Case Study: Team Outsiders’ Elite Talent Elevates Marketing, Quickly Executes New Channel Branding

“Working with Team Outsiders was seamless. They stepped in, took control quickly, and brought innovative ideas and structure from day one. It was focused, helpful, and easy.”

 Onie Girton, Senior Vice President of Sales, Client Services, and Marketing, Hilldrup 

Hilldrup provides residential moving and storage, employee mobility, logistics and workplace solutions services. Not finding the right resource to hire for a Residential Moving Marketing Manager role, Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO, William Collins, turned to Team Outsiders. Quickly stepping into the new position, experienced marketing manager, Alicia DePatsy, brought skills and practices that cut the new channel ramp-up time by half while elevating the company’s marketing. After achieving Collins’ vision and goals for the new channel, DePatsy helped to train her permanent replacement.

Business Background

Residential Moving and Workplace Logistics Solutions

Established in 1903, Hilldrup moves families and businesses domestically and internationally. In addition, the family-owned company offers workplace and logistics services to clients, including Fortune 500 companies, federal government agencies, universities, hospitals and hotels.

Onie Girton, Senior Vice President of Sales, Client Services, and Marketing for Hilldrup is responsible for the residential moving and employee relocation lines of business.

Residential Moving Channel Development Goal

William Collins, a Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO, was engaged by Hilldrup for a brand architecture project that morphed into a business line re-organization with some rebranding work.

Collins led the marketing team to complete some alignment goals and to identify their go-to-market strategy. “We were doing significant brand work for the residential moving channel,” he related. “An important development goal was to get this new channel, with a new marketing manager, in place.”

At six months, he sought to hire a Residential Moving Marketing Manager, a new role for the company. “Part of the challenge was, not only couldn't I find someone right away, but the existing team did not have the bandwidth to do the anticipated work,” related Collins.

Team Outsiders Ticked All the Boxes

As Collins interviewed candidates for the new role, he wasn't finding the right resource. “So, I wanted to bring in someone to temporarily fill the role until I could find the right person,” he explained. “The timing was just right for Team Outsiders.”

Collins then asked Gary Stockman, General Manager, Team Outsiders, to give him three names. “I looked at the resumes, and Alicia DePatsy stood out,” Collins related. “When I called her, we immediately connected. She previously had her own agency and was a good cultural fit.”

DePatsy had also recently worked with a local moving company in the New York area. So, she ticked all the boxes—cultural fit, good personality, experienced marketer, with some moving experience. “I was needing somebody who had been there, done that, and Alicia fit that bill,” Collins stated.

Growth Team

What Good Marketing Looks Like

Collins went back to the organization to report the difficulty in finding the full-time hire with a recommendation to bring in DePatsy. From that moment to when she started working in the business spanned a short three weeks.

Immediately, DePatsy started to build out a plan and to execute some of the vision that Collins had built for the organization. “And we began to show the organization what good business line marketing looks like from that mid-manager perspective,” he related.

Little Downtime and Joy to Work With

Hilldrup experienced very little downtime with DePatsy. “We had two meetings and she was rolling,” reported Girton. “She's a very intelligent and professional woman who just got it. And once you gave her the tools, she knew exactly what she was doing.”

“Alicia was absolutely amazing!” Girton affirmed. “Her professionalism and out of the box thinking was incredible, and she has great project management skills as well, an absolute breath of fresh air. She was very open to new ideas and brought a lot of things to the table, but at the same time, such a joy to work with.”

Better than Freelancers or Agencies

DePatsy got to know the Hilldrup team and understood the culture. “When you're using a freelancer, you're hiring them just for one thing,” compared Girton. “I enjoyed that Alicia understood where we were coming from and what we were trying to accomplish. And her level of expertise was much higher than I've ever experienced with a freelancer.”

Girton confirmed that using Team Outsiders resources was the right decision. “Compared to working with agencies, it was much more focused,” she explained. “Alicia pulled in the talent that she needed to get it all done. But she was the catalyst that made things happen.”

Trained Permanent Hire

After six months, Hilldrup filled the position, and DePatsy helped train her replacement. At the same time, another employee in a similar role in a different business line went out on maternity leave. Alicia took over for that person while they were out.

“Onie benefited from Alicia’s experience and her placement worked out very well,” Collins related, “We even got the Team Outsiders engagement extended while the other employee was on leave.”

Results

Cut Channel Ramp-up Time by Half

DePatsy’s work accelerated progress on the new residential moving channel. “Our ramp up time was less by half,” reported Collins. “With a lot of moving parts, she kept things well-oiled and moving along. It allowed us to move much faster and gave Onie a partner who understood the business.”

“The Team Outsiders return on investment was excellent,” added Girton. “Alicia freed me up to do more important things and took a lot off my plate.”

Made Client’s Life Easier

DePatsy raised the bar for Hilldrup and showed them what they could be doing and how to do it. “I loved her attention to detail,” reported Girton. “We learned a lot along the way. The results were a super polished professional look. And she just got everything done.”

“She made my life easier,” Girton continued. “Which at the end of the day, was worth its weight in gold! I’ve dealt with a lot of different partners during my tenure in marketing, and Alicia is one of the best of the best. Her talent is unparalleled.”

Quickly Filled the Void

DePatsy also proved to be a great resource for Collins. “As a working Fractional CMO, having a resource like Alicia from Team Outsiders enables us to quickly parachute in and fill a void for 3-6 months until we can find another person,” he explained.

“She understands the vision and where I'm going, and then she just picks up the ball and doesn't need a lot of hand holding,” Collins continued. “She was able to step in, take the lead, and be a good example of great marketing.”

“She just gets the craft,” he added. “That makes a difference when you have other things demanding your attention. Because she stepped in and helped me with the residential moving business line, I was able to focus on HubSpot implementation, brand evolution, and a new website.”

Amazing Tool for CMOs

Team Outsiders, an exciting new offering from Chief Outsiders, means that any given CMO within the Chief Outsiders network has a much broader resource pool to choose from. With the right resources and team members, Fractional CMOs can execute faster and better to deliver on the promises they seek to fulfill.

Collins sees Team Outsiders as an amazing concept that every Chief Outsiders CMO will love. “It's another tool in our tool belt that allows us to solve client problems faster and be more effective as working Fractional CMOs,” he concluded.