Helping a best-in-class facial animation software company thrive in an increasingly challenging market.
Tl;dr:
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1. Situation
Industry headwinds and a more competitive landscape threatened revenue and market share.
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2. Observations
Inconsistent messaging and sales processes.
Outdated website and pricing. -
3. Actions
New CRM, website and sales presentation.
Revised pricing. -
4. Results
Doubling of annual recurring revenue year-on-year.
Placement in the FT’s 1000 Fastest Growing Companies (Europe), 2024.
Situation
Established in 2010, Speech Graphics offers a facial animation solution to video games developers that reduces time, money and effort, while also improving the quality of lip sync and emotional expressions.
Following personnel changes in 2021 and the onset of significant headwinds within the video games industry, DOTDASH was asked to review the company’s sales process and operations, with a view to maximising efficiency and effectiveness.
Observation
Despite a product so impressive that it would often sell itself, the volume of games being produced was stagnating, and the cost and inconvenience of motion capture was reducing, providing studios with more options to consider beyond more immediate competitors.
DOTDASH identified opportunities to improve the consistency with which sales enquiries were being handled.
While an informal conversation style was appropriate, an unstructured format meant that key selling points were sometimes missed.
Notes and actions from calls with prospects were captured in different places by different members of the team, and follow-ups were not undertaken as rapidly or effectively as they could or should have been.
Additionally, while the product had continued to evolve significantly over the years to deliver better and better quality and a wider range of features, the pricing had not, which was challenging its profitability.
Action
In parallel with this, a new website was developed to reflect the updated sales messaging, optimise the enquiry forms, and make it easier for people internally to edit content. A blend of in-house and external agency expertise was also established to manage SEO & PPC.
Meanwhile, HubSpot was selected as the company’s CRM, providing a single source of truth for customer information and follow-up tasks, along with pipeline management, reporting and forecasting.
DOTDASH remodelled the sales calls to explore client requirements at the outset, before moving on to present a new deck that would ensure that all of the software’s core features, benefits and advantages were communicated clearly, alongside key differentiators.
Pricing options were updated, and a simple calculator was produced to align packages more directly with client requirements, to maximise value visibility. Under NDA, clients could access their own copy of the calculator to explore the impact of different options.
Results
INCREASED ENQUIRIES
The new website CMS meant that news, case studies and product updates could be published much more quickly than before, providing a destination for social media and search traffic. Following the relaunch of the website, enquiries increased and continued increasing month on month.
REDUCED COST-TO-SERVE
The sales cycle associated with any products or services used in video games production is rarely short (due to development phases often lasting several years). However, providing a more consistent and complete set of information upfront, led to greater clarity for prospective customers, less confusion, back-and-forth and frustration, resulting in a lower cost-to-serve during the sales process.
EXPONENTIAL REVENUE GROWTH
Despite increased prices, conversion rates continued to improve, thanks in part to the transparency of the calculator, which gave prospective clients time to appreciate the return on investment they would see. This meant that ARR grew 100% year-on-year, earning Speech Graphics a healthy position in the Financial Times’ list of the 1,000 fastest growing companies in Europe.
BETTER FORECASTING
Adoption of the new CRM made it easier to predict sales performance farther into the future. Revised pricing and packaging also encouraged studios to make longer term commitments, with the average contract duration increasing from 1 year to 3 years, with some studios signing up for as much as 7 years at a time.
GLOBAL EXPANSION
With more solid systems and processes in place and the advantage of improved financial performance, it was possible to invest in pursuing business more confidently in territories like Japan, where it had previously been difficult to establish a meaningful foothold. While Capcom had been a client for several years, it was only after the sales and marketing approach was revised that other big names from the region like Bandai Namco and Koei Tecmo came on board.
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
In addition to in-house expertise in SEO, PPC and social media management, the growing client base also necessitated the hiring of a Global Account Director and an Events Producer. DOTDASH led a formal recruitment process to specify and appoint the ideal candidates in each case.
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“James brought a fresh perspective to the business to help us see things more acutely from the customer point of view. At a critical stage in our development, he was able to demonstrate value at a strategic level, while simultaneously getting hands-on with sales and marketing deliverables.”
Dr. Gregor Hofer
CEO & Co-Founder, Speech Graphics / Rapport
