Two common mistakes that stop sales

As the second step in the business development process, sales is the function responsible for turning leads into revenue. It’s an important part of every business, large or small. Without revenue (or donations, depending on your business model), you don’t have the resources you need to keep your doors open and continue providing the same high-quality products or services.

Sales professionals have the benefit of extensive training, but not many small business owners have that luxury. As with so many other aspects of business, the small business owner improvises, learns on the job, and picks up resources whenever possible.

Business consultants are often in the same category. Their background may have been in finance or operations, but chances are they don’t have any formal sales training. Their livelihood depends on a steady flow of clients, which makes sales a critical part of their business.

While there are many factors that go into a successful sale, there are two common mistakes that can easily be avoided.

1. Giving away too much, too soon. As a business consultant, you have a wealth of knowledge to impart. Essentially, you’re selling your knowledge and experience as valuable shortcuts to help business owners get further, faster. In your eagerness to close a deal, don’t be too quick to give away all that hard-earned information for free. It’s common for the prospect to ask questions—and understandable that you want to provide solid answers. After all, part of the sales pitch is demonstrating your proficiency. But be aware that people are more than happy to take what they can get for free. If you’re willing to answer any and all questions the prospect has, you may very well be selling yourself short. Wait until the contract is signed before divulging all the answers.

2. Hearing what you want to hear. Are you hearing what someone is saying? Or are you hearing what you want to hear? Selective listening is something we’ve all been guilty of at one time or another. Maybe not in a sales situation, but almost certainly with close friends and family. Sometimes, it’s almost impossible to hear what a person is saying because you want so much to hear a particular answer. It’s almost like having a filter over your ears that screens out anything negative and replaces it with the answer you’re looking for. When a prospect says, “That seems like it could really be a useful product for me,” what you hear instead is, “Sign me up! I’m ready to get started.” Take them at their word and proceed accordingly—you’ll save yourself from unwisely using your time.

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The ReWilder Network is a global team spanning five continents. Are you ready to join? Thanks to online certification, it’s more convenient than ever to become a Certified ReWilder. Learn more about The ReWild Group and the services we offer to small and midsize businesses through consultants like you.

Business Consultants: Are you having the impact you want?

Business consultants and advisers want to have an impact on their clients. The whole reason most of them get into consulting is to make a difference—to use their knowledge and experience to help business owners thrive.

A common frustration we hear from consultants, though, is that they aren’t able to make the significant progress they’d like to. They don’t get the opportunity to go deeply enough with a client to make a significant, long-term impact.

Instead, many consultants feel that they are dealing with surface-level problems and nothing deeper. While they’re able to fix a problem or two, in the process of doing so they uncover a dozen more problems that go unaddressed.

Understanding Root Causes

Organizational ReWilding is a powerful business growth framework that goes beyond surface symptoms to address the underlying causes. It’s able to do this because it’s not based on just one person’s experience or one company’s history; Organizational ReWilding is based on research of over 1,300 small and mid-size businesses gathered over three decades.

The depth of research is directly related to the depth of the solutions. Patterns emerge when businesses are studied across industries, and those patterns point to answers that can’t be found in individual cases alone.

Organizational ReWilding is grounded in the concept that businesses go through stages of growth that are based on the number of employees it has. People are the number one driver of complexity—more so than location or industry or even economic conditions. When you add more people to a team, things get more complicated, and it’s possible to predict some of the challenges the company will face as a result.

It's also possible to predict the challenges that will follow as the company continues to grow. This is incredibly empowering for business owners, as it allows them to prepare for the future even while they are successfully navigating the present.

The Organizational ReWilding Stages of Growth Matrix

The Organizational ReWilding Stages of Growth Matrix provides an excellent overview of the methodology. You can download it for free from The ReWild Group website—click here to get your copy.

Even a quick glance at the Matrix will help you to understand the depth and sophistication of the framework. Organizational ReWilding is a powerful tool that you can add to your arsenal as a business consultant. You will have the satisfaction of bringing more value to your clients and making changes that have a deep and lasting impact on the entire business—not just solving for one department or one team, but impacting the entire company for years to come.

Check out the Matrix to learn more about this exceptional tool. Contact us today to learn how you can start making an even bigger impact by leveraging the research and insight provided by The ReWild Group.

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If you know your company’s Stage of Growth, we invite you to dig deeper into concepts presented in the Matrix. (Don’t know your Stage? Click here to find out!) The Stages of Growth Guidebook Series is a collection of books that explore the different dimensions of a business at every Stage, from 1-7. You can get a copy from Amazon or The ReWild Group Store. Start your business growth journey today!

How to tell a business owner what’s wrong with their business.

There’s no getting around it. It’s awkward. You’re face-to-face with a business owner who has poured time, energy, and effort into running a business. Things aren’t going well, which is why you were hired in the first place. And yet, even though your advice was solicited, you hesitate to share your findings with the business owner.

Why? Because business owners can be very attached to their work. An almost parent-child relationship develops with small businesses when the owner has kept the business alive and afloat for a number of years (no small task!). If the business isn’t thriving, the owner can understandably be feeling stressed and defensive. Even though you have the business’s best interests at heart, the owner may be sensitive to hearing negative statements about their business and can take criticism personally.

