Killing a weak value prop before it cost real spend.

As a global center for R&D investment, the U.S. represented a big opportunity as the next market for Polymerize to target with its new round of funding. Polymerize had experience in its existing markets, but needed to understand how prospects differed in the US before making a considerable investment. Additionally, their existing business had been generated without any outbound sales activity, so they needed to understand: Which contacts are instrumental to influencing technological innovation within R&D teams in the US and how to build an outbound sales process to target them. How R&D teams manage and utilize experimental data to optimize product development and what the current state of digital innovation looks like. What key challenges are inhibiting R&D teams today, what it's costing their business, and what methods have been used to solve them.

JJELLYFISH deployed their team for 90 days as an extension of the Polymerize team based in the United States. Within this time, three commercial assumptions were tested to inform Polymerize's best-fit customer segment and related value proposition. Additionally, initial outbound conversion rates were measured closely to predict the viability of future success. The JJELLYFISH team executed an outbound prospecting strategy that successfully engaged R&D professionals in the Chemicals and Plastics space and organizations varying in size and maturity.

The engagement revealed that increasing the speed of product development wasn't a powerful value add for most prospects, contrary to prior beliefs. The team identified what signified a high-fit prospect versus who should be avoided. Critical insight was gained on the state of digitization in R&D and how data is managed; what systems were used most frequently, and what antiquated processes would be obstacles to digital adoption. This resulted in a repeatable playbook Polymerize can utilize to fill their top-of-funnel and convert leads to qualified opportunities.