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The Coach’s Playbook

My ultimate goal is to write useful and relevant content about everything related to creating success and getting you to the next level.

Sometimes however, I do find myself just blogging about things that need to be talked about, so don’t be surprised by what you find popping up here. I always welcome all useful comments, suggestions and critiques. So come often, bring a friend, and stay as long as you’d like!

Blueprint for Success: Your Roadmap to Business Growth blog roadmap & strategy Nov 13, 2024

I wanted to share some thoughts on business growth and what I've learned over the years. It struck me that building a successful business is a lot like planning a road trip. You wouldn't hit the road without a map, right? The same goes for your business – you need a clear direction and a plan to get...

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Chasing Kill Rate Can Kill Your Productivity blog Jul 06, 2021

I had a client ask me why they shouldn't be using Kill Rate as a daily driver of tech performance. It occurred to me I should turn the question and the answer into a blog, so here you go.

Email from client:

I was talking with Bruce yesterday about how we should be tracking lead time and cycle time...

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Tech Interrogation - Easy Digital Downloads blog May 04, 2021

I don't really get into reviewing or showcasing the tools I use to run my business, but there is one I have to share because of how much it means to me. It's a WordPress® plugin called Easy Digital Downloads (EDD), and it is what I use to run all of my product sales and funnels. I selected it severa...

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The Ideal Service Board Layout and Their Swim Lanes blog Aug 31, 2020

Below are the threads of a chapter for my upcoming book Agile Service Delivery – The Ultimate Secret to Making Work Flow, spawned from an email sent to me asking for clarification on service boards/queues.

I was recently asked what it is that I recommend for how to set up service boards or queues i...

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If You're Not Talking About CEX With Your Customers, Who Is? blog Aug 04, 2020

We live in an experience economy, and this means that the customer has a significantly different idea of what their customer experience (CEX) should be than ever before, regardless of what business you're in.

So I ask you, if you're not talking about CEX with your customers, who is?

The most power...

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The Technical Debt Alarm Clock Is Ringing blog Apr 13, 2020

For any software development or IT company, technical debt is always accruing, and that debt is forever mounting interest. Technical debt means something a little different for IT service providers than it does for software developers, but it's largely the same thing. If you want to know if you've c...

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It's Time To Have The CEX Talk! blog Feb 27, 2020

It's time we had the talk. The talk about CEX - Customer Experience! Although it's now easier than ever to get the customer feedback and gauge customer satisfaction (CSat), it's just not enough. We live in an experience economy, and it's becoming more and more apparent that, to the consumer of our g...

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Your Service Offerings Value Upgrade blog Jan 26, 2020

At almost every event where I present for the IT service provider industry, I hear someone asking the question, "How should I be pricing, and how do I keep from changing my offerings up too frequently?" And I always say, "You price on value and you change as often as needed!" The responses I receive...

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Customer Service Case Study - Meineke 2019 blog Nov 25, 2019

From a post on Facebook comes this case study in customer service on the company Meineke and more specifically the local shop run by one Tyler @ 2436 Gulf to Bay Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33765.

I'm going to follow the story in my blogging and see where it leads.

You've heard stories like this. Here's ...

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Making It Rain Requires More Than Good Sales blog Oct 23, 2019

One of my favorite things to say is, "You have to know the next five people you're going to hire or steal." By this, I simply mean that you must know who your next hire is. Ideally, the next front line money-making tech or engineer, but this can apply to the sales team, admin, or any other departmen...

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Defining Values For Your Business That You Can All Live By blog Aug 28, 2019

What are the values you and your team actually live by in your business? To ask it another way, are the values you and your team live by the ones you've called out in your vision statement? It matters because these are two very different things. We have "these" values called out but "these" are the ...

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Stop Playing Whac-a-Mole With Your SLAs blog Jul 23, 2019

I’m so tired of hearing PSA implementers, coaches, and IT service providers saying, “We have to focus on the SLAs so that we never break one!” That’s actually really a bunch of very backwards B.S.

Where do the PSA implementers get it from? They get it from the PSA vendors. Where do the coaches get ...

