Project details

A multibillion dollar global technology giant was growing revenues fast, but sales and marketing expenses were growing faster. We looked at where those dollars were flowing, both to the salesforce and behind-the-scenes in seller preparation, and ultimately helped the company simplify organizational structures, save millions in costs, and create better-prepared sellers with more time for customers. Despite healthy revenue growth and product portfolio expansion, TechCo had a problem: sales and marketing expenses were rising faster than anything else. The salesforce had become bloated, and roles were murky due to new layers of product specialists and channel partners who often duplicated the efforts of the primary salesforce. Meanwhile, as the complexity of the product portfolio grew, some critical capabilities appeared to be missing. For one, sellers struggled to get the training and information they needed when new products came to market, crimping their ability to sell. For these and other reasons, Consult Plus analysis helped reveal that sellers spent less than 25% of their time in front of customers, dragging down sales productivity. High spending and poor results meant the company needed to make some immediate changes to the sales organization to improve its productivity. At the same time, it needed to take a step back and look at how the organization could better support sellers in a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment.

When two multibillion-dollar companies merge, continued success with customers depends on seamless salesforce integration. As part of a large merger in the healthcare industry, Consult Plus worked through complex hurdles with the combined entity to help two very different sales organizations become a unified force for growth. Two large healthcare companies stood to gain leading positions in their various markets by combining forces through a merger. To realize the potential benefits, however, it was crucial to integrate each firm's unique sales approach into a single sales model. The starting point: One firm used a salesforce composed of specialists, who sold only the products of a specific business unit. The other firm relied on a more centralized team of generalists, who sold a wide variety of products. Adding to the complexity of the task, management set an aggressive timeline to achieve synergies and hit financial targets, all while remaining highly focused on avoiding disruption to the combined customer base. Consult Plus worked with the company to design an end-state salesforce with a new reporting structure and an optimal mix of generalists and specialists, while capturing synergies and minimizing customer impact.

OilCo wanted to shift from a geocentric model to a global model to improve performance, but doing so presented significant cultural and logistical challenges. Bain helped OilCo map roles, update critical systems, standardize key processes and communicate clearly to business units. The result: The new, centralized organization was implemented ahead of schedule and with minimal disruption to the business.