Distinctive Homes Magazine Boston - Vol. 4 Issue 8 - (Page 23)

m Business Consultants What exactly does that mean? Many People have heard the term Business Consultant - but few know what they actually do. We’ve set out to get the bottom of what a business consultant has to offer by interviewing the CEO of Business Concepts, Inc., Kate Hyland Mercer. • That all sounds great, but how do you measure what you do? Actually, the most important measure of how we do what we do, is how the Client measures our performance! Some clients have measured an increase in both sales and profit margin (we helped one firm move from $2M in revenue to $4M, and they have plans to be on their way to $6M). Some clients need help transitioning the owner from acting like one of the ‘workers’ to actual ‘CEO’. One client had very specific ‘measures’ for what it would look like ‘when she acted like the CEO’ and, while we helped her define what her job would be if she stepped into her role as the CEO, and helped her get there, her definition of achievement told us that there were distinctive, excellent results. Since each project is a little different, we define and agree upon the expected outcome of each project, upfront. Also, we don’t believe that the ends-justifies-the-means. We care about how the project is going ‘during the program’ and want customers to be satisfied during the whole process. At any time during our work together, if our client feels they are not receiving more value from us than they are paying for or achieving the results we have agreed upon, clients have the option of letting us correct the deficiencies, canceling our agreement immediately, or moving into a different program that better suits their needs, without penalty! We strive to make 100% of our clients ‘raving fans’ and want clients ‘more than satisfied’ with our work. We are constantly working side-by-side, and checking in with our clients to make sure their expectations are met. We’ve scored high against this lofty goal of satisfaction, and part of that is because we don’t take every business who wants to become a client. We offer a free business assessment and analysis of where a company is and what their challenges are before we ever enter into an agreement and tell someone we can help. • Kate - What exactly do you do? Well…we are on a mission to enable small businesses to flourish regardless of the economic times and to give the owners the tools necessary to run a successful company. Business Concepts, Inc. is a professional services firm that provides expert advising, consulting and executive coaching services in the areas of operations, systems, management. We are commited to enabling them to succeed by recommending, implementing, and leveraging proven, best practices in these critical areas. We are different than other firms because we have specific businessownership expertise and share insights from the experience of having started and run multiple companies. We’ve been helping service based businesses since 2002. • How do you do that? We have an 6 step process to define, assess and evaluate, impact for improvement, measure, adjust and ‘reward’ business systems, processes, and people. Typically, we are project based, but occasionally we are brought in to ‘advise’ on an on-going basis, or thru a complicated/ difficult transition time. Our framework helps clients know ‘where to start’ and get the most out of the work that they put into their improvement. Some clients need all 6 steps, some have already done much of the work. Usually, clients have their ‘challenge’ clearly defined. (i.e. employee retention is low, customer service reps are impatient with clients, Executives are unable to clearly communicate their vision, or the owners know ‘where’ they want to take the company, but they don’t know ‘how’ to do it.) Other times, clients do not know how to start to ‘think about the challenge’ (i.e. business as usual is no longer working) and we come in to help them define what they are facing and what they would like to achieve. We never ‘recommend’ without first determining the current ‘state of affairs’. In the beginning we spend some time discussing and evaluating the goal/objective with the leadership team to get a clear understanding of what the desired outcome is for each project, and determine how they want to work with us (advisory, consulting, or executive coaching). From there, we agree to the budget and the strategy and once we all agree, we get to ‘work’. About Kate: Prior to starting Business Concepts, Kate co-founded and ran Cardinal Group International in 1996, serving as the software company’s President and Chief Operating Officer for six years. Under her leadership, Cardinal Group was profitable and enjoyed revenue growth of more than 25% every quarter. As a sought-after speaker and educator, Kate has addressed countless organizations and government bodies, and has taught in graduate and undergraduate programs at Harvard, Boston University, and the University of Massachusetts. She participates in the International Coaching Federation and Business Networking International, is an ambassador for the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the board of directors of several non-profit and privately held companies. She received her professional coach training from the College of Executive Coaching in Santa Barbara, California. Contact her at khm@business-concepts.biz DistinctiveHomesOnline.com • 23 http://www.DistinctiveHomesOnline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Distinctive Homes Magazine Boston - Vol. 4 Issue 8

Distinctive Homes Magazine Boston - Vol. 4 Issue 8 Nouvelle at Natick Goodfellas Construction Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Brookline Massachusetts Chobee Hoy Associates Ligris + Associates Window Treatment Showplace Elizabeth Crampton, VP, CRS Decorate To Sell RE/MAX Leading Edge Lo Pilato Construction, Corp GEV Design, Inc Lillian Montalto Signature Properties Renaissance Realtors Ellen Munick, Realtor Heritage Realty Associates Setting the Space Mover's Resource Guide - New England Graebel Dalton & Finegold, LLP Assured Service Plumbing & Heating ADT Security Services Humboldt Moving Holly C & Company Fine Homes Business Consultants - What Exactly Does That Mean? Hans Brings Realtor Realty Guild Seaport Village Luxury Homes & Estates Sotheby's International Realty Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Sotheby's International Realty Rettman Associates, Inc. Distinctive South Shore Properties Carey Real Estate Keller Williams Realty RE/MAX Realty One RE/MAX Excellence Deerfield Valley Real Estate Coldwell Banker Resdential Brokerage The Uicker Mulligan Team Maxfield Real Estate All in the Details, LLC RE/MAX Coast to Coast Properties Town & Country Realtors Equine Homes Real Estate William Raveis Properties

Distinctive Homes Magazine Boston - Vol. 4 Issue 8

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