I believe you should hire the most effective person at achieving the result you need. Location shouldn’t play any role in the decision since technology allows for extremely effective two-way communication. Likewise, I believe that price should never be a factor since you should be receiving the necessary return on your investment (ROI) that makes the engagement profitable. Our goal at Summers Hospitality Group® is to deliver a 1,000% ROI on every client’s investment.

Coaching is where we Coach you and/or your staff to execute the change needed – you do all the work, we teach, coach, train and measure for effectiveness. Consulting is where I come in and execute the change for you – I do (most) the work. There is a Coaching and Consulting option for each program I offer based on your particular need. The most successful projects include a bit of both.

Legally, I can only contract with the person who has the authority to enter into contracts for your business, so it only makes sense that I talk to that person about the existing needs and possible solutions.

Ethically, I cannot create a solution for your business unless I hear from you (the business owner) about your needs, desired outcomes and the resources that can be used to help create the necessary innovation to achieve those outcomes.

Most managers do not have sufficient information about the business in order to understand either the direction that’s needed or the solution required.

I don’t use “Off-the-Shelf” Programs and we don’t just fix problems (that just gets you back to the level you were at when you first encountered them).

I innovate your business and your thinking.

I listen to your needs, goals and expectations, then use varied research and auditing techniques to uncover and understand the unique opportunities present in your business and your market. From this feedback, research and analysis, we devise a unique strategy that will help you fill in the missing pieces to your businesses’ growth & long-term success.

Would you hire a plumber to install your electrical wiring? No. Nor would you hire an electrician just out of electrical school who had never actually wired anything!

I believe you should only work with people who have successful experience in actually doing what it is you want to do. I am an operators who has that successful experience. I use it to deliver quantifiable, measurable outcomes and I do it every single time.

Some skills can be learned in groups, but most leadership skills require behavior changes that are not taught in seminars. The most effective learning experiences are those that take place in the work environment. If the leader changes, others around him or her must alter their behavior to support the changes. Most research indicates leaders learn best when they deal with situations in their own business.

References are available if the project warrants them. I receives hundreds of inquiries annually, but I accept only a handful of clients at a time. Some of them are happy to oblige requests for references; most require a level of confidentiality from us that would preclude discussing the project or giving out their contact information. All of them, however, prefer to focus on building their own businesses rather than helping me build ours. Therefore, executive-level contacts are provided for projects exceeding $25,000 USD and only after the execution of a letter of intent (LOI). In addition, work samples and portfolio may be provided following completion of a mutual nondisclosure agreement.

I work with anyone who has the sufficient budget to bring a project to fruition. That doesn’t have to mean millions of dollars. But it does have to mean they have the capitalization necessary to begin the work. Dreams are nice — just about every successful business started with one. But the inconvenient truth is that it costs money to turn a dream into a reality. The good news is that we treat your budget as if were our own money, and stretch it as far as possible. But we’ll also tell you if we think you’re underfunded, and then help you decide whether to recapitalize or adjust your expectations. We don’t accept clients just to earn a fee; we only accept those clients we know we can help achieve success.

They used to be in Fort Worth, Texas, in a modern office building with lots of square feet that covered multiple offices. And then it dawned on us that no one opened a business inside our office space. We were spending all our time at the clients’ sites — as we should — and the offices were serving as little more than a symbol of prestige. And with the evolution and improvement of technology, the tools of the trade — phones, tablets, computers — have become more portable. So now our “office” is anywhere you need us to be.

While we have a global presence, our primary bases for operation are still in Fort Worth. There’s no single place with a big fancy conference room to impress potential clients, but at least they know that when they’re working with us their fees aren’t being used to pay for the utility bill of an empty space.

Travel/Geography. I have one fixed price for all week-long (5 business days) travel and accommodation expenses anywhere in the continental United States – $1500.00, which can be paid (for longer engagements) on a month-to-month basis. Outside of the lower 48, I expense travel and accommodation at cost based on pre-planned travel rates.

After working with clients in 49 states and 13 countries, the one thing that sticks out most about location is that it doesn’t matter. Planes, trains and automobiles make it easy to get anywhere relatively cheap and easy.  Even with international travel, it’s no longer an issue. The question is, what is the most effective means of accomplishing the goal?

Most projects involve both Coaching and Consulting. Obviously, the more work you or your team are able to do, the more economical the project.

But the bottom line depends on your abilities to do the work.

This is a business investment and like all business investments, it should have a stipulated return. I will analyze your situation and give you what we think is an achievable return (in $$$).

Yes.

But a free consultation is not free consulting. A free consultation is:

1. You defining your existing situation vs. your ideal.
2. I’ll ask questions to drill down into both and tell you what can be done.
3. I’ll outline the results and send it to you in the form of a 3-option proposal for your consideration.

See the SHG Guarantee. 

Most professional service fees (consulting, legal, accounting, etc…) are usually 100% tax deductible as a business expense.

Check with your accountant to ask about your specific situation.

Each project is priced based on the specific needs of the client. SHG® charges flat fees for each program or service – there are NEVER any hourly fees or added fees or hidden fees – nor do I ever agree to any “profit sharing scheme”.

Why? The way I see it, clients are best served by innovating their business or achieving opportunities as quickly as possible. Prolonging the efforts to do so, for purely financial reasons on the consultant’s part, is totally unethical and a true sign of an amateur.