Slice and dice data to boost your margins

Take a hatchet to sales (and not in the way Credit sometimes wants to) to find the best places to cut costs and grow your business.

Keep prices too high and you won’t stay competitive. Cut the wrong costs and you won’t get the bottom line boost you’re after. Don’t tear your hair out – the data you need to make the right call’s already in your office.

Many of your peers are taking a closer look at exactly what’s driving their company’s sales to ensure they get more of them.

Admittedly, this may not be an area where Finance usually ventures. But in this climate, every revenue-generating option needs to be exhausted. And you might bring a new perspective that can benefit everyone.

Start analyzing your sales every which way you can:

• by individual sales rep
• by territory
• by product feature, and
• by SIC code.

Anything you can think of is fair game.

You’ll be amazed at what gold you’ll mine.

Maybe some of your high-margin products are actually less sensitive to cost-saving adjustments than you’d thought. Perhaps there are certain SIC codes going through tough times right now, so you’ll need to tighten your credit policies for those groups to prevent costly hits.

Note: It’s best to make this a team effort – if Sales thinks you’re coming in and imposing your will on them, you’ll never get the buy-in you need. Besides, some
cross-departmental brainstorming will get you the most viable options.