Kaplan: one way of selling, one system
Kaplan has 40,000 accounts and 100,000 contacts in a Salesforce every business unit uses differently. E5's proposal: don't rewire the old one — design the selling model properly, start clean, prove it in one business unit. Eleven screens. £36,750, 49 days, phase 2 priced only when the unknowns are known.
Chapter 1 · The decision
Don't rewire the old house
1The problem on one screen: 40,000 accounts, 100,000 contacts, and every business unit selling its own way through the same Salesforce.
🛒 Their platform — Kaplan already owns Salesforce; nothing new bought yet
kaplan.my.salesforce.com — today
One org, many truthsUnreliable forecast
Accounts40,214 — duplicates unknownContacts103,556Sales stagesDifferent per business unit — numbers don't add up across them
2The fork in the road. E5's recommendation: start a clean instance rather than untangle this one — with Salesforce's own help, given what Kaplan pays them.
⚖ Consulting call — the most important slide in the proposal
Rewiring live, on 40k accounts = unknowable cost. Clean start = designable
e5 proposal · the choice
Two routes
| Rewire current org | Clean new instance |
|---|
| Cost certainty | Unknowable | Designable |
| Risk to live selling | High | None until switch |
| Data quality | Inherited mess | Cleansed on entry |
Kaplan decision · LindsayRecommend: clean instance
3First job once access lands: a 3–4 day audit of what's really in there — before anyone believes any number.
⚖ Consulting days — 3–4 of the 49
audit · week 1
What the audit answers
- How is each unit actually using the stages?
- How much of the 40k is dead or duplicate?
- What's worth migrating at all?
- Which automations exist and which fire?
Chapter 2 · One way of selling
The model comes before the system
4Methodology bake-off: established frameworks vs a blended Kaplan-specific model. Sales leadership chooses — it has to be coachable, not clever.
⚖ Consulting — the decision Kaplan's leaders own
methodology · decision
Choose the selling method
| Option | Fits Kaplan? |
|---|
| Off-the-shelf framework | Proven, but generic across very different units |
| Blended Kaplan model | One spine, unit-specific plays — recommended |
5Then one end-to-end journey for every unit: enquiry → qualified → proposal → close → handover → grow the account. Same words, same stages, everywhere.
⚖ Consulting — the operating model, E5's core craft
This line IS the project. Salesforce just enforces it
the model · one journey
One commercial journey
Enquiry → Qualified → Opportunity → Proposal → Close → Handover → Account growth
Per stageWhat must be known · who does what · what marketing owes sales · exit rules
6The teeth: qualification is hardwired into Salesforce. No budget captured, no decision-maker named? The deal can't move forward.
🛒 Configuration — standard Salesforce validation rules, no custom code
This is why the forecast becomes believable
new org · stage gate
Move to Proposal?Blocked
- ✓ Budget confirmed
- ✓ Timeline captured
- ✗ Decision-maker not identified — required to advance
7Everything gets written down as a build blueprint — fields, screens, automations, dashboards — agreed before configuration starts. No build on vibes.
⚖ Consulting → then configuration. Approval point for Kaplan
blueprint · sign-off
Implementation blueprint
Data model · screens · workflows · permissions · dashboards — Kaplan signs before a single field is builtApprove blueprint
Chapter 3 · Prove it small, then migrate
One unit first — Data & Technology
8Data & Technology goes first: the new org configured, their data in, real users testing the journey before anyone else touches it.
🛒 Configuration — standard Salesforce, one unit's data
new org · D&T pilot
D&T pilot · week 6Live with test cohort
In the orgD&T accounts only, cleansed on entryTestingFull journey, reporting, user experience
9Timing trick: the new campaigns land straight into the new org — every new lead born clean, instead of adding to the mess that must be migrated later.
🔌 Glue — pointing the forthcoming campaigns at the new instance
Every week of delay = more records created in the wrong system
campaigns → new org
New enquiries this week
| Source | Leads | Where they land |
|---|
| Autumn campaign | 64 | New org — correct structure from day one |
| Legacy web forms | — | Cut over at go-live |
10Only when D&T works does phase 2 start: the other business units, and the big data cleanse — priced only now, when the unknowns are known.
⚖ Gate — E5 deliberately didn't price this upfront; that's honesty, not evasion
phase 2 · decision
Phase 2 go/no-go
- ✓ D&T journey proven in the field
- ✓ Data condition now measured, not guessed
- → Migration of Accounting & Taxation + remaining units, priced on evidence
11The end state: one pipeline truth. Every unit, same stages, same words — forecast, coaching and conversion finally comparable.
🛒 Standard Salesforce dashboards — believable because of the gates behind them
new org · leadership view
Cross-business pipelineOne truth
| Unit | Qualified | Proposal | Forecast |
|---|
| Data & Technology | 34 | 12 | £1.2m |
| Accounting & Taxation | 51 | 19 | £2.1m |
The honest tallyOf these 11 screens: 5 platform/config, 5 consulting, 1 glue — zero custom code
Kaplan is the mirror image of PeopleOS: nothing custom gets built at all. The value is the operating model and the discipline of gates — Salesforce (which Kaplan already pays for) just enforces it. 49 days · £36,750 · 20% contingency only if Kaplan approves the extra work first · phase 2 priced when the audit has replaced guesses with numbers. Where Anthony fits: this proposal is a methodology being applied manually — it's also the obvious second client for the Project 2 Strategy Engine.
The pitch in one line: design one way of selling, make the system refuse anything less, prove it in one unit before betting the company on it.