While we can’t get rid of all the unpleasant confrontations that may arrive throughout the course of work for business advisers, we do have some advice for anyone looking for a better way to deliver tough news.

Lean on structure

The ReWild Group has an assessment called the Rewild Group Business Assessment (RBA). It provides a comprehensive evaluation of the health of a business. The assessment takes about 15 minutes for the client to complete. Once finished, the Adviser reviews the results and pulls a 20-page report that includes an actionable list of missing elements.

The objective report provides a solid reference point that is free from emotion. Rather than the adviser presenting an opinion, which can be open to interpretation, he or she presents research-based information. This diffuses any potential conflict and keeps the focus on improvements. In the words of one Certified Adviser, “With the ReWild Business Assessment, you … can present it to them in a way that makes sense but doesn’t hurt their feelings.”

Present a way forward, together

Another advantage to the RBA is that the structure of the report allows advisers to speak non-critically about the issues. Instead of the conversation feeling like a judgment on decisions or actions that were taken in the past, advisers can move straight to solutions. There is no need to dwell on the “Why?” when you can start talking about “What’s next?”.

Ideally, the path forward is one that utilizes the expertise of the owner and the guidance of the adviser. The adviser isn’t coming to take over the business; the owner is still a critical part of the solution. The owner’s buy-in is essential to the long-term success of any changes. By focusing on what can be done to achieve a better future, the owner is much more likely to be on board.

The fact is, there are many reasons that businesses struggle. Within a framework such as Organizational ReWilding (which is based up on the Stages of Growth), it becomes clear that businesses face common challenges, regardless of an individual owner’s decisions. More than three decades of research have shown that businesses share many similar challenges based upon the number of people it employs (people are the number one driver of complexity in an organization). The simple realization that the challenges facing a business owner are typical can be an immense relief.

At the end of the day, business owners are looking for solutions. They need to know that an investment of precious time and resources will bring a return. A strong business framework provides the structure and authority for advisers to confidently predict the outcomes of the consulting services they provide. It also provides the neutral playing field that makes a business owner more likely to accept the diagnosis.

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At the ReWild Group, our mission is to multiply the number of exceptional businesses globally. We share resources, ideas, and advice in advance of that mission. If you are interested in joining us in our mission, visit our page for Advisers today!

How to sell consulting services to small business owners

In our previous post, we focused on ways to successfully market yourself as an adviser to small business owners. In this article, we’re going to talk about how to sell to small business owners.

To clarify, and make sure we’re all on the same page, marketing and sales are two distinct functions of a business. The purpose of marketing is to generate leads, while the purpose of sales is to convert those leads into revenue.

In the context of this discussion, marketing your consulting services to small business owners is meant to raise awareness and create connections that are strong possibilities for future clients. As we enter the sales phase of the process, we’re transitioning to interacting with someone who is already aware of who you are and has some degree of interest in what you offer.

With a sales hat firmly in place, the following tips will help you to close the deal and generate revenue by bringing on a new client.

1. Understand what the business owner needs
The challenges of owning a business change as the business grows. If you are going to sell your services, you need to be able to stand in that owner’s shoes and understand those challenges. After all, you can’t offer viable solutions if you don’t first understand the challenges. If you haven’t had similar experience to what the business owner is going through, it can be an uphill battle to convince them that you can add value. A solid framework such as Organizational ReWilding can be a powerful way to understand, relate, and make sense of their situation.

A big advantage to using a framework based on the stages of business growth is that you know not only what the customer is experiencing today but also what challenges to expect tomorrow. You can speak to solutions that will get them past their current problems and provide strategies for avoiding, minimizing, or preparing for future challenges.

2. Prove that you have something of value to offer
Small business owners are notoriously self-reliant. They’re accustomed to tackling challenges using their own resources. Asking for help is not typically part of their process. If you’re going to make the sale, you need to give them proof, or at the very least confidence, that you have something to offer that benefits them.

There’s more than one way to accomplish this, but here are some suggestions.

• Connect them with a past client; referrals are an excellent way to establish trust.

• Provide them with data and stories of past experiences that show you understand their challenges and have helped others successfully navigate through them.

• To the extent possible, give them a way to try for themselves without being locked into a long-term commitment

3. Be clear on the outcomes
Nobody wants to spend money without being clear on what they’re getting in exchange. When you make a proposal, be sure to delineate exactly what the client can expect in return. Don’t promise the moon unless that’s what you’re selling. Establish some metrics and talk about reasonable outcomes as well as timeframes. If you’re creating structure with your client that will take a few months to yield a measurable return, make that clear.

4. Help them understand the value
As a small business owner who is constantly being sold various products and services, it can be difficult to get past the numbers to the left of the dollar sign. To help make the point clear that your services will bring a return, break it down. What will it mean in terms of revenue if the owner can increase repeat business by 30%? How much will the owner save if employee retention improves? One question that can be effective is to ask how much they stand to lose if they don’t solve the problem. Status quo is the biggest obstacle to consultants but standing still—doing nothing—doesn’t mean there’s no movement. It usually means movement in the wrong direction, going backwards instead of forward.

