Case Study: Dawson

Open Eye (OE) was tasked to develop a sales and marketing strategy that would match Dawson’s 75+ years of craftsmanship excellence. Building a change management plan for an existing organization with a rich heritage, know-how, and long-standing people and processes, was a great challenge — a challenge trusted in the collaborative hands of Dawson leadership and OE.

Dawson Metal has developed a reputation as an innovative metalworking powerhouse housed in a culture of family values. Dawson has serviced some of the world’s most renowned construction projects, namely the Empire State Building in New York City and the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. In reflection of thousands of successful customer projects, Dawson’s growth trajectory had been fuelled almost entirely by word of mouth referrals. In 2019, Dawson’s leadership team saw a real opportunity to put in place a new sales and marketing strategy that leveraged its existing heritage and world renowned metal expertise to effectively recruit new customers, reactivate past customers and build loyalty with
existing ones. Trusting OiA with the heavy lift, our team of experts would craft a strategy that would help Dawson assert its industry-leading positioning and set it up for another 75 years of success.

When we were tasked with the Dawson assignment, we saw a four-fold process of engagement in front of us. Our plan of action included:

1) Understanding Dawson’s Business in 2019 and Projecting Where It Could Go
• Value Proposition Definition
• Current Industry Positioning & Market Landscape Analysis
• Internal Organizational Structure & Processes
• Employee Readiness for Change

2) Development of a Modern Sales and Marketing Strategy, tracked to Corporate
Objectives and Performance Metrics
• Targeting Segmentation
• Content Marketing and Outreach Tactics
• New Product Sales Sheets Facilitating Improved Lead Conversion
• Customer Lifecycle Mapping and Management using new CMS Tools
• Establishment of a Performance Tracking System for Key Metrics

3) Modern Brand Redesign
• Complete Brand Revitalization and Redesign
• Website Overhaul in partnership with Agency Network

4) Setting up the Dawson team for Execution Success
• Facilitated Process of Recruiting New Marketing Hire
• Clear Process Guidelines for All Key Stakeholders
• Hands-On Integration and Mentorship from our Marketing Consultants

Since initiating the recommended sales and marketing recommendations outlined in our final deliverable, Dawson has reported a digital reach increase by 800%, a very healthy organic growth of leads, and social engagement has increased by three-fold. Dawson has also reported a significant improvement in customer satisfaction, and employee retention throughout the implementation of its new sales and marketing new processes. This multidimensional assignment brought together our network of multi-talented experts, and we couldn’t be more proud of the result.