CASE STUDY // ADVERTISING COMPANY

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Family-owned company beginning transition from father to the next generation.  The company was under-performing with narrow margins, high level of client-impacting errors, and stagnant growth.

• Primary operations IT system was not designed well for any of the roles in the firm to be logical or help Client Service Reps lead conversations with clients.
• Sales team was compensated on revenue generated, not on profit of the deals they won.
• Culture did not hold workers accountable for the quality of their work.
• Evaluation of deal economics was ad hoc with no consideration for fully-loaded costs to deliver the project.
• Several long-serving senior executives refused to follow the new strategic direction of the firm.

• Redesigned IT system to provide information with customized views by role, including a layout that facilitated Client Service Reps’ discussions with clients.
• Changed Sales commission model to provide greater incentives to sell high margin, larger projects which increased motivation for high performing Sales Reps and caused lower performing Sales Reps to leave.
• Implemented new management practices, reports and employee evaluation process to increase visibility about worker performance and increased individual performance and managers’ ability to manage their teams.
• Established a minimum order quantity and margin to ensure every project was profitable when executed effectively.
• Brought in bright new talent who were more aligned with strategic changes to address significant executive turnover.

• Productivity increased dramatically while revenue more than doubled, margins grew 60%, and headcount increased only by a third.
• Current and new customer relationships increased in quantity, average revenue size and profitability.
• Morale improved as poor performing employees were removed and higher performing employees were rewarded with better compensation.
• Company sold for a price more than 300% above the valuation from the beginning of our engagement.