The consulting services you have to offer can make the difference between a small business that succeeds and one that fails. With these tips in mind, we hope that you successfully earn the trust of that next client.

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The ReWild Group Network is an active group of consultants who share tips and experiences to help build each other’s business. More collaborative than competitive, ReWilders believe in the value of going together in order to go further. Are you a consultant looking for a strong community and effective framework? We’d love to hear from you! Learn more here.

How to market consulting services to small businesses

As a small business consultant, you have a wealth of information and years of experience. You’re also keenly aware that there are many businesses in need of help. The question is … how do you reach them? How do you hold their attention long enough to explain what you do?

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as hanging a sign on your door. The public square is big, busy, and crowded, and it’s not easy to get noticed. If you are a consultant—and especially if you are just starting out—your first job is to market yourself and your services. Expect to invest a great deal of time and energy into marketing, at least for the first few years. After you’ve gained a steady client base, you won’t have to invest quite as much time, but marketing is still an important functional area of business for any self-employed individual.

To help you make the most of your time and effectively raise awareness of your services, we’ve put together three tips on how to market to small business owners. (For tips on how to sell to small business owners, click here.)

1. Know what you’re selling.

This may seem too basic to be mentioned, but it’s overlooked more often than you realize. You need to be absolutely clear about your product or service, the pricing, and the pain it will help your clients solve. As a consultant, are you selling your time? A specific outcome? Or is it a program? Detail everything that is included with your services and think through possible items that should be excluded. Are you willing to travel, for example? If so, who is responsible for those expenses? What about materials—are they included in your consulting fee or are they extra?

If you’re not clear on what you’re selling, none of your prospective clients will be either. And they’re not going to buy what they don’t understand.

Now is the time to think through all of these details, not when you are face-to-face with a prospect and find that you can’t answer their questions. You risk looking unprepared, which undermines your ability to deliver on the engagement. You also risk giving a premature answer that could a) cut into your profitability, or b) cause you to overshoot and lose the deal.

2. Know who you’re selling to.

You don’t need everyone in the world to know what you offer to get a steady client base, but you do need to be heard by the right people. This begs the question … who are the right people?

Essentially, the right people are the ones you most want to work with. They’re the people who would benefit from your service, are likely to work with you, and are able to afford it. They are your target audience.

Think of your target audience as the center of the bullseye. These are the people you want to reach, and in order to do that, you need to speak directly to them; you need to understand their language, their pain points, and their goals. Drawing from your experience (or that of others), put together a picture of your ideal client so that you know how to talk to that person. What is that person’s primary obstacle or frustration? What are they trying to achieve, and what’s standing in their way? Think about geography. Are you looking for local clients or are you willing to do virtual sessions? Do you prefer working with one industry in particular, or are you comfortable working with clients from a variety of industries?

Remember, you’re thinking in terms of the ideal, so it’s okay if this ends up looking like a wish list. That’s actually a good thing, because you’re only going to recognize a good client if you know what you’re looking for.

When you understand your target audience, you’re going to speak more clearly to them than if you are trying to appeal to all people everywhere. Once you have a sketch of the people you want to work with, keep them in the front of your mind. When you’re writing posts on social media, pitching a workshop, or attending a networking event, speak to your target audience. The people that aren’t in your audience won’t respond, but the ones that are will. Bullseye!

3.  Engage in multiple marketing activities.

Marketing precedes selling. We think of it like this: marketing generates leads and sales turns leads into revenue. So, if you want to sell to small business owners, you have to start by marketing to them.

Don’t expect one type of marketing to be enough; instead, come up with a list of several marketing activities that you’re willing to pursue. Think about where your target audience spends time and try to engage them where they are. Maybe that’s virtually, on professional networking sites, or maybe it’s in person at a conference or dinner event.

Make a schedule of when and how you will spend time on marketing. Set goals so that you’re motivated to hit specific numbers each week or each month, whether that’s the number of emails you send, number of new contacts made on social media, or number of phone calls you have with prospective clients. If you focus on hitting your numbers, you are less likely to become discouraged if you don’t close any deals. That discouragement can lead to you quitting the marketing activity before it’s had time to work. Keep working on the parts you can control, and the outcomes will follow. Don’t rely on feelings or intuition to tell you when and how to reach out to people. Set a schedule and stick to it.

You will spend more time and effort on marketing in the early years of your career as a business consultant than you will later on. The key is to keep going. Don’t expect clients to line up at your door, but have confidence in yourself and the value of what you’re offering. Engage in consistent, targeted marketing efforts, and your work will be rewarded.

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At the ReWild Group, our mission is to multiply the number of exceptional businesses globally. We share resources, ideas, and advice in advance of that mission. If you are interested in joining us in our mission, visit our page for Advisers today!

Structure, Clarity, and Focus

One of the phrases that is often used in the Organizational ReWilding® methodology is “Structure, Clarity, and Focus.” While not a key element package, these important concepts underpin many of the principles and lessons that are part of the methodology. The purpose of this article is to take a closer look at what makes this phrase so meaningful—first by defining each term in the phrase and then connecting them to specific key elements.

