“It is great to see teams progressing, owning the work, and committing to Thursday updates with me.

In a nutshell, none of this would have happened if we didn’t work with you!”

“In the nearly 12 months since your presentation, I have actively re-negotiated terms with my clients, and I’m thrilled to share that I have achieved a growth of up to 35% increase in fees and margin.

Your guidance played a significant role in this success, and I am incredibly grateful for the time and effort you took to present to Key 106.”

“I am a better person and business leader because of you. Thanks for your support and guidance.” (Marty)

“We wouldn’t be where we are without you!” (Jo)

“‘Ish’ in commercial terms now makes me feel squeam’ish’. This is as a direct result of Paul Allen’s work with our company. He has taught me to feel appropriately sick when we analyse lost profit margin opportunities. I remain grateful for all of Paul’s insights.”

“Since the early 1990s, Australians have witnessed a progressive revolution in customer service ethos across B2C, B2B, and Government-to-C channels. We’ve moved away from the old-world customer indifference model to a new found enthusiasm for the customer experience; with more and more organisations wearing their Net Promoter Scores as a badge of honour in the customer service stakes.

While this is arguably a good thing, over the years, the margin pendulum has swung a little too far in the direction of the customer. Take Back Your Margin! is a timely wake-up call to anyone in business. After reading Paul’s book, you will be emboldened and empowered to pursue fair value for your products and services in a way that engenders respect and trust.”

“I am pleased to write this reference for Paul Allen, who has made significant contributions to The Executive Connection (TEC) forums since early 2021.

In this time, he has conducted 23 workshops, demonstrating an exceptional understanding of our members’ needs and professional interests.

Paul’s association with TEC is highlighted by the consistently high ratings he receives from our members. From 158 surveys, his sessions have consistently scored above 80%, a clear indication of the value and impact of his presentations.

A notable aspect of Paul’s engagement with TEC is his exceptional preparation and professionalism. His approach to each workshop is thorough and thoughtful, ensuring content relevance and engaging delivery. This is echoed in the feedback we receive, where his style is often described as both professional and engaging, greatly appreciated by our members.

The key reason TEC chairs frequently request Paul as a speaker is his extensive knowledge in enhancing profitability, a subject of great interest to our members. His insights in this area have been instrumental in providing actionable strategies and knowledge.

To illustrate the impact of Paul’s contributions, I’d like to share a quote from one of our TEC Chairs:

“Paul’s topic selection is spot on for both B2B and B2C members. His universal message, excellent delivery, and effective use of breakout groups enhance member engagement significantly. Paul’s inclusion of a member for case studies adds immense relevance. His professional presentation style and great delivery make him a highly sought-after speaker in our community.”

Paul’s role in TEC has been invaluable, not only in delivering content but also in actively engaging and adding value to our community. It is with great confidence that I recommend him as a speaker, confident in his ability to contribute significantly to forums which match his area of expertise.”

“Through the diagnostic process that Paul ran, we discovered more than we realised. We knew we had leakage in the business, but we didn’t know the extent until Paul systematically commenced his analytical, but practical approach. Peeling the layers, one by one, his techniques and ability to bring out and showcase the areas where we thought we’re fine, but only through working these areas, did we finally see that changes, even minor, could lead to increasing margins which results to a dramatic effect to your bottom line.

We have gained some valuable techniques, some of which we will use with our core clients to gain a deeper understanding as to what’s important to them. This will be invaluable.

Paul is a master of his craft, tactful, knowledgeable, honest and personable.

Thanks Paul, I’m sure we will be asking you to return and do further work with our senior managers.”

“Paul’s expertise, and driven teaching style positively impacted the commercial contract and negotiation skills for many employees. A valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance skills in this area.”

“Paul led a session with my TEC group of CEOs and business owners. His practical and engaging style led to frank discussions about the true margin of key customers. The group took away specific actions and are already having brave conversations with customers to unlock the margin they are rightfully owed for the service and product they provide.”

“Paul has now spoken to all three of my TEC groups – that’s some 30 CEOs of midsized businesses and 15 Senior Executives. Every member in all groups had a concrete take-away they felt they could action. Paul brought home all the aspects of margin improvement that were NOT in the financials but in the hidden cost of doing business. Eye opening stuff.”

