone sales skills, customer orientation, negotiation skills, interviewing skills, management and leadership, team management, and presentations and public speaking. She particularly enjoys working with the newly hired or recently promoted.

Five weeks in the United States with the “Business for Russia” program in 1996 launched Svetlana’s international business career. In the subsequent years, she has assisted clients in numerous cities throughout Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

As a trainer and facilitator, Svetlana has partnered with leaders and managers from numerous organizations including Caterpillar, Nutricia, SEB Groupe, Zeppelin Russland, Video International, Agrana Fruit, Renaissance Capital, Heineken Russia, Independent Media, TNK-BP, VTB-24, Grundfos Russia, Matimex, X5 Retail Group, Saint Gobain, AC Nielsen, SIBUR, Herbalife and FM Logistics.

Svetlana earned an MBA from Classical Business Schools, Moscow. She completed post graduate studies in phonetics at the Leningrad (St. Pete) State University and holds a diploma of Specialist in the English Language & Literature from Ivanovo State University.

Through the medium of Facebook, Svetlana facilitates a group advocating the use of positive and democratic methods to raise children. She lives in Moscow, Russia, with her two sons.