Meet Coach
Darrell Ross

My background: extensive business and leadership experience

I bring experience from a variety of businesses including several franchises, a tech start-up, training organizations and a golf business that we took public during my tenure.

I’ve seen a lot of things, tried a lot of things and have learned many lessons about what works and what doesn’t.

Most significantly I ran BNI British Columbia for 11 Years. BNI is the world’s leading business referral organization with over 280,000 members. I coached the BC team to grow their region to 948 members generating millions of dollars in annual revenue.

Clients I love to work with: owners with a service-oriented personality

My favourite clients have more of a service-oriented softer style as opposed to the hard-driving “type A” personas.

As a certified DISC facilitator, I know that just because someone has one of the softer styles, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be a great business owner or leader. They just need the awareness of how to manage and inspire the other styles.

My longest standing client is a wellness clinic run by a mother/daughter team of energy healer and osteopath. I’ve worked with other wellness businesses and have found that the people who run them are incredibly gifted and help heal their clients and yet often they haven't had a lot of training on how to run a successful enterprise.

What I excel at: building businesses through referrals and networking, helping people understand themselves and others better

With my history with BNI and as a contributing author to three best selling books, I've trained hundreds of people on how to network and how to build a business by referral.

As a certified DISC facilitator, I love helping people learn more about themselves and how to interact more effectively with others.

I've found that DISC is easily digestible because it’s based on observable behavior.

I can sit down with someone or their team for 90 minutes and give them a tool they’ll easily remember and be able to use forever. Having this information can make one better at leading, serving, and selling.
My diverse sales, marketing and leadership experience also means that I am also effective in helping businesses with traditional marketing, copy writing etc. For example, I offered a simple email marketing suggestion to a client (an acupuncturist) that resulted in an extra 3 - 5 appointment bookings per week.

My best advice for small business owners

The business owners I work with sometimes struggle with being “too nice.”

This leads them to undercharge for their services or to hold back on marketing for fear of “bugging people.”

I help them create warm leads and sources of referrals so asking for the business is easier.

The other big challenge I see frequently is they’re often really great with customer service but struggle to set up systems that can help them grow the business.

My top 3 tips for business success:

1. Start putting systems into place. This is so much easier when you start early!

2. Maintain and grow your network. Produce some sort of regular communication like a newsletter, post on Social - and keep in touch with clients and referral sources.

3. Work on your personal development. Improve your mindset, expose yourself to new ideas, go deeper into learning about yourself and others.

Why I coach: I enjoy helping my clients shorten their learning curve and get to solutions faster

I was active in athletics in high school and my coaches were the people I looked up to the most. I learned then that success can be achieved much faster with the perspective of a coach.

I enjoy seeing the impact that I can have by helping someone find a solution they would not have seen on their own.

I’ve had my share of successes (and setbacks) I use this experience to help my clients shorten their path to success.

Connect
with Darrell

If what you’ve read inspires you to consider working with me, I invite you to a zoom call to see if we’d be a good fit.

Contact with Darrell

Learn about coaching

What clients have to say about Darell

I always thought that coaching wasn’t for me however I am very glad to have been a part of Darrell’s extremely valuable coaching program these past few years.

Covid has been tough on us all and his ZOOM sessions have been instrumental to me reaching my goals and achieving more than I thought was possible. Thank you Darrell.

Sheldon Coxford - SheldonHomes.ca

Darrell provided the tools and systems that have made me more efficient with my time and more accountable to myself and the office. His guidance regarding cultivating relationships with high value referral partners has led to 2 official agreements with key individuals who can send qualified clients to me.

Faye Erbe - Royal Lepage

I have been working with Darrell for over 2 years now. He is very personable and has been a great mentor and educator who has supported and challenged me to reach outside of the box, and outside of my comfort level in order to achieve the highest results. He has also been a great trainer on how to deal with various personalities and how to resolve conflicts with a positive outlook. Darrell has assisted me with planning my own business strategy with the ultimate goal of growing my business. I would highly recommend Darrell to any business owner or entrepreneur.

Ana Domingos, AnaDomingos.ca

Darrell helped us with valuable marketing strategies that increased our enrollment in our courses to positive cash flow. He kept us on task, making us more productive, and more goal focused week-to-week. When we started with Darrell, we had 2 part-time practitioners. Now, we have 2 full-time practitioners and 2 part-time practitioners - one with a full client load and 6 month wait list. Darrell saved us valuable time as a new start-up by solving business problems before they even came up. And finally, he is a delightful person to work with.

Britte & Becca Nielsen, corepotentials.ca

Darrell is a wonderful human being, hugely supportive, creative and full of great ideas for business development. He helped me a lot.

Karen Hood-Caddy, Life Coach

Group coaching

I enjoy the way that Darrell keeps us accountable but not in a fearful or negative way. We feel supported and encouraged. And the group is able to accelerate learning through the discussion and constructive suggestions regarding things that held us back and ideas to improve upon wins.

Faye Erbe - Royal Lepage

I enjoy the relaxed, open forum structure of the group coaching. Darrell’s style is an effective mix of introducing new ideas and group discussion of weekly successes and challenges. I have generated measurable results from the consistent accountability reporting.

Kelly Golby - TRG Realty

Darrell is awesome. We've been working together for almost 3 years and he always brings active listening and new insights to our sessions. I appreciate his gentle but firm attention to how I have followed up on my commitments, and making sure that I continue to set future commitments that will move my business forward. He helps me see beyond the edges of my comfort zone and I can attribute measurable business success as a result.

Daniel DePedrina, Owner, Standard Modular

Speaking and Training - DISC

Your session was completely full of very excited, riveted to their seats delegates from all across Canada. They appreciated your succinct and well organized presentation. Your natural speaking style and very relaxed manner empowered everyone to share stories of their own and have a laugh. The success was overwhelming. Our delegates want to see you again.

Sylvianne St. Onge
Speaker Chair
Professional Photographers of Canada

The DISC seminar was inspiring and provided the practical advice we need to make stronger connections with our community. Your insightful tips inspired us to include more strategic networking in our marketing.

Dr. Hal Gunn
CEO and Director
Centre for Integrated Healing

Mental Fitness Coaching

My partner and I experience unique pressures and stresses as co-owners and operators of our own small business. Spending all day everyday together can sometimes lead to very difficult days for both of us while we navigate the complex world of building a business while maintaining a healthy relationship. I met Darrell Ross while networking through Linkedin and I was immediately struck by his calm and positive demeanor. When I was telling him about our challenges he suggested we try the Positive Intelligence program, designed to strengthen your mental “muscles” and weaken the judgemental voice in your head. My partner and I agreed to take on the program and once we got going we realized what an absolute game changer it was! With ongoing support and accountability from Darrell, we were led through the intensive 6-week training program and found the benefits were almost immediate. A heightened awareness of our mental state improved our communication and helped shift difficult subjects into a more positive light, with creative and collaborative solutions. Both my partner and I highly recommend working with Darrell on the PQ program, his kind and supportive guidance was critical in maintaining consistency with the program, and now that we have completed the initial training, we will continue working with him and ensure we continue to grow and improve.

Rachael and Ryan, Steady studio

Meet Coach
Darrell Ross