“We’re stuck at $30 million dollars,” commented Steve Rouse of CDI, a provider of human resource solutions for over four decades. “No matter how many salespeople we throw at the market and no matter what we pitch to prospects, we can’t grow our Northeastern U.S. location past $30 million.” These were the comments Steve shared with Scott Wintrip of the Wintrip Consulting Group in their initial meeting. “If you can show me a solution that identifies why we’re stuck and how we can get unstuck, this consulting job is yours.”
Scott proposed several options for how he could be of service to CDI. “I’ve hired numerous consultants over the years, but none have been as thorough as Scott in understanding my needs and delivering a proposal that so thoroughly addressed them. I knew within two minutes of reviewing the document that this was the guy I was going to hire.”
Steve elected to have Scott conduct a detailed analysis of the problem. This included:
- Employing WCG’s Needs Analysis Process to uncover the hidden causes of their market woes.
- Analyzing financials, sales reports, collateral and promotional materials, and operational documentation.
- Engaging focus groups with employees and customers of CDI.
- Utilizing discreet observational methodologies to gain an accurate picture of processes, best practices, and interactions amongst team members.
“Scott was incredibly thorough and efficient during the analysis phase,” said Steve. “What was surprising was how unobtrusive his methods turned out to be. Plus, we immediately started seeing benefits as Scott shared feedback along the way.”
The report to CDI included the following conclusions:
- Each member of the sales team was highly proficient in selling one or two of CDI’s services, yet, neglected to the present the full suite of offerings even to those customers who could have benefited from those services.
- Only 1% of CDI’s customers bought more than one service, yet, more than 85% of them had potential needs for additional services.
- The operations side of the business was missing opportunities to add value by up-selling current buyers and expanding business through their current contacts at customers’ sites.
- The sales and delivery system exhibited a number of inefficiencies, creating a high level of labor intensity that reduced the opportunities to engage in growth-oriented activities.
To solve these problems and better leverage existing opportunities with already happy clients, Scott designed, developed, and implemented an organization-wide sales system that also addressed the operational inefficiencies. The results of these efforts included:
- Customers immediately began buying additional services from CDI’s multiple lines of business. Often, customers indicated they hadn’t previously known that CDI offered such a full range of options.
- Labor intensity was quickly reduced which allowed both the sales and operations teams to take on more business.
- Profits quickly grew, increasing over 40% in just a matter of months while expenses actually went down as operational efficiencies improved.
- In just a little over a year, revenues jumped from $30 million to over $60 million.
As a result of this engagement, CDI engaged Scott to rollout growth plans at other locations in North America. Their combined successes allowed Steve to accept a lucrative acquisition offer, making CDI part of a global enterprise. “From stuck at $30 million to going global. I’d say that I got a tremendous return on my investment in Scott and the Wintrip Consulting Group.”
