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Accounting firms

“Hilary gave practical (and often humorous) advice to leaders in the area when she spoke on the topic of ‘resiliency’ at the KPMG Executive Leadership Institute for Women. Hilary is a dynamic presenter and infuses energy into the room when she speaks. It is clear that she has encountered many challenges in her career and life but has conquered these with her perseverance and tenacity. The participants could not say enough about her ability to provide frank and honest perspectives in an entertaining manner.”

Tracy K. Kenny,

Partner, KPMG

“First let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed the course that Hilary Fordwich presented on Gaining and Retaining Clients. I am currently implementing the techniques with my client, coworkers, and friends. I feel that intentions when communicating are often misunderstood. The techniques taught in this class go a long way to ease and inform the manner and method of conversations that we use with clients, coworkers, and others. This is especially true when the conversations that we are having are tough ones.”

Mike Donoghue,

Director, PWC

Speaker for 1200 Partners & Sr. Managers at Annual Meeting, Chairman’s testimonial:
“Hilary quickly established a vibrant connection with our 1200 partners in the audience. Her infectious energy and sharp, real life insights provided each partner and manager an arsenal of valuable nuggets to use in business development and in maintaining outstanding relationships with clients.”

Wayne Kollins,

National Director of Assurance, BDO Seidman, LLP | Global Head of Audit and Accounting | BDO International – International Executive Office

“I thoroughly enjoyed the smashing presentation Hilary did at VSCPA Leadership Forum. She managed to break down generational differences through the prism of basic psychology. Then followed with easy-to-remember advice on how to act in order to be better understood, liked, and accepted.”

Valeryia Mikharava,

CPA, Finance and Administration, The Adhesive and Sealant Council, Inc., VSCPA

“Hilary was so impressive in the session for our Tysons office that we invited her to keynote our Annual Partners meeting, her content was so strong and her practical advice based on her direct accounting firm knowledge, that we retained her to deliver sessions for each of our 22 offices in smaller hands-on partner sessions. From those we also had her work one-on-one with some selected partners. Because Hilary understood our industry, but also studied the nuances or our practice areas she was able to give great help to our growth strategies.”

Susan Moser,

Managing Partner, Industries & Specialization and Washington, D.C. Practice, Cherry Bekaert

“Hilary’s seminars were a solid hit with our professionals. She presented two client service seminars to our firm and provided individual coaching sessions. The reviews were exceptional and participants walked away with the ability to put her techniques in use immediately. Hilary has an engaging and enthusiastic presentation style that reflects her passion for client service excellence-and she successfully imparts that knowledge through memorable stories and easy to remember nuggets. I highly recommend her!”

Janet Kyle Altman,

Market Principal, Kaufman Rossin & Co

“My partners and I retained Hilary to deliver business development sessions to our entire professional staff. We were able to use her principles throughout our firm and many months after her presentation we all were still using her principles. I can say that even our more senior partners were so appreciative of her content as well as our junior staff. I highly recommend Hilary and intend to work with her further after we complete our merger.”

David Dorsey,

Managing Partner, Bond Beebe

Architects

“We hired Hilary because we had just received two weeks notice to compete for a very significant opportunity, and we were busy with other projects. Our team had the experience, but was not organized, nervous and inexperienced when it came to presenting. Her boot camp was so powerful that we were ramped up quickly and then…
…Hilary worked closely with us individually, and as a group, to focus on our strengths and presenting styles to deliver the right message – nothing was fabricated. Hilary focused on the skills that each member brought to the team and what they were most comfortable talking about. She orchestrated the team into a solid, focused, well organized and highly professional group that made a great presentation. It was a little like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, I was nothing short of impressed with her talent. We won the deal and have now engaged Hilary on a long term basis to help us grow FOX Architects, taking us to the next level.”

Bob Fox,

FOX Architects

Business Golf

“Many years ago I heard Hilary’s ‘Business Golf’ presentation. It was not only exceptionally good with excellent insights and tangible suggestions for how to leverage golf to further business but it was memorable and so powerful that it was the catalyst for me, as a non-golfer at that time, to enter the golf industry. If it wasn’t for hearing Hilary I wouldn’t be where I am today. Additionally she inspired me to get my young daughter into golf, she is now playing on her college team as a result.”

Susan Smith Feaster,

Chief Executive Officer, Ryder Cup France, US Partners

PGA

“I have worked in the golf business for 13 years as a PGA Golf Professional, most recently overseeing all levels of the business and all facets of golf as First Assistant Golf Professional with Congressional Country Club and current Head Golf Professional with Rehoboth Beach Country Club. Hilary’s Business Golf session was exceptionally interesting and informative. It was not long into her presentation that it became obvious, she is not only a very accomplished amateur golfer, but is also very successful in the business world. She used her expertise and experience to relate her information to her audience. She captivated every member of the audience. I have to admit part way through her presentation, I found myself taking notes on her talk. Working for so many years in the golf business, I thought I had heard everything about golf, but her presentation was new, refreshing and very informative. She opened up new horizons. She was also recently a panelist at a PGA Sponsored event and was far and away the best they offered.”

Charlie Schuyler,

PGA, Head Golf Professional, Rehobeth Beach Country Club

Cardinal Bank

“Hilary’s Business Golf presentation was not only insightful and informed, it was enjoyable. She readily offers her golf and business leadership experience with enough brevity to keep everyone’s attention. Hilary recognized that her audience would be diverse, and thus challenging to a speaker, but managed to hold the group’s attention and inspire an array of conference attendees. I hope to have her share her expertise further.”

