Inside a Turnaround

Hi, 

When private equity acquires a company, the clock starts ticking. Fast. PE firms don’t just buy businesses; they buy the potential to grow them aggressively. And that means the sales team, often overlooked pre-acquisition, comes under the harshest spotlight post-close. 

Suddenly, the same sellers who coasted on relationships or repeat customers are asked to forecast accurately, scale predictably, and deliver results under pressure. Many can’t. But if you're leading that team, whether as a CRO, CEO, sales manager, or trusted rep, you’re in the hot seat to rebuild with speed and precision.

This workshop walks you through the sales side of a PE turnaround. We’ll show you how to assess your current team with clarity, overhaul your sales process for investor-level accountability, and reinforce a high-performance culture without breaking morale. 

This isn't about cutting heads, it’s about building a smarter, faster, tighter operation that wins in your new world. You’ll leave with frameworks, sample scorecards, and the exact cadences that top PE-backed companies use to reset the bar, and hit it.

Do’s & Don’ts of a Successful Turnaround

What You Will Find as You Go Through The Process

Turnarounds don’t fail from lack of effort; they fail when there’s misalignment between strategy and reality. This is when PE firms and operators need to calmly work together to discuss the future of each product based on what buyers will support 

What This Workshop Delivers

• A team performance audit template with sample scorecards

• A sales team operating cadence that sticks

• Real-world examples of how companies successfully rebuilt their sales motion

3 STEPS TO A SALES TEAM REBUILD

STEP 1: AUDIT YOUR SALES TEAM LIKE AN OPERATOR

You’re not “cleaning house”, you’re identifying who thrives under pressure, who can grow with support, and who no longer fits.

Pro Tip: Avoid binary “good/bad” labels. Look for patterns: coachability + data hygiene are stronger signals than charisma.

STEP 2: REBUILD THE SALES PROCESS WITH INVESTOR DISCIPLINE

PE-backed sales processes don’t guess. They forecast from rigor, not gut feel. Build each stage around strict criteria.

Pro Tip: Use a deal desk to reinforce deal quality before “commit” stage.

STEP 3: REINFORCE WITH RHYTHM AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Structure wins turnarounds. Install a weekly cadence that forces visibility, celebrates progress, and surfaces blockers early.

Pro Tip: Use Monday and Thursday meetings to give visibility and inject culture, publicly praise behavior that reinforces your rebuild.

Tips + Real-World Example

Tip 1: Build a “Success Profile” for what a top rep looks like in the new environment, and hire or coach to match it.

Tip 2: Make dashboards public. Visibility creates peer accountability faster than top-down pressure.

Example:
A healthtech firm acquired by PE saw 12 reps underperforming with 40% attainment. Using this rebuild approach, they exited 4 reps, re-trained 5 with the new success profile, and hired 3 new ones. Within two quarters, team quota attainment jumped to 96%, and forecast accuracy improved 3x.

Reading List

1. The First 90 Days

   By Michael D. Watkins (2013, Harvard Business Review Press)

   Framework for assessing and resetting any leadership position during high-stakes transitions.

2. Amp It Up

   By Frank Slootman (2022, Wiley)

   Practical insight on raising standards, increasing urgency, and scaling execution under pressure, especially in investor-backed environments.

3. Beyond the Acquisition: Thriving with Private Equity Ownership

   by Mort Greenberg (2025, digitalCORE Publishing)

   Your Post-Acquisition Playbook to Drive Growth, Lead with Confidence, and Maximize Business Value

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The Revenue Workshop isn’t theory. It’s a field-tested system used by real leaders, in real markets, under real pressure.  

Each newsletter is based on one of over 300 workshops and worksheets found in the eight books of the RevenueVsSales.com and TheFocusedSeller.com book series.

To contact us, email [email protected]

Thank you for your time!