What our
clients say
about us
We take pride in delivering exceptional results
Dean Nelson, Nelson Plant Food Corp.
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Dean Nelson, Nelson Plant Food Corp.
I’m not planning to retire anytime soon, but I wanted to lay the groundwork now so my kids could step in and run things without me down the road.
At 68, I knew it was time to start getting the next generation involved in the business. I’m not planning to retire anytime soon, but I wanted to lay the groundwork now so my kids could step in and run things without me down the road.
I’ve spent my entire career in my small company—never worked anywhere else—so I knew I needed someone with experience from a bigger operation, someone who understood systems, policies, and operating procedures. We had to get everything written down—job descriptions, financials, the way we do things—so the business could continue running smoothly. I wanted everything out of my head and onto paper.
My son-in-law is incredibly smart—an agricultural engineer—but he’s not a business guy. I didn’t want to be the one teaching him. I needed someone who could come in, guide him, and make sure he knew how to run the business properly.
Working with Ferguson Alliance was exactly what I needed. Rob knew what questions to ask, got right to the heart of the matter, and made the process easy. I did my best to write everything down, and he took it, refined it, made it clearer, and turned it into something that could actually be used.
He’s sharp, honest, and incredibly knowledgeable. But more than that, he made it personal. He wasn’t just applying a cookie-cutter approach or following a template from the last guy. He took the time to understand our business, our family, and what we needed. That made all the difference. I trust him completely, and I’d recommend him to anyone looking to prepare their business for the next generation.
Brandon Wallace, Alamo System Industries, LLC
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Brandon Wallace, Alamo System Industries, LLC
The whole process was a lot simpler than I expected and I ended up with exactly what I was looking for: a finished, published succession plan document that I can use as a roadmap.
We started in June and wrapped up around the beginning of December. It was very organized—we met every couple of weeks and the structure was solid.
I’m a stickler for timelines, and every single call started and ended on time. We followed the agenda, had clear objectives, and I usually had some homework, but it was always things I needed to do anyway. There was also accountability—if something was due, they followed up. As entrepreneurs, we don’t always have someone holding us accountable, so having that external structure was valuable.
There was also a very personal aspect to it. They got to know me and my company, and they even took the time to interview my key staff, who responded well to them. Every call started with a quick personal check-in, and it very quickly felt like I’d known them for years.
Rob and Tom helped me condense my thoughts and goals, identify some blind spots and strengths I wasn’t fully aware of, and showed me some of the key levers to pull in succession planning, which I hadn’t considered before.
I’d absolutely recommend them to anyone thinking about succession planning. These guys do this dozens of times a year, while most business owners only go through it once. It was an interesting and informative process that was really easy to follow through with.
Grant Crowell, General Manager, TUF Industrial
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Grant Crowell, General Manager, TUF Industrial
With Rob, I found it really easy to put my ego aside and consider what he was saying.
I engaged Rob to help me work through a tough business decision around selling one of my businesses.
Entrepreneurs tend to have a lot of confidence in our thinking - so it can be hard for guys like us who believe we are right to listen to advice from others.
With Rob, I found it really easy to put my ego aside and consider what he was saying.
I've worked with other coaches in the past, and found them to be a bit rough at times. Rob has a gentle demeanor - a fatherly vibe - that made him easy to like and connect with. He asked questions from a place of genuine curiosity - vs the "gotcha" questions that coaches ask sometimes.
He provided value by reflecting what I said back to me, which helped clarify my thinking. He also showed me a decision matrix tool that helped me to "de-emotionalize" the decision making process by breaking it down to numbers.
Through our work together, I got the clarity I was looking for. I made the decision to sell and I'm enjoying the simplicity that the decision has brought to my remaining business.
Mandi Brown, VP HR, Quadvest
Mandi Brown, VP HR, Quadvest
Even when we’re discussing tough things and people get passionate or emotional, Brandi manages to keep the energy light so that we can continue to talk about the problem.
This business is growing faster than any of us anticipated, which means that we all have to work better together. We've worked with Brandi for a little over two years to increase our accountability and develop our middle managers.
She worked as a partner with me on these projects, sitting in on our monthly manager meetings and meeting with some of our managers individually.
It’s always helpful to have a consultant come in because they have no agenda, no background, no bias when they're trying to help you solve problems.
Brandi is great at staying neutral and keeping things calm. Even when we’re discussing tough things and people get passionate or emotional, she manages to keep the energy light so that we can continue to talk about the problem.
She’s great at building relationships. People trusted her and felt comfortable speaking with her.
Along with asking great questions, she brought insights and tools. She’s able to get to the root of a problem without calling anyone out or making anyone feel like it’s their fault.
Our managers all agree that we’ve gotten better at communication. They’re glad we're doing this work and they're ready to see what's next.
