Case Study: Organizational Realignment & Business Development Transformation

Client: BAO Systems

Challenge:

After more than a decade since inception, the client, a software and analytics company, sought to optimize their operations and business development strategy for long-term scalability. The primary focus was to improve efficiency, refine team structures, and enhance their business development strategy to position the company for its next phase of growth. Hummingbird Strategies was engaged to optimize their business development approach, streamline operations, and align resources with strategic priorities to drive sustained success.

Approach:

Hummingbird Strategies conducted an in-depth assessment across key teams, including leadership, business development, finance, sales, customer success, and communications. The assessment employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating stakeholder interviews, qualitative analysis of key business metrics, revenue data review, and an evaluation of existing strategies and procedures.

The findings provided the client with insights across three strategic areas:

Organizational Development & Realignment

  • Assessed staff roles and provided data-driven recommendations to improve role alignment, maximize efficiency, and support long-term growth.

  • Worked closely with leadership to redefine team structures, ensuring a balance between operational needs and strategic objectives.

  • Developed a scalable workforce strategy to support future expansion while maintaining efficiency.

  • Advised leadership on transitioning from a centralized to a decentralized business development model, reducing overhead while enhancing business development integration within technical teams.

    Decentralizing Business Development and Sales 

  • Developed and institutionalized a redefined go/no-go process for opportunity evaluation.

  • Clarified leadership roles and decision-making structures for all revenue-generating activities.

  • Designed processes to leverage technical team expertise in business development, ensuring higher-quality proposals.

  • Created a flexible proposal team structure based on an opportunity framework, optimizing resource allocation.

  • Established clear proposal roles and responsibilities, prioritizing a lean structure to maintain focus on technical implementations.

    Operational Efficiency and Performance Monitoring

  • Conducted an assessment of business development costs to help leadership determine the minimum viable opportunity threshold, ensuring resources were allocated to the most valuable pursuits.

  • Established an evaluation framework for proposal opportunities, ensuring alignment with company investments and priorities.

  • Conducted an assessment and advised on restructuring data collection and reporting to align with the new business development strategy and metrics.

  • Advised on the design of dashboards and ticket flows for revenue-generating activities, improving collaboration between technical and business development teams.

Results:

✔ Optimized organizational structure, ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
✔ Reduced overhead by 20% while enhancing effectiveness through a decentralized, technical-driven business development model.
✔ Introduced a revised go/no-go framework, leading to more profitable pursuits.
✔ Improved decision-making and efficiency through updated criteria and review processes.
✔ Enhanced collaboration between technical and business development teams, streamlining proposal processes.
✔ Refined revenue data tracking, providing better insights for leadership decision-making.

Outcome:

By implementing a structured, data-driven approach to team reorganization, business development, and operational efficiency, Hummingbird Strategies helped the client streamline decision-making, optimize role clarity, and position itself for long-term, scalable growth while reducing operational overhead.