Built to Grow How to deliver accelerated, sustained and profitable business growth

‘This book is straightforward, factual and to the point. Any Leader responsible for business growth should read it! A blueprint full of practical ideas and tools to inspire you into action’—Craig Donaldson - Chief Executive Officer, Metro Bank (RANKED NUMBER ONE IN GLASSDOOR’S HIGHEST RATED CEO 2016)

If you asked a cross-section of business leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs what their biggest business challenge is, you would probably hear the same recurring thought: growing their business in a sustainable, predictable, yet profitable way – quickly.

It’s a reality that most businesses and individuals never reach their full potential, always yearning for the ‘thing’ that will catapult them into significance, but never really finding it.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur starting out, or a director, executive or business leader climbing the corporate ladder, the building blocks of Built to Grow are universally applicable.

Developed in the real world laboratory of thousands of businesses in twenty-seven countries spanning over two decades, Built to Grow is a proven, time-tested model to unlock the real potential in your business.

Avoid the common pitfalls of a trial and error approach to business growth. Built to Grow is full of practical strategies, tools and ideas, backed up with real world case studies to illustrate what can be achieved - leaving you equipped to transform your businesses performance and drive tangible results.

Built to Grow is destined to become your handbook, your ‘go to’ guide, your roadmap to accelerated, sustained and profitable business growth.

ROYSTON GUEST is CEO of Pti Worldwide, a global consultancy and people development business with a proven track record in delivering business growth, people transformation and peak performance. Royston's two professional missions are driving sustainable business growth...fast, and unlocking the real potential of individuals—missions spanning over two decades, twenty-seven countries and engaging with tens of thousands of businesses across a multitude of sectors, enterprises and governments. Whether speaking, facilitating, consulting or coaching, Royston's passion to make a real tangible difference is at the forefront of his work, and what sets him apart from his peers.

Acknowledgements xi

About the Author xv

Introduction 1

Why Built to Grow? 2

What Built to Grow Is Not 2

How to Use Built to Grow 2

The Added Benefi t to You 3

Chapter 1: The Fundamentals of Business Growth: Your AMR Strategy 5

The First BIG Idea 5

Your AMR Strategy 7

Your Business Growth Formula: How the Numbers Work 10

The Profit Impact 12

AMR in Action 16

Developing Multiple Strategies 22

Become Really Curious 23

Summary 24

Chapter 2: Your Business Growth Transformation Framework® (BGTF) 25

Adopt a Success Modelling Approach 26

Your Business Growth Transformation Framework® 27

Your Recipe for Success 28

a. 7 Guiding Principles 32

b. Strategic Plan 35

c. Inspirational Leadership 40

d. High Performing Organization Model 40

e. Measures That Matter 41

Summary: Setting a Foundation of Great Habits 43

Chapter 3: Inspirational Leadership 45

Developing Your Leadership Culture 47

Why the Leader-Follower Structure is at Odds With Developing a Leadership Culture 49

The Solution: Leader-Leader 50

The Four Types of Leaders 50

Turning Your Organizational Design Upside Down 51

Developing Your Leadership Traits and Style 52

Summary 64

Chapter 4: Building a High Performing Organization 65

Vision/Purpose 66

Values/Behaviours 71

Strategic Plan 76

Disciplined Execution 79

Performance Culture 81

Summary 83

Chapter 5: Business Purpose, Aspirational Goals, and Growth Strategy 85

The Power of Your WHY 86

Caution: Two Pitfalls to Avoid in Finding Your WHY 89

Life is Like a Boomerang 90

Translating Your Personal WHY into Your Business’s WHY 91

Aligning Your Business’s WHY With Your People’s Personal WHY 92

What Business Are You Really in? 94

Your Goal Before You Move on 98

Summary 101

Chapter 6: Market Potential Strategy 103

Alignment of Your Aspirational Goals With the Market Potential 104

Defi ning the Size of Opportunity 107

Segmenting and Profiling the Opportunity 108

Why Consumers Buy and How the Competition Can Impact Your Market Potential 111

Market Potential and ‘The Four Seasons Calendar’ 113

Summary 114

Chapter 7: Compelling Value Proposition Strategy 117

What Customers Really Care About 117

Essentials of a Compelling Value Proposition 118

Introducing the Benefits Track 121

Zooming In and Zooming Out 126

When Technology Impacts Your Compelling Value Proposition 127

So, Are You Ready? 128

Market Research Through Your Customer Lens 129

Summary 130

Chapter 8: Customer Strategy 131

The Big Idea 132

The Experience Economy 132

The Digital Age is Transforming the Game 142

Making it Real for Your Business 142

Measures That Matter 144

Summary 145

Chapter 9: Marketing and Communications Strategy 147

The Purpose of Marketing and Communications 148

Interdependency with Your Other Strategies 150

Trends Shaping the Marketing Landscape 151

Defining the Brand 154

Writing Your Marketing and Communications Strategy 157

Turning Strategy into ACTION Through Your Marketing Plan 166

Measures That Matter 167

Summary: A Science . . . and an Art 168

Chapter 10: Business Development and Sales Strategy 171

Internal Brand Positioning of Sales 171

Who’s in Sales in Your Business? 172

A Scientific Approach 173

1. Sales Planning and Forecasting 174

2. Your Customer Classification Framework 178

3. Your Proposition Matrix – Getting Customers to Buy More 182

4. Your Customer Contact Strategy 186

5. Your Sales Map 189

6. Your Sales Funnel 193

Summary: Selling Success 196

Chapter 11: People Strategy 197

Are People a Cost or an Investment in Your Business? 198

The BIG Idea: Creating Your Employee Value Proposition 198

1. Identifying Your People Gap 202

2. Building a Robust People Pipeline 204

3. Growing and Developing Your People 210

4. Retaining Your People 215

Summary 216

Chapter 12: Operational Excellence Strategy 217

Practice Makes Perfect . . . or Does it? 219

The Need for a Robust Operational Strategy 220

Applying the 7 Guiding Principles in Your Quest for Operational Excellence 221

Embracing Technology as a Competitive Advantage 231

Operational Improvement Never Stops 233

Summary 235

Chapter 13: Finance and Governance 237

Change Your Mindset . . . Change the Game 239

Keeping Score . . . 240

The Challenge 240

Measures That Matter 244

Your Three Most Important Financial Tools 253

Reality Check 253

The Exciting News 255

Funding Routes: The Upsides and Downsides 256

Summary 256

Chapter 14: Control the Controllable 257

Chapter 15: Your Journey to Mastery 261

Being Committed and in the Arena 262

A Never-Ending Pursuit of Personal Mastery 262

Bibliography 267

Index 273

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