Practice Makes Perfect

Kristina Wallen, the dazzling Managing Director of Harp Wallen was kind enough to invite me to a beautiful al fresco celebration of their 20 years in business.  I joined them on the roof of the Marriott Hotel at Marble Arch to share some memories and to toast the future.  It’s a testament to Kristina’s success over the years that most of the great and the good of the travel industry turned up for the event.

For me, it was my first public outing since the Kuoni Group announced that REWE had acquired the UK business (subject still to EU approval) and a chance to gauge the industry reaction which, I’m delighted to say, was wholly positive.  A reminder once again that the Kuoni brand enjoys huge affection from colleagues in the industry and that they too had a stake in securing a positive future for the business and the people who work for us.

As well as offering up congratulations on a successful outcome, many colleagues were intrigued to hear more about the process.  They wanted to know how you go about selling a multi-million turnover business and an iconic brand?  I can understand their interest - it’s a question I would have asked myself only a few months ago.

For obvious reasons, the details of this particular sale process need to remain confidential but one thing that stands out for me is the  clarity with which the Senior Management Team at Kuoni were able to communicate not just their business plan, but the vision, values, culture and mission of the Kuoni UK business.  Nothing focuses the mind more than having a potential buyer and their team of consultant advisers to present to.

Coincidentally, one of the people I was talking to on the roof was himself a Management Consultant who spends much of his time working with Leadership Teams to develop coherent visions and values.  Like me, he's a passionate advocate of story-telling in business.  Inevitably we began to link the process of selling a business with the ability to clearly articulate the story of the journey the business is on.

Afterwards, connecting different thoughts from different conversations, it occurred to me that the best three day management development course I can think of would simply be to replicate a scenario where the business is up for sale.

Day one - Agree in detail exactly what the story is you have to tell; where has your business come from; where is it heading; what’s your unique value proposition; what makes you different from the crowd?  Why is this the best team to take the business forward; what makes your business model sustainable; what are the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities?

Day two – Prepare the pitch.  Assign roles, rehearse, rehearse again, practice, finesse, hone the presentation until it’s word perfect; until you think you can answer every possible question that’s thrown at you.  Then do it all again – and again – until everyone in the team can tell the same story with passion and integrity, and deal with any challenge that’s thrown at them.

Day three – Sell the business. Present to potential buyers in three hour pitches.  Not once or twice, but three or four times in a day.

I remain convinced that the Kuoni Leadership Team was amongst the best in the sector before we went through the process of selling the business, but having completed the sale I know that we are now more focused and more passionate about our story than we were before we started.  More importantly we are completely aligned as a team – with a common belief in our future direction and strategy.

It’s maybe an odd thing to say, but if you really want to create a world-beating team, put your business up for sale – or at least imagine you have.