Diane is president of Schmalensee Partners, a nationally recognized expert on customer-focused service and performance excellence.  Diane specializes in listening to internal and external customers, in strategic planning to produce superior service and in supporting organizations in their quest for performance excellence. 

Her distinguished clients include many award winning organizations such as one Baldrige Award winner (AT&T Universal Card) and five state award winners [American Transtech (Florida), Clark & Reid (Massachusetts), Datatel (Virginia), Delta Dental of Massachusetts (Massachusetts), DentaQuest (Massachusetts)].   

Before founding Schmalensee Partners in 1991, she worked as Vice President of the Marketing Science Institute, as Vice President of Opinion Research Corporation, and in research for major regional advertising agencies.  She holds an MBA from San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College. 

Ms. Schmalensee is an eight-time Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and has been a Board member of Partners in Performance Excellence (formerly MassExcellence and the Massachusetts Council for Quality) since 1991.  She frequently speaks on performance excellence topics to associations such as The Conference Board, the American Marketing Association, and the American Society for Quality, as well as to executive education programs.  Her publications include: Building Customer Loyalty, Corporate Reputation, and Shareholder Value through Service Quality Improvement, “Internal Customer Satisfaction” in Managing Service Quality, “Lessons Learned on our Quality Journey” in The Center for Quality Management Journal, “Unleashing the Power of Connecting Disciplines” in Reflections, “Measuring Returns on Research” in Marketing Research. 

Ms. Schmalensee has served on the Boards of the Association for Consumer Research, the American Marketing Association, and the U.S. Census, and is a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality.  She is past Chair of the Board of Directors of The Pioneer Institute and is a member of the Boston Ballet Board of Overseers.