Increasing Efficiencies
We can't capture all of our views on what it takes to build a successful business here. But this page will give you a good idea of our approach.
Respect
Firstly, everyone you interact with should be dealt with respectfully all the time. That includes customers, vendors, employees, bosses, colleagues, neighbors, prospects, suppliers and the delivery guy. If you have no interest in at least working toward that, we're the wrong consulting firm for you. It's good for the people you interact with, for you, and for building business.
Sustainability
There are many meanings for sustainability. We're in favor of all of them. For one, you need systems in your organization that will support the work of the people who are using them and the needs of your customers. These systems should be scalable. They doesn't mean when you are a $2M company you need a system that will grow you to $50M. But they should support a growth path.
Sustainability also refers to creating an environment where people can live a healthy life, feel good about their work, and bring their energies and creativities to the job over time. In that way there is some energy to be directed and you can all keep a focus on getting the right things done well instead of endless remedial and reactive efforts.
Thirdly, we have a particular interest in firms that are working to build sustainability into our greater social and earthly environment. We'll give you special discounts if your organization is delivering sustainable services and products.
Interconnectedness
It is all connected. Too often organizations don't pay enough attention to how their departments work together to smoothly fulfill customer needs. We get how this works and can help you improve your overall company effectiveness by improving the connections. And your firm is part of a bigger network too. We'll help you contribute and benefit by better connecting into that larger network.
Follow this link to an article written by Tim and published by the MIT Press in the Society for Organizational Learning Journal Reflections. The story provides a successful example of the application of many of the principles mentioned on this page: Applying Systems Thinking.
Your success depends upon your customers' success.
Therefore you should be keeping a focus on:
* Meeting customer needs efficiently and effectively and delivering quality with:
- market in
- customer market centric
- employee involvement and empowerment
- quality at the source
- metrics
- continuous improvement
* Developing your organization so that you are all pulling in the same direction using:
- shared vision
- systems thinking
- individual development
- team learning
Working on these leads to your being a learning organization. You endlessly become better at understanding and dealing with opportunities and issues. That leads to growth and profit in a healthy and sustainable environment.
* Give your employees what they need to succeed
- ensure that company goals are understood
- provide consistent and clear direction
- give everyone authority commensurate with their responsibilities
- don't become a counseling service for your employees
- provide needed training
- encourage decision-making by the people doing the work
- have a system for accountability to complete the loop
* Don't run projects without the needed resources
* Customers need to be managed - and appreciate it when you do it right
- work with them to determine their needs within the scope of what you can deliver
- tell customers what is needed from them to succeed together and hold them to it
- doing whatever a customer asks for is not good account management
* Every project you undertake should incorporate these goals
- on time
- sufficient to task
- continual improvement
If you actually consistently did these, your company would quickly become world-class.
Basic consultative selling guidelines
- ask them don't tell them
- affirm their thinking
- sell on value
- stay in front of the right prospects (with help from marketing)
- convey a consistent value proposition
- build relationships with several people inside a prospect organization
- solve customer challenges
- objections are an opportunity
- earn trust
- sell the whole project - planning begins in the sales process
- record the sales process so you and your organization can learn
- the sale doesn't stop at the close
- win customers not closes
- consider lifetime customer value/return on customer
- work with the fulfillment team
But none of that matters if you don't
Take Action!
One obstacle to profitable growth for companies in the $2M to $40M range is that for fear of doing the wrong thing, they don't do enough. Or they keep doing what got them to what they are now; and something different is needed for the next stage of growth. Action feeds energy which feeds action which brings growth. It is better to get a start doing not-quite-the-right-thing and adapting as you go - than endlessly considering the best thing to do. You will learn more by taking action.
Some however err at the other end of the pendulum by trying to do too many things at once. You need to pick the best opportunities for you - and work on those you have the resources to develop professionally. Go at them hard.
Another frequent growth-stopper is failure to recognize that
you are in the business of finding customers.
Without a proactive and integrated marketing program you handicap your own firm's growth.
Why, what a great segue....
You can take action right now by calling us at
360-931-4965.
There is no risk or cost to you to talk with us.
