Outsourcing isn't what you take out of a business. It's what you put in.

In this line of work, you're judged by the quality of your work.

Each of the programs you see below had a leading-edge marketing plan. And some great growth stories. Along with pleasantly surprised leaders. Some of whom actually supported the strategy and execution.

More than due credit goes to the teams of program managers, strategiests, writers, designers and producers who delivered the finished product.

Because it's one thing to come up with a breakthrough idea. It's another to make it work.

Building a Focused Business Development for a New Market Entrant

Program:

A market leader in the creative services industry was launching a new business and needed to build a proactive sales function to boost growth.

Challenges:

·         No dedicated sales management in place

·         Unit leadership replaced in first year of start-up

·         Fast ramp up

Scanlon.Louis Approach:

Working with the board of the parent company, we worked to understand the selling environment for the division. After analyzing the unit’s value proposition, Scanlon.Louis simplified the company’s messaging, built an aggressive pursuit strategy and implemented a pipeline management plan. To illustrate the division’s value proposition, Scanlon.Louis created an interactive diagnostic tool to help sales understand customer needs and to qualify new opportunities.

Impact:

Unit quickly built pipeline of current client and qualified prospects. Cross-selling and referrals from sister business units improved due to simplified messaging.

Bringing a Disruptive Technology to Market

Program: 

A niche technology product developed in a large multinational had the potential to become a game-changing solution for HR customers. But it was unpackaged and largely unmarketed. The customer needed a go-to-market strategy to put the offering on the map in a very busy marketplace full of deep-pocketed competitors.

Challenges: 

·         Lack of marketing orientation

·         Low profile of product in marketplace

·         Inadequate positioning

Scanlon.Louis Approach: 

Working with the business unit’s leadership, we developed a complete go-to-market strategy for the product. We started with in-depth diagnostic interviews with key customers and non-customers and continued with secondary market analyses. After creating a strategic marketing plan with existing marketing resources, Scanlon.Louis implemented an integrated program – including print, interactive, social media, pr and events -- to significantly package and differentiate the product. The program was then assimilated into the customer’s marketing and business development organization (and communicated throughout the company to ensure pull-through) for long-term execution.

Impact: 

Product attained a defensible market position that quickly differentiated it from the competition. Messaging was integrated into selling and customer service organizations. Program implementation into the customer organization was seamless.

Identifying New Markets for a Proven Technology

Program: 

A market leader in a growth-constrained segment wanted to expand its offerings beyond its traditional verticals and needed to determine which sectors provided the greatest opportunities for long-term strategic growth.

Challenge: 

·         Company had no experience outside of core market

·         Multiple competitors successfully penetrated existing markets

·         Buyers in new sectors unaware of existence of product category

Scanlon.Louis Approach: 

Working with the company’s leadership, we developed a competitive analysis, environmental scan and market development plan to enable the business to comprehend its expansion options. Using a diagnostic interview-driven strategy, we derived the needs of potential markets, built a market segmentation program, prioritized new markets and developed focused lists of high-quality and qualified prospects for the business.

Impact: 

Armed with the Scanlon.Louis go-to-market program, the company expanded into new markets and quickly generated revenue from a variety of new customers.

Raising the Profile of an Emerging Technology Company

Program: 

 A fast-growing tech services company in Silicon Valley lacked the market profile it needed to further propel its growth. And its sales force needed tools to develop new opportunities.

Challenge: 

·         Low market profile

·         Unfocused marketing programs

·         Lack of messaging strategy

Scanlon.Louis Approach: 

Working directly with the customer’s leadership team, we built a singular messaging strategy with customized approaches for each key audience and then implemented with dozens of individual internal and external branding programs. The relationship subsequently expanded into account planning for major customers and the development of a media relations program that helped significantly raise the company’s profile.

Impact: 

The messaging strategy helped distinguish the company with both existing customers and with prospective buyers. The company’s higher profile in the region led to its inclusion on a variety of “best of” lists including the fastest growing companies in Silicon Valley, which improved new business opportunities with prospects.

Injecting Innovation into a Predictable Market

Program: 

An early entrant in a maturing market realized it was falling behind its competition. It needed to create a compelling reason why outsourcing customers would want to buy its services over more than four dozen competitors.

Challenge: 

·         Undifferentiated offering

·         No unique value proposition to hook buyers

·         Competition grabbing share of voice in market

Scanlon.Louis Approach: 

We started by taking a very deep dive into the customer’s market, interviewing more than a dozen customers, prospects and non-customers. After leading a day-long leadership team session, Scanlon.Louis developed a customer-centric go-to-market plan that established a distinctive position in the market. After introducing the plan to the business, we led several internal teams in the implementation of the program before transitioning operations to customer teams.

Impact: 

The go-to-market program Scanlon.Louis created for the customer helped on several fronts: 1) energizing sales and account management teams, 2) creating a new, innovative messaging program for the company to help differentiate it in the marketplace and 3) creating a compelling conversation with the firm’s customers and prospects that led to the development of significant new business opportunities.