The Client

A SME company based in Northamptonshire

The Challenge

A couple of long standing, regular clients ceased trading which left the owner in need of finding new business. The MD felt his team were very reactive and no proactive activities were taking place. He was also not 100% clear in his mind in terms of the direction the business should be taking; as a result, the company had not seen growth in sales revenue, profit or customer retention.

The Solution

Increase sales revenue and profitability of the business with a view to clearly identifying the target market, and then focusing specifically on growth strategies, plan and process, where by the company is taking a proactive approach.

Task

1. Train, coach and facilitate the team in developing a detailed strategic market expansion plan
2. Train, coach and facilitate the team in developing a detailed marketing plan (including specific tactics to generate leads from the target market)
3. Sales training – Provided in depth training to the team, covering number of technique and tools, e.g.- call planning, needs analysis, linking needs to feature of the product that will benefits the clients, handling objections etc…

Client Benefits/Feedback

“Rakesh helped us in number of key areas of our business. This included developing a strategic plan that provided us with a clear sales and marketing plan and strategy. This then enabled us to develop a business plan based on key market segments. Rakesh also undertook training/coaching of the sales team and put in place tools to assist with future sales development and customer retention. Rakesh also helped us to develop the concept of “value selling and total cost of ownership model” this has now enabled the team to articulate the key benefits of using some of our solutions. We are now starting to see signs of improvements in our business performance and sales conversion rate and we have continuously used the Rakesh approach/methods in order to develop our business further. I would have no hesitation in recommending Rakesh and will look to use his service again in the future.”
T. Mariani – Managing Director

Many of us measure success from a purely business perspective. We place value on aspects such as turnover, profit/loss, growth, customers, clients, sales, the list is endless. Often we fail to acknowledge value from other areas of our lives, and as such our tight focus on one aspect, often business can see us scrutinizing the wrong things.

Measuring the Things that Matter

Although you are ambitious and business-driven, taking some time to look at other aspects of your life can be of use to you. In so doing, you will be able to use it to motivate yourself through the bad times that may beseech your career at some point.

Moreover, success in one area of your life tends to lead to success in another.

Here are some aspects of your life which give value, but you may not yet realize it:

Health

If you have your health you are in a great position. You have nothing holding you back from achieving your goals and ambitions. If you’re not doing so already, try and find some time to do a little exercise. This not only makes you feel physically better but it can stimulate ideas and get the creative juices flowing.

Family

If you have a great family setup then you are in a good, and many would argue a fortunate and blessed position. Strong family relationships are the stuff of happiness, and few would not value happiness.

If your family is doing well, then this gives you a platform to do well in your work. It is not just having family support, but a feeling of wellbeing and the satisfaction of contributing to a positive family setup. Should you be in this position, consider this to be your best success if you do not already.

Enjoyment

If we spend our lives without enjoyment and valuing these times, then we tend to become reclusive and not see value in anything we do. The fact is that you need your time if only to recover from the time you spend working and other duties outside of your work. Taking some time is great for your productivity.

Not Appreciating Holistic Value

As a business consultant, I’m often asked to advise businesses that are not doing so well or want to improve. Time and again, I see owners and managers focusing on the wrong things. These things tend to make little or no business impact, and all they do is drink energy from hard-working executives. In many respects, I point out where the value lies to a business owner or a good Chairman and his or her executive management team, and this often transforms the fortunes of a company.

Taking time to appreciate what is meaningful from all aspects of your life will not only make you a happier person, but you will see where the true value lies in your professional life. This will make you more productive,  and give you a  more meaningful life.

Taking a Holistic View of Business Problems

Learn to value success

When businesses feel they are not fulfilling their potential or worse, experiencing problems, I am often called in to assess. What I normally find is not the problems with the business model, but business owners tend to focus on details that make little impact, and as such, the issues tend to become protracted, and in some circumstances contribute to the cause of their business problems.

Inside the Business Problem

The problem when you’re close to the business, especially as a business owner, is that it is all too easy to get so close you no longer have a holistic view. You may be focusing on one aspect that you feel is the cause, when actually addressing a different issue entirely will see a better result.

This often arises from being too business-focused. Constructive and productive thoughts about making your business do better, have turned into something bordering obsession. You could well be overthinking problems, and as such making business mistakes. That’s ok, we all make mistakes.

Seeing Issues from the Outside

Bringing in a fresh pair of eyes is often the best solution to his kind of scenario. A business-savvy person can take a look at the whole of the business, and cut through the ‘noise’. This is the value of consultants. We come in, we look at the business, determine what needs to be focused on. As a result business fortunes change for the better.

