Our clients operate in the business-to-business sector, have a growth mindset, and are looking to proactively take their business into the future. Importantly, they recognise the value of fresh thinking and making improvements where needed.
Strategy and training to help B2B companies grow
Client businesses are well-established in their field and have a technical or expertise-based foundation. We usually discover clients are very good at what they do, however they have reached a point where they need to up-skill their team or develop a revised strategy (or both) to reach the next stage of growth.
The business owner or senior leadership team realise future success will require a different approach than they have used in the past and recognise they need additional insights, expertise, and guidance to reach their goals.
Clients operate in a broad range of business-to-business verticals, such as:
- Distributors of industrial products and technical goods
- Commercial trades contractors such as electrical contractors
- Ecommerce platforms and services
- HVAC products and services
- ICT service providers
- Training providers such as RTO’s and GTO’s
- Health and community services
- Professional services, accountants, lawyers, consultants
- Local government
- Civil engineers
- Heavy equipment manufacturers and services
- Fenestration products
Working with Stuart we navigated these challenges with ease, and we’ve developed a comprehensive strategic plan that will support Proterra Group for at least the next three years.
Paul Clayton, CEO
Proterra Group, QLD
Building capability for B2B sales teams
Because our clients operate in the B2B space they usually employ a team of technical experts or professionals in their field who are also responsible for generating or maintaining revenue. That is, the ‘sales team’.
Although these are sales roles often the team members don’t have a strong background working in sales and can find it easy to get distracted from ‘sales’ by focusing on ‘service’ – which they may find less confronting. In fact, one of the challenges team members face can be how to proactively achieve sales growth while still maintaining client relationships and not feeling too ‘salesy’.
Sales team titles may not directly state ‘sales’ such as Account Manager, Business Development Manager, Technical Representative, Regional Manager, Territory Manager, and sometimes State Manager or Branch Manager (for those holding a dual sales and operational role), but they all need to generate revenue.
We find many of these sales teams benefit from developing their skills across a range of non-technical areas to increase their sales effectiveness, such as professional B2B selling, communication, and time management.
Find more information on B2B sales training here.
One of the biggest shifts has been mindset. Stuart helped the team move from a reactive approach to a mindset focused on seeking and creating opportunities, essential in today’s competitive market.
Mitch Bradey, National Sales Manager
Bintani, VIC
Strategic planning to guide business growth
We find clients often look to revise their strategic planning when they’re:
- Undergoing significant change
- Bringing a new team together
- Recovering from a period of slow growth
- Or seeking a new approach to include the broader management team rather than planning being handed down from the founder/s, CEO, or senior leaders
From experience we know strategic planning may be thought of as a purely rational process focused on facts, figures, and logical evaluation of options. That might work in a text book. However, in reality the strategic planning process, whether that is updating an existing plan or creating something new, can be an emotional journey for those participating in the process.
In every business there are long-standing thought patterns, previous experiences, unconscious biases, existing relationships, and more which must be recognised and managed to achieve realistic and actionable outcomes.
That’s why our approach involves interaction with all participants prior to any planning workshop, plenty of group participation during the session, as well as deep discussions with the senior team to understand business potential, obstacles, culture, and operational nuances.
Find more information on facilitating strategic planning here.
Read what clients have said about our work
Further information
To find out more about how we could help your business request an obligation-free meeting for us review your business challenges and future growth options. Meetings may be conducted over in person or online via video call.