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It all started after we had posted them a direct mail piece, and when we followed it up with a phone call, Bill was very gruff and curt and asked us to stop wasting his time.

We immediately got on the phone and assured him that we weren’t, and that we probably could add a lot of value to his business if he had any challenges.

We arranged a time to meet and we conducted a Diagnostic of his business. It quickly became evident that Bill was in an uncomfortable situation and was looking for a way out. Sales were stagnant and his structure and relationship with his subcontractors (who he absolutely relied on) was causing him and Pam a lot of worry. There was no Testing and Measuring being done, and the atmosphere in both the office and workshop was tense to say the least.

The only form of marketing they were doing was through the Yellow Pages, and Bill was spending his time acting as their salesperson. Cashflow and costs were a major issue due to the subcontractors high costs.

Bill was keen to commence coaching, but Pam was understandably reluctant to spend the money.

Once we were given the go-ahead, we started with the Alignment Consultation to define their real goals and prioritize what challenges needed to be addressed.

The goal was set to increase sales to 30% above their usual budget within 90 days.

Education-wise, I started by getting them to read Michael Gerber s book, The E-Myth and Brad Sugars’ book Instant Cashflow.

They began to see how things could work differently.

The next area I worked on was their sales process and their conversion rate. We also began testing and measuring everything. An organization chart was drawn up showing what the business looked like at the time, and another to detail what it should look like when ‘finished’.

We introduced scripts and follow-ups to sales. We systemized simple routines and installed a Job Work Flow System, which dramatically increased the ease of processing job orders and the flow of information between sales, the office, the workshop and the client. We also prepared clear budgets and targets.

Things began to move quickly, and it became clear that the existing structure that involved relying on contractors was detrimental to the business’ interests. The costs were simply too high and there wasn’t sufficient control.

However, changing this would prove difficult because it was the way it always was done and relationships and a tight working culture had been established over many years.

That week our normal 1-hour coaching call lasted 2 hours, and proved to be pivotal to unlocking the true potential of the business.

Within a few days, the incumbent but troublesome contractor was history, and the Ruddles now had an employee on wages.

Whereas the previous contractor had earned approximately $1,000 for 3 days work, the new employee was now doing a better quality job, 5 days a week, for approximately $500.

This proved to be a key turning point for the business in more ways than one. Both Bill and Pam’s mindset changed and they began to reassert control over their business, which until then had been controlling them.

Taplin Security’s culture began to change for the better.

The next crucial step we took was in the sales area.

Bill had been working as the salesperson, and despite being by nature very customer-oriented and excellent at selling the benefits of his product, he suffered from severe self-image limitations. Changing his image was the next crucial factor to his success and it was achieved through perturbation and using Spencer Johnson and Larry Wilson’s book, The One Minute Sales Person …