The Humble Beginnings
Gladys Quintanilla discovered her passion for sewing at the tender age of six. Her first creations were outfits for her dolls, but she dreamed of one day sewing clothing for real children. In 1992, Gladys turned that dream into reality by founding Excellent Seams, a Salvadoran company that has grown to become a leader in the custom children’s clothing industry. Using lean manufacturing processes, Excellent Seams caters primarily to boutiques in the United States, standing out for its unwavering commitment to quality, social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
Building on Success
Building on their initial success in the U.S. market, Gladys and her son, Dennys, set their sights on expanding the company’s reach and deepening relationships with existing customers. They wanted to enhance the customer experience through improved website interactions, a streamlined ordering process and superior customer service. Additionally, their U.S. sales representatives highlighted the need to bolster sales and communication within their regions. To address these challenges, Excellent Seams partnered with the Bpeace Expansion Maximizer program.
Expert Guidance for Growth
Bpeace connected Excellent Seams with Anne Cramer, a strategic leader and “Skillanthropist” with over 20 years of experience in customer experience strategy, data-driven marketing, and customer insights. Anne traveled to El Salvador to meet with Gladys and Dennys, providing valuable guidance for optimizing their organizational structure and customer relations.
Tackling Challenges and Implementing Solutions
Anne and the leadership team began by analyzing the challenges related to digital platforms and customer communication. They identified areas needing additional human resources and improvements, developing a strategic plan to address these needs. Key recommendations included enrolling in the Brandboom platform to enhance sales and communication with U.S. customers.
Collaborating closely with company leaders, department heads and employees, Anne helped identify overlaps and gaps in responsibilities. This led to the creation of a solid organizational structure, clear job descriptions and three new roles in the marketing department. Improved collaboration between departments and well-defined decision-making authority were established, ensuring efficient workflow and accountability.
Empowering the Future
Thanks to strategic guidance from Anne and the Bpeace program, Excellent Seams has significantly improved its sales and marketing processes and strengthened its communication with customers. “Anne illuminated the path to everything we can become by organizing internally,” says Gladys. “And now we have the challenge to move to the next level, to become a generational company.”
The Excellent Seams team is now implementing a series of key actions to drive growth and efficiency. These include hiring new strategic positions, enhancing the employee experience and creating managerial roles for better project management. They are also redesigning and marketing their websites to include a wholesale e-commerce experience, all of which contribute to the company’s expansion and growth.
Looking Ahead
As a result of the work done with Bpeace, revenue grew 3% and the company added 17 new full-time jobs in 2023 and 30 new part-time jobs in 2024, to reach a total of more than 150 employees, of which 85% are women. Excellent Seams continues to evolve, and Gladys and Dennys remain committed to their vision of providing high-quality, custom-made children’s clothing. With their enhanced organizational structure and customer-focused approach, they are well-positioned to achieve their goal of becoming a generational company. This journey is a testament to the power of dreams, hard work and strategic guidance in turning aspirations into reality.
