Sterling

Overview

Sterling is a 100-year-old financial services firm navigating a shift from in-person relationship banking to digital-first client experiences. They had the brand equity — they needed a strategy to translate it without losing what made them trusted.

Discovery

Ran a two-day leadership workshop using Jobs-to-be-Done as the primary lens. Key finding: Sterling’s differentiation was advisor relationships, not products. Every digital investment had to amplify advisors, not replace them.

Frameworks applied

• Service Blueprint: mapped current state across digital and physical touchpoints to identify friction points advisors and clients shared
• Opportunity Solution Tree: structured prioritization to align leadership on which problems to solve first vs. defer
• Jobs-to-be-Done: reframed “what features do clients want?” into “what progress are clients trying to make?”

Strategic outcome

Delivered a 3-year digital roadmap anchored to four strategic bets, each tied to a measurable client outcome. The first initiative — a redesigned advisor portal — was greenlit at the next board meeting and launched six months later.