Peer groups are recognized as one of the best ways to enable growth and strengthen companies. In his book, "The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers", Keith McFarland discussed how everyday companies use peer groups as a kind of "scaffolding" to make it to the next level.
In the technology space, HTG Peer Groups (www.htgmembes.com) are leading the way in providing a forum for technology industry resellers who are serious about implementing a model for success in their own businesses through sharing and collaboration of best practices.
No single company has a monopoly on good ideas. Other IT companies like yours have the same issues, ask the same questions, and face the same problems. We network similar companies based on their size, number of employees, relative lines of service, ownership structure, and markets served to find unique solutions to common problems. Because HTG peer groups are national in scope, members are not operating in competing markets. The result is an intimate network where the expectation of confidentiality is an underlying facet of the group’s inherent design. The agenda for each meeting is designed around the felt-needs of the group and toward meeting the concerns and issues that face you in a fast-paced, increasingly complex business.
The groups are a recognized force in the industry, being profiled in magazines like Redmond Channel Partner, (http://rcpmag.com/features/article.aspx?editorialsid=2445)
The peer grouping experience has arrived in the UK, as HTG has recently launched it’s first face to face group made up entirely of UK based IT solution providers. The first, highly successful meeting was in London, and the meetings for Birmingham in January are already being planned. Topics that were discussed included customer acquisition, hiring, marketing, managed services, and service metrics, and upcoming meetings include discussions around sales mastery, employee benefits, and transitioning from sales to service. There will be opportunity for the group to interact with US and Canadian based groups during the year as well, and participate in an HTG exclusive conference in April.
Richard Tubb of Netlink IT wrote in his blog “I came away from the two days literally buzzing with ideas and plans, reams and reams of notes and a number of new relationships with fellow business owners.”
The group is looking for additional members, and has a limited number of seats available for this face-to-face peer group experience. The process is simple – applications are accepted on the www.htgmembers.com website, or you can speak with the facilitator, Dave Sobel of Evolve Technologies, to learn more about the groups and find out how you can get involved. Dave can be reached at dave@evolvetech.com, or UK : +44 (0)20 8002 9740 x111, or US 1 703-426-7100 x111.