“I’ve enjoyed coaching professional service companies in the area,” Harpel told the Journal-News. “They generally have great ideas for how they can serve their client, but often do not understand why their idea does not sell itself or has run out of steam in their market.”
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Often, companies have built a business off of their passion for their idea or the service they provide, but they need assistance growing their business, he said.
“I help clients break their status quo by providing sales coaching, an objective perspective and accountability to their business plan,” Harpel said.
Launched last July, the new venture allows him to be a business coach, listening to clients’ goals, reviewing their interactions as a team and with clients, then building and implementing a plan for growth.
“My experience as a business leader has always focused on helping clients succeed and partnering with my team to help them succeed,” Harpel said. “As a business coach I work with clients to remove barriers which can impede their sales. Barriers such as team trust issues, untrained sales executives, non customer service trained team members, or a barrier like fearing to network or cold call.”
Starting a business of his own was Harpel’s longtime desire, and with his career experience, consulting and coaching emerged as a natural fit.
“As a kid I started mowing lawns for friends and neighbors in fourth grade,” he said. “A few years later, I was a hard-working teenager who owned my own lawn care business, servicing several yards a week and working seasonally for local farmers.”
His career choices after college led him into technical sales and general management, where he said had some “great leaders and coaches” teaching him how to grow a business. “As I looked at my career and the amount of travel I was putting in as a North American Director of Sales, I was not enjoying spending a significant amount of time away from home,” Harpel said. “I recognized my career path and training as a business leader and sales coach had prepared me to create my own business - one which allows me to serve small businesses and help them grow.”
He credits his entrepreneurial spirit and never being afraid to accept a challenge several leading corporations — Johnson Controls, Trane and Ingersoll Rand — for developing his abilities as a leader and coach.
“My training came in a corporate environment, and was then put to the test as I led teams in various sales and general manger roles,” he said. “To continue my growth as a coach I have extended my education through online work and regularly consult a business coach myself to help me remain accountable to my goals.”
Over the years, he’s been a sales manager, general manager for service and capital equipment sales, president of a local contracting firm, and director of sales on a regional and national level.
Harpel said he enjoys helping clients realize they can continue to grow their business and move past their barriers to create success.
For more information, call 513- 973-2363.
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