Interview with Mark Smallwood

Instead of pressing the pause button, we are using this time to elevate our business with the help of Mark Smallwood from Making You More. We asked him to share how we are achieving these goals.

Question: You have been working with our teams over the last two months, can you highlight how this has helped us get in shape especially through these challenging times?

Answer: Since day one of our time together, we have defined and then embedded the message of “We are one, we rise or fall together.” Whilst it is important for each member of the team to work towards achieving their goals, these should never take precedence over the company’s requirement for success.  In practice this has meant we developed three great habits: -

• Set crystal clear goals and then develop a detailed plan to achieve them
• Continually share our successes and our learning from when things don’t go as hoped and incorporate this into fast changes of behaviour
• Help the teams to develop full ownership for self-leadership - if you give colleagues the tools they need and the support they require to improve a situation, it leads to a transformational difference in behaviour and resilience.

Question: As an SME, we believe we are more agile than some of our larger competitors, would you agree?

Answer: Yes, entirely. One of PLC’s key competitive advantages is the company’s ability to quickly grasp a client’s requirements and then respond almost immediately to clearly communicate what PLC can do to help.

In practice, this has meant we are able to respond to requests for quotations or changes in real time; it means the team have got used to using their initiative and by having clear guidelines in place, the usual delays and frustrations one has when dealing with a large organisation do not apply.

In addition, the move to remote working has been practically seamless and almost uniquely amongst platform lift companies, you can still discuss your needs, get quotations, have detailed drawings produced and place orders at PLC.

Question: Our in-house services mean we can support the whole life cycle of a platform lift including design, build, installation and servicing, is this our biggest strength?

Answer: Great question. Having spent much of the last two months getting to know the team, products, systems and processes at the Platform Lift Company, I would say all of the above are part of the company’s strengths.

I think PLC’s greatest strength is the “can-do” mindset of the people who work there and the passion of the owners, Sean and Elsa O’Sullivan.