One of the most overlooked yet important tools in business is the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.

An RFP is a disciplined business practice that forces organizations to clearly define their needs, expectations, requirements, timelines, and evaluation criteria before making a significant investment.

Too often, companies make purchasing decisions based on relationships, marketing materials, vendor presentations, or the first proposal they receive. While these factors may be important, relying on them alone can lead to costly mistakes, operational inefficiencies, and years of frustration.

A well-designed RFP creates a level playing field. It allows multiple vendors to compete against the same set of requirements, making comparisons objective rather than emotional. It also helps identify hidden costs, implementation challenges, potential risks, and significant differences in vendor capabilities that might otherwise be overlooked.

The financial impact can be substantial. A strong RFP process can save organizations tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars over the life of a project while increasing the likelihood of selecting the right long-term partner.

In this session, participants will learn the essential components of developing and utilizing an effective RFP process. An extended workshop version will provide hands-on experience, allowing participants to develop either a mock RFP or a real RFP for an upcoming organizational need.

Whether you are purchasing software, equipment, professional services, or planning a major capital investment, this session will provide practical tools that can improve decision making, reduce risk, and protect your organization's resources.

Learning Objectives

Understand when an RFP is appropriate and when it is not.
Learn the key components of an effective RFP.
Develop objective vendor evaluation criteria.
Identify common mistakes organizations make during procurement.
Create a framework for a real-world RFP that can be immediately applied within your organization.

The next version of AI will likely already be here by the time you finish reading this description.

And most people are either overhyping it, ignoring it, fearing it, or using it badly.

In this practical, provocative, and highly accessible talk, Sean B. Jones, MS, MBA brings the perspective of a licensed psychotherapist, business executive, entrepreneur, and operator to one of the most important shifts of our time.

This talk is not for software engineers and technical experts.

This talk is not filled with jargon.

It is for beginners, intermediate AI users, business leaders, curious professionals, educators, parents, entrepreneurs, and anyone who knows they cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while AI reshapes work, communication, decision making, creativity, education, and society.

The central message is simple:

The people who benefit most from AI will not necessarily be the most technical.

They will be the most thoughtful.

The most curious.

The most discerning.

The most human.

AI will not replace human intelligence.

But people who know how to use AI wisely may outperform, or outpace people who do not.

This talk walks audiences through six practical pathways for understanding where AI is today, where it is likely headed over the next one to three years.

This is not a “robots are taking over” talk.

We will talk a little about people that use Human Intelligence with AI and people who let AI think for them.

When attendees leave, they will have new insights into HI and AI.

They will want to talk about it with their coworkers, their families, their leadership teams, and everyone they know.

And once you understand that AI requires HI, you will never look at the future the same way again.

That mistake costs them meetings, money, momentum, and sometimes the company.

This talk tells founders what most advisors will not say out loud:

Your pitch deck is probably too long, too boring, too operational, too cluttered, and too focused on what you care about instead of what investors need to hear.

Investors do not owe you their attention.

You have to earn it.

And you do not earn it with a 42 slide data dump.

You earn it 15 seconds at a time.

Fifteen seconds to make them care.

Fifteen seconds to make them curious.

Fifteen seconds to keep them from checking their phone.

Fifteen seconds to get to the next 15 seconds.

My talk is very blunt, practical, no nonsense breakdown of what a pitch deck actually needs to do.

How do I know? I know from both sides. I am embarrassed to tell people how many pitches I have presented and failed with. I have sat through even more pitches I thought I would be interested in; and couldn't wait for the founder to leave.

Attendees will learn how to:

• Stop building decks that kill investor interest
• Understand what investors actually look for first
• Cut the slides that make you feel smart but make investors tune out
• Build a deck that earns meetings, not polite rejection
• Turn attention into interest, and interest into real investor conversations

This talk is not for fragile founders who want compliments.

It is for serious founders who want capital.

Because the harsh truth is this:

A great business can die behind a bad pitch.

And most founders never realize they lost the investor before slide two.

This talk confronts the loneliness crisis directly and offers a practical six step / must do framework for change.

Learn Six Steps to Change and Confront Loneliness

This is not a soft topic.

Loneliness can contribute to suicidal ideation, substance abuse, pornography addiction, compulsive behaviors, and other forms of addiction. It can deepen isolation, distort thinking, increase vulnerability to coercion and victimization, and create openings for extremist ideas to take root.

The opposite of loneliness is not simply being around people.

Learn Six Steps to Change Loneliness

The old sales playbook is no longer enough.

In this is a powerful training, Sean Jones shows audiences how to move beyond selling and into solving.

WHO SHOULD NOT ATTEND?

This lecture is not for salespeople who lack real knowledge of what they offer.

It is not for people who rely on pressure, exaggeration, manipulation, or disingenuous sales tactics.

Sales people who are full of Sh#t and disingenuous.

If your goal is simply to close the deal at any cost, this is not the room for you.

WHO NEEDS TO ATTEND?

This is for anyone who truly believes in what they sell and wants to help others understand it clearly, quickly, and genuinely.

It is for salespeople, founders, executives, and business development professionals who want to connect more deeply with clients, uncover real needs, and solve meaningful problems.

Not just for today’s sale.

For the relationship, the repeat business, and the partnership that can last for months, years, or even decades.

Drawing from three decades as a psychotherapist, advanced interviewing and interrogation techniques, and Fortune 100 executive leadership experience, Sean introduces a practical 12 step framework for earning trust, uncovering the truth, identifying real problems, and building long term customer partnerships.

This is not traditional sales training.

