Client Testimonials

“Donna’s ability to build and deliver end to end individualized solutions that come together like they were “off the shelf” is something you have to experience to truly appreciate. She’s very good at helping organizations define and clarify high-level strategies, then designing customized tactics and delivery plans that help her customers improve processes, results, or efficiencies. With us, she helped pinpoint critical gaps between where we were and where we wanted to be; helped us identify key metrics that would define success; built and delivered initial and ongoing coaching and training for our leadership teams that got results (quickly); then helped us manage a fairly significant change effort as we rolled out our new program to the front-line staff. If I had to describe her in one word, I’d probably start with “coach”. While she’s top-drawer in the design world, it’s really her ability to deliver programs, while getting everyone enthusiastically on board, working towards results that differentiates her. She’s a winner!” — Allen Meil, EVP – Call Center

“Donna is the epitome of passion and high energy. We worked together to install a major Sales Management process accross the Retail system of Crestar Bank. It involved training and coaching over a thousand Retail employees in a very detailed process to improve sales in our Bank branches. Within a year, Sales had doubled and the Sales Management system was the standard operating procedure at every level of the Bank’s Retail Group. Donna has the unique ability to to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization. She takes iniative and speaks up when management needs to hear “bad news”. She was a very valuable member of our Sales Management Staff. I would welcome the chance to work with her again.” — Bill Ginther, Retail Corporate Executive Vice-President

“Donna possesses unique characteristics for her role for behavior modifcation and enhancement. Her experience enables her to assess peoples skills and abilities and design programs that that effectively develop their talents. She has successfully designed and developed effective programs for sales and service needs as well as management, coaching and product/service knowledge. I have worked with Donna on many occasions and in every occasion we achieved, or exceeded, the desired results.” — Myles Gaythwaite, Retail EVP

“In the field of training and sales performance management you will find no one better than Donna Highfill. Based on a deep understanding of our needs, Donna assembled a sales team for LFG, designed and executed training plans, and personally developed each member of the sales force. From a standing start, Donna brought the team to life which signed 82 new corporate customers in its first year.” — Neil Singer, Business Owner

“It was a real pleasure to have Donna on my team at Crestar (now SunTrust). She did an outstanding job in helping to keep our sales program alive and working. She is a natural at “training” and feel very confident in her abilities to improve the bottom line! I would hire her again in a heartbeat!” — Craig Kelly, Marketing Director

“Donna is a true thought leader who has added considerable value in every engagement where I have worked with her. She is innovative, creative, always well informed, and is consistently on the leading edge in designing programs that lead to quantifiable positive results/performance improvement. Donna’s knowledge, positive personality, sense of humor and practical experience are an unbeatable combination. I would not hesitate to recommend Donna for any company that needs to implement change or institute new ways of improving sales or improving the customer experience.” — Bill Thornton, Marketing Director

“I have had the extremely good fortune to partner with Donna Highfill in two separate organizations. In both instances, her involvement in major projects with which I was involved was key to the successful completion of those projects. Whether developing a new sales process from scratch, tailoring an existing sales process to better fit my needs, or building a platform from which to sell additional products and services, Donna quickly provided and built workable solutions. Typically, the rollout of those solutions ultimately required my managers to train their people; Donna consistently delivered effective, time-efficient products to my managers in order to facilitate those rollouts. She is a pleasure to work with – her energy is contagious. I believe that any organization choosing to utilize Donna’s expertise will quickly recognize the value of that decision!” — Steve Fletcher, Director of Strategic Planning

“I cannot say enough good things about Donna S. Highfill. Recently, I had the opportunity to work with Donna and was absolutely delighted with the outcome. We were working on a complex IT implementation project with multiple vendors, each having distinctly different opinions about development, testing, and deployment strategy. We decided the best way to address these differences was to conduct a face-to-face meeting. Our goal was to create a mutually agreeable go-forward approach and stack hands on key next steps / milestones. I immediately thought of Donna and enlisted her help to lead our discussion. Donna was an excellent facilitator keeping everyone on task, focused and engaged. Even though tensions ran high at times, Donna was quickly able to diffuse the situation. Thanks to Donna, we accomplished our goal and are enjoying a successful implementation. I welcome the opportunity to work with Donna and her high energy team-building skillset in the future.” — Sharon Leininger, PMP

“Donna is a consummate sales and marketing professional. She is insightful to the sales and marketing processes and uses her creativity to address the business strategies for optimal results. I have been truly impressed with her proficiency in delivering high quality programs and materials under very tight deadlines. When presenting to sales professionals, she is able to capture both their attention and respect as a sales and marketing guru they can trust.” — Michael Head, HR Director