William Mundy,

Senior Vice President, Cardinal Bank

“Every one of my fellow PGA members attending this show, all 15,000 of them, should listen to what Hilary has to say about how to grow the golf industry.” Her approach is right on the mark. The details can branch out, but her assumptions are (painful to some of us) right on the money. We will need to be more in tune with the changing demographics, and the changing patterns of American society if the game is to continue growing. Hilary delivers tangible and tactical approaches that will appeal to non-golfing Americans (82% of our population) so that they flock to golf. She includes opportunities such as addressing how to overcome time constraints that Americans face, tapping into the needs for fitness as obesity grows at an alarming rate, and how to attract a growing diverse population as well as women who could enter golf for business/career gain.”

Robert G. Harris,

Director of Golf, Sport & Recreation, The Greenbrier

“Our business is dedicated to individual sales service. We chose Hilary because we realized the importance of mixing business and golf and doing it correctly. Hilary provided the tool of a golf setting having revenue for clients while still having fun. Hilary’s seminar was beneficial because it resonated golf at all levels, the novice golfer, intermediate and the seasoned golfer. She hit on all levels — everyone felt they got something out of her presentation, especially as it pertains to business and golf. I recommend Hilary to any association. Her presentation was dynamic and left everyone energized. She hit on all levels.”

Bryan Lambert,

President, United Sales Professionals of America

Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

“A must attend for anyone in the legal profession who has played or would like to play golf in a business setting. No lawyer should get on the golf course without first attending Hilary’s business golf sessions. If you’re curious about the power of golf in building relationships, you’ll walk away eager to learn the game. If you’re already a golfer, what Hilary has to say will make you think twice about how best to conduct business on course.”

Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Esq.,

President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Director, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

United Professional Sales Association

“Hilary’s business golf presentation was a tremendous success for our membership. Her content, delivery style and real life case studies made it not only an entertaining experience but also a presentation that our sales professionals could use to improve their performance. She gave tactical advice, great tips as well as examples that members said they would aim to apply. She was recommended to us and her presentation was everything and more than we were expecting. I highly recommend her presentation for any association, company or charitable organization.”

Kevin Taylor,

Board of Directors, UPSA (United Professional Sales Association)

Tucker Arensberg

“My law firm already spends thousands of dollars on golf each year, Hilary’s Business Golf presentation was great because she delivered both strategic and tactical advice on how we can better leverage the dollars we already invest in golf. We learned how to build relationships both on and off the course. I highly recommend Hilary to all law firms who want to leverage golf as a business development tool.”

Gary P. Hunt,

Managing Shareholder, Tucker Arensburg, P.C.

Smith Barney

“Hilary’s Business Golf presentation was not only insightful and informed, it was enjoyable. She readily offers her golf and business leadership experience with enough brevity to keep everyone’s attention. Hilary recognized that her audience would be diverse, and thus challenging to a speaker, but managed to hold the group’s attention and inspire an array of conference attendees. I hope to have her share her expertise with my firms.”

Mark E. Amberg,

CFP, Financial Consultant, Smith Barney

Reston Limousine

“We are a transportation company and the US Government is our number one client. It’s funny I do not golf and initially did not want to attend this seminar today, but I am so glad I did. I would refer Hilary to these groups because she was interesting in how she put everything in to perspective. I really got a lot out of Hilary’s presentation.”

Christine Bouweiri,

Owner, Reston Limousine

Consulting

I recently engaged Hilary both to deliver a keynote at our Leadership Offsite with many SAIC executives as well as to develop and deliver bespoke training to our business development and capture teams. The initial result: outstanding. Hilary came in and engaged our learners through interactive dialog and activities. The feedback from our team was exceptionally positive, they all want to have her back. We received comments such as “Phenomenal instructor would absolutely recommend using her again” and they shared that they enjoyed Hilary’s style, benefited from her broad knowledge of BD, and her many real world examples backing up all the concepts…Her candid personality was a total hit. I look forward to continuing to work with her going forward.

Cari Bohley,

Director of Learning & Development, CEO, Engility/SAIC

“Hilary was so impressive at our InSight Conference two years ago that many attendees requested we have her back. Yet again she was spot on. She understands and addresses the needs of government contractors and professional services firms. She delivers best practices and insightful advice, exactly what our audience wants. Her solution overviews had everyone taking notes. I highly recommend Hilary.”

Kevin Parker,

Chairman, CEO, Deltek

“We are very impressed with the expertise that Strelmark offers. We have retained Strelmark for strategic relationship marketing services to facilitate business development in order to grow our firm. We are looking forward to a long-term relationship between our organizations.”

John Brophy,

Vice President, ARPC

“I hired Hilary to conduct an extensive study throughout NFIB of our membership offerings. The final report she delivered, complete with in-depth analysis, was impressive mainly because she was able to capture the broad range of complex issues and offer us solutions that weren’t palatable for everyone to hear, yet with great charm she managed to get the point across without alienating my senior leadership.”

Todd A. Stottlemyer,

President & CEO, NFIB

Defense

Hilary has a deep understanding of what is needed to manage and grow a successful business.  She is focused and direct in her coaching style, and has the unique ability to break down complex challenges into actionable steps for success.  Her coaching sessions are structured, purposeful, and always geared toward meeting the objectives of her client.  Hilary is a knowledgeable and accomplished professional who will bring out the best of an organization. I wholeheartedly recommend her coaching services to anyone looking to improve their understanding of client relations, overcome challenges, and reach new heights in their professional career.

Tara Pitsenberger,

, Vice President, Regulatory Compliance, QinetiQ NA

I recently engaged Hilary both to deliver a keynote at our Leadership Offsite with many SAIC executives as well as to develop and deliver bespoke training to our business development and capture teams. The initial result: outstanding. Hilary came in and engaged our learners through interactive dialog and activities. The feedback from our team was exceptionally positive, they all want to have her back. We received comments such as “Phenomenal instructor would absolutely recommend using her again” and they shared that they enjoyed Hilary’s style, benefited from her broad knowledge of BD, and her many real world examples backing up all the concepts…Her candid personality was a total hit. I look forward to continuing to work with her going forward.