Structure, Clarify, and Focus are how an organization overcomes the inherent chaos and disorder that exist in human organizations. Every person in an organization thrives more when these characteristics are present.

These terms are not narrowly defined by the Organizational ReWilding® methodology because they can mean different things in different situations—to the organization, the leader, and the team. Particularly during a transition zone, Structure, Clarity, and Focus can mean virtually anything that increases those three characteristics within the organization.

Understanding that the terms are intentionally left open-ended to some degree, here are some thoughts on what is meant by each component of this phrase.

Structure

Structure permeates our world; we see it in biology, architecture, culture, music, and more. Just because it is prevalent, however, does not mean it is spontaneous. The default condition is chaos, and structure requires conscious thought and intentional action.

Within a business, structure provides:

• A foundation upon which different people can accomplish tasks in similar ways, by defining the task and the best way to do it.

• Organization for both the work that is being done and the formal relationships within the business that are required to complete the work.

• A rhythm and cadence, setting expectations and establishing routines to save time and energy.

Enduring structures are those that have been adopted thoroughly enough by an organization to achieve consistency throughout and can be maintained even when people leave the organization. 

Some examples of structure within Organizational ReWilding include Position Role Sheets, One-to-One Process, and Master Processes.

Clarity

Clarity refers to a state of lucid perception or understanding, and is only attainable when uncertainty and ambiguity have been removed.

An organization needs clarity in order to both define the work and the way it should be performed. There are two key contributors to clarity within an organization:

1. Common language. Shared definitions and terminology enable individuals to operate more efficiently and consistently.

2. A roadmap. When a team is clear on where the organization is headed and has a shared goal, it can eliminate energy spent on tasks that do not contribute to achieving the goal.

Some examples of clarity within Organizational ReWilding include Revenue Groups, Brand & Core Values, and the definition of Business Development (Marketing generates leads, Sales turns leads into revenue, and Customer Service keeps the revenue coming).

Focus

Focus is a concentrated direction of effort or thoughts. Focus allows energy to be directed to the most important initiatives by eliminating alternatives that vie for resources and attention.

In an organization, focus is achieved when everyone involved knows what is important and what is not important.

While leaders can often operate with ambiguity, most employees need direction to be able to prioritize.  When individuals are clear on priorities, they can concentrate their efforts. By contrast, unfocused individuals expend energy across a wide range of tasks, many of which are not critical at that point in time. Such lack of focus results in dissipated energy, causing an organization to oscillate instead of advance. 

Some examples of focus within Organizational ReWilding include the Important-Urgent Matrix, Position Role Sheets, Supervision, Departmental Mission, and Interdepartmental Planning.

Learn more about how Organizational ReWilding can bring Structure, Clarity, and Focus to your business.

What are the Stages of Growth?

What are the Stages of Business Growth?

The Organizational ReWilding Stages of Growth, formerly known as the 7 Stages of Growth, is a business growth methodology based on the distinct stages businesses grow through. Each Stage has rules of growth, which, if followed, create the environment for sustainable, profitable growth.

What is the research that supports the Stages of Growth?

The Stages of Growth was developed over 30 years of research and observation of more than 1,500 small and midsize businesses across dozens of industries. The focus of this research was on understanding and deciphering the patterns, the behavior, and the characteristics of growth these businesses experienced. The goal was to understand how some businesses successfully grow and most do not. The research uncovered discrete, identifiable, and predictable patterns that directly impacted a company’s ability to sustain growth. These observations fueled the creation of Stages of Growth — a business growth methodology founded on the idea that every company goes through specific stages of growth based on the complexity of the organization.

How does the Stages of Growth help businesses?

Since its introduction, this revolutionary concept has been recognized for its uncanny ability to diagnose, prescribe, and predict what occurs in businesses. It provides business leaders the ability to understand the pulse of their business — whether navigating rapid growth or knowing reasons why it’s stagnant or why the business keeps oscillating back and forth. Essentially, the Stages of Growth provides a roadmap for the business owner to follow.

Why are there 7 Stages of Growth?

The research identified 7 distinct stages that businesses go through where the rules of growth are uniquely suited to the level of complexity in the organization. Each Stage spans a specific number of employees; and within each of these Stages, there are rules that create the optimal environment for business growth. When a business fails to follow the rules of growth, the business often gets stuck or regresses.

Why are the Stages of Growth based on the number of employees, not annual revenue?

The research found that the complexity in an organization is derived, not from revenue generated, but from the number of human beings in a company. So as a business adds employees, it grows in complexity. A 200-person organization is different, and more complex, than a 10-person organization. What the businesses focuses on, the types of structures that need to be in place, and the opportunities for growth all look very different for these two sizes of organizations.

How do I know what Stage of Growth my business is in?

Your business’s Stage of Growth is dependent on the number of employees (full-time equivalent employees) in the organization. Use the Stage Calculator to find out your Stage of Growth. Read through this list to learn more about each Stage:

STAGE 1 - START-UP: 1 - 10 EMPLOYEES

Companies with 1 to 10 employees are in Stage 1, the Start-Up Stage. In this stage, passion and guts are the fuel. To envision a company where none existed before and to transform that vision into a living reality is not a simple task. Read more about Stage 1.

