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My brother and I
engaged the consulting firm with the pre-conceived notion that all
consulting firms have a tendency to talk a good game and never deliver a
winning blow.
Two of our major
goals during the consulting project were:
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Generate additional sales revenue from our mature Pharmacy
operation.
-
Develop and implement a growth plan for our Sporting Goods Store
for our children to manage in the future.
The consultants immediately focused on
improving our cash flow through the implementation of credit &
collection policies, cash flow management techniques, budgets and
variance reports, and daily financial flash reports. As a result, our
management could immediately review operational conditions such as
inventory, accounts receivable, and accounts payable on a daily basis.
The high-impact results achieved through their inter-company teamwork
proved to be the right combination.
While these
improvements were being implemented, my brother and I focused on
customer service, something our competitors often neglected. We
recaptured our market share and positioned ourselves as a premier source
for prescription drugs and other healthcare accessories in our marketing
area.
However, one problem
remained, even though we maintained our competitive position we needed
to muster additional revenue from our Pharmacy operations. We succeeded
as a direct result of their analysis of our Chair and Stair Lift
Installation business and their development of an Annual Maintenance
and Service Contract Program.
The next step was to
develop a growth plan for our Sporting Goods Store. Their plan entailed
two elements:
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By
developing of a website that would expand our market reach beyond the
Susquehanna Valley Region and
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By
developing of a plan to diversify our existing product line that would
attract a larger target market. They defined the purpose of our website
which was to provide useful information about outdoor adventures such as
safety tips, places to visit, new product offerings, promotional events,
and a Web Page where our customers can post their pictures and
experiences concerning their personal journeys.
Once the website was
operational, The Consulting Group contacted colleges and local
commercial radio stations in the area to advertise our website. This
created a greater awareness amongst the public. The consulting team also
designed incentives that would encourage Internet consumers to visit our
website and purchase products by offering student discounts and
additional benefits for customer referrals.
As a result we now
have:
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The
ability to reach consumers nationally.
-
Received 1000 hits within the past 4 months.
-
An improved image within the Sporting
Goods Industry.
Our perceptions of
Consulting have changed entirely. Their ability to focus on our needs
and to work with us as a team has added an enormous amount of value to
our company. They are a result-orientated firm that believes in
receiving continuous feedback from their clients. We believe their
concept of consulting to be an invaluable educational experience. The
consultants maintained continuous communication by involving us in the
design and implementation phase of the consulting project. This became a
mutual learning experience. Results were achieved quicker, and a
stronger vision was created for the short-term and long-term
longevity of our company.
A SUCCESS STORY
When Adventures in
Success Consulting Group, first entered our organization, we purchased
an Analysis, but remained skeptical that their findings could achieve a
3 to 1 ROI as they claimed. Although they boasted of great success, our
initial thoughts were somewhat doubtful.
Our skepticism lay
in the mindset of "why should we hire a consultant to come into our
organization to tell us what to do?" We already had some goals in place
and had achieved sales objectives without any outside assistance.
However, we were unsure of how to return our organization to a
competitive position. Although our company was functioning modestly, we
were experiencing many hardships. Our competition was threatening our
existing market share.
Their Analysis is a
two-week process that unveils overall company inefficiencies. After the
Survey was completed, we had a much clearer picture of our
organizational problems. Changes had to be made in order to ensure the
future success and growth of our company. Our main concern was how we
would implement the recommendations provided by them. Ultimately, we did
not have the knowledge or resources to implement them effectively on our
own. We needed to take a "leap of faith" with their services.
Today, thanks to
Adventures in Success Consulting Group’s invaluable vision,
professionalism, and results-oriented consulting process, we are
experiencing dramatic improvements. Not only did they live up to their
word the results achieved significantly exceeded our own expectations of
what was possible for our company. Throughout the entire consulting
engagement, they were able to maintain 100% management and employee
involvement regarding the development and implementation of
improvements.
The Consulting
Group’s method follows their belief that people do not learn by simply
telling them how to accomplish a task, but rather by showing them
hands-on and involving them directly. Their consulting process has not
only added to our organization’s bottom-line profitability, but more
importantly has transformed the way our employees think. Our employees
exchanged their complacency for a proactive attitude toward
improvements.
Here are some of the
many improvements that were implemented:
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Time
management techniques that allowed me to increase my focus on performing
presidential duties rather than day-to-day operational duties.
-
All
workflow processes were analyzed to identify and eliminate waste,
bottlenecks, and procedures were standardized, resulting in improved
customer service and response time to market demands.
-
Studied our "as is" organizational structure identifying all "management
gaps" within and made recommendations for hiring the needed management
staff to enable company growth.
-
Recruited and hired a controller and specialty advertising manager.
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Performed an analysis of all financial reporting capabilities, systems,
and procedures and developed formal budgets and variance reports
combined with cash flow analysis accompanied with daily flash reports.
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Developed a formal sales territory system and trained management
personnel to use it effectively.
-
Designed and implemented an Incentive Program to increase the
productivity of our sales representatives, which resulted in 48 new
accounts which generated a 26.3% improvement in sales revenue.
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Solidified both reporting and communication channels within the
organizational structure by formalized job descriptions and a
professional employee manual.
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