Cari Bohley,

Director, Talent Development, Engility

“Hilary engaged as part of our overarching business development and capture management development program with an emphasis on Customer Engagement. Her 5 C’s Framework and approach to addressing the customer’s “Want” captivated and inspired the workshop participants. I look forward to working with Hilary again.”

Lisette Bergeron,

VP Growth Business Operations, Engility

“Hilary, I received many positive comments concerning your keynote presentation; for example: ” I could have listened to her all day,” and “What a great speaker and perfect message she delivered.” “What an incredible woman.”

Debbie Thurman,

Vice President, Contracts & Procurement Federal Services, URS

Northrop Grumman

“My team is still talking about how they enjoyed your boot camp and your great content. As you observed, the team is very social, and they related so well with your examples and stories. Syl told me she is already thinking about ways to reach out to our customer base in 2008. Also, you will be interested to know that 2 of my employees attended the 2-day Northrop Grumman class on ‘Customer Intimacy’ after taking your boot camp. Both told me that they got so much more out of your session. You are a delight to work with and I look forward to some great things in 2008.”

Pam Macaleer,

Director, GSA Schedules, Northrop Grumman

“I engaged Hilary Fordwich to moderate the National Defense Industrial Association’s 2nd Annual Cyber Security Month Conference this past October. As the lead for the project, I couldn’t be happier with Hilary’s professional preparation, engaging dialogue with the panelists, and her supreme confidence and presence before an audience of industry leaders as well as the press. From Congressmen, Cyber Security CEOs, to the Defense press, Hilary is an outstanding ‘Ringmaster’ managing our conference with ease and grace. I only hope I can enlist her fabulous skills in the future.”

John Toomer,

Director, Intelligence, Information and Cyber Systems, Government Operations, The Boeing Company

“Strelmark is assisting us to increase our win rate in terms of new business. Hilary has a certain charm about her as well as a disciplined, systematic approach that we really needed. She was effective in a very brief period of time working with our team as we prepared in both responding to our client needs as well as presenting orals which is a key part of the procurement process. She yields results and we plan on expanding her role at Unisys.”

Greg Baroni,

President, Global Public Sector, Unisys

“Hilary is one of the best in the industry when it comes to providing team training that is focused on building and leveraging customer relationships. Her session with us was not only insightful and practical, but motivating. She provided us strategies and tools we can use to further leverage our incumbent advantage and apply a laser-like focus on our customers. My management team is now ready to take our customer relationships to new levels! Everything she said was on the mark… her presentation was not the typical “canned pitch”, but a specially developed interactive session tailored for our management team and our customers. Hilary comes with my highest recommendation.”

Tom Mitchell,

President and COO, ManTech Security & Mission Assurance Corporation, ManTech

“We had the opportunity to bid for a $47 million contract at Aberdeen. We had already started but weren’t convinced we were on the right track. I retained Hilary to work with our team because of her expertise in training winning teams to bid with large defense firms as our sub-contractor. Within a first day-long session she had us and our subcontractor, TASC, aligned far more effectively and efficiently. The efficacy of her expertise and organization was instantly noticeable and Hilary quickly got us to focus on what the government really wanted from us versus what we thought they needed.
While our firm had all the advanced technical knowledge of our capabilities and we were well qualified in terms of our content delivery, Hilary managed to position us with intricate strategic and tactical skill in preparation for our win. She has an ability, without alienating any member of a team, to cut quickly to the core of our differentiators, and bring out the best in our or any other team to make a win possible.

I will never know if we might have won without that session from Hilary, but I am glad to report that I think she got us totally on the right track. We will be working with her further.”

Charlie Grabenstein,

President, Orbis Inc.

“During my tenure as the VP and Chief Learning Officer at ManTech International, we engaged the services of Hilary Fordwich to bolster and further grow and develop a positive customer service attitude and presence for our Project Managers, Business Developers, Capture Managers and divisional General Managers when they interacted and interfaced with government and commercial clients. Hilary Fordwich was impressive, personable, professional and had the ability to engage and transform a variety of personalities and egos. Based on Hilary Fordwich’s instruction, faciliation and engagement ManTech International was able to maintain and improve the relationships with incumbent clients and enabled our personnel to build as strong of relationships with clients we were pursuing, also resulting in several contract wins..”

Al Malinchak,

VP & CLO, Mantech

“In my role as Division Director, Defense Business Unit at TASC, I was representing TASC as the Subcontractor for the Orbis bid for a $47 million Aberdeen contract. We had already spent some time gathering our position on our end and what we thought could be an approach for winning the contract.
Orbis had also done some work on their end when we were brought all together for a one day initial session with Hilary Fordwich, as an external BD executive who was pitched as ‘preparing us to win’. To this point we were two different firms with a bit of experience working together but not really positioned as a singular and cohesive team. Prior to Hilary’s coaching we were really all over the place, with only a loose organization bringing our differentiated points of talent together, after Hilary’s training we felt ourselves to be a well-oiled machine prepared to win our targeted contract.

It was amazing that in one day, very diplomatically, Hilary managed not only make us feel like a team, but she deftly got us all on the same page, cut through all the clutter of what we were offering from each of our firms and came up with some really compelling win themes.

The result? We won! Not only do I give Hilary great credit for this, as I know Orbis does too, but she made the day fun, memorable and I would heartily recommend her for any and all firms wishing to win a bid.”

Bill Bennett,

Defense Service Sector AECOM Management Services Group, Former Division Director, Defense Business Unit, Defense Business Unit TASC Inc.

Education

“Thank you for kicking off the Career Symposium this afternoon. Your talk was terrific—and extremely relevant! We greatly appreciate you sharing your time and expertise with our students… Your message was perfect for an MBA audience and it tied in very nicely with our Own It! Pillars…A fantastic start to the afternoon’s events.”

