Revenue Growth Case Interview: How to Ace This Type of Case

Last Updated: January, 2024

Revenue is the lifeblood of any business, and revenue growth is a frequent problem consultants are asked to help with.

As a result of its importance, revenue growth case interviews are one of the most common case types you’ll encounter while recruiting with consulting firms.

In this article, we’ll discuss:

What to expect in a revenue growth case interview
Real client examples of revenue growth consulting cases
Essential frameworks to use
How to solve a revenue growth case interview
3 tips on preparing for a revenue growth consulting case

Let’s get started!

Revenue Growth Case Interview: What Does It Entail?

Revenue growth cases fit into 1 of 2 categories. First, there is the“find-and-fix” type, and second, the “forward-looking” type. These 2 types of cases use different approaches, so it is important first to identify which type you have in front of you. Then, you can move towards a solution with the laser focus that consulting firms want to see.

“Find-and-Fix” Revenue Growth Case Interview

In a “find-and-fix” revenue growth case interview, the client has a problem with revenue, and they’d like you to help figure out the underlying cause and the solution. Perhaps the client is a luxury shoe retailer whose revenue has shrunk in the last 3 years, or maybe they are a budget airline whose revenue is still growing, but that growth has slowed in the last 12 months. In either of these examples, you are in a “find-and-fix” revenue growth consulting case.

“Forward-Looking” Revenue Growth Case Interview

In a “forward-looking” revenue growth consulting case, the client wants to grow revenue without diagnosing an existing issue. The client is performing well but wants to accelerate and maximize revenue growth.

Real-Life Examples of Revenue Growth Case Interview Questions

Because revenue growth is a central focus for any business, consultants are asked to help with revenue questions in virtually every industry, such as consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, edtech, and more. Let’s take a look at some real-world examples.

Coca-Cola Rebounds from the Pandemic

Coca-Cola is arguably the most recognizable brand in the world but, like many companies, during the COVID pandemic the drinks giant suffered from dwindling revenues and poor financial performance. A reduced volume of drinks sold caused the issue, as people were stuck at home and had fewer opportunities to enjoy a meal out. High inflation also increased Coca-Cola’s costs, further squeezing its profit margins.

To grow revenues, Coca-Cola did 3 things:

It upped prices. This lever directly increased revenue.
It doubled marketing spend, driving higher sales volume.
It pushed their direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel, further growing sales.

As a result of these actions, they grew revenue quickly back to pre-pandemic levels.

Netflix Fights Off the Competition

In the summer of 2022, Netflix, the biggest player in the global online streaming market, had back-to-back quarters of declining revenues. At its root, the issue was caused by the growth of competitors like Disney and Apple, who were eating into Netflix’s market share. Also, by the end of the pandemic, fewer people were spending nights at home in front of the TV.

To grow revenues, Netflix did 3 things:

It shifted its content strategy to double down on content with the biggest celebrities and pop culture relevancy, such as Stranger Things and the Beckham documentary.
It clamped down on password sharing. This lever increased revenues by having more people sign up for individual accounts.
It introduced a cheaper subscription model that included ads to capture the more budget-conscious side of the market.

All of this drove up subscriptions and, in turn, revenues.

Key Frameworks You’ll Need to Solve a Revenue Growth Case Study

“Find-and-Fix” Revenue Growth Framework

In a “find-and-fix” revenue growth case, your framework will need to start with a diagnostic, allowing you to identify the root cause of the problem. Your framework could be structured based on the following 4 questions, with the first 3 designed to diagnose the issue and the fourth to propose solutions:

What aspect of revenue is underperforming?
What internal factors might be the root cause?
What external factors might be the root cause?
What solutions will turn around the situation for the client?

In the first question, you would break revenue down into sub-components of price and volume and segment performance data by product mix, customer segment, and geography. For example, if the client was a hotel chain, you might segment its revenues by customer types to see how much has come from folks on business trips, young travelers, families on holiday, and retirees. Breaking revenue down in this way will provide insight into where the the root cause of the revenue problem lies by isolating the products, customer types, or geographies where the problem is most acute.

Segmenting Revenue to Identify Problem Areas

Another way to dig into revenue is to benchmark the companies revenue against competitors and its own historical performance. For instance, the hotel chain would compare how it has performed to other hotel chains in the same geography and its own performance in previous years. Benchmarking, again, helps to identify the root cause of the problem.

