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"After significant growth, The Beck Group in Denver decided to build and implement a more structured and focused Business Development and Strategic Marketing program. Knowing that we are great at doing our core businesses, but also knowing that we don’t know everything that we need to know about being great at Business Development we reached out to Adam Van Daele at The CKG Group for some professional core development and coaching. We engaged Adam at multiple levels to help us implement a state-of-the-art Business Development and Strategic Marketing approach addressing all aspects of our business including adjusting leadership role profiles and our leadership behavior. Part of The CKG Group’s effort is creating internal champions to implement a BD & Marketing Education Program designed to improve architect’s and construction operation people’s desire, skill set and time to participate in developing business, selling work and marketing the company. The task of implementing a Business Development program at a superior level including the hiring of a Business Development Director and a Marketing Coordinator is an endeavor that we couldn’t have done effectively or successfully without Adam’s experience and guidance.
Adam is not a consultant. The CKG Group approach is much more effective than the typical consulting approach. Adam is focused on helping us implement and get lasting execution on the initiatives we have agreed are important. Adam brings a unique look at the industry. A look that can only happen from having outside perspectives from multiple touches in the design and construction community as well as other unrelated industries. Adam has a broad look at business and brings that to bear on discussions and strategy sessions. I can whole-heartedly recommend Adam as a “team member” and “co-worker” for any company striving to improve their leadership, organizational structure and Business Development / Strategic Marketing. " Frank Eppink Regional Director The Beck Group "I have been working with Adam at The CKG Group for the last 5 months in strategic planning and rebuilding our business development approach. Adam's keen strategic insight and sales driven thinking has allowed us to make great strides in repositioning The Weitz Company in the Denver market. Our work is far from complete, but I can state that with Adam's help, we are on track with our strategic plan and beginning to penetrate new markets with a logical and deliberate sales focus.
I'd be happy to discuss the work Adam and I have been doing if you wish to know more." Bill Hornaday Executive Vice President THE WEITZ COMPANY "FCI Constructors, Inc. has been working with Adam Van Daele for approximately two years now and the board of directors has been very pleased with the results. Adam has helped us organize a more structured internal senior leadership team consisting of nine managers. He has assisted our team in developing a focused strategic plan that includes Core Values, Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Brand Promise, BHAG and Sand Box. Adam has been very instrumental in helping our senior leadership team become more accountable to each other and he has guided our team to be more focused on business development and marketing strategies that follow our Core Values. Adam has been a valuable asset in helping to develop a Strategic Plan that will drive FCI to be a more successful company."
Ed Forsman President & CEO FCI Constructors, Inc. "Adam Van Daele has been working with us here at Adams Engineering for the past year and he has been instrumental in making us a far better company. Adam's primary focus has been to strengthen our strategic planning process and to help us implement a new Business Development and Marketing Program. He continues to exceed our expectations in all of these areas. Due to his unique background and vast experience, Adam has taken us to a new level of knowledge and understanding that we could never have acquired without his guidance and leadership. Adam is extremely personable and a real pleasure to work with. We are proud to call him both a colleague and a friend. Therefore, please allow me the opportunity to give Adam Van Daele a glowing recommendation to serve as a business partner to your firm."
Daniel J. Adams, PE President / CEO ADAMS | ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS "We engaged Adam nearly a year ago to support our business development and marketing efforts. Since that time, he has not only successfully implemented this plan, but brought tremendous valuing in understanding and making suggestions on how to improve our office structure & operations. I believe Adam has an uncanny ability to listen, understand and improve any company in the AEC industry, as long as they are as dedicated to this concept as he is. Adam has bolstered us forward in just under a year which is further than the progress we made in 5 years without him.