Ken White, PhD.

Associate Dean, MBA & Executive Programs, College of William & Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business

“Thank you again for enlightening us with your remarks yesterday. It was inspirational and really set the tone for an excellent afternoon of learning. I overheard classmates continuing to discuss the five C’s throughout the rest of the day.”

Catherine Butterworth,

MBA Candidate, Class of 2018, Mason School of Business | The College of William & Mary

“Your presentation today was wonderful…already I’m hearing feedback from the students on how much they enjoyed it.”
David Bartlett, Director of Global and Strategic Projects, Kogod School of Business American University

“Your presentation today was so appreciated! You really made sense of so much of what I’m currently experiencing and I even talked about you during an MBA interview I conducted this afternoon. I certainly look forward to being in touch.”

Quentin Johnson,

Assistant Director of Admissions , Kogod School of Business American University

For more students testimonials please click here: AU testimonials

“I want you to know how much I and the attendees at the government contracts seminar on Thursday appreciated, enjoyed and were well-informed on best strategies and approaches for winning government contracts.
Your talk was extremely well-received. From the feedback I received, I think most if not all of the 70+ attendees thoroughly enjoyed and benefited with specific “take away” points to apply to their respective “business development” roles – regardless of their official or formal business titles!”

Chuck Barry,

Director of Contracts, Meggitt (Thomson Aerospace & Defense) & Conference Organizing Board

“I cannot thank you enough for such an inspiring presentation at our 15th Annual Leadership Colloquium here at UMW. I continue to hear from women who attended and were “wowed” by your thoughts, stories, C’s, guidance, and overall leadership concepts. It was quite impressive. I have personally been struck by comments you made that come back to me each day… and that I share with others. We learned much from your presentation, and are grateful to you for sharing your expertise with us. I hope our paths will cross again.”

Jeanine Kline,

Ed.D., Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Administrative Services, Mary Washington College

“Ms. Fordwich was a guest speaker in our Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership class, composed of MBA and undergraduate students at George Washington University. She gave a speech to a class of approximately 50 students, we were taken aback by her level of professionalism, wisdom, and her expert knowledge regarding business development. Her tips and advice were extremely insightful and have proved fruitful to all the young and future entrepreneurs in the class. Many students and myself included, praised her speech and immediately purchased the books she recommended to us. She has left a lasting impression on many of us and despite her speech which was five weeks ago, we continue to talk about her and cite her work frequently. Ms. Fordwich has defined and shaped the way in which I approach my future, my own startup business, and I am certain that her principles will continue to influence and guide my future decisions and actions.”

Ines M. Zichy,

Senior, George Washington University

Engineering & Construction

Skanska recently worked with Hilary on a number of successful pursuits for large infrastructure projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. Hilary was brought in to provide coaching services to support our win theme development, evaluate & enhance team cohesion & participate in interview rehearsals & presentation material preparation. Hilary was quick to learn the project, the team, understand what was important to the Client & to provide valuable constructive feedback to the team. We look forward to working with Hilary again and wholeheartedly recommend Strelmark for strategic presentation readiness.”

Stephen R. Skippen

Senior Project Manager, USA Civil

“We had lost a big opportunity. Hilary was recommended to us, we hired here to work with our team on their presentation skills and since then our win rate has gone up significantly. I would recommend her to all firms that want to win more contracts in construction and other industries too as her content is transferrable.”

Jeff Pellegrino,

CEO, Peris Construction

“Hat’s off to Hilary! Her “Gain and Retain Clients” training was thoughtfully tailored to our needs as a professional service firm and delivered with unparalleled enthusiasm… and relevance. The positive influence of her training has been so profound, we have doubled the number of sessions planned for this coming year across our larger U.S. offices.”

Ian MacFarlane,

President & CEO, EA Engineering, Science & Technology, Inc.

“The Business Development Workshop Hilary delivered served to raise the awareness level of client interaction and served as a great means for our team to learn the science of retaining clients. It was beneficial not only for our engineers in terms of their professional relationships, but also for our business development, since they learned many new approaches. We plan on working with Hilary in the future both in terms of inspiring group retreats an also to coach on relationship marketing.”

Susan Williamson Ross,

Senior Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Clark Construction

“In IT it’s either black or white, there’s no plaid. Hilary provided workshops about relationships, understanding how do I put myself in second place to be able to listen to you and understand what your needs are, so I can hopefully negotiate better, manage that relationship better, and take that relationship to the next level. It’s not intuitive for us, especially being engineers. It was kind of shocking to me, but I think that most of the people in the class, on the team, didn’t think they could negotiate. So I think that they now understand the potential and the importance for diplomacy. What Hilary said first when she came and started the workshop was huge. As she came into the workshop session, everyone was trying to figure out what customer relationship management was–is it the “flavor of the month?” Hilary walked in the meeting and set the stage by saying, ‘Did you know that 85% of the relationship you have from a technical standpoint that you have with your customer has nothing to do with technology? But it has everything to do with your personal relationship skills.’ That just stopped everyone right in their tracks. It gave us the focus that we needed. Something that we didn’t have before. That was just huge. The other thing that Hilary said was her term of ‘raising the level of consciousness. What this means is that proactively, we now ask ourselves, ‘What can we do to move this relationship forward?’ This is a whole new twist for us. Now when we are on the phone with that person working through a particular situation, in the back of our minds now instead of thinking how do I fix this technical thing, they are thinking, ‘How do I talk them down from the ledge? How do I diffuse the situation? How do I control this? This ‘raising the level of consciousness is something that went on like a light. In terms of a specific example of how effective the workshop has been for my team I’ll share a situation with one of our best customers from an IT standpoint. We support a manufacturing company outside of Clark. Their service was down. We were in a horrible situation. The guy from my team that I had to deal with was scared because he knew the potential for losing this relationship completely. So what he did before he took any action was to think about Hilary’s workshop and he actually went through the four C’s. So on his ride to see the customer, he formulated his plan, using the four C’s and planning how he was going to try and save this relationship. He felt ecstatic because when he met head on with the irate client, he used Hilary’s workshop and instead of a “you’re out of here”, thirty minutes later he walked out of there with more business, which is really fantastic.”

