ABC Refrigeration
When we first met the owner of ABC Refrigeration (name has been changed for privacy), his company was stagnant. In this case, the owner was a good technician with a good reputation, but very little emphasis on making a profit. He had a great general manager but the two of them were missing leadership and business skills. The owner was working long hours and growing weary of any potential in his business. He had been saying for years and years, “Someday I will find someone to help me turn my $3 million hobby into a profitable business model.”
The owner and the general manager finally reached the point where they decided that they needed someone from the outside that had a background in growing businesses and putting systems in place to grow their business successfully. They also instinctively knew that someone from the outside could point out to them where they were inadequate as business leaders. They were ready to learn how to work smarter and not harder and how to focus on turning a hobby in to a profitable business.
When they reached out to BusinessCoach.com, they were ready to try something different in hopes of turning their business around. However, they had some doubts. They questioned whether or not the investment would pay off for them, and they were a bit apprehensive about trusting someone with their business. But they ultimately decided to stop dreaming and get into action. They decided not to let their ego run the business, but to determine that somebody else could show them how to hit their sales and profit goals on a consistent basis. It's pretty common for business owners and leaders to be skeptical that someone other than themselves could understand their business better than they can.
For starters, we pointed out to them that there were no agreed upon (amongst management and employees) goals for sales or profits. We helped them put together a set of core values that would describe the character of their organization. We then set a series of goals and milestones for them to enroll all of their employees on working together as a team. We established that there is value in the company becoming profitable to be able to sustain itself going forward. We then called a meeting with all employees and shared the company’s expectations and goals for each and every employee to achieve.
In the beginning of a coaching relationship, there are always challenges to iron out. It takes a bit of time for leadership and employees to embrace change and transform the way they’ve always done thing. In this case, these goals and expectations were new to many of the blue-collar employees that had been working for the company for a number of years. We rallied the troops and let them know that business as usual would not work in the current business environment. We explained that there would be a number of changes, all for the better, and that everyone's job was secure; all they had to do was to follow our lead.
Through Business Coaching, the owner made some much-needed changes, such as: set goals for both profits and increased sales, let go of employees that were hindering forward momentum, hired higher-performing employees that fit the new company culture, put together training programs to better equip employees to meet customers’ needs, leveraged their database which hadn't been touched in years (a gold mine for their marketing), and established new job descriptions, org charts, all staff meetings, training programs and best practices for a business of their capabilities.
We are proud to report that their profits tripled within their first 12 months of working with us. They have reduced employee turnover and put training programs in place to empower employees to produce higher quality work and interact with customers in a polite and effective manner. In one year, we have virtually turned the entire organization around from a hobby to a profitable $4 million business.