“During my tenure as the online CRM product manager at Regions Financial Corporation, I worked closely with Donna to ensure the online tool supported the Retail Sales process. Donna partnered with our business leads and instructional designers to develop our internal sales strategy. She was instrumental in delivering a consistent and simple approach to sales behaviors and activities to provide a lift in sales across the entire retail footprint. She supported the sales and training departments in creating a common language which included leadership and weekly sales and performance communications. Donna was a true member of our management team when it came to development and delivery of sales training. I hope I have the opportunity to work with her again in the future. She would be an asset to any company needing a lift in sales performance or direction in establishing a sales process.” — Sandra Starkey, CRM Director

“Donna is a superb practitioner – who combines her technical expertise with proven, flexible business solutions (and common sense). She is articulate, smart, personable and achieves results. As a consultant or staff member, Donna adds immeasurable value to any project or process she undertakes.” — Ross Dorneman, SVP/HR Director

“I had the great pleasure of working with Donna Highfill when I was the Director of Sales for the Wholesale Channel of Saxon Capital, Inc. Originally, we contracted Highfill Performance Group, Inc. to simply give our sales team an additional lift in production. However, after collaborating for a couple of years, the partnership grew in scope and scale. After a short period of time training locally, Donna became a natural extension of our leadership team and helped train our salespeople throughout the nation. Donna is a true expert in sales and service performance. Her methods while very creative and original, where also very effective and thorough. As a result of working with HPG, we saw not only an immediate increase in performance but a lasting improvement in the core competencies of our sales team – we set new records in production every quarter that we worked with HPG. The design of her program allows the genius of the methods to be learned and applied with simplicity. It helps too that Donna is an outstanding speaker and really connects with the audience. Her genuine style with real world examples gives a sincerity to the message that lets each individual know that what they are learning, if applied accordingly, will certainly improve their results. It certainly did for us and I highly recommend Highfill Performance Group, Inc. In fact, I personally learned so much from Donna that we maintain and ongoing friendship and I consider her one of my great mentors.” — Steve Nicholas, Sales Manager

“I am pleased to recommend Donna to any organization that wants to develop a laser focus on sales and service and get exceptional, documented results. Donna knows the sales and service business, and designs programs and training around a simple and straightforward approach. Her training approach is sharp, and her use of effective learning techniques is evident in her training materials.” — Carol Anderson, OD&T Director

“Donna is an energetic, dynamic classroom facilitator who can bring a subject to life. Her knowledge of and experience in financial institution sales enables her to develop excellent curriculum as well as coach the sales force – leading to increased activity and results. Donna is a dedicated professional who delivers a top-notch product.” — Shirley Lyles, Manager of Training Design & Development

“I have sought Donna’s help and advice on several occasions in overcoming challenges in training my clients’ staff to deliver on the human side of my marketing initiatives. Her insight – particularly with respect to enlisting the committed participation of female employees in marketing programs – has proven to be shockingly accurate. She has an uncanny ability to place herself in the minds of trainees (that she may have never met personally) and develop communications and training programs that move them to enthusiastic action. I have never encountered anyone else with this talent in such refined form.” — Tom Blue, Entrepreuner

“I had the privilege of working with Donna when I was a Senior Sales Performance Consultant at Regions Bank. Donna’s skills as a consultant, coach and performance improvement expert are second to none and her greatest strength is this: she gets results! Her ability to understand the issues and almost magically develop practical, actionable tools and processes that create sustainable behavior change and bottom-line results are the best I have ever seen. She makes it seem simple but behind the scenes her deep subject matter expertise and experience in sales, leadership, and human and organization development are the engine that drives her ability to deliver world-class solutions. In the years since I worked with Donna I have had the opportunity to work with many consultants and I still consider her to be the best not only because of the work that she delivers but also because of her integrity and personal commitment to her clients.” — Scott Wigley, Executive Coach

“I have worked with Donna Highfill on an initiative that involved gathering the top salespeople in one industry and leading them through a sales session in Las Vegas. Donna worked with me to develop an outline that addressed performance best practices, upcoming challenges and networking opportunities so we could add value to a group that was bringing value to us. The session was performance-focused as well as dynamic. Donna did a great job of working with a high-energy group of salespeople and funneled their knowledge and experience into a document that they could all use to improve their sales performance in the future. The salespeople that attended were thrilled with the session and the follow-up information. Donna is a winner!” — Kevin Young, Marketing Consultant

“Donna is a terrific consultant, trainer, designer and motivator. Donna is adept at seeking new ways to solve problems, increase profitability and productivity. Her collaborative consulting style enables businesses to focus on what is best for everyone. I highly recommend Donna.” — Deborah Westin, Training Manager