Business Coaching Success Stories

The Situation

Prior to starting a one-to-one coaching program, my client was working 7 days a week. He was experiencing a growing pressure from the family. Sales and profits were flat, and cash was a constant worry. Increasing credit card debt was the only solution to keep afloat in the negative cash flow cycle. He was increasingly frustrated, worried and stressed at the lack of progress in his business – despite working every day of the week.

24-Month Action Plan

I worked with the business owner to uncover and realign what the business stood for. We deep-dived to rediscover why it was unique in the industry. After a thorough analysis of where the business came from, why it was started, and where it should be, we designed a strategic plan to beat his major competitors.

We then created a game plan around customer service and how the customer experience was delivered. We celebrated and valued the knowledge and expertise inside the business and marketed and demonstrated the skills and expertise to industry leaders (influencers). The sales team was expanded with a structured program of training and education. We also:

• Reset all KPIs, including delivery and after sales follow up
• Launched a new website and brand
• Changed marketing messages and targeted decision makers
• Ongoing work around both accounting and management systems
• Focused on exceptional customer service and meeting client’s needs
• Sold products into new segments that were previously not targeted
• Changed approach to quoting, pricing and margins

What We Achieved

Financially, this business continues to grow in both sales and profits. The business owner no longer works weekends and he has a trusted advisor in his corner to help him take on the challenges for the next stage of growth.

The Situation

Prior to starting a one-to-one coaching program, my client had lost motivation, clients and turnover following contractual problems with his major customers at the time. He did have enough staff to manufacture the agreed works within agreed timeframes, and this caused severe delays in meeting critical tasks and installations. The business was running at a loss, and the owner was not drawing a commercial wage in an attempt to keep the business afloat.

12-Month Action Plan

I worked with the business owner to define the expertise within his business and why it was valuable within his industry segment. We then aligned his services to benchmarks that were important to major customers and created a strategic plan to relaunch the business to key head contractors. The initial scope of works was reduced to match smaller jobs and using the expertise within the business, we secured the commitment from an expanding group as a preferred supplier.

Financially, we reduced the gross margin by 7% to increase sales and focussed on exceptional customer service and turnaround time. This resulted in a broader customer base, a more consistent throughput in the factory and better labour utilisation.

We changed the approach to quoting, stopped chasing unprofitable work, and sacked our “D grade” customers.

We built a new website with new content and images and messages to attract work from a broader segment. We retired debt to reduce leverage in business.

What We Achieved

On completion of our business coaching sessions, we created long-term survivability by securing crucial new customers in an emerging market segment. For extra stability, we expanded his client base to protect the business from over-reliance on any one customer.

I worked with the dynamic owner of a fast-growing Internet marketing company. He had already achieved significant successes and now wanted his company to become the no 1 business in their field in the SA. Whilst this was a very aggressive goal it was achievable.

To make this happen we had to look at the company structure. The business was- diversifying and the current structure was limiting the contribution of the MD. He was in a heavily operational role that had hardly changed since the company’s launch.

Through our 1-2-1 coaching he realised that he needed to learn to delegate and put in place a senior management team. This in turn gave him the time to take a much more strategic role which in turn accelerated the success and growth of the company.

During the year we worked together an operational management structure was put in place, a retail-based marketing timetable was implemented, a complimentary internet business was launched and grown, a Kenyan office was set up and a site was bought to build a new commercial office (this latter point was part of a personal goal to own a revenue generating property portfolio).

The company continues to go from strength to strength and they have now moved into their own state of the art office.

I worked 1-to-1 with a Partner in a firm of Independent Financial Advisors to identify opportunities for Business Growth. They started by identifying the 20% of activities that would leverage the most results.

By simply thinking about activity in these terms the Partner discovered that it was in fact just 20% of her clients who brought in 80% of her profits. Based on this analysis she switched her time to identifying clients with a net worth in a defined range and sifted out those who answered positively to a set of ‘sales’ questions. Almost instantly she hit her sales targets and then continued hitting them without any additional effort at all.

Through the coaching process the Partner was able to find a pattern of activity that really produced significant results for her. This was further leveraged using a process called ‘modelling’ – a process of watching carefully what someone else does that works, and then copying them.

The 1-to-1 coaching delivered direct and measurable results: bottom line sales growth and improved processes and efficiencies.

We worked with a large property development company who had identified a talented individual who they believed had significant potential. The MD was frustrated that the individual was not as motivated as they had been in the past and had lost a degree of confidence.

We worked 1-2-1 with this executive to understand the underlying reasons for her change in performance. She was basically frustrated at not being taken seriously, felt undermined in a male dominated environment and had a range of limiting beliefs that held her back.

We worked on specific areas of confidence building, self-esteem, man management, presentation skills and identified her true goals. She wanted to be awarded a Board Position. Finally accepting that her MD wasn’t psychic (and clearly believing in her enough to invest in our coaching programme) she clarified this goal and sought to speak with her MD to establish what she would need to demonstrate to achieve this significant promotion.

With a renewed level of motivation and direct communication with the MD we established a clear action plan to achieve a Directorship. Our client was invited onto the Board within 6 months.

After a 6-month gap we worked together again, this time with the mind set of learning to become a “Great Board Member” and growing the areas of the Business she had direct accountability for. This was coupled with some other personal goals. By the end of the second 6-month period of 1-2-1 coaching our client was promoted again, to Managing Director of Asia, surpassing both her goals and timescales and becoming a direct peer to her original sponsor.

I worked with the MD of a design and marketing company who had recently lost a major client and was struggling to build the required new business. As a result, the turnover was down and profitability was poor. The MD was working long hours, was stressed and in effect was just working to cover his staff salaries. He was neglecting himself and his family.

We worked on several areas across the business over a 12-month period. Firstly, we assessed the cost base and found ways to immediately reduce overheads. This included renegotiating the lease and renting out excess space.

We also looked at the role of the MD. He realised that he was a cost to the business, and we worked on ways to turn this around to become a profit centre. His marketing expertise could be used on a consultancy basis to bring in additional revenue whilst he also worked on business development. Various strategies were put in place to attract new clients on an ongoing basis with action plans and structured targets. This area had been previously neglected.

Finally, we did a staff review – false loyalty to some well-paid employees was creating the need for an expensive Johannesburg location. The MD’s family was in Cape Town, a 2 hrs flight from Johannesburg. We reviewed the staffing needs of the business and set up a new Head Office, locally to the MD’s home. This allowed a dramatic improvement to his work / life balance (the ability to spend more time with his family whilst still putting in similar hours to the business) as well as significantly reducing his overheads. He was also able to recruit talented staff at reduced rates. The Johannesburg address was retained on a “virtual basis”.

Within 12 months the overall cost base of the business was dramatically reduced and revenues increased. The company was in a much stronger position for ongoing growth with clear business development strategies in place.

More importantly the MD was less stressed, more motivated and enjoying more time with his family.