Learning to Value

I often advise my clients, business owners, for the most part, that learning to value is a great skill. It is important that we look at our whole lives and not just judge ourselves on one aspect. This is true of everything we do, including family, friends, and everything else that happens outside of our careers.

It is in essence the secret to having a meaningful life. This not only helps you maintain an objective focus on your business, but it also gives you confidence and strength,  which business owners need in abundance.

Running a successful business in my experience is not just about having focus, drive, and ambition, although these things are important, it is also about taking value and inspiration from your whole life. Once you embrace this not only will your business do better, but you will see considerable changes in your whole life.

If you feel your business is not doing so well or could do better.

It could be you simply need to take a step back and take a  holistic view. You’ll be surprised at the results.

#mfkassociates  #holisticview  #business #valuepropositions

#focus  #drive  #ambition #businessstrategy

#managementconsulting

Are you Afraid to say you don’t know?

Admitting Limitations Builds Trust with your Clients

Knowledge can Provide the Solution you Need

Knowledge Collaboration Brings Real Value to your Clients

Honesty the best  Policy

In an age of information, the most important asset is knowledge.  It is often said that if you have the information you have the upper hand, “the advantage”.

Well yes, sort of!

Isn’t it true that when we are asked about something, and if we do not actually know anything about it, we are tempted to bluff and say, “well yeah I know about that” and wish that we did know about it? What would happen if we admitted that we didn’t know much about a subject? Have you considered saying, “no I do not know”? Have you thought that could be of value to your clients?

Many of us are scared that we will be dropped as consultants should we admit that there is a topic or subject we know little about. This is a misconception, given that business relationships are based and built on trust. If we pretend we know little about the subject and our client discovers that, it could do a lot more damage than simply saying we don’t know.

In fact, the most “valuable” knowledge may sometimes be “not knowing”.

The Value in not Knowing

You need to admit the fact that you cannot know everything. This actually gives you credibility in the eyes of your clients, and as such it is perfectly all right to say, “I do not know this.”

However, it is even better and more valuable to add, “I do not know this but I could get you the best one who knows about it, or find out all about it me.” So it is not only important for consultants to be honest to our clients but also critical to collaborate and establish a close network with each other.

Through discovering what your client wants or bringing in someone that does, you offer real value in your service. This is positive for your clients and for your reputation as a consultant.

Collaboration can  Bring  Real Benefits to  your Clients

I meet with peers every once in awhile just to check and see how things are going at their end and to exchange information. It  gives me a chance to explore possibilities of future collaborations and to see their perspective of market trends.  Recently, I had one of these meetings with a very seasoned guru in his own right, one of the world’s top experts in hospitality consulting, Mr. Omer Isvan, the President of Servotel Corporation.

And while we were exchanging information we came to a point of acknowledging how important to be able to say “I do not know” to your client.

It is often thought that when a consultant is called upon a duty, he is supposed to come up with a miracle solution to save the situation. Often, we do by taking a holistic view of the whole case and adopting an approach accordingly to carefully assess the problem at hand. Then we are in a good position to provide a meaningful and valuable solution.

It would be great if we knew everything there is to know in the world, but this is not the reality. So sometimes saying, “I do not know”, could be much more valuable to your client than you could imagine. Knowing your limitations is valuable in itself.

An abundance of help and support is available out there. Just tell your client that “you do not know but you will find out or find the best person to ask”. This is a perfectly acceptable response, and you will ultimately be judged on results. It is ok not to know everything.

About the author: Mehmet Fatih Kara – Strategic Planning – Insightful thought leader who intelligently analyses all functional business areas and key market dynamics to deliver a clear strategic and operating model. Implements detailed action plans whilst identifying and capitalising upon new business opportunities.

View Mehmet’s short bio

Written by Mike Hoff

As a young leader, when I first heard the phrase “Leadership Courage”, it left me feeling a little scared as to what I would have to do to live up to or even begin to possess such a thing. Today I wonder how I would manage without it and enjoy helping the new generation of leaders to develop their own brand of it.

It’s helpful to define Leadership as “any attempt to influence” and Courage as  “the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger or uncertainty”

So together Leadership Courage can be described as any attempt to influence a person or situation in the face of controversy where there is an easier option available. Quite often this alternative is a simple “Yes, I agree” rather than put your voice into the ring.

It is this strength of conviction and verbalising those thoughts that are running around in a Courageous Leaders head that differentiates them from the yes people.

During some of our assignments, I have seen amazing examples of Leadership Courage where team members will openly challenge the status quo and debate their corner either for the good of the team they lead, the company or the team they are part of.

The latter team is the most important one they serve. Also, this is where the courage to speak up is the toughest as there is no position power in a room of peers therefore the ability to influence relies heavily on personal power and the courage to be able to overcome any fear to speak out.

