The 1% Difference

About the Book

Every day employees make decisions that ultimately get reflected in the financials. In many businesses, sales reps exert the most impact on the financial success of a business because their decisions directly affect one of the most important lines on the income statement—the sales line—however; other employee groups can influence financial results. Purchasing affects costs of goods sold; managers, supervisors and employees affect expenses; other employees affect the utilization of assets such as inventory, receivables and fixed assets; and everyone affects productivity.

The good news for almost anyone in business is that a mere 1 percent improvement in key variables they influence every day can have a huge impact on profitability in a very short period of time. You do not have to make significant investments or wait years for the result. You do not have to create teams and initiate projects nor do you have to add any work to your current workload. You can make a difference today and start to see the results by month end!

The 1% Difference is a story about how a manager takes over a struggling branch office and realizes significant improvements in profitability. He begins by helping employees discover the multiplier affect of their decisions and then gets them fully engaged in finding small improvements. The result amazes everyone.

About the Author

Murray and Kelly Lyons specialize in helping organizations improve profitability by focusing on the decisions employees make everyday. Recognizing that most employees do not have a financial background and are often disinterested or intimidated by numbers they set out to develop a highly engaging and experiential way to help employees discover the difference they can make to profitability. The result was a one-day workshop called Profit AdventureÔ. Initially Profit AdventureÔ was positioned as an add-on service to their consulting and M&A work but quickly became a mainstay of their business. Since 2001 thousands of employees have participated in the workshop. In addition to facilitating they regularly speak at conferences, tradeshows and retreats. They have worked with many organizations ranging in size from small family run companies to large multinational corporations where they have achieved a mark improvement in financial performance.