At one of the major providers of business intelligence solutions, the growth of the German company in the core area of the software licensing business had fallen far short of expectations. This ultimately led to the dismissal of the long-standing German managing director.
The Group's English COO was tasked with finding a successor for the German management team. He hired the interim manager, who was already familiar with the company from a permanent role as "Director Professional Services", as Interim General Manager Central Europe. The parties concluded an 18-month employment contract for this role.
Managing the operating business with sales of EUR 10 million
The Swiss-American software company generates sales of around EUR 70 million with around 300 employees. The German subsidiary serves the markets in Central Europe. The main focus is on Germany, Switzerland and Austria. There are also initial focus markets in Eastern Europe such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The Interim General Manager was granted sole power of attorney and reported directly to the CEO of the parent company. He managed the operational business of Deutschland GmbH with responsibility for EUR 10 million in sales and 50 employees.
Sales change program set up based on SWOT analysis
In his new role, the interim manager set up a comprehensive change program. An in-depth SWOT analysis showed that the sales department in particular needed to be restructured. One focus of the change was to strengthen direct and indirect license sales as well as lead generation in order to support the ambitious growth targets.
The interim manager not only aligned sales, but also marketing, professional services and HR/administration consistently with the growth strategy. He used key business indicators such as License Revenue Forecast, Conversion Lead to Opportunity, Conversion Opportunity to Deal, Forecast Accuracy, Number of Qualified Leads, Backlog and Utilization.
Change programme generates strong and sustainable growth
During his temporary role, the Interim General Manager achieved the following results:
- Under his leadership, the change initiative around Sales & Marketing Development and the optimization of the partner channel were successfully implemented in 2016.
- License sales increased by 58 percent. The license sales pipeline grew by 95 percent compared to the previous year.
- The number of qualified leads increased by more than 100 percent.
Old customers retained and new customers acquired - revenue increased
The customer churn rate was reduced to less than 1 percent. The number of active customers rose by 35 to 300, increasing the basis for revenue from software maintenance, which rose by 28 percent.
The effects of the company's restructuring are so sustainable that revenue grew by a further 50 percent in each of the following two years.