It is a modern customer acquisition framework for leaders, founders, sales teams, and organizations that want to stop chasing transactions and start building relationships that compound over time.

When trust is earned, customers tell the truth.

They share what they are afraid of.

They admit what is not working.

They reveal what they need but may not yet know how to ask for.

That is where real selling begins.

Not through pressure.

Not through scripts.

Not through manipulation.

But through trust, insight, and problem solving.

Audiences will learn how to:

• Understand why traditional sales tactics are losing effectiveness
• Build psychological trust before asking for commitment
• Use deeper questioning using psychological motivation interviewing to uncover real customer pain
• Recognize what buyers are not saying out loud
• Shift from pitching products to solving meaningful problems
• Create partnerships that drive repeat sales, referrals, and long term loyalty
• Turn customer conversations into strategic discovery
• Build a customer acquisition process rooted in credibility, clarity, and trust

The first sale matters.

But the real value is in the second sale, the third sale, the referral, the renewal, and the relationship that lasts for years.

Sean’s message is direct, timely, and immediately actionable:

If your team is still trying to sell like it is 2020, your buyers already know it.

The organizations that win the next decade will not be the ones with the best closing script.

They will be the ones that know how to earn trust, solve real problems, and become indispensable partners.

In this raw, high energy 1-2 hour beatdown, I assume you know nothing about it, so we start from ground zero.

This will leave you with:

A crystal clear understanding of what you have and what you need.

Exact next steps: cheap tests to prove customers care before you burn time and money.

The no BS mindset shift that turns dreamers into builders who actually win.

If you are tired of advisors spouting feel good nonsense, this session hits different. LOUD, direct, interactive, and zero safe spaces. This will roast bad ideas on the spot if they deserve it.

This session is perfect for accelerators, university classes, bootcamps, founder meetups, or any room that needs a wake up call instead of another gentle workshop.

60–120 minutes. Fully interactive. Bring your ideas, we’ll either make them lethal or mercy kill them fast.

I want to stop the startup suicide and start building winners who hit real revenue.

(1) fewer than approximately 9% of entrepreneurs ever reach one million dollars in annual revenue, and only 0.4% reach $10M. 99% percent of startups NEVER receive investment capital
(2) approximately 50% of startups fail within their first three years
(3) luck plays a meaningful role in entrepreneurial outcomes
(4) prior professional experience has limited predictive value for startup success
(5) all entrepreneurs, including successful ones, make poor decisions
(6) most founders lack the discipline, resilience, and tolerance for the brutal nature of entrepreneurship
(7) entrepreneurs don't know what they don't know

Rather than discouraging participants, the presentation provides clear strategies to mitigate these risks, and operationalize solutions.

The presentation reviews the common mistakes most entrepreneurs make in the beginning and confronts the hard realities of business growth, personal sacrifice, financial risk, and the statistical rarity of achieving seven and eight figure annual revenues, with fewer than approximately nine percent of businesses reaching one million dollars and only about zero point four percent exceeding ten million dollars annually. Delivered in a bold and brash style, the presentation is designed to leave attendees motivated and mentally prepared to do what it takes to pursue entrepreneurial success and their first seven and eight figure revenue milestones. Sean emphasizes disciplined decision making, mental resilience, and strategic clarity, equipping attendees with tools to scale intentionally or exit with informed confidence.

The program is suitable for audiences of approximately 10 to 100 attendees and is delivered over an hour session, followed by a structured question and answer period. The lecture is supported by a comprehensive multimedia presentation consisting of more than 100 slides. A large screen and reliable Wi-Fi access are required.

This lecture is appropriate for community organizations, retail pet stores, rescues, veterinary adjacent groups, and educational events focused on companion animal health.

The lecture presents foundational nutritional concepts using clear language intended for a general audience. No prior background in nutrition or veterinary science is assumed. Core content areas include:

• The evolution of commercial pet food and market consolidation within the global pet food industry
• Regulatory definitions of “complete and balanced” diets and their practical limitations
• Comparative digestive physiology of cats as obligate carnivores and dogs as facultative carnivores
• The nutritional impact of extrusion, rendering, and high temperature processing
• Common misconceptions surrounding grain free, plant forward, and heavily fortified diets
• Evidence based discussion of raw, freeze dried, gently processed, and minimally processed feeding strategies
• Dietary links to common chronic conditions including cancer, dermatologic disorders, gastrointestinal disease, dental pathology, metabolic dysfunction, and renal disease

The lecture emphasizes informed decision making rather than prescriptive feeding plans. Nutritional strategies are discussed within the context of individual animal needs, household constraints, and responsible transition protocols.

Retail Store Customization

When delivered for retail pet stores, the lecture may be customized to align with biologically and species appropriate brands carried by the host location. Educational content is integrated with a structured call to action designed to help attendees translate learning into practical purchasing decisions that support improved nutritional outcomes for their pets.

Retail based lectures commonly result in immediate post event product purchases.

Additional Training Offering for Retail Teams

The training focuses on helping retail staff ask effective questions, identify customer needs, and support informed purchasing decisions without pressure based sales techniques. The framework is grounded in applied behavioral psychology and reflects more than thirty years of clinical and executive experience in human behavior and decision making.

Speaker Credentials

Sean is the founder of Whats In The Bowl Pet Shops and franchise system. He also founded Foodynamics, a freeze drying company privately labeling for over 150 brands. He is the former host of the Exploring Cat and Dog Nutrition podcast and the author of the forthcoming book Exploring Cat and Dog Nutrition. His work focuses on translating complex nutritional and behavioral science into accessible, actionable education for pet parents and industry professionals.