- Realistic forecasting encouraged managers to face up to cost issues and take the actions necessary to recover from loss to profit.
- Challenging long held perceptions and presenting a different view of the business clarified its true business drivers. This helped redefine key roles and set targets which achieved 15% profitable sales growth.
- A clearer understanding of customers allowed for improved communication strategies to be devised. Informed performance measures were introduced and achievable targets agreed. The new proactive sales attitude grew sales 10% in a declining market and identified a further 25% potential.
- Identifying unproductive capacity in assets led to a successful sales campaign that generated new business.
- A business review improved the understanding of costs which enabled more confident pricing decisions to be made. The information was used to successfully renegotiate existing contracts and prevent the company slipping into a loss.
- Installing new systems and improving processes enabled accurate information to be produced on time. Eliminating multiple handling of data freed up resource, which was used to help managers understand the financial impact of their decisions.
- Presenting a credible plan, improving procedures and cost controls delivered stable profit growth. This restored a relationship with bankers and joint venture partners and prevented the bank introducing closer reviews.
- A review of the accounts improved cashflow by raising invoices outstanding against work done and reducing the tax bill.
- Introducing new processes shifted the emphasis from historic to current performance and enabled real time resourcing decisions to be made, reducing costs by 4%.
Business success in action
