editor’s note: This occasional column aims to highlight problems confronted by small businesses in Colorado and how they were solved. This installment is in the words of Ryan Hellman, president of Hellman & Associates Inc.
The company:
Hellman & Associates is an environmental health and safety consulting firm that works across multiple industries to monitor changing OSHA regulations, assess job sites for hazards, train English- and Spanish-speaking workers and document safety and environmental programs.
The problem:
An outside sales consultant uncovered a flaw in H&A’s business development strategy that disincented the consulting team from driving organic growth (i.e. seeking service contract renewals of existing clients and upselling new business). Overall team goals had been established rather than individual goals, which created a sense of internal competition for some and disdain for others. While client-facing consultants are more service-oriented and less sales-focused, they were still expected to maintain their accounts and attempt to grow them. Overall, there was great frustration that they were now being held accountable for their billable hours and expected to both service and sell their accounts.
The solution:
Although these events have all happened within the February/March 2010 time frame, there have been two notable outcomes:
1) requests for proposals as generated by the consultants with their existing clients have doubled so far in April.
2) 100 percent of the consultants are now working on a proposal, whereas only 25 percent initiated new opportunities in previous months. Though there are no new deals closed, as yet, this revised strategy appears to have motivated the team enough to participate more successfully in the business development process.
Contact: Ryan Hellman, president, Hellman & Associates Inc., 303-384-9828, rhellman@ehscompliance.com
