PPB July 2021

that resulted in costly construction delays. He therefore took action to create a differentiator that distinguished his business from the competition—a strategy to deliver quality products on time and at competitive pricing. Not only was this the right approach to encourage repeat customers, but it also created a great sales feature for his sales team. This one action proactively prevented a problem common within his industry. Phase Four. Execute with intentionality. Prioritize your tasks, monitor your results and keep score. Some Red Flags can be documented as a part of your operating matrix. Others can be managed with a mental note by your team. Train your team in this approach and get each teammember to buy into it. Execution is everything; you must always deliver whatever you promise. And how can you do that if your team doesn’t buy into your service commitment? Think Red Flags: A Proactive and Profitable Approach For Your Small Business is available on Amazon in paperback and as a Kindle e-book. Walter Hill Jr. is a second generation entrepreneur from Petersburg, Virginia, where his father owned three small businesses. After working with his father and attending the University of Maryland, Hill moved to Los Angeles, where he became a notable leader in the brand marketing industry. He founded distributor Icon Blue in 1998, and within its first few years of operation, the company earned the Macy’s Star Supplier Award and American Honda Motor’s Tier One Supplier Award. His business achievements have been noted by The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Counselor, Advantages and other magazines. He is the recipient of Counselor’s Marvin Spike Lifetime Achievement Award and the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, Icon Blue was named one of PPB’s Greatest Companies To Work For. Hill has served on the boards of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce, The Mattel Children’s Hospital Board at UCLA, and The Eras Center, a school for children with learning disabilities. | JULY 2021 | 67 THINK