Westcliff Strategic

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Design Portfolio

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide corporate & financial communications for listed businesses ranging from corporate reporting and digital through to sustainability and employee comms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Westcliff Strategic to accomplish?

• Board alignment on strategic vision
• Vision and valuation
• Culture & Training
• Positioning
• Capacity planning

SOLUTION

How did you find Westcliff Strategic?

Referral

Why did you select Westcliff Strategic over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Westcliff Strategic were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Developed our values into a clearly defined culture that drives specific behaviours; created structures that consciously separate out the day to day running of the business (revenue generation and infrastructure) from strategic growth activities; supported a newly constituted Board to develop its role and readiness to deliver a redefined, ambitious, vision that sets us up to succeed over the next period of our growth.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improved resource management, increased valuation of our business in the eyes of investors, better utilisation rates amongst staff, reduced staff turnover

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

Very flexible in adapting to our needs in what is a fast-paced, time poor environment. They're always pretty clear on what is expected going into sessions and what the next steps are and most of the time managed to keep us on track whilst allowing for inevitable tangents during our discussions.

What was your primary form of communication with Westcliff Strategic?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The split of skills and the way in which they were deployed on our projects, which didnt make it feel like it was a one size fits all approach. The theory that sat behind everything, whilst not perhaps directly relevant to our business such as ours was always relatable and therefore important from a contextual perspective.

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

In the early days where we were finding out feet I think some more contextual onboarding would have been useful for some of our team members. They were not always aware of what they were trying to achieve at certain points, but the Westcliff team was always on hand to try and guide them in the right direction.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Brandon, Founder and CEO of Hownd. We build software that helps businesses drive effortless footfall, engage more customers, and grow their revenue.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Westcliff Strategic?

Our company was growing quickly and looking to enter the UK market as a prelude to expansion into multiple countries. We needed ‘on the ground’ support in the UK to establish a foundation, help adapt to local market conditions, and create revenue opportunities.

SOLUTION

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

1. Experience of the challenges of UK market entry.

2. Ability to identify and build relationships for us.

3. Agile, creative & flexible approach to delivery of the objectives.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Our full UK market entry has been significantly delayed by effects of Covid on the UK and US markets, so the project scope has had to change to reflect that. Core to the brief was improving our understanding of UK market conditions, having an ‘in timezone’ senior resource able to act as an extension of our ExCo, and a level of connectivity to create potential partnerships.

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

Our main point of contact is Roderick (Managing Director), supported by his associate Mark; both are experienced market entry specialists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Throughout a difficult period, Westcliff Strategic has stayed engaged, committed, and creative. Having found an initial local sales & marketing partner who was defeated by repeated ‘lockdowns’, we have had to revisit our UK go-to-market strategy. Westcliff has found public & private sector partnerships to support that. In addition, they have managed the development of a market entry partner in Kenya.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Given the high level of trust we've developed, their communication has typically been concise and on point — whether over the weekly Zoom or ad hoc via Slack.

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

They sit in a partnership space as an extension of the team, which created a real sense of alignment of interests.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a communications company that deals with Investor Relations services to listed companies in South Africa and Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Westcliff Strategic?

Our company need to transition quickly during the pandemic and the energy was scattered. We needed to manage the energy from the top so that the focus of the business could be directed more efficiently.

SOLUTION

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

We choose Westcliff Strategic after having a disappointing engagement with other management consulting firms. Their methodology and the way in which their principal Roderick Cameron engage is truly world class.

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

We merged three businesses in the year before COVID and had to deal with managing a traditional print based business, with a design agency and a online and videography team. The culture across the organisation could not have been more disperse. We also battled when we lost our MD tragically at the start of the pandemic and the CEO had limited access to the board too to help in decision making.

Through this the care and patience shown by Roddy was exceptional. His ability to meet with the members of the team and formulate a plan to get management in from of the business and arrange a structured methodology was fantastic. Four initial projects were implemented and a further 4 are due to kick off. The energy in the team is greatly improved, we have bedded down agreed values in the team and have processes in place to enhance and communicate decisions across the business.

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

Our main point of contact was Roderick Cameron and we used internal resources to ensure delivery of projects. Behind the scenes Roddy used his extensive network across to ensure we always had the best advice and information.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having implemented the projects our team have better cultural alignment. We have a process to double our business in the next 3 - 5 years and as the CEO i have more time and can give back more focus to ensuring our team has what they need to deliver.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent, it was a bit slow but that was because we had to fit this into what we were delivering for clients at the same time.

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

They have the ability to listen to the client and to cut through the noise of emotion. The experience they have in dealing with us is fantastic.

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

No, from the first engagement it has gone smoothly