Commercial Performance Sprint
Find out what’s really driving commercial performance — and what to do next.
A focused 4–6 week engagement for B2B firms that need to get underneath sales performance, pipeline, forecasting, margin and commercial management — then turn the findings into a practical improvement plan.
25 years senior B2B commercial leadership |Helped grow a manufacturing business from launch to £17m revenue| Experience within a wider £30m group
When the numbers aren’t telling you enough
Revenue may be growing — or falling — without management having a clear enough view of why.
The pipeline may look healthy but fail to convert. Margins may vary without enough visibility. Salespeople may be busy without the activity translating into the right outcomes. Forecasting may rely too heavily on experience and judgement.
And reporting can easily become focused on explaining what already happened rather than helping management decide what happens next.
The Commercial Performance Sprint is designed to step back, examine the wider commercial system and identify where management attention will have the greatest impact.
This may be useful if…
What we examine
The commercial system, not just the sales number.
Performance & demand
Sales, orders, enquiries, quotations, trends, seasonality and the underlying drivers of revenue.
Pipeline & conversion
Opportunity quality, conversion, ageing, sales lag, pipeline coverage and where opportunities are being won or lost.
Customers, markets & mix
Customer concentration, sectors, products, account performance and where commercial effort is creating the greatest return.
Pricing & margin
Pricing discipline, margin visibility, commercial trade-offs and where value may be leaking from the business.
People & accountability
Roles, targets, responsibilities, salesperson performance, management routines and commercial ownership.
Forecasting & management information
What management can currently see, which indicators matter, how performance is reported and whether the available information supports forward-looking decisions.
The scope is proportionate to the business. The objective is not to analyse everything — it is to identify the issues that matter most.
Applied experience
From commercial analysis to management action
In one UK B2B manufacturing environment, analysis of opportunity dependency, conversion requirements and salesperson-specific sales lag identified weaknesses in the existing account-led commercial approach.
The findings were translated into a new opportunity-led management process, with clearer measures, ownership and review routines.
Average daily order intake subsequently increased by approximately 40% during the observed period.
This is an observational outcome rather than proof of causation, but it demonstrates the approach behind the Commercial Performance Sprint:
understand the evidence → identify the commercial issue → translate it into practical management action
Read the case studyHow the Sprint works
01
Understand
Review the business, commercial model, priorities, available data, team structure and existing management information.
Typical inputs may include:
sales history · order intake · enquiries or quotations · pipeline / CRM data · customers and products · pricing or margin information · budgets and targets · salesperson performance · existing Board or management reporting
Not every dataset is required.
02
Diagnose
Analyse performance and challenge the existing commercial assumptions. Identify:
- — what is driving current results
- — material differences between customers, products, sectors or people
- — potential leading indicators
- — conversion and pipeline issues
- — commercial risks
- — management information gaps
- — areas where accountability or process may be weak
03
Prioritise
Separate the interesting from the important.
Agree the small number of commercial issues that deserve management attention and define what needs to change.
04
Build the 90-day plan
Translate the findings into practical actions with clear priorities, ownership, measures and review points.
The Sprint finishes with a management working session to challenge the recommendations and agree the way forward.
What you receive
Commercial Performance Diagnostic
A management-ready assessment of the most important commercial findings, risks and opportunities.
Priority Map
A clear view of what needs attention now, what can wait and where management effort is likely to create the greatest value.
Commercial Management Scorecard
A focused set of measures management should monitor going forward — rather than simply adding more KPIs.
90-Day Commercial Action Plan
Specific priorities, actions, owners and review points for the next three months.
Final management session
A structured session with the relevant leadership team to discuss the evidence, challenge the recommendations and agree ownership.
The output is action, not analysis for its own sake
Xenon uses analysis to improve commercial decisions — not simply to produce more reports. The Sprint should leave management able to answer:
- 01
What is really driving our commercial performance?
- 02
Where are we underperforming or exposed?
- 03
Which opportunities matter most?
- 04
What should we measure?
- 05
What should the sales/commercial team be doing differently?
- 06
What are the three or four things we need to fix first?
- 07
Who owns them?
- 08
What should have changed in 90 days?
A complete engagement — with a clear route forward if needed
The Commercial Performance Sprint is designed to create standalone value.
At the end of the engagement, management should have a clearer understanding of the commercial position, the most important priorities, the measures that matter and a practical 90-day action plan.
Some businesses may subsequently decide they need:
- better data and forecasting
- stronger sales management
- revised commercial processes
- changes to structure or accountability
- senior commercial advisory support
- fractional Commercial Director capacity
- or greater discipline around existing systems
Where ongoing support would add value, Xenon can continue through forecasting advisory or commercial leadership support. There is no requirement to do so.
Fixed-scope engagement
£5,000 one-off
Typical duration: 4–6 weeks.
Includes
- one business or operating division
- initial leadership discussion
- review of relevant available commercial information and data
- commercial performance analysis
- up to four key stakeholder discussions where appropriate
- assessment across the key commercial areas relevant to the business
- Commercial Performance Diagnostic
- Priority Map
- Commercial Management Scorecard
- 90-Day Commercial Action Plan
- one final management working session of up to two hours
The Sprint is designed as a focused diagnostic and improvement engagement. Major data reconstruction, CRM implementation, software integration, extensive market research, ongoing management responsibility or significant implementation activity are outside the standard scope and can be separately agreed if required. Any materially wider interview programme, additional workshops or implementation support will be separately agreed before work begins.
Who it is for
Particularly relevant to:
Why Xenon
Commercial experience. Analytical discipline. Practical application.
25 years
Senior B2B commercial leadership.
£17m growth journey
Hands-on experience helping grow a manufacturing business from launch.
£30m group experience
Commercial leadership across increasing organisational complexity and acquisition.
Evidence-led
Commercial judgement supported by structured analysis rather than assumptions alone.
Operator perspective
Recommendations designed for use in real management environments, not consultancy theory.
“I understand selling, but I also understand the wider commercial system around it — forecasting, margin, people, structure, accountability and the management decisions that turn activity into performance.”
Need to understand what’s really happening commercially?
If performance needs improving but the answer is not yet obvious, the Commercial Performance Sprint provides a structured place to start.
£5,000 one-off | Typically 4–6 weeks
No sales script. No obligation. Just an initial discussion about the business, the commercial challenge and whether a Sprint is the right approach.
Looking specifically at revenue predictability?
Explore the Commercial Predictability Health CheckNeed ongoing senior commercial support?
Explore Commercial Leadership Advisory