Client Success Story: Vendor Selection

Burton Snowboards is a purpose-led brand rooted in snowboarding and the outdoors. With a focus on positive impact for people, the planet, and the sport of snowboarding, Burton has been at the forefront of innovation and progress of the snowboard and outdoor industry since its inception in 1977.

Industry: Outdoor / Retail

Location: Burlington, VT (global offices in Australia, Austra, Canada, California, China, and Japan)

Size: 200-500

"Master collaborators in every sense of the term. From the outset, Echo asked all the right questions and was able to provide me with some immediate suggestions to get us on the right course. With our original scope of work nearly conquered, I’m keen to tap Echo's goal oriented thirst for solving the hard problems energy for the next phase.” - Jason LaShelle

​Before	After
No visibility across projects Too many tools – project information stored in multiple platforms Lack of prioritization system All types of projects came through the same intake process regardless of time investment needed, scope of project, urgency, etc. System was not scalable to projects of different size & scope Limited opportunities for collaboration & accountability within teams	Burton chose Smartsheet as their main tool for managing marketing requests Ability to create roll-up views on project status and health within and across projects Streamlined visibility on current and future marketing workload More capacity and organization for larger, cross-departmental initiatives Smartsheet is utilized throughout entire Burton organization

The Problem:

Burton’s project management system lacked scalability, visibility, accountability, and prioritization. All marketing requests were channeled through the same intake process, preventing the team from getting a clear, accessible view of their current and future workload. In terms of accountability, their previous Trello system only allowed work to be viewed on the team level rather than an individual level. This meant that the entire team had access to all projects and could not filter out what wasn’t necessary for their own work.

Prioritization was also a challenge for the Burton marketing team, as their existing system had no way to filter projects based on size, investment needed, time urgency, etc. We equated this to comparing “apple seeds to apples to apple trees” — a major sales campaign existed within the same system as a simple content request for the website, and there was no way to group projects by importance.

Background:

Jason LaShelle reached out to Molly Yanus and the Echo Consulting team to get recommendations on switching to a new tool. After connecting with Molly, it was clear that Jason’s team didn’t just need a new tool; they needed a more organized and scalable system for getting the visibility, accountability, and prioritization they sorely needed.

Echo recommended Smartsheet as the best tool to get the job done, and guided Burton through the process of shifting into Smartsheet and fostering adoption of the new tool within their team.

Approach:

The Echo Consulting Team collaborated with Burton in a custom vendor selection plan. Echo worked closely with Jason and the Burton Marketing team to determine what functions their new tool needed to have, and consulted all major stakeholders to ensure that the new solution would have buy-in across the team and beyond.

Echo Consulting hosted multiple workshops with the Burton team to demonstrate how each tool option could be utilized to suit Burton's needs. Then, Echo invited key stakeholders to explore each tool and test it out on their own.

Once each stakeholder had tested a tool, they were asked to rate the tool based on a variety of factors. Using the ratings from all stakeholders, Echo created a Vendor Selection Prioritization Matrix. This matrix highlighted the values of each software option and considered the user experience for each level of stakeholder. Using the Vendor Selection Matrix as a guide, Echo recommended that Burton move forward with implementing their intake process in Smartsheet.

Echo created a Vendor Selection Prioritization Matrix for the Burton Marketing Team to determine their ideal project management tool

After determining that Smartsheet was the best tool for their needs, Burton began the process of shifting their Trello system into the Smartsheet environment.

Results:

Jason's team adopted Smartsheet for their marketing intake process and work prioritization with great success, and Smartsheet is now used throughout the Burton organization for streamlined workflows and improved efficiency.

This was a unique project for the Echo team, and it demonstrates that finding the right tool is about more than just features; it's about making sure there is adoption of the new system within and across a team or organization.

“I can’t tell you how delighted I am to see how successful they [Echo] are and continue to be. Molly and her team are true and absolute value creators.

Feeling underwater with any sort (or lack) of process initiatives? Stop spinning your wheels and give Molly a shout. You’re welcome."

Want to learn how to use Smartsheet for your team? Head over to our YouTube channel, or jump right in with one of our most popular Smartsheet Tutorials: How to use Smartsheet for Project Management.