Dave Golden,

Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Clark Construction

My company asked Hilary to deliver a short afternoon training session related to building customer relationships. In just a few hours, she gave our team, composed of superintendents, project managers, accounting, HR & executives, several real time tools & skills that they could immediately use every day in their roles. The entire team was engaged throughout the training & had nothing but very positive feedback about the session. Hilary is a powerful communicator & connects easily with any type of audience. We are looking for additional ways to utilize Hilary's strong experience & depth of knowledge for additional team training sessions. I strongly recommend Hilary to any business leader who is looking for ways to take their business development & customer service offering to the next level.

Jennifer Bognet,

Executive Vice President, Bognet Construction

“I met Hilary at a golf event, on how to mix business with golf. She had such a great seminar on business golf that we wanted to go further and use her expertise and services. We learned from Hilary how to gain and retain clients and how to strategically place business in the market place. I learned so much from Hilary that I could not wait to take back to my business and share with the employees. I felt empowered to use golf as part of our business development plan and market business with golf. The benefits from Hilary were numerous. We want to strategically place business using tactics Hilary taught us. We learned not only how to gain clients but also how to retain our existing clients. Hilary’s seminar definitely helped me on and off the golf course. She taught me when to bring up business, when to provide business cards, certain question to ask and when.”

Melissa Allen,

Director of Marketing, WFT Engineering

“We have hired Hilary to help us create a culture where relationships are valued. We see this in our business as really fundamental to our ability to get work. We are a company of largely engineers, myself excluded, and our engineers need very specific ideas of how they can build relationships. These are not what I would call out-of-the-box thinkers and Hilary helped us accomplish that. I have noticed since Hilary has been working with us, is that people are initiating social activities with clients. We have tickets to the MCI center, we have tickets to cultural events and rather than me having to beg people to take clients to these things, our people are saying, ‘Hey Susan, can I have tickets to the box so that I can take my buddy Joe over at the architect’s office to the wizards play?”

Susan Ross,

Senior Vice President, Clark Construction

“Hilary’s passion and knowledge for customer relationship management is immensely appealing and impressive. My team was really disappointed when workshop was over. That’s a really good place for us to be as a team.”
**Dave’s Full Length Testimonial Below

Dave Golden,

Vice President & CIO, Clark Construction

“Thank you so much for speaking to CREW Northern Virginia. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful news! You were such breath of fresh air last night in your excitement, your message, and your delivery of your presentation. It’s actually wonderful to hear that we are still responsible for our own destination through the five C’s and can be valuable in our careers instead of getting swept up in the thoughts of “oh”, we’re just in a recession, there is nothing I can do about it”. I feel like it becomes a crutch for failure for too many. Thank you for your passion to help others succeed by providing the tools we need to gain and retain clients.”

Chasity Jansa,

LEED A.P. Assistant Project Manager, Eered Construction, L.P. – CREW NoVa

Financial

“Hilary, we thank YOU! Your presentation had a standing-room-only crowd of leaders riveted, learning and laughing. Thank you for encouraging our employees not to “sell,” but to “give our members what they want.” Your simple and memorable tips will help our employees take perfect care of each member, each business partner, and each other. Our CEO, James Schenck, has been hearing positive feedback about you, and James is most thankful to you for sharing your insights and your passion!”

Steve Bosack,

Special Advisor to the President, CCO, PenFed

“Hilary, Thank you so much for doing such a terrific job with your keynote speech. I have to say that I knew you would be good, everyone I spoke to prior to our event said you are outstanding, but I did not know you would blow our socks off! I was very impressed with how you tied everything in that you and I had spoken about. Your tailoring everything to my team made it so powerful too. My reps could not stop speaking about your presentation at dinner.”

George Kinigopoulos,

Agency Managing Director, MassMutual Financial Group Greater Washington

Cardinal Bank

“Hilary’s Business Golf presentation was not only insightful and informed, it was enjoyable. She readily offers her golf and business leadership experience with enough brevity to keep everyone’s attention. Hilary recognized that her audience would be diverse, and thus challenging to a speaker, but managed to hold the group’s attention and inspire an array of conference attendees. I hope to have her share her expertise further.”

William Mundy,

Senior Vice President, Cardinal Bank

“Hilary delivered a business development boot camp to all of our Business Development Officers and senior leadership. Not only was her content extremely relevant to our relationship oriented banking business but she totally inspired our group which has led to us retaining her to work with us further. We see her as contributing to our growth via working with our business development officers and being most beneficial to our bank.”

Peter A. Converse,

President and Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Commerce Bank.

Smith Barney

“Hilary’s Business Golf presentation was not only insightful and informed, it was enjoyable. She readily offers her golf and business leadership experience with enough brevity to keep everyone’s attention. Hilary recognized that her audience would be diverse, and thus challenging to a speaker, but managed to hold the group’s attention and inspire an array of conference attendees. I hope to have her share her expertise with my firms.”

Mark E. Amberg,

CFP, Financial Consultant, Smith Barney

“It was such a pleasure hearing you speak last night at the CREW event. I took away multiple “nuggets” and plan to use them in my every day communications. You were inspirational and, in a short amount of time, gave the audience things that they can use instead of just the “warm and fuzzies” that motivational speakers usually provide.”

