How BWS Grew Their R&D Business with PartnerSlate

“It’s exciting to have so many matches and potential projects to explore, so that's fantastic... these leads are essential to our growth right now; I can't imagine how we would connect with so many without PartnerSlate.”

-Breanna Neff, Founder & Chief Food Scientist at BWS

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Challenge

BWS was relying on website traffic and SEO for new business and needed more leads.

As a Food Scientist and entrepreneur, Breanna Neff, founder of BWS, manages brand projects from start to finish, from commercial formulas to ingredient sourcing to production. With so many skills and services to offer, lead generation and marketing was not a top priority but Neff wanted to grow their reach and help more brands.

Neff found PartnerSlate and signed up. With a success-based pricing model, a free account for custom leads was an easy decision. As a growing business themselves, the risk-free pricing allowed them to explore the platform with no real commitment and expand their reach with no additional marketing costs.

"[The PartnerSlate representative] informed me there was going to be an increase of leads after we signed up... that was an understatement...yeah, if I knew that before I would definitely be signing up sooner."

The Value

Detailed project briefs, consistent new leads, and automated next steps makes connecting with clients easier than ever.

Cold calling brands don’t always know what formulators and co-manufacturers need to know when proposing their project, and the back and forth to get all the right information wastes precious time and energy. PartnerSlate’s Marketplace and platform streamlines the process. This is what that looks like for Neff:

1. Five to ten projects per month that are “really interesting”

The anonymous project listings are reviewed and edited by Matching Advisors prior to being published to the Marketplace, and allow Neff to know exactly what the brand is looking for before even sending a single message. “It’s great that there’s a project brief that I can review before taking any call. That’s basically what I require when someone reaches out (via website), but there’s less of that lag time on the (PartnerSlate) platform because of the Marketplace... (PartnerSlate’s project brief) is much more thorough and just has all the complete details that I would be looking for and asking for on an intake or consulting call.”

2. More efficient conversations with guided and automated steps

“The NDA process is great. Like you just don’t really have to think about it, which is awesome and less pressure on the person who’s requesting it because it’s an automated process, which is cool...” The platform streamlines the entire onboarding process with a new client from project listing to NDA to setting up a meeting. The automatic ‘schedule a meeting’ prompt and calendar link “has been super beneficial. I love that feature.” Less time tracking down contacts means more time having meaningful conversations.

3. Two new brands in productions in just a four months

Within four months of introductions to two separate brands, BWS had signed contracts and seamless production runs. “It’s great to be part of a growing startup in providing them solutions that they’re needing at that time.” The success fee billing process when production is reached is “super easy... It’s automatically pulled from our ACH so we don’t even have to do anything which is awesome.” The PartnerSlate team makes productive conversations happen faster and with less effort, turning leads into clients in a matter of weeks.

"The ones (leads) on PartnerSlate seem to be more established than the ones seeking me out on their own, like the exploratory phase versus having an existing product or a growing startup."

Results

BWS’s inbound leads have doubled with PartnerSlate.

Pre-vetted leads with confirmed needs makes for more educated decision making and resource allocation. Neff and her team have doubled their new leads and improved the quality of those leads with PartnerSlate. New clients aren’t the only benefit Neff has received. She also joined the PartnerSlate team at their Co-Packer Pavilion at IFT First, getting to network with other co-mans, suppliers, and industry experts. With growing brands joining daily, the platform and support system has been a game changer. “I don’t know how we would find them without PartnerSlate.”

"Overall the experience has been great!"

Explore how PartnerSlate can help your team at partnerslate.com.

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