Over the years I have learned a lot of great lessons from my clients, heroes and a couple of mentors. A favorite of mine is a statement made by one of my heroes, Paul “Bear” Bryant, the great football coach from Alabama who won more football games in 35 years of coaching than most good coaches would win in two or three lifetimes. He said… “In football and in life, the same things win for us that always win for us. We just have a whole bunch of excuses as to why we don’t use those winning things when we lose.”
I began my business and sales consulting firm on January 1st, 1983. Since then I have worked with hundreds of companies close up and have dealt with thousands more through the many local, regional and national seminars and key note speeches I have presented. Quite frankly, that quote and another one below by Andrew Carnegie have been my guiding themes for helping businesses and organizations “best” themselves, no matter at what level of success I began working with them. The key success ingredient is their burning desire of fulfillment.
Andrew Carnegie once said… “Knowledge is absolutely critical to success, but it is totally worthless without good action.” So my game plan in working with companies and organizations is very simple. I find out what they want to achieve and then I help them get there by...
1. Learning their corporate culture.
2. Getting to know their people, their marketplace and their clients.
3. Building on their strengths and neutralizing or eliminating their weaknesses.
I focus on needs first and then I satisfy wants later. However, I learned a long time ago that knowing the big picture is critical too. For instance, early in my career, I increased sales dramatically in a sub assembly electronics firm, without ever finding out if they could handle a 50% increase in production volume in just a few months. They nearly went bankrupt due to cash flow and quality control problems before we got things under control. I learned a big lesson from that near fatal mistake in 1983 of not paying attention to the big picture and especially, cause and effect relationships.
Is my track record in “besting” companies 100%? It was for a long time until I had my first client who said he wanted to change for the better, but when it came to making the hard decisions and changing bad habits, he finally balked. Instead of hanging on and taking his money, thinking maybe I could convince him otherwise, I fired myself. He weathered the storm for another couple of years but eventually he went under and he had no one to blame but himself. I am very competitive and I hate losing. But I also believe in the Prayer of Serenity too…. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Certainly you need to persevere and believe in what you are doing, and stay the course. But you also need to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. That’s vital wisdom.
Why do I honestly feel I am one of the best business, sales and marketing consultants in this area and beyond today? Because not only can I teach and train proven things to people, I practice them everyday. I was once told by a prospective client (that was actually a referral)…“Why should I hire you to help us when you hardly know anything about our business and marketplace?” Without hesitating I responded… “Because I am a business, sales and marketing ‘best practices’ expert who is results oriented. It has been my experience that all great companies have in common 95% of their winning traits and characteristic. And over the years I have learned and studied what those 95% things are. I can learn the other 5% of your business along the way while I share with you and your people the 95%.” He hired me on the spot and I worked for him and another company he formed later, for over a 10 year period. In addition, he recommended me to many of his business friends.
Stan Barnes
President and CEO of Barnes & Barnes Consulting Group
Office—616-698-6759 Mobile—616-437-3292 Fax—616-698-0946
Stan@barnes-barnes.com www.barnes-barnes.com
• Nationally recognized Sales trainer and business consultant.
• Seminar presenter locally, regionally and nationally (all types of subjects).
• Strategic Planning expert with proven systems of making things happen.
• Key note speaker for businesses, organizations and groups of all sizes.
• Trainer and Teacher as well as one who can accomplish what is taught.
• Marketing expertise that helps clients shoot rifle shots vs. shotguns.
• Current National Sales Representative for two separate companies.
• Systems and Procedures developer, writer and publisher.
• Author and writer of many articles covering a multitude of subjects.
• Mentor to a few key people who want to win and are willing to listen.
• Facilitator of numerous focus groups and roundtables.
• Expert in Personality Profile identification, development and training.
• Customer service survey and performance implementer.
• Involved with hundreds of companies and organizations close up.
• Involved with thousands of businesses and organizations through local, regional and national seminars and keynote speeches.
• An accomplished sales and marketing teacher for five years at night school for Davenport Business College; a graduate with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Missouri; a recognized 900 hour extra credit seminar attendee from the Home and Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids; an upper 5% salesperson in every sales job held before starting his own business; a past leader of three different CEO roundtables for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce as well as past president of the CEO board; a past president of two Business Network International groups, a voracious reader of business books, husband to Judy Barnes, 23 year CEO of the Home and Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids and a Great grandparent.
