Revenue changed. Where to start.

Make sure you can trust the number

Before looking for an explanation, check the data. Did the source update? Are there gaps in the period? Did what counts as revenue change? If the CRM stopped sending deals, a drop points to a data problem — the business may be fine.

Break revenue into parts

Revenue is the number of orders times the average order value. See what changed: fewer orders, or smaller orders. These are two different problems.

• Number of orders
• Average order value
• Share of new and repeat customers

Separate new and repeat customers

Fewer new customers and fewer repeat purchases call for different actions. Compare both with the same period and see where the change is bigger.

Find the segment that contributed most

Break the change down by channel, region, sales rep and product group, if your data has them. Start the conversation with your team from the segment with the biggest change.

Do not confuse contribution with cause

The biggest contribution shows where the change is concentrated. It does not explain why it happened. If there is no data about the cause — for example, ads are not connected — the honest conclusion is: “not enough data”.