Sapper Consulting LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of The Riley Group

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We deliver brand experience consulting and design services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sapper Consulting LLC to accomplish?

• quality lead generation
• strategic focus on our client targets
• short and long term help filling sales pipeline

SOLUTION

How did you find Sapper Consulting LLC?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select Sapper Consulting LLC over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Other

What was the size of Sapper Consulting LLC’s team?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sapper was to generate quality leads for customers who could afford projects ranging from $30,000 up to $300,000 depending on the type of brand consulting and design services needed. Sapper was to target the C-suite for small to medium size companies who have the sales and subsequent budget for these types of projects (at least $5MM up to lower middle market companies). 

They promised 4 quality leads each month starting in the second month assuming month one was a warm-up month. We were told in the sales process that if they did not deliver in 6 months, the next 6 months would be free (that was a lie and they changed this language in the contract without pointing this out to us).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Meeting set in the 4 month timeframe they worked on our account. 
• Target: 16 quality leads and meetings set. 
• Actual: Zero quality leads and meetings set. 
• C-suite meetings: zero meetings 
• Marketing VP or Director: zero meetings 
• Customer Experience VP or Director: zero meetings 
• Brand Experience VP or Director: zero meetings. 
• Sapper set up the following meetings: 
  • Purchasing agent at the Yale Club -in our history in this business we have never worked with purchasing agents and we did not identify purchasing agents as our target. The person was a no-show. 
  • Person in charge of buying packing supplies at a cosmetics company. Attended the meeting. We a not suppliers of packaging. The purchasing agent did not understand what brand consulting was and did not remember setting the meeting up. 
  • Person at a wood/furniture shop that did not have a retail location or a website. Call never happened. 
  • Marketing person at a car dealership that after 4 meetings revealed they only had a budget of $10,000 to spend on anything marketing related, were not looking for brand consulting and did not know anything about us or why we were having the first call. 
  • Another person who knew nothing about us, did not control or know anything about the brand, did not answer the call, did not have us in their calendar and was not looking for our services. 

There was zero success and confidence on our end in Sapper who wanted more money and trust from us but would not offer any written guarantees or assume any responsibility for this waste of time, lack of strategy, lack of understanding of our business, lack of responsibility to our goals, lack of owning up to their verbal promises. They gained our $8,000 and wanted us to spend more to prove out their performance but would not contractually agree to any guarantees or promises or recourse if they did not succeed.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They had calls on time, but the information they took in was not processed as promised and used to deliver against their proposition. Our expectation was that we had a strategic team that reviewed all the information and goals we provided and set up their systems to go after the types of clients we target and work with. This did not happen. We did not talk to a single person who had a strategic view or opinion of our account after they closed the sale. So they did not respond to our needs in the time they promised which was quality leads beginning in 2nd month.

What was your primary form of communication with Sapper Consulting LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

There was nothing impressive beyond their ability to scam, avoid, lie and not take ownership for their bate and switch sales process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Sapper Consulting LLC could have done differently?

Not lie in the sales process. Back up their promises in their contract. They should stand behind their services and ensure customers get the results they promise in the right timeframe. Be honest with clients whose complex sales cycles do not do well in email marketing. Put competent people on the clients team who read the brief and respond strategically. 

Refund money if they do not meet the goals they communicate in the sales process. Stop taking money from small businesses that have no money to waste. Stop making false promises. Answer the phone when they fail to deliver. Get senior management on the phone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of Geoscape Solar, a solar energy company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sapper Consulting LLC?

We were looking to garner more commercial leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sapper Consulting provides us with email marketing services. The team sends emails on our behalf to our target audience, such as commercial property owners, and is responsible for developing marketing strategies and content with my input.

The team has also created email templates and automated our email marketing process.

What is the team composition?

We’ve mainly worked with several project managers over the course of our partnership.

How did you come to work with Sapper Consulting LLC?

My company was already working with Sapper Consulting before I started my position, So I’ve inherited their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in May 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The team has been integral to our efforts in converting qualified leads into actual projects.

How did Sapper Consulting LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent from a project management perspective, and we typically communicate through phone calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their commercial approach and thoroughly-vetted leads.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not all the leads we get from them have panned out well, but the results have been more net positive than negative.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about your goals and target audience to get the most out of your engagement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run the Sales and Marketing departments for a mid tier consulting company. We provide B2B services and are rapidly growing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sapper Consulting LLC?

