252: Execute Like Hell in 45 Days with Peter Santry and Summit OS®

Peter Santry, Summit OS Guide and Value Builder Licensee, is driven by a mission to help leadership teams execute like hell in 45 days, aligning their core business strategies to achieve rapid growth and profitability.

We discuss the Core Business Lens™ tool, which helps companies identify their key strengths, most profitable customers, and core competencies. Peter explains how this tool allows businesses to sharpen their focus and drive profitability by narrowing in on what they do best. He also highlights the importance of Summit OS’s 45-day Execution Momentum, a system designed to achieve early wins and build long-term business momentum, and emphasizes the value of deep client relationships and tailored strategies for sustained success.

Listen to the podcast here

Execute Like Hell in 45 Days with Peter Santry and Summit OS®

Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. And my dear guest today is Peter Santry, a Summit OS guide and value builder licensee who’s helping leadership teams align their vision, goals, and actions, and to overcome the challenges and opportunities that come with growth. Peter’s clients have achieved remarkable results, such as doubling their revenues, 10x-ing their profits, and attracting private equity capital. Peter, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Steve. Glad to be here. And as we’ve discussed, I’ve always been an admirer of your work, and I learn something new each time. So I’m really, really happy to be joining you, and I expect to do the same here.

Absolutely. We’re going to dive into Summit OS and your work and everything. But the first question I’d like to ask is, what is your personal “Why” and what are you doing in your business to manifest it?

So I’ve given this a lot of thought because I changed careers probably 7-8 years ago. At this point in my career, I believe that my highest value, and it dovetails with what I think this country needs is in helping business owners and their people help them really succeed. There’s nothing more gratifying for me than to see both owners and their people doing the work that they love, getting compensated wealth for it and then taking the fruits of their efforts and exercising their own personal freedom on how they spend it, whether they choose to buy a home, educate their children, save for the future, or give to the charity of their choice. The point is that they’re creating value to exercise their God-given freedom, and we need more of that in America, and that’s what really drives me today.

Yeah, that’s great. I mean, entrepreneurs work so hard and take so much risk that we deserve to get to the fruit of our labor, and we just need some good systems that will get us there. So it’s great, it’s a great “Why.” So, we talked about this before the show for the listeners and there are some Summit OS tools that you said you like, but we hold in on the Core Business Lens™, which you said was your favorite in this toolkit. So can you tell us about the questions that you ask your clients when you’re kind of putting them under the lens and how do you figure out their core business and how does it help them?

Yeah, so I really love the core business lens and I introduced it fairly early in any coaching engagement that I have. It really focuses the leadership of teams on the business they should be spending more calories on. So many companies wonder why their growth is slow or why they’re having trouble attracting new clients. And often that’s happening because their product or service is so diffuse that prospects don’t know who they are. And that’s a problem. So what I do is I step back or have them step back and answer the following five questions. And the first one is, what are you best at or what is the core competency that allows you to bring value to your customers? And the answer is usually the original service that the company was founded on before they branched into other areas. It has the benefit too that most other people are trained to do it and before they strayed into other areas. So, it’s something that can easily be recaptured within the company. But it’s very important for people to know what that is, because that’s where they’re providing value.

Yeah. And if I may add here, I mean, often I see companies that start in a niche that they are really excited about and they are expert about, and then all those shiny objects seem to appear and they try to do more things because they think that the way to get more customers is to do more things for them and you try to please the customers, and step by step, they are staying away from the core business and then their profit rate goes down, they’re not adding as much value, they’re more commoditized and then they basically lose their way. So that’s a really good point, going back to the roots can often be very powerful.

Yeah and I think entrepreneurs are particularly prone to that.

Yeah, indeed. Indeed. So what’s the second question that you ask your clients?

So then I follow up with, what is the root cause of their competitive advantage? Here, I’m trying to have them discover what makes them win. Is there something that distinguishes them somewhat uniquely in the market? Like they have longstanding relationships or it might be the reputation that they have or the reliability of their products, but they have to know what that is because if they’re going to focus on again a core business that’s an important component of it so that’s the second question. And then third, and this is essential, I asked them whether that competitive advantage is still relevant in the market. You can make the best product but if the market doesn’t use it then it really doesn’t matter. Buggy whips, pagers, well I guess we found out that they use pagers in some places in the Middle East, but you get the picture. Gotta have something that’s relevant to the marketplace that people want.

