(Editor’s Note: This sponsored content is brought to you by Bryant Park Consulting [PPAI 811403, Standard-Base]. Visit the Bryant Park Consulting website to learn more.)
When Jill Haspert, now owner and CEO of Foxtrot Marketing Group, joined the Minnesota-based distributor in 2017, it was operating with a disparate group of manual, paper-based ERP systems built in-house over the years or acquired as the company grew. As a result, the team struggled to maintain accurate data, and toggling through the different systems was cumbersome and time consuming. It was also difficult to scale the business.
“As we were adding new customers, we had to add incremental units of labor to get that done. So even though we were growing our top line, we weren’t growing our bottom line in the way I knew we could,” Haspert says.
In 2021, she was introduced to NetSuite, a customizable cloud-based ERP system but she didn’t think Foxtrot was ready. About 12 months later, as the company gained more clients, the team was drowning in trying to service them with the manual, fragmented system. Haspert looked at several industry-specific ERPs and kept coming back to NetSuite with its all-in-one solution that could run the entire business in one platform and apps could be added as the company grew.
She and her team did a true cost benefit analysis with the NetSuite team and dug into how the system could improve operations. She discovered they could save about $1 million in total expenses over three years and the system would have a break-even within 18 months. She thought, ‘How can I not afford to do this?’ Haspert, who bought the company from its previous owner in 2023, decided to move forward. Her next, and perhaps most important, step was to find an integration partner.
In talking with other industry distributors she heard glowing reviews about Bryant Park Consulting, a New York City-based company with deep industry expertise in implementing ERP systems, including NetSuite. She interviewed three potential partners but felt Bryant Park truly understood the promo industry, her company’s business model and its goals. “I got the strong sense that they got it. They understood the magnitude of investment we were making. They understood how complicated this industry can be. They had great expertise, and open and honest communication,” she says.
Not only had Bryant Park managed multiple NetSuite implementations in the promo industry but its team had thousands of hours of experience. They provided a detailed six-part implementation methodology that included planning the project, designing and building the system, verifying and deploying data, the go-live process, moving over the data, and transitioning the system into company. They also would provide team training.
“They didn’t come in and ask, ‘how do you want this to work?’ They said, ‘we’re the experts, let’s get to know your business but we have this six-step methodology that we have proven works.’ That confidence felt really great,” she says. Haspert had the assurance she needed to say yes.
The massive software integration began in April 2023 and was completed in nine months with Bryant Park managing the entire project remotely which saved Haspert time and money.
Eighteen months post launch, Foxtrot is enjoying huge improvements including clean, accurate and timely information plus expenses have been reduced and the company is able to collect cash faster.
“Bryant Park was a true partner to Foxtrot throughout this process,” Haspert says. “I always understood where we were with the budget and timeline. There were no surprises. Their subject matter expertise was vast. I had incredible trust in them. Even now, they are still checking in with me. They are still interested in what is happening with us and our team. It feels like a long-term partnership, not a short-term transaction.”
