High Caliber Line – Growth Strategy

Growth Product Manager – High Caliber Line (2024–2025)

Promotional Products Wholesale Supplier | $38M → $65M Run Rate

Objective:

Assess sales operations and identify revenue growth opportunities for a fast-scaling promotional products supplier operating exclusively through a national distributor network, then design and implement the strategic and operational frameworks to capture that growth.

Challenges (Pre-Engagement):

• No defined sales lifecycle — inquiries moved directly to quoting with no qualification stage, no required fields, and no visibility into pipeline or close probability
• ERP (NetSuite) configured for order management only, with no CRM functionality, no opportunity tracking, and no closed-loss data
• Distributor relationships tracked at the company level, obscuring the individual rep relationships where loyalty and purchasing decisions actually live
• No attribution strategy — marketing spend across ESP, Sage, and PromoStandards integrations produced no measurable ROI data
• Top 25 distributor relationships estimated at only 5–10% wallet share with no data infrastructure to identify or pursue high-value reps within those organizations
• Quote turnaround times untracked and inconsistent across the AM team
• Antiquated billing process with no systematic controls to ensure shipped orders were invoiced
• Inventory management inadequate for a customization-based business model with bill of materials complexity

Solution:

• Authored a comprehensive growth strategy report spanning sales operations, CRM, communications infrastructure, TelCo integration, marketing attribution, PIM, and inventory management
• Defined a seven-stage sales lifecycle — Inquiry through Closed Lost — with required fields, exit criteria, and NetSuite workflow triggers at each stage
• Re-architected the account and relationship model to tier at the individual distributor rep level rather than the distributor company level, reflecting where purchasing decisions and loyalty actually reside
• Configured NetSuite as a functional CRM with opportunity tracking, quote aging dashboards, pipeline visibility by AM, and a mandatory closed-loss reason picklist
• Designed a three-tier account model (Strategic, Growth, Transactional) with differentiated SLA targets, follow-up cadences, and quote turnaround standards by account tier
• Developed a full attribution strategy encompassing UTM tagging for ESP/ASI campaigns, dedicated phone tracking numbers, PromoStandards API-level attribution, and a PIM/DAM pixel tracking framework
• Designed RingCentral/NetSuite CTI integration in two phases: screen pop for informed call routing, followed by automatic rep-level routing based on customer record
• Conducted a billing process audit during implementation that identified a structural gap where shipped orders were falling out of the invoicing workflow
• Produced SOPs, training frameworks, and NetSuite dashboard specifications for sales ops enforcement and ongoing compliance reporting
• Directed internal HC staff through implementation across ERP configuration, SOP adoption, and communications infrastructure

My Role:

As Growth Product Manager, I led the full engagement directing internal High Caliber staff through execution:

• Conducted operational assessment across sales, ERP, marketing, billing, inventory, and distributor relationship management
• Authored the comprehensive growth strategy report and all supporting deliverables including the Sales Operations SOP, sales lifecycle definition, and account tiering model
• Directed NetSuite configuration to support CRM functionality, pipeline management, and attribution data capture
• Designed channel segmentation and attribution strategy to identify revenue sources and optimize marketing ROI
• Identified and resolved a billing controls gap discovered during implementation, resulting in direct revenue recovery
• Collaborated with co-consultant Sean Regan on strategy development and client delivery

Results:

• Engaged 2024 with gross sales of $38M
• 2025 closed at $49M — a 29% year-over-year increase
• 2026 run rate tracking at $65M — a 71% increase from engagement start
• Identified and recovered $27,000 in unbilled shipped revenue during a 60-day implementation window, uncovering a structural billing gap estimated at approximately $164,000 annually if left unaddressed
• Established data infrastructure to identify and pursue wallet share growth within top 25 distributor relationships
• Positioned HC for data-driven sales management, attribution reporting, and scalable growth through PromoStandards API integration with 2,000+ distributors

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