Action Coach Portsmouth

Action Coach Portsmouth

Chloe Smith

Above and below the point

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Have you heard of the term ‘above and below the point’? It relates to attitudes and mindsets and applies to every single member of your team, including yourself.

Below is a picture with the words ‘Ownership, Accountable, Responsible’ above a point and the words ‘Blame, Excuses, Denial’ below it. Where does each member of your team sit: above or below? Wherever you choose to operate, and it is a choice, can have a huge impact on the company culture.

Arrows above and below the point

Blame, excuses and denial

Do you have a team which constantly comes up with reasons for underachieving or failing to thrive? Do they blame each other? Do they blame others such as colleagues? Or even external factors such as competitors.

They find excuses for their behaviour or even deny it – they’re failing to take control. They may not understand the impact they’re having on the business, but they’re definitely acting below the point.

Taking ownership and being responsible

If you recognise the above culture of blame, excuses or denial within your business, it’s time to assess your management techniques. You’ll never move forward unless you do.

Taking ownership means putting processes in place to stop faults occurring, and more importantly, ensuring they don’t happen again. It’s about changing from being in the position of a victim to one of the victor, but everyone in the team needs to be on board with these changes.

Implementing change

Firstly, you need to analyse the behaviour of your team to find out whether they all know what they’re responsible for.

If they’re unaware, they’ve no alternative but to fail. They need to be given true responsibility around their role in order to thrive and flourish, and in turn raise the impact of the business.
In terms of accountability, how often have you actually held your team accountable for everything expected of them? Do you check back with them regularly to ensure they’re on the correct path? How much support are you giving them, and could you increase this to help them become the people you wish them to be?

Businesses which move forward and grow at a fast pace do so because the company culture is consistently at the top of the graph. Management have broken the chain of blame, excuses and denial and raised the bar, replacing it with a system in which everyone knows what is expected of them. They’ve recognised what it takes to make the difference and get the business back to where it should be.

Changing behaviours and mindsets within a business can be an overwhelming task. It’s certainly doesn’t happen automatically and it does need a level of soul searching, time and patience. If you recognise that you need to transform your company culture to one of accountability and ownership and are struggling with implementing it, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to get in touch.

Taking your business from good to great

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Have you heard of the term ‘from good to great’? Ever wondered what it means? Let’s take a look at the concept of from good to great and how you can implement changes to your ways of working to truly become great.

What does ‘From Good to Great’ mean?

Start by thinking about the organisations you might consider as ‘great.’ For instance, if we consider software companies or mobile phone providers, certain brand names would always feature in a top five list. But how did they get there? They certainly weren’t industry high fliers when they started out. Greatness is achievable.

Going ‘From Good to Great’

Now let’s think about your own business. If you’ve got a good business, what would a great business look like? If you have good cash flow, what would great cash flow look like? If you have a good level of profitability, what would a great level of profitability look like? If you have a good team, what would a great team look like?

They’ll be other similar questions you could apply to your business but the overall theme is to think positively and proactively to identify how your ‘good’ could become ‘great’ and the impact it would have on you. It’s easy to settle for just being good enough, and this holds you back from becoming great.

Goal setting

Goal setting should be a continuous task on your growth journey. If your benchmark is ‘good’, what steps could you take to become ‘great?’ Then, on achieving these, what are the next steps? Look at the companies that have fast growth. Is there anything you can learn from them? Consider company culture too. Are your employees motivated? Do you have a high turnover of staff? If so, do you know why?

Think about the areas of your business which you need to improve and then set individual goals. Continually measure your progress and then set new, but achievable goals.

Remember, the more successful decisions you take, and the more successful aspects you can embed in your business, the more likely you’ll be able to grow it to new heights and develop an industry-known reputation.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about how to take your business from good to great, we’d love to hear from you. Please do get in touch!

Are you suffering from Superman Syndrome?

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Superman / Superwoman Syndrome affects many of us in the workplace, sometimes even without our knowledge. It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of being frightened to delegate simple tasks, or pass on responsibility to others. Perhaps you feel you’re the only one in your department who can do certain things, or as you’re able to do them faster, you’re more valuable to the business.

This view could not be further from the truth.

