Remodeling a 40 Year Old Business: Bob Riddick Home Services, Inc.
We sat down with Bob Riddick recently to get some real perspective on his experience with ActionCOACH Tampa Bay!
Life before business coaching…
Bob started with ActionCOACH in February of 2015 per the recommendation of his marketing firm. Prior to getting involved in business coaching, there was no formal business plan, financial plan, or clearly defined succession plan for the business to afford Bob the opportunity for retirement. Bob recounts, “Our financial outlook consisted of living life out of the checkbook, we always knew where the business stood by how the checkbook looked, this was the basis of how my business was run.”
Typical to many businesses, Mr. Riddick found he and his team were spending the majority of their time everyday working IN the business versus ON the business. “Prior to ActionCOACH, I didn’t know the difference between those two things,” Bob says.
From his business manager, support staff, and crew, everyone’s focus was primarily on what jobs were in the pipeline that week or month versus a long-term focus.
Life with ActionCOACH Business Coaching Tampa Bay
Today, there are many key areas Bob and his team can credit to their business coaching experience. From the first month Bob says, “Juliet provided a foundation and format for metrics reporting and tracking leads to help us know monthly what is happening with the business, to finding things such as the number of new leads we receive, where they are coming from, conversion rates and what types of contracts and jobs these leads turn into.” This knowledge has drastically changed the organization’s sales and marketing endeavors.
Having a new grasp on these key metrics as well as a better understanding of the company’s accounting and financials, Bob Riddick and his team were able to identify strengths and weaknesses. “I was even able to identify a key member of leadership who was actually counterproductive to our mission and was guiding us in the wrong direction” Bob confirms. A perspective that paved the way in 2016 for a new name and an expansion in home improvement services, the organization has substantial growth potential to triple their business. Coaching was crucial in this dramatic new direction and the effects on everything from company morale to customer service is evident. Even the roofing and remodeling crews are proud to wear their new uniforms to represent the new brand!
Personal life is still a key area of focus this year for Mr. Riddick as he balances a 7-days a week schedule. However, he is now able to take short vacations to visit family twice as much as before. With a focus ON his business, Bob has been able to delegate 60% of the tasks he was spending his time on every week over to other key employees in the company. He has found invaluable time through this delegation that allows him to actually work on the strategy for his company.
What is it like being coached by business coaches?
Bob’s coaching happens 95% via the phone and 5% in person, the ActionCOACH approach doesn’t lose any effectiveness when carried out over the phone. Coaching is something Bob looks forward to every Thursday now. “Thinking back to the very first package I received it walked me through the coaching process and it was dead on; I did question after the first 3-4 months what I was getting from the program and Juliet walked me through it and was very supportive along the way.” Bob credits Juliet as his coach for knowing so much about the process and what it takes to move a business owner forward in their business.
To those considering coaching and the investment…
“It’s a worthwhile investment; unless you have a million dollars in the bank and a buyer for your company you need a business coach. Any other scenario you are not in a position where you can’t see a business that is sellable and can run without you and you can’t afford not to have one”! Bob says confidently.
Like most clients, Bob has found the ActionCOACH team has a huge variety of information and resources to handle any type of situation or challenge that comes up in a coaching session. “It’s uncanny how anything we discuss Juliet can send me something immediately that helps me learn more about that subject,” Bob says.
Juliet has recently introduced Bob to Jim Rohn’s motivational videos and they provide a great deal of push and drive for him. He actually keeps a list of them on his desktop to click on and watch weekly as a motivational resource.