7 Transformational Steps to Higher Profits & Productivity

Want to be humbled?  Take a blank sheet of paper and draw your path to earning more profits and productivity.  You'll appreciate how difficult it is to be God.  Are you ever going to know or experience it all?  Probably not, so can you learn from the knowhow and experiences of others?  Of course you can and still have room to make your own mistakes - you just don't need to make anyone else's.

Look at the 7 transformational steps that lead to higher profits and productivity.  It starts with working with coaches/mentors/teachers, gaining knowledge, asking questions, forming beliefs and setting dreams, making informed decisions, taking actions and gaining results of higher profits and productivity.  

As ActionCOACH - Business Coaches we're having these conversations with thousands of owners monthly.  Often these business owners are going beyond a commercial profitable business to one that ultimately works without the owner always being there, as fast as possible.  

Are you looking to accelerate your professional and personal growth, then let's talk.  I'll offer a complementary coaching session, 60 to 90 mins, to understand your situation.  I guarantee you'll leave with at least a half dozen implementable strategies to increase profits and productivity or gain you time back. 

Call me at - ph:  972 291 5566 or em:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

Let's get started...you'll work less and earn more!

How to Avoid Facilitating Your Meetings as a Lion Tamer

Business owners - want to have fewer yet more productive meetings?  

Welcome to “Conversations every business owner has with their team.”  And today’s topic is how to have your people in fewer more productive meetings without you having to be a facilitation lion tamer.  

Situation - “Another meeting, I don’t have time for a meeting.”  “We never accomplish anything.”  You get the sentiments.   Yet you must have meetings to exchange ideas, engage your group, problem solve or coordinate action.  

Let’s assume you’ve done the meeting basics - clear agenda and purpose and invited the right people to participate.

 

Here’s a simple tip to keep your group more productive and engaged at your next meeting or work session.

The crux of the solution is a large sign.  It has an arrow pointing up corresponding to constructive and a down arrow siting a destructive comment or question.  Participants ask themselves to which degree their comment or question moves the agenda forward.  You get the picture.  With these two arrows they can test whether they are about to suggest adding or subtracting from the agendas purpose.  

This doesn’t mean that important or negative views or news is not spoken, quite the contrary.  It’s saying, “Stay on the agendas topic.”  

A simple pointing to or looking at the arrows keep participants on topic.

A Hierarchy of Constructive Comments or Questions are described as:

Destructive  comments or questions are increasingly detrimental if?  

Introduce these arrows and descriptors at your next meeting, explain the meeting ‘rules of the game’ and you’ll improve productivity, increase moral and leave with clear next steps.  That’s everyone’s definition of progress!

Still having challenges making your meeting as productive and positive as possible, then let’s talk.  I offer a complimentary 60 to 90 min session to understand your team dynamics.

I guarantee you at least a half dozen implementable ideas to maximize your time by reducing the number of meetings and improving the effectiveness of the ones held.

Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 or Email:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

Let’s get started...building and operation as a high quality team.  You’ll work less and make more.

Entrepreneurs Find Happiness When Can They Take the Initiative

Business owners how much of your time is spent reacting, responding and/or initiating revenue generating activities?  

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If the answer was too much reacting, some responding and very little initiating then I can probably surmise productivity and profitability are negatively impacted.  

When you’re reacting too much...you’re consumed with the day-to-day events attempting to make the sale, make the product and make the delivery to develop a solid business base.  You work hard because the systems and people are not capable without you.  Thus, you’re the limiting factor to your growth.  

Assuming you’re able of responding because you’ve gained experience and productivity to deliver, your time is consumed because it’s labor intensive.  Again, you're limiting growth.

It’s only after you have customers, systems and team delivering can you initiate actions to grow predictably.  At this point, you have choices because you’re earning money and you have control of your time.  In essence, it's only when you can take the initiative are you feeling happy.    

Happiness = Initiative

If you’re feeling too much of your time is spent reacting and responding resulting in stagnated growth then let’s have a conversation on how to gain back the initiative. You deserve it. Let's get started...

