Climb In Consulting Nick Synnott

The global pandemic threw a huge curveball at most businesses.

Face-to-face interactions became a thing of the past, and consultancies offering in-person services found themselves struggling to adapt.

But for Total Negotiation Group (TNG), strong leadership and a willingness to diversify helped turn the global crisis into a huge opportunity.

In the latest episode of Climb In Consulting, Nick caught up with Mark Grice, Co-founder of Total Negotiation Group (TNG), a successful global consultancy that helps its clients to build more sustainable and valuable commercial partnerships.

Nick and Mark explore how a clever pandemic pivot, along with a strong focus on asking the right questions, not only ensured the firm’s survival, but actually fueled phenomenal growth, helping them accelerate from £5m to £10m revenue during that time.

They also dive into a huge number of topics, including:

- The fascinating career journey that’s taken Mark from accounting to negotiating, via global stints at Guinness and Disney.
- Why commercial negotiation has little in common with talking down hostages - despite what the movies would have you believe!
- How TNG knew the time was right for them to expand into Australia – even though they were only in their second year of business.
- Why finding the right business partner offers far more benefits than simply having two heads rather than one.
- Why asking the right questions – and really listening to the answers – is the one crucial skill all business owners need to learn.

…and much more besides!

Mark’s story is fascinating and this episode is jam-packed with practical advice and insights for you to take away.

Reach out to Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markgrice1/
Learn more about Total Negotiation Group: https://www.totalnegotiation.com/

Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show:

When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures by Richard D. Lewis

Getting to Yes: Negotiating an Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury

In this episode of Climb in Consulting, we're bringing you something a little out of the ordinary, as we turn the tables and put our very own Nick Synnott under the spotlight!

Nick recently delivered an insightful and highly practical webinar, all about boosting ROI through effective content marketing.

We had so much great feedback on it that we decided to launch it for the podcast, so that you could benefit from what was shared as well.

In ‘Maximise Your ROI: 4 Secrets To Drive Your Marketing Success’, Nick explained the strategies and tactics that you can use to achieve outstanding results from your marketing.

Whether you're struggling to build brand awareness, generate leads or turn those leads into conversations, this episode is packed with actionable insights for you to take away and apply in your consultancy today.

Here's a taste of what you'll learn:
- The 4 secrets to successful consultancy marketing: Discover the fundamental elements that every successful marketing approach is built upon.
- How to put them into practice: The practical steps you can take to implement these secrets within your own consultancy.
- How to ensure ROI: How to leverage cost-effective tactics like webinars and whitepapers to generate the results you want to see.

If you’re leading a boutique consultancy and frustrated with your lack of marketing results, or you’re running marketing for your firm and want a framework to help you turn your activity into tangible ROI, then this episode is a must-listen.

Ready to unlock the secrets to marketing success? Tune in now.

We hope you enjoy the show!

In the consulting industry, we talk a lot about exits, most founders will have had the thought about selling their business and sailing off into the sunset, and many do! But there’s another side that’s often less considered, the acquisition side and who buys those businesses, focussing on scaling their firms to be bigger and better.

So, to take a deep dive on the less explored buy-side, David Bailey, seasoned advisor, lets us in on his expansive expertise and knowledge. This episode is packed with knowledge to help buyers understand what to look out for when acquiring a firm, and in turn, how to set your business up for sale.

David joins Nick to discuss a diverse career path that’s taken him from consulting entrepreneur to seasoned M&A advisor. Along the way, he's built, sold, and advised multiple consulting firms, accumulating a wealth of wisdom on specialisation, strategic positioning, and navigating the complex world of acquisitions.

In this episode, David and Nick cover a wide range of topics, including:
- Why being a generalist is the quickest way for consultancies to repel potential buyers, and why offering 30 different services is probably 29 too many.
- How to navigate the M&A maze, from maximising your firm's value and finding the right buyer, to making the right exit for you.
- What your employees’ LinkedIn profiles could be revealing to would-be buyers
- How David crafted a successful advisory career – and why building credibility and defining your unique value proposition are essential steps if you aspire to follow in his footsteps.

Whether you're a firm owner contemplating an exit strategy, an aspiring buyer seeking growth opportunities, or simply fascinated by the dynamics of deal-making, this episode is packed with invaluable insights.

Whether you're a consultancy owner contemplating an exit strategy, n aspiring buyer seeking growth opportunities or wanting to expand your knowledge on the art of deal-making, this episode is packed with invaluable insights.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Reach out to David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbailey47/

We’re all told that ‘land and expand’ is the only way to grow a consultancy. But what if we told you that you could grow a successful firm by doing the opposite, by providing fractional support to clients that will never need a huge team to help them deliver their goals.

Today’s guest has proven that it can be done, and in this episode we dive into how you can grow a substantial advisory business doing just that.

Graeme Freeman is Co-founder of Freeman Clarke, the largest & most experienced team of fractional IT leaders for the mid-market.

Having run IT services businesses, built commercial software products, and been a corporate CIO and non-executive director, Graeme had deep experience in IT. But stepping out into his own portfolio career, he saw the opportunity for something more. After considering various options and ideas, it was the chance meeting with Steve Clarke that led to launching Freeman Clarke. And the rest, as they say, is history.

