Bill Lowell is President of Business Development Directives, a national research-driven marketing consulting firm specializing in one-of-a kind research assignments. Bill has delivered seminars on topics such as benchmarking, marketing, customer satisfaction, emerging technologies and internal marketing. He is the author of the book Focus Groups Made Simple, has given over 1,600 presentations, facilitated more than 1,500 focus groups, delivered research papers and presentations to both national and international audiences, has appeared on television shows and authored more than 50 articles on business and marketing. Additionally, he has conducted thousands of interviews during his career. He has worked as a consultant for companies in such diverse areas as: healthcare (including veterinary), education, associations, financial services, technology, manufacturing and service industries. Bill is ISO/IEC17024:2003 certified by the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI). He is one of only a handful of consultants nationwide to receive the ISO Certification. Further, his CMC (Certified Management Consultant) designation was first received in 1988 and he has maintained this year after year through his demonstrated professionalism and stringent code of ethics. Bill is known for taking world-class business leaders to the next level by applying the principles of benchmarking. He has helped mid-sized businesses realize better results from their marketing efforts and has helped very small professional service businesses understand and apply marketing principles. He has a broad range of expertise in marketing and market research, customer satisfaction, public relations, organizational analysis and entrepreneurism. He has shared his leadership skills by serving on the Boards of Directors for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Foundation, Business School and the College of Arts and Communication as well as the Institute of Management Consultants, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art and several area businesses. For more than 25 years Bill has been on the Faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he teaches Advertising, Research and Communication courses. In 2008, he was awarded the Professor of the Year for academic excellence at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. He was also the recipient of the School’s Outstanding Alumni Award for professional achievement and social service.