Call me at ph: 972 709 6776 or eM: StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

What Level Business Do You Operate? And What You Can Do to Move Up

Business Owners – Do you notice the term “take your business to the next level a lot?”

What does that mean?

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It assumes clarity on where you are, where you’re going, as well as, the resources and time to get there.  If you’re like many of the thousands of business owners ActionCOACH has coached over the past 20+ yrs, you'll be interested in these 3 significant findings…

First, we have general agreement that the goal is…

“to create a commercial profitable business that ultimately works without the owner always being there.”  

What was vague were the intermediate levels to achieve this?  Vagueness created reservation, doubt and maybe fear, thus kept you from achieving the critical mass necessary to accelerate you and your business forward.  You end up languishing - taking longer, working harder and incurring too much debt and stress along the way.

Second finding was that most owners believed they really deserved better for the energy, money and time they committed.  Their families especially believes this.

Finally, when asked are they open to accelerating their growth - less stressfully?  Most were initially curious and appropriately skeptical yet eager to know more…

Hi this is Stephen Marino - ActionCOACH - The Worlds #1 Business Coaching Firm.  And for the past 21 years, through numerous boom/bust economic cycles, we’ve successfully coached thousands of business owners.  Specifically coaching owners globally between ~$1 mm to ~$9 mm revenues with 3 to 45 employees…through our 6 levels of business development in dozens of industry segments, with all types of business owner personalities from over 800 offices around the globe.

So we know this path works.  

I’ll share how in a coaching relationship we mitigate the time, team, money and systems obstacles that get in the way of predictable increasing profits and productivity.

Here are the 6 levels to your “commercial profitable business what works without you.”

What level business do you operate?

I’ll share the 6 levels, starting with top level 6 – Results because that’s where we want to be and work backwards down to level 1 - Mastery.

Watch for the level that's most descriptive of your current situation.

When I’m finished, you’ll know exactly where you’re starting and how much further it is to the profitable business that works without you.

The top level is Level 6.  It's a RESULTs business.

The business operates “for” the owner, without the owner working “in” the business.

The RESULTs are so stellar you have freedom of choice, lots of dividends, discretionary time and operational capabilities to expand, diversify and/or replicate…

And when the decision to transition from the business comes, you earn the premium valuation.

At Level - 6 Results, you’re feeling great and have lots of options.

Congratulations if this is where you operate.

Otherwise, you may be at a level 5 business…

A Level 5 business is at the Synergy Level with a COO, President or GM conducting the day-to-day business.

At Synergy the Owner/Operator does only what they are genius at…

Sound like you?  Great.

If not, then you may operate at Level 4?

Level 4 is a TEAM Level business – where your team makes decisions in your economic and customer interests.

There is strong leadership, a common goal, rules of the game, action plan, initiative expected and 100% team inclusion and participation.

At Level 4 – Team, business is fun.  You’re surrounded by a high quality team.

Not you, then you may be at Level 3…

Level 3 – business level is at LEVERAGE for maximum productivity and effectiveness.

The routine is systematized and exceptions are humanized.

A vision, mission, values, SMART goals, KPI’s, position agreements, procedures for marketing/sales, operations, admin/log/finance/IT, customer retention and management are all documented.

It's a great feeling knowing that once a sale is made it’ll be delivered on time, spec, budget and wow!

Every time!  

Not at this level then you may be at level 2…

Level 2 – business is at NICHE Level.  It has predictable cash flows generated from marketing and sales.

The customer experience delivered differentiates you from the competition.

You’re not competing on price.  You have a great guarantee.  It’s easy to do business with you.

You’re attracting more and more new customers and retaining your existing customers longer.

You measure and test all strategies for lead generation, conversion rates, number of transactions, average dollar sale, and your margins.

Your marketing machine is generating more leads than you can handle.

You have a predictable rewarding sales process.  

You know your customer acquisition and retention cost and their lifetime value.

Level 2 Niche gives you confidence in your future.

Not at this level, then you may be at level 1…

Level 1 – Business has MASTERY of the fundamentals.

