One of the breakthroughs we made will add approximately $25 million to our bottom line next year (2013). Not bad for a day’s work! This was done by starting a workshop off with a discussion around “Educated Incapacity” (one of The Future Hunters’ main “Thinking Technologies”) and then addressing a major placement issue we have with one of our products.

The specific changes that resulted in our services and solutions are too numerous to mention, but I am confident in saying that at least 75% of the ideas had a significant impact on the growth and profitability of our firm. In 1999 when I started as CEO, the firm’s revenue was $145 million and by the end of 2006 the company had grown to $423 million – or slightly over a 190% growth rate during the 8 year period. I do not believe this level of performance would have been possible without the assistance we received from WEB in helping us understand the significant trends impacting our clients and our firm.

The best example of our relationship with WEB was the integration of WEB’s “Thinking Technologies” to our Western European Fabric Care team. We created an “Alien Eyes” workshop, based on their book “FutureThink,” which greatly influenced the thinking of the team and its leadership. This contributed to the "Power of Water" insight that led to the launch of Ariel Excel Gel – one of the biggest launches in Fabric Care History. “Seeing with Alien Eyes” has now become part of the vernacular at P&G.

WEB – they don’t claim to tell the future…but you’d bet they did. NACS has been a member of WEB’s client program for over 20 years and the results of their research have been spot on helping our industry better understand what the future looks like and what the implications are to our members’ businesses. With the next generation of WEB futurists now involved, we expect to rely on their vision and interpretations of the future for some time to come.

Using the “Right of Way” concept, were we able to get about $850,000 per year from following “right of way” leases: ATM’s, Billboards, Ice/Water Kiosks, Mineral Leases (natural gas deposits). People are thinking about opportunities very differently now.

This is an amazing Executive Program. Based on the preview you put my Senior Team through last year, this is a sweet spot for you! The top 10 folks who got to experience your session have “passed it on.” We actually have a Right of Way program in the Company with a VP leading our initiatives. In addition, we have done breakouts on Educated Incapacity, Trend/Countertrend and Relationship Marketing with our top 35 leaders. You taught us well!