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Note: Portions of this Case Study
are available in audio format.
 Click
for Robert Zeigenfuse Audio Interview (MP3)
  The
Client: Robert (Bob) Zeigenfuse is the
Founder and President of Avanceon, an international
firm that provides manufacturing automation technology
for energy, food, and pharmaceutical companies. They
operate in the USA, South Asia, and the Middle East
and employ approximately 200 employees in five offices
worldwide. The company has been in business since 1984.
The Situation:
Avanceon was growing rapidly and expanding internationally.
Bob recognized that the marketing, management, and systems
that brought his company its current level of success would
not be adequate to support their expansion efforts. In
short, the company was experiencing growing pains, and profits
were not keeping pace with gross revenue. "We were having
problems with assimilating our strategic goals, values, and
mission across the organization," says Bob. Executives
were spending nearly half of their time sorting out customer
misunderstandings and internal communications problems, and
very little time on planning. As a result, they were missing
out on six and seven figure business opportunities.
Avanceon
needed to become more sophisticated in communicating with
employees and customers. They also needed to streamline their
systems as they expanded abroad. "We used tribal knowledge," says
Bob in reference to how the culture of the organization was
maintained when it was smaller. "This required way too
much micro-management."
They had engaged three consultants in years past with limited success prior to
bringing in the EnergizeGrowth® team.
"If you've had failures before and you really want to be successful this time…this is the way to build your company. I have used other methods that just didn't work. I have even recommended Lisa to competitors."
– Robert Zeigenfuse, Founder and President, Avanceon |
The Process:
Over a two-year period, Lisa Nirell and her team guided Bob
and the management team at Avanceon to develop their company
vision, core values, and top goals. Throughout the process,
the emphasis was on making sure that the strategy was grounded
in reality and could be easily understood by employees at every
level and across the globe. Bob was intent on having the process "stick" with
employees, and implemented Personal Strategic
Plans across
the organization. "On a quarterly basis we announce our
strategic goals and people pick pieces of those that they'll
help the company do," says Bob.
Lisa and her team also
interviewed Avanceon's clients to find out what they valued
about the company. "You'd think that you'd know this,
but we didn't know," says Bob. Having a third party talk
to his clients proved enlightening. "Like most technology
companies, you think it's your technical prowess and innovative
solutions [that clients value]," says Bob. It turned out
that while clients were very satisfied with Avanceon's technical
expertise, they were equally impressed with the ease in working
with the organization. "Our ability to be flexible and
keep to a schedule," says Bob, are key attributes that
set them apart in the minds of their clients
The Results: The
quality and frequency of communication has changed dramatically
within the organization. As opposed to announcing top-down directives, Avanceon now embraces a team approach. "We have workout groups where all of our messages are reviewed by respected peers before they are even delivered. Then we deliver the message and help our change agents reinforce the message. We
actually test people on a quarterly basis on new policies and
our core values to see what they know," says Bob. Gaps in knowledge and understanding are then identified and addressed.
By focusing on strategy and employee development through the Personal
Strategic Plan process, Avanceon is seeing a direct impact on the company's bottom line. The CFO has become more active in planning and was featured in Inc. Magazine for his innovative cash management strategies. Collection
time has gone from 75 days down to 45 days.
"As engineers, we pride ourselves on coming up with solutions, but sometimes our limited beliefs get in the way of success. Lisa and Steve help me get over my own limited beliefs on a regular basis. Once you're willing to do that, anything is possible."
– Robert Zeigenfuse, Founder and President, Avanceon |
What it's
like to work with Lisa Nirell and her team:
"Lisa sets up her engagements so that she sticks
around to make sure you don't stray off the proven path," says
Bob. He believes her greatest strength is her depth of knowledge. "She's
almost like an encyclopedia on the different processes. She's
developed a holistic, integrated approach to [solving] problems," says
Bob.
Bob appreciated Lisa's team approach and benefited from
her affiliation with branding expert Samantha Hartley and
seasoned CEO and Lean expert Steve Ashton. "Lisa
is willing to admit that she has her areas of expertise, but that some areas
she doesn't have," says Bob. "Some consultants will try to be the know-it-all
on every topic which is, quite frankly, not believable and insulting."
"Lisa is very selective in terms of who she works with," says Bob. "She
really will disqualify people who are not committed to the holistic solution.
If the client is unwilling to measure and track success, she won't waste her
time. She absolutely holds you accountable as you move forward. Her
approach was integrated and adaptive to our existing culture and needs which
I found to be an outstanding quality of the work we did together."
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for print version (PDF)
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for Bob Zeigenfuse Audio Interview (MP3)
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