The Costly Mistake of Ignoring Customer Insights in Acquisitions

The £50m integration tax no one talks about.

Watched another PE-backed acquisition this week.

6 months post-close, the acquiring sales team still hasn't:

• Interviewed the target company's best customers
• Understood what made them convert
• Cloned the messaging that actually worked

Instead? They're pushing the parent company's playbook onto a business they don't understand.

The damage:

• Top clients feeling neglected
• Sales team chasing the wrong prospects
• 12+ months before growth restarts

The fix is simple:

Interview 10-20 of the acquired company's best customers in week one.

Find the pattern in:

• Who converts fastest
• Who stays longest
• Who expands most predictably

Then clone it ruthlessly across the combined sales team.

We just did this for a PE portfolio company.

Took them from £14m to £22.5m in 12 months.

Zero headcount added.

The killer question for any acquirer:

"Which customer profile in the target company actually drives profit, and can we replicate it at scale?"

If you can't answer that in the first 90 days, you've just bought yourself a very expensive distraction.