Private Equity - SBR Consulting

SBR partners with PE firms and their portfolio companies through the value creation lifecycle from pre-investment to exit readiness.

Stories from our clients

101 Ways

400% increase in customers

3 min read

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Hotelbeds

Multi-million Euro uplift with sales transformation

3 min read

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Drax Executive

Improving win rates, forecast accuracy and more

3 min read

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Common challenges

Market slowdown and investment challenges

With increased investment decisions and challenges, Private Equity firms face rising interest rates that complicate investment decisions. Firms need more than just CDD; they need insight into the validity of the pipeline, the quality of the sales team, and preparedness for exiting. Time is often a crucial factor in these assessments, and rapid solutions like our “Sprint10” can provide actionable insights within just 10 days.

The solution

Strategic sales resilience blueprint

To navigate the complexities of market slowdown and investment challenges, we offer a strategic sales resilience blueprint. This solution includes thorough sales due diligence, coupled with a value creation plan that benchmarks capabilities and maturity. By assessing the growth engine, beyond customer due diligence, and providing visibility, we help firms develop a strategic blueprint that aligns with market dynamics. Our “Sprint10” solution delivers these insights rapidly, ensuring a resilient investment strategy.

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Evolving deal dynamics and extended fundraising cycles

Slowing deal flow, a decline in large-cap deals, and prolonged fundraising cycles due to increasingly selective investors demand a transformation in how Private Equity firms approach investments. The dependency on a small pool of individuals to drive business, coupled with market headwinds, necessitates a shift in focus towards mid-cap deals and value creation. The challenge is compounded when firms rely heavily on individual talent rather than developing a repeatable and predictable revenue engine and infrastructure, which is crucial for sustaining growth in a competitive environment.

The solution

An adaptive sales strategy

In response to evolving deal dynamics, our adaptive sales strategy focuses on co-creating and executing a sales strategy that aligns with the changing market environment. We help firms build scalable, repeatable sales functions tailored for mid-cap opportunities, addressing the challenges of a slowing deal flow. This solution also emphasises the development of human capital within sales teams to meet the demands of a more selective and evolving market. By shifting from reliance on individual talent to a more systematic revenue engine, firms can better navigate extended fundraising cycles and increase their focus on value creation.

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Talent scarcity and operational value creation

With tighter labour markets and the challenge of achieving exit valuations, operational value creation has become more complex. Firms often hear from their portfolio companies: “We rely too much on a small group to win business,” or “We haven’t fully capitalised on our existing accounts.” There is also the issue of different cultures trying to merge post-acquisition, leading to misalignment and operational inefficiencies. Addressing these challenges requires a targeted approach to developing skilled professionals and fostering a common language, process, and methodology that enhances collaboration and drives growth across the portfolio.

The solution

Seamless integration

To tackle talent scarcity and enhance operational value creation, we offer seamless integration and operational excellence solutions. This approach integrates systematic assessments and alignment processes to ensure the seamless integration of acquired companies’ sales functions. We focus on developing human capital within sales teams, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability. By addressing issues like misalignment in post-acquisition cultures and maximising cross-selling opportunities, we help portfolio companies unlock their full potential and achieve sustainable growth.

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Typical sales growth challenges that we solve for

“We are too dependent on a small pool of people winning business.”
“There are more headwinds in our market and we need to change our approach to how we sell and who we engage.”
“We rely on individual talent rather than a repeatable and predictable revenue engine and infrastructure.”
“We are still growing, just not as quickly as we have done in the past.”
“There is no common language, process or methodology to define how we win business, so we aren’t able to collaborate.”
“We’re only selling a small part of our portfolio to every client. We haven’t managed to sell the full breadth of our solutions.”
“We can’t rely on leads that come to us as the marketing costs are getting too high in an increasingly competitive market – we need our team to proactively engage with prospects and stimulate demand.”
“There is huge untapped potential in our existing accounts, we need to cross sell and land and expand.”
“Different cultures trying to merge is proving a bit of a challenge. People aren’t singing from the same hymn sheet.”