Development Finance Partners (DFP) are a financial services and advisory firm, specialising in finance for Property Developers. They had been working with Armstrong Dawson for a number of years for their business and personal accounting and tax needs.
The business had grown significantly in the five years since they were established and they were finding that there was a lot of inconsistency in performance from sales staff and also had recently had a number of staff resign. DFP were keen to understand more what the obstacles where in the sales function and how they could improve and needed to work with an external partner to help them.
DFP already had a lot of trust in Armstrong Dawson and felt they had a good understanding of the business, combined with their strong relationships with the directors they felt Armstrong Dawson were in a good position to undertake the review.
How we helped
After an initial meeting to discuss the scope and desired outcomes of the business review Armstrong Dawson then:
- Reviewed the historical performance of the sales function using business data to determine how clients had been won in the past and who were the key sales people
- Conducted interviews with all staff and the business directors
- Conducted interviews with a number of clients and a key recruiter used by DFP
- Prepared a final report with the key findings and recommendations which were presented in a meeting
Results
As a result of engaging Armstrong Dawson the business has benefited from:
- Staff are more engaged and feel like they are having input into the business, having seen their feedback be turned into action
- DFP have improved reporting on sales
What the client says
“The process gave us insights into the business that we wouldn’t be conscious of if we had tried to get these ourselves. Having a third party obtain feedback from clients, staff and suppliers meant it was genuine.
The final report gave us clear direction and a framework to work with in regards to improving processes, reporting and the sales function. We have implemented these across the business in conjunction with our marketing company.
Armstrong Dawson were really thorough and showed that they were invested in the project, they really did a great job. They delved as deep as they could to provide meaningful feedback, good, bad or indifferent.
The feedback from the staff and clients they interviewed was that they were very professional in their approach.
I’d recommend using them to any business who has been established for a while, has experienced growth and who wants to review the strategy of their business and also its performance. I think that at some point you need an external review, from someone who understands key business drivers and strategy.”
Baxter Gamble
Director, Development Finance Partners
