Delayed and ineffective commercial integration can turn a good deal into a loser, because sales growth ultimately determines whether a merger achieves its value-creation goals. To create value, mergers need top-line gains: More sales to more customers, expansion into new territories or market adjacencies, new products and services to sell to existing customers.
Time and again, mergers fail to achieve their potential because management moved too slowly to realize the deal’s top-line growth potential. Acquirers are often slow — shockingly slow — to integrate their sales, marketing, customer experience, and other commercial functions.is a partner and managing director at AlixPartners, where he is the co-lead of the Americas Private Equity and Investors practice.