The challenge

Attune was experiencing challenges in aligning its sales team, messaging, and overall business priorities. Serene, the company’s founder and CEO, had faced difficulties with sales leadership in the past and needed clarity on how to optimize her team for success.

Serene brought in Ram and the Progress Advantage to help Attune gain focus and evolve in critical areas, from messaging, to sales enablement, hiring, and beyond. However, Ram’s impact extended far beyond traditional consulting, delivering deep, strategic insights through an immersive, hands-on approach.

Why the Progress Advantage?

If you ask Serene, she'd tell you that what differentiates Ram from other consultants is his ability to customize his approach based on the specific needs of the business. 

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"When you start a business, you're pioneering — there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Ram’s consulting strategy keeps that in mind," Serene explained. “He doesn’t just read a book and regurgitate information to you; he genuinely gets to know the ins and outs of your business and offers critical feedback based on that and his experience.” 

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At the beginning of the engagement — and throughout it — Ram immersed himself fully into Attune, working directly with every team member to understand the nuances of the business. His approach was fluid, evolving with the company rather than sticking to a rigid scope of work.

“I didn’t know what exactly I needed him to do initially — he evolved with us. It was natural and exactly what we needed."

Ram's approach was both tactical and action-oriented, distinguishing him from traditional consultants who often only deal in high-level strategy.

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"Ram’s value was in the enablement side of things — how to do the job better, not just ‘what do we need to do to close more deals by end-of-quarter,’" Serene noted.

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The solution

Ram started by guiding the team through the process of refining Attune’s messaging. A one-hour session with the entire company resulted in a new framework for describing who they are and the value they bring to customers.

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“We came out of that session with a much better way of explaining who we are, and it’s been invaluable,” said Serene.

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Next, Ram took on the challenge of upskilling the sales team. Through daily stand-ups, sprints, and in-person training, he worked with each sales rep to identify gaps in their skill sets.

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He even led a two-day training with Attune’s leadership team, with Serene describing Day One as feeling "like a therapy session.” 

"For founders, it’s lonely at the top. We’re already hard on ourselves, and most consultants can be very negative, making us feel like we’ve done things wrong. But Ram was gentle—he came in with a ‘this is hard’ mindset, and his feedback made us open-minded without resentment."

Ram helped the team truly understand what qualifies as a sales opportunity for them, which led to a major “aha moment” for many — and on day two, they applied these learnings in real-time to redefine Attune’s entire sales process.

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Ram’s approach revealed more than just skill gaps — it uncovered team opportunities, business priorities that needed adjustment, and a need to redefine roles.

"Ram gave us clarity around the makeup of our sales team in relation to our target market. He helped us determine exactly what a good hire looks like, not just from a skill set but from a culture and enterprise perspective."

This insight helped Attune refocus its priorities and identify ways to strengthen the team.

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One of Ram’s standout contributions was creating a comprehensive evaluation process for new hires. He designed a step-by-step method — from first screening to panel interviews and coaching—that enabled Attune to hire with specificity.

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This comprehensive hiring playbook now serves as a cornerstone of Attune’s growth strategy.

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The result

Over the course of six months, Ram provided critical enablement help — delivering a revenue and sales playbook, an onboarding process for new team members, and overarching culture alignment through well-structured OKRs for each team. He also reviewed slides for investor decks and even offered advice on technical and engineering issues.

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“He never said, ‘that’s outside the scope,’” Serene said, emphasizing that Ram’s value went beyond the typical boundaries of consulting.

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His flexibility and willingness to pivot with Attune’s needs made him feel like an integral part of the team, rather than just a consultant.

"He felt like part of the team — he was well-integrated and moving the needle."

By the end of Ram’s engagement, the company was ready to take full ownership of its growth.

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"We were satisfied, and because of that, it ended. It felt like the end, and we knew we could take it from here, thanks to the playbook Ram established,” Serene explained.