Business Coaching

We believe in a culture of abundance at ActionCOACH, which is one reason we honor the hard work and, most importantly, the results, of all of our coaches with regional conferences and awards.

At our latest Asia Pacific Conference, which took place at the Luxurious Sofitel, Broadbeach in Queensland, Australia, dozens of coaches were honored with awards signifying their achievements throughout 2010.

The award winners were:

Coach of the Year: Bruce Campbell

Rookie Coach of the Year: George Zenon

Most Improved Coach: Nick Ikonomou

Best Client Results: Brett Burden

Best Awarded Client: Andrew Masi

Best Client Retention: Hank de Smit

Associate Coach of the Year: Christine Beard

ProfitCLUB Award: Rueben Taylor

ActionCLUB Award: Business Coaching Sydney

GrowthCLUB Award: Simon Harris

Master Licensee of the Year: Vic Ciuffetelli

Coaches’ Choice ActionCOACH: (tie) Gavin Bassett and Craig Brewster

Coaches’ Choice AbundanceCOACH: Gerard Liddy

Coaches’ Choice SeminarCOACH: Craig Brewster

Coaches’ Choice NetworkCOACH: Terri Billington

Coaches’ Choice BrandCOACH: Gavin Bassett

Coaches’ Choice MarketingCOACH: Ben Fewtrell

Coaches’ Choice SalesCOACH: Ashley Thomson

Coaches’ Choice TeamCOACH: David Guest

Coaches’ Choice Forum Poster of the Year: Cynthia Wihardja

ActionMAN Awards:
Mark Blum
Mike Rady
Wayne Gillan
Andrew Laurie
Paul Henshall
Leon Bingham
Anil Puri
Nathan McDonald
Blair Harding
Ariel Inigo
Rob and Faye Caughey
Maresa Ng
Steve Leach
Maylani Wiaji

Congratulations to all the winners and we are looking forward to what each and every one of you accomplish in 2011.

For some businesses, finding ways to build their brand through exclusivity and scarcity is a way to create special value about their product. Take Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery for example.

The company produces some of the finest aged bourbon in the world, but you won’t find it on the shelves of your local liquor store because the company only makes about 7000 cases a year.

Due to that scarcity, more often than not, stores don’t even stock the bourbon, they just let their best customers know the bourbon is on the way and the rest takes care of itself.

This strategy hasn’t slowed down sales, in fact it’s helped. The two- person, family owned company generated sales of more than $2 million last year.

By creating an exclusive feel around their product, they can raise prices just about every year while keeping demand for their product high.

Their market share is not predicated on price, it’s predicated on quality and scarcity, and that has allowed them to carve a sizeable niche and run their company profitably.

Imagine this scenario.

You get a phone call from your business because your team caught a customer trying to steal. When they detain the customer, they find the customer has a gun.

Your employee handbook specifically says that team members should not confront someone with a weapon in the store, but in a closed room, with a store full of shoppers just outside the door, your team has to make a quick decision.

They don’t want to let the armed man out into the store and possibly injure or kill someone.

They choose to disarm the person and hold him until the police come.

There is no loss of life, property and, in fact, the members of the team who disarmed the suspect are heroes, aren’t they?

This exact scenario happened in a Wal-Mart in Layton Utah recently. Guess what reward the team members got for their bravery and fast thinking?

They were fired.

It seems they violated the employee handbook which prohibits confronting people with weapons, so despite their bravery they were let go.

What would you do if your employees responded in an atypical, but productive way when confronted with a difficult situation?

Would you allow your team to make decisions that can save your business or even your customers if it was the right thing to do at the time?

Hopefully your business won’t be faced with a similar situation as the Wal-Mart in Layton, Utah, but empowering your team to respond in difficult situations is important to any business and an important aspect to team building.

For the second consecutive year The Home Depot will be providing “Spring Black Friday” sales.

The big difference this year is that the company will be hiring as many as 60,000 workers nationwide to deal with all of the customers expected to take advantage of the sale.

Home Depot is able to hire so many new workers because it has done its due diligence in regards to its customer base.

The company knows that many of its customers use the spring to make renovations to their homes.

They are using this knowledge to generate strong sales numbers in what is typically a down time of year in the retail industry.

According to Home Depot spokesman Craig Fishel, “You have folks who have been for several months sitting around planning the projects they want to do in the spring or the summer. They are finally able to get out in the spring and do that.”

So do you target your ideal customers the way Home Depot does? Do you know when they will buy from you and when you should add staff to deal with more customers?

Hiring a Business Coach is a big step for any business and should not be entered into lightly. You have to find out if they would be a good fit with your business by asking some questions.

First, find out about their background. Are they a generalist or a specialist?

What is their background? Have they been trained to handle any eventuality your business may face?

Have they had success?

Don’t be afraid to ask for references from other businesses they have worked with.

Business Coaches often use referrals to find new customers, so they should want you to talk to businesses they’ve worked with in the past. In this way, you can understand just how valuable their services are.

Next, ask them about the issues they see in your business.

It’s important that you and your Business Coach are properly aligned and moving toward the same goals. Make sure you’re on the same page and they see the same issues you do.