By focusing on a niche market, fostering genuine client relationships, and taking a hands-on approach to delivery, Freeman Clarke has carved their own path to success that’s helped the business to scale, on both sides of the pond.

In this episode, Graeme and Nick dive in to the unorthodox path that Freeman Clarke has taken, and share many of the foundations that have led to their success, including:
- Why Freeman Clarke focuses on the mid-market and the benefits to working with clients of this size.
- How Freeman Clarke have built their marketing machine and the long term view they take that’s helped them turn trickles of leads into a volcano of new business.
- And how Freeman Clarke have been able to grow their business so successfully, by being laser focused on client satisfaction and staying true to their core service proposition.

This interview is a fantastic reminder that there’s always ways to do things differently in consulting and that there’s often hidden benefits from taking the path less travelled.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Reach out to Graeme: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freemangraeme?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BKM8CblTiSZubazXv%2Bl36sw%3D%3D

Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show:
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Edward de Bono's series of books on thinking

There are countless paths to achieving a successful consulting career, and on Climb In Consulting, we thought we’d heard them all. But who knew the secrets to scaling successful consulting firms could be learned while managing a fast-food franchise?

Marc Jantzen’s unique journey to becoming the consulting expert he is today, is a masterclass in reinvention and resilience. Get ready to dig your teeth into Marc’s story, which proves that sometimes, it’s the most unexpected paths that can lead to the most exciting careers.

After deciding the world of bean-counting wasn't his cup of tea, Chartered Accountant Marc took a radical leap into hospitality, taking on the role of managing a whole region of restaurants.

Having gained extensive management experience in that role, Marc joined his sister's firm, Blue Sky, and together they navigated the ever-changing landscape of the consulting industry for 17 years. Their journey culminated in a major coup – selling the firm to Capita, a testament to their strategic savvy and entrepreneurial spirit.

But instead of relaxing on a beach with a piña colada, as many others might have done, Marc embarked on the next stage of his adventure, advising other consulting firms on how they could achieve the growth that he and Blue Sky had.

That’s when he noticed a recurring pattern – common business challenges that were specific to the consulting world. And thus, The Consultancy Growth Network was born. Something Marc and Nick talk all about in this episode.

In this wisdom-packed interview, Marc shares his decades of knowledge on how to build a successful consulting firm, including:

Why working for KFC head office inspired him to pursue his own consultancy.
- The common challenges he sees consulting firms facing, time and time again – and how to overcome them
- Why defining, and refining, your value proposition might be the most important thing you do
- And how Blue Sky went from £30,000 profit one year to over £800,000 the next, and the lessons you can apply to enable your firm to do the same

If you’re currently planning how to scale your consultancy over 2024 and want to know the critical steps you can take to rapidly grow your firm, then this interview is a must listen.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Reach out to Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebusinessgrowthspecialist/
Learn more about The Consultancy Growth Network: https://hubs.la/Q02kQTTc0

Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show:

Beyond Performance by Scott Keller and Colin Price
SuperCoach by Michael Neal
Untethered Soul by Michael Singer

There are countless organisations out there claiming to do business differently. So much so, that ‘disruptive’ has become a permanent fixture in games of buzzword bingo. But very few organisations are actually breaking the mould, and only the rarest exceptions can truly back up their claim of disrupting the way traditional business is done.

Our guest on the latest episode of Climb in Consulting is one such exception. Simon Dixon is Founder and CEO of Hatmill, the UK’s largest logistics consultancy, and no.1 in the Great Place To Work® list of the UK’s best small workplaces.

The 60-strong consultancy, established in 2009, delivers end-to-end supply chain and logistics support to deliver improvements across warehousing, transport, forecasting and inventory.

Hatmill was always going to be different. It arose from Simon’s dissatisfaction with the employee experience in conventional consultancies – the hierarchical structures, grades, pressure to achieve KPIs and targets, and the assumption that everyone wants to climb the greasy ladder to make partner.

With Hatmill, Simon stripped all of that away. There are no grades, no managers, no sales targets and no KPIs. And while this approach may sound counterintuitive, it’s helped them build a successful consultancy that’s also recognised as one of the best places to work in Europe. In fact, in its 2023 survey, 100% of its employees said it was a great place to work.

In this episode, Nick and Simon cover a lot of ground, delving into the details of how Hatmill has grown, and how it’s managed (or rather, self-managed) on a day-to-day basis. You’ll find out:

- How Hatmill have built a self managed team and the key tenets that underpin their unique business model.

- The reason Hatmill doesn’t have grades or promotions, and why this has been a huge contributor to their success.

- Why Hatmill eschews the traditional, corporate appraisal model – and why their only measures are whether employees are living Hatmill’s values, and performance against other people’s expectations

- The reason Hatmill doesn’t have traditional HR policies, and why, in an ideal world, Simon would prefer there to be no CEO at all.

If you’re looking for a fresh approach to running your consultancy, this could be just what you need!

We hope you enjoy the show!

Reach out to Simon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-dixon-hatmill/?originalSubdomain=uk

Learn more about Hatmill: https://hatmill.com/

Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show:

Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness, by Frédéric Laloux

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It, by Michael E. Gerber

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, by Chris Voss