Today we’d like to introduce you to Shirley Staten.
Shirley, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I worked in Corp America for almost 30 years as a manager of sales, customer service, operations and marketing teams in the Semiconductor components industry. My responsibilities included recruiting (mostly recent college grads), coaching and developing sales teams to service small and medium-size businesses and preparing the team for other positions in the organization.
I developed a coaching management style and believed in empowering the team to grow so they could reach their individual potential. During this time, I was also coaching friends and business owners for free, because I enjoyed helping them make the improvements needed to help their businesses succeed. When I was laid-off in 2017, one of my former “free” clients, challenged me to start my own practice. I decided to buy a franchise because I wanted to be linked to a company, have access to tools and other training resources needed to service clients and have a network of other coaches with various backgrounds that I could leverage to services my clients.
Since launching, the more I interact with business owners of all sizes and years in business, the more I see the need for business coaches. I have found there are challenges that the owners have no idea how to resolve or how to leverage opportunities. As a sales and customer service leader, I coached teams to service accounts at every stage of the business, from concept through production, which required us to understand every functional area of the business, because they are all connected. Therefore, if a client’s challenge is low sales, and we resolve the issues, then they need to be prepared to handle the increase in sales activity, which can touch other aspects of the business from production, operations, customer service, product quality, logistics, finance, etc. This is why the coaching process requires me to look at the key areas of the business and help create an executable strategic plan to address the immediate challenge while understanding the impact on other areas. The ultimate goal is to increase sales and developing operations efficiencies to increase revenue and net profits.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not easy, but still rewarding. I’m still working to find clients who are ready to transform their business and take them to the next level. The biggest struggle is, although, every business owner, regardless of the number of years in business, are not ready to make the investment of time and money. I find there are four common reasons why many are not ready to invest in a coaching program. One, they assume it’s too expensive and see it as a financial expense instead of an investment. Two, they had a bad experience in the past with a consultant or another coach. Three, they are not committed to investing the time needed to achieve goals. Four, they don’t truly understand what I do and how they will benefit from my services. I know that I can help businesses determine what actions are needed to grow their business, improve operational efficiencies and ultimately, give them more time to enjoy the rewards of their hard work. When I’m speaking to a business owner and see the light bulb go off, I know they are “getting it”, so then we can typically move to the next step.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I work with small and medium-size businesses, specializing in sales and customer service, but ultimately, analyzing all aspects of the business to prepare them to grow their business.
The process includes a conversation that involves me asking probing questions to learn more about their business and flushing out the biggest challenges they are facing and what they have done in the past to address the challenge(s) or if they have a plan in place to address the challenge(s). The conversations also touch on the opportunities for the business and skills/strengths of the leadership team.
If the prospect is interested, then the next step is a complimentary coaching session using the information provided during the initial conversation, so the prospect can experience an actual coaching session if they decide to move forward with a coaching program. At AdviCoach, we have 21 Key Impact Success Strategies (KISS) that we used to help transform businesses and take them to the next level. We use these strategies to customized a coaching program, along with other tools and techniques to assure we are addressing issues/opportunities for each client. In addition to the tools used, I have a network of coaches that I can leverage with backgrounds in almost every business areas that you can imagine, manufacturing, logistics, Sales, Marketing, Organization Dev, Strategic Planning, just to name a few.
In addition to the tools and resources available through AdviCoach, I’m also building my network of partners, in sports terms, “special assistants”, to help my clients, in specialized areas, such as Bookkeeping, Marketing, IT and other key areas of the business that can be outsourced until they have a need to add positions to their staff. Together, we determine which functions should be outsourced, why, and expected results. I help them find qualified professional service providers that I have personally vetted or received as referrals. Helping clients understand all aspects of their business will help them move from working in the business to working on the business.
Throughout the process, the clients are held accountable to assure they are executing on action items and become the biggest cheerleader as they continue to knock goals out of the park.
My target clients are small manufacturers or contract manufactures with up to 100 employees who are struggling with sales.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I will continue to align myself with organizations that can help me reach my target clients. In addition, I will continue to do presentations and host events that are designed to educate and connect business owners. I currently have two bi-weekly groups called Business Networking with a Purpose. In August, I’m hosting an event called, Speed Networking with a Purpose. Each event is designed to educate, make connections to professional services and ultimately referrals. I’m planting seeds and preparing myself for the harvest.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.advicoach.com/sastaten
- Phone: 480-650-2274 (M) or 972-492-7498 (O)
- Email: sastaten@advicoach.com
- Facebook: SAStaten Advicoach
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirleyastaten/
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