Who: US consultancy

Why: Client needs to hit $70-80M with 20%+ operating profit in 3 to 4 years

Challenge:

• Organic and inorganic growth required to meet investor requirements

• Long standing employees and leadership team resistant to change

• Immature business development function with inconsistent commercial practices & models creating significant growth blockers​

Solution:

• Assessed organizational structure, business reporting, employee metrics, functional ownership, BD function, commercial models, formal & informal commercial practices, pricing, credit management, utilization, and project management​

• Discovered 28 gaps (or projects) to enable client to meet investor targets​

• Provided roadmap driven by priority projects​

Outcome:

• We are working with our Client to implement priority projects with significant change management

Who: UK consultancy

Why: Parent company requires 60%+ gross margin and 20%+ operating margin

Challenge:

• Acquired firm has 50% gross margin and 2.5% operating margin with immature business development function and commercial practices

• Significant challenge to successfully integrate, adjust commercial practices, and upskill BD function while ensuring consultant retention​

Solution:

• Assessed parent and acquired firms BD function, commercial and operational practices to identify gaps​

• Agreed on roadmap prioritizing parent company ‘must have’ changes within the first year of acquisition and change management plan

Outcome:

• New division realized 25% organic growth with 60% gross margin and 22% operating margins within 3 years of acquisition​

• Minimal employee turnover preserving the value of the acquisition​

Who: US consultancy

Why: $12M firm with inconsistent yearly revenue unable to get over the hump

Challenge:

• Client unable to grow bottom and top line​

• Client suspected non-billable time too high

• Inconsistencies in delivering to scope/budget impacted client relationships, profitability and back-office efficiency​

Solution:

• Clients’ estimating practices, proposal process, commercial models and project delivery were decentralized and non-standard leading to inconsistencies

• Inconsistencies impacted project delivery within budget and scope impacting billable time and creating significant work for support staff​

Outcome:

• Designed & implemented best practices and processes to create a platform for growth impacting gross and profit margin by ~10% ​

Who: US organization

Why: Client wants to build a business development team to meet their growth ambitions, but unsure how to build and support

Challenge:

• Founders’ were primary driver of sales with consultant contributions as necessary ​

• Unable to predict resourcing needs and consistently drive sales growth​

• Lead generation primarily from word of mouth, networking, and referrals​

Solution:

• Evaluated BD function and recommended outsourcing lead generation vs. building a sales team​

• Implemented ownership of sales within existing practice areas by adjusting utilization, KPIs, and compensation

• Implemented sales process, bid review, and basic CRM to drive forecasting and pipeline discussions to enable good decision-making​​

Outcome:

• Sales increased by 37.5% over 24-month period​​

Who: US organization

Why: Client seeking growth to drive higher margins, but unable to invest in a BD function​

Challenge:

• Gross margin of 50% impacting profitability and ability to invest

Solution:

• Assessment revealed a team providing a loss-making service to clients, which leadership accepted as a loss leader for their consulting business​

• Determined their clients viewed this offering as a standalone service, which didn’t substantially influence decision to work with Client

• Developed new commercial models, commercial practices, formal structures, and KPIs for this service offering​

Outcome:

• Service offering transformed from loss-making to 38% margins

• Service offering revenue grew by 275% ($800K to $3M)​

• Impacted overall firm profitability by roughly 10%​​

Who: UK organization

Why: UK firm with existing BD team in the US expects team to focus on new client relationships (‘new logos’), but is not getting results​

Challenge:

• US BD team focused on expanding existing relationships and driving new client relationships

• UK firm unsure how to shift focus without creating a retention issue in their most important geographic market​

Solution:

• Challenged UK assumptions about exclusive focus on ‘new logos’ given dependence on repeat business and limited footprint in the US

• Developed and implemented new compensation model to drive focus towards ‘new logos’ while enabling existing account expansion

• Developed and implemented new KPIs to align with focus​

Outcome:

• Successful implementation with no turnover resulting in a win-win​

Who: US consultancy

Why: $30M firm with sub-optimal client mix: 1 large client was >50% of revenue, remainder of revenue from small clients with small projects

Challenge:

• Solid reputation in medical sector, but unable to effectively secure projects from large corporates

• Need to hit 3x current sales within 3 years while replacing revenue from 1 large client to meet PE investors growth targets

Solution:

• Re-defined growth ambition and go-to-market strategy.

  • Focus on large projects from clients with potential for repeat business

  • New messaging to take advantage of reputation in medical sector

  • Implemented sales tools and processes to professionalize BD function

  • Built a 12-person business development team across US & UK

Outcome:

• Culture shift to large project mentality and “done right” delivery attitude

• 525% increase in sales in 3 years with a 48% increase in repeat business

Who: US consultancy

Why: Small regional, but strategically located office underperforming for 100+ product development firm

Challenge:

• 10-person consulting staff with low margins on projects due to capability gaps to deliver, cost of goods, and unfavorable office costs 

• Leadership wanted to transform the office to take advantage of strategic location in medical sector 

Solution:

• Re-defined go-to-market strategy, key commercial practices, and delivery team

  • Focused BD function towards larger OEM targets

  • Identified gaps in commercial & delivery team

  • Hired key leaders to upscale commercial processes and delivery capabilities

  • Built a sales team to help drive growth

Outcome:

• Team grew by 170% closing gaps in ability to deliver

• Regional office leads sales and revenue for firm in 2 years with 11 OEM clients secured

Who: UK consultancy

Why: Prominent UK R&D consultancy with world class delivery unable to capitalize on US market, but know its key to growth

Challenge:

• Limited US name recognition despite strategically important market

• Single client driving >50% of revenue and project coming to an end

• IPO capital nearly extinguished and sudden change of leadership

Solution:

• Re-defined approach to the US Market

  • Focused on well-funded early-stage companies and large Fortune 1000s

  • Supported and educated leadership on approach and attitude towards selling in US market

  • Updated messaging to resonate with US market

  • Built a BD function to drive sales within the US market

Outcome:

• Culture shift to larger project mentality and supporting US BD efforts

• Business scaled in the US significantly over 3 years and created a platform for stable growth