STAGE 2 - RAMP-UP: 11 - 19 EMPLOYEES

Companies with 11 to 19 employees are in Stage 2, the Ramp-Up Stage. In this Stage, survival is quickly replaced with growth as the top priority.  The business owner is starting to worry about the management of their growing staff and many other issues that can arise as a company begins to ramp up. Read more about Stage 2.

STAGE 3 - DELEGATION: 20 - 34 EMPLOYEES

Companies with 20 to 34 employees are in Stage 3, the Delegation Stage. In this Stage, the leader is no longer in control of the organization entirely on his or her own.  Work and decision-making authority must now be delegated. Read more about Stage 3.

STAGE 4 - PROFESSIONAL: 35 - 57 EMPLOYEES

Companies with 34 to 57 employees are in Stage 4, the Professional Stage. The CEO at this Professional Stage must invest the time and money to either hire or train strong professional managers. Having a strong management team in place will help the company through this Stage of complexity, as well as set the company up for future success. Read more about Stage 4.

STAGE 5 - INTEGRATION: 58 - 95 EMPLOYEES

Companies with 58 to 95 employees are in Stage 5, the Integration Stage. In this Stage, the CEO must take the independent group of managers from Stage 4 and get them to work together as a harmonious, synergistic team. Read more about Stage 5.

STAGE 6 - STRATEGIC: 96 - 160 EMPLOYEES

Companies with 96 to 160 employees are in Stage 6, the Strategic Stage. In this Stage, the risk of not seeing the larger strategic picture could cause the ‘too little, too late’ syndrome. The planning horizon must go beyond a year in order to compete in the marketplace. Read more about Stage 6.

STAGE 7 - VISIONARY: 161 - 350 EMPLOYEES 

Companies with 161 to 350 employees are in Stage 7, the Visionary Stage. In this Stage, the CEO’s mission is to improve performance by stimulating higher levels of innovation and employee authorship. It is the stage of growth wherein the CEO makes an internal entrepreneurial “call to arms.” Read more about Stage 7.

Your business’s Stage of Growth is determined by the number of employees in the organization. People drive complexity in an organization, and ultimately, the rules that organization needs to follow in order to grow.

What are the rules of growth for my business?

The rules for growth at each stage are organized into 8 dimensions, listed below. Click on the links for each dimension to access a free assessment that tells you how that dimension applies to your company’s Stage of Growth.

• The Gates of Focus – All activity in an organization boils down to three Gates: People, Profit, and Process. Each of these areas is important for the organization, but their ideal priority changes as your business grows.
  

• The Classic Challenges - There are five key challenges most businesses routinely face in each Stage of Growth based on research and observation of small and midsized businesses. There are 24 Classic Challenges that show up as being the most prominent across the seven Stages.
  

• The Builder-Protector Ratio - The Builder-Protector Ratio measures the overall organizational mindset as it relates to the levels of confidence and caution within the company. You can think about this as how confident or cautious the organization feels as a whole. Is there much more confidence than caution?
  

• Modality - The three modalities or roles each organizational layer can perform are Dominant, Supportive, and Facilitative. For a given Stage of Growth, each layer assumes an ideal modality for the organization.
  

• Leadership Style Blend – It’s critical to understand that there is not just one “right” style of leadership. In fact, research shows that the optimal leadership style changes as your organization grows. The challenge is that our natural leadership style isn’t always the one our business needs. As leaders, we must be willing to adapt our leadership from what may be natural to what meets the needs of our organization.
  

• Three Faces of a Leader - The Three Faces are Visionary, Manager, and Specialist. The Three Faces of a Leader measures the proportion of time and energy a leader spends embodying the three primary leadership roles, or faces, within an organization.
  

• Non-Negotiable Rules - Like the tides of the ocean, the Rules are Non-Negotiable, and exist in your business whether or not you acknowledge them. Failure to abide by the rules results in stunted growth, backward movement, or worse. Non-Negotiable Rules cover the areas of:

  • Business Development

  • Business Model & Plan

  • Finance

  • Leadership

  • Operations

  • Workplace Community
    

• Elements of a Business - Elements are principles, methods, and tools that form key structures within an organization. Infusing an element into an organization helps to create an exceptional business. A resilient, growth-oriented organization is built upon these elements.

The Stage of Growth Cards document the rules of growth for each of the 7 Stages. Take the Stage of Growth assessment to get your Stage Card.

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How has the Stages of Growth changed over the years?

In 2017, The ReWild Group initiated the first major update to the time-tested 7 Stages of Growth methodology. While preserving the integrity of the 7 Stages of Growth’s ability to accurately diagnose, prescribe, and predict what occurs in businesses, The ReWild Group has released the first major new advancements known as Organizational ReWilding Stages of Growth (“Organizational ReWilding”).

The methodology has developed over the years, and is more powerful and applicable today than ever. Read the entire history here.

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Scaling Up and Organizational ReWilding

What is the difference between Scaling Up and Organizational ReWilding?

We’ve been asked this question a lot. You may have even wondered about the answer yourself. This blog describes both consulting methodologies, and how they can work together in a business.

