The Swiss subsidiary of a European laboratory services provider primarily characterized by M&A activities had run into troubled waters. Contribution margins were falling and customers were being lost. Turnover was declining and the workforce was fluctuating beyond normal levels. The Group was worried about losing its outstanding market position in the key country of Switzerland. In addition, irregularities in the area of compliance came to light during the IPO. In this situation, the interim manager was hired as Interim Chief Restructuring Officer (Interim CRO) and Interim Chief Sales & Marketing Officer (Interim CSMO).
His task was to optimize the sales organization, increase sales and EBIT, reduce customer losses and employee turnover and introduce corporate governance guidelines and monitor compliance with them.
Parts of the sales management team dismissed due to compliance violations and replaced
During the analysis, the interim CRO quickly discovered that a large part of the excessive fluctuation was due to the behavior of individual managers. These regional sales managers had a despotic and erratic management style. Favoritism and internal and external governance violations were commonplace in their area of responsibility. The solution was obvious: the interim CRO parted ways with these managers and recruited suitable successors.
At the same time, the interim manager uncovered governance violations in the area of sales compliance - and consistently remedied them, despite the relevant risks of losing even more customers.
Achieving new trust among buyers with quality improvements and digitalization
As the interim manager discovered, the lack of quality of service was much more important for the high customer loss rate anyway. He then initiated improvements in the scientific support of specialist inquiries and in logistics, which significantly improved the satisfaction of customer expectations. The digitalization of services provided a further boost in terms of quality and quantity. The optimization of eHealth connectivity made a significant contribution to retaining, winning back and acquiring new customers.
In addition to these focal points, the interim CRO optimized sales through a whole series of measures. Among other things, he adapted the sales structure to the market and revised the customer relationship management. He increased the activity rate of the sales team and boosted sales productivity, particularly through special targeting.
Savings of CHF 500,000 - EBIT margin increased from 17 to 19 percent
During the 21-month mandate, the interim manager and the new team were able to increase turnover from CHF 140 million to CHF 150 million. The EBIT margin climbed from 17 to 19 percent. By focusing on key projects, costs amounting to CHF 500,000 were saved
