Prepared by Jim Fisher, Principal – New England
Industry: “Not Your Average Joe’s” Restaurant Chain
Revenue: $50M+
Location: Boston, Mass

Business Situation

:

• Not Your Average Joe’s is a fifteen unit Boston area casual dining chain (competitive to multi-billion dollar national chains like Chili’s, Applebee’s, and TGI Friday’s) with system wide sales near $50 million and known for its “Creative Casual Cuisine.”
• Sales of three “troubled” units had historically lagged the remaining system and decisions on whether to extend leases would be due.
• Restaurant sales in general and the casual dining segment in particular were slow in the summer of 2009.
• The units’ long standing negative historical trends meant it was important to be aggressive and avoid eventually looking back and wondering if more could have been done.

OneAccord Solution:

• Working with the CEO, company marketer, senior management team, and the unit management teams, create three phase location specific short term programs to profitably build sales while strengthening the brand itself.
• Focus on driving not only trial visits but also repeat visits to get new customers into the Not Your Average Joe’s habit.
• Give full consideration to existing consumer research, explore relevant secondary research and market by market demographics, and evaluate existing menu development plans.
• Visit each restaurant to interview the General Manager and comprehend attributes and

  location specific challenges and opportunities (traffic and commuter patterns, visibility, daypart sales patterns, staff strengths).

• Involve and motivate each restaurant team.

Engagement:

• Engagement lasted from May through August, 2009 with one month ramp up and three months of execution.
• Focus was on building the brand and the customer experience.
• Full program was reviewed by the senior management team before rolling out to each store manager.
• Program was divided into three phases:
  • Phase I used external sampling, prints, direct mail promotions to new customers and email blasts to current customers.  All value focused promotions created bundled menu items and avoided perceptions of direct discounts.
  • Promotions focused on key business dayparts:  lunch, after work refreshments, dinner, and take out while reinforcing restaurant locations.
  • Location specific opportunities were leveraged:  commuter trains, malls, auto and pedestrian traffic, visibility options, offices, and in store communications.
  • Phase II created a “Customer Appreciation Week” in which all customers were treated like new customers and given New Customer packets to encourage return visits.
  • Phase III was a limited reinforcement of Phase I was also supporting a special menu roll out featuring recipes using local farmers and vendors.
• Result metrics were monitored and reported on weekly, and restaurant General Managers were contacted frequently.

Results:

• Twelve weeks after the program started, the three restaurant sales improved by more than + 6% against a pre-program decline of – 5%, or approximately 11+% percentage point sales trend shift.
• After adjusting for all program related costs, net profits virtually doubled the incremental investment.

Prepared by Peter Klinge, Jr., Regional Managing Principal – Salt Lake City
Industry: Music Wholesale and Distribution
Revenue: $14MM+, family owned
Location: Idaho

100 year old family company is a regional music wholesaler serving independent retail music stores. The company sells a range of musical instruments and published sheet music.

Business Situation
Revenue and profitability flat for several years but the great recession’s impact on discretionary music playing and education exacerbated year over year declines 2008 to 1st half 2009… Underlying the recessionary pressures numerous other factors contribute to the business’ challenges. A changing music industry and forms of media consumption affects small, independent wholesalers and their retailer customers:

• Retail consolidation over the years
• Big Box stores that offer inexpensive music instrument products:
• General merchandise stores e.g. Wal Mart, consumer electronics> Best Buy
• Music retail chains
• Emergence of E-commerce and E-business
• Easier for consumers and independent retailers to price shop close to wholesale
• Technology facilitating abilities of buying groups for independent store participation; reducing the role of the traditional wholesale distributor
• Closely held ownership and long term management turned company inward
• Leadership lost connection with customers
• Difficult to innovate and attract talent to the company
• Product development and buying stagnated
• Financial, sales, and management decision making tools and processes dated, limited or non existent

OneAccord Solution

• Get back in touch with customers and draw insights into their affinity for the Company’s services, and build a process to manage accounts more effectively to meet demand
• Evaluate strategic directions for a) mitigating immediate business declines; b) identify key areas of company strength and growth potential> products, customer segments
• Provide strategic and program recommendations for Internet based business development: social media marketing, ecommerce

Engagement
Involvement began in the summer of 2007 and continued through 2009. Three stages:

1. Initial Customer insights, value proposition and key recommendations assessment

• Spoke with key customers, suppliers about the company
• Discerned key needs, opportunities and strong affinity for the Company’s Brand heritage and its commitment to service; and expressed strong willingness to increase business with the company

2. OneAccord in Spring 2008 asked to provide an interim sales & marketing leadership role; previous vice president left creating a void
3. Spring 2009 as the economic downturn adversely impact the company a team of OneAccord principals engaged to look at the entire operations: products, finance, ecommerce to surface opportunities and mitigation strategies.

