B2B SaaS: From Crisis to Confidence
Series B company on brink of collapse recovered in 90 days through leadership repair and operational reset, saving the business.
CLIENT INFO
The Situation
The Series B company was in crisis mode when I got the call:
Revenue had been flat for three consecutive quarters with no recovery plan
The COO had resigned abruptly, creating a massive operational vacuum
VP Sales and VP Product weren't speaking to each other — active, visible conflict
Customer churn at 35% annually vs 15% industry average
40% of middle management actively job hunting and interviewing elsewhere
The board had lost confidence — the CEO had 90 days to demonstrate turnaround or face replacement
This wasn't about optimisation. This was about organisational survival.
The Challenge
Multiple crises happening simultaneously with no single root cause:
Leadership dysfunction was both cause and effect of other problems
High customer churn driven by product and sales misalignment — which stemmed from executive conflict
Executive conflict partly caused by unclear authority and partly personality clash
Talent flight created more pressure on remaining team, generating more stress and conflict
It was a downward spiral. The CEO knew things were bad but was paralysed by the scale of problems. Previous attempts to fix individual issues had failed because everything was interconnected. The company needed wholesale transformation, fast.
The Approach
Week 1–2 — Triage:
Assessed all dimensions of crisis
Identified what was actively breaking versus chronically broken
Had difficult but honest conversations with each leader
Created 90-day stabilisation roadmap
Reset expectations with board
Week 3–6 — Leadership Repair:
Facilitated intensive conflict resolution sessions between feuding VPs
Rebuilt trust through structured workshops and clear authority establishment
Made one necessary personnel change to signal seriousness
Week 7–10 — Operational Reset:
Fixed broken processes causing customer churn
Realigned sales and product around actual customer needs
Rebuilt quarterly planning process
Implemented weekly operational cadence
Week 11–12 — Momentum Building:
Launched revised company strategy
Celebrated early wins visibly
Transitioned from crisis mode to growth mode
The Outcome
After 90 days:
Leadership team functioning effectively — former enemies now collaborating (verified by 360 feedback)
VP Sales and VP Product conflict completely resolved
CEO retained position with regained board confidence
95% key personnel retention — flight risk completely averted
Customer churn reduced from 35% to 22% and continuing to improve
Revenue stabilised then showed 12% growth in Q4
Sales and product roadmap realigned around solving customer problems
Employee engagement improved +30 points in company-wide survey
"Company heading in right direction" score reached 75% (from previous 40%)
Renewed organisational momentum and optimism across all levels
Why This Worked
We moved fast and made hard decisions:
In crisis, speed is kindness — prolonging difficult choices only increases suffering
We addressed root causes, not just symptoms — fixing churn without fixing leadership conflict would have been temporary
One difficult personnel change signalled that the old way of operating was over — sometimes addition by subtraction
We celebrated small wins loudly to rebuild confidence and momentum
We were transparently honest about challenges while being relentlessly optimistic about possibilities
The CEO was willing to make hard calls quickly — leadership that delays tough decisions in crisis creates unrecoverable situations
OUR ADVANTAGE
Crisis Triage
Prioritised what to fix first—stopped bleeding before treating chronic issues, focused on highest-impact interventions.
Difficult Decisions
Made one necessary personnel change quickly—signalled transformation was real, not just talk, creating urgency for others to adapt.
Visible Quick Wins
Celebrated early successes loudly—rebuilt confidence and momentum through demonstrable progress in the first 4 weeks of intervention.
