Information services provider's consulting practice needed to return to growth following restructurings that reduced morale and headcount.
An information services provider's consulting practice had stagnated after years of growth. Sales and delivery teams operated in silos, pipeline visibility was poor, win rates were declining, and the practice needed to return to growth—but internal misalignment was blocking every initiative.
Sales blamed delivery for being too expensive, delivery blamed sales for bringing the wrong deals, and leadership lacked the operational infrastructure to diagnose the real problems. The 26-week engagement window coincided with the fiscal year planning cycle, making it the last opportunity to fix operations before committing to aggressive growth targets.
We conducted a comprehensive sales operations transformation spanning six months. The engagement addressed four parallel workstreams: diagnostic assessment to quantify sales-delivery misalignment, process redesign to establish clear roles and accountability, technology implementation for pipeline visibility and forecasting, and organizational alignment to break down functional silos.
The diagnostic phase revealed the root causes: sales pursued deals without delivery input on feasibility, pricing lacked consistent methodology, pipeline data was scattered across systems, and compensation incentives misaligned individual and company goals. We redesigned workflows to require delivery input before proposal submission, implemented CRM processes for accurate pipeline management, established ROI-based pricing frameworks, and aligned incentives across the sales-to-delivery continuum.
The transformation generated $8M in new pipeline within six months—but the operational improvements were equally significant. Win rates improved from 23% to 38% through better qualification, average deal size increased 40% through value-based pricing, and sales cycle length decreased 25% by eliminating internal friction.
Beyond the numbers, the practice gained capabilities it previously lacked: real-time pipeline visibility enabled proactive resource planning, delivery involvement in early sales conversations improved proposal quality, and aligned incentives eliminated the blame cycles that had paralyzed the organization. The practice returned to growth and exceeded fiscal year targets.
Success required addressing people, process, and technology simultaneously. Technology alone wouldn't fix misaligned incentives, and process improvements wouldn't work without supporting systems. The 6-month timeline allowed for sustainable change—quick wins built momentum while deeper organizational changes took root. Most critically, leadership commitment ensured that the new operating model didn't degrade when the engagement ended.