“With the results I've seen in quick fashion and their ability to integrate into our team, I'm a 10 out of 10 for Chief Outsiders. “If you're thinking about it, take the leap and go for it!”
Cameron Brown, Co-Owner, Einstein Moving Co.
Operating in Texas and Florida, Einstein Moving Co. appeals to folks looking to make moving easy and fun. Seeking to grow the business to $100 million in 10 years, leadership pursued outside sales help. With direction from Chief Outsiders, Fractional Chief Sales Officer (CSO), Dave MacIntosh, the company identified quick sales wins by improving sales processes, training, motivation, and visibility. With sales up 21% YoY after only 4 months, leadership sees the company on track to achieve its $100 million goal.
Background
Quality Moving to Reduce Stress
Cameron Brown and Paul Morin, Co-Owners, Einstein Moving Co. (Einstein) saw the need for a different kind of moving company. On the Inc. 5000 list seven years in a row, their company strives to excel above the rest.
“The biggest difference is the quality of the people who show up at the front door,” related Brown. “Maybe you just had a new baby and you're moving into your bigger home. We want to make that event the celebration that it should be and reduce the stress."
Move the Needle Faster
Einstein’s leaders sought to sustain the rapid growth they had achieved for several years. But lacking a formal sales organization, their personnel didn't have the level and breadth of experience needed to build their business to $100 million.
“Thinking that we could figure this out on our own, we considered reading books and attending seminars,” related Brown. “But those things weren't moving the needle fast enough.”
Acting on a recommendation from their Vistage Chair, Einstein leadership started looking for outside sales assistance. “There was a lot we didn't know about compensation plans, perfecting our sales script, and improving call answer rates and lead response times,” explained Brown.
Building Trust
Leadership found four or five sales consultants from referrals or on their own and then narrowed them down to three options for interviews. Chief Outsiders responded quickly to the Einstein web lead.
“Right off the bat they introduced us to Paul Sparrow, the organization’s matchmaker, and he quickly built trust and rapport with me,” reported Brown. “He gave us a couple of options and put us in contact with Fractional CSO, Dave MacIntosh.”
“We picked Dave because of his background, and I immediately sensed that he's a straight shooter,” continued Brown. “I can trust him, I appreciate his experience, and I looked forward to working with him right off the bat.”
Very Good at Sales
Einstein classifies itself as a home services business. “They have a tremendous contact database that presents some growth opportunities,” related MacIntosh. “My background in real estate SAS and working with home builders, developers, and financial institutions were all relatable to their business.”
“I can make an impact and I'm going to keep your priorities first and foremost,” he told them. “I'll do everything in my power to make sure the organization changes for the better as quickly as possible.” Ultimately, Brown decided to go with Chief outsiders because… “they were very good at sales!”
Growth Strategy
Quick Wins First
The Chief Outsiders engagement started immediately. “First thing, Dave MacIntosh said, let's identify our lowest hanging fruit to get the biggest wins most quickly,” reported Brown. Laying out five work streams to assess, evaluate, optimize, coach, and train, MacIntosh identified key activities and deliverables in a detailed project plan.
“So, I met with their leadership team for an initial kickoff and then interviewed everybody at length to get a sense of their perspective and alignment with the organization’s vision and goals,” related MacIntosh. “I observed a tremendous quality of service and operations. They've combined operational excellence with high touch.”
“I like to take a data driven approach to driving revenue,” he continued. “Do they have targets in place? And how have they performed? I quickly get my arms around things to see where there might be quick wins.”
eCommerce and Call Improvements
MacIntosh saw that Einstein’s eCommerce solution was very effective. “If they could get that out there more, that would be significant,” he reported. “So, they improved that platform. Also, working in different locations, various employees answered the phone at a low rate.”
“Missing 3 out of 10 incoming calls—there's your biggest opportunity!” he observed. “So, we drove change in the organization to motivate people to pick up the phones.”
After he listened to calls and the script in use, he informed them that they were also selling on price and didn't articulate their differentiators. Incorporating those into the script, they also implemented an assumptive close. That delivered another quick win.
Sales Targets Motivate
MacIntosh calculated that Einstein needed to grow 20% per year to reach their goal of $100 million. “So, I built them month-by-month targets for 2024 and we rolled that out in late January along with an incentive program to motivate sales reps,” he reported.
He also implemented weekly sales one-on-ones and a scorecard on the individual, branch, and company-wide levels. “That gave us a much better perspective on how individuals and the company are doing.”
Einstein tapped a resource who could quickly bring visibility to the goals. “We got real time visibility for leadership, the sales manager, and individuals so everyone could see detailed progress in the business,” reported MacIntosh. “That was immensely powerful.”
“Getting that engine in place to optimize sales was critical,” he added. “Because this year they need to do about 20,000 moves.”
Available and Plugged In
After five months, MacIntosh brought in two colleagues to look at pricing and perform a marketing audit. He also helped Einstein engage a fractional HR company to grow their 275-person company and build a partner partner/referral program with public home builders and grocery chains.
“I was consistently surprised with what Dave was able to accomplish, how available and plugged in he is for our team seven days a week,” observed Brown. “He's generous with his time and support outside our scheduled meetings.”
Results
Revenue Quickly Increased 21%
In the short time that MacIntosh has been working with Einstein, they’ve improved from a 70% call answer rate to 95%. And focusing on selling to their differentiators enhanced their conversion rate from 39% to 49%.
Consistently answering the phone more, they convert 10% more of the answered calls. Consequently, Einstein wrote 21% or $1.5 million more YoY in the first four months. “We immediately got a return on our investment,” reported Brown. “Much quicker than I expected.”
Improving Quickly with Confidence
According to Brown, the next step is to continue to develop the leaders who will replace MacIntosh. “We don't need a fractional consultant forever, but we can utilize them to get those short-term wins and light a fire under our team to carry the organization forward,” he explained.
“Dave and his team have shown me there's much more opportunity to mine within the company and that we can leverage outside resources to open additional doors,” Brown remarked. “We are now looking at improving marketing, finance, and HR.”
“When we have the confidence that Chief Outsiders bring, we can make changes quickly because we're not as concerned about making a mistake. They have decades of experience and can plug and play two or three options right now that will move the needle.”
“If you're a CEO or PE company looking to accelerate growth or increase valuation, then leverage Chief Outsiders’ seasoned sales executives, because you can't get where you want to go fast enough on your own.”
Big Roll of the Dice Avoided
If Einstein’s leaders were doing this themselves, they'd have to acquire the knowledge or hire someone full time. “That would take four months, and by the time they get the lay of the land and start to implement changes, you're nine months into that person,” explained Macintosh. “If that works… great! And if not, you pull the ripcord and start the process all over again.”
“The success rate of getting the right executive is low,” he concluded. “At that point, you’ve burnt a year. That's a big dice roll for a company that is serious and committed to accelerating revenue!”
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