The Outcome

After just 3 months the results posted were over budget by some 75%.

That was way over the 30% Bill had hoped for.

Sales continued to climb largely thanks to the renewed and rejuvenated customer focus. Record sales months were posted and by month 6, Bill was leveraged out of sales and a salesperson recruited. This allowed him to work more on the business instead of in it.

Fine-tuning continued for a year, with the end result being that sales were up by 65% over the year and the previous year’s Net Loss was turned into a healthy Net Profit.

Recognizing the benefits of the coaching program, Bill and Pam decided to continue on for another 6 months in order to implement further changes.

We immediately took measures to fortify the gains made during the first 12 months. As most businesses fail the year after they record their largest growth, we analyzed the figures and determined that costings needed refining.

Two of the 3 product sets they stocked were sometimes sold at a loss in a very price competitive market. It was decided that, in the future, they would only be sold at full margin with no discounts applicable. Since this decision was taken, both products have been selling well, with no adverse effects whatsoever.

During the next 6-month period, Taplin continued to rewrite its record books and recorded multiple months with sales up 400% on previous average months before coaching commenced, with stronger Net Profit due to cost improvements.

They are really beginning to see the compounding effect of the strategies implemented during the first 12 months.

Then, during the 1st week of November, Taplin recorded their highest ever sales week.

Sales were almost twice that of a previous average month!

Furthermore, Bill Sr. and Bill Jr. took a Friday off to go fishing – a first while he’s run the business.

So, is he delighted with the results achieved so far?

Absolutely.

“The most notable changes have been so many little things,” he says. “Particularly with our attitude and confidence, and now our goals don’t seem the insurmountable mountain we always thought they were. Testing and measuring has been a huge success; knowing who our customers are and where they come from, as well as improving our service and consciously making it easy for them to do business with us.

“Personally, our attitude and confidence in ourselves has changed significantly for the better. The challenge was actually keeping control of the business, especially during times of growth, and not letting it control us.”

But their results have been more concrete than that.

“Since starting coaching we’ve had a 65% increase in sales in the 12 months to the end of June, with an even better profit result. And this has been in a very competitive market that is going through a cyclical downturn with some businesses still closing down.”

What lies ahead for the business, now that they’ve unlocked their true potential?

“This year we plan to grow our turnover to $1M, which will be the same dollar increase we’ve just been through, and we can refine our profit even more. Also after all this growth, we’re looking forward to taking some real time off – a week off soon, and then maybe a fortnight later on in the year. Before coaching, it just wasn’t a possibility, but we can really see that happening now.

“Coaching really got us out of the mud.

“Before we were in the dark. Now we can see!”