A combination of fully funded strategic support and funding is helping ProvisionPoint to hasten the pace of their growth.

Huntingdonshire-based software provider - ProvisionPoint - helps organisations control how they set up and manage Microsoft cloud services like SharePoint and Teams.

ProvisionPoint 365 helps make sure sensitive information isn’t shared with the wrong people, or left in an organisation’s records longer than it should be.

The challenge: Recruitment and sales approaches needed upgrading to enable business growth

As ProvisionPoint’s business grew rapidly during 2020, they needed to hire more staff. Yet finding and holding on to the right people proved challenging.

“We had to recruit very quickly, and so we tried different methods.

But we had mixed success with the quality of candidates, and retention was tricky as well,” explains Peter Baddeley, ProvisionPoint’s CEO and co-founder.

“We’re a relatively small team. So if someone leaves, someone else has to pick up other business functions at very short notice.

"That’s very disruptive, and puts a lot of pressure on people. It’s not a good way to grow the business.”

Peter and his team aim to double ProvisionPoint’s revenue in the next 2-3 years. But to achieve this, they need to attract and retain the right people.

They were also keen to strengthen their approach to sales. “We’ve got a huge potential audience who could buy our product. But it’s quite daunting to say we’ll target anyone who uses Microsoft Cloud services – that’s an awful lot of people!

“We knew we needed to be more competitive, and not just wait for customers to come to us.”

The solution: Expert advice, coaching and grants to support business growth

ProvisionPoint turned to Growth Works for business advice and coaching. They received a range of help and resources, including 1:1 support from growth advisor Robin, peer networking, various seminars, and exploring different schemes for training and job creation.

ProvisionPoint also received a grant to access external consultancy for support in three key areas:

· Recruitment strategy

· Sales strategy and process

· Working towards ISO 27001 certification (data security)

An HR specialist helped Peter and his colleagues improve their approach to finding and keeping staff.

“They reviewed and put together recommendations on how we approach recruitment, and how we create a business culture which keeps people wanting to work for us. They put together a really clear path for us to bring someone on board, and hold on to them.”

With expert guidance, the ProvisionPoint team also developed a clear, targeted sales strategy. They created a structured programme for their sales team to identify and connect with prospective customers, and manage them through a process.

The peer-to-peer networking opportunities Growth Works offers have also proved valuable to Peter: “The most useful thing about the peer networking is the opportunity to hear ideas from skilled people outside of your immediate network and sector. This has given me different insights about how to approach things, which I wouldn’t necessarily have got otherwise.”

The results: Significant recruitment success and a swelling new business pipeline

Peter and his colleagues soon saw tangible results from their improved recruitment strategy, when hiring a new sales account manager and marketing manager.

“Both new hires have been a much better fit within the organisation than some previous hires were, and picked things up immediately. They’ve very quickly had a direct business impact on driving new sales and driving our marketing. And on a personal level, now I’ve got more time to focus on other things, because I’m not worrying about sales and marketing.”

While it’s still early days for the new sales strategy, initial results are promising. “We’re getting 20-30% more enquiries, and a steady increase in new partner deals,” Peter says. “So we’re seeing the impact already with new business which we might not have previously got.”

Peter identifies the biggest impact of Growth Works’ support as accelerating ProvisionPoint’s progress towards their business targets. “It’s given us tools and expertise which we probably wouldn’t have been able to afford in the short term.

“You often feel as a small business that although you pay all your taxes, you don’t necessarily get the support big businesses do. So it’s nice to work with an organisation which supports us.”

“Working with Growth Works feels quite personal, because I’m working with specific, assigned advisors. So I’m talking with the same people each time, and they build an understanding of what I’m trying to achieve. I also like their flexibility – they tailor their support to what we’re trying to do, rather than providing something very generic.”

Could your business benefit from expert support and funding to help you unlock further growth?

Check your eligibility and tell us about your business here to join our programme: growthworkscoaching.uk/get-started/. Or get in touch at enquiries@growthworks.uk