A client and I share our experience of the coaching process that after six months of regular meetings, getting to know his team and a real-time implementation plan is producing fantastic results.
Typically businesses which have passed the three to five year point often face the same challenges, frustration within teams, customer service and, most importantly, owners having insufficient time to do all the things that need doing. With the above concerns, Alan from Digitel approached us to enquire about coaching having read one of my leaflets, and together we set on a journey to overcome these key challenges for him.
The Coach’s experience
Will Abbott, is Randall & Payne’s resident trailblazer and head of Business Advisory.
“My initial conversation with Alan was typical of many we have with businesses at their growth stage, as the challenges that surface are common for those business owners. It was obvious from the beginning of the conversation Alan was eager to investigate change, as he knew that moving forward wasn’t going to happen without some guidance. Working with a business owner who’s ready to embrace change is energising for me but it is important to make sure I didn’t overwhelm Alan with too many actions too quickly, too soon.
Alan has the technical knowledge and ability, the customer relationships and is used to getting stuck in to deliver operationally. We could start to see why it felt like he does not have enough time and the team may be struggling to fulfil their potential.
Alan was very clear about how he wanted to grow but understood the limitations of doing this whilst trying to run the business. So our work concentrated on increasing and formalising processes and for Alan to transition from doing the work into directing it and the team. This can be challenging for entrepreneurs who find process restricts their vision and free thinking, but if approached in the right way can be liberating.
It has been a pleasure working with Alan, not just his commitment throughout but also his overall enthusiasm. Both of us really enjoy our meetings and witnessing how some simple changes have helped Alan and his team at Digitel gives me great satisfaction.
The Client’s experience
Alan Ible, is CEO of Digitel, Gloucester based Digital Marketing agency.
“Digitel doesn’t have a tangible product to sell so, like many other service led industries, has to strive to stay ahead of the game. We felt it was time to perform a thorough review of where the business was, what we had set out to achieve and what the future goals of the business were. I was in working with the Marketing team of Randall & Payne, going through their digital marketing campaign, when I noticed a booklet that talked about business coaching. This could not have fallen at a better time and as someone that is always keen to improve, thought it a great idea to further investigate what was on offer for businesses like mine.
Having worked with them for around a year I knew already they were experienced when it came to accounts and tax affairs, to name a few things, but did not know anything about the business coaching they provided. I was introduced to Will Abbott who invited me to have a free informal chat about my business objectives and obstacles. I knew after 30 minutes that he was going to be of great assistance to me and, although I normally deliberate on most things, I decided to work with him there and then.
Will has played a pivotal role in the business over the last six months. The advice he has given in the meetings has been invaluable. He has both run and attended meetings at their office in Cheltenham and our office in Gloucester. Setting out both short and mid-term objectives he kept me focused on delivering the plan we developed.
Having someone who is not emotionally invested in my business with a strong background knowledge in business coaching has allowed me to explore new ideas I had not thought of and to improve ideas that I did. We have restructured staff, improved reporting and developed customer calls, to name just a few of the improvements.
Working with Will has been one of the best decisions I have made this year and I look forward to continuing this relationship in the years ahead.
Alan is pictured below with some of the team at Digitel.
If you would like to arrange an informal chat with Will over a coffee call 01242 776000 or email will.abbott@randall-payne.co.uk.
