Case Study:
Enhancing Profitability through Streamlined Estimating and Sales Processes
YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE: A long standing private company in the building and memorial products industry sought to improve its Return on Assets (ROA) and enhance profitability. Despite a rich history and solid market presence, it faced significant challenges in its estimating and sales processes that needed immediate attention.
WE MEET YOU WHERE YOU ARE AT: The company’s sales and estimating teams were operating without a unified process, leading to inconsistent quotes that didn’t align with customer expectations. This lack of standardization was causing inefficiencies and directly impacting profitability.
PICK A STARTING POINT: Process Evaluation: Estimator Survey: A comprehensive survey was conducted among all estimators to understand and document their processes and standards of work. Method Development: A more systematic method of estimating was developed, focusing on resource allocation and creating a skills matrix for each estimator.
CONDUCT A WORKSHOP: The company embarked on Optimization Strategies to improve its operations: Improving job review and assignment processes significantly reduced the time spent on these tasks and increased the speed from arrival to assignment. Nine levels of complexity for estimates were established, with assignments required to happen within 24 hours and standard lead times based on the type of estimate.
SOLVE A CHALLENGE
Resource management and Decision Making: The company aimed to better manage its time and resources by: Identifying unprofitable jobs and customers that were consistently not secured and deciding to stop pursuing these ventures. Implementing a dashboard to track key metrics like lead time to assign, time to build a quote, and win/loss ratios, along with compiling a standard list of reasons for losses to inform future strategies.
Expand And Scale
The strategic overhaul of its estimating and sales processes led to a series of positive outcomes:
Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness: The new systems and processes significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the estimating and sales functions.
Increased Profits: Introduction of ‘rails’ for the sales team to adjust quotes within defined limits led to more disciplined pricing and increased profits. Exceeding these rails required executive team approval, ensuring strategic oversight and contributing directly to an improved ROA.
This case study illustrates the transformative impact of standardized procedures and strategic resource management in enhancing a company’s profitability. By addressing the inefficiencies and variations in its processes, the company not only enhanced its operational efficiency but also strengthened its market position.
