While 100-day plans address all operational areas of a new portfolio company, improving revenue growth is a critical driver of success. Initial revenue strategy can impact the direction of a company for years, but is mostly developed within a short time frame, during due diligence or after the signing of the purchase agreement.
Company data, especially related to customer acquisition, are not taken into consideration due to lack of management reporting and limited access. As a result, one-size-fits all plans can result in overinvestment or underinvestment in certain go-to-market areas, causing wastage, suboptimal results, lack of team cohesion, and a loss of valuable time.
Assessment or assumptions?
Because most companies have inadequate analytics and reporting capabilities around the CRM system, it normally takes months to truly understand a company’s revenue-related data. PE firms simply have not had the technological capability to access and analyze this set of data. Many decisions are made on gut instinct and assumptions when a fuller picture can actually be made available via CRM data.
Without understanding a company’s historical revenue performance trends, 100-day plans can miss opportunities and risks. It is also difficult to figure out what metrics to utilize for measuring success or defining “progress.” In the matter of sales,100-day plans often focus on the wrong areas for investment and improvement.
“But I don’t have access to that data!”
Imagine being able to access CRM data and accompanying analytics in days to answer the key questions. Imagine being able to incorporate these insights into 100-day plans. The plans would focus on the right areas of growth or improvement for the company. They would be data-validated (instead of intuition based), would gain broad buy-in within the new portfolio company, and would have the right progress metrics. Most importantly, the plans would improve revenue performance and help the company reach new milestones.
CRM data analytics can answer key questions such as where does the company overperform or underperform? In which markets does the company have undeveloped potential for growth? How should capital or resources be allocated: top of the funnel, sales process, or existing customers? What is the best way to utilize the sales team to achieve optimal results?
What is the impact on revenues if the company can improve certain products or target specific sectors? Analyzing data within the CRM, especially from a historical perspective, can give important insights to PE investors and the C-suite to help formulate a more robust revenue strategy for the company.
When PE investment returns hinge upon revenue growth of its portfolio companies, data-driven decision making is critical. Discern.io’s solutions help PE firms and the C-Suite understand a company’s CRM data in days.
