A Registered Training Organisation (RTO) on the move, ASLS’s new website needed to centralise three training branches under the one URL. Simple to navigate from a user perspective yet complex from the backend with numerous booking forms tailored for each course, the new website sets a very high standard for other industry RTOs.

The brief:

• 400 words (max)
• Compelling and yet easy to read
• Call to action, multiple mentions of company name
• Draw card – identify the unique selling proposition of the course
• List of benefits the qualification can provide

The Ad Agency recently attended Verne Harnish’s ‘Go for Growth’ seminar in Brisbane. This one-day conference focused on key components from Verne’s best-selling book, ‘Mastering the Rockefeller Habits’. We’re happy to share the key points below taken from this year’s seminar. If you’d like to become a member of ‘The Growth Faculty’ simply register your details here. The Ad Agency has implemented Verne Harnish’s teachings for several businesses; including our own, and we highly recommend purchasing his book, becoming a member of ‘The Growth Faculty’ and attending these seminars.

Key points:

• Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

1. Set KPIs whereby the function matches the strategy: as opposed to setting KPIs where the person matches the position; i.e. don’t assign KPIs based on the person’s ability in that role. Set KPIs based on the position they’re in to what needs to be achieved strategically for that role. Verne suggests this is a good way to ensure the right person is in the right (or capable in the) role.

2. The Head of Company’s KPI should be to ensure everyone who reports to them directly achieves their KPIs.

3. Separate “Sales” and “Marketing” functions and titles – they’re very different core competencies.

4. Choose a couple words the company should own. For instance: Verne is “the growth guy”; Volvo is “safety”. What couple words does your business want to stake its claim? These words can be applied heavily to the website, collateral, and in search engines.

• Read, read, read! Commit to routine leaning. Out-learn, out-think, our-idea the competition.

1. Verne’s consultants encourage leadership teams to read certain chapters of a book (overlapping), then report back in a group the key learning that can be applied to the business.

2. You cannot self help: no one has ever achieved peak performance without a coach or mentor.

3. Set your objectives and get a coach (or an expert in their field) to assist to achieve each objective.

4. Know your strengths and apply that to your role. Don’t try and work on your weaknesses. Get someone else to do the role.

• Measurable brand promises

1. ‘Cheapest prices’, ‘delivery overnight’, ‘service delivery’, etc. if you can’t measure your brand promise how will you know if you’re hitting your goals?

2. If it can’t be measured then how can we see how we’re performing?

• Specialise

1. Know what products or services generate revenue, and focus on being the best at delivering that product or service to the market. For example, Apple being a billion dollar company are able to fit their entire product range on an average sized table. Apple has so few products, but they leverage using itunes, apps, etc.

2. If you don’t specialise (and gain a competitive advantage), someone will and take away your market by doing ‘things’ better.

• Use the phone/face to face to close deals (proposals), get payment of invoices.

1. Never email a proposal without an immediate follow up phone call. Take as much time as required to talk clients through. Build the value. Ideally, see the decision maker face-to-face and talk them through the proposal.

2. Know the account payable clerk’s name. Build a relationship. Send the client a lotto ticket if you have to (as an example) to the clerk if they paid their account on time.

3. No “Payable in 30 days” written on invoices. Instead, have a “Due date”. Make the copy red. Make the invoice a different colour if it will stand out from the rest in a pile.

4. Get the MD to “ok” every single expense if required to find out how to save money in certain areas.

5. Cash is king! Most important figure is to know current cash position. More than net profit or revenue.

• Top 2 skills for Managing Directors – negotiation and interviewing.

1. Hire for motivation; not skills

2. People quit people; not companies.

3. Stop demotivating behaviours, as opposed to trying to motivate.

4. Fully prepare before hiring: have the desk, phone, email, computer set up. Don’t have a new employee start until the preparations are ready.

5. Four reasons staff leave – 1. Do I get to put my strengths to work? 2. ‘Connectiveness’ to the role 3. Feeling appreciated. 4. Pay

6. Company cultures rarely change; behaviours do.

• Meetings

1. Develop a meeting rhythm – daily huddle, weekly catch up, monthly report review and quarterly leadership team strategic meetings.

2. Have back to back meetings – will be easier to spot gaps from one department to another.

1. Daily huddle – 1. What’s up today. 2. Daily metrics (numbers that matter – cash position of the company, bums on seats, bookings, enquiries, proposals, etc). 3. Where are you stuck? No more than 2 minutes each person. Take offline if required. Not problem solving – identification.
2. Encourage “real time” communication. Hear, not read. Looking for patterns, numbers, names, schedules. Give specifics in meetings. A proposal, “who”? Looking for departments to pick up on info from other departments.

3. Routine and discipline (in regards to priorities, data metrics, and meeting rhythms) are vital.

4. Put aside 3 x 90 minute uninterrupted sessions a day to work on current priorities. You’ll achieve more doing this than you would working a 12 hour day. That means no interruptions, no checking emails, no meetings, taking calls or texts – that’s what the rest of the day is for.