Case Study

Major Accomplishment

Challenge

Rebuilding the Sales Model Fuels Growth

AJA Video systems, a historically conservative company, was underperforming due to an ineffective sales model.  Their sales model  relied 100% on manufacturer representative.  They paid 7% of gross sales to the rep firm to manage sales. 

They did not handle AJA Products exclusively and used AJA to attract other lines into their company.  As AJA began to grow, the rep firms were making more and more money from AJA, but were putting less mindshare into selling AJA products.  They were instead spending the time with the new lines that they were representing.  In order to gain control of their sales, and gain 100% dedication, a new sales/distribution model needed to be developed.

Strategy

Analyzing Success to Rebuild the Sales Model

Step 1

Analyzed the performance of all the manufacturer’s rep firms including the size of their companies, and the resources they had devoted to AJA products, from presales to sales to post-sales support.  The analysis consisted of a review of the numbers, face to face meetings with the rep companies, the key partners, and the major customers in across the major markets in the world. Proved to the board that AJA was not getting the full mindshare of their sales team.  The sales reps were using AJA to attract new clients, which was good for the rep firm, but bad for AJA

Step 2

Hired a new AJA sales team in four major US Geographies: Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Atlanta.

Step 3

Hired new international rep firms that were exclusive to AJA in London and Tokyo.

Step 4

Also demonstrated that with the money they were paying these rep companies, they could afford their own sales organization in four major locations in the US.

Step 5

Developed an action plan which consisted of hiring a new direct sales organization in the US. Replaced the current international rep companies with the new companies that were exclusive to AJA. Gained 100% mindshare of the new rep companies, all of their revenue was tied to AJA sales 

Step 6

Developed an action plan that was based off of this analysis.  

Results

Roadmap to Success

As a result of my restructuring of the sales organization the company experienced a 66% growth from the start of 2008 until the end of 2012. We went from an organization that did not control its own sales, to one of the strongest sales organizations in the industry. One of the benefits of having our own sales organization was the ability to focus on geographic markets, and vertical markets. In NY for example we put additional resources into our reseller partner B&H Video, allowing us to increase sales with them over 25% of the course of 5 years. We were also able to create an OEM Division. I secured the largest OEM sale in the company history with the Media & Entertainment Division of Autodesk. This allowed the OEM business to increase 100% over the 5-year period, when it grew from $2M per year to over $10M per year.

Get In Touch

Chatsworth, CA
(818) 519-1751
mrpaulweiser@gmail.com