Seizing a Market Opportunity

The Situation:

The client was a provider of online and mobile text and sign language translation services whose mission is to enable hearing-impaired individuals to participate fully in civic and professional life. The company faced a leadership gap at a critical moment. It had an opportunity to establish itself as the unrivalled leader in its field, but estimated that finding a permanent chief strategy officer (CSO) would take six months.

The Challenge:

In a very short time, the company needed to accomplish several transformative developments, from realigning sales and marketing to introducing and implementing a CRM system, among other urgent initiatives.

Accomplishing this required an executive who would be ready from day one to step into the role and realise major organisational change. The interim CSO had to be someone who understood the entire spectrum of sales, from ground-level coaching to organizational strategy, as well as how to build a financial structure, from sales pitch to profit margins. In addition, the interim executive would need competencies in other areas such as CRM systems, finance and HR. The role also called for a true leader who could motivate the entire organization to invest in these goals.

The Boyden Solution:

Boyden analysed the requirements of the role and identified several important traits to focus on, including an energetic, approachable personality; a hands-on style; a sales leadership track record; strong knowledge of diverse industry sectors; and success in implementing new organizational measures. They also determined that the interim CSO should be locally based to reduce travel costs.

With these criteria forming the search parameters, Boyden was able to identify and recruit the right executive to lead the client through this period of change. The interim CSO was in place within weeks, and proved to be a highly motivating leader. Under the interim CSO’s leadership, the company realised its desired transformation within six months, with the following achievements:

• The company reorganized sales, overhauled strategy, and aligned its messaging, sales pitch and product positioning.
• Leaders drove a company-wide culture change by retraining the sales staff and implementing a bonus system, which resulted in lower turnover.
• Sales per full-time employee jumped by 25%.
• The company solidified its position as the market leader in its niche.

The client gained immediate, lasting benefits by engaging an interim executive who integrated seamlessly into the organization and led its transformation, within a short time frame, into a highly effective company that meets a critical need for its customers.

This success attracted significant industry notice, earning Boyden an award for the placement at the 15th Anniversary Event of the DDIM, Germany’s leading interim management association, in the category of Interim Management Excellence.