Brittany Wismer,

Assistant Vice President of Sales, Congressional Bank – CREW NoVa

“I have worked at Wachovia Bank for the past 18 years. I do not play but thought the seminar was great. Hilary’s presentation was enlightening and intriguing. Hilary is a great resource, outstanding speaker and very motivating. I would attend other seminars conducted by Hilary. Excellent resource.”

Aria Davis,

President, Retail Division, Wachovia Bank

“I attended a 3 day company sponsored training event where we were taught the sales process from the proverbial “coffee-talk” meeting to the close. However, I learned more about attracting & retaining clients with Hilary in a couple of calls than I did at the sponsored event.”

Hank Brown,

Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch

“I appreciated your presentation on Business Golf very much. As someone who plays occasionally, and understands the written etiquette and rules of golf, I learned many new subtleties of the game through your presentation. More importantly, I learned how to leverage the experience of the game to help understand potential clients and partners in business. I never really truly knew the importance of the game, though I have always heard how powerful it was! Thanks for putting a great presentation together that helped novices and experts get more out of their game.”

Brian Lambert,

Vice President Relationship Manager, Dunn & Bradstreet

“Strelmark is an integral and increasingly essential component of Weavering Capital’s plans to establish itself in the US. Its strategic approach to positioning our high-end offering is proving to be cost effective, focused, and productive. Indeed, it reinforces our belief that the Strelmark strategy—dynamic, targeted, and professional—is superior to any other marketing methods.”

Bill Simpson,

President North American Operations, Weavering Capital

Health Care

“Your presentations have created a solid basis for positive discussion and awareness within the organization.”

Thomas C. Schuler,

M.D., F.A.C.S., CEO, Founder, Spinal Surgeon, Virginia Spine Institute

“Hilary’s address to the D. C. Dental Society was spot-on. Her high-energy program outlined five basic business success tactics and other client relationship strategies and how they applied to our professional practices. Hilary’s insightful examples created a solid starting point for any audience member to take stock of his or her own situation and start making the necessary changes to improve. The talk was inspiring.”

Martin D. Levin,

DMD, Diplomate, American Board of Endodontics

Industry Group / Association

“Thank you for your terrific presentation at CESSE yesterday. Yours was the best presentation I saw during the conference. I really enjoyed it and found it a valuable experience.
You hit upon important principles that it’s so easy to lose sight of in day-to-day life. Thank you for helping us re-focus in such an engaging and memorable way.”

Marc Murray,

Director of Education & Member Services, The Wire Association International Inc.

“Hilary, I saw a draft cut of the SECAF video yesterday, and you were phenomenal! Thank you again for your participation, you MADE our video!”

Sandra K. Corbett,

CEO, InCadence Strategic Solutions

“I just wanted to thank you for an incredible presentation today at the Board of Trade event. You were very impressive! It was my first time to a networking event in DC and I was very inspired by your captivating and informative presentation. I learned a lot in a short time and thank you again for sharing your amazing wealth of knowledge in really understanding how to build a strong network.”

Kim Suerth,

VP, Trinet Internet Solutions, Inc., Greater Washington Board of Trade

“Wanted to say once again how much I appreciated your content and presentation. I’ve been to countless events on ‘Effective Networking/Relationship Building’ and yours was one of the very best I’ve seen.”

Tom Wolf,

CEO, Visular, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“I am still talking to people about the wonderful program and what a dynamic speaker you are. Later in the year, my firm might be interested in having you do a workshop for our lawyers. We are actually going to talk about the 5 C’s at our upcoming Board meeting… You would knock any audience off their feet…”

John J. Matteo,

Attorney, Jackson & Campbell, P.C., Greater Washington Board of Trade

“Your insights and ‘effervescence’ were much appreciated. I now also have enough reading to keep me busy well into 2010.”

Tyler Kalogeros,

Major Gifts & Corporate Relations, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“Your 5 C’s of Relational Truths were terrific. I was very impressed with you and your ability to present.”

David Cohen,

Retirement Planning Specialist, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“I loved hearing you speak and you definitely brought knowledge, enthusiasm and energy to the seminar! I would definitely recommend any organization to you!!”

Mary Ann Jones,

Human Resource Consultant, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“I really enjoyed your presentation…your workshop is just the solution we need.”

Branka Sekis,

Senior Business Development Representative, Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., Greater Washington Board of Trade

“You were fabulous, really terrific. Wonderful to see you in action! I learned so much that will help us at American Heart.”

Denise Daffron,

Senior Director of Corporate Relations, American Heart Association, Mid-Atlantic Affiliate, Greater Washington Board of Trade

Law Firm

Holland and Knight

“Hilary’s presentation at our Holland & Knight annual retreat on ‘How to Gain and Retain Clients’ was by far the best program on the subject I have experienced in 38 years of practicing law. I hope we will have you back for our partners next year.”
William B.”Bill” Wilson, Partner, Holland & Knight

“Your content for our female attorneys in our Rising Stars program was well received and really had such a positive impact. We would like for you to work with the next group next year.”
Janis Schiff, National Partner Real Estate Practice and Lead Partners Rising Stars, Holland & Knight

“After all these years of seeing your presentation I want you to know that I still have your ‘5C’s on the back of my door so that I remember them when I go to any meeting and when I’m on the phone with our clients and others. Your content was impactful, really grateful for your content.”

Paul J. Kiernan,

Executive Partner, Washington, D.C., Holland & Knight

“Our partners were impressed with your business development presentation at our retreat. We plan on implementing your suggestions during this upcoming year. We would also like you to lead the business development component of our female attorney program.”

Rick Bryan,

Managing Partner, Jackson & Campbell

“We received outstanding feedback from our young professionals and attorneys who were in your recent session on ‘How to Gain and Retain Clients’. Now we would like to move ahead with specific sessions to structure their individual plans and will be back to you after internal discussions.”