Finally, get to know them a bit. Your Business Coach will play a big part in the growth of your business and, hopefully, an increased balance in your life.

Remember, your Business Coach is going to be your confidant, your sounding board and an invaluable resource.

At the same time they will challenge you and force you face the real problems in your business, so if you don’t have a mutual respect, the relationship probably won’t work as well as it could.

Every Conference we produce at ActionCOACH is a special event, but the Global Conference talks on a different feel because so many of our coaches from around the world are together in one place. Every year it’s a great opportunity to learn, network and have a good time and this year’s Global Conference will take place at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida from August 21 through 26.

What is really exciting about the 2011 Global Conference is that it will feature the strongest lineup of speakers we have ever had.

Three world famous speakers, Stedman Graham, Dr. Ivan Misner and Les Brown are set to talk to the world’s largest collection of Business Coaches and the knowledge they each have within their respective fields of expertise are sure to illuminate and inspire.

Graham will be the featured speaker on Monday August 22 and he is sure to get the Conference off to a rousing start.  Graham has authored ten books, including two New York Times bestsellers, “You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success” and “Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success. Build Your Own Life Brand!”

In his speaking engagements he explores the concept of personal and professional branding.

He is also a former adjunct professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago where he taught a leadership course, while at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, he taught a management strategy course entitled “The Dynamics of Leadership.” Graham also founded and directed George Washington University’s Forum for Sport and Event Management and Marketing – the first program of its kind in the country.

The next day, Tuesday August 23, Dr. Ivan Misner will be the featured speaker. Dr. Misner is the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization.

The organization has over 5,800 chapters throughout the world. Last year alone, BNI generated 6.5 million referrals resulting in $2.8 billion dollars worth of business for its members.

Dr. Misner has been called the “Father of Modern Networking” by CNN and the “Networking Guru” by Entrepreneur magazine, and he is considered one of the world’s leading experts on business networking. He has also been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, as well as numerous TV and radio shows including shows on CNN, CNBC, and the BBC .
Motivational speaker Les Brown will be speaking on Wednesday August 24. Through persistence and determination Brown has initiated and continued a process of unending self-education which has led him to be known as an authority on human potential. His books, “Live Your Dreams” and “It’s Not Over Until You Win” are seminal works in the area of personal motivation.

Brown’s passion to learn and his hunger to realize greatness in himself and others has helped him to achieve greatness. His climb to success is legendary as he rose from a morning DJ to broadcast manager; from community activist to community leader; from political commentator to 3-term legislator; and from a banquet and nightclub emcee to premier keynote speaker.

As you can see, each of these speakers brings a different perspective on the world of business that will be useful for every Business Coach within the ActionCOACH system.

Of course, there will be even more information, plans and strategies available to the Business Coaches attending the Global Conference this year so the entire week promises to be an outstanding opportunity to learn, network and have a good time.

Where can you go to find the largest gathering of business coaches in North America? From Sunday January 16^th through Friday January 21st, 2011, the best place to find all that talent will be the Aliante Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they will be taking part in ActionCOACH’s Americas Conference.

Hundreds of business coaches from Canada, Mexico, and the United States are expected to come to Las Vegas for six days of training, information and a variety of workshops and social events.

This event will focus on business development strategies for Business Coaches, including sales, scheduling, the best ways to present seminars, how to fill a series of free seminars and other marketing tactics for generating and keeping new and existing clients.

The Conference will also feature speakers from throughout the ActionCOACH system, including ActionCOACH Chairman and Founder Brad Sugars and CEO of U.S. and Canada Jodie Shaw.

The event will culminate with the company’s annual Awards Dinner, which will take place Wednesday night. During the dinner, top Business Coaches from the region will be honored for their achievements and results throughout 2010.

Aliente Station/ ActionCOACH

This is always one of the most exciting events in the world of business coaching and as ActionCOACH Founder and Chairman Brad Sugars said, “I look forward to this event every year because it is a great opportunity for coaches to gain knowledge by speaking with other coaches who have experienced challenges and successes in our industry.”

J.Crew has evolved from flannel to fashionable with the help of brand management.

Remember when J.Crew menswear was mostly about flannel?

Men, you have Frank Muytjens, head of men’s design for J.Crew, to thank for the transformation in the preppy retailer’s menswear selections in recent years.

Muytjens told Bloomberg BusinessWeek that he listened to what J.Crew’s male customers wanted and responded to current trends. While retail has struggled during the U.S. recession, it seems that menswear could be a big opportunity for sales; at least for J.Crew — besides the growth the menswear division has seen, J.Crew made $44.7 million in this year’s first quarter, up from $20.4 million in 2009′s first quarter.

Collaboration also helps broaden J.Crew’s appeal — Ray Ban, Levi’s and Sperry are just some of the 40 partnerships J.Crew has.

Sometimes just listening to what your customer wants can have a great effect…that can be great for your business.

Instead of flannel, plaid, and more flannel, J.Crew’s menswear has evolved to two suit silhouettes, the Ludlow and Aldrige, sperry top-siders and stylish ankle boots.

What can listening to your customer do? Can it get you more business?