I highly recommend Adam Van Daele for those companies that desire to move forward!" Erick Westerholm, AIA ACHA LEED AP BD+C Principal ASCENSION GROUP ARCHITECTS "Intergroup has worked with Adam Van Deale for over a year on a variety of programs. We originally started to work revamping our marketing efforts, but with Adam’s guidance quickly realized we needed to look deeper for long-term solutions. We looked at our firm’s culture, developed a new strategic plan, and broadened our view on how marketing should be approached.
Our firm has a horizontal structure and Adam was great in working with our unique requirements and tailored his approach directly to us and not as a cookie-cutter solution. We highly recommend Adam to you and in fact, we have already connected him to other key firms we with work." Ned K White CEO INTERGROUP ARCHITECTS "Adam Van Daele has coached and mentored the Muckleroy & Falls leadership team for the past 10 months in Strategic Planning, Business Development & Marketing. With his guidance and leadership we have established tangible goals and completely transformed our business development and marketing approach. Deliberate project pursuit and penetration of new market segments are only two of the many components that Adam helps us focus upon.
Integration of our core values, culture, and mission statement into our business development / marketing strategy has been a huge game changer for us. Adam challenges us to "look under the hood" and work on our business not just "in our business". We value each and every hour that we spend with Adam. Thanks to Adam, the strategic plans we're implementing today will reap dividends long after we hand the business off to the next generation." Max Falls President MUCKLEROY & FALLS CONSTRUCTION "SLATERPAULL Architects was the first client of the CKG Group. We were extremely pleased with the efforts Adam Van Daele put into moving us forward from an architectural firm with relatively good project acquisition success, albeit quite reactionary to available opportunities, to one with a strategic focus. Adam’s message is unique to the architectural community. Without his help, we would not be where we are today."
Clayton C. Cole, AIA, LEED AP Principal SLATERPAULL ARCHITECTS INC. "I have known Adam for over 6 years. It has been a joy and pleasure to watch Adam successfully navigate his career and take his approach and teachings and integrate them into the very successful CKG group platform. I am now the pleased (benefiting) recipient of his knowledge and expertise. The CKG group is in the process of taking our 27 year old “principle” driven company and transforming our key concepts into an industry-leading Professional Services Firm. We now have a strategic team aligned with a single vision directed by shared company values. Our strategic plan is revolutionary in our industry and we are seeing immediate results. The CKG program has changed our organization and Adam is now my strategic business partner working hand in hand to grow our business. From working Adam’s program we are thinking bigger, working smarter, planning on a higher level, and implementing his success criteria into our day to day operations."
Douglas Dunkin, PE CEO R&R ENGINEERS, SURVEYORS, INC. "The Denver office of W.E. O’Neil has been working with The CKG Group for over a year. I initially engaged Adam to assist us with taking our Business Development & Strategic Marketing to the next level. We knew when it came to BD and Strategic Marketing there were things that we were doing consistently at a high level. We also knew there were things that we were doing but not consistently at a high level. Then we found out that there were quality initiatives in BD and Marketing that we weren’t doing at all. The CKG Group has a 6 Part BD & Strategic Marketing Program that is both comprehensive and effective. It started with our Leadership Team having a better understanding of the differences between BD, Strategic Marketing & Sales and prioritizing the overall effort in our culture. We then began to adjust our structure in BD, Marketing, Estimating and Operations to accommodate a robust and prioritized program. Adam has done a great job of fitting into our culture and leadership team. He has honored what we were doing well and didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken while he focused us on long term improvement where we needed it. We are now working with Adam on Strategic Planning, Organizational Development and Leadership Development. It wouldn’t surprise me if we expanded our engagement with Adam to include our other offices around the county, he has been a terrific partner of ours in Colorado and all of our operations could benefit from his program.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how The CKG Group has become an effective partner in the continuous improvement of our Colorado operation." Todd Guthrie President WE ONIEL - Denver "Raymond Construction has been working with Adam over the past year with our leaders from the Dallas and Austin offices. He has been a critical part of our leadership team as we work to improve our foundation and strive to be the best general contractor in our respective markets. Adam is coaching us to achieve intelligent growth, not just growth for the sake of growing.
