Case StudyConstruction Industry

Case ProfileIndustry: Construction

Company: Goods and services for the residential and commercial construction industry - in business since 1951. Focus of this project was the growth of a new service line.

Size of company: 53 employees (most shared with other divisions)

Current Revenue: $2M (new revenue stream in a new division)

The Client PainA very well-intended but micromanaging co-owner (half of a team of brothers) was leading a newly formed sales team; and the sales team was lost, unhappy, and unproductive. Sales were stalled.

The co-owners had grown up in the family business; and as is the case in most industries, their company was facing increased competition; in addition to shoring up their legacy business, they had launched a viable idea for a new revenue stream. The co-owner had made every single sale so far, so it was time to hire a sales team. He’d been working 7 days a week AND running the traditional side of the business - he needed a break!

From the perspective of the sales reps, the co-owner had unrealistic sales goals and since those goals were tied to their pay plan, they felt discouraged day in and day out. They made most of their sales calls in groups of two, which cut their productivity in half.

The co-owner attended many calls with the reps, dominating the conversation and rarely allowing the reps to participate. The owner took credit for most of the sales that closed, which further discouraged the sales reps. “Credit” also meant that the co-owner would arbitrarily cut commissions for the sales that he felt he had closed.

The co-owners knew the new service line was viable - maybe they just hired the wrong sales people? They would like to sell the business in the next 10 years, but their family knows that they need to realize substantial revenue growth in order to attract a new owner.

The SolutionAlthough I’d seen scenarios like this many times before and in many different industries, I always begin a new project by meeting with the co-owners for an onsite discovery session. This gives me an intimate understanding of the service line, the market potential, and the current sales team. The co-owners felt immediate relief that I would do the heavy lifting on building a proper sales infrastructure so they could once again focus on the health of the overall business.

Next, I formulated a sales strategy, a sales process and a strategy for execution.

Then, I created a sales assessment so that we could have a behavior profile for the ideal sales rep. The current sales team took the assessment and we reviewed the results with them. I spent time in the field with each rep in order to further assess their fit for the role; the reps enjoyed the positive coaching and felt hope for the first time in a long time.

We purchased a CRM that would allow the sales people to track to the sales metrics we established. Finally, the the co-owner had an efficient way to review the sales pipeline without micromanaging. And in order to further allow the sale people to focus on sales related activities, we created proposal templates, contracts, talk tracks, sales collateral and more so that each client interaction had uniform structure.

A new pay plan was rolled out; one that would accommodate the ramp up time needed to train the reps on how to properly understand the benefits of the service line as well as the competitive set. It was an easy to understand plan that rewarded new business; and it was an uncapped plan that the reps embraced enthusiastically.

The ResultsWith a solid sales management system in place (one that has yielded results in hundreds of companies form a vast variety of industries), revenue growth was swift and dramatic. The sales pipeline increased tenfold, and within the first six months, revenue grew by more than 700%. The investment in my services paid for itself within the year.

We determined that all but one of the sales reps was a good fit for the team.

The sales team was having FUN! They felt supported, focused and successful for the first time. One of the sales people was an excellent candidate for the soon to be created sales manager role.

The co-owners felt, for the first time in years, that THEY were having fun! The got back to focusing on what they did best. And they were thrilled to know that they were rebuilding a business in ways that fit the needs of their target audiences.