Client Profile
Product: Environmental and Functional Testing, ISO Registration, Technical Staffing
Market: Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, Software, Communications, Transportation, Medical, Electronics, Nuclear
Position: Existing $180 Million company servicing markets worldwide

The Assignment:
Company X offered environmental and functional testing, ISO registration and technical staffing services to various manufacturing industries. The company had expanded over several years by acquiring testing labs in different parts of the country. By 2001, the company consisted of 12 labs nationwide, however each lab was operating as a separate fiefdom handling its own marketing, sales development, accounting, human resources and production departments.

The Method:
PH&A's initial analysis of the company's sales and production operations revealed several glaring problems. The disjointed expansion system lead to an overall reduction in efficiency, increased administrative strains and hampered the companywide sales effort. In addition, sales personnel specialized in one area of the company's services as opposed to cross-selling all services. The result was missed business opportunities and an overabundance of sales people. The lack of internal structure and organization of X Company negatively influenced the sales effort. Accountability was nonexistent and sales personnel were reaping handsome commissions on the same accounts year after year instead of pro-actively acquiring new business. Furthermore, sales personnel were servicing accounts, leading to a conflict of interest in aggressively pursuing new business. Finally, one division of the company was dangerously relying on two or three customers for more than 80% of sales.

PH&A began the program by reviewing, in detail, every aspect of X Company's sales and marketing operation, identifying weak or ambiguous areas and revamping it to create a lean internal structure based on profitability, long-term sales growth and the pursuit of new business. PH&A analyzed sales personnel performance, companywide new business growth, internal structure and geographic market potential. As a result, PH&A:

• Designed a new organizational structure reducing top-heavy, administrative responsibilities and establishing a leaner, sales-oriented organization, thus dramatically reducing the company's cost of sales.
• Created sales regions, job descriptions and incentive plans motivating personnel to focus on attaining new business and separating sales and servicing functions.
• Implemented a centralized, software-based sales contact manager with weekly, detailed sales reports tracking each lead in the sales cycle, automatically assigning new leads to sales people on a weekly basis and fulfilling leads to reduce sales personnel's administrative responsibilities.
• Supplied a flow of quality, researched sales leads to jump start the new business-focused sales effort.
• Established weekly sales meetings to discuss specific hot leads and strategic ways to turn them into new business for X Company.
• Produced a high quality Corporate Capabilities Brochure and supporting sales collateral.
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