Adam is different from other outside coaches in that he works hard to make sure the whole team executes, including himself, and truly acts as a member of the team. Adam has been leading us through a very important strategic planning process. Staying on track and being accountable is a struggle for any leadership team but Adam’s focused and organized approach, and suitable pressure, has helped us achieve targeted milestones. Please feel free to contact me for any additional insight." Charles Raymond President / CEO Raymond Construction "We have been working with The CKG Group for going on two years now. Adam has become an integral member of the 505 Design Leadership team. His process has added accountability to our organization in a way that makes things actually happen. He is a valued partner in helping us evolve our business and transform our company into a higher performing organization. We originally asked Adam to help us build a more effective Business Development and Strategic Marketing program. He analyzed our organization and developed a deep understanding of our core competencies and more importantly the strengths and weaknesses of our partnership. Within six months we on boarded a highly competent Director of Business Development who is working closely with Adam to drive a very sophisticated and effective BD, Marketing & Sales program for the firm. Adam’s process for finding, evaluating and ultimately hiring the Business Development person was extraordinary. We would have never ended up with the quality individual we attracted without Adam's assistance. He took us to a whole new level.
Adam has a holistic approach and understanding to organizations and the intricate relationships between Strategy, Leadership Development, Organizational Development and Business Development / Strategic Marketing. He is now deeply embedded in our firm evolving our culture, organizational structure, development of our people and cultivating a strategic approach to our business. Adams impact on our organization has been immense. It has changed the effectiveness of how the partners work and has created an energy and electricity in our organization that has everyone excited about the direction we are heading." John Ward President / Managing Partner 505Design, Inc. "Thanks again for everything. You have taught me a lot and I am very grateful regarding getting me ready for this position. You are an awesome person and a great teacher."
Joey Johnson Principal / Vice President Ridgemont Commercial Construction |
"HKS Dallas & Denver has been working with Adam Van Daele founder of the CKG Group for almost 11 months. During this time, he has helped us greatly with establishing a Business Development & Marketing program for our Denver office and moving us to think regionally. His marketing processes and procedures are great tools allowing us to be more organized and diligent with our marketing efforts. Recently, we have begun the regional marketing efforts to establish a focused Business Development and Marketing effort for our Salt Lake City and Phoenix offices. Adam has helped us significantly and is a very good strategist. I am pleased to recommend The CKG Group and look forward to working with them in the future."
John P. Lowe, AIA, NCARB Vice President | Healthcare Practice Leader HKS INC "OZ Architecture has been working with Adam for just over a year. In the past, we have been reluctant to trust a consultant to work with us beyond a short retreat. What we quickly learned about Adam is that he is not a consultant. The CKG Group is focused on not only helping us determine quality initiatives to improve our firm, but most importantly Adam is an enabler of the implementation and execution of those initiatives. He has been able to gain the trust and respect of our Board of Directors and our Leadership Team and has lead us through the process of developing and now implementing our strategic plan. We have a successful practice, but Adam has helped to expose the gaps we needed to recognize and fill. We are just beginning our relationship with The CKG Group and look forward to Adam’s continued expertise as one of our partners."
Tracy Tafoya, LEED AP Partner OZ Architecture "We have had the pleasure of working with Adam for over 16 months now. Adam is not a consultant. We consider him a team member who works with us on a regular basis and is accountable for results not just advice. We reached out to Adam with our desire to hire our first dedicated Business Development person in firm history. When Adam looked at the structure of H+L he advised that we work on not only how the firm was structured to execute a best-in-class Business Development & Strategic Marketing effort but also, where Business Development and Marketing was prioritized in our culture. Based on his recommendations we decided to spend the time up front to do it right. Adam then assisted us with how to recruit, interview, hire, compensate and on-board a Business Development professional. We are excited to say that we have had that role filled for about a year and we are very happy with the result. We were so pleased with the above that we engaged Adam to lead our strategic planning process. The CKG strategic planning process is very different than what we were used to. It has us focused on real strategy vs. goals and tactics and most importantly Adam holds himself (and us) accountable for timely implementation and execution of our initiatives. We are currently talking to Adam about the CKG Leadership Development Program and The CKG Organizational Development Program. I highly recommend The CKG Group to any A/E/C firm that continues to strive for organizational excellence and would welcome the opportunity to talk personally about CKG and the effectiveness of the program."
