Motivational Speaking

thesalesclub.co.uk
Motivational Speaking
Gordon is a confident and entertaining motivational speaker, and his warm, relaxed style wins over audiences quickly. He
has an inspirational story to tell about how he became a successful entrepreneur starting BigHand from the living room of
a Docklands flat, and without borrowing a penny from the bank, in his role as Sales & Marketing Director grew the business
exponentially through a focus on world-class sales performance. Gordon and his business partner eventually sold BigHand
in a highly successful MBO in 2006. He’s extremely passionate about helping and inspiring others to achieve their potential.
Gordon also shares insights learnt from his experience on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire, when he returned to his Scottish roots in 2010, to the deprived area of Govan in Glasgow, to meet local volunteers and contribute towards their projects.
He believes passionately that successful people and businesses have a moral duty to give something back and make a real
difference to others who are less fortunate.
Gordon’s motivational speaking expertise and experience includes:
•
•
•
•
Entrepreneurial Selling - high performance selling using entrepreneurial skill and spirit
The BigHand Story - inspiring lessons from Gordon’s highly successful technology start up
The Secret Millionaire - using business success to make a real difference in deprived communities
Conference hosting - adding an extra charismatic edge at top events
For further information please get in contact at info@thesalesclub.co.uk
Testimonials
Toshiba National Sales Conference
Gordon acted as conference host and keynote speaker for one of our members, Toshiba, at their National Sales Conference
in April 2013. Here are some testimonials from the day:
“Your story resonated with many people yesterday and I would like to thank you for your contribution to the running of the
day, and for your guest speaker hour which was excellent, very enjoyable and relevant to our world. Thank you and hope
you enjoyed the experience!”
Liam LaCumbre, Retail Sales Director UK & Nordics, Toshiba
“I wanted to drop you a note to thank you for both hosting and presenting at the Toshiba National Sales Meeting, and for all
the preparation involved. The day was an overall success and I have spoken to many people who found that your presentation resonated extremely well with them. It will have been of great value to many to see a story of “real life business changes” enabling success both at a business and individual level.”
Neil Bramley, B2B Sales Director, Toshiba
“We have had really great feedback, some even calling you inspirational! I think the whole day and evening was a huge success. All the hard work was worth it…..roll on next year!”
Jackie Taylor, HR Director, Toshiba
De Vere National Sales Conference
“Gordon gave an excellent presentation to our sales team at our National Sales Conference, the delegates found it very
inspiring and have taken on board everything Gordon presented to them!”
Ian Conder, Sales Director, De Vere venues
info@thesalesclub.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1628 483 118
The Old Barn, Kings Lane, Cookham Dean, Berkshire, SL6 9AY
thesalesclub.co.uk
Testimonials from other Speaking Engagements
“Gordon gave a superb account of his journey into and through the Secret Millionaire TV programme at our national conference. His style was open and warm which very much engaged the audience. Feedback from delegates was that they loved
the way he used media to tell part of the story and had a particular regard for his philosophy around developing people who
would otherwise not have a chance in life by giving something back. I don’t get to meet that many millionaires every day, so
meeting this one was a very pleasant surprise. Gordon should tell his story more and hopefully inspire other young people
particularly to work hard and achieve great things. Well done Gordon.”
Tom Barclay, Vice Chair Policy CIH Scotland and CEO of the Clyde Valley Group
“Gordon McAlpine is a great speaker. He has a terrific story to tell about what made him personally so successful in business, and how he is using those things to help others be successful. Relaxed, funny, down to earth, and 100% positive,
Gordon has always excited and enthused audiences whenever I have heard him or worked with him.”
Alan Sears, Head Honcho, Vybrant Organisation Ltd
“Gordon McAlpine was a great conference host at our ‘Brand Authority through Talent’ event. He really helped the event run
smoothly and his anecdotes were not only entertaining and motivating but also linked each speaker wonderfully.”
Sarah Judd, Internal Communications Manager, Pizza Express
“Gordon’s presentation was very interesting, inspiring and richly spiced with memorable golden nuggets.”
Professor Kevin Ibeh (PhD, FCIM) Head of Department of Marketing, University of Strathclyde
“Further to your fantastic presentation Thursday evening, I would like to say another big thank you on behalf of the WISH
London Region. I really enjoyed the presentation and we all had great feedback on the night. I for one found it very thought
provoking. I have my own company and have two young children so a lot of what you were saying was very relevant to
myself. It’s all a balancing act but I also try to make time for WISH and I’m a school governor. I came away wondering why
more people don’t volunteer and donate money for good causes, especially the wealthy!”