Pamela Navarro Watson,

CMO, Zuckerman

“Our members gave her rave reviews-attributable to her enthusiasm and keen ability to connect with her audience. Hilary’s knowledge and intellect, combined with her poised and dignified manner, make her an exceptional presenter. I would have her back in a heartbeat.”

Kelly Stuart Stokes,

President, Legal Marketing Association

“Great job with the panel Hilary at NDIA, that was one of the most interesting events I’ve attended in a long time. Your insights, energy, wit and intellect kept the entire program moving, interesting and beneficial to attend.”

Gordon Griffin,

Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP

“Before Hilary even finished speaking, our lawyers were sending me emails praising her program. She offers on-point advice geared towards attorneys, and her engaging personality energized the room.”

Debra Hare,

Director of Business Development, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP

“Your guidance over the last four months helped structure all of our partners on a business development track that is relatively unheard of for lawyers who are not business development partners, or rainmakers. Sitting down with our partners to discuss strategies helped them all pinpoint necessary contacts both in the targeted client realm and opened an entire avenue for pursuing cross-marketing opportunities and carefully tracking them. For me personally, you noted that it is now a time to build collegial relationships with those who are “senior” to me and work with people who are older. This was very helpful advice. You noted that it was important to work on the different areas of business development including speaking, writing, and check-ins with existing clients. I have happily done all of that; your guidance added much needed structure and confidence/reinforcement to the process. Overall, it has been very helpful to have the business development workshops that were tailored to my daily work schedule, life, opportunities, memberships, and contacts.”

Christina Lang Wallace,

Of Counsel, Berry Appleman & Leiden, LLP

Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

“A must attend for anyone in the legal profession who has played or would like to play golf in a business setting. No lawyer should get on the golf course without first attending Hilary’s business golf sessions. If you’re curious about the power of golf in building relationships, you’ll walk away eager to learn the game. If you’re already a golfer, what Hilary has to say will make you think twice about how best to conduct business on course.”

Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Esq.,

President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Director, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Tucker Arensberg

“My law firm already spends thousands of dollars on golf each year, Hilary’s Business Golf presentation was great because she delivered both strategic and tactical advice on how we can better leverage the dollars we already invest in golf. We learned how to build relationships both on and off the course. I highly recommend Hilary to all law firms who want to leverage golf as a business development tool.”

Gary P. Hunt,

Managing Shareholder, Tucker Arensburg, P.C.

“Thank you for the seminar you presented to our Tax Department. Rarely does someone from outside the firm do such an outstanding job of addressing our specific needs. I felt as though you were an integral part of our very own marketing team. It is quite obvious that you carefully listened to us when we briefed you on our meeting goals and concerns. Your material was perfectly targeted to our varied the gamut from juniors to principals and partners. Equally important was your innate ability to judge the audience’s demeanor and elicit not only participation, but also a high degree of interest. A true coup for an early morning meeting! Everyone sensed that you not only “talked the talk, but truly walked the walked,” albeit rather quickly… (The fact that, minutes after you finished, you were booked instantly by a Partner for an upcoming firm-wide seminar, speaks for itself).”

Walter Timoshenko,

VP Marketing, RAE, Richard A. Eisner & Company, LLP

Media

(Regarding Brexit) “You pretty much called this; your analysis was the most accurate I have had on this show…you’ve been spot on, love your insights, we’ll have you back again.”

John Cardillo,

Host America Talk Live, NewsMaxTV

(Regarding Brexit) “I want to go on record as saying you have been so very right, so prescient about what you said and predicted was going to happen, thank you! We will be having you back again to cover this for us. Appreciate you keeping us up to date.”

Commissioner Bart Chilton,

Host of Boom Bust

“Hilary your segment with Charles Osgood turned out so well. You are a natural. Thank you for your insights and for sharing your knowledge with our Sunday morning audience. That accent of yours was a hit.”

John D’Amelio,

Producer, CBS

“The camera loves Hilary, so does our audience as she brings such enthusiasm. Hilary has extensive business background and golf talent that adds an important and unique perspective to the show. We gave her a platform to sound off on topical golf issues of interest to business and casual golfers alike; her segment has just taken off.”

Dave Lucas,

NewsChannel8 News Anchor and host of Capital Golf Weekly

“Hilary was extraordinary…a real professional and Bill (host) was very pleased, thanks for setting her up.”

Kathy Collins,

Morning Show Producer, KFNN Phoenix

“Hilary is just spectacular; she is so full of information and great to listen to. She’s smart, savvy, articulate and fun for our listeners. We are excited to have a golfer as experienced and knowledgeable as Hilary join us to provide listeners with local golf news as well as interesting tips on the game during the golf season, from where to play to how to get started to improving one’s game.”

Jerry Phillips,

Host and Producer, The Washington Post’s MetroTalk six weekly public-affairs radio shows

“Hilary you were really great. Thank you so much….do you have any other specialties that we can have you on our show for?”

Alan Tu,

Senior Producer, Radio Times, WHYY-FM, Philadelphia’s NPR station

Speaking & Boot Camps

“I must say that I really enjoyed listening to Hilary the most, and got the motivation to develop my network further in the Washington DC area….”

Ipek Tunca,

Senior Business Strategy Analyst, Microsoft

“Hilary gave practical (and often humorous) advice to leaders in the area when she spoke on the topic of ‘resiliency’ at the KPMG Executive Leadership Institute for Women. Hilary is a dynamic presenter and infuses energy into the room when she speaks. It is clear that she has encountered many challenges in her career and life but has conquered these with her perseverance and tenacity. The participants could not say enough about her ability to provide frank and honest perspectives in an entertaining manner.”

Tracy K. Kenny,

Partner, KPMG

“We are very impressed with the expertise that Strelmark offers. We have retained Strelmark for strategic relationship marketing services to facilitate business development in order to grow our firm. We are looking forward to a long-term relationship between our organizations.”

