We were lucky to catch up with Sophie Chiche recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sophie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
An international consulting firm – with offices in NY, LA, and London – growing to 25 employees in the past year, specializing in team building and leadership training.
The problem
With all consultants working remotely, no centralized office, and no in-person connection, the tension between consultants and the rest of the staff started to affect team efficiency. Not having agreed upon protocols of communication, relationships became strained. Random meetings were prompted only to manage crises, so no proactive actions were generated.
In addition, the company had no sales department to speak of, relying exclusively on referrals – which had dried up due to more aggressive competition
.
And to further complicate the situation, the training and consulting industry was changing from printed material to digital content, leaving them stuck with high printing costs – rent, staff, equipment, and shipping.
Adding insult to injury, they lost this important additional revenue stream, as they had been up-charging their printed training material.
The team had no coherent productivity tools or habits whatsoever, so deadlines and sales opportunities were missed, and relationships were damaged. Trust eroded almost to the breaking point.
The approach
We identified the challenge to be cross-departmental, so we made the decision to deploy becurrent to all staff in 6 phases:
Phase one
Auditing their current systems and identifying productivity bottlenecks.
Phase two
Designing a customized use of the becurrent system.
Phase three
coaching entire company to use becurrent.
Phase four
implemented protocol and practices for efficient meetings.
Phase five
adjusted all systems [travel, scheduling, email, intranet…].
Phase six
set up weekly calls to monitor and accompany the change with key players.
Asked by the staff, we added what we affectionately call phase seven, a celebration of the successful implementation of the first six.
The result
In less than five weeks,
• Sales taskforce was formed and generated 20% of their previous annual revenue in 5 weeks.
• Sales team now follows a rigorous agreed-upon strategy to expand sales reliably without depending on referrals trending growth of 15% per month.
• Customer satisfaction as reported in post-training feedback has increased by 28%.
• Production expenses were reduced by 78% by partnering with a nearby print shop.
• Becurrent is used by the entire company for communicating, delegating, making decisions, debriefing, and documenting.
• Company’s content is centralized in 1 place, saving every 1 employee 1 hour per 1 day, no longer searching for the latest document version in multiple locations.
• Meetings are now efficient, focused on goals and identifying matching actions [and who will execute them].
• Corporate culture has shifted from crisis management to accountability.
• Internal relationships are well on their way to being repaired and trust being rebuilt.
• Creativity and innovation are off the charts as the team feels safe to propose new ideas.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
We are a coaching boutique; we focus on productivity with a purpose.
We help people move the mountains that matter to them.
We work with entrepreneurs, coaches, business owners, small teams, and anyone who wants to close the gap between where they are and where they want to be…
We’re psychologists, meditation teachers, entrepreneurs, behavioral coaches, journalists, techies, and seekers.
→ We like processes and people.
→ We like elegance and efficiency.
→ We like form and function.
→ We like being focused and relaxed.
→ We love solutions that bring it all together.
→ We like simplicity. We like depth.
→ We like common sense.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I have led teams of one [myself] and grown companies to 350 employees. I find the same few principles apply…
Let people help you. Give them a chance to do it better than you.
Have clear expectations. People naturally want to do well. They often don’t know what doing well means.
Create an environment where people feel safe to share their ideas. Be kind when they have suggestions.
Be kind in general. People remember how they felt in your presence.
Fears are friends. Don’t let fear stop you. Use it as an opportunity to experience courage.
Make mistakes. Let others make mistakes. Innovation comes out of mistakes.
Help the team be successful.
Ask them what matters to them. Listen. Do your best to integrate into your leadership.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that nothing comes without hard work. I grew up in the ‘no pain- no gain’ era. I no longer believe that to be true.
In the past, I would throw hours at the problem.
If I worked at it longer, I could solve it.
Not true. Be smart. Delegate. Leverage. Let others contribute.
I developed a concept called rubberducking.
I have a rubber duck on my desk, a giant one. If I am stuck on a task, and I know someone in my ecosystem who excels at it- I reach out – and ask for their input.
I offer my attention back to them. Anything I can rubberduck while we are on a call?
Very often, they do, and we turn our focus on what they are stuck on.
Organically, 20 or so of my people have become rubberducks for one another. We have different skills. But we are all a resource for one another.
We don’t have to go at it alone.
Contact Info:
- Website: sophiechiche.com
- Instagram: sophiechiche
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becurrenttoday/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiechiche/
- Twitter: @sophiechiche1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjSgn92BiyE
- Other: https://www.pinterest.ca/sophie_chiche