Case #1: The Sales Force that Couldn’t
The Call:
When the CEO of a medium sized service provider called us, her complaint was her sales force couldn’t sell. Sales were flat and sometimes even decreasing!
The Diagnosis:
After meeting with her, the sales team, management team and conducting an analysis of the compensation plan it was found that:
- In many cases, the wrong people were involved in selling this service
- The comp. plan was sending the wrong message to the sales force
- The sales force was poorly trained
The Solution:
- A revamp of the comp. plan to meet organizational goals.
- A skills analysis of the sales team
- An ongoing training plan including group meetings and one-on-one field training
The Result
More sales, more profitability and a saner CEO!
Case #2: The Deal Chaser
The Call:
The people at this advertising firm were simply working too hard. Everyone was harried, miserable and therefore unproductive.
The Diagnosis:
Once our team entered it was easy to see that there was no real marketing strategy for this firm. The marketing people used a “shotgun” approach and sales people were chasing whatever deals they felt they could get.
The Solution:
- A three day “lock down” with the management team to hammer out and define an actionable strategy
- The adoption of the corporate motto: “The money we make is in the deals we don’t do”
- Marketing and sales activities divided into targeted vertical markets
- Ongoing subject matter training in the various vertical markets
The Result
The old cliché “working smarter, not harder”
Case #3: The Hemorrhaging Bank account
The Call:
“We’re broke!”
The Diagnosis:
After understanding the company’s books, we learned that the CEO didn’t understand his own financials
- Money was being spent on the wrong items
- Proper cash flow wasn’t budgeted
- Many large expenses were producing no return
- Vendors were taking advantage of the firm with high prices and high interest rates
The Solution:
- An interim bookkeeper and CFO who could take all mystery out of the numbers
- Finally, the cost of sale was defined
- ROI demanded (and timetables created) for every large capital expenditure
- Budgets created
- Money found by renegotiating all vendor contracts and finding new vendors when necessary
The Result
Less work for the CEO, management accounting installed, and increased margins
Case #4: The Un-sellable Business
The Call:
When the owner of this media firm called us, he said: “we’ve been on the market for 2 years and no one is interested”
The Diagnosis:
- Company relinquished marketing efforts to third parties
- Company did not create and protect a strong brand
- Financials did not tell the correct story
The Solution:
- Company began a strong marketing and branding campaign
- Competitors began to take notice
- Financial modeling used to tell the true story of growth
- Financing terms put in place to make the sale “easy”
- An incentive system developed so that key employees could be retained by the new owners
The Result
“Sold!”
