Client Engagements - BLUE SAGE Consulting, Inc.

Type of Engagement	Situation	Problem	Solution/Results
Building an Inbound Business	The arrival of a new Vice President brought increased focus on the importance of aligning marketing and sales at this mid-sized software company.	Lead generation, conversion tracking and inbound marketing caught the rest of the organization off guard.	BLUE SAGE worked with different internal groups to modify sales plans, develop competency training, rework product lifecycle plans and online ecommerce.
Building an Inbound Business	After more than a decade of slow moving sales, this provider of sign solutions to healthcare organizations was looking for ways to optimize their performance.	The company had little social marketing infrastructure in place, and a limited budget.	BLUE SAGE stepped in and provided business management services to determine how to get the most from their existing online presence, and expand it to include their growing customer base. As a result, the company decided to focus their efforts on the most profitable sales territory, and has since doubled sales and increased efficiency.
Accelerate Growth for a Newly Formed Entity	This flexible packaging company was launching a joint venture with two international organizations, and product development was underway.	This ongoing project needed to be accelerated, and there were a lot of “moving parts”: A marketing and communications campaign for clients Formal definition of product requirements for existing products Complete reworking of the company’s website (including the addition of a product gallery) to describe their services.	BLUE SAGE rolled up their sleeves, and the company successfully launched their new products on time and within budget, resulting in a 20% increase in revenue. They subsequently increased regional headcount by 75% the following year. They were recently were awarded a “Leading Innovation” award by the state of Massachusetts.
Launch Products and Businesses	A major US drug retailer was exploring ways to differentiate its business to expand sales.	We designed and implemented a grocery wholesaling operation within the company, including product procurement and P&L definition.	Within the first year, the net profit of this new business operation grew to $5,000,000 and served as a model for future growth plans.
Launch Products and Businesses	Working to develop and deliver a consumer electronics product, this digital media client was in need of business and marketing services support.	BLUE SAGE worked with the client’s development partner (ESPN) on product design and product packaging. We also worked with their distribution partner (Amazon) to set up product sales and distribution as well as detailed customer market research.	The client and their partners successfully launched the product in time for the spring selling season, including online distribution as a featured product from Amazon.
Partnerships	This software and services company was exploring partnering opportunities with Microsoft.	Disparate activities needed to be coordinated and started on a tight schedule. BLUE SAGE spearheaded marketing and public relations activities by serving as the client’s point of contact for a global alliance with Microsoft. Activities included analyst briefings, tradeshow coordination, and participation on Microsoft’s alliance launch team.	The program was successfully implemented which directly led to an additional $5M investment by Microsoft.
Operational Efficiency	We were asked to join a team that was tasked to create an automated manufacturing resource plan (MRP) for this mid-sized manufacturing company.	The original goal was to avoid an expenditure of $125,000 for MRP software and outside consulting services. BLUE SAGE developed the MRP software tools and along the way instituted a plan for consolidating shipments. This led to an increase of on-time, complete orders from 85% to 97% in year one.	The overall initiative saved the company an additional $60,000 per year in freight cost avoidance from no longer having to ship incomplete orders.
Operational Efficiency	The client was looking ways to contain the costs related to product shipments.	This manufacturer’s production and shipping processes were not operating at peak efficiency.	We worked with international vendors, a freight forwarder, and internal client resources to consolidate LCL shipments into full container load (CL) shipments. International vendors were able to shorten their lead time for shipping the company’s orders, so no additional inventory had to be purchased. This consolidation resulted in a savings of $140,000 in year one.
Strengthen Selling Efforts	One of the top technology companies in the world was struggling with how to share knowledge, information and expertise among its global salesforce.	The client had developed a community-based portal for its global salesforce, and was looking for ways to refine the portal concept in order to make it valuable to sales experts in different geographies, different product groups, and various global markets.	BLUE SAGE worked with our strategic partner and their client to refine the portal concept through research and live testing. This required a complete understanding and definition of the current sales process and the future sales process to analyze different ways of sharing information. The deliverable for this engagement was a series of recommendations for portal functionality that is still being used by their sales organization today, resulting in greater measurable productivity.
Strengthen Selling Efforts	This project initially began as an analysis of the client’s current practices for customer care and outbound lead generation.	Once we designed and implemented a new sales operations methodology that was tied to the launch of a new product, we trained the internal sales support and field operations teams on the new sales process and lead generation technology.	Several new customer initiatives were implemented as a result of our analysis. Those implementations directly resulted in a 60% increase in new sales leads.
Improve Business Processes	This manufacturer of personal care products had acquired several companies and product lines in a short period of time.	As a result of fast and poorly managed growth, several complex business problems had developed within the company.	Working with the acquisition integration team, we analyzed the inventory of various chemicals, and consolidated redundant inventory. Required inventory purchases of more than $235,000 were avoided in the first year. In addition, the overall level of the inventory decreased significantly, creating another $35,000 per year savings in inventory carrying charges.
Change Management	The client needed to move quickly to redeploy resources in a new business model.	Several problems in business management had surfaced as a result of the new business imperative. The goal was to evolve the organization from a product-centric business to a business consulting services firm. This required a review of the company’s products, assets, skills and organizational capabilities.	BLUE SAGE coached executive and middle-management teams through the successful development and deployment of a differentiated business model. As a result of our coaching and team workshops, our client transitioned from a product model to a consulting model over the course of three quarters while sustaining (and, in the last quarter, exceeding) revenue and qualitative benchmarks.
Training and Development	This multi-billion dollar telecommunications firm was developing a competency framework for their managers and leaders.	The client’s Learning and Development team did not have ample resources and expertise to develop a framework for managers and leaders.	The BLUE SAGE team developed a training workshop and a series of webinars for managers, and another workshop for leaders. The training initiative was launched on time, with more than 650 managers and leaders participating in the training program to date.
Planning and Strategy	Due to a pending global reorganization, this networking giant lacked the resources to successfully launch one of its product lines.	We defined the entire marketing and communication plans for the flagship products of the company. Additionally, we defined and helped implement the supporting programs of the plan.	The product positioning that we developed was an integral part of the launch of an entire family of products.
Planning and Strategy	A large, regional New England construction company was looking to improve operational efficiency.	Many of the operational challenges related to project management and communications. The company was ill-equipped to deal with these challenges.	BLUE SAGE performed a market analysis by identifying and testing key marketing statements and the positioning for a project information portal. The portal was targeted at the real estate and construction industries. The marketing analysis and strategy recommendations led to simplification of the portal, and their services were successfully launched and ready for sale by the client within their 24 month delivery schedule.