Scott Kuehn President / CEO H+L ARCHITECTURE "Adam has been an integral member of our leadership team for over 4 years. His expertise regarding Strategy, Organizational Development, Leadership Development and Business Development / Strategic Marketing play a major role in assisting Spring Valley with all aspects of our business. With his assistance we have developed a real strategy (not just goals and tactics) for the future. The best part of working with Adam is his very professional approach. Unlike consultants we have worked with in the past CKG not only helps us identify quality initiatives but more importantly holds CKG (and Spring Valley) accountable for implementation and execution. His approach forces us to work on the business in lieu of in the business. We consider Adam more than a business partner - He is our friend. He has become a member of our family.
I would be happy to discuss Adam's personal approach, and the effectiveness of CKG with anyone interested in improving their business." Stephen J Bruszer President SPRING VALLEY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY "We have been working with Adam Van Daele at The CKG Group for over two years and I can state unequivocally that our association has been a very successful one. We began working with Adam to develop a business development plan. Frankly, we had one but it was not very good. We now have an improved business development plan that; one, we are proud of, and two, aligns with the culture of our company.
In addition, to business development we have also retained Adam's services to refine and develop our strategic planning priorities. Simply put, we have been challenged to think like a larger company. With Adam's assistance our values and company structure has been more clearly defined, as well as our annual growth and planning sessions enabling us to spend time on three, five, and yes even 10 year goals. Adam Van Daele has made us a better company. I welcome the opportunity to discuss how he might have a positive impact with you." Bob O’Brien Chief executive officer / principal RIDGEMONT COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION "We’ve had Adam on board for over 5 months now and it has been a fantastic experience. He led us through a great strategic planning exercise and is really good about making sure everyone is doing what they say they are going to do so we can get lasting implementation of our initiatives. In addition to Strategic Planning, Organizational Development & Leadership Development, one of Adam’s strengths is his Business Development and Strategic Marketing Program which have changed the way we focus on bringing in new business, developing our existing customers and marketing the company. I’m happy to discuss our experience with Adam in more detail if you’d like but I cannot say enough positive things about the process."
Tom McLagan President HYDER CONSTRUCTION "Adam joined us 6 months ago. From Day 1 he offered new ideas and new perspectives to existing challenges. Adam isn’t a “business consultant”……he is an active member of our team and a seasoned strategist that has learned, through many years of experience and the school of hard knocks, what it takes to make A/E/C companies great. Adam’s expertise in business development, strategic marketing, organizational structure, personnel, mergers and acquisitions and long range planning would be an invaluable asset to any business leader looking to take their company to the next level and beyond.
I would be happy to discuss the value that Adam brings with anyone considering his services." Dave Osburn President OSBURN CONTRACTORS, INC. "We have had the pleasure of working with Adam Van Daele as a partner in the areas of Strategic Planning, Business Development and Marketing for over a year now. The knowledge and firsthand experience he brings to the table is unmatched by any other consultants we have used. He has without a doubt helped us to become a far better and more focused company. His detailed processes and enthusiasm has helped us to exceed any expectations we had at the beginning. I truly feel he has a vested interest in our success and it shows in everything he does. If you are looking to develop a new strategic plan or need help in the areas of business develop and marketing, I can say without a doubt that using the services of CKG Group is the best decision you could make."
