Case Study
Lowering Cost of Sales and
Building a Scalable
Revenue System
A life sciences software company brought in RevWisely to improve how its revenue engine worked. The company sells a platform used by drug discovery teams to manage and analyze scientific data. The product is strong, customers are happy, and the market opportunity is significant.
Revenue was growing, but the underlying system was starting to show strain. The cost to sell was too high, and scaling the business was getting harder instead of easier. This wasn't a turnaround situation. The business was working—but not efficiently enough to support the next phase of growth.
The Challenge
A model that worked
but didn't scale.
Over time, the sales organization had evolved into a model that worked in practice but didn't scale well. The total cost of sales and marketing had climbed to 42% globally—well above typical SaaS benchmarks.
At the same time, several structural issues were holding the team back: roles were unclear, territories were uneven, and small and large accounts were treated the same. Reps were working hard, but a large portion of their time wasn't spent actually selling.
Instead, it went to administrative tasks, internal coordination, CRM updates, and manual follow-ups. Data was often incomplete or hard to access, which slowed down decision-making and made forecasting less reliable.
The issue wasn't effort. It was how the system was designed and where time was being spent.
The RevWisely Approach
Redesign the system,
not just the pieces.
RevWisely embedded directly with leadership to redesign the system. The focus was on aligning the right resources to the right work so that effort translated directly into revenue. The work centered around six core changes.
Segment customers more clearly
Define distinct tiers — key, midmarket, emerging, and academic — so each gets the right level of coverage.
Rebalance territories
Redistribute accounts so territory size and opportunity are aligned across the team.
Clarify roles and ownership
Remove ambiguity around who owns what, so every account and activity has a clear owner.
Lower-cost coverage model
Move smaller accounts to a coverage model that doesn't require the same resources as enterprise deals.
Add dedicated sales management
Bring in focused management to coach, inspect, and support the team day to day.
Redesign compensation
Align incentives to reward accountability, not just activity, so the right behaviors drive results.
This wasn't theoretical work. RevWisely helped build the full operating model, including account lists, territory plans, role definitions, compensation structures, financial models, and a clear change plan. The goal was to create something the business could actually run on—not just a set of recommendations.
Creating More Selling Time
Give reps more
time to sell.
As the engagement progressed, the focus expanded beyond structure to productivity. At the time, reps were spending significant time on non-selling activities—CRM updates, onboarding support, internal communication, and manual data work.
Reducing this burden became a major lever for improving performance without adding headcount.
Key Initiatives
- Simplifying order forms
- Cleaning up Salesforce data
- Automating renewals
- Standardizing SOWs
- Establishing clear CRM usage rules
- Using AI to assist with follow-ups
- Improving visibility into customer activity
- Adding next-best-action guidance
- Automatically capturing call data
Together, these changes reduced friction in day-to-day work, automated repetitive tasks, and made it easier for reps to focus on high-value activities. The system began to guide behavior instead of relying on individuals to manage everything manually.
Business Impact
Lower cost. Continued growth.
Stronger foundation.
As changes were implemented, the results followed. The company didn't reduce costs by slowing down growth. It improved efficiency while continuing to grow.
Key Outcomes
Most importantly, sales reps now spend more of their time on activities that directly drive revenue.
The Bottom Line
Not more leads. Not more tools.
A better system.
The company didn't need more leads, more tools, or more people. It needed a better system for how work gets done across the revenue organization.
By redesigning roles, territories, workflows, and incentives, RevWisely helped turn a high-cost sales model into a more efficient and scalable revenue engine. The result was lower cost, continued growth, and a stronger foundation for the future.
This is what scale looks like when the system delivers the real operating leverage.
Ready to lower your cost of sales?
Let's build your
scalable revenue system.
30 minutes. No pitch deck. Just clarity on where your revenue system can improve.