Scaling Up

Scaling Up is a curated, best-of-breed platform organized by four key decision points. It is also known as Gazelles.

• Scaling Up’s key decision points are: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash.

• Scaling Up can be configured to a business, but the configuration is not based on a structured methodology.

• Scaling Up acts as a connector/switchboard to other methodologies.

Organizational ReWilding

Organizational ReWilding is a growth methodology that helps businesses understand and master the rules of growth.

• Organizational ReWilding products fall within leadership, infrastructure, strategy, and culture. These areas overlap with the four key decision points, with the exception of Cash.

• The foundation of Organizational ReWilding is that businesses go through seven Stages of Growth based on their number of employees. All solutions are configured based on a business’ Stage.

• Organizational ReWilding is based on its own propriety research and methodology.

Organizational ReWilding and Scaling Up

Organizational ReWilding complements Scaling Up by prescribing specific solutions in three of the four decision points that Scaling Up identifies. A business owner who has implemented Scaling Up will benefit most from these packages:

Scaling Up Decision Point: People

• One-to-One Process

• Brand & Core Values

• Strong Management Team

• Organizational Structure

Scaling Up Decision Point: Strategy

• Business Model

• Business Growth Framework

• Business Development Structure

Scaling Up Decision Point: Execution

• Interdepartmental Planning

• Key Performance Indicators

• Master Processes

• Meeting Structure

Business owners can also benefit from the insights provided by the ReWild Business Assessment, which provides a unique and comprehensive view of the business.

What is the difference between EOS® and Organizational ReWilding?

What is the difference between EOS® and Organizational ReWilding?

We’ve been asked this question a lot. You may have even wondered about the answer yourself. This blog describes both consulting methodologies, and how they can work together in a business.

EOS - The Entrepreneurial Operating System®

EOS is an operating system that helps businesses run more efficiently.

• EOS is an operating system focused on execution; it is not diagnostic or predictive.

• EOS has a standard approach for all businesses — the process of implementing the operating system.

• EOS focuses on creating repeatable operational rhythms that help organizations gain traction in the organization.

• EOS is implemented once, then revisited quarterly.

• EOS primarily focuses on the operational activities of the business.

Organizational ReWilding

Organizational ReWilding is a growth methodology that helps businesses understand and master the rules of growth.

• Organizational ReWilding diagnoses issues, prescribes solutions, and predicts what will be coming as the organization grows.

• Solutions are based on a business’ Stage of Growth and findings identified by a personalized ReWild Business Assessment.

• Organizational ReWilding identifies key elements missing in the organization and infuses those elements through structured consulting engagements. The 11 elements cover Strategy, Culture, Leadership, and Infrastructure.

• Infusing Organizational ReWilding elements into a business provides the organization with principles, tools, and methods that can be used ongoing. There is no requirement for ongoing engagement from a ReWilder.

• Organizational ReWilding facilitates the critical thinking needed to strengthen the strategy and tactics of an organization, which have a ripple effect into the operations.

Organizational ReWilding and EOS

Organizational ReWilding complements EOS by providing specific solutions that help a business spend time on critical thinking and strategy. Any business that has used EOS can also find value from Organizational ReWilding. A business owner who has implemented EOS would benefit most from packages that work ON the business, like these:

• Strong Management Team ensures the organization is led with a shared vision and common language. The Exceptional Manager Program instills the skills and mindset that grow the management team into the backbone of an exceptional business. The result is a cohesive management team that understands the business and is capable of owning more responsibility.

• Business Development Structure helps generate consistent and growing revenue through structure. This package infuses key structures into the business development functions (marketing, sales, and customer service) to ensure the company can reply on repeatable methods instead of specific individuals.

• Business Model architects a business to be more resilient and profitable. This package facilitates the critical thinking needed to make sure the business is headed in the right strategic and tactical direction.

• Business Growth Framework which creates organizational alignment to pursue growth by ensuring the management team understands a shared perspective on how businesses grow. This package identifies areas of misalignment and selects initiatives to ensure an organization is aligned with the rules of growth.

Business owners will also benefit from the ReWild Business Assessment, which provides a wholistic view of the businesses that informs what planning and operational initiatives are worked on in the quarterly EOS meetings.

Value Builder and Organizational ReWilding

What is the difference between The Value Builder System and Organizational ReWilding?

We’ve been asked this question a lot. You may have even wondered about the answer yourself. This blog describes both consulting methodologies, and how they can work together in a business.

The Value Builder System

The Value Builder System is a valuation tool that identifies ways to improve business value in preparation for exit.

• The research that grounds the Value Builder System is focused on how to successfully sell a business.

• It is primarily focused on the exit event and planning for the exit event.

• The initial assessment focuses the business leader on how to increase the value of the business.

Organizational ReWilding

Organizational ReWilding is a growth methodology that helps businesses understand and master the rules of growth.

• The research that grounds Organizational ReWilding is focused on how businesses successfully grow.

• Programs are applicable during all Stages of a company’s growth

• The ReWild Business Assessment focuses the business leader on what is keeping them from growing and offers specific solutions through Key Element Packages.
  