Clay Harrison President SKILES GROUP "CKG has a unique ability to translate strategic theory into practical application. Adam’s workable personality and flexible process allowed CKG’s model to be tailored to Parkway’s specific needs. He’s smart and can go big picture or dive into the details better than consultants I have worked with in the past. I consider our relationship with CKG an important ingredient to our scalable growth."
Ryan Elmer Director of Business Development PARKWAY CONSTRUCTION & ASSOCIATES LP "We have had the pleasure of working with Adam Van Daele for just under a year at this point. The main differentiator between The CKG Group and a typical consultant is prevalent. Unlike a consultant, Adam helps us identify quality initiatives regarding strategy, leadership, organizational development and business development / marketing. More important than the identification of quality initiatives, Adam is an expert regarding something all organizations struggle with - implementation and lasting execution of what our leadership team decides matters. Adam’s deep experience as an owner and leader of some of the top design and constructions firms in our industry equates to a very short ramp to adding value once we engaged him. The CKG Group is extremely flexible with the services it delivers. My experience with consultants is one of adopting our company to their processes. It is the opposite with CKG. Adam customizes his processes to fit us. I am very pleased with the service to date and look forward to a long and effective relationship between K2 & The CKG Group. I would enjoy the opportunity to discuss how The CKG Group is helping us improve and how Adam could do the same for your organization."
David Danielson Partner K2 CONSTRUCTION "Adam has transformed our business. The experience he brings from years of working in the AEC industry is invaluable to a growing business like ours. He keeps us accountable and on track with our strategic growth plan as well as helped us sculpt our team through an intensive organizational development process. We appreciate his candor and open communication as well as his ability to continue to push our Leadership Team to think differently and challenge the status quo. Simply put we are a stronger and more profitable organization because Adam is in our lives. Thank you, Adam!"
Dave Boroughs President THE DEMO COMPANY "We reached out to Adam at The CKG Group after seeing the results that some of his other clients were having. Quickly it became clear that we didn’t even know what we didn’t know about taking our company to a higher level. After more than a year of listening, learning, and working with Adam we have learned to focus and develop the processes, procedures, and tools needed to achieve those results that we were intrigued by.
I once read a quote that stuck with me… “Don’t be upset with the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do”. After reading a little deeper into that quote we realized it wasn’t the hard work part that was holding us back yet it was the planning, preparation, and processes needed to fully implement and provide lasting execution that was missing; meaning we needed to work smarter as we worked harder. Adam has helped us take a look at our business so we could evaluate areas that could be so much more effective. He is teaching our team to be much more strategic in our focus as opposed to being simply opportunistic in our approach. One byproduct of the things we have learned from Adam is that we are much more prepared to be opportunistic and to take those opportunities and make them much more successful. We feel that Adam’s approach and leadership are what we need to differentiate ourselves in our market and we are proud to call him a member of our team now and in the future years to come. I would be glad to answer any questions you may have but I can say that I would whole heartedly recommend Adam and The CKG Group to anyone in the A/E/C industry that wants to improve their business." Clay Stacker President SOUTHLAND CONSTRUCTORS, INC. "After our 6th year in business we knew certain fundamentals were missing in our organization. Under Adams guidance the CKG Group was instrumental in assisting us with putting our first formal strategic planning process and tools in place. A few of the key components of the plan include our Mission Statement, Vision Statement and Core Values. In addition, we have quality initiatives and Action Plans to speed the implementation and arrive at consistent high-level execution. A strategic plan is worthless unless you intend to execute on the initiatives in it. Implementation is not the end zone. As a hands-on business owner, it’s easy to get lost working IN the organization vs. being a responsible leader who is now focused more working ON the development of the organization. Adam and the CKG Group brings the tools and expertise to do just that. I can say with certainty that working with the CKG Group has enabled our organization to achieve a unified culture, clear mission and inspiring vision, not only for today but where it will be years from now."
Cory Palmeiro President Martines I Palmeiro Construction |