The great news is that once you develop the ability to demonstrate Leadership Courage you will positively infect those around you and start an epidemic, it is truly contagious and the results that can be achieved will be way beyond your expectations.

So what are some of the traits of a courageous leader?

• The ability to face adverse conditions head on is a key trait and allows the leader to see the real and lead the team to a better place
• Holding everyone to the same high standards is sometimes a challenge for the non-courageous leader. Courageous leaders don’t wait too long before removing poor performers. Those not acting in this way tend to hear cries of “what took you so long to deal with that issue!” when they eventually get round to dealing with performance issues.
• A courageous leader also gives and receives honest feedback. The leader has the ability to say what has to be said to an individual by focusing on the behaviour that needs to be corrected. In the same way, the leader actively seeks feedback from all around them and acts upon it.
• A courageous leader consults before making important decisions and leads others in moving towards the resulting actions required. This helps in making an informed decision while encouraging others to move forward regardless of the challenges to be faced.
• The ability to change is a pre-requisite for delivering a courageous stance on your leadership, be bold and recognise the only constant is change.

What is the positive impact of leadership courage in an organization or a team?

Provides security to the team

Leadership courage promotes a sense of security to the team in the organization. When the leader faces the hard reality, he/she then leads the team members by showing the right way. It therefore makes the team members feel secure to take the risk and work towards higher goals.

Builds more courageous leaders

The leader builds confidence in the team around them by showing how small reversible experiments (risks!) can really be game changers, demonstrating that failure is actually encouraged and how speaking up with conviction can have a 10x positive effect on a difficult situation. This is a skill that can be learnt and one that we have had many a success with installing into executive teams.

The difficult conversations are aired and resolved

I have sat in a lot of board meetings with our clients biting my tongue as the tricky subjects are danced around, very effectively in many cases! A common reason for this I have found is the lack of accountability in the room, therefore no one can by definition be held to account for an issue so it is swept deftly away under the boardroom carpet. The great CXO teams ensure that they leave the room aligned and all the debate has taken place. This takes time to establish but is well worth those sharp intakes of breath you take before you speak up!

Drives the organization to the next level

A courageous leader drives the organization to the next level through bold decision making, problem solving and risk taking. This is often when the CEOs we work with are ready to step up themselves and become more strategic in their thinking and take bold steps to change the way things are done around the organisation, this takes courage and determination.

A few tips to try out!

Becoming the courageous leader that you aspire to does not happen overnight but with the willingness to try some new things out your confidence will grow fairly rapidly. The following tips have served me well, some were passed down to me from key mentors in my career and some were trial and error on my part. Be bold and try a few out!

• Trust your gut instincts, your intuition. If something feels or looks wrong to you, it probably is worth challenging the status quo.
• Ask yourself: “What’s the worst that could happen?” before you raise a subject or issue you can sense is not quite right or has not been debated fully
• “Grasp the nettle” was a term my leadership mentor encouraged me to do from an early age. This drove me not to dance around issues but to get to the root cause efficiently, however difficult or unpleasant.

(Side note: Aaron Hill’s Works, circa 1750, contains the first example that I can find that advises that a nettle be grasped: “Tender-handed stroke a nettle, And it stings you, for your pains: Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains.”)

• Be receptive to tough feedback. Easier said than done depending on your behavioural profile!
• Gain self insight into your talents, your drivers and behaviours to ensure that all of your strengths are being deployed to the good of yourself and others. Holding them back or working in an environment that does not allow them to be deployed is unfair on yourself, others and the company. Develop the courage to use them… a lot!
• Surround yourself with people who are better than you. This was a lesson I learned during my time with Starbucks from the founder Howard Shultz. Courageous leaders are ok with not being great at everything.
• Communicate openly. Do this a lot and very often. Don’t hide behind the office door in fear of being transparent with your team. This not only builds your own confidence but enhances the trust given to you by others.
• Set stretch goals and delegate well. Ensure accountabilities are clear and everyone knows those key indicators that show they are on the right track and correct when they are not.

In summary

Nurturing Courage amongst your leadership team should be top of your agenda when looking for ways to make your team more effective. It takes you to demonstrate courage daily if you are to be the one who helps change your team, company or the world!

For more information on how to take stock of where you and your team are in relation to Courageous Leadership, drop an email to Mike@mikehoffconsulting.com

A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

– John Maxwell

About the author: Mike Hoff has more than 30 years of senior leadership experience across a wide spectrum of trades and professions. Along with an in-depth understanding of business processes at both strategic and operational levels, Mike’s energetic style and passion creates a unique blend, offering companies all-round bespoke development solutions.

View Mike’s iCEO profile