GAIN LINE has delivered an Optimisation Sprint for the Manchester tech startup, Your FLOCK and the results have been brilliant. Our Optimisation Sprint is an innovative workshopping and ideation product that gives companies the ability to plan how to scale, pivot or simply address key challenges they may face. Your FLOCK had a challenge to achieve a £10,000 Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).

Who is Your FLOCK?

Your FLOCK was born out of an academic thesis on team dynamics and company culture by co-founder Michal Wisniewski, who studied at Manchester University.

Co-founder Dan Sodergren, a specialist in digital transformation, invested in the fledgling business and amplified its presence in a growing marketplace.

Using machine learning, personal assessment and many other techniques, the business is able to strengthen core values and reduce churn for organisations. 

With COVID and the subsequent explosion of home and remote working, the demand for a SaaS company that could build a sense of belonging grew hugely.

This interest attracted investment and space for the co-founders to stand back and take a look at what was needed for Your FLOCK to take the next step.

Why an ‘Optimisation Sprint’?

Having identified a need to optimise their sales process, Your FLOCK chose to engage GAIN LINE to deliver an optimisation sprint.

Dan Sodergren explained:

‘We knew there was nothing wrong with the product, because we’d been so product led up to that point - but we need to focus more on the market.

‘We’d spoken to other advisors but none had taken a granular approach to help us truly visualise the process.

‘GAIN LINE came along at the right time and instantly understood the challenge of sharpening our focus over the next few months to be more growth driven.’

Pre-sprint

Before delivering the optimisation sprint, GAIN LINE’s team asked Your FLOCK staff to complete individual interviews to help inform the process.

The results helped GAIN LINE design a series of sessions to sharpen and transform Your FLOCK’s approach.

Sprint delivery

Via methods including ‘together alone’ thinking and ‘How Might We’ questioning, GAIN LINE enabled Your FLOCK team members to:

• Identify their main obstacles which included: a lack of structure within Your FLOCK’s sales process, a prolonged sales cycle from initial lead to closed deal and a low conversion rate after a product demo;

• Formulate questions to challenge their own established ways of thinking;

• Draw conclusions on what to do to systematically address and remove the blocks to achieving their stated goal.

By ensuring everyone’s voice was valued, they were able to put together a picture that reflected the collective desires and drivers of Your FLOCK.

GAIN LINE technical director, Kevin Williams, highlighted how the process works, saying:

‘Nobody’s input is discounted or drowned during an optimisation sprint, as views can be given anonymously and democratically where required.

‘Priorities are collated and voted on, while conversations are kept on track and tightly timed to keep things moving towards a shared goal without distraction.

‘Your FLOCK bought into the process from the start, which meant we were able to draw out more from them in order to create the best outcomes post sprint.’

Sprint solutions

Following the optimisation sprint sessions, GAIN LINE delivered a series of recommendations, including:

• Individual action plans for each participant to take away and execute;

• Ensuring there was a focus on the right people to target for their marketing campaigns;

• Defining a more structured and considered sales process that produced more accurate and actionable data points on sales intelligence;

• A method to score sales leads so that their efforts were most focused on those opportunities closest to the door.

Dan Sodergren outlined his satisfaction with the work, commenting:

‘What you’ve done is absolutely brilliant. The process is literally the best thing we’ve done this year and I completely see the power of it. I wish we had done this years ago.

‘It’s a cliche but sometimes you really can’t see the wood for the trees - if we could all help ourselves we wouldn’t need doctors or coaches.

‘Objectivity is so important - I like to be challenged and learn different ways of thinking.

‘GAIN LINE helped us define how our immediate goals might be achievable and gave us a playbook - now it’s up to Your FLOCK to execute.'