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Building a Unified Services Catalogue: The Key to Empowering Sales and Presales Teams

Author: Doug Johnstone, Principal Consultant at Digital Pivot

Date: January 2025

The Journey to Post Merger Growth

Note: This is the third instalment of five blogs exploring M&A challenges within the IT Services and Consulting industry, describing what I found and how senior leaders can take action to drive sustainable growth through authentic Post merger integration.

I’ve spent my entire career working with professional services organisations, and over the past few years, I’ve watched a surge of acquisitions in IT services and consulting businesses. Private equity firms and investors have been snapping up companies, betting on growth, scale, and synergies. But the reality? More often than not, 1 + 1 doesn’t add up to 3. In fact, it quickly becomes less than 2.

over 70% of acquisitions fail to deliver the expected value

HBR

Instead of growth, many of these acquisitions lead to stagnation, loss of key people, valuable IP, cultural clashes, and customers slipping away. The promises of synergy and efficiency turn into cost-cutting exercises, and the business ends up in worse shape than before. Having seen this play out time and time again, I started digging deeper into why so many acquisitions fail to realise their potential.

Introduction

For many merged organisations, multiple service portfolios remain scattered across different business units. This fragmentation hinders both sales and presales efforts, leading to confusion and missed revenue opportunities. In this post, we discuss how creating a single, group-wide services catalogue can streamline sales processes, empower teams, and ensure customers fully understand the breadth of your capabilities.

Building a Unified Services Catalogue: The Key to Empowering Sales and Presales Teams - Digital Pivot

The Challenges of Disjointed Service Portfolios Post-Merger

  1. Overlapping or Redundant Offerings
    • Different business units may offer similar services with minor variations, leading to internal competition and brand dilution.
  2. Siloed Data and Inconsistent Messaging
    • When services are managed separately, sales collateral, pricing models, and marketing messages can vary wildly, confusing both the sales force and potential customers.
  3. Inefficient Sales and Presales Processes
    • Without a centralised reference, teams spend valuable time searching for information on offerings, often missing cross-sell and upsell opportunities.

These issues can stall sales cycles, dampen productivity, and ultimately reduce the return on your Post Merger Integration (PMI) efforts.

How a Unified Services Catalogue Drives Consistency Across Sales, Presales, and Consulting

  1. Centralised Information
    • A group-wide services catalogue acts as a single source of truth. Both sales and presales teams know exactly where to find the latest information on product features, pricing, and bundling.
  2. Clear Positioning
    • Consistent language and messaging improve brand perception and customer understanding, which is vital in a crowded IT services and consulting market.
  3. Streamlined Cross-Sell and Upsell
    • With all offerings in one place, it becomes simpler to identify complementary services and present them to clients, unlocking new revenue opportunities.
  4. Stronger Interdepartmental Collaboration
    • Consulting teams can more easily align with sales and marketing to build a go-to-market strategy that resonates across the entire organisation.

Step-by-Step Guide to Developing a Comprehensive Catalogue (Scope, Structure, and Governance)

  1. Define the Scope
    • Inventory All Services: Document every offering from each business unit, focusing on key details like target industries, unique value propositions, pricing, and delivery models.
    • Identify Overlaps and Gaps: Spot services that can be combined or retired, as well as opportunities for new offerings that cater to emerging market needs.
  2. Establish a Clear Structure
    • Categorise Services: Group related offerings under specific themes or practices (e.g., Cloud Services, Cybersecurity, Application Development).
    • Create Standardised Templates: Use consistent naming conventions, service descriptions, and pricing guidelines to eliminate confusion across teams.
  3. Implement Governance and Ongoing Maintenance
    • Assign Roles and Responsibilities: Designate a catalogue owner and support team to keep information accurate and up to date.
    • Regularly Review and Update: Schedule periodic audits to add new offerings, retire outdated ones, and adjust pricing or feature sets.
    • Integrate With CRM and Sales Tools: Ensure your services catalogue seamlessly connects with your CRM and marketing automation platforms to maximise usability and data accuracy.

Real-World Impacts: Shortened Sales Cycles, Improved Customer Clarity, and Staff Retention

  • Shortened Sales Cycles: With all necessary information at their fingertips, sales teams can quickly create proposals, respond to RFPs, and close deals faster.
  • Improved Customer Clarity: A well-structured catalogue enables clients to see the full range of services you provide, reducing confusion and boosting confidence in your expertise.
  • Staff Retention and Engagement: Sales, presales, and consulting professionals feel more empowered and less frustrated when they can easily locate the tools and resources needed to excel in their roles.

Introducing Digital Pivot’s Approach to Creating This Resource Quickly and Effectively

At Digital Pivot, our Post Merger Integration (PMI) program is designed to help IT service and consulting providers:

  1. Identify and Consolidate Offerings: We work with you to map out every service line across your newly merged entity.
  2. Develop a Cohesive Services Catalogue: Our experts create a standardised framework that aligns messaging, pricing, and delivery methodologies.
  3. Train and Enable Your Teams: We equip your sales and presales teams with the knowledge and tools to leverage the catalogue for cross-selling and upselling.
  4. Implement Long-Term Governance: We set up processes to keep your services catalogue accurate, relevant, and responsive to market changes.

By integrating best practices in sales enablement and IT consulting, we ensure that your merged organisation unlocks its full potential.

Next Steps

  1. Map Out Existing Services
  2. Book a Discovery Call with Digital Pivot
    • Learn how our Post Merger Integration program can support catalogue creation and enhance collaboration across sales, presales, and consulting teams.
  3. Elevate Cross-Sell/Upsell Strategy
    • Explore how a unified catalogue helps your organisation pursue cross-selling and upselling tactics more effectively, driving additional revenue streams.
Have questions about unifying your services? Ask our AI powered Digital Pivot Solution Provider—your expert guide to streamlining sales and driving growth.

For more information, contact us

How to unlock Post Merger Growth:

  1. Why Post Merger Integration is Crucial in Today’s Rapidly Changing IT Landscape
  2. Streamlining Cross-Sell and Upsell: Unleashing New Revenue Opportunities
  3. Building a Unified Services Catalogue: The Key to Empowering Sales and Presales Teams
  4. Crafting an Integrated GTM Strategy: From Fragmented Practices to a Unified Vision
  5. Measuring Success Post Merger: Driving Continuous Improvement and Long-Term Growth