Project details

Encumbered by high costs and an overextended business model, a well-established financial services company faced declining customer loyalty amid fierce competition. Consult Plus worked with company leadership on a multi-year transformation that cut more than $500 million in costs, re-defined strategy and helped the firm win the loyalty of its core customers—allowing it to regain its financial footing while its stock price skyrocketed. In an effort to expand into new markets, FinancialCo had lost sight of the customer segments that its business model could best serve. As a result, the company failed to innovate where it mattered most; losing business to market leaders with better service, or newcomers with better technology, or both. When the economy hit a downturn, this lack of focus translated into a decline of market cap of more than 75%. FinancialCo’s point of departure was a relatively strong one, thanks to its robust brand and solid capital structure, but aggressive competitors heightened urgency. Management needed to work on multiple fronts to right-size internal infrastructure while reaching out to the customers it needed to regain market share.

When an Asia-based private equity consortium purchased a local directory publisher, it inherited a firm that seemed to be in a downward spiral. Both customers and employees were leaving fast, leading to revenue declines in each of the previous five years and little hope for improvement in sight. The investors called on Consult Plus to help turnaround the situation and increase salesforce effectiveness, leading to a more than two time return on their investment upon exit. DirectoryCo was among the leading directory providers in the Asia-Pacific region, but inefficiencies in its sales process hindered advertising revenue and overall growth. As with many companies, it could not reach its full potential without increasing its salesforce effectiveness. At the same time, the processes and systems to manage and incentivize sales staff were inadequate. An inefficient compensation structure drove high turnover, but declining revenues made it hard to retain top performers or attract high-quality new salespeople. This vicious cycle perpetuated customer defections, and ultimately, revenue declines. Consult Plus worked with the new private equity owners, along with DirectoryCo management, to identify, prioritize and resolve the most pressing salesforce challenges. The teams set the tone for the project by initially segmenting and prioritizing customers and accounts, identifying the profit potential associated with each one.

A global chemicals company with new private equity ownership enlisted Consult Plus to help the new partnership establish a foundation of growth, improved financial performance and upgraded capabilities across its businesses. Initial research identified significant opportunities in sales and marketing and, with Consult Plus support, the company set out to enhance how products were priced and sold to better reflect dynamic market conditions and the products' differentiated value. With quality products and a substantial and loyal customer base across its businesses, ChemicalCo was well-positioned to be a market leader. However, the company did not always maximize value from its differentiated products and strong relationships and it also struggled to properly reflect the rapidly changing price of raw materials in its own pricing. Consult Plus brought a sharp focus on the commercial aspects of doing business to help ChemicalCo get closer to its customers and more disciplined about dynamically matching prices with customer needs, product value and underlying costs.