A compelling direction, why you’re in business and control of your money:  a budget, cash flows, break-even, margins and…KPI’s, capability of delivering as promised after the sale and wisely uses the owner/operator’s time.

At this level you experience being God-like as described in Genesis…“And saw that it was good” going from chaos to control.

Which level was most descriptive of where you’re at?

Regardless of where you're starting...Here’s your way to close the gap between your current level and the level you want to be.

It starts with us having a conversation and sharing information about the level business you operate today. We’ll invest time and energy to know each other.  We’ll exchange information on the phone, FedEx, email and web about who I am and ActionCOACH while I gain insights from you about your business.

If we both decide we want to know more we’ll invest another 60 to 90 mins one-on-one for a business diagnostic, with your key decision makers, likely at your business location, to assess solutions and options.

The business diagnostic is a complementary session.

We seek understanding at what level the business is operating at today, your objectives, what’s working and where are the shortcomings. 

Only now we’re ready to assess strategies to move you forward…

And, we’ll even take this discussion to the crucial next step of quantifying the benefit of increasing the number of customers, revenues and profits by working together in a coaching relationship.

How encouraging is that…?

Do we guarantee our work? 

Short answer is “Yes.”

You do your part and I mine. And if in the first 17 weeks you don’t receive at least a benefit greater than the investment in coaching…the next 17 weeks are free.

So you can see why I’m selective about who I coach?

Because you control my reputation which I’ve kept unblemished for 15 years. And that’s all I have.

And professionally, if we both don’t see at least double digit increases in customers, revenues and profits or major freeing up of your time and stresses then we’re not likely to to proceed forward.

There are several coaching options from our flagship one-on-one coaching to group coaching, workshops and seminars, digital and book libraries on the 6 levels.

There’s even a special projects coaching option.

Now we’re in a position to make an informed decision on whether working together is mutually beneficial.

I can determine whether I can help you and you can determine if coaching is right for you.

Now you know what it means to take your business to the next level. Let’s get started…

Call me at ph:972 709 6776 or

eM: StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com
It’s that simple. 

For those that say you’ll think about it… 

Think about this…

If you continue working harder and longer, are you likely get any special heroic recognition from your banker, your spouse, your accountant, your kids or your attorney by running your business through back-breaking work and long hours…?

Do you have every right to expect and achieve your goals as fast and least stressfully as possible?

Finally, as you reflect on these questions can you think of any good reason to operate a business in Texas and lack the knowhow, accountability and motivation to move to the next level?

Let’s get started…

Your business coach…
Stephen D. Marino

Master License Partner - OneCo

Ph: 972 709 6776

Em: StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

Business Owners - Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing Means Profits and Productivity

Business owners how large a gap is there between what you know should be done vs. reacting to the interferences of the day?  Yes, the daily interferences that humble most owners causing them to exceed expense budgets, tolerate misaligned employees, accept ineffective systems, or fail to delight customers.

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By allowing these interferences to cumulatively add up, you risk being forced to either give up or burn out.  

It's tough eliminating these interferences.

So how do you turn this around?  Let’s talk. Let's sit down for an hour or two and have a conversation that assesses where you are today, what's working, where are the shortcomings, where are the opportunities and specifically what strategies will close the gap. I call this the business "diagnostic conversation."  

As a business owner, operator and coach with 15 yrs experience, I share with you how to minimize time, team, money and system interferences that get in the way of predictable increasing profits and productivity.  

What's most exciting about this conversation is that we'll be able to quantify the percentage increase expected in customers, revenues and profits. Now we're both in a position to assess what direction to take. I can see whether I can help you and you can see whether coaching moves you forward faster than you could otherwise.

I'm so confident that if you don't walk away with at least half a dozen specific implementable ideas to improve then I'll donate a meaningful dollar amount to your favorite charity in your name.

Let’s have the conversation that results in the actions to close the gap between knowing and doing.  You deserve it.  Let’s get started...

Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 or eM:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

What to Forget During Wild Economic Times

As a business owner you’re already privileged to benefit from one of the most effective means to create wealth and serve clients there is. Yet the statistics show fewer than 10% achieve our goals and lifestyle sought after when we went into business originally.  Not because we won’t work hard or take risks, instead it’s about what we believe or “I Knows." The way we think about business limits our actions and sabotages our dreams.
 
Are we taking credit for more than what our own initiatives merit? More responsible than we actually are for the success of projects? Do we begin to believe that our value is much higher than reality actually shows. Yes, our knowhow brought success yet what you believe brought you success may or may not be true. 

"It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so." 

 Will Rogers 

Whenever we experience success in the workplace, we usually get a very positive feeling out of it, and this generally results in a net positive for us. Our self-esteem goes up and we have more confidence in our abilities. However, this only goes so far: often, when we have a string of successes, we begin to adopt a handful of beliefs that aren’t necessarily true. 

This is a human failing, one that anyone with some measure of success can fall prey to. I’ve fallen prey to it myself - more than once, I’ve managed to make myself believe that I was somehow superior simply because I performed my individual role well. This is a dangerous thing to ever believe, even if it happens to be true. It alters your own behavior in a lot of ways and sets you up for failure, not for success.

What to Forget During Wild Economic Times…

At a recent global conference of top business coaches where practical business building tips for wild economic times were being documented – counter intuitive findings arose. The business owners doing well and who succeed further knew what to forget, ignore and stop doing. Essential business is learning to forget. These owners challenged beliefs about what brought them success during good times, carried forth what’s true and applicable and disregarded old believes or “I Knows” to be even more profitable and productive during today’s uncertainty. Picture your “I know” cup filled to the brim without capacity for more know how. Unless you release or forget the “I know” contents there won’t be room for business truths to be revealed. 

Yet forgetting is darn near impossible because there is such a vested interest intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically into “I know”. After all it got you this far. Forgetting means change and has implications affecting how others view who you are and how you view yourself. In essence your very identity and ego are at stake.

The Trouble With Success

During good times the tendency to believe we're responsible for far more of the credit than we deserve.  Where to know what to do and stop doing?

You realize rationally it makes sense then to forget. It is difficult and until I learned to forget these key “I know” beliefs about business building I was limited on the amount of success I could attract. I absolutely needed to forget these powerfully limiting beliefs in order to attract future success. 

1. Forget about being the best business “doer”, the perfectionist and believing “no one” can do it as well as me 

2. Forget about re-enrolling in the “school of hard knocks” where by the time I discover success it is going to be too late and 

3. Forget about just knowing “how to” when it is about getting it done that matters.

Forget About Being the Best Business “Doer”

Often business ownership leaves us vulnerable to an “I know” attitude. Your strong need to express entrepreneurial creativity and independent autonomy are the very reasons why you are providing the product or service.  We are passionate about what you are doing.  And this is where we get entrapped - doing vs. being the business owner. This is an expensive lesson.  No matter how strong your entrepreneurial traits and “I know” beliefs are they cannot defy the laws of business success. Until I forgot my “I knows” I was doomed to limited success. 

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce still show approximately one million business failures a year. Why would you go into business to work hard, defy long odds of success, and assume a large amount of debt to earn less and sacrifice more to receive only a meager return on your life’s energy?  The answer is you would not.  Yet if you are like most business owners with the key relationships to vendors and customers while simultaneously performing most of the key operations you are likely to end up in the situation described.  Certainly, we went into business to achieve loftier goals and not to drain our energy for the title of “employer and employee”.  We have an expensive job today, not a business.  We are the chief business “doer” and not a business owner. 

Before I became the business owner of a business coaching firm in Texas, I was an entrepreneur with several start-ups companies while I concurrently reviewed over 838 companies over a several year period with the intent to acquire a company I was passionate about. During that extensive research I met tens-and-tens of business owners at that pinnacle point in their business ownership career.  I recognized that very few sellers were going to see any significant financial reward for their efforts.  Why? Because these business owners were the chief business “doers”.  The value of a business is the sustainable discretionary cash flows under the new ownership.  And without the original owner, the cash flows were appreciably less under new ownership.  These business owners forgot that to get full economic value the business-of-business is to be profitable regardless who owns it. 

