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Building a Business Together: The CEO & DOO Partnership with The Benefit Doctor 

09/14/2022

Have you ever wondered what the relationship between a CEO and an established Director of Operations (DOO) looks like? Also, what does it look like to go through the program and implement the curriculum into an existing business?

Building a Business Together: The CEO & DOO Partnership with The Benefit Doctor

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Today we are going to look at how DOO Greta Dean shows up as a partner to Zak Harlow, CEO of The Benefit Doctor. Greta was a part of the 12th round of The Director of Operations Certification program. 

 

Meet Zak 

Zak Harlow talks too much, is way too loud, can’t sit still and has a hard time focusing. At least that’s what I was told most of the time throughout school.  Turns out being loud, talking too much and having a CRAZY focus on stuff he’s passionate about has served him and his tribe of insurance entrepreneurs very well.  Zak has built an entire business around the most boring, confusing, expensive, irritating thing we all deal with:  Health Insurance. Today, The Benefit Doctor is a thriving insurance agency serving small to medium businesses all over the country.  They do things with health insurance that seem like voodoo magic but business owners and employees LOVE it.  They truly Cure the Pain of Employee Benefits.  Learn More:  www.thebenefitdoctor.com

 

Can you give us a rundown of your business? [Zak]

  • Has an insurance business 
  • Specializes in employee benefits
  • Works with small – medium size businesses across the country
  • Has a size-able sales team
  • Has been in business for 20 years (first as an Aflac operation, then built an employee health benefits business)

 

What about the other assets or resources on your team?

  • Greta: our DOO who has been at the company for 15 years
  • VP of sales
  • VP of an in house digital marketing team
  • Support staff

“The team we are building is the team we want to have in 2030, not 2022.”- Zak Harlow

 

Greta’s background

  • Started as a VA for Zak
  • Moved into a training role for other VAs they brought on
  • Was approached by Zak to be their DOO, and joined the DOO certification program
    • Had the organizational piece
    • Was missing some of the business knowledge (KPI’s, org charts, etc.)

 

What were you hoping that Greta would gain from the program? [Zak]

  • Zak left it up to Greta to evaluate if the DOO program would be a good fit
  • They didn’t realize the importance of communication between departments 
    • The importance of every person understanding the mission/vision/values/KPIs/marketing and the way their metrics effect the whole organization

“It has been fun to watch the way [Greta] has leaned in hard, learning the business side.” – Zak Harlow

“We specialize in transformations around here.” – Natalie Gingrich

 

How did you integrate the curriculum into the business? [Greta]

  • She applied it as she went along
  • It helped bring up a lot of conversations
  • It was fun and easier because she had a business to work in
  • Zak knew he needed a DOO, so it wasn’t like she had to sell him on why he needed one
  • The content that made the biggest change when applied was the KPIs/KRAs and how to relate it back to what the overall objectives of the business were

“I felt like I had an advantage because I already had my visionary CEO, I just needed to learn how to support him.” – Greta Dean

 

What is the greatest change you saw in Greta? [Zak]

  • The conversations have completely changed
  • She was running the back office completely, with little input from him
  • To have her lean in on strategy was an added benefit 
  • From Greta’s perspective, learning all of the big picture stuff makes her job easier to hammer out the details for where they are going

“I did not realize how much I was going to be able to lean back.” – Zak Harlow

“The surprise… was at the quality of the questions she was learning to ask, and the inquisitiveness in which she asked them.” – Zak Harlow

 

Final Words

  • Zak knew he needed the additional help but didn’t know how to go about it 
  • If he hadn’t found the DOO certification program and had someone that he already trusted to put though the program, they would be in a very different place 
    • The organization and processes are in place
    • The tech stack is clean, organized and works for the first time ever!
    • Now projects are getting done on time and on budget

 

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What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Make sure to let us know in the Facebook group!

 

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natalie gingrich

I am a no-nonsense, sports-loving, working mama who will push you to be your best self every day. I’m married to my college sweets, Jess and have two amazing and talented kiddos – Zachary and Emery. We live in the best darn state there is….Texas. I’m Southern, snarky and silly for school supplies.

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