These efforts seem to be paying off. After more than two years working with Biz-comm, Pitcher has seen sales from his 12-year-old remodeling business grow from $1.2 million to $2.3 million per year. And he’s getting better jobs. For instance, Wilson wrote a business initiative report for the remodeler, in which he suggested that Pitcher seek work from some of the 400 wineries and vineyards in the area. Early this summer, Pitcher finished his first wine-tasting room.
Talent Development Putting the right people in the right jobs is something that all successful companies aim to do. Joe Zanola, president of Zanola Co. in St. Louis, specializes in helping them do so. He says he helps remodelers become more efficient by evaluating key employees and making recommendations for internal shifts in responsibility.
Amie Riggs of St. Louis–based Riggs Construction has been working with Zanola for three years. Amie, who says she had “no formal training in anything,” was working in a number of roles within the family-owned business that she runs with her father, president Tom Riggs. When Amie and Tom determined that they needed to hire a salesperson, they called on Zanola to help with the selection process.
One tool he suggested was a computerized assessment program. As it turned out, the test identified Amie as a strong candidate, and she is now sales manager. Others who did well were her brother Bill, and a kitchen and bath designer whom they had contracted with in the past. Both are now full-time salespeople with the company.
Zanola has also worked with Mosby Building Arts in Kirkwood, Mo. Upon Zanola’s recommendation, Mosby developed a new division to focus on smaller jobs and used his assessment tools to help identify the company’s production manager, Rich Layton, as a top candidate for the director of sales position. The new Total Home division brings in about $2 million in annual business. Layton also credits Zanola with helping the 59-year-old business reach the $6.2 million it is at today. He says the company’s annual growth has been at 33% in the four years it has been working with Zanola.
Core Values Theresa Gale is co-owner of Transform Inc., an executive coaching company in Laurel, Md. Her forte is leadership training, while her partner, Mary Ann Wampler, functions mainly as a sales and general management coach.
Transform has worked with Sun Design Remodeling Specialists in Burke, Va., for about 10 years, and has helped the company grow its volume from $422,000 in 1995 to approximately $7 million today, according to Joe Gorman, Sun Design’s controller.
Wampler attends the company’s monthly sales and design meetings in the capacity of sales coach, while Gale hosts a series of nine one-hour management leadership sessions for groups of employees on an as-needed basis. Transform also periodically assesses Sun Design’s employees, a job that includes going out in the field to observe what’s working and what’s not.
Employees are often uncomfortable with consultants looking over their shoulders, but, as Bob Gallagher, one of the company’s owners, points out, “People need to understand that different personalities bring different strengths as well as different weaknesses.” He says the assessments help the company make best use of the talents of its 50 employees.
Gale says that in some companies that Transform works with, employees have learned to use the consultants to get messages to management that they’re reluctant to bring up directly. For example, the production manager may worry that the owner is not bringing in enough sales, but needs help communicating that in a constructive way. She feels that a consultant who has earned employees’ trust and confidence can help do that.
“Asking for help from the right people at the right time in the evolution of your business is critical,” Gale says. “So many people think they can figure it out for themselves, but someone else can help you get to where you want to go and do it faster.”
The Next Level George Black is president of Intigro, a consulting firm in San Antonio. He describes what he does as “integrated business engineering.” Black, whose background is in finance, started out in the consulting business as an outsource CFO. One of his clients was Scott Barr, owner and general manager of San Antonio’s Southwest Exteriors, a company that specializes in siding and replacement windows. Barr’s business was deep in debt when he called Black for help in 1996, but within three months Black was able to help him create a plan to get out of debt. That plan included consolidating some of the company’s debt, raising prices, and putting job cost controls in place. Barr says the business is financially doing better than ever.
Experiences like this helped Black realize that a company’s finances are only one piece of the puzzle and can’t be separated from the other parts of the business. For instance, he has worked with companies that are quite profitable on paper, but where the owner works 100-hour weeks. In that case, his goal may be to make the company more efficient and keep the owner from burning out. To do so, he assesses business owners to determine their strengths and passions, so they can focus on what they do best and bring in help where needed. “To me, everything is owner-centric,” he says. “If you can get some relief so that you can pursue your passion more and more, you can succeed.”
Charlie Wardell is a freelance writer in Vineyard Haven, Mass.