F.N. Smith Case Study: 30% Pipeline Growth

An expert Engineering & Machining Services provider specializes in Custom Conveyor Solutions, Roll & Mill Manufacturing & Custom Packaging Solutions.

Situation

The company objective was to help scale revenues in the short-term while building a strong foundation for consistent revenue growth in the longer term.

Solution

StratMg provided a quantifiable solution with a ‘crawl – walk – run’ approach –

Step 1 – Articulate a Business Strategy for Growth

- Overall Goal: Without disrupting the trajectory of the business, diversify the sales growth strategy.
- Tactical Plan: Based on RFM Modelling and additional analytics, StratMg identified a two-pronged approach:

- - Short-term Growth – Customer Retention & Cross-Sell/Up-Sell
  - Long-term Growth – New Customer Acquisition via diversification of targeted industries
Step 2 – Customer Retention – Short-term Growth
- Overall Goal: Protecting the ‘Moat’ while generating additional revenue opportunities to help shore-up competitive advantage for FN Smith Corporation
- Tactical Plan:
  - Leveraging a marketing automation platform, StratMg crafted dynamic nurture flows to educate the customers on the overall capabilities of the company while staying front & center to the key decision-makers.
  - The program helped solidify the company’s relationship as a trusted advisor that was easy to do business with while providing personalized services.
  - Engagement tracking and lead scoring exposed opportunities that were then passed over to the Sales team for further follow-ups.
Step 3 – New Customer Acquisition – Long-Term Growth.
- Overall Goal: Diversify the current customer base by targeting new industries and off-set seasonality for the company
- Tactical Plan: Lead Generation. A multi-channel approach that built a relationship of trust & credibility for the company. These relationships then turned into leads. An execution plan included –
  - Website Development –

- - - Overall Goals –

- - - - Create an identity for the company by positioning its engineering team as one that thrives on challenges
      - Using Conversion Rate Optimization techniques, generate inquiries for the company
  - Top of the Funnel Execution –
    - Overall Goal: Convert Suspects to Prospects
    - Tactical Plan: A Search Engine Optimization initiative drove qualified traffic in turn resulting in inquiries for the company
  - Middle of the Funnel Execution –
    - Overall Goal: Convert Prospects to Leads
    - Tactical Plan:
      - A targeted custom prospect database was generated to implement an Account Based Marketing Strategy
      - Using a marketing automation platform, a comprehensive personalized nurture plan was developed to help build a relationship of trust and credibility with the prospects.
  - Bottom of the Funnel Execution –
    - Overall Goal: Leads to Sales!
    - Tactical Plan: Developed Marketing – Sales alignment via a congruent prospect experience throughout the lead life cycle. This helps enhance conversion rates.

"StratMg found a way to develop & deliver on a ‘crawl-walk-run’ strategy that resulted in diversified sales growth for FN Smith. Their integrity & a quantifiable results-oriented approach is the primary catalyst to our successful relationship. They’re a true extension of our sales team."
Chris Blumhoff, FN Smith , Chief Operating Officer

Project Deliverables

Business Strategy Recommendation Report –

- An in-depth view of the current landscape for the company
- Analytics identifying the core ‘DNA’ of an ideal customer along with the core strengths and capabilities of the company
- A recommended Marketing & Sales strategic and tactical plan of action moving forward
Lead Generation –
- A company website optimized for conversion rates based on analysis on prospect engagement behavior
- Monthly & Year-over-Year Quarterly analytics for Top of the Funnel marketing channels to ensure a quantified RoI on the quality and quantity of organic traffic generated
- A soup-to-nuts personalized nurture campaign along w/lead scoring and analytics that included funnel velocity (MQL & SAL)
- Appointment-setting for leads interested in a conversation with Sales

Watch Chris Blumhoff of F.N. Smith Discuss These Results

In the webinar SEO Demystified: How to Create a Winning SEO Strategy for Your Manufacturing Business, produced with IMEC and the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, Chris Blumhoff explains how F.N. Smith’s SEO program with StratMg moved its target phrases onto the first pages of Google and helped drive inbound growth, even during the pandemic.

F.N. Smith is also featured in the IMEC session Review Your Approach: A High Level Marketing Strategy for Your Company.

Watch the Webinar