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Is Your Business Stuck Maintaining, Not Producing?

You're working harder than ever, but growth has stalled. You're so busy fighting alligators, you've forgotten your mission was to drain the swamp. It's time for a change.

The Invisible Barriers to Growth

Most businesses don't fail by design; they falter from neglect. They hit a plateau because they're missing the next level of business knowledge required to break through.

No Clear Roadmap

Operating day-to-day without a solid, well-thought-out business model that guides every decision.

Reactive Tactics

Relying on the same basic strategies: stop spending, cut costs, sell more, sell faster—without addressing the root cause.

Stagnant Operations

Failing to innovate, cultivate your culture, or refine your processes, leaving you vulnerable to competition.

"Running your business without a roadmap and strategy is simply maintaining a business... To get to the next level, you must have a roadmap and strategy that shows the clear path your business will need to follow."

- Getting To The Next Level

This Isn't Another Numbers Book.
This is Your Blueprint.

"Getting To The Next Level" is a culmination of over forty years of in-the-trenches experience, distilled into a practical, actionable guide. It provides the tools you need—without an MBA—to dismantle your business model, identify what's broken, and build a machine for systematic, sustainable success.

[Image: The Pyramid of Purpose and Value]

The core framework for aligning your business for success.

Peek Inside: The Pyramid of Purpose and Value

Strategy planning and execution on the planned strategy are what will ultimately determine the success of any business. An essential component of execution is the ability to effectively convey the structure of the organization and the planned strategy. By depicting all the key elements of your organization’s structure, strategy, and identity in a pyramid form, it becomes very easy to see the relationship of the layers and how they support each other.

  • The Culture: The essence of what your organization is at its heart. It’s the answer to “Who are we?” driven by your Vision, Mission, Values, and the critical Human Element.
  • The Compass: The clear and well-defined direction your business is headed. It defines your Products, Target Market, and the Operating Systems you rely on.
  • The Blueprint for Success: Where strategy is translated into measurable results. It details your Resources, Performance Measures, and the Roadmap & Strategy you will execute.

The power of the pyramid is that if it is built correctly it can clearly convey your organization’s structure, strategy, and identity in a way that everyone involved can understand with little extraneous explanation.

Don't Just Take My Word For It

See how the "Getting To The Next Level" principles have transformed businesses.

"Manuel's focus on process and statistics gave us a shared language and KPIs to streamline our entire operation. We're more efficient and profitable than ever."

- IT Service Company CEO

"We finally have foundational principles that unite our team. The guidance on managing human capital, sales, and service delivery has been invaluable."

- Small Business Owner

"His hands-on approach and practical advice cut through the noise. We have a clear roadmap and the confidence to follow it. Our growth is proof that it works."

- Agency Founder

[Image: Business Agile Strategy Execution]

The Engine of Execution: BASE

My innovation for the practice of business strategy cultivation and execution is to infuse and leverage the Agile Project Methodology. I call this innovation Business Agile Strategy Execution or simply BASE. As you systematically cultivate your roadmap and execute on strategy, leveraging the Agile Methodology, you continuously and incrementally move your business closer and closer to the next level.

This tool is the right size for small and medium-sized businesses and it does not have any special requirements for implementation. It allows you to take in the bigger picture of the entire organization and cultivate your business roadmap as if it were a detailed, ongoing living project.

"Strategy without Tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat."

- Quoting Sun Tzu in Getting To The Next Level

This Book Was Written For You If...

[Author Headshot]

Your Coach and Guide: Manuel Palachuk

With over forty years in the trenches of the IT and service industries, Manuel isn't a theorist—he's a practitioner. He has owned, managed, turned around, and coached businesses across the globe. His expertise in process, systems, and efficiency is born from real-world challenges and successes. He wrote this book because he knows what it takes to get to the next level, and he's passionate about giving you the tools to do it yourself.

Stop Maintaining. Start Producing.
Get to The Next Level.

If you find you need help getting your business to the next level, I'm the coach that will take you to the gym, not just send you there. This book is your personal training plan.