Discovering how to increase profitability is a key concern for any company, especially in increasingly competitive markets facing growing management challenges. One of the keys to achieving this goal lies in the efficient handling of indirect costs, eliminating distortions that can compromise margins and strategic decisions.
Between 20% and 40% of a company’s products or services can incur losses without it being noticed. This often happens due to failures in allocating indirect costs, which are becoming increasingly significant in diversified organizations.
Studies show that many companies rely on methods such as volume- or revenue-based allocations, while others skip allocation altogether, relying solely on gross margin. Worse still, many times the distribution is based on feeling, depending on what managers believe should be assigned to each product, service, or activity. This approach leads to inaccurate decisions affecting pricing, commercial discounts, and even strategic direction.
Management based on feeling may seem adequate but often results in distortions that harm profitability. Common surprises include discovering that the company’s most profitable client is undervalued, or that the best-selling product generates losses. These issues are prevalent in businesses that neglect analytical methods for cost allocation.
Surprisingly, this doesn’t just happen in small businesses. We’ve implemented projects for a multinational with billions in revenue, where almost 30% of costs were allocated based on the feeling of managers.
Relying on intuition can mask the true efficiency of processes, increasing the costs of activities that don’t add value to customers and reducing competitiveness in the market.
Adopting a data-driven approach is crucial to optimizing costs and finding ways to increase profitability in your company. Analytical tools and structured methods reveal the reality of every aspect of the organization, enabling the elimination of non-value-adding activities, precise resource redistribution, and maximized net margins.
This transformation allows companies to identify their most profitable products, services, and clients, redefine commercial policies, and direct investments toward areas with the highest return potential.
Keeping your company competitive and profitable requires moving away from intuition-based methods and adopting a management approach focused on efficiency. Now that you know how to increase profitability, it’s time to take the next step.
Fill out the form below and find out how we can implement a strategic management approach that transforms your business results. We’re ready to help you reach new heights of success.
Do you know the profitability of your company’s customers? This is a crucial factor that could be directly impacting your financial results. Many companies focus solely on revenue but overlook customer profitability analysis, compromising their overall profitability.
Let’s explore how to identify unprofitable customers and implement strategies to improve your business results.
The customer with the highest revenue isn’t always the most profitable. A study by Harvard Business School found that 20% of customers are highly profitable, 70% are neutral, and 10% are extremely unprofitable.
This happens because many costs associated with serving customers, such as sales visits, personalized campaigns, and specific demands, are not properly measured. As a result, resources are consumed in sales that ultimately generate losses.
A recommended practice is to adjust the commission structure for salespeople, basing it not only on revenue but also on how profitable each customer is. An efficient model could include a split, such as 60% based on revenue and 40% on profit.
This approach encourages salespeople to prioritize more profitable deals, optimize visits, reduce unnecessary discounts, and increase negotiation efficiency.
The first step is to identify which customers are profitable and which are generating losses. From there, corrective actions can be implemented, such as renegotiating contracts or reevaluating service efforts. Companies that do this stand out, gain competitiveness, and increase their profit margins.
Understanding the return generated by your customers is essential for ensuring the sustainable growth of your business. Before offering discounts or prioritizing large orders, ask yourself: is this customer contributing to my company’s revenue or profit?
Fill out the form below to speak with one of our specialists and learn how to analyze each customer’s profitability to improve your results!
