About the Philie Group
We believe that leading a business can be a challenge in turbulent times. CEOs and owners in the Graphic Communications industry need an objective resource that they can trust. We can provide practical guidance in the areas of agile leadership, business management and growth strategies. Philie Group is that trusted advisor that can help CEOs and their teams focus on the work that really matters.
We Help CEOs and Business Leaders Play to Their Potential
We bring the right amount of strategy, insight and clarity to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications industry. We provide direct and realistic advice to navigate through a turbulent marketplace. By not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion, we help leaders navigate change and reach their goals through a common-sense and practical approach.
STRATEGY
As you chart your course for success, build a vision that delivers results through a realistic, and practical execution plan.
INSIGHT
Surround yourself with C-Suite level advice to Increase shareholder value in a transformative marketplace.
LEADERSHIP
Disruptive changes in how you work, client expectations, staff development, and technology make yesterday’s methods ineffective.
Mike Philie
Principal
Meet Mike
Mike Philie leverages his direct print industry experience in sales, sales management, and executive leadership to help leaders thrive in a changing marketplace. His background allows him to provide the insight and objective guidance that business leaders trust. Having been a business leader himself, Mike can provide a practical, and no-nonsense road map for your business. He has been providing advice to CEOs and owners of privately held printing and mailing companies across North America since 2007.
Principal
Meet Mike
Mike Philie leverages his direct print industry experience in sales, sales management, and executive leadership to help leaders thrive in a changing marketplace. His background allows him to provide the insight and objective guidance that business leaders trust. Having been a business leader himself, Mike can provide a practical, and no-nonsense road map for your business. He has been providing advice to CEOs and owners of privately held printing and mailing companies across North America since 2007.
Meet Mike
Mike Philie leverages his direct print industry experience in sales, sales management, and executive leadership to help leaders thrive in a changing marketplace. His background allows him to provide the insight and objective guidance that business leaders trust. Having been a business leader himself, Mike can provide a practical, and no-nonsense road map for your business. He has been providing advice to CEOs and owners of privately held printing and mailing companies across North America since 2007.
Our Practice Areas
Our direct industry experience allows us to provide the leadership and guidance in the pivotal areas that can make an impact on your business today.
Strategy
While attempting to grow your business, it’s not uncommon to hit that proverbial ceiling. We can provide the guidance you’ll need to forge ahead. By understanding your business and the marketplace, we can help direct your team with an objective plan for advancement. Every company is different and their needs are unique. Talk with us today to determine if we can be the resource that takes you to that next level.
Advisory
Even the most resilient executives don’t always have all the answers. Sometimes they need a trusted advisor to help validate their thoughts and concerns. At times it might even be that conversation they cannot have with anyone else in the business. They need that person who will challenge their line of thinking and hold them accountable to the path that they’ve set for the business. Going it alone has never been easy, and particularly not now in a transformative marketplace.
Leadership
Turbulent times demand having a strong and agile leadership bench in your business. Leaders need to know how to deliver the good news, and how to have those difficult conversations. They need to excel at identifying talent within the business and develop it to its greatest potential. You’ll have the ability to lead and manage, how to recruit the best people, and how to make your company the one everyone wants to work for. Finally, as the CEO, you’ll build a team that is aligned with your vision and goals.
Business Tranformations
Whether your business is doing well, and you just want it to get better, or it simply has to perform better, we can help. Performing an objective analysis of your company with a fresh perspective can be revealing. Through this exercise, we will validate many of your concerns, question others and uncover those that are critical to your success. We’ll help you create a practical roadmap that makes sense for the specific market in which your business competes. And more importantly, we can help you to implement the plan, helping to measure and refine the details as you move forward.
Customer Experience
Improving the customer experience (CX) is on every executives playbook as they determine their best path forward. A combination of outside market influences, and internal practices that have outlived their usefulness, has created opportunities for those who are best prepared. Begin with what customers like when doing business with you, and identify the areas that need improvement. A third dimension includes finding out how your customers compare you to your competitors, in the areas that matter to them.
M&A Integration
Strategic fit and integrating two cultures are integral parts to any successful deal. Yet, most of the time and discussion in putting a combination together is allocated to the financial review. And while this portion is very important, the deal is incomplete without thoroughly understanding and articulating the strategic fit for the two businesses. Further, many deals seem to sour post-closing as the managers struggle with the people-part of the business. We can help by being the objective third-party and helping to evaluate and ask the difficult questions that are part of every successful deal.
Let’s talk about where your team is going.
Making substantial improvements may require less time than you think.
Why Choose Us?
Here are a few of the reasons you should call us…
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Being at the top doesn’t mean that you have to go it alone |
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Practical advice and actionable strategies to transform your business |
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Having an accountable business starts with the leadership team being accountable to each other |
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Add clarity and focus to your business goals, making them more realistic and achievable |
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Find your bearings and get advice on making the tough decisions |
What Clients Are Saying
Small to medium size family businesses are a challenge. The business is part of the family and for the family members who are directly involved it is given more time and attention than the rest of the family (apologies to my wife and non-employee children). It’s just business but it’s also personal. And if the CEO is a hard-headed idiot who thinks he can figure everything out on his own, climbing Mt. Everest is an easier task than effecting change as a consultant. May I say that Mt. Everest is an anthill to Mr. Philie. I asked Mike to be a mentor to my son. He was that and more, giving both of us a Harvard level education on all facets of business while also taking into account the family side. He has my highest recommendation for his breadth of knowledge, his ability to communicate and the value he brings. Mike was not a cost, he was a great investment.
BILL FECHNER
The Advertisers Printing Co.
Mike provides leadership, strategy and guidance and I appreciate all of his efforts. He is direct in his assessments and isn’t afraid to voice an unpopular opinion, which is what I need as an owner of a business.
GARY CAYCE
Mt Royal Printing
I really felt like I needed a “coach” to help me become a better CEO and to be a sounding board. Mike has been really instrumental in helping me find my bearings and making some tough decisions.
KEVIN NAUGHTON
PrintComm
Mike worked with us over the course of a year to help deal with underperforming personnel, make equipment purchasing decisions, manage sales personnel, and align the direction of our management team. His inquisitive nature enabled him to look beyond our established practices and ask pertinent questions to understand the issues we were facing, to which he offered realistic suggestions for change.
CINDY MASON
DynaGraphics
The Philie Group Blog
Customer Relationships, Retention, and Acquisition
Should you focus on taking care of the customers that you currently have, or place an emphasis on winning new business and new opportunities? The answer is yes – both. But now comes the hard part, which is how to do both effectively. Solid relationships enable businesses to understand their...
A Parallel Path to Client Acquisition
A while back I asked if it was time to re-think the structure of your sales and client facing teams. Maybe you’ve had some reservations about how to make the transition. If you’re like many printing company owners, you’ve got an experienced group of sales folks who’ve been selling for years and...
How to Identify Emerging Leaders, Part Two
The opportunity that you have as a leader is to help recognize the potential in your emerging leaders and to provide a pathway for their development. These could be junior staff members, department managers, or team leads. Empowering them is crucial for their growth, job satisfaction, engagement,...
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LetÍ´s Make Contact
Talking through your goals and challenges is the best way to know if we can help. Send a message to arrange a convenient time when we can get to know one another.
LetÍ´s Make Contact
Talking through your goals and challenges is the best way to know if we can help. Send a message to arrange a convenient time when we can get to know one another.