Jeff Maxey, InsurMark
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Jeff Maxey, InsurMark
8 Years. One Relationship That Changed Everything.
Since we started working together, profit has doubled each year
I am a HUGE Rob advocate!!
I was a bit skeptical to begin with and I remember thinking: “who is this outsider to tell us what to do?” However, it didn’t take long for me to see the value he was bringing to our firm!
We use the systems and tools he taught us EVERY day. We measure everything. We use our mission and vision to obtain alignment throughout the organization, even in simple situations such as two people arguing. We started with no systems, now we have very robust systems and processes.
The work was painful and tedious at times, but so worthwhile.
Ferguson’s profit optimization model of top line management combined with bottom up budgeting meant that we could increase revenue while decreasing expenses.
Since we started working together, profit has doubled each year (and tripled in one particular year) – partially due to Rob’s impact.
What I appreciate most about Rob is his honesty and his unbiased perspective. It’s incredibly valuable to have an experienced business executive to help with day-to-day decision making. Rob points out things I don’t see and asks questions to help me focus.
I take his advice very often. However, in the situations where I don’t take his advice, I always appreciate his perspective and professionalism.
Max Lummis, Lummis Consulting Services
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Max Lummis, Lummis Consulting Services
Rob is great at optimizing companies and preparing them for sale
We bring Rob in for strategic help with business turn-around projects and for transactions to help sell companies.
Rob is great at optimizing companies and preparing them for sale. He’s knowledgeable, analytical, and has a broad range of experience. He can work at the higher strategic level, and he can dive into the details.
For turnaround projects, Rob can help fix company culture and management issues. In some cases, he acts as interim CEO.
Rob has also mentored me in my own business, and he’s taught me a lot about managing employees, identifying and retaining talent, and negotiation.
Rob works hard, is patient, and has great communication skills. He also has an extensive professional network which is invaluable.
Most of all…Rob is a GREAT GUY! He’s fun to work with and has a great sense of humor.
Howard Rambin, Moody Rambin
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Howard Rambin, Moody Rambin
Rob has depth of experience and a “done for you” strategic plan
We hired Ferguson to help our executive leadership team develop a strategic plan for the next 5 years.
Because I was backing out of my role leading the company, I wanted to make sure that we had a firm foundation, with everyone rowing in the same direction.
Over the course of several months, Rob brought our team together to think through the issues and the future of our company. The result was excellent.
He managed to bring together very different perspectives and organize it on a single piece of paper.
Rob knows what he’s doing.
He has a demeanor that commands attention without being intimidating. He’s a good listener and he knows how to ask the right questions to extract information from people.
He’s well-organized. He takes what we discussed, puts it into writing and brings it to the next meeting so that there’s a trail and everything comes together in the final plan – which he wrote for us.
I would recommend Rob to any executive looking for depth of experience and a “done for you” strategic plan.
Alison Moss Comstock, Comstock Partners
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Alison Moss Comstock, Comstock Partners
Rob’s your guy if you have a family in conflict and you want to save the business
He can quickly get to the root cause of disruption in a family owned business. He brings focus to what should be driving decision making – often with his very first question: do you want to be a business first family or a family first business?
Rob is even-keeled when things get tough, or a situation is difficult. He always has the client’s best interests at heart, and he offers a calm and comforting presence. This work is personal to Rob, you’re not just a transaction, the relationship matters to him.
Rob is great at getting things done through people. I see him as a “point person” – he sees a project through from start to finish, coordinates everyone, minds the details and is excellent with structure, communication, and organization.
Give it to Rob and he’ll get it done. If he can’t do it personally, he knows someone who can.
Juan Silva, DEPCO Power Systems
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Juan Silva, DEPCO Power Systems
Tom Anderson's expertise in finance, accounting, and compliance was invaluable.
We engaged Ferguson Alliance to help us with succession planning.
Our goal was to develop a comprehensive framework and infrastructure that would set a solid foundation for a successful future transition from father to son.
Tom Anderson's expertise in finance, accounting, and compliance was invaluable. He has been there every step of the way, providing support to help us build a robust financial platform for our succession plans.
Tom was pivotal in our search for the right accounting firm. He controlled and guided the meetings to ensure we met our outcomes and made sure that the deliverables were crystal clear. He knew exactly what questions to ask and how to evaluate the various value propositions to get the best return on our investment.
His experience as a seasoned business executive shone through in every interaction. He has a cool, calm, professional demeanor – along with deep knowledge and wisdom. He understands not just the technical aspects of business but also the human element and how to motivate people.
The insights I’ve gained from Tom’s business thinking are already making me view our business transactions in a new light. I find myself applying more common-sense analysis and sharper business acumen in my day-to-day decision-making.
I look forward to continuing to learn from Tom and Rob as we move into the next phase of our work together.