Organizational ReWilding and the Value Builder System

Organizational ReWilding complements the Value Builder System by providing specific solutions that help a business grow — and growing businesses increase in value. Any business that has used the Value Builder system can also find value from Organizational ReWilding. If the business owner who has used Value Builder’s program is focused on exiting the business, here are the key element packages that are best to consider:

• Strong Management Team — achieved through the Exceptional Manager Program — is needed to be able to carry the torch when the leader exits. A business that is less dependent on the owner and has a management team who carries significant responsibility is valued substantially higher than one with a weak management layer.

• Business Development Structure is essential in businesses where the business owner is currently the “rainmaker” who generates the majority of revenue. This package infuses key structures into the business development function to ensure the company can continue to generate consistent and growing revenue even after the owner’s exit.

• Organizational Structure — organizing the work independent of people — is necessary to clearly identify the positions the business leader is playing currently, and who will be taking over those positions after they leave. Providing potential buyers with a functional org chart and position role sheets will give them confidence the work is well-organized and positions are understood throughout the organization.

• Master Processes, utilizes process mapping techniques to infuse sound processes into an organization that are trainable, scalable, and repeatable. Documenting the foundational processes in living process documents reduces variability in the delivery of services, improving quality and positioning the organization for growth. Master Processes captures the institutional knowledge in a way that can be transferred with the sale.

Business owners who are planning to exit also benefit from the ReWild Business Assessment, which delivers a unique perspective of the business for both the current owner and potentially the future owner about how growth can be achieved.

The 7 Stages of Business Growth

The Origins of the Stages of Growth – Navigating the Growth Curve (James Fischer)

Over a decade ago, James Fischer published the book, Navigating the Growth Curve, in which he introduced a groundbreaking methodology for understanding how businesses grow.  Based on decades of research and observation of small and mid-sized businesses, Fischer discovered how the complexity of an organization drives the rules by which a business must operate to continue to grow.  The research also showed that the driver of complexity within a business the number of employees. 

Navigating the Growth Curve by James Fischer

The 7 Stages of Growth methodology identified specific ranges of employees that shared a common level of complexity.  For each Stage, the organization was provided the ideal alignment with seven areas or dimensions – Gates of Focus, Classic Challenges, Builder-Protector Ratio, Leadership Style, Three Faces of a Leader, Modality, and Non-Negotiable Rules. 

The Classic 7 Stages of Growth

Since its introduction, this revolutionary concept has been recognized for its uncanny ability to diagnose, prescribe, and predict what occurs in businesses.  The Stages of Growth has helped new businesses successfully navigate rapid growth and help stagnant businesses grow again. 

Champions of the Methodology - Laurie Taylor of Flashpoint! and TTI Success Insights (formerly Target Training International)

In addition to Fischer, the champions of the methodology have been Laurie Taylor of Flashpoint! and TTI Success Insights (formerly Target Training International).

Laurie Taylor of Flashpoint! and TTI Success Insights - Stages of Growth Matrix

After working with Fischer during the early years of the methodology, Laurie Taylor has spent over a decade as a spokesperson for the 7 Stages of Growth.  Taylor has personally trained hundreds of Growth Curve Specialists in the methodology across the U.S. and around the globe.  More recently, she has authored a series of books that delve into the each of the Stages of the Growth in more detail. 

Stages of Growth X-Ray™

Taylor’s Stages of Growth X-Ray™ is used by a business to gain consensus on the organization’s current stage, diagnose points of misalignment, and facilitate the selection of initiatives. 

Example of Stages of Growth X-Ray (Flashpoint!, Laurie Taylor, TTI Success Insights)

TTI Success Insights has built a reputation for innovative assessments for businesses. Prior to 2020, TTI collaborated with Taylor with training of independent consultants in the methodology and has supported an online Stages of Growth X-Ray™.

The Amplified Stages of Growth– Organizational ReWilding®

In 2017, The ReWild Group LLC was founded upon the acquisition of Fischer’s intellectual property, including his decades of research and copyright of Navigating the Growth Curve. 

ReWild Group’s goal is to provide comprehensive solutions to the Classic Stages of Growth methodology which complements the Classic’s ability to accurately diagnose and prescribe.

The expanded capabilities of the methodology demand a powerful analogy – one that goes beyond Navigating the Growth Curve – but remains true to the idea that businesses are complex ecosystems.

Example of upgraded Stages of Growth

The company and its new methodology – Organizational ReWilding® – get their name from the scientific concept of “rewilding”. The most well-known occurrence of rewilding in nature occurred in Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s. At that time, Yellowstone was an ecosystem on the verge of collapse due to an overabundance of elk.  The reintroduction of the grey wolf – a missing key systemic element – helped transform Yellowstone by restoring the natural balance of this ecosystem – what scientist refer to as “rewilding”. 

“The expanded capabilities of the methodology demand a powerful analogy – one that goes beyond Navigating the Growth Curve – but remains true to the idea that businesses are complex ecosystems.”