When examining internal and external root causes in the second and third questions, you would dive into the changes that might have caused the underperformance. First, you’d look internally at the client’s value proposition and operations. Have they discontinued a formerly successful product line, for instance, thereby hurting revenue? Externally, you’d look at competitors and customers. Has a new player entered the market, for instance, taking share? Have customer preferences changed?

Once you have reached the bottom of the client’s revenue issue, you will move to the fourth and final bucket. Here, you would propose tailored solutions that address the issues the client is facing, helping to turn around their poor performance.

“Forward-Looking” Revenue Growth Framework

When you are working on a “forward-looking” growth strategy case, there are several frameworks that you might use to help you generate and categorize your ideas to boost revenue.

First, you might organize your ideas by “price” and “volume.” Ideas under the “price” category could include increasing prices across the board or decreasing prices to increase volume. Better than this, though, would be to consider adjusting pricing more sensitively and judiciously: increasing prices for premium products, for instance, or on less price-sensitive segments.

Under the “volume” category, you could consider selling through new channels (e.g., online and in stores), expanding into new geographies, or increasing marketing spend to drive up revenue.

Pro tip! Consulting interviews like you to tailor your case framework to the specific client in your case.

The problem with a “price” and “volume” framework is that it can seem generic unless you tailor it to the client. Another option would be to group your revenue growth ideas into “current customers” and “new customers.” Within “current customers,” you could include all the ideas allowing you to drive more revenue from the existing customer base, such as the price and volume levers mentioned above. And under “new customers,” you could include options for expanding to new segments, geographies, and product areas.

Remember, there is no one way of laying out this structure. The key factor is that your framework is structured and MECE–mutually exclusive and collectively exhausting. If you haven’t heard of this concept before, read up on it in our article on mastering MECE.

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How to Solve a Revenue Growth Case

As with any case type, there are 4 steps to solve a revenue growth consulting case:

Opening
Structure
Analysis
Recommendation

Opening: Your opening to a revenue case should be like your opening to any case. Once the interviewer has shared the client’s problem with you, ask follow-up questions and, most importantly, pin down the objective of the case. The objective will be your north star throughout the case, so if you have to grow revenue by 15% in the first year, you must always keep that goal in mind.

Structure: We’ve already looked at the structure in some detail. As we said before, the structure is laid out to help you solve the client’s issue and meet their objectives. It is like a plan of attack for the analysis you will conduct.

Analysis: Once you have laid out the structure, you will take a deeper dive into the client’s situation, analyzing data provided by the interviewer to figure out the cause of their declining growth. The interviewer could provide charts that give you a sense of where the best opportunities for revenue growth lie. Throughout, you need to drive the case forward, conducting your analysis with the objective clearly in mind.

Recommendation: Finally, you will make a recommendation that ties in the insights you have generated across the case and allows the client to meet their revenue goal.

For a deeper dive on how to ace a case interview, check out Our Ultimate Guide to Case Interview Prep.

3 Tips on Preparing for Revenue Growth Cases:

1. Be Familiar with Revenue Issues By Industry

Research different industries and get familiar with the common revenue streams and industry trends. For example, if your client is in the retail space, common problems with revenue are seasonality, product mix, and pricing.

2. Customize Your Framework

Try not to repeat the standard “revenue = price x volume” framework every time. Instead, customize your frameworks to the client, talking in industry-specific language and tailoring the structure for that client. For example, if your client is Netflix, you could say revenue is “price x number of annual subscribers” instead of “volume.” Read our article on Case Interview Frameworks to see more examples.

3. Be Creative to Set Yourself Apart

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when generating revenue growth ideas. As long as you are structured and logical, generating creative ideas, such as how to cross-sell, partner, or bundle products, will differentiate you from other candidates.

– – – – – – –

In this article, we’ve covered:

What to expect in a revenue growth case interview
Real-world examples of revenue growth questions
Key frameworks that will help you solve a revenue growth consulting case
How to work through the sections of a revenue growth case interview
3 tips on how to prepare for a revenue growth consulting case

Still have questions?

If you have more questions about the revenue growth case interview, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s case coach will answer them.

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