Yeah, I mean, as an example, several years ago, I represented a company which was a steel fabricator, and they were very proud of their huge cranes and the big welding machines they got and the big CNC machines, and they felt like the balance sheet was bloated of this heavy, expensive machinery. And they had this Finnish buyer who was pretty high tech. And they were shocked when they learned that this buyer was not at all interested in their assets. What they were after was their talent. It was their engineers. It was their know-how, their processes. So really, the balance sheet was irrelevant. They could go to India and they could get those things manufactured there much cheaper or China. They wanted the engineers, the architects, and machining engineers, and the welders, which they were after. So that was their assets, the core assets, which they thought the core assets were, were no longer relevant. They had other core assets which they were not as available.

Yeah, that’s, it sounds like a write-off in the making.

Of course. So what’s the next question?

So, the fourth and fifth question kind of are related, and they pertain to, who are your most profitable customers and which products are most profitable? Important to know what products are most profitable, because that’s usually a good barometer of the value that you create for your customers. So important to know that. You’ve got to know that. Similarly, most profitable customers point you to the types of companies or industries that value what you do the most. Essential to know that you can focus your energies on both those things and start to aim your arrows towards those markets, customers, and products. At the end of this process, I’ll give you two examples because I’ve been using this tool a lot recently so just last month I was taking a commercial architecture firm through this exercise And they had a reputation for original design and often came up with distinctive work that captured them sort of architectural awards, but after going through this exercise, they found out that it wasn’t the high-profile clients that the core business was, but it’s really what they call the down and dirty quick projects where they were doing an interior, getting a space ready for a client to move into it, that they were able to use sort of their lowest cost people, the turnaround was quickest, and their profitability was most high, and the long, high-profile projects projects were really time sinks and yes, they were important so that they were almost like marketing expenses. They really didn’t provide them with the core profitability that they wanted.

And it was an eye-opener because they were viewing themselves as really as a boutique, but it was really this quick turnaround business that was really fueling their growth. Share on X

And so it was an aha moment for them. And so that was one. And then the second was a software as a service company that grown using a sort of an asset tracking, which it was their business. And they had brought it to several different businesses, but they found out that the clients that use them, paid them the most were in the semiconductor industry. And so they pivoted away from a lot of these marginal businesses with one or two clients and focused really on that industry because that was the one that was going to give them the stickiest clients, most profitable products and stay within the longest and that annual recurring revenue that those companies love was able to be realized best by going through that channel. They had one other channel which was government related but that was a revelation to them and they totally pivoted what they were doing. So, this is a very powerful tool and I think it’s good for people to get after it very quick in my assignments.

It’s really interesting, both that you said that your architecture firm, they went for smaller companies, they actually could make money with small companies. You can see that sometimes big companies are so needy, just because they are big, they expect you to completely serve them their particular needs, and they don’t want you to develop a product, they just want you to be their slave, basically. And if you’re not careful, you’re gonna get a lot of business from a company like that, and then you’re going to become dependent on it, and then you’re stuck, because you have no more bandwidth to develop your own products. The second example is also interesting because it is by evolving into an industry expert, your value becomes much bigger and then it’s worth leveraging that with other industry participants and then you become a niche player which is a very unassailable position. That’s great. So that’s the core business lens. So this is Summit OS tool and both of us help companies with the Summit OS business operating system. I’d like to ask you, what do you feel like makes Summit OS a unique business operating system?

Well, and we’ve discussed this in the past, I think what I like about it is that it’s, we’ve kind of, in the DNA of the Summit OS is this 45-day Execution Momentum. And I don’t think there’s a really another system out there that really challenges its coaches to get their customers and clients working and executing. And that means getting good meetings and sort of getting their vision and strategy set up so that they can execute. And we push ourselves to get our customers working because people don’t want to wait around. They want results quickly. And we've set up a system that I think achieves that and we get them some early wins. So that's the first thing that I think is important. Share on X

Yeah, just to reflect to this, I mean, we came up with this because we realized that companies really needed some early wins in order to really get hooked on the system and feel successful with it. And if they struggled in the beginning, then that’s just going to make them less motivated, drain their energy, and then they might get distracted. So really, this early win helps them execute. And I love how it pushes us, as you mentioned, to figure out how to do this. Because, ultimately, it’s on us. We can’t explain them just to soak it all up on their own. We really have to help them and we have to engage with them and be much more tuned in to what they are doing and help them so that they don’t drop the ball. And we have different tools to do that. Our facilitation method and the software that we give them, how we service that, help them to use the software, and how we engage with them in meetings, that all helps them achieve that. And when they achieve this momentum moment, then they have so much momentum, then they’re gonna be much more open to do other stuff that is maybe outside the comfort zone, which will then help them grow the business dramatically.

Yes, yeah, I definitely agree with that. And then that allows you to have the latitude to really service them with what they need next. Once they’re able to do things and start to progress their business, then it opens up the landscape to really customizing what you can bring to them and what they need. And then it opens up a whole new area. But until you get the executing and get those early wins, you can’t do that. So we have to get that done.