We hired Sapper to assist in gettin gus additional leads. They claimed their database and marketing campaign's were top flight and helped companies achieve great success in getting meetings with the people they needed to sell to.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We selected them based off their service offerings, cost and our feeling that they had an approach that could work for us.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

They set-up the project after signatures and stated that even though it might takes 8 weeks or so to get going, we should expect an average of 6 leads per month of qualified meetings that we would approve prior to speaking. They then looked at our content and put together a draft campaign and got our feedback, prior to sending out. From there they did a small send and gradually built it up over time.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were 3 individuals on the first call and then 1 individual who worked with us from there.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

The results were absolutetly terrible and did not achieve a single thing except waste our time and money. We have seen the ability to target over 100,000 people in the market and produce lots of leads through the right people and strategy. The first campaign was targeting lower level folks and I told them I thought this was an error, but they were the expets. We got 2 meetings, which we shouldnt have any approved but it had been about 3 months so we felt the need just see what it had to offer. The result was someone asking us for a job and not having any inout or ability to help us get a project in place.

From there we redid the campaign and was told the signs are pointing up, have patince, but it felt like lip service and even though we are over 4 months into the project those 2 leads are all we have recieved. There is no solution laid out except wait even though from their own projections we should have had closer to 30 lead by this point. It felt like we were taken advantage of and that they made wild claims they could achieve and no fair resolution to us to make up for their lack of production.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was fine, the results were not.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their Account Manager was nice.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

They could have been honest up front about a lot of organizations not getting good results and helping to create a refund program if they produce under 10% of their targets. I've read this same situation had happened to lots of other folks on the Yelps review.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm part of the BDR leadership team at a B2B MarTech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sapper Consulting LLC?

We engaged Sapper to help our Business Development Reps to improve on their current prospecting strategies and increase their conversation to meeting booked rate.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We considered three other sales engagement agencies but chose Sapper due to their brilliant customer service (extra special shoutout to Katie), attention to detail and their price was within our budget range. They were very flexible and upsell any services as they knew we had a fixed budget to work with.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Sapper began with a content audit, moved onto team workshops and then prepared new content for our outbound email sequences. They were actively helping us to troubleshoot and improve upon our current BDR workflow and management.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Our main point of contact was Katie (Senior Engagement Manager), but we also met with three other team members (writers, lead gen specialists), all who were highly skilled and professional. A highlight was working with Dave (Vice President of Growth Services) who is a passionate teacher with deep expertise when it comes to making the most of Outreach.io integration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Having Sapper develop new email sequences helped us to save time and resources internally and ramp up our # of conversations with prospects. We were able to increase sequence usage and adoption which made our team exponentially more efficient when reaching out to potential clients.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our experience with Sapper cannot be faulted, they were always proactive, highly responsive and patient with our team when we had to make last minute scheduling changes. Every meeting was efficiently documented and shared with us so any missing team members could catch up on the key points.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What makes Sapper unique is their willingness and ability to see the bigger picture and solve the problems we weren't even thinking about yet. They were a highly strategic team of thinkers and doers, plus they are incredibly personable so their advice does not come off as condescending at all.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I can't fault them at all! Great job Sapper :)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and CEO of a social selling company, Thought Horizon. Our company helps other businesses be successful on social media platforms and use the power of their sales teams to generate interesting conversations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sapper Consulting LLC?

We weren’t able to find our prospective clients on social media, so we turned to Sapper to help us fill the pipeline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sapper initially helped us create a content strategy. We filled out an online questionnaire in which Sapper asked us questions about our target audience and content marketing initiatives. Their team then started producing content for them to use to reach out to prospects. Their content’s essentially for marketing initiatives. They also manage the initial conversations with prospects until the prospect’s ready to have a call with us. Their goal is to deliver qualified leads to us.

What is the team composition?

Jimmy (Principal) is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Sapper Consulting LLC?

Sapper actually found us, and we felt their company was trustworthy.

How much have you invested with them?

At the moment, we’ve spent more than $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s been about a year since we started working together. We began our partnership around February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

It’s easy to measure the partnership's success because Sapper’s working to bring us leads. Their team delivers qualified leads to us. Other metrics include the number of meetings scheduled, the conversion rates, and the ROI. It's working really well for us.