While Superman Syndrome could initially be seen as an admirable quality, it has negative traits which need to be identified and challenged. Why? Let’s investigate this common workplace practice and find out.

So, what exactly is Superman Syndrome?

Every office seems to have that workaholic colleague, the one who not only prefers to do everything themselves, but has this notion that it has to be that way. No one else can do anything better, faster, more effectively, and no one else can resolve issues. Superman or Superwoman is that central figure – the lynchpin – who everyone goes to and everyone relies on, the one who single-handedly seems to manage the business.

An admirable quality or an unsustainable problem?

Traditionally, Superman is always perceived to be the hero. The caped crusader flying in to save the day. In reality, the office Superman needs to understand boundaries. It’s great to have someone on hand who knows everything about managing the business, but it’s unsustainable and an unhealthy business model.

Tackling the issue: Learning to say goodbye to the cape and tights

Coaching, outsourcing, learning how to delegate and trust others are steps in the right direction. The overall aim of getting the business to function effectively without you means saying goodbye to Superman once and for all.

Instead of immediately thinking, ‘I’ve got to do this myself’, why not consider who else you could train or encourage to step up?

Tackling Superman Syndrome takes time and patience, but will bring tangible benefits. By breaking some of those established habits, changing the ways you operate, and beginning to turn your thinking around making it less about you, but someone else in your business, everyone will benefit.

The organisation itself grows stronger, individuals gain self-confidence, skills and begin to feel valued. And ultimately the company culture improves.

We understand how difficult it may be to change the habits of a lifetime. If you recognise the symptoms of Superman (or woman) Syndrome and you’d like expert help and advice to help to overcome them, please feel free to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Lifetime value of a customer

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Knowing your customer lifetime value is essential to any business strategy. But what does customer lifetime value mean and how can you determine what a customer is really worth to your business?

The role of both marketers and managers is to provide an excellent customer experience. From a marketing perspective it’s easy just to look at the cost of gaining a sale and moving a prospect up the ladder of loyalty to become a customer.

But how do successful businesses take this further? They include customer lifetime value in their strategy.

What is customer lifetime value?

Remember the ladder of loyalty in a recent blog we wrote? Customer lifetime value is measured when we think about how we treat our customers and encourage them to regularly purchase from us.

Customer lifetime value is a prediction of the value a customer can bring to your business. Obviously some will be more valuable to you than others, and therefore it’s important to know which customers you should prioritise.

So, for example, if a customer were to stay with you for two or three years, regularly buying your products or services, what would they be worth to you? How much would you be willing to invest in marketing in order to win that customer? What would you do differently?

Determining what a customer is really worth

Selling more products or services to repeat customers brings greater profit, promotes customer loyalty and helps you grow your business. Your budget should reflect this as you direct time, effort and financial resource into encouraging these customers to a) spend more over their lifetime with your business and b) promote your business to others via word of mouth recommendations or testimonials.

To identify what a customer is really worth, you’ll need accurate data on their purchasing journey with you.

Firstly, check back on your frequent purchases and transactions and spot the customers who either spend more regularly or spend the most. Set a time period of say two to three years and discover their average spend. Are order values increasing?

From here you have the foundation for predicting how important this customer will be to you long term, and the products you need to be highlighting for promotion.

You’ll also be able to see which customers you should be prioritising your budget on in terms of tailor-made deals and discounts, loyalty packages etc.

As coaches we appreciate that assessing the lifetime value of your clients can be a daunting as well as time consuming task. However, it is a crucial business strategy and one which should never be overlooked.

If you’re struggling to analyse your data and are unsure of how to accurately predict the lifetime value of your customers, our team are readily available to help. Please feel free to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

The concept of win-win

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The general concept of win-win is probably a familiar one. It’s a situation, negotiation or strategy in which all parties benefit; there are no losers. Today we’re going to dig a bit deeper into this concept to discover how we can change certain outcomes and get to the win-win situations more often.

Win-win negotiations

Rather than having a winner and a loser, win-win negotiations are always a desirable outcome. If both parties believe there is a good chance of benefiting from a negotiation, the more likely they will be to take part in it and contribute.

Participating in a win-win negotiation means getting a good deal for yourself whilst also ensuring that the other party is happy and the offer is as good for them as it is for you.

