“We chose to work with Rachelle because of her significant experience in the (event planning) industry as well as the fact that she was easy to work with and had amazing tenacity.”
Mary Martha Parisher
CHEERIODICALS
BREAKING INTO A NEW MARKET
Typical Issues & Challenges:
- How do we bring our phenomenal product to market for a specific demographic we do not yet know or understand?
- How do we reach buyers in this market without overspending our marketing dollars?
- What is the best way to frame our product for this market?
- What will make us most competitive in this market?
“Rachelle’s insight into the event planning/destination planning world was extremely helpful. She provided valuable guidance on marketing brochures and marketing plans (specific to) the event planning industry. After working with Rachelle, we are better equipped to market our services to the corporate event planning community. We also made changes to our marketing plans based on Rachelle’s strategic input.”
FROM UNDER-PERFORMING TO EXCEEDING PERFORMANCE GOALS
- How do we take a 10-year underperforming former franchise office to executing at, and exceeding corporate standards?
- What changes can immediately be implemented to improve business performance without interrupting business productivity at the same time?
- How do we gain back credibility and trust in us from both our suppliers and buyers when we have not delivered to the highest possible standard in the past?
- How do we gain name recognition to become the choice of the buyer when for too long we have simply been another option for the buyer in the destination?
Our corporate headquarters had purchased back a franchise office in South Florida and Rachelle was brought in as a change maker. Rachelle had the contacts, knowledge, organizational and leadership skills to restructure the office and manage the process. We needed to establish that this office had the authority in the destination and we needed someone with the name recognition in the DMC arena. Rachelle did as we had hoped, which was to establish us as a legitimate contender in the South Florida marketplace. We didn’t need years of ramp up, she walked on the scene and we immediately had the respect of our hotel and supplier partners and consequently, our clients. She didn’t need to prove herself to us; she already had the reputation we were looking for.
“Rachelle gave us immediate recognition in the marketplace and we were able to meet all our goals in that first year.”
Denise Dornfield
ALLIED PRA
“The team….showed an excellent depth of business acumen and experience to help us identify gaps in the Council we were sometimes too close to see. They’ve provided us with real, actionable, quick wins we can immediately implement, as well as long-term strategic solutions to help the Council grow to its next level of maturity.”
Beatrice Louissaint,
CEO & President
Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council
MATCHING GROWTH AND MATURITY TO LONG TERM STRATEGIC PLANNING
The Challenges:
- The FSMSDC was founded in 1975 for the purpose of fostering the development of minority-owned businesses throughout Southern Florida. In 2016, the Council was given the responsibility of serving the entire state, which grew the staff from nine to twenty.
- There was a need to identify essential operational gaps that had come to light as a result of serving the entire state and providing new programs and services.
- The pace of integration and growth created challenges to operating efficiency within the organization, and it was further complicated by the current global crisis (COVID-19).
Two major outcomes:
First, the assessment revealed specific areas of challenge within the Council that could easily be addressed with ‘Quick Win Task Forces’ internally, with guidance. Training sessions with the Task Forces were conducted to set the stakeholders on a path to successfully navigate all Quick Wins for the council.
Second, there is a need to match business, organizational, people, and leadership strategies to the maturity of the Council.
The assessment revealed that with the growth of the Council and existing organizational maturity, it no longer matched the Council’s operating practices. The continued success of the Council would require adjustments in its long-term strategic thinking to match their growth and maturity.
The time had come for the Council to develop a long-term strategic plan to match its growth and maturity. This includes going beyond the annual one-year plan to also focus on a three-year strategic plan.
“It was a terrific opportunity to work with experienced consultants. The pandemic didn’t derail the project but shifted their focus to provide a richer depth of discovery, leading to a high-quality study, especially when our requirements were so complicated.”
To learn more about the entire project and their outcomes, READ MORE