There are hundreds of thousands of businesses between 3 to 75 employees in the USA that perform below their capabilities. Often the business owner lacks the people and systems to emphasize how to play the game of business better.  Our ability to play up to our potential is not only about technical ability.  It is our ability to attract, select and retain a team dedicated and aligned with your vision who can service clients with your distinct products and services in order to win.  I recognized this in my own businesses that my strengths at doing were my strongest shortcomings at being a more effective leader – business owner.  As an entrepreneur and business coach I can now look more objectively at another entrepreneur’s business. I see the opportunities and shortcomings of these businesses from an outsider’s perspective to recognize when the owner is being the chief “doer”. 

Sports teams and athletes have long recognized the benefit of a coach whether they are winning or not. Why would the coaching benefits to business owners be any different? Business coaches identify what you need to forget and place you on a predictable success path. They help us get more business, learn how to run our business and become a better business owner by sharing the time tested and proven methodologies of the success with us.

Isn’t this definition more like what we had in mind when we started our business?  A commercial, profitable enterprise that operates without the business owner always being there.  This definition provides us the business ownership freedom you were seeking.  Even if we are committed to working the hours then earn more for our labor.  Working hard ourselves does not get us further ahead long term as we saw then it came time to sell the company.  We are still trading our time for money.  There is a limited amount of time available to us.  We need to forget about doing it all and harnessing our team and systems.

• Key Thing to Forget – Don’t be the chief business “doer”. 
• Key Thing to Learn – Be the best business owner – leader. 

Forget About Re-Enrolling in the “School of Hard Knocks”

Prior to business coaching, I enrolled and re-enrolled into the “school of hard knocks” or self-discovery and invested at least $30m to $50m per year tuition for several years for this difficult doctorate. From my academic, corporate and family backgrounds, I believed that originality, complexity and difficulty was better, more true, more important, and made the most difference in success.  Furthermore, my mindset was of economic scarcity.  The world was a zero sum game.  In order for you to win I had to lose and vise versa.  I did not trust the concepts of simplicity and abundance.   Although, this thought kept recurring.  If economic scarcity was “real” then the world would be exactly as it was thousands of years ago. Today we have more of life’s riches than ever before.   I was looking for the hard way – no the hardest way - my way to success.  After several years of seeking I found the better knowledge.  I had exhausted my ways and discovered that easy was better than hard. What was it in your belief that makes discovery of success difficult? 

The knowledge was out there.  Why was I not receptive to tap into it?  I did not believe in the altruism of people willing to publish their success and share it in such explicit detail.  Yet when I finally decided to seek I discovered that there were numerous laws of success as true as the laws of nature and philosophy.  The law of correspondence - cause and effect was most significant because if do the same things others have done I should get similar results. I was delighted to have discovered these laws and eagerly wanted to begin applying them in my businesses.  These laws generate the same result each time regardless of who applies them and they don’t wear out. I don’t fight these laws any longer. I work with them. I’m still learning what to and how to apply them - when, how much and/or how fast. I willingly forgot my old beliefs, ate “crow” and choose to enroll as a student of success vs. re-enrolling in the “school of hard knocks”.  Do you believe you can learn these laws of success from what others have done and can you do as well by applying them?

Business coaching brings you this business literacy while accelerating your learning effectiveness. 

• Key Thing to Forget:  Don’t continue to re-enroll in the school of hard knocks 
• Key Thing to Learn:  Be a student of success

Forget About Just Knowing “How To” When It Is About Getting It Done That Matters

I’ve spoken to hundreds of business owners that state that even when they finally know what to do and want the reward they are not willing to pay the price in dollars or personal energy.   Instead they want things to be easier.  They tend to forget the hidden price they pay by remaining where they are in the perception of security and comfort that comes in the form of loss of personal freedom.   By failing to invest in their team, they spend more hours working, earn less and generally receive less of life’s rewards.  What is this worth to you to get your time back, work with a higher quality team and make more money? Priceless. 

