The Leadership Sphere is a leadership development consultancy firm working with ASX 100 companies and smaller businesses with turnover of $5–10 million. They specialise in creating breakthrough performance through leadership and culture consultation, team facilitation, and executive coaching. Their key outcomes include cultural change and alignment to drive business objectives, leadership development, and team development.
Background
The Leadership Sphere were having great success with their service offering but were unsure how to scale the business. They did not have long-term strategies in place, and the Managing Director realised that they needed to work strategically to grow the business to $2 million and beyond.
As is common in the small business sector, the Managing Director found themselves working in the business rather than on the business.
The Opportunity
The Leadership Sphere needed specialist support to scale their business.
The Solution
Initial discussions revealed a problem in marketing the business. Investigation was undertaken through a mini Discovery Roadmap. The mini Roadmap is typically a smaller-scale version of the deeper strategic planning process, applicable for businesses with a critical focus on one area or functional discipline and a short-term results timeline.
A core problem for many small businesses is separating issues that will make a difference and understanding how to move them forward. In this instance, the business owner had a clear understanding of the problem but did not have the functional expertise to analyse issues and determine the root cause to devise insights and strategies to overcome them.
The Process
The mini Discovery Roadmap focused on the marketing function of the business. A one-day workshop was held to review customer segments, marketing messaging, marketing channels, the business value proposition, and how best to position the business for sustainability and growth.
A Roadmap was delivered to the business with a detailed implementation plan to be executed over the following 12 months. The delivery plan included tactics for marketing operations, procedures, processes, brand, communications, digital, content, and CRM.
As with many small businesses, The Leadership Sphere did not have the internal resources or capabilities to implement the plan. This led to a second phase of engagement — a marketing specialist engaged on a part-time basis each week for 12 months to deliver the plan, achieve objectives, and meet growth targets.
The Outcome
Initial results included achievement of the following:
- Business value: A clearly defined value proposition
- Structure: Redesigned the business structure
- Products: Strategic plan for short and mid-term (3–5 years) product and service offerings
- Marketing plan, channels, and resources:
- Design of a marketing plan aligned with business objectives
- Design and implementation of a LinkedIn social media strategy
- Customer experience audit of the website
- Appointment of an SEO and SEM provider
Within 12 months of the initial engagement and after 12 months of marketing service, The Leadership Sphere met its growth targets and doubled revenue by February 2020.
“The specialist we engaged with has been outstanding in terms of his investment in the business and his ‘skin in the game’! He has been energetic and humorous, but this has been combined with absolute brevity in guidance and support, and not being afraid to give good hard feedback.
It has felt like an enjoyable, fun relationship with a serious business process and outcome. He has become so ensconced in our business that he doesn’t seem like an outside service provider who catches up occasionally — he is in touch with me nearly every day with advice or support, and it feels like he is 100 percent in our business, which is pretty amazing!”