Changing your mindset

Effective win-win negotiations form the basis of successful deals and help to establish beneficial long-term relationships. The challenge is how to encourage your teams to engage with customers and make them realise the potential benefits. You need to think about the situation carefully and the outcome you’d like to achieve, and then consider how both parties win.

Win-win negotiations mean changing your mindset. Instead of automatically thinking of how much you stand to gain, you need to find a middle ground to enable success for everyone. To do this, you’ll have to train your team to review their customer service strategy. In every conversation they have they’ll need to change their perspective from winning a deal at all costs to one of a fairer level of negotiation.

Negotiation in action

Finding that middle ground to success will always be a challenge. Think about the strategies you currently have in place when negotiating with potential customers. What needs to change in order to achieve that win-win outcome? Key points to consider might include a focus on maintaining relationships, generating options before deciding on what to do, or seeking a fair resolution which is acceptable for all concerned.

As coaches we understand just how difficult it can be to change habits of a lifetime, especially when dealing with a wide variety of customers all with differing needs. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and perhaps fall into the trap of not always gaining the best outcome for everyone concerned.

If you’re struggling to put the win-win concept into practice, come and talk to us. We can offer appropriate help and advice to benefit your business. Our team would love to talk to you, get in touch today.

Solent Mobility Centre’s journey

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Hearing about someone’s coaching journey is invaluable. Everyone has a story. A story of when they decided that something needed to change, and why they chose to invest in a business coach. So, we’ve asked our clients to tell you about their journey into coaching with us and the impact it’s had on not only their business, but their personal lives too.

Next up, Ben Watts, Director of Solent Mobility Centre and Shepherd Hospital Equipment…

When did you decide you wanted a business coach?

Deciding to use a business coach was my parents’ decision as it was originally their company. In 2017 they decided to take a step back and let my brother and I run the business, and not having a coach was never an option.

Why did you choose to work with us?

It was an easy decision to stay and continue working with Steve as we had already learnt so much around how to push our business forward. The KPIs we put in place and the structure of our business had changed so much to help us work towards the goal of having the business work without us.

Tell us about a win you’ve had in your business

The biggest win we have had since working with ActionCOACH is how we’ve managed to position the business so it can work without my parents. It’s been hard work but, with the help of ActionCOACH, we have managed to do it and have now pushed the business to increase revenue over 25% in the last two years.

Steve has kept on pushing me and we’ve managed to increase our number of employees year on year. We’ve got some staff that have been with us over 10 years now, so we must be doing something right.

When I first started going to the quarterly GrowthCLUB workshop, I was very shy and did not enjoy getting up and speaking to everyone in the room. Working with ActionCOACH over the years has definitely given me the confidence to do this. The sessions have helped me to plan ahead for each quarter and they give employees structure and a target to work towards.

For those who don’t know, tell us about your company

Solent Mobility Centre and Shepherd Hospital Equipment are family run businesses. Shepherd Hospital Equipment has been running for over 40 years and it was my parents, Debbie and Mike, that bought it nearly 20 years ago.

Shepherds covers hospitals, care homes, clinics and everywhere in between that has beds, wheelchairs, porter’s chairs and a wide range of medical equipment that require servicing. If it’s a piece of medical equipment and can move, we will service it!

Solent Mobility was opened in 2008 with a shop on Lee-on-the Solent high street. Solent deals with a huge range of products that can help people in and around their home and also when out and about.

We cover a 50 mile radius and have a great team to help supply equipment such as stairlifts, mobility scooters, powerchairs, wheelchairs, beds, rise recliners and more.

What is the next step for your business?

Next step for the businesses is key. We have so much potential to double, triple or even go 10 times bigger. Steve has given us the help and guidance to see and do this.

With a strong team around me, that’s growing every year, we have set strong targets in order to achieve this goal.

With my son telling me he wants to take over the business in 10 years’ time and take it worldwide, I have reset my goals to get the business in the right place for the next generation to take it even further.

If you are interested in achieving any of the above outcomes, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to give us a call on 02392 454 111 or complete this form and a member of the team will be in touch.

To read other clients’ journeys, check out blogs from Northface Connections Ltd and Amberley Security.