Tom Cates
President | The Brookeside Group
Acton, MA, UNITED STATES
Experienced Speaker and Motivated Businessperson
Biography
Tom Cates is founder and president of The Brookeside Group, Inc, a management consulting firm that focuses on building better client relationships. Tom has over 15 years of experience leading consulting assignments covering the customer-facing elements of sales, marketing and customer service and support functions in industries including healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, information technology, telecommunications, insurance, accounting, pharma, retail, IT and more. He has contributed to three books on customer-based strategies and is currently working on a fourth book on measuring and managing customer loyalty. Cates is also a senior partner at Sherbrooke Partners, a Boston-based management-consulting firm, and is a founding member of Sherbrooke Capital, a $100 million private equity venture fund focused on the health and wellness markets. Prior to founding Brookeside, Cates held senior positions at Mercer Management Consulting, Inc. and IBM. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and a BAE from The Pennsylvania State University.
Industry Expertise (3)
Business Services
Corporate Leadership
Corporate Training
Areas of Expertise (3)
Customer Insight
Sales
Business Intelligence
Accomplishments (4)
Inc. 5000 (professional)
The Brookeside Group was named to Inc. 5000 in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Selling Power’s Sales Training Program of the Year (professional)
The Brookeside Group was twice named a finalist in Selling Power’s Sales Training Program of the Year.
American Society of Training & Development (professional)
The Brookeside Group's Critical Management Skills curriculum was cited for excellence by the American Society of Training & Development.
Boston Business Journal Pacesetters (professional)
The Brookeside Group was named one of the country’s fastest growing private companies.
Education (2)
The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania: MBA
The Pennsylvania State University: BAE
Affiliations (1)
- MBA, The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania
Links (9)
- Accounting Today, "Increasing the Effectiveness of Client Surveys"
- Chief Marketer, "Silence, Trust Issues Key in Detecting B2B Defection"
- Industry Today, "Insight Builds Profitable Relationships"
- Buyouts, Thomson Reuters, "Need To Meet Tom Cates"
- Quirk's Marketing Research, "A beginner's guide to DIY research"
- Compliance Week, "The Brookeside Group Adds New Features to Flagship Product INSIGHT"
- AccountingWEB, "Using Client Surveys to Break the 'Just Fine' Syndrome"
- Forbes, "Keeping B2B Enthusiasts Enthused"
- Construction Today, "The Loyalty Checklist: Building Strong Customer Relationships"
Sample Talks (1)
Turning Client Defection into Client Perfection
If asked, account teams would say they know their clients, “Pretty well.” Fact: They can know them better. After years of research, I’ve found the disconnects between clients and account teams to be startling. Account managers tend to overestimate the quality of poor client relationships and underestimate the good ones. Businesses with strong relationships see 2.5x more share of wallet. Learn to transform your weak relationships into loyal clients and gain a sustainable, competitive advantage.
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Corporate Training
Social