John Brophy,

Vice President, ARPC

Northrop Grumman

“My team is still talking about how they enjoyed your boot camp and your great content. As you observed, the team is very social, and they related so well with your examples and stories. Syl told me she is already thinking about ways to reach out to our customer base in 2008. Also, you will be interested to know that 2 of my employees attended the 2-day Northrop Grumman class on ‘Customer Intimacy’ after taking your boot camp. Both told me that they got so much more out of your session. You are a delight to work with and I look forward to some great things in 2008.”

Pam Macaleer,

Director, GSA Schedules, Northrop Grumman

“I just wanted to thank you for an incredible presentation today at the Board of Trade event. You were very impressive! It was my first time to a networking event in DC and I was very inspired by your captivating and informative presentation. I learned a lot in a short time and thank you again for sharing your amazing wealth of knowledge in really understanding how to build a strong network.”

Kim Suerth,

VP, Trinet Internet Solutions, Inc., Greater Washington Board of Trade

“Wanted to say once again how much I appreciated your content and presentation. I’ve been to countless events on ‘Effective Networking/Relationship Building’ and yours was one of the very best I’ve seen.”

Tom Wolf,

CEO, Visular, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“I am still talking to people about the wonderful program and what a dynamic speaker you are. Later in the year, my firm might be interested in having you do a workshop for our lawyers. We are actually going to talk about the 5 C’s at our upcoming Board meeting… You would knock any audience off their feet…”

John J. Matteo,

Attorney, Jackson & Campbell, P.C., Greater Washington Board of Trade

“Your insights and ‘effervescence’ were much appreciated. I now also have enough reading to keep me busy well into 2010.”

Tyler Kalogeros,

Major Gifts & Corporate Relations, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“Your 5 C’s of Relational Truths were terrific. I was very impressed with you and your ability to present.”

David Cohen,

Retirement Planning Specialist, Greater Washington Board of Trade

“I loved hearing you speak and you definitely brought knowledge, enthusiasm and energy to the seminar! I would definitely recommend any organization to you!!”

Mary Ann Jones,

Human Resource Consultant, Greater Washington Board of Trade

Technology / It

“I had the honor of getting to know Hilary over the past several months, as we engaged with her to deliver the keynote speaking role for ScienceLogic’s national sales kick-off meeting. Her message hit home to the more than 200 attendees, as she elegantly delivered a very inspirational message. Hilary’s professional and life experiences, coupled with her incredibly passionate speaking style, made her message one that we all will remember in our daily professional journey! I look forward to following Hilary in the future, and will keep her message with me as an inspiration with my own walk in life! Thank you, Hilary, for moving us with your message!”

Keith Rice,

VP, Strategic Accounts, ScienceLogic

“It was a great pleasure listening to your dialogue at our Sales kickoff we were all thoroughly impressed by your guidance.”

Antonio Piraino,

CTO, ScienceLogic

“I must say that I really enjoyed listening to Hilary the most, and got the motivation to develop my network further in the Washington DC area….”

Ipek Tunca,

Senior Business Strategy Analyst, Microsoft

“Hilary was so impressive at our InSight Conference two years ago that many attendees requested we have her back. Yet again she was spot on. She understands and addresses the needs of government contractors and professional services firms. She delivers best practices and insightful advice, exactly what our audience wants. Her solution overviews had everyone taking notes. I highly recommend Hilary.”

Kevin Parker,

Chairman, CEO, Deltek

“Hilary took a group of technical professionals and showed the concrete examples of why customers really do partner and ultimately buy….pssst! it is not the product alone!”

Phillip Dunkelberger,

President & CEO, Nok Nok Labs

“My first ever intro to the whole BD arena was when I was a Project Manager, and took a class with Hilary Fordwich as the instructor. To this day I have not forgotten all of the lessons learned and even show all of Hilary’s YouTube video’s to our corporate staff. When I first took Hilary’s class, the concepts of BD, Capture, and Proposals was new, as military officer and a federal employee this is not something I was dealing with and was strictly all about operations. Learning from Hilary led me to start my own company (Zermount, Inc. a SDVOSB) and we are now in our 5th year of business with an average growth of ~200% annually. Our goal is to grow and develop a true brand using many of Hilary’s principles and techniques”

Terry Butler,

President & CEO, Zermount

“I consider it fortunate that fate led our paths to cross. There are very few who could have moderated this event with your finesse and your ability to insert pertinent and relevant quotes and content. We are working on a date for next year and you are absolutely our first choice as moderator.”

Tony Barnett,

Tysons Chamber & Business Development Manager, Leros Technologies Corp

“Hilary…you are the one that did a great job, I thought you were able to keep the audiences interest by moderating what was being said and what was not being said. The cyber security field is huge and in a few minutes I thought you were able to make the topic flow and generate interest, as evidenced by the half dozen attendees that came afterwards and asked me follow up questions. It was a real pleasure meeting you and working with you. You made us panelists shine.”

Mario F. Lopez-Gomez,

Information Systems Manager, U.S Department of Justice

“How pleased I was with the way you moderated the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce first ever Cyber Security conference. While the panelists clearly possessed extensive knowledge of the critical cyber security issues facing the country, your own knowledge of the issues and the insightful lead-in questions you raised encouraged additional questions and meaningful participation from the attendees. As a result, the session was highly informative. Thanks for the role you played. Many people I spoke with after the conference voiced how impressed they were particularly with the way you ran the entire conference and how you conducted it, managing to be so inclusive.”

Derek G. Gill,

President, FiberSat Telecommunications Corp

“Hilary, Thank you for such an exceptional job moderating the NDIA panel. You are the one who kept the ball rolling with your intelligent commentary and occasional quips. Great work.”

Vic Hyder,

Chief Operations, CDR, USN (Seal) Ret., Silent Circle