Positioning

The Big Guns

By Alan Boyd | Published on 03/08/2023

Business leaders typically come to me when they have a problem that they’ve already tried to solve on their own but haven’t been able to.

In most cases, they’ve also hired other vendors (sometimes several) to try and solve their problem too but they can’t get it done either.

By the time they get to me, they’ve likely been dealing with this problem for months or years.

At some point, they start asking around and tapping into their network to try and figure out what to do and how others have overcome similar problems in the past.

If you’re in the Palm Beach County region, there’s a good chance that my name will come up at this point.

When my phone rings, they are pulling out the big guns.

And this is exactly where I thrive.

The initial call will go something like this:

“So and so gave me your number……I’m a little gun-shy here because I’ve been let down by other vendors, but I hear you’re the guy who can solve big problems.”

And that’s exactly what I do.

I start by asking questions.

I want to know everything there is to know about their situation.

I dig deep to understand the root cause of their problem and then I develop a custom solution that’s tailored to their unique needs.

This approach has helped me solve problems for some of the biggest names in the Palm Beach County region and beyond.

So if you’re dealing with a big hairy problem that no one else has been able to solve, give me a call.

I thrive on solving the impossible.

Value of Positioning

By Alan Boyd | Published on 02/15/2023

The first time I drove out to the hangar at Palm Beach F45 back in 2016 to meet with the Stinson family who owns and operates Aircraft Maintenance Specialists was a memorable experience.

Even though I stuck out like a sore thumb dressed up like a city slicker with slacks, button up, and leather attaché case among teams of aircraft mechanics, the father and son duo made me feel right at home since I came highly referred from a trusted friend and colleague (Thank you Tyler, Source One Solution).

The Stinson’s wanted to expand their operations and reposition their business to target a higher-end clientele because they kept attracting less-than-ideal jobs because their marketing and collateral were dated and generic and (gulp!) they weren’t online yet.

Johnny, the dad, said, “look young man we need people to know we’re not just trunk slammers.”

Meaning that they didn’t work out of their trunk and indeed had a large campus with a hangar that houses many aircraft which you can see in the image.

So we revamped everything and repositioned their branding, built out all their digital assets, and celebrated the launch over lunch at Guanabanas once it went live.

Shortly after, their online presence gained momentum they hadn’t experienced before and the business went next level.

The atmosphere quickly shifted from ‘we want more, better, higher paying jobs’ to ‘were so busy we have to keep raising rates.

Not only is it a great feeling to make a positive impact but also to do business with a reputable family that keeps its word over what’s basically been a handshake deal all these years.

AMS is doing great and today they are *the* preeminent aircraft maintenance company in the region.

Johnny, the father has since retired after 33 years running the business with his wife Laura, and his sons John and Brandon moved up.

Now when I ask John, the son, if he has any problems he just says ‘yea some people say we’re too expensive’ and I tell him that’s a great problem to have.

Gamify Your Moves

By Alan Boyd | Published on 02/12/2023

Vintage shot of my client: Palm Beach Shores Resort

When I first opened my practice in 2009 I didn’t imagine that I’d be advising a 256-suite oceanfront resort.

In 2012, I helped a startup paddle board rental company (Paddle Boarding Palm Beach) blow up online.

They became so dominant that Get Wet Watersports (one of their competitors) made a defensive acquisition to acquire them circa 2016.

Get Wet Watersports retained me to do the same thing for them online that I had done with the paddle board co.

Word spread to the Palm Beach Shores Resort brass… and for them, I was able to rapidly identify, diagnose, and solve a hiccup in the resort’s online booking checkout process.

That single improvement translated to a 23% increase in their annual online booking revenue (going on seven years now).

From there I attracted interest from the likes of the Sailfish Marina, Blue Heron Fishing Fleet, and the Bahamas Paradise Cruiseline in the port of Palm Beach among others.

In 2018, the CEO of the cruise line called my cell and said that he had a problem.

The stakeholders had purchased a second cruise ship that was about to come online but the first ship still wasn’t at capacity.

He was spending a fortune on advertising and asked if I could review the website for potential bottlenecks.

Even though they had an internal marketing team and a vendor agency of record (AOR) with a well-known firm out of Miami – they were stuck spinning their propellers.

Within a week, I diagnosed the root cause of the problem (which had nothing to do with their website) and submitted a sales deck that offered to reveal the solution in exchange for points on the move.

Good times.

That single thread of events started with a startup paddleboarding client and escalated to an emerging watersports company, an iconic fishing fleet, a landmark resort, an expanding cruise line, and many layers in between that continue to this day.

One thing I always advise business leaders on is to look at their business from a strategic perspective and to ‘gamify’ their moves.

Have fun with it.

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Brand Equity

By Alan Boyd | Published on 02/04/2023

The most successful businesses typically re-assess their trajectory and brand equity in depth every three to five years.

So what is ‘Brand Equity’ anyway?

Here’s a fairly direct hypothetical to help illustrate the concept:

If your business closed tomorrow, what remnants would there be a year from now?

For example, if *you* stopped paying to keep all your business assets (location, vehicles, website, domain, etc.) going, would there be anything else left beyond that to prove your existence?

What would other people and businesses pay to keep going that has your name on it?

That’s Brand Equity.

Brand equity is market staying power which also carries a monetary premium in the event of selling the company.

Unfortunately, many businesses don’t invest in building brand equity and will quickly fade into irrelevance if/when they close their doors.

If you’re thinking about longer time horizons, have the intent to build something that lasts.

I’m Your Huckleberry

By Alan Boyd | Published on 12/04/2022

The first Ross Yacht Management Holiday Party I attended was back in 2016 and it speaks volumes to see many of the same great people attend each year.

Some were young and single and now married raising kids with beautiful families.

It’s really special to witness the changes over time and those long-lasting relationships are why Dan Ross and his core team are absolutely, unequivocally the best in the business.

Ross Yacht Management, services clients all over the state and sometimes further but they are *the* preeminent yacht management company in Palm Beach County.

In fact, a decent percentage of their accounts are with such high-profile individuals that they are cloaked under non-disclosures to not share any information including the names of the boats, and the locations, and especially not post anything about them on social media, their website, or anywhere really.

Honestly, it’s a great problem to have but it also requires a completely unique marketing strategy that adds a layer of control beyond the word-of-mouth exposure that’s prevalent among HNWI clientele.

The owner Dan refers to one of my marketing tactics as ‘Alan’s Switch’ and says, and I quote:

“Alan flips the switch and I have to tell him to turn it off because we can’t handle that much new business that fast.”
Dan Ross

It’s vital that they don’t get overloaded operationally to maintain the highest quality work so we have to throttle back and structure it in a way where we generate manageable bursts of activity as needed.

They’ve been growing strong and I’m proud to be a vital contributor to that growth.

It’s working because we keep eating at nicer establishments each year.

Looking forward to your continued success and the success of your team.

Your huckleberry,

– Alan

P.S. SAY WHEN