Yeah, and every company wants to get the tools that is pertinent to them. They don’t just want a cookie cutter system. They want the right kind of things that they resonate with. And I think by giving them the basics in four or five days, then we actually have the room to work with them, to bring them those tools that really help them on where they are and where they need to be. And it’s not about quantity. Okay, we have 80 proprietary tools, but it’s all about pick and choose what they need. And then they feel like it is their system. These tools are the ones that really speak to them.

And I think that whole process, that whole initial 45, 60 days, to make that happen, you really have to go deep with them early. And I think what it means, the implications are that you’re working with fewer clients, but you’re going deeper with them and really helping them to get to where they want to go. And that’s gratifying for me. I’d rather be deep with fewer. And so that fits my personal style as well.

Yeah. I mean, the thing is that if you want to make a client successful, you really have to dig in to understand their business. You can’t just show up once a quarter and help them. You can help them with rudimentary things, but not with quality things. But when you invest yourself in a business, then you want to stick around for the duration. I don’t want my clients to graduate because graduate to what? It’s like retiring to sitting at home and watching television. That’s not an inspiring retirement. So we want to use the tools to get them to a higher place. And if you say that eating whets the appetite, so they’re going to have the appetite, if the first tools help them, they want even better tools to get to the next level. And as a coach, it’s so much more exciting to work with companies on higher, more complex problems, on higher level, the challenges. Then as a coach, I come in every quarter and I’m excited because it is pushing me as much as it’s pushing the company and I’m going where I’ve not been before and then I can bring the energy of the excitement to the client and recharge them and help them grow as well.

Definitely. And that’s where you force those great relationships and you win together and it’s all good. And I would say that the system also has a lot of expandability. You can take clients down through strategy and through a lot of different areas where you're bringing a lot of next level value. Share on X So it’s very expandable and again, customizable, but also expandable. They can go as far as they want on it. So that’s one of the other things I like about it.

Yeah, I mean, we can work on strategy, step by step build those unique activities that Michael Porter talks about in his strategy work. So that’s what Strategy OS is about, which is kind of a sequel to Summit OS. We also can work more on team dynamics. I mean, you and I both are certified DISC consultants, so we help them figure out what the person types of their team, what are the gaps, how they bring other people, how we build a great team for them. And the playbooks is a big area as well, because most companies don’t really get playbooks and they find it difficult to build. And we have a great process to take them and help them do it in-house. And sometimes when you outsource the playbook building, then there’s no one in the company that is going to be able to update those playbooks or maybe not even going to use it properly. But when you teach them how to do it, then they can teach their people how to do it and then it becomes scalable.

One of the things, Steve, that I think that I’m seeing today, and this is a trend that we really all have to be aware of, there’s just a lot of business owners who are reaching the last third of their career, and to get your company not only running well, but also in a position where it’s attractive to that next phase, whether the owner goes to the owner’s box, or whether the owner decides to sell it to employees, family, third party, it doesn’t matter. So we want to get the company so that the owner has a lot of options around what their next steps are. And so I’ve heard the term, making a company showroom ready for that next phase of life for the owner is something that I think this system does exceedingly well.

Yeah, and not every company finds a strategic buyer or even a private equity buyer. The International Exit Planning Association that we have a strategic partnership with, according to them, only 10 to 20% of companies find kind of a strategic or private equity buyer. And most of the companies will transition, will exit through an ESOP, or they’re going to give away shares, or they’re going to transition within the family, and we have to help those companies grow the value of the business so that they can retire and their family takes over a business that is great or they can have a management buyout of a great team that they built around them who are then able to raise money from the SBA or from other financiers to buy the company out. So this is this is very exciting. One more thing I’d like to mention about what I like about Summit OS and how we work with clients is that this is fun. So we focus on a facilitative approach rather than a teaching-driven approach. We don’t want to just stand there and preach to clients for 10-20 minutes, tell them stories and essentially play out the script. What we want to do is we want to synthesize the business concept that help bigger companies grow in three to five minutes, and then spend the rest of the hours working with the leadership team and facilitating their engagement and their thinking of how they’re gonna implement this in their business. Because that’s what people want. They want to engage with each other rather than just listen to a speaker.

Yeah, most definitely.

So switching gears here, Peter, what I’d like to know is what do you find most exciting in working with growth-oriented companies?

