5 levers to rapidly transform your cost structure in a turnaround situation

Let's be honest - AI dominates most transformation headlines these days. But in a turnaround environment, speed and execution often matter more than digital perfection. AI takes time to build. Indirect spend optimization doesn’t — it can start tomorrow.

I’ve seen it time and again: when organizations take a hard look at indirect costs, there’s usually 15–20% of efficiencies waiting to be unlocked. The challenge isn’t spotting it — it’s having the alignment and appetite to act.

And cost transformation doesn’t mean cutting indiscriminately across the board. It means spending more where it matters — like marketing that fuels growth — while tightening up where money quietly leaks: for example, selling excess real estate, managing electricity spend risk more smartly, or reducing discretionary travel through tighter policies

In my experience, real impact comes from pulling a few key levers:

🔹 Tail Spend Consolidation – Bringing scattered, low-value purchases under strategic suppliers. It’s not glamorous, but it delivers clarity and scale fast. Strategic suppliers also help move faster when you have multi-location purchasers across the globe — for example, plants buying MRO, electricity, or facility services.

🔹 Zero-Based Budgeting – Starting from zero forces every team to justify what’s truly essential — shifting behavior, not just budgets. Imagine every cost center owner rebuilding their vendor spend from scratch each year; that mindset alone can unlock a new level of productivity.

🔹 Outsourcing Non-Core Activities – Let experts handle what doesn’t define you and focus your teams where they add the most value. I’ve seen huge wins here in facilities, fleet, and contact centers.

🔹 Spend Control Tower – A senior-level check on major spend decisions keeps discipline tight and accountability high — governance without the bureaucracy.

🔹 C-Level Sponsorship – When executives lean in, change accelerates. Procurement becomes a growth enabler, not a gatekeeper.

And finally — measure what matters. Build dashboards that make cost transparency routine, not reactive. What gets measured gets improved, and what gets shared builds alignment.

These levers turn efficiency into strategic capacity — freeing up capital to reinvest where it creates the most enterprise value.

Elevate procurement to the forefront of strategic planning — that’s where cost transformation sustains itself.

Which cost lever do you think delivers the strongest ROI in a turnaround?