Turn Around Underperforming Portcos: 7 Steps Businesses Can Take to Hit Target Revenues with Marketing

Private Equity firms conduct a rigorous due diligence process to assess a business's growth potential before acquisition. Despite the time spent on this and then acquiring a company that shows promise of growth, PE firms will often see it fall short and fail to meet post-close growth targets.

The usual response is to put more resources into Sales when, more often than not, it’s Marketing that lacks the clarity, tools, budget or leadership to drive sustainable revenue growth. Sales teams can’t close the right number of deals if they don’t have enough Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to work with. Simply put, Marketing must generate enough high-quality leads for Sales to close the number of deals required to hit PE targets.

The Role of Marketing at Your Portco

Marketing shouldn’t be a portco's cost center or a brand-building silo. Its role is to be a powerful growth lever with a commercial strategy that’s tightly aligned with PE goals. Yet, many portcos don’t prioritize what moves the needle. This is where PE firms can help underperforming portcos see their Marketing teams as revenue drivers, and ensure they have the resources to drive more pipeline for Sales and turn underperformance into commercial traction.

Get your portcos' leadership to implement these proven high-impact steps:

1. Reposition and Anchor Marketing to Revenue

It’s common for companies to view Marketing as a support function that generates brand awareness but lacks direct accountability for revenue. The first move is to reframe Marketing from a brand-building function to a revenue acceleration function. That means setting revenue-aligned KPIs that measure impact and hold Marketing accountable. Without this alignment, it’s impossible to measure real impact or hold Marketing accountable for it. 

These metrics should include:

• Marketing-Sourced Pipeline

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

• Annual Contract Value (ACV)

• Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

• Payback Period

• Return on Investment (ROI)
  
  

2. Audit the Go-to-Market Engine

Audit existing processes to identify gaps, whether those are in team skills, content or tools.

Key areas the Marketing audit should include are:

• Assessing the customer journey and handoffs between Marketing, Sales and Product.

• Reviewing messaging to ensure it’s clear, consistent and still aligns with the target audience's pain points and buyer journey which can change over time.

• Identifying the programs and channels that are working and those that are dead weight.

3. Align Sales and Marketing Around Shared Targets

Get Marketing and Sales functions to align on shared goals, accountability, revenue targets and incentives. Recurring meetings between Sales and Marketing help establish unified objectives, initiatives and processes. 

A proven way to quickly improve lead quality and conversion rates is to align on things like:

• Ideal customer profiles (ICPs)

• Buyer journey stages

• Funnel stage definitions of MQL, SAQL, SAL and Opportunity

• Target personas

• Pain points and messaging for each persona

• Process for lead handoff and follow-up

• Sales enablement needs

4. Update the Marketing Talent Mix

Many portcos' Marketing teams consist of roles that might have made sense for another growth phase but don’t meet its needs today. Or a Marketing team focused on brand and awareness may lack the skills required for revenue accountability. Prioritize demand generation and product marketing, and hire or upskill team members by investing in training that sharpens their ability to think strategically and connect Marketing activities to overall business goals.

Key areas most Marketing teams need training on include:

• Understanding C-level and PE expectations

• Total Addressable Market (TAM) and segmentation

• Product Marketing

• Budget and forecasting

• Pricing

5. Use Data-Driven Insights and Attribution

Marketing needs to measure the impact of initiatives to identify which programs drive maximum revenue and growth. A data-driven approach ensures Marketing investments are focused on what delivers actual enterprise value, whether it’s outbound campaigns, targeted paid acquisition, retargeting warm leads or webinar series. Ensure they have the tools and skills to track and attribute revenue impact effectively. 

This includes:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing Automation: Ensure Marketing has access to CRM insights to track lead journeys.

• Multi-Touch Attribution Models: Move beyond last-click attribution to understand which campaigns truly drive revenue.

• Customer Insights: Leverage intent data, analytics and feedback loops to refine targeting.

6. Optimize Budget Allocation for Revenue Impact

Rethink Marketing budgets as investments in revenue, not just expenses. To do this requires shifting budget allocation toward channels, campaigns and strategies that drive measurable pipeline impact. This financial discipline ensures every dollar spent on Marketing contributes to revenue growth. 

Marketing should regularly assess and report on:

• Which campaigns yield the highest customer acquisition.

• Where Marketing spend is wasted with low conversion.

• What experiments can be run to improve ROI.

7. Leverage Marketing as a Strategic Growth Partner

Companies that integrate Marketing into strategic business decisions see better results. The closer Marketing is to the core business, the better it is positioned to influence growth. 

Involve Marketing leadership in key discussions, including:

• Revenue planning and forecasting

• Product positioning

• Customer experience strategies

• Pricing committees

• Product development roadmap

• Corporate development

  
  
  

With the right structure, focus and support, even a struggling Marketing function can start contributing to the pipeline and turn around an underperforming portco in a matter of months. Marketing is a dynamic, data-driven growth lever, and treating it as such can be a powerful differentiator for businesses. Ensure your portcos' Marketing teams have the alignment, data, skills and accountability needed to successfully hit your PE growth targets.

Optimize your value creation plans, drive revenue growth and maximize exit potential. Get data-driven reports on your portcos’ marketing function that uncover challenges, opportunities and how it compares to competitors. Start your free trial of Inquisio now.