Martin Shanker, founder and president of Shanker Inc., has more than 25 years of experience helping global brands accelerate sales and profit by growing their business through their people. He has maintained multi-year relationships with premier global retailers and wholesalers including Burberry, Cartier, Chanel, Estee Lauder Companies, Lane Crawford, Louis Vuitton, LVMH, Ralph Lauren and Van Cleef & Arpels.Martin’s developed the Relationship FIRST Method TM as a solution to the challenges luxury retailers face staying relevant in the digital era. His behavioral approach applies neurosciences and emotional intelligence that helps sales teams transform relationships and re-establish relevancy. Martin’s trademark has become a purpose-driven venture to unlock the potential in advisors and managers while enabling brands to outperform their competition.Born into an apparel manufacturing family in New York City, Martin graduated with a business degree from the University of Miami before joining Macy’s East Executive Training Program. At Macy’s, Martin rose to Vice President for Accessories and Shoes, and served as President of the Wholesale Handbag Division of Sarne Corporation.Martin’s continuous study into how today’s high-net-worth clients think and make decisions reveals why some associates and organizations succeed and others do not. These crucial insights prompted him to found Shanker Inc. in 1992 with the mission of helping leading global brands grow their business through their people.The current gap between the way sales professionals treat customers and how customers actually prefer to be treated led The New York Times to acknowledge Martin’s unique insights on this topic and referred to him as a “behaviorist”.Martin is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences such as Luxury Daily and a lecturer at both FIT and Parsons in New York City. Martin is also a board member of the Aspen Brain Institute.