Well, the biggest thing I think is that, first of all, I love the people, these are risk takers, these are the people that have gone out on their own, they’re not taking the safe path and they’re trying to create something. So I have just infinite amount of awe for that because I spent a bulk of my career in finance and that certainly wasn’t my path. The second thing which I’ve been pleasantly surprised is once I found those people, they actually really care about their employees. It’s not about them. It’s not just about I want to make the most money. They care about the people they hire and that was kind of a surprise, but it’s been a very welcome surprise because I’ve gotten to know a lot of business owners who are just very, very good to their people and they care about that. So, and I do too, as you said, in my “Why,” that’s very important to me. So that’s another thing. And then the third thing is just the intellectual interest. I know two businesses are the same, they make money differently. So you’re always challenged around the business model and how do we create value for this business versus another. So intellectually, fascinating, interesting, and these people are flying without a net under them generally. And that makes it even more exhilarating when you succeed at that. So it’s really invigorated me to be working with these entrepreneurs and all in the right ways. So I feel very fortunate and I stumbled into it. So it’s not like it was deliberate and I knew it was going to happen. It's just been a very nice sort of byproduct of being in this market. So I'm really glad I'm in it. Share on X

Yeah, it’s a very rewarding job, and especially now when technology is evolving so fast and it’s constantly disrupting. Two or three years ago, we were talking about machine learning and we’re talking about big data and now it’s AI and it’s evolving super fast. And now even contractors in the Philippines are using AI. Everyone is using AI and the companies have to respond. Outsourcing is happening. So it’s very exciting to be at the forefront of this revolution and help these companies navigate. And just by seeing many companies, we are seeing a lot of ways of tackling these problems. And we can cross-fertilize these businesses with these approaches and ideas. And it is really fun. I also like it that we work in different industries. And if something works in one industry, it can be a completely innovative thing in another industry. So you see something in the financial industry, we can take it to another professional service area or a distribution company, and it’s going to be a unique thing there which will help them steal a march in the competition.

Yeah. And I think what it also does is, if you’re a business owner, I think it really is incumbent on you to seek help, to find help. And of course, it’s self-serving to say that, but I really believe that it’s sort of a peer group and a coach and a system are sort of three things that you need to stay current with all that and to really have the outside voices that you need to hear in an increasingly noisy and complex environment. So it kind of drives the need for people like us and it also forces us to be really current on the market and read three or four books a month and really stay on top of our game so that we can provide that value, which is more challenging than it’s been ever before.

Yeah, I love that we synthesize things for our clients. I also like it that we help them create a mastermind group out of their own team. Because there’s always a lot of pent-up potential and every team I work in, there’s always things that they don’t do they could be doing, and which will make them much more powerful. So what we do in the first 45 days, we pull out all the stops, we help them harvest those low-hanging fruits, they start the conversation, they start to use each other, listen to each other better, brainstorm together. And even without going out of the company, they already have a lot more useful information. One of the things that I’m always ,and you as well, we focus on is how do we accelerate the velocity of decision to action? So make more decisions, take action. Decisions, actions. If we do that, then suddenly they’re going to skyrocket just with their external resources without even bringing in any outside people.

Yes, and the market will always give you quick answers if you make decisions. So the market will give you an answer whether you’re on the right track or not. And better to find that out sooner than later. And I guess it’s the fail fast concept. But yes, we try to make, and a team that doesn’t function spends a lot of time not making decisions and working against each other. And so making a teamwork is an essential part of that.

The other thing I enjoy is that a big piece of being successful as an entrepreneur is to do more with less. And we often see some of our clients, they tap into resources resources that are low cost and which allow for more experimentation, because then you have a low overhead, you can make more mistakes. And if you make more mistakes, you learn more. If you learn more, you can be more successful. So that’s a really powerful. I learned from my clients how to outsource people to the Middle East, to Asia, and to step into talent there who are really eager to work and very smart. Technology, also using ChatGPT, AI, and different technology platforms. We learn from our clients and then we can teach our clients to do that and get them to the next level. So, yeah, tapping into this can be very powerful. All right, so our time is up. Peter, any famous last words before we wrap up?

Well, I could leave you with how to contact me.

Yeah, yeah, please do that.

My company is called Fox Run Advisors, and that’s my website, foxrunadvisors.com. And you can find me there and my contact information is there. And I would love to love to work with anybody out there that’s that’s looking to grow and is motivated to do it. That’s what we’re here for.

Yeah. And you can also find Peter’s information on the system website for Summit OS, stevepreda.com. And you can also download many Summit OS tools for free over there so you can check out the tools that Peter and I are using. And you can also contact us through LinkedIn as well. So Peter, thanks for coming on the show and sharing about the core business lens and your experience coaching teams and elevating them and 10x-ing their profit. And those of you listening here that enjoyed the episode, make sure you follow us on YouTube, on LinkedIn, and Apple podcast, give us a review and stay tuned because we come twice a week with successful entrepreneurs that developed or introduced frameworks for you. Thanks for coming Peter and thank you for listening.

 

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