Recover the margin you're quietly losing
A structured 12-week program that finds where margin leaks, redesigns the pricing and decision logic to stop it, and implements the changes in pilot areas with measurable, trackable impact on EBIT.
The Challenge
Stable revenue. Missed profitability targets. Every year.
Many companies hold revenue steady and keep the order book healthy, yet margin is quietly under pressure: costs rise faster than prices, and profitability targets are missed — not dramatically, but consistently. The cause is rarely one big mistake. It is a set of structural weaknesses that compound across hundreds of transactions, customers and supplier negotiations.
Inconsistent pricing logic
Pricing has evolved organically: different teams apply different logic, legacy customers keep outdated rates, and similar products carry different margins — a landscape that is hard to defend and almost impossible to manage systematically.
Cost increases not passed on
Raw materials, energy and logistics have risen sharply. Procurement sees it; sales often don't act on it fast enough. The result is a systematic gap — purchase prices rise, but sales prices lag, sometimes permanently.
Discounts that accumulate
Discounting becomes a reflex rather than a decision. Concessions are granted without reference to margin impact and with no visibility into cumulative discount levels — so margins erode deal by deal, quietly and continuously.
No margin visibility where it counts
Margin is rarely visible at the level where commercial decisions are actually made. Without the right data in the right hands at the right time, every deal is priced and discounted in the dark.
Our commitment
In 12 weeks, we will
Pinpoint where margin is leaking and why
Establish consistent pricing discipline
Identify your most profitable customers and products
Align procurement and sales on cost-to-price
Implement changes in pilot areas
Track EBIT uplift week by week
How It Works
A three-phase program from leak detection to measured impact.
Phases 1 and 2 detect where margin is being lost and design the logic to stop it; Phase 3 implements the changes in pilot areas and tracks the EBIT uplift week by week. Each phase produces concrete, measurable output — the result is implemented change, not a set of recommendations.
Phase 1
Profit Leak Detection
Rigorous analysis of pricing, customers, products and suppliers to identify where margin is being lost and why. The output is a clear, evidence-based map of your biggest margin leaks — not a generic diagnostic.
What you get
Transparency on margin by customer, product and channel
Identification of the largest, most addressable margin leaks
Quantified EBIT improvement potential
Phase 2
Profit Engine Design
Developing the logic, tools and processes needed to address the root causes identified in Phase 1 — building margin management into how the commercial organization actually works, rather than as a one-time exercise.
What you get
A clear, defensible pricing logic across customers and products
Cost-to-price and discount-governance processes
Margin visibility tools where decisions are made
Phase 3
Implementation & Impact
Executing changes in defined pilot areas, supporting live commercial negotiations and tracking EBIT uplift weekly. The result is not a set of recommendations — it is implemented change with measurable impact on profitability.
What you get
Implemented pricing and discount changes in pilot areas
Hands-on support in commercial negotiations
Weekly tracking of realized EBIT uplift
From diagnosis to control
The four highest-impact EBIT levers
Lever 1
Pricing discipline
A clear pricing logic applied consistently across customers, products and channels — as an ongoing capability, not a one-off.
Lever 2
Customer & product focus
Knowing which parts of the business are truly profitable — and acting on it, not just reporting it.
Lever 3
Procurement & sales alignment
A systematic process that translates cost changes into price actions quickly and reliably.
Lever 4
Transparency & decision-making
The right data, in the right hands, at the right time — so every commercial decision is an informed one.
A structured 12-week engagement is often enough to identify the biggest leaks, design the logic to close them, and implement change in pilot areas with measurable impact.
Designed for
Who is this program for?
SMEs — including industrial producers, but not only — with stable revenue but margins quietly under pressure
Companies where pricing, discounting and cost-pass-through have grown inconsistent over time
PE-owned businesses seeking a fast, measurable EBIT uplift without a long transformation program
Total program duration: 12 weeks · The assessment phases can be entered first, with success-based implementation to follow.
Commercial Structure
Our incentives are fully aligned with yours.
Our engagement model is designed so our economic upside is directly tied to yours — combining time-and-material transparency through diagnosis and design with success-based compensation for the implementation phase.
Profit Leak Detection
Time & material
Cost
Time & material — billed on actual days worked, full transparency on hours
Duration
Weeks 1–4
Output
Margin transparency and a quantified map of your biggest leaks
Profit Engine Design
Time & material
Cost
Time & material — billed on actual days worked, full transparency on hours
Duration
Weeks 5–8
Output
Pricing logic, governance processes and margin-visibility tools
Implementation
Success-based
Cost
Success-based fee linked to the EBIT uplift actually achieved
Duration
Weeks 9–12
Output
Implemented change with measured, trackable EBIT impact
Start with the Diagnosis
A low-risk way to begin
Who this suits
Companies that want a clear, quantified view of their margin leaks before committing to implementation
How it works
Phases 1 & 2 run on time & material and define the EBIT baseline; Phase 3 then delivers against it on a success basis
Why Value Creation Partners
Built specifically for this problem.
We provide deep margin and pricing expertise in combination with hands-on operational execution — a small, proven team that works shoulder-to-shoulder with your commercial, finance and procurement people and stays until the EBIT uplift shows up in the numbers.
Margin specialists
We focus on where profit is actually won and lost — pricing, customer and product mix, cost-pass-through and discounting — with hands-on experience across industrial and other SME settings.
Implemented change, not a slide deck
The result is not a set of recommendations. We execute changes in pilot areas, support live negotiations, and track EBIT uplift weekly until it shows up in the numbers.
Fast and focused — 12 weeks
Long transformation programs are expensive, absorb management attention and often fail to stick. A structured 12-week engagement delivers measurable impact without the risk.
Built into how you work
We build margin management into the commercial organization — pricing logic, discount governance and decision-level visibility — so the gains hold after we leave.
Aligned incentives, transparent terms
Time & material with full transparency through diagnosis and design, and a success-based implementation fee tied to the EBIT uplift we actually achieve.
Our Partner Network
What our clients say
Let's talk about where your margin is going.
Start with a no-obligation conversation.
We'll take a preliminary look at your pricing, customer mix and cost structure and share an honest view on where the biggest margin opportunities lie.
No cost. No commitment.