Case Studies

Three Real Success Stories

Success Story – One

Specialty Domestic
Business Unit
Symptoms

  • Low growth – near market rate
  • Low market penetration
  • Too much activity / unacceptable results
  • Undefined customer satisfaction
  • Role confusion / contamination
  • Margin not optimized for value offered

Approach

Structure Changes:

  • Rationalized the customer base
  • Established effective reporting lines
  • Established descriptions of effective roles and responsibilities
  • Established a single economic driver that employees self-identified and understood
  • Established an effective incentive plan

Strategy Changes:

  • Selling approach based on enlightened customer segmentation
  • Marketing approach from general and passive to select & proactive
  • Modified customer service rules to recognize value while smothering the market with service

Provided – Superior technical service; superior lab service; global Just-In-Time delivery; Vendor-Managed Inventory

Enjoyed – Minimum order quantity; net 30 payments; price premium; Many sole source agreements

Z

Results within 48 months

  • Became global – servicing 13 countries
  • Organic growth of 165%
  • EBITDA grew from 17% to 24%
  • 100% customer retention
  • Self-funding incentive plan doubled annual compensation for many participants

Success Story – Two

Domestic Custom
Component Manufacturer
Symptoms

  • Low growth – near GDP
  • Too much activity & unacceptable results
  • Unhappy customers
  • Poorly-defined customer satisfaction metrics
  • Low hit rate
  • Discontent culture & internal conflict
  • Role confusion & role contamination
  • Ineffective incentive plan & poor payouts
  • Inflated SGA

Approach

Structure Changes:

  • Defined roles and responsibilities
  • Redefined reporting lines
  • Redefined workflows
  • Defined effective communication and meeting norms
  • Established effective incentive plan

Strategy Changes:

  • Rationalized customer base
  • Segmented customer base
  • Established effective customer service rules; min/max inventory, MOQ, development cost sharing and reduced payment terms
  • Established effective Customer Satisfaction & Retention procedures
Z

Results within 24 months

  • 57% Organic revenue growth
  • Reduced SGA 20%
  • Achieved multi-year sole source supply agreements
  • Achieved several sole joint development agreements
  • Customer satisfaction & retention increased 33%
  • Reduced order fulfillment and change over costs 15%
  • Successive maximum bonus payouts

Success Story – Three

Corporate National
Accounts Program
Symptoms

  • Low growth – near overall economy growth
  • Low profitability – below corporate average
  • Low market penetration
  • Customer satisfaction undefined
  • Too much activity & unacceptable results

Approach

Structure Changes:

  • Redefined role descriptions
  • Customer Segmentation allowed for servicing accounts with the appropriate resources that focused on moving the needle while servicing the rest transactionally
  • Developed a unique selling proposition for each key and target account based on internal and market influences

Developed effective customer service rules:

  • Minimum order quantity
  • Vendor managed inventory
  • Exclusive & guaranteed supply
Z

Results within 24 months

  • 100% organic revenue increase
  • Sole source supply agreements with key industry players
  • More than doubled profit dollars
  • Increased margin 50%

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