Gill Dunningham, WISH Board Member and London Regional Chair
“Thank you for a fantastic event last night. The speaker was great and I got a lot from it.”
Sarah Paxton, SP Consulting
“Excellent night last night. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Great speaker and topic.”
Elaine Allen, Partner Prince Evans Solicitors
“It was so refreshing to hear a point of view from outside the Sector. I was particularly grateful to get a chance to meet him
for a chat whilst we networked after his main presentation. He has definitely inspired me in my own consultancy business”
Peju Fabunmi, Cobalt Development Services
“Thanks again for a lovely event last night. I so enjoyed it and really look forward to the next one”
Catherine Attenborough, Catalyst Housing Group
“Thanks yet again for a lovely WISH evening. I really enjoyed the presenter.”
Gayle Weale, John Rowan and Partners
“I very much enjoyed Gordon’s inspiring presentation earlier today at the University of Strathclyde. Listening to how he
managed to build something special after first struggling to find his calling certainly struck a chord in my mind - thank you
for taking the time to share it with me.”
Joe Weir, University of Strathclyde.
info@thesalesclub.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1628 483 118
The Old Barn, Kings Lane, Cookham Dean, Berkshire, SL6 9AY
thesalesclub.co.uk
“I am a director of the GalGael Trust which benefited from Gordon’s generosity, and as we do not have TV in our house (sorry C4!) it was only last night that my wife and I got to watch Secret Millionaire. I just want to say how well the programme
was done, and how wisely and naturally Gordon helped to give expression to what poverty means, and how it traps people.
Unlike many people from middle class backgrounds (I am one myself), he showed real awareness of class privilege and
real empathy with the people he met. Indeed, that was the lasting impression he left on people here - that he was living in
a different world, as he acknowledged, but he was with the people. I wonder what he will do now? Giving out money can
be a very finite occupation. I suspect we’ll see him starting to apply his business skills in tackling poverty - the old thing
about give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach them how to fish and you feed them forever. I hope too, he
might look at the politics of poverty. It’s not just about the hard-pressed needing to sharpen up their business act. It’s also
the reality, as Gordon himself found in moving to England to find more opportunity, that it can be very hard to hold anything
together in a community of place that is intrinsically poor. It’s not socially desirable that everybody goes to London seeking
streets paved with gold. It’s bad for the Londoner and can be bad for the soul - many of those who try it from Glasgow end
up on the streets. So, what is the answer for the ordinary people of a place like Govan in a world when the kind of skills bred
into them have been exported abroad? The benefit of Gordon’s mind on that sort of problem would be a fine thing. Meanwhile, he has a standing invitation back to GalGael anytime, and if he would feel like having a sharing (giving a public talk or
whatever) at the Centre for Human Ecology which is now based in the PI in Govan, let me know and as a Fellow and former
director of it, I will put it to our Board.”
Alastair McIntosh, A GalGael Director (from the episode of C4’s ‘Secret Millionaire’ that Gordon featured in)
“On the 22nd of October 2013, the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, a department of Strathclyde Business School, hosted a Sales Master Class and were privileged to have Mr Gordon McAlpine, CEO of the Sales Club deliver both an interesting
and personal presentation on the subject of entrepreneurial selling.
The event was well attended by both post-graduate students and academic staff. The entire audience was enthralled and
moved by the video clips Gordon showed of his participation in the Channel 4 ‘Secret Millionaire’ programme. Gordon is a
Business Fellow at SBS and will be back in 2014 to share his business experiences which I’m sure will delight and inform
audiences once again”.
Dr Paul Ferri, Director of Teaching, Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship & Associate Dean (Student Experience), SBS.
About Gordon
Gordon McAlpine founded The Sales Club in November 2009. He’d previously gained 20 years Sales & Marketing experience with large corporations, including pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca, and also smaller entrepreneurial enterprises.
In 1997 he co-founded fast growth technology company BigHand, where in his role as Sales & Marketing Director, he was
frustrated by a lack of support and resources available for executive-level sales directors.
Following the successful sale of BigHand, Gordon recognised the need for an executive-level club for ambitious sales leaders from all sizes of organisations and sectors. This, coupled with his passion to help organisations optimise their sales
performance, led him to found The Sales Club. The world’s first cross-sector networking club for sales leaders provides
members with inspirational peer-to-peer interaction, and powerful tools & techniques to increase sales effectiveness.
In 2010, Gordon featured in Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire, returning to his hometown of Glasgow to be inspired by local volunteers and make some donations. Watch the video clip on our website www.thesalesclub.co.uk
info@thesalesclub.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1628 483 118
The Old Barn, Kings Lane, Cookham Dean, Berkshire, SL6 9AY