When Joe Chmelka bought Custom Printing and Mailing Company in late 2003, his banking background provided him with everything he needed to know about the company’s financial records, but growing a business was another story.
“Running it wasn’t that difficult,” he said, “but growing it was the key component I was concerned about.”
Though Custom Printing and Mailing was profitable, Chmelka, the company’s president, and his wife, Wendy, the company’s vice president, recognized a need for sophistication. The company lacked a definite direction and the impetus to drive it to the next level of market share growth and profitability.
To bring the company up to speed, Chmelka enlisted the expertise of The Performance Group. This Urbandale, Iowa-based company focuses on helping companies grow their operations and fit precisely with the needs of Custom Printing and Mailing.
For three years, Chmelka and his management team have worked with The Performance Group, to identify and work through solutions to some of the constraints they had experienced. The Performance Group provided them with insight and expertise that raised questions they wouldn’t have otherwise considered.
Jim Lobaito, president and founder of The Performance Group stated, “When we started to work with Joe and his people, we could tell the commitment and talent were there. We just needed to clarify the vision, add the structure, and create the focus.”
“That was the genesis of the whole explosion of our company,” Chmelka said of the initial meeting in 2004. “Those meetings provided us with the direction and clarity we needed, and that’s allowed us to continue to work hard, work smarter and more efficiently to grow our business.”
The ongoing process has guided Custom Printing and Mailing in devising solutions that have improved its internal work flow, developed a management team more focused on its mission statement, and opened up lines of communication throughout the company. Chmelka credits Lobaito’s ability to listen, and then guide his management team in identifying solutions, “which is much more effective than having a consultant tell us what we need to do.”
“Our only objective is to empower our clients to achieve their ambitious growth objectives,” Lobaito said.
The Performance Group, located in Urbandale, Iowa, utilizes detailed analysis, individualized coaching and group learning experiences to enable problem solving and staff development. Its custom-designed programs include:
- Sales/Marketing Process Development
- Good to Great Audits – getting the right people in the right positions doing the right things
- Next Step Selling – Sales Leadership and Sales Training
- Hire the Best – Recruitment and Selection Process
The core of its work is sales force development, an area where Custom Printing and Mailing has seen significant results since partnering with The Performance Group, having increased its sales revenue 233% over a two-year period. With an exponential return on investment, Wendy Chmelka said it was the best money the company ever spent.
Jim Lobaito is known for his ability to take what appears to be complex issues around sales, marketing, and personnel performance, and give simple, easily understood, real world examples of how to improve people, processes and profits.
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