We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kevin Holt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kevin below.
Alright, Kevin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
Unlike most other strategy consultants and meeting faciIitators, I use a groupware technology referred to as “electronic brainstorming” and specialized software tools to support my strategy workshops and meeting facilitation engagements. The specialized software includes a strategy canvas that I had custom built. I have mapped my strategic planning process to the groupware and software tools.
Electronic brainstorming technology enables simultaneous entry and anonymous entry. This minimizes many of the problems with the way meetings are traditionally run. For example, simultaneous entry prevents people from dominating the conversation, and anonymous entry causes shy people to contribute their thoughts.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I earned a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973 and an MBA from Arizona State University in 1978. Thereafter, I worked in the hotel industry for 30+ years where I held officer-level consulting and real estate positions with national hotel firms.
I’m a voracious reader. Over the years, I’ve built a 2000-book library, which includes major collections on strategy, innovation, creativity, design, research, problem solving, decision making, group dynamics, collaboration, cognitive science, and collective intelligence.
A major impetus for going out on my own to do meeting facilitation was my fascination with the idea of using process, technology, and behavioral interventions to increase the collective intelligence of a team-size group. Process interventions involve the design of meeting, group, and task processes. Technology interventions include electronic brainstorming technology and specialized software tools. Behavioral interventions have to do with managing group dynamics.
Many of the meeting facilitation assignments pertain to strategic planning workshops. This led me to develop strategic planning processes for creating competitive strategies, growth strategies, and adaptation strategies (i.e., strategies for adapting to changes in a company’s environment). This, in turn, prompted me to write a book titled Differentiation Strategy: Winning Customers by Being Different, which was published by Routledge in June, 2001.
I am very proud of being a published author, especially after having gone through the very difficult process of finding a publisher and editing the book. However, I am most proud of fathering two boys who have grown to become outstanding fathers, husbands, friends, and professionals.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Creating an effective differentiation strategy is the key to attracting and retaining clients. Differentiation is about being different in a way that causes clients to prefer you to your competitors. It’s about having a compelling answer to the one-two question, “Why should I buy from you instead of your competitors? What makes you different?”
Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?
The worst mistake you can make is to overpay for a business. Warren Buffett is famous for waiting to buy a stock until it is reasonably valued or, even better, when it is under-valued. My experience is testimony to the wisdom of that philosophy. My wife was a floral designer. We paid a very reasonable price for the high-end flower shop at which she worked. Had we paid more, we never would have survived the Great Recession of 2008. So, my advice is to plan for the worst when valuing a business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.coinnovationconsulting.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-w-holt/
- Other: www.differentiationstrategy.com