How did Sapper Consulting LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email and book appointments too. Sapper uses a project management dashboard where they show project statistics. In the beginning, we used an online form to create the content strategy. The tools are great. We actually adopted them for our work too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like that Sapper provides us with a turnkey solution. Their team takes care of the problem we engaged them to solve, which is appealing. As a small business, it’s helpful to have a partner that we can outsource the solution to. Their team acts as an expansion of our organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they do a good job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In the B2B space, it’s important to give yourself a long enough runway to understand if a partnership works for you or not. Invest a couple of quarters to settle into a rhythm with the provider and assess the results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder & CMO of a boutique marketing agency for B2B software businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sapper Consulting LLC?

We hired Sapper to conduct propecting outreach activities for us in order to set sales meetings with potential customers.

What were your goals for this project?

We were hoping to get 8 new clients this year from Sapper's outbound lead generation activities.

SOLUTION

How did you select Sapper Consulting LLC?

Sapper had the best offering & success rate at a price that wouldn't bankrupt us if it didn't work right away. Thry came recommended by a colleague at a similar agency.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Essentially, they're a turnkey cold outbound lead generation agency, though we're only using their email marketing service, not their higher end Bionic SDR service that includes LinkedIn & phone outreach in addition to emailing.

They find the contact information for my ideal customer, and they run email sequences to try to find potential buyers who are interested in my services.Then, they book time on my calendar to talk with the prospective client.

What was the team composition?

We work with an onboarding PM, a writer, and a lead gen specialist (our primary contact).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They've gotten us more meetings this quarter than we usually see in a whole year from our other efforts. These are obviously a little earlier in the sales process, do they take longer to close, but so far, we're really pleased.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There haven't been any major issues. Their process seems well-honed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I like that they're data-driven and that they experiment. They seem to uncover some pretty big deals for a lot of their customers.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We didn't like the first emails they wrote for us. They didn't seem aligned with our target buyer, nor did they sound like something I'd write. We worked with them to re-write them, and seem to be having success.

The reporting is another area I'd like to see improvement, but I've been told they're working on it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of TeamLogicIT Naples

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Managed Service Provider

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sapper Consulting LLC to accomplish?

• Generate Leads

SOLUTION

How did you find Sapper Consulting LLC?

Referral

Why did you select Sapper Consulting LLC over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from Sapper Consulting LLC were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sapper Generates Leads for our company. They are expected to generate qualified leads every month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Generating Sales from the Leads supplied by Sapper

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

There is no "on Time" with sales and leads but there has been consistent performance and they consistently find new leads for me.

What was your primary form of communication with Sapper Consulting LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

• Monthly Meeting going over metrics.
• consistent improvement.
• Fast customer service.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Sapper Consulting LLC could have done differently?

Not really although we will be testing different messaging

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at American Plastic Molding Corp.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sapper helps us with lead generation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sapper Consulting LLC to accomplish?

• Leads
• Revenue
• New repeating sales growth

SOLUTION

How did you find Sapper Consulting LLC?

Online Search

Why did you select Sapper Consulting LLC over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from Sapper Consulting LLC were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sapper provides us with 6-10 leads or prospect meetings per month in markets we are interested in.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We get 6-10 leads per month that fit into our sales and marketing strategy

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

So far, they have delivered on all promises.

What was your primary form of communication with Sapper Consulting LLC?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Attention to detail and the time they've taken to learn our needs

Are there any areas for improvement or something Sapper Consulting LLC could have done differently?

none

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of The Enginuity Group

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Mergers & Acquisitions Intermediary for buy/sell

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sapper Consulting LLC to accomplish?

• Set up appointments with AEC firms over $5 mm revenue

SOLUTION

How did you find Sapper Consulting LLC?

they reached out to us

Why did you select Sapper Consulting LLC over others?

Company values aligned

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

to set up appointments for me to have a phone meeting with owners of AEC firms

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

# of quality meetings per month

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They've helped us book several appointments, one of which has turned into a client. But, still most are simply too small for us to manage. They need to increase the target size

What was your primary form of communication with Sapper Consulting LLC?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Actual appointments set vs leads only

Are there any areas for improvement or something Sapper Consulting LLC could have done differently?

Need to increase target size. Several calls were a waste of everyone's time for they were tiny. Need better size data

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the National Sales Executive of a manufacturing company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

pallet sales

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sapper Consulting LLC to accomplish?

• Bring in new leads

SOLUTION

How did you find Sapper Consulting LLC?

Past Business

Why did you select Sapper Consulting LLC over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from Sapper Consulting LLC were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sapper brought us new leads and meetings

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They brought us new leads and sales!

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, they delivered as promised

What was your primary form of communication with Sapper Consulting LLC?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were very friendly and held to their values.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Sapper Consulting LLC could have done differently?

None.