— Matthew Pohl, Founder and Principal of The ReWild Group

This story of rewilding Yellowstone shows us that infusing a missing element into an ecosystem can have a monumental impact – one that reverberates throughout and touches every part of the system, affecting it for years and decades to come. (Watch the Organizational ReWilding Story Video)

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Vastly Expanded Capabilities for Independent Consultants

Since 2017, The ReWild Group has launched several improvements to the original Stages of Growth methodology – what is now referred to as the “Classic” Stages of Growth.

Navigating the Growth Curve - EBook Version

UPdated Stages of Growth Matrix

While the core principles of the “Classic” Stages of Growth remained intact within the additional research Fischer performed since 2006, there were refinements that naturally were discovered.

One of the key improvements is the expansion of Non-Negotiable Rules for each Stage of Growth.  Furthermore, the Non-Negotiable Rules have been split into six categories to ensure proportional growth across these areas. 

In addition to this refinement, a major addition to the Stages of Growth Matrix is the identification of Elements – key structures that need to be infused into an organization.  These Elements act as the “grey wolf” in Yellowstone – once infused into a business’ ecosystem, there is a tremendous, positive ripple effect that spreads throughout the system addressing a myriad of surface symptoms.

Organizational ReWilding 7 Stages of Growth Matrix - Front (2021)

Key Element Packages

Whereas the “Classic” Stages of Growth was uniquely capable at diagnosing, prescribing, and predicting what was occurring within a business at a given Stage, it did not provide tangible solutions.  For example, the “Classic” Stages of Growth had a rule regarding overhauling a company’s “Business Model”  but did not define how to do that. 

The ReWild Group has developed a Business Model engagement that independent consultants can use to help clients architect a resilient and profitable business. This is just one of 11 new packages and programs that are available or in development by ReWild Group.

One program that is totally unique to Organizational ReWilding® is the Exceptional Manager Program. This is a 12-month management team program that infuses a strong management team into an organization.

The Element Wheel provide a summary of each element and common symptoms as a starting place to understanding these powerful structures. The book series Organizational ReWilding: Elements of an Exceptional Business highlights the key principles for each element and guidance on how to implement in an organization.

Elements of an Exceptional Business - New Capabilities of the Updated Stages of Growth

Online Stages of Growth Series

To make the Stages of Growth more accessible to today’s business leaders, ReWild Group has developed an Online Series that teaches the principles through an interactive learning platform. By moving the concepts from a book to an interactive platform, the ability for business leaders to learn and apply the Stages of Growth has increased exponentially. 

Organizational ReWilding Stages of Growth - Stage Cards - 2021

Most Comprehensive Stages of Growth Assessment

The Navigating the Growth Curve book introduced the concept of an “X-Ray” assessment that helped see beneath the surface of a business and understand the hidden agents at work. 

As part of the update, The ReWild Group introduced the most comprehensive Stages of Growth Assessment – called the ReWild Business Assessment.  This powerful assessment evaluates identifies the misalignment with the Stages of Growth dimensions while also identifying a business’ missing key elements.  Essentially, this assessment finds the missing “grey wolves” in a business. 

“When debriefing business owners on the ReWild Business Assessment findings, I had some of the deepest conversations I’d ever experienced with my clients – people I’ve been working with for many years. The findings presented in this report revealed discoveries about their business that wouldn’t have happened in the absence of this assessment.”

— Jim Neidhardt, Certified ReWilder (NJ, USA)

guidebook series for every stage of growth

Released in 2021, the Organizational ReWilding Rules for Business Growth is a series of books that explain the key dimensions within the Stages of Growth. Each book is relevant for a specific Stage, giving business owners and advisers tailored information for maximum impact.

The books are concise, designed to be read in less than 60 minutes. Each chapter closes with an illustrative example of what misalignment with that particular dimension looks like in action, and is followed by practical tips and thought-provoking questions. The guidebooks can be ordered online from Amazon in Kindle or paperbook format. Click here to learn more.

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Helping Growth Curve Specialists expand the impact of Stages of Growth

The “Classic” Stages of Growth methodology has been used by Growth Curve Specialists and other independent consultants to positively impact small and midsize businesses around the globe. 

Organizational ReWilding 7 Stages of Growth Matrix - Back (2021)

We encourage you to learn more about how this major update to Fischer’s original 7 Stages of Growth is achieving new levels of comprehension, effectiveness and enduring transformation in businesses. 

Feedback from certified Stages of Growth Advisers (TTI Success Insights fka Targeted Training International)

““Growth is a focus of my overall business philosophy, and that is why I have appreciated the Stages of Growth methodology for a number of years. Rather than just solving the immediate issues a business owner faces, it focuses on the root causes of barriers to growth. Previously, I never felt confident coming to the market with this methodology because it was not built out beyond the concepts. The ReWild Group has made tremendous advancements to the classical Stages of Growth material to the point it now has the tools I can use to apply this methodology to businesses.” ”

— Ron Laurie, Integ Solutions, Certified ReWilder (Australia)

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Become Certified in the Updated Version of the Stages of Growth

The ReWild Group is on a mission to multiply the number of exceptional businesses globally.  We’re accomplishing this through the compelling Organizational ReWilding methodology that is built on an expanded and refined Stages of Growth methodology. 

Join us in this mission. Become a ReWilder. 

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