• Programs delivered

• Sales Force Management
• Account management programs with key customers
• Sales training
• Compensation planning
• Sales and marketing reorganization
• Sales process and tracking tools
• Business & Leadership strategy
• Complete review of product mix, sales and profitability to provide accountability, and information decision making support tools for buying, sales metrics for organization
• Organizational and leadership roles definition and assignments
• Developed and executed strategies for bottom line and top line revenue growth
• Sales team focus on top 100 accounts and development of value proposition and key solutions for pricing, terms, product mix
• Marketing
• Strategic marketing and tactical program recommendations
• Analysis of web opportunity, needs evaluation,
• Recommended Ecommerce/social media provider partner for pilot program in Q1 ‘10

Results

• By Q 2 & Q3 of 2009 as programs took hold the severe declines the company experienced through 2008 were significantly reduced;
• A new business strategy was identified with various recommendations for future implementation;
• Company began online marketing initiative after years of delay;
• Perhaps most importantly the CEO determined that the transition OneAccord affected to new management responsibilities vis a vis OneAccord’s interim and project leadership helped the company weather this difficult period. The CEO says:

“OneAccord provided an interim VP sales and marketing talent who provided insight and experience that was critical to the success of the above projects. One of the greatest benefits in working with OneAccord is the variety of expertise from OneAccord principals… and their extended network of relationships… In a business and technology environment that changes rapidly, (the availability of OneAccord executives and resources) helped our small company to have access to critical resources.”

When clients engage an OneAccord principal in an interim or project role the client benefits from a collaborative team of operating executives focused on revenue solutions.

Client:  Mid Cap Consumer Goods Company

Space:  Consumer Products – Gift Industry

Revenues:  Approximately $70 million

Location:  Midwest USA

Client Background: 

Company is owned by a Private Equity firm.  PE firm purchased company along with three key brands several years ago.  Midway through 2007 the PE firm partnered with a management firm to run Company.  Company’s three brands consist of “dated” products in the form of calendars, agendas, etc. along with a multitude of other paper and gift related products in the social expressions space, i.e., journals, greeting cards, mugs, etc.  Through the three brands they accommodated a large portion of the consumer market space and enjoy a wide distribution network.

Company is B2C and sells its products through all channels of retail – department store, mass merchant, clubs, specialty stores, Internet and media broadcast.  Their business is broken into two primary divisions – Key Account retailers and the Gift & Specialty market. 

Business Scenario: 

Company encountered a two year decline in revenues after the three brands were combined.  The new management team was brought in midway through 2007 to complete the brand combination and reverse the negative sales trend.

The new management team immediately identified several areas needing improvement, from operations to recruiting “best in class” resources to manage and run all aspects of the business. 

OneAccord Engagement:

Richard Brune, OneAccord Principal, was tapped to fill an Interim VP of Sales position for the Gift & Specialty division on January 1, 2008 while a professional recruiter was engaged. 

After initial conversations with the CEO it was clear that Company needed basic Sales fundamentals addressed and immediately applied to the G&S channel.  Our focus was to drive revenues while a search for the permanent VP was underway. 

OneAccord set the following deliverables for the initial 90-day engagement:

• Establish Qualitative and Quantitative Goals for the 12 independent sales agencies fielding approximately 150 road reps.
• Establish Metrics for Goals.  This included determining the Key Productivity Indicators and establishing the method to collect and present.
• Assume Active Management of the Specialty Store Channel.  This involved providing coaching and direction to Company Regional Managers who were responsible for the day-to-day management of reps.
• Communication of Goals and Strategies.  As part of this deliverable the daily, weekly and monthly communication vehicles were reworked and enhanced. 

Conclusion and Results:

·         With the implementation of specific Goals and Metrics delivered a 9.5% increase in sales over Last Year by the end of March (this equated to an incremental $800K in sales for the first quarter in this channel).

·         Extension of engagement was approved for Brune to mirror the permanent replacement VP of Sales for 30 to 60 days.  This allowed the new VP to hit the ground at a fast pace Vs a crawl before walk – walk before run scenario.  This also secured Company’s “recruitment” investment of the new VP.  The new VP’s success is directly attributed to this strategy.

·         During the extension, OneAccord stepped in and preserved over $2.5 million in International sales which most likely would have been lost due to neglect.

·         Engagement further extended to put focus on additional revenue generation opportunities in brand messaging and product development with the “second” brand.  The outcome was the generation of new products and programs that will add over one million dollars in incremental revenue for fiscal 2008.  These are repeatable for FY 2009.

·         Presented Company with a new sales structure for their Gift & Specialty channel to increase the amount of “mind share” of their independent sales force.  Model better integrates Company’s internal and external sales team which was not properly leveraged. 

·         Conducted DISC Assessment of internal sales team and executed a customized Training Module which increased phone sales by +25%. 

Richard Brune

OneAccord Partner

Richard.brune@oneaccordpartners.com

www.oneaccordpartners.com

Office: 425-844-1313

Cell:     206-200-4558

Case Study
Preparedby : Peter Klinge

Industry: Mineral Exploration
Revenue: 2008 estimated $2Billion +. Public
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
The company is a worldwide leader in drilling services and products to the mining, construction, and environmental sectors.