“TEC 3 was fortunate to have Paul Allen from Margin Partners present his Client-Profit Workshop to the group. Great presentation with lots of valuable insights on minimising waste and maximising the value in both supplier and customer relationships to ensure nothing ‘left on the table’.

Paul’s down to earth and engaging delivery style combined with the use of real and relevant member case studies made for a worthwhile session for all.

Member comments including “excellent delivery, amazing content”, “I didn’t realise how much value I was missing out on”, “probably most valuable speaker session we’ve had”, “rich in real case studies” and “really given me something to take back to the team” indicate the value the members received from Paul’s presentation.

Will be recommending to my network.”

“I recently started a B2B business after 7+ years in corporate. I had a number of different strategies to acquire customers and no clear framework for how to do it.

The value Paul was able to provide in our 1/2 day session was amazing. I now have an extremely clear framework for customer profiling, engagement and conversion.

Paul gave me so much detail to work with, all the way down to role play in different scenarios and the type of phrasing I should use. I would highly recommend Paul to any size business.”

“I just wanted to send you through a quick email to say ‘thanks’.

I was reading through your notes in response to our Supplier negotiation and was quite proud of myself to have already written down most of your notes myself. I was going to call you today to discuss my thoughts to see if I was on the right path, turns out I was, which is great!

My reason for emailing you to say thanks is that going back 2 years ago, these aren’t things I would have noticed or even pushed on. I’ve never been the easiest person to teach, but I feel as though over the last couple of years you have given me some excellent tools and knowledge to continue growing myself within and outside of my role in Beechworth Bakery.

So yeah, thanks!”

“Paul has just completed a six-month program working with our Sales, Operations and Finance team with a primary focus of knowing the cost to serve our customers in an effort to improve our margins.
Working with all levels within our business from Field technicians through to Senior management, Paul was able to engage with the entire team to use simple processes and tools for initial assessment and periodic validation throughout the term of a contract.
The process has uncovered significant gaps within our processes which offer opportunity to recover eroded margins and reduce exposure. Additionally, the process and teachings has helped improve team unity, open communication and to give all participants a voice.”

“Through his approach and insights, both sides were able to deliver the value that their respective companies demanded. A more connected and better-articulated relationship was built—laying the foundation for a more robust global alliance.

As a highly experienced procurement expert who has worked globally in the FMCG environment, I can recommend Paul’s innovative approach for unlocking sources of untapped value for both sides of the negotiation table. Take Back Your Margin is a must-read for buyers and sellers in any B2B context.”

“Margin erosion continues to be a key challenge for family businesses as they gain scale and engage with large corporate customers.

Take Back Your Margin offers powerful insights for all FBA Members and highlights how they can guard against the costly issue of margin erosion, whilst keeping their client relationships intact.”

“True innovation in efficiency is not gained through the systemisation of innovation. As in all human endeavours, innovation occurs by a meeting of minds. It starts in its simplest form with one person deciding to search for a way to do things differently. They build a coalition to problem solve and then persuade and activate for change. It is a very simple human behaviour that is hard to replicate in a system. At its core are coffee, whiteboards, and communication.

The person who taught me this was Paul Allen. I first met Paul 15 years ago. I remember less about the content of our first meeting and more about his style and energy, as well as his insight and clarity as a communicator. I have been lucky enough to be a spectator to his stellar career, achieving results that for most are unattainable. The volume of work he has done in distilling his experience into easily consumable information that can be readily implemented is testament to both his expertise and insights. His ideas and techniques are real, simple and they work. I implore you to read this book, implement what he suggests and drive better value through your organisation.”

“I had the pleasure of engaging Paul for running a workshop with our leadership groups at TEC for CEO’s and C suite executives to identify areas to improve their business by improving the engagement and contract management with key customers. Both groups had some real breakthrough moments on discovery of margin given away that could be reclaimed and new areas of potential up sell. The workshops were highly interactive, fun and practical with real takeaways for participants to improve their bottom and top line immediately. I highly recommend Paul to any business looking to improve margin with their key accounts.”