Xenogenix - Basingstoke - ActionCOACH

Preparing for the Next Chapter of Xenogenix: Achieving Rapid Growth

Business partners Mike McIntyre and Mark Riley started their business process consultancy, Xenogenix, in 2002. After working in the telecoms industry together for a number of years, they both wanted a new challenge and to put their experience to good use.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and Xenogenix is now one of Salesforce’s exclusive ‘Crest’ (formerly known as ‘Gold’) Partners in the UK. The company now has 20 employees and has helped more than 400 companies around the world to improve and manage their business processes.

The Xenogenix team works across a range of sectors from SMBs to multinationals but has found that their ‘sweet spot’ where they can provide the most value is generally working with companies with between 50 to 500 employees. Their experts address the needs of the whole of each client’s business, tailoring Salesforce and solutions from its software partners to create a single cloud-based platform designed to improve business processes throughout the whole of each company – from marketing, sales and customer service through to project management, accounting, HR and payroll.

Driving the business towards growth

Proud of what they’d built, in the autumn of 2020, having differentiated themselves amongst the growing number of Salesforce partners in the UK with their unique holistic offering, Mike and Mark agreed they wanted to grow the business quickly so that it could sustain itself without them being so involved. This meant setting – and meeting – aggressive growth targets. After an introduction to ActionCOACH Winchester Basingstoke and Farnborough via their networks, a conversation with Natalie Simms and her team seemed a logical next step.

“With Mark stepping back, we made the decision to grow the business, rather than reducing our services,” said Mike. “Now that I would be running things on my own, I wanted to be able to focus on the bigger strategic picture, rather than  on the day-to-day work. Having a conversation with Natalie about the best way to grow the business through this next phase made a lot of sense.”

Natalie’s skills and expertise, combined with ActionCOACH’s methodology were a good fit from the start. “I am an analytical person, so the structure of the coaching appealed to me,” explained Mike. “I liked that Natalie could relate and speak to me at my level and that she was backed by a large organisation with a proven methodology.”

A formula for success

ActionCOACH’s methodical approach to coaching and business growth lends itself to accountability – something that has helped to keep Mike focused and on track. Over the past year, he and Natalie have worked through ActionCOACH’s 6 Steps, which have helped Mike to analyse the business from a high level, looking at different parts of the company to ensure that they are on the right footing and performing in line with the KPIs they’ve set. Working on a 90-day planning cycle has also helped Mike to focus by assessing the goals from the previous quarter and set new ones to keep moving the company forward.

“My fortnightly sessions with Natalie really help to keep me focused on what’s important,” explains Mike. “Our discussions help me to prioritise what I need to do to stay on track.”

ActionCOACH’s 5 Ways have proved particularly useful, as well. “Being able to analyse our numbers and to get a good grasp of the impact that small improvements can make across the business was really helpful,” continued Mike. “Working through these steps with Natalie has reinforced a lot of what I already knew and has given me the kick I needed to take action.”

Applying this methodology, Xenogenix has already exceeded its financial year target and is on track to exceed its five-year revenue growth target of +400% and gross profit by +650%.

“I’m really enjoying the work I do and thanks to the coaching, my passion and enthusiasm for the business and what we can achieve is now stronger than ever,” continued Mike.

Next steps

With the plans for the first year executed successfully, the focus is now firmly on driving the business forward and building the team structure for growth. He and Natalie will be working together to get to this point; ensuring Xenogenix is making the most of its people, processes and systems.

“The goal is to get the business to a point where it doesn’t need me at all day to day,” concluded Mike. “I’m not ready to retire yet, but the work Natalie and I are doing now means when the time comes and I want to step back, the business will be well placed to keep growing from strength to strength.”

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