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Utilizing Strategic Sales and Marketing to Secure Customer Loyalty During M&A Transitions
Mergers and acquisitions represent pivotal moments that can either accelerate growth or derail carefully built customer relationships. While executives often focus heavily on financial synergies and operational integration, the customer experience during an M&A transition frequently determines long-term success. Research indicates that companies lose an average of 10-15% of their customer base during significant organizational changes, with poorly managed transitions resulting in even steeper losses. However, organizations that proactively leverage sales and marketing strategies to guide customer transitions not only retain their existing base but often emerge stronger, with enhanced market positioning and deeper customer relationships.
Beyond the ABCs of Customer Due Diligence
Dec 14, 2018 10:50:29 AM — GPs can win invaluable insights into a potential acquisition by conducting high level interviews with customers that dive deeper than any standard issue survey ever will. Here’s how GPs can learn much more from talking to a target’s customers. While GPs devote real time and rigor into performing due diligence into a possible acquisition, they sometimes will give short shrift to a constituency that’s key to the growth and the eventual success of the investment: the customer.
Portco Growth: December is a Great Time to Evaluate Strategy
Dec 11, 2018 12:52:39 PM — The end of the year is a great time to step back and look at the broader strategic direction of a portfolio company’s growth plan and go-to-market approach. Here are 5 key elements to a comprehensive review. Private equity firms aren’t afraid of data, and they have kept a close eye on performance metrics all year long. No doubt GPs will know the results and how they stack up against expectations. But as the year draws to close, it might be time to look at the overall strategic direction of your go-to-market approach and marketing effort.
Family Affairs: Managing Growth at Family-owned Businesses
Dec 7, 2018 12:42:53 PM — When private equity firms look at acquiring family-owned and operated businesses, their best laid plans can be thwarted if they ignore the personal dynamics at play. It’s only natural that private equity firms would be attracted to family-owned and operated businesses, especially ones that are successful but have plateaued. These enterprises can have terrific fundamentals but need precisely the capital and operational expertise that GPs bring to the table. But today, those firms need to do more than clean up a balance sheet and upgrade the operations. They have to drive growth. The challenge is that driving growth at family-owned companies requires extra time to discover the key influencers inside that business and win their support, with a compelling message that allows them to embrace change. If that was easy to do, the owners would have improved their business already and wouldn’t be looking to partner with a private equity firm in the first place.
PEI Operating Partner Forum 2018 – Insights from a Fractional CMO and Managing Partner
Oct 30, 2018 2:22:11 PM — Key top line growth themes include digital marketing, sales/marketing alignment and talent acquisition. This month, I had the opportunity to attend my second Private Equity International’s Operating Partner Forum in New York City. It is the largest gathering in the US of Operating Partners who come together to share learnings and discuss PE portfolio operational assessment and value addition. With acknowledgement that there is upwards of $1 Trillion in uninvested capital making deals more competitive, prices are higher and great outcomes will be more heavily reliant on top line revenue momentum. Discussion this year focused on the need to continue to drive operational excellence with a cost cutting focus AND be innovative in driving top line revenue. The 2017 forum panels were more focused on the opportunities to leverage go to market plans by investing in sales and sales productivity with discussions about helping portfolio companies with playbooks to accelerate top line revenue growth. Many panelists continue to acknowledge that their first hires were VP Sales leaders.