Business coaches specialize in holding you accountable to your dreams. 

• Key Thing to Forget:  Knowing without acting is not enough
• Key Thing to Learn:  Hold yourself accountable with a business coach

If you're having this discussion about what you believe that ain't so, then give me a call.  This is what ActionCOACH - Business Coaching do!  Challenge your beliefs and give you insights as to what works.  Thinking Bigger, Insisting on Win/Win, Being First to Inspire!

eM:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com ph: 972 709 6776

How to Determine Pay Mix for Sales Force - Commission vs Salary…

Which variable in your compensation package incentivizes your sales force to deliver the results desired - more clients, higher revenues and gross profits?  The consensus from sales teams globally is that it varies based on whether the salesman must find new customers or delight existing customers or both.  Since it takes at least six times more effort and expense to attract new business than it does to sell to your existing customers, the risk reward relationship favors compensation with a higher commission rate when they must seek new customers.  Here the commission rate range may vary between 50 to 70%.  For those sales consummated with existing customers, the salary percentage goes up and the commission rates goes down.  The salary rate may vary between 50 to 70%.

Of course this is only part of the sales compensation formula with further blogs coming.  If you're seeking to make your sales team perform better then let's have a discussion.  This is what ActionCOACH - Business Coaches do - accelerate your growth.

Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 or email:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

The 4 Business Principles as Powerful and Certain as Gravity...

The business-of-business has 4 timeless principles as powerful and certain as gravity.  Master them and you'll find successful, Ignore them and you'll perish.  It's that straightforward.  They work regardless of industry, size, intentions, geography, culture, economy, hard work, friendships, beliefs or intelligence.

1.   Money - what are the cash flow characteristics of the business, what is the cash gap between expenses and revenues and when and how do you break-even and make a profit?  

2.  Productivity - how effective and efficient are your systems and team delivering your products and services?  

3.  Delivery - how consistent is the business delivering your products and services on time, to spec and on budget after a sale is made? 

4.  Purpose - does the direction of the business and who it serves fulfill the vision, mission and values of the owner?

The good news is just like gravity we know how to master them.  If you are seeking faster ways to master these principles, then let's talk.

Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 or em:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

Let's get started giving you back control of your business, so you can earn more and work less... 

How to Measure Whether You are Busy vs. Productive...

There's not a business owner, operations manager, marketing or sales manager that doesn't tell me they are busy.  But the business-of-business is not busy-ness, it's productivity.  A better question is how productive are you?  And if the answer given is vague and not specific meaningful and valuable then how are you going to improve?

Here's a table of specific activities that count as productive depending upon your role.  How do you measure up?

Role		Productive Activities
Business Owner	Generating Revenue	Reducing Expenses	Improving the Team
Operations Manager	Producing and delivering products and services on time, to specification and on budget every time	Reducing Expenses	Seeking ways to systematize the routine and humanizing the exception
Marketing & Sales Managers	New customers:   Attracting, presenting and following up...	Existing Customers:  Increasing average dollar sale and number of transactions.  Increasing lifetime value of customer	Reduce the acquisition cost of a customer
Administration, Finance & Logistics	Delivering all back-office actions within budget, specifications and on-time every time	Systematizing the routine and humanizing the exception	Reducing overhead expense
Everyone	Create a customer experience such that they become Raving Fans

If you and your team are having questions about busy vs productive, then let's have a conversation.  This is one of the things ActionCOACH Business Coach's do  - improve productivity.  Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 em:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com 

Leaders - Want Results...? Include These People!

Want faster more effective results?  Include these types of people in the decision making process up front.

1.  Set out the issue and desired outcome to those directly involved

2.  Include those to be consulted - when and how

3.  Give feedback to those that need to be informed timely 

Make decisions using this guide, then you'll achieve results faster and more effectively than you would otherwise.

Let's have a conversation on leadership and team issues if they are getting in the way of predictable increasing profits and productivity.