Business Situation

• Significant challenges associated with managing up and down cycles of mineral commodity sectors.
• Macro economic situation of significant growth cycle coincides with corporate transformation from subsidiary to independently traded public company
• Business strategy, process, and cultural changes necessary for successful transition to improved customer management focus

OneAccord Solution

• Client company requested OneAccord focus on two main areas
• U.S. Product store strategy
• Key worldwide account development
• Significant to both areas; necessary:
• How help focus strategic priorities
• People
• Customers
• Product & Service
• Transform sales organization from transactional to relational account management approach
• Key idea was to justify the company’s margin of value to customers by its commitment to help customers with products and service availability to address their needs and pain issues over extended relationships in different cycles.

Engagement

Working with the CEO and senior management OneAccord’s work included:
• Products distribution and retail business strategy
• Strategic roll out plan
• Creation of outlet operations manager manual
• Customer insights development to ascertain need requirements of global customers
• Development of company’s value proposition approach to selling higher value solutions to top customers
• Worldwide sales development workshops for the products sales organizations to nurture account management approach
• Customer problem solutions and relational sales
• Building long term account plans and sales deals
• Core metrics

Results
• Greater account management focus with higher revenue & margin value
• Re-energized sales organization motivation for improved customer relationship selling
• Revenue gains in the 2005 to 2008 exceeded 25% to nearly $2B. This revenue achievement is a 5x increase over 2000.

Client: Altig International
Space: Financial Services
Revenues: $100 mil+
Location: Redmond, WA

Client Background:
Altig International is a second generation family-owned business that grew to dominate an industry niche in the direct consumer sale of financial services products. Their market is primarily working through the leading unions, trade associations, and organizations across North America.

The company is comprised of a team of over 400 professional agents across North America – both the US & Canada.

Business Scenario:
After an extended season of revenue and geographic growth, the company found itself with flattened revenues and high sales force turnover. As one of the largest customers of Monster.com’s for purchased employment candidate leads, Altig International decided to tackle the problem of recruiting, training & retention of their sales force.

OneAccord Engagement:
After an initial study engagement where OneAccord assessed all facets of sales, sales management & sales related human resource activity, Altig International decided to first address the training of new sales personnel.

OneAccord first assessed the current training program, including the expectations set during the candidate recruiting phase, on through candidates’ release into the sales field following training.

Then OneAccord proposed several initiatives, to improve the overall training program:

· Pre-employment recruiting discussions about the actual nature of the practical work involved in the sales position were added during the candidate interview phase.
· Pre-training expectations were set accurately – the intensity of the experience was shared proactively with employment candidates.
· Candidates were both stretched and encouraged to share their experiences openly with each other and with the company, creating a strong camaraderie among the members of each training class.
· Significant training program components were modified to improve their effectiveness and retention.
· Candidate release from training into the field were also significantly changed, to help improve effectiveness once the new sales team entered the field.

Conclusion:

Candidate feed back about the training experience was much stronger than ever before, with the roots of company loyalty being proactively communicated by the successful new sales classes. Post-training retention of employees rose a staggering 40% over previous levels. Management has recognized that these newest trainees have entered production quicker, been more successful, and been retained much longer than their peers from earlier training seasons. According to the CFO, each 5% gain in retention is worth several million dollars to the bottom line.

David Nilssen

Co-Founder

I am happy to share with you my experience with OneAccord…I was very skeptical from the beginning. Their team was established to highlight strengths and utilize a team, rather than just one individual.

We originally looked at a 6 month engagement with them – our revenues have increased (1 year-to-date) approximately 3 fold (300%). Was it worth the money? Yes, no doubt.

They are very good at what they do – and they’ll be a great resource if you can do something with the knowledge, ideas, and expertise they lend. We’ve since extended our involvement with them to an ongoing relationship.

I can tell you as a business owner, this was the best strategic move we’ve made.

Industry: Digital Marketing Technology
Revenue: Publicly Traded
Location: Seattle Washington

The client of an industry leading provider of online advertising and managing digital marketing campaigns, needed to rapidly assess its current sales processes and determine how best to make improvements to meet mission critical sales objectives.

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Industry: Financial Services
Revenues: over $100 million
Location: Redmond, WA

This financial services company is a second generation family-owned business that grew to dominate an industry niche in the direct consumer sale of financial services products. Their market is primarily working through the leading unions, trade associations, and organizations across North America. The company is comprised of a team of over 400 professional agents across North America – both the US and Canada.

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Industry: Internet Security
Revenue: $8 million
Location: Seattle, WA

The client is a network security consulting firm, needing to transform its sales structure and culture to focus the next company growth engine, generating revenue from consulting services. Additionally our client company needed to clearly define each staff member’s role in revenue generation and evaluate staff against these new roles.

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Industry: Transportation Services
Revenue: Pre-Revenue
Location: Seattle, WA

The client, a relatively new services company providing executive transportation services with a basic business plan and limited investment capital, needed to rapidly and effectively ramp up sales and build a pipeline of business through clearly defined channels and target markets. They also needed to build a scalable and repeatable sales model that would allow for local revenue growth and set the stage for expansion and future acquisition or investment. Read the rest of this entry »