From Sales History to a Focused Growth Plan
Revenue operations and go-to-market strategy for an established consumer products brand
An established consumer products company, selling through independent retailers and distribution partners, needed a clearer picture of what was driving its sales performance and where a small team could make the greatest difference.
The business continued to attract new customers, yet revenue remained under pressure. Leadership needed to understand what was happening beneath the totals: Which accounts were returning? Where was revenue being lost? Which relationships deserved more attention? And how could the team act on those findings without taking on an unmanageable administrative burden?
DGC’s pro bono engagement connected several years of order history to a practical plan for customer retention, account development, and more targeted marketing.
Making the data useful
DGC analyzed wholesale and distributor orders from the last six years, examining customer churn, retention, new-account revenue, purchasing tiers, and individual distributor performance. Completed years and partial-year results were clearly distinguished to avoid misleading comparisons.
The work revealed two different challenges. In wholesale, new-customer acquisition was replacing substantial lost business, while many smaller accounts failed to reorder. Larger accounts were more likely to remain active, making their retention especially valuable. In distribution, revenue changes were concentrated among a small number of partners, calling for individual relationship strategies.
DGC also investigated whether apparently lost wholesale customers had simply shifted their purchases to a large wholesale distribution platform known as Faire. Further review found negligible overlap between direct and Faire customers. That finding strengthened the case for addressing repeat purchasing and customer retention directly.
Turning findings into priorities
The analysis supported a more deliberate allocation of sales and marketing effort when tiering accounts:
Tier 1 accounts: Prioritize personal outreach, relationship management, and consistent follow-up with the highest-value wholesale customers.
Tier 2 accounts: Encourage repeat purchases and account growth through relevant assortments and selective personal attention.
Tier 3 accounts: Use scalable email campaigns to encourage second orders and reactivate customers economically.
Distributor accounts: Review performance individually, with attention to partner transitions, replenishment opportunities, and revenue concentration.
DGC also recommended segmenting email marketing campaigns by both newly designated account tiers and industry channels. This would allow the team to tailor product recommendations and messaging to each audience while matching the level of effort to the account opportunity.
Putting the plan into practice
To support execution, DGC helped the team get started with a HubSpot trial focused on Tier 1 account outreach. The pilot gave the company a manageable way to organize priority relationships and follow-up activity before deciding whether to expand its CRM use.
Constant Contact remained central to the broader email marketing approach, with recommendations for more focused segmentation and campaigns.
The engagement also delivered a complete year-by-year order breakdown in Google Sheets, with CSV data, a dedicated view of Tier 1 wholesale and distributor accounts, and an Executive Summary featuring detailed analytical charts. A presentation deck brought the findings and recommendations together for leadership discussion and team alignment.
These deliverables gave the company both a detailed reference for account-level decisions and a clear executive view of business performance.
A stronger foundation for growth
The immediate outcome was greater visibility and a focused operating plan: clearer retention priorities, differentiated strategies for wholesale and distribution, more relevant email segmentation, and a CRM trial tied to a specific business need.
Revenue and retention improvements remain to be measured as the team implements the recommendations. The engagement established the foundation for that work; helping leadership move from reviewing historical sales to deciding which accounts to pursue, how to engage them, and where to invest limited team capacity.
Client identity withheld for confidentiality.