Randy Gilde, Delray Plants
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Randy Gilde, Delray Plants
Rob helped our company make a tremendous turnaround
We originally hired Rob Ferguson to help improve communication between myself and my brother-in-law. We were trying to co-lead the business together after the patriarch passed away.
Although we loved each other as family, we weren’t in sync on the direction the company should go.
We had different ideas about what we wanted out of the business. I wanted to grow and expand; my brother-in-law wasn’t comfortable making some of the big changes necessary.
Rob provided mediation and helped us make decisions to move forward. He also spent time teaching us skills and explaining things to us.
We were good at the hands-on operation of our business, but Rob brought the business perspective – especially in terms of number crunching and analyzing costs.
I especially valued having someone to talk to who understood my industry. Rob was helpful for bouncing ideas and asking me questions to make me think instead of just giving me the answers.
Rob is gifted in communication skills, relationships, and business – and he’s not just “book smart” – he has experience running a $200 million company with 1,000s of employees.
Without Rob to help us overcome our weaknesses, the value of our 50-year-old company would have suffered.
Rob helped our company make a tremendous turnaround. Including changing us to a board run company, with outside members.
In the end all his efforts enabled us to be approached by a competitor and we sold the company for more than we expected.
Alfonso & Mauricio Garcia, AlEn USA
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Alfonso & Mauricio Garcia, AlEn USA
During the time we worked with Rob we grew to 4X our sales
We initially hired Rob because we wanted to aggressively grow our US operation. We chose him because he had experience in both operating and advising family-owned businesses.
He helped us:
- Create a strategy and organizational structure so we could scale
- Organize a sales force and develop a go-to-market strategy for our sales team
- Develop our leadership agility, culture, and talent
- Put together a board
- Improve operations, decision making, and execution
We appreciated his positive attitude and approach to problem solving – the way he could see past issues to get to the solution.
We consider Rob to be a role model. He’s professional, well spoken, has great communication and people skills. He’s results-oriented, articulate and candid.
During the time we worked with Rob we grew to 4X our sales. Rob made a big contribution to that growth.
Simon Sequeira, Quadvest
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Simon Sequeira, Quadvest
He helps me analyze issues to figure out what the REAL problem is and he offers great advice
When you’re a small company, there’s no board to turn to and no one to talk to when challenges come up.
Rob acts as my sounding board. He helps me analyze issues to figure out what the REAL problem is and he offers great advice.
What I appreciate most about Rob is that he’s “been there and done that” – he’s a seasoned business leader with direct experience.
He knows how it FEELS to be in the situation, he’s not just regurgitating something from a book.
Steve Kerns, InsurMark
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Steve Kerns, InsurMark
I really appreciated having a straight shooter as a sounding board
When I was thinking about selling the company, I brought Rob in to “clean up the clutter” and get us on a focused path so the business would be ready to be sold.
When I was ready to sell, Rob handled the negotiation, delivered a tremendous valuation, and helped us to get max value for the enterprise.
Rob is experienced, smart, and egoless. As a “Type A” with a strong personality, I really appreciated having a straight shooter as a sounding board. He was candid while being tactful and diplomatic.
Jim Summers, Senior Market Sales
Jim Summers, Senior Market Sales
Ferguson has helped us align our leadership team and install a system for management
Rob’s approach to training is excellent.
He brings practical and current information from his interactions with other CEOs and executives – not just “ivory tower” thinking or dated ideas.
Rob’s training sticks beyond the initial enthusiasm.
What we really appreciate is that Rob is there with us – building relationships and becoming part of our organization. Our employees find him to be very approachable.
Since working with Ferguson, we have aligned our key results with our strategic intents – which has given us a lot of clarity and puts longer range goals into perspective.
We also have much more productive meetings – with focused agendas and the right people in the room.
He’s given us tools for navigating change where the pressure is taken off people and placed on the process.
Brad Abrameit, Magnolia Gardens
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Brad Abrameit, Magnolia Gardens
Running things past someone who has “seen it all before” gives me confidence so I can execute aggressively
I meet with Rob a few times a week as my advisor and sounding board.
He doesn’t tell me what to do, instead he takes an exploratory discovery approach – helping me consider the situation from different angles.
Running things past someone who has “seen it all before” gives me confidence that an initiative has “passed the smell test” so I can execute aggressively.
Ferguson has helped us with:
- Creating a new vision and strategic objectives
- Organizing projects, priorities, time, and resources
- Team development and accountability
- Developing systems and processes
- Establishing tracking data, metrics, and benchmarks
We’ve also benefited from his extensive network – connecting us to other professionals.
I really appreciate Rob’s deep background and experience in our industry. He has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening currently in business and brings new ideas from outside our industry.
He’s a genuine person who cares for the individuals he coaches and mentors.
