Increasing the GPM on 8 Projects with Account Management

Company Overview

Temy, founded in 2013, is a service-based company that has expanded from 60 to 102 employees, primarily through referrals and outbound sales. Despite this growth, Temy faced challenges in meeting growth expectations and struggled to increase margins on existing clients.

Challenges Faced

•Insufficient Sales Funnel with New Clients: Due to external market factors, Temy had difficulty acquiring new clients, prompting a focus on maximizing opportunities within the existing client portfolio.

•Low Margin Projects: The company struggled to identify growth opportunities and increase profitability on current projects, lacking a clear strategy to boost Gross Profit Margin (GPM).

•Lack of In-depth Client Knowledge: Temy lacked detailed knowledge of their clients’ current and future needs, hindering the development of strategic growth plans.

•Immature Account Management (AM) Function: The AM team was primarily focused on administrative tasks like invoicing, with minimal client interaction or strategic focus.

Advising Objectives

•Identify and Leverage Growth Opportunities within the Current Client Base: Develop strategies to uncover and capitalize on opportunities within existing clients.

•Enhance Account Management Practices to Foster Stronger Client Relationships: Improve AM processes to build deeper client relationships.

•Align Account Management with Related Departments for a Cohesive Strategy: Ensure seamless integration between AM, sales, and delivery functions.

Advising Roadmap

1. Identify and Leverage Growth Opportunities within the Current Client Base:

•Client Research: Conduct in-depth research to gather insights about key clients.

•Opportunity Identification: Identify upsell opportunities, such as rate increases on certain projects.

•Workshop Facilitation: Conduct workshops on preparing, addressing, and communicating rate increases to clients.

2. Enhance Account Management Practices to Foster Stronger Client Relationships:

•Client Segmentation: Segment the client base to develop tailored AM strategies.

•Account Development Plans (ADPs): Create detailed ADPs for each account, focusing on understanding client needs and identifying opportunities.

•Delivery Team Collaboration: Facilitate communication between AMs and delivery teams to prioritize and execute opportunities.

3. Align Account Management with Related Departments for a Cohesive Strategy:

•Sales and AM Alignment: Separate revenue streams from new and existing clients to set accurate revenue targets.

•Pre-Sale Process Improvement: Share best practices to prevent future challenges in project execution and ensure client expectations are met.

•Delivery Process Enhancement: Improve delivery processes, such as switching from daily to monthly rates and revising vacation reporting.

Results Achieved

•Revenue Growth: Achieved a 20% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous period.

•Upsell Rate Increase: Increased the upsell rate by 5% in the first quarter.

•Client Retention: Prevented the loss of a client who ultimately remained satisfied with the service.

•Forecasting Capability: Established the ability to set upselling targets and forecast revenue from business development.

•Positioning Enhancement: Transitioned from a “body shop” to a strategic technical partner.

These outcomes were driven by the establishment of a dedicated AM function, strategic client engagement, and alignment of AM with sales and delivery processes.