Case Study – Entouch

entouch, Raleigh NC

Quick Facts

  • In the wake of a failed sale process, Savvy helped ENTOUCH reorganize, changing its product positioning, marketing materials, sales process and training, path to market, pricing structure and revenue recognition.  
  • ENTOUCH reversed revenue declines and moved from significant operating losses and negative operating cash flows to profitability and positive EBITDA. 

Company Overview

ENTOUCH is a pioneer and leading provider of energy management as a service and smart building technology.  Its turnkey solution digitally transforms and optimizes operations while reducing energy usage to drive profitability for multisite business.  ENTOUCH owns the entire technology stack and is the only provider that can takeover legacy systems and manage them from a single cloud solution.

The Challenge

ENTOUCH had recently concluded a failed sale process.  The process had distracted the team and as a result execution was suffering.  The company was experiencing declining revenues and had recently lost a major sale that it had been working on for over 12 months.  Compounding this ENTOUCH had a weak sales pipeline and with a 12-18 month sales cycle, the need for additional financing was clear. 

Savvy Solution

The Board of Directors hired Savvy to conduct a comprehensive strategic review.  Savvy engaged and immediately implemented its proven process starting with a deep dive and discovery.  Savvy completed a comprehensive review of ENTOUCH’s financials, business plans, strategy and offering memorandum and interviewed more than 50 internal and external stakeholders.  Savvy synthesized the findings of the deep dive and discovery, along with further insights from within its network to develop a restructuring plan.  Savvy presented its findings and recommendations to management and the Board, who adopted its recommendations and asked Rich to join its Board as Executive Director to help manage the transition. 

Results

Savvy began the implementation process by revamping the management team.  Following the CEO’s resignation, Savvy mentored the COO during a 3-month transition to CEO.  Savvy also supported the recruiting and hiring of a new CFO, filling in as the senior financial executive during the transition period.    

During the discovery process, Savvy learned that the company  ‘vision’ was to ‘be sold.’  Savvy led a full day vision and mission workshop to move away from the prior transactional reason for being to one more meaningful to both employees and customers..  Savvy also led a complete product and marketing reset, including a new, tiered pricing structure, new website, marketing collateral and a go to market focus on partnerships.  Savvy met with ENTOUCH’s financial partners and helped renegotiate a loan and supported an equity financing. 

Savvy also recommended an expansion of ENTOUCH’s partnership activities.  Savvy led the partnering activities and negotiated and closed two partnerships to expand ENTOUCH’s product offerings and was instrumental in supporting a third that has become the company’s largest distribution channel.

Savvy’s discovery process identified significant weaknesses in the selling activities.  With Savvy’s guidance, ENTOUCH has implemented an extensive company training regimen with weekly sales training, held monthly strategic planning sessions with the CEO and CFO and helped bring on the new EVP of Sales and Marketing.  

By implementing the Savvy recommendations, ENTOUCH has more than stabilized and maintained profitability and set records for both revenue and EBITA.  

Our business was moderately successful, but we were struggling with who we were and who we wanted to be, or more importantly, needed to be.  Knowing we were operating within our own echo chamber, we looked outward.  Savvy was referred to us through one of our board members.  

Grace and Rich engaged immediately to conduct a strategic review of our entire business including a “Deep Dive” into our business.  After the deep dive and extensive discovery process, they led an eye opening management retreat where we learned what was working, what wasn’t and the challenges we would face on our current path.  From that retreat and with Savvy’s support, we were able to establish the building blocks that allowed us to transform our business, understand our mission and vision and embark on the most successful period in our history.

The process is on-going and we still have much to do to reach our potential.  Grace and Rich have stayed engaged – providing guidance, expertise and, quite often, simply a trusted advisor to help refine my thoughts and provide coaching I might not find elsewhere.  

I see Savvy as the catalyst of our transformation from possible mediocrity to near certain excellence.

Jon Bolen, CEO