About us
Dr. Richard Ruff and Dr. Janet Spirer have spent the last thirty years working together in two business partnerships. These companies designed and managed designing sales training projects for Fortune 1000 companies.
Together, Dick and Janet brought different knowledge and skills to their businesses.
In additional to managing sales operations at a boutique consulting firm – Huthwaite – Dick authored numerous articles related to sales effectiveness and co-authored Managing Major Sales, a book about sales management, Parlez-Vous Business which helps salespeople integrate the language of business into the sales process, and Getting Partnering Right – a research based work on the best practices for forming and executing business partnerships. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has taught as an adjunct professor Fisher Business School at Ohio State University and as a mentor in the Entrepreneurship program at Arizona State University.
Janet has followed two different, yet complimentary paths. First, as a professor she taught marketing, sales, and business strategy courses. She also managed a consulting practice focusing on sales productivity and marketing – working with a variety of clients ranging from Xerox to IBM. Pursuing both a consulting and an academic career has provided Janet with a unique perspective – keeping up-to-date with current thinking in the field, as well as, seeing these ideas implemented in the market place.
Dr. Spirer received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, an M.P.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Economics from Brooklyn College. She holds the appointment of Professor Emeritus at Marymount University.