I began my business and sales consulting firm on January 1st, 1983. Since then I have worked with hundreds of companies close up and have dealt with thousands more through the many local, regional and national seminars and key note speeches I have presented. Quite frankly, that quote and another one below by Andrew Carnegie have been my guiding themes for helping businesses and organizations “best” themselves, no matter at what level of success I began working with them. The key success ingredient is their burning desire of fulfillment.
Andrew Carnegie once said… “Knowledge is absolutely critical to success, but it is totally worthless without good action.” So my game plan in working with companies and organizations is very simple. I find out what they want to achieve and then I help them get there by...
1. Learning their corporate culture.
2. Getting to know their people, their marketplace and their clients.
3. Building on their strengths and neutralizing or eliminating their weaknesses.
I focus on needs first and then I satisfy wants later. However, I learned a long time ago that knowing the big picture is critical too. For instance, early in my career, I increased sales dramatically in a sub assembly electronics firm, without ever finding out if they could handle a 50% increase in production volume in just a few months. They nearly went bankrupt due to cash flow and quality control problems before we got things under control. I learned a big lesson from that near fatal mistake in 1983 of not paying attention to the big picture and especially, cause and effect relationships.
Is my track record in “besting” companies 100%? It was for a long time until I had my first client who said he wanted to change for the better, but when it came to making the hard decisions and changing bad habits, he finally balked. Instead of hanging on and taking his money, thinking maybe I could convince him otherwise, I fired myself. He weathered the storm for another couple of years but eventually he went under and he had no one to blame but himself. I am very competitive and I hate losing. But I also believe in the Prayer of Serenity too…. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Certainly you need to persevere and believe in what you are doing, and stay the course. But you also need to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. That’s vital wisdom.
Why do I honestly feel I am one of the best business, sales and marketing consultants in this area and beyond today? Because not only can I teach and train proven things to people, I practice them everyday. I was once told by a prospective client (that was actually a referral)…“Why should I hire you to help us when you hardly know anything about our business and marketplace?” Without hesitating I responded… “Because I am a business, sales and marketing ‘best practices’ expert who is results oriented. It has been my experience that all great companies have in common 95% of their winning traits and characteristic. And over the years I have learned and studied what those 95% things are. I can learn the other 5% of your business along the way while I share with you and your people the 95%.” He hired me on the spot and I worked for him and another company he formed later, for over a 10 year period. In addition, he recommended me to many of his business friends.
Stan Barnes
President and CEO of Barnes & Barnes Consulting Group
Office—616-698-6759 Mobile—616-437-3292 Fax—616-698-0946
Stan@barnes-barnes.com www.barnes-barnes.com
• Nationally recognized Sales trainer and business consultant.
• Seminar presenter locally, regionally and nationally (all types of subjects).
• Strategic Planning expert with proven systems of making things happen.
• Key note speaker for businesses, organizations and groups of all sizes.
• Trainer and Teacher as well as one who can accomplish what is taught.
• Marketing expertise that helps clients shoot rifle shots vs. shotguns.
• Current National Sales Representative for two separate companies.
• Systems and Procedures developer, writer and publisher.
• Author and writer of many articles covering a multitude of subjects.
• Mentor to a few key people who want to win and are willing to listen.
• Facilitator of numerous focus groups and roundtables.
• Expert in Personality Profile identification, development and training.
• Customer service survey and performance implementer.
• Involved with hundreds of companies and organizations close up.
• Involved with thousands of businesses and organizations through local, regional and national seminars and keynote speeches.
• An accomplished sales and marketing teacher for five years at night school for Davenport Business College; a graduate with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Missouri; a recognized 900 hour extra credit seminar attendee from the Home and Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids; an upper 5% salesperson in every sales job held before starting his own business; a past leader of three different CEO roundtables for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce as well as past president of the CEO board; a past president of two Business Network International groups, a voracious reader of business books, husband to Judy Barnes, 23 year CEO of the Home and Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids and a Great grandparent.
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