Context

The client, a manufacturer of pigment dispersions for paints and coatings, faced stagnant revenues, declining customer engagement, and margin pressure due to excessive competition, inefficient sourcing and lack of sales accountability. The sales team operated reactively, and operational decisions were led by ad hoc purchases rather than data-backed planning.

Approach

Our engagement focused on unlocking dormant revenue pools, improving field force effectiveness, and implementing cost discipline across procurement and production.

1. Customer Reactivation & Wallet Share Expansion

• Conducted a seven-year customer dormancy analysis to identify inactive but high-potential accounts.

• Launched a targeted reactivation campaign, tailored to historical buying behavior and application-specific needs.

• Analyzed shade-wise product purchase patterns to identify missing SKUs in customer baskets — proactively pitched these to increase share of wallet.

  
  

2. Sales Incentives & Territory Realignment

• Designed and rolled out a performance-linked incentive structure, segmented by product category to drive strategic product focus.

• Identified a large base of unallocated customers, previously serviced passively through inbound queries — assigned them to specific sales personnel.

• Created clear target plans by customer and geography, enabling ownership and proactive outreach.

3. Procurement Optimization & BOM Efficiency

• Reduced high-cost spot purchases by defining safety stock levels and implementing a reorder-based procurement system.

• Optimized Bill of Material (BOM) by identifying alternate raw materials that ensured performance equivalence with cost savings.

• Introduced vendor comparisons and price tracking to increase sourcing leverage and cost predictability.

  
  

Results

• 27% YoY Revenue Growth, driven by renewed customer engagement and increased wallet share from existing accounts

  
  

• 4% Increase in Gross Margin, through sourcing efficiency and input substitution

  
  

• ~20% Increase in sales team productivity, through better customer allocation and goal alignment

  
  

• Strengthened sales discipline and reduced working capital leakage from unplanned material purchases

Conclusion

For specialty chemical manufacturers, the interplay of customer strategy and cost control is critical to profitable growth. By reactivating dormant revenue streams and driving operational precision, we helped the client achieve a robust turnaround in both top-line and margins.