Case Studies

A market-leading equipment manufacturer found it increasingly difficult to meaningfully differentiate its products from new competition on a feature-by-feature basis.

The solution: Augment the product offering with a thought leadership strategy, providing insight, a distinct point of view and direction on key industry trends.  This successful thought leadership positioning is implemented through the Web site, social media, active participation  in conferences and industry associations, and ongoing public relations activities.

 

Business development team productivity was down, and fewer new opportunities were being uncovered.

The solution: Collaborate with the salespeople to draft playbooks that worked back from desired sales numbers to the daily activity levels that would lead to success.  Contacts increased significantly, more face-to-face sales appointments were scheduled each week, more time was spent in front of prospects, and more salespeople beat their quotas.

 

A provider of multi-million dollar projects found its customer satisfaction declining, complaints rising and margins dropping due to problems on the job.

The solution: Institute a formal, in-depth qualitative customer satisfaction initiative that provided insight throughout the project schedule, not just at close-out.  Any problems, misunderstanding and dissatisfaction are uncovered and addressed earlier.  Customer satisfaction went up and so did margins.

 

A specialized real estate services firm lacked the time and staff to pursue promising new growth opportunities.

The solution: Part-time business development services yielded a first contract with national real estate firm CBRE to provide facility maintenance services to 250 branch banks.

 

A manufacturer of chemicals for commercial HVAC systems had relied entirely on its distributors’ sales efforts for government business, with mixed results.

The solution: A more proactive marketing strategy for the manufacturer was recommended and adopted. Marketing positioning, differentiation and proactive outreach directly from the manufacturer resulted in a presentation by the manufacturer of its environmentally friendly products, in concert with capabilities presentations by its three regional distributors.  The presentation and proposals won a multi-building contract with the State of Ohio for HVAC water treatment chemicals and service, establishing a precedent for ongoing marketing efforts.

 

A talented architecture and engineering firm had excellent creative, design and problem solving capabilities, but needed sales skills on its team to spur growth.

The solution: Prospect research and systematic outbound marketing and business development on behalf of the firm established relationships with new customers and netted more than $100,000 in initial architecture and engineering fees.