Brief

This is akin to building a new parachute on your way down. Reverse the revenue mix ratio of 70% (bespoke): 30% (Product) to 70% ARR : 30% bespoke services needs taking 4 strong swimlanes of transformations and making them all work together

– Iterating new product market fit to repeatable platform sales (Real time bi-directional road testing between Engineering & Prospects)

– Reframing the sales cycles and getting, training sellers and hiring new ones for future product

– Generating revenue to keep the EBIDTA positive to fund the experimentation to grow new greenshoots.

– Ensure a smooth transition from Founder led sales to the one led by professional sellers.

Generated >80% of all new revenue in the new format within the first 12 months.  

Backstory

The Firm had a revenue ~$15m-$20m a year. Although they developed patented products, most work was bespoke, thanks to the lack of readiness of their clients. Meaning, their message resonated with organisations that required a bit of ‘plumbing’ before their product could be used. They took up that work to land those clients and in the anticipation that they’ll eventually pave the way for the product usage. The challenge was that over time that customisation work was contributing to ~70% of revenue. Every team in the firm from engineering, product, customer success, marketing, pre-sales and sales was build for a different reality.

Is the deal real?

Step one was to identify the list of solution component overlaps from the current set of customers. Shortlist the most overlapped components for potential platformization. And cross reference that with the requirement patterns in the current sales pipeline. We then synthesised that with some adjustments on both sides to arrive at an educated hypothesis of what could work. Those were then pitched to prospects for their openness to buy. Aligning pricing mechanisms to the customers’ metrics of success was the key. 

Is the deal real for you?

Once they prospects demonstrated keenness, we looked for what alternatives customers had to solve those problems. We ensured the scope of platform functionality was closer to standardisation while offering flexibility on how to license it. We had each customer tell us what’s their best alignment to and used that as a differentiator to make it a real deal for the firm.  

Is the deal real for you now?

The final step is to conclude the contract, deliver the platform and collect the payment. These deals were crafted with the full alignment of the final outcome metrics. When these new customers grow in their business as projected at the time of contract signing, there is a 5-10X growth potential by simply ensuring proper delivery of the functionality and services

* Our clients’ confidentiality is paramount. The results are real, although we’ve changed their names.