Derek Sunderland, The Sunderland Group
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Derek Sunderland, The Sunderland Group
Thanks to Rob’s negotiation skills, we ended up selling our company for more than twice what we were originally offered.
Our business lawyer told us that “Rob was the best intermediary he ever worked with."
Rob helped us establish a value for our company and found us other suitors beyond the original first offer.
During negotiations, he acted as the middleman and took the pressure off. At one point he told me: “You’re going to marry one of these companies. You don’t want them mad at you, they can be mad at me.”
I appreciated his availability – we had regular calls and I could text him as needed. He has a genuine personality and he explained things to me as we went along.
Thanks to Rob’s negotiation skills, we ended up selling our company for more than twice what we were originally offered.
Atunaisa "Atu" Tongotea, HTM Contractors
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Atunaisa "Atu" Tongotea, HTM Contractors
Ferguson Alliance helped us see the gaps and gave us a clear roadmap to protect our family business for the next generation
When I heard Rob Ferguson on a podcast talking about being family first or business first, it really resonated with me. In our family, we’ve always believed that the business has to come first—because without a strong business, we wouldn’t have the lifestyle we enjoy today. So, I wanted to learn more about how to protect it for the next generation.
Before working with Ferguson Alliance, my dad’s estate plan was over ten years old and didn’t really cover what would happen to the business. Once we started the succession planning process It was eye-opening (and honestly, a little scary) to see how exposed we were. Without proper planning, our family business could have been at risk of falling apart overnight. Rob helped us see all the gaps—tax issues, key person insurance, ownership transitions—and gave us a clear roadmap to get everything in order.
Now we have a detailed plan that outlines what we need to do in the short term, the next 12 months, and even 10 years down the line to make sure we’re ready for the transition.
Our dream is to carry the business into the third generation and keep my dad’s legacy alive. Thanks to Ferguson Alliance, we’re building the structure and foundation to make that possible.
I’d recommend them to any family business that wants to be ready for the future.
Neil & Tommy Marek, Magnolia Gardens
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Neil & Tommy Marek, Magnolia Gardens
The work was hard, but worth it
We were examining the needs of our business and becoming more aware of our limitations as leaders.
We wanted the company to become more professional and more structured. We also felt a bit stagnant, like we needed some new ideas.
Our industry is known to be behind the times and Rob brought corporate insights and a business mindset.
He acted as a mediator and helped us achieve alignment by asking pointed questions to help us clarify expectations, roles, goals, and tasks.
In over 10 years of working together, we grew a lot – both as humans and business owners.
Having someone to be accountable to meant that hard stuff that would be easy to put off – like difficult conversations - got done.
Rob was never afraid to challenge us. He asked good questions to make us dig deeper.
He was honest with his feedback and didn’t hold back. Even though he always gave that feedback with humanity and dignity (even when we messed up)
The work was hard, but worth it.
We sometimes joke that we’re “too” professional now – we have a robust corporate structure for a small business.
The business has better financial reporting. We used to try to manage through a “rear view window” – seeing financials as a year end report card – and only looking at them after it was too late to change anything. Now we review our numbers weekly. This allows us to be proactive and make decisions based on facts.
Rob’s mentorship helped us weather some really hard times.
This is a tough business with low margins that are constantly being squeezed and high labor requirements with people not always available.
Others in our industry went under, we’re not sure we’d still be here if it hadn’t been for Rob.
Thomas Zay, Boyden Executive Search
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Thomas Zay, Boyden Executive Search
Expands the conversation to put things in context and prompts people to think ahead
As an executive search consultant, I often work with family businesses that are making an external senior executive level hire for the very first time.
The process of defining what the new person’s role will be and how to integrate it them into the organization often brings up broader issues like succession, next generation family member roles, compensation parity, participation in ownership of the business. It may also get into governance issues like the need to set up a more formal board.
That’s when I bring Rob in. He brings direct experience and a lot of technical knowledge about how to run a business.
Rob expands the conversation to put things in context and prompts people to think ahead. He has a non-threatening presence that puts people at ease and gets them to open up about their aspirations.
Rob doesn’t bring his own agenda – his focus is always on helping business owners get what they want. He sees the best in people, values what they have to offer, and is an excellent listener.
Due to his high integrity, I trust Rob and have no hesitation introducing him to my closest clients.
Sabrina A. McTopy, Partner Jackson Walker LLP
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Sabrina A. McTopy, Partner Jackson Walker LLP
A pleasure to work with while maintaining the relentless determination that gets deals to closing
Since Rob has often worked for some time to help the client get to the point of sale or acquisition, he has a deep understanding of the company and its business, and knows and readily conveys that information that helps lead to a favorable legal and business position for the client in a compressed period of time.
Lastly, Rob manages to be a pleasure to work with while maintaining the relentless determination that gets deals to closing.
