This is a case study (imaginary organization and scenario) for learning purposes and class discussions to apply concepts learnt in Tech Consulting and Business Analysis course.
Bridging the Sales–Delivery Gap at NovaTech Solutions
Company Overview
NovaTech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a fast-growing mid-sized B2B technology services firm based in Pune, India. It provides tailored IT implementation and consulting services to enterprise clients across BFSI, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. With a workforce of 2,000+ professionals, NovaTech delivers projects on a made-to-order basis, requiring tight alignment between sales wins and delivery readiness.
Enterprise Systems Landscape
To support its operations, NovaTech has deployed:
- CRM Tool: Used by the Sales Team to manage leads, pipeline, and client interactions, through to contract closure. This system is the primary repository for all sales-related data, including customer profiles, communication history, and most critically, the status of potential deals.
- ERP System: Used by the Services Delivery Team to handle resource planning, project tracking, billing, and HR functions. This system is the backbone for operational execution, managing everything from employee skill sets to project financials.
While both systems are functionally strong, they operate independently, with no integration or shared visibility. This siloed approach is at the heart of NovaTech’s current challenges.
Business Context and Core Problem
NovaTech’s Sales Team manages the entire deal lifecycle within the CRM. Once a deal is marked “Closed-Won”, details are passed (often manually) to the Services Delivery Team, which then begins resource allocation and project onboarding via the ERP.
This results in critical gaps, such as:
- Late visibility for the Delivery team: The delivery team is caught off guard, unable to proactively prepare for new projects.
- Last-minute staffing rushes and use of high-cost contractors: This impacts project profitability and often leads to suboptimal resource allocation.
- Delays in project kickoff: Client expectations are not met, leading to dissatisfaction.
- Poor client onboarding experience: The initial impression for a new client is one of disorganization and delays, potentially damaging the long-term relationship.
The Delivery Team has no early insight into deals marked as “likely to close” and thus cannot plan human resources proactively. This fundamental lack of foresight prevents effective operational planning.
Opportunity Pipeline States in CRM Tool
To understand the core problem more deeply, let’s elaborate on the opportunity pipeline states within the CRM tool, and how NovaTech’s current process leverages (or fails to leverage) them.
A CRM’s opportunity pipeline is a visual representation of all active sales deals and their current stage in the sales process. Each stage represents a specific set of activities and a level of probability that the deal will close.
Here are the opportunity pipeline states and their implications for NovaTech:
- Lead/Prospect:
- Description: The initial stage where a potential client has been identified but not yet qualified. Information is often basic (company name, contact person). The sales team is working to establish initial contact and assess if there’s a genuine need.
- NovaTech’s Implication: At this stage, Delivery doesn’t need to be involved. Sales focuses on nurturing the lead.
- Qualification/Discovery:
- Description: The sales team has made contact and is actively exploring the client’s needs, challenges, and budget. This involves initial meetings, information gathering, and assessing if NovaTech’s services are a good fit.
- NovaTech’s Implication: Still too early for Delivery involvement. Sales is busy understanding the scope.
- Needs Analysis/Solutioning:
- Description: Based on the qualification, the sales team (often with pre-sales or technical support) is defining the specific services and solutions that NovaTech can offer. This might involve preliminary solution design, outlining project scope, and estimating effort.
- NovaTech’s Implication: Critical early warning point for Delivery. While a formal commitment isn’t made, the shape of the potential project is emerging. If NovaTech had visibility here, Delivery could begin preliminary assessment of required skills and potential resource availability for future projects.
- Proposal/Quotation:
- Description: A formal proposal or quote has been submitted to the client, outlining the proposed solution, scope of work, timelines, and pricing.
- NovaTech’s Implication: Another crucial point for early Delivery insight. At this stage, the deal is becoming more concrete. Delivery could start soft-allocating or identifying potential resources and flagging any major skill gaps that might require hiring or training. They could also review the proposed scope for feasibility and potential delivery challenges. This is where NovaTech is currently missing a huge opportunity for proactive planning.
- Negotiation/Review:
- Description: The client is reviewing the proposal, and there might be rounds of negotiation on scope, price, terms, and conditions. Legal and contracting teams may become involved.
- NovaTech’s Implication: The deal is close to closing. Delivery should be on high alert. Any identified resource shortfalls from the “Proposal” stage should be actively addressed. This is where the last-minute staffing rushes are currently originating.
- Closed-Won:
- Description: The contract has been signed, and the deal is officially won. The client is committed to proceeding.
- NovaTech’s Implication: The current trigger point for NovaTech’s Delivery team. This is where the manual handoff currently occurs. By this stage, it’s often too late for optimal resource planning, leading to the problems identified (late visibility, last-minute rushes, delays).
- Closed-Lost/On Hold:
- Description: The deal did not materialize, or it has been temporarily paused.
- NovaTech’s Implication: Delivery should use this input to update their plans.
NovaTech’s Current Pipeline Utilization Gap:
The core problem at NovaTech is that the “Closed-Won” stage is the only effective trigger for the Delivery team. This means all the earlier stages, which offer valuable predictive insights into future demand for resources, are entirely ignored by Delivery. The CRM contains rich, real-time data on potential projects, but this data is not leveraged beyond the Sales function.
This lack of integrated visibility across the pipeline states creates the operational disconnect between Sales and Delivery, leading to the identified inefficiencies and negative client experiences.
ACTIVITY/EXERCISE:
Assume you are a Technology Consulting team brought in to analyze the situation, diagnose the problem, provide recommendations.
Provide the following deliverables:
Deliverable 1: Analysis and Diagnosis:
Problem Statement:
Current State: Textual and Pictorial/Model
Future State: Textual and Pictorial/Model
Deliverable 2: Proposed Solution Description:
Business Process Enhancements:
Technology Enhancements:
Change Management:
Deliverable 3: Preparation of RFP for Vendor Identification/Selection
Context
Problem Statement
Scope of work
Phases and Key Deliverables in each with timelines
Client responsibilities
Vendor responsibilities
List of details expected in proposal (Sections)
Vendor Evaluation Criteria
Timelines for proposals
Mechanism to get clarifications on the RFP
Contact points
Dr. Selvaraj Vadivelu 