"We found the soul of our business."

The Goal
Restore the energy and life to their mature business.

A mature sales-driven business was facing increased competition, leading to a plateau in overall revenue and a significant drop in some market segments. The team, many of whom had been with the business for more than ten years, were feeling tired and some were openly discussing exit strategies.

The owners of the business knew that to overcome their challenges they needed to restore the vibrancy of their business.

After a previous strategic plan had failed to create the seismic shift the owners wanted, they called us.

The Approach
Identify the source of energy and life for this business.

Our early work with this team included meeting individually and as a group with owners, workers, clients, and partners to identify the many ways that the business was adding vibrancy and life to its community, and how the community was in turn giving that life back to the business in non-monetary ways.

We discovered that the business had valuable, reciprocal relationships with clients and workers who predated the active strategy, but that a shift in tactics had created a multi-tiered community of clients and workers.

The Journey
Collaboratively unpacking the story of this business and why it matters.

It was apparent to everyone we met with that the business had not lost its fire – just the flame – and that our journey with this client needed to reignite the ember.

We collectively unpacked decades of history, sharing origin stories, failed initiatives, big successes, and even bigger goals.

Together, we understood the passion and power that propelled this business and acknowledged the sources of pain the business was experiencing.

The Outcome
A Strategic Plan that elevated this business to new heights.

This project produced both a three-year and five-year strategic plan for this client and guided the owners and team as they focused on efforts to regain market share and grow partnerships.

Within months of releasing the strategy to the team, operational plans were updated and staff were busily activating core elements of the plan.

Our client experienced a 13% increase in client retention in the first year. More importantly for this client, though, is that they were able to recover 28% of the clients they had lost in recent years over same time period. Company culture experienced a major transition, and there were no resignations from the team in the first year.