Scaling | The Portfolio Partnership

Hyper-Growth – Initiatives to Consider – Part 1 The University

by Ian Smith | Sep 12, 2013 | Scaling, Training

I came to Boston in October 2001 from London to manage a software business called Teamstudio. In the summer of the following year it would be listed at #91 on the Inc. 500 list, with a 4 year growth of 1888%, that’s 111% per annum! But that was just the start of our...

The New Sales Playbook for Manufacturers – 5 Moves

by Ian Smith | Sep 8, 2013 | Sales - Farming, Sales Management, Sales Process, Sales Tips, Scaling

Last week the WSJ highlighted a fascinating study published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The study claimed: Adjusted for productivity, US average labor costs by 2015 will beat Japan by 18%, Germany 34% and France 35%. It details how declining energy...

Scaling Professional Service Businesses

by Ian Smith | Aug 18, 2013 | Scaling

I was having coffee the other day with my friend, Leo Hermacinski, who helped scale The Parthenon Group (a very successful strategy consulting firm) in Boston over a 17 year period. As we shared war stories it became clear that we had similar views on business...

Scaling a Sales Team – Part 3 – Execution

by Ian Smith | Jul 21, 2013 | Sales Process, Scaling

In this final post on Scaling a Sales Team, I turn to execution tips. Driving your sales team to operate at maximum effectiveness is a one of the most difficult operational issues you will ever face as a leader. From start-ups to $50m private companies to the IBM and...

How To Scale A Sales Team – Part 2 – Metrics

by Ian Smith | Jul 16, 2013 | Scaling

In this second post I thought it would be useful to share some benchmarks covering, On Target Earnings, call stats, and cookbooks depending on the sales model you choose. 1. On Target Earnings. I published a detailed blog on sales commission here but I’ve...

How To Scale A Sales Team – Part 1 – Questions

by Ian Smith | Jul 14, 2013 | Scaling

We see many businesses struggling with this problem across sectors and across all stages of the company lifecycle. Focusing on B2B selling, I’m tackling the problem over 3 blog posts. The first one below reviews the questions you need to consider before building...