The situation
A change in ownership and a realization that they needed an experienced sales and business leader. The company was operating from transaction to transaction without a strategy or plan. John was very experienced and able to step in right away, and the Fractional/Outsourced model was low-risk for the company.
With John’s leadership, the company confidently embraced a strategy and plan, allowing for a smooth transition in ownership. The Fractional / Outsourced model was a low-risk choice that further instilled confidence in the company’s future success.
Challenges
- Message to the market was muddled, and it was unclear why the company warranted a higher price
- Poorly developed long-term strategy
- Participants had little or no channel experience, or experience developing a company for rapid growth
Solution
- Assessed the company strategy, employees and processes, and presented the current state of the company
- Determined the unique value proposition and market strategy with the team
- Provided job descriptions and defined territories for the sellers
- Established a weekly pulse call and bi-weekly one-on-one calls
- Established a CRM process with sales stages and tactics to develop pipeline: 5X the pipeline in six months
- Rationalized the product offering and pricing strategy: increased gross margin by 7%
- Recruited and led a marketing firm to rebrand the company and improve demand generation
- Recruited manufacturer’s agents in most territories, trained and equipped to sell
- Recruited and onboarded two senior sellers, with a plan to add two more
- Established a sales enablement team
- Weekly staff meetings focused on product and business forecasting
- Provided eight weeks of sales training
- Managed the immediate impact of Covid-19 and controlled for the unexpected
Final result
- Margin improvement, revenue improvement and a clearer direction forward, during a global pandemic and supply chain challenge
- The owners realized their desired exit plan: John found a buyer and managed the transaction
“John was referred to us as an expert in the channel. We need his sales expertise. The scope immediately broadened to all aspects of our business, from VP of Sales to CXO! He quickly assessed where we were with our people, market and product. He simplified our offering making it easy to communicate to channel partners and customer where our company specialized. From this, we built out the organization to support this focus. We realized margin improvement, revenue improvement and a clearer direction forward, all during a Global Pandemic and supply chain challenge! Ultimately, John helped us realize our desired exit plan, found a buyer, and managed the transaction. We are delighted at the speed and effectiveness John employed to execute the exit.”
