Award Consulting was founded by Andrew Ward (A. Ward, get it?) in 2016. The team of six works with small, mostly rural telephone companies to support their technical needs; they are the world’s leading independent experts on Metaswitch products (you don’t need to know what Metaswitch is to be impressed). 

Andrew and Brad have worked together since 2021. Andrew credits Brad with helping grow Award – both in terms of its personnel, and its systems, structures, and culture.

Let’s start with impact. What’s changed because of your work with Anchor Advisors?

To cut straight to it – I take better care of my employees because of the work I’ve done with Brad. Together, we’ve developed a lot more structure around Award Consulting’s approach to hiring, managing, and evaluating staff.

After we started working with Brad, we made our first hire completely outside of our network. That was a big deal! Brad helped us get clear about who we’re trying to attract, how to reach them, and what to offer them. We developed a hiring process that’s repeatable and effective. 

With Brad’s guidance, we also developed a bi-directional performance review process that integrates Award Consulting’s values with the specific skills needed for each job.

What’s kept you working with us?

Brad is niche in terms of the audience he serves, but broad in terms of the wisdom he can offer. If I have a personnel problem, I go to Brad. If I have a pricing question, I go to Brad. If I want to talk about specialization and positioning – I call Brad.

What’s your favorite thing about working with Anchor Advisors?

Brad is part therapist, part coach, part advisor. As a business owner, there’s a lot of responsibility on my shoulders and there aren’t many people in my life that truly understand the joys, challenges, and weightiness of it all. As a business owner himself, Brad gets it. He’s a wise counselor and also someone who understands and can relate to my day-to-day.

How would you describe Anchor Advisors to a colleague?

I’d say, Brad offers holistic business coaching and consulting services for businesses like mine. He’s like a primary care provider for your agency – he understands how all the different systems work and he’s focused on keeping your business healthy.

Three words that describe Anchor Advisors?

I’ll give you four: trustworthy, wise, empathetic, holistic.