From hope to plan
"We think we can improve the business" isn't a plan, it's a hope. A real value creation plan turns each lever from Lesson 18 into initiatives specific enough to hold someone accountable for:
"We think we can improve the business" → specific initiatives → owners → timing → expected EBITDA impact
What that looks like for Meridian
For Meridian, three years in with NRR down to somewhere in the mid-100s and drifting toward the 95% floor this tier opened with, a real initiative isn't "improve retention." It's something like: "Launch proactive account-health scoring for the top 200 accounts by ARR, owned by the VP of Customer Success, live within Q2, targeted to lift NRR by 4-6 points within twelve months of launch." Every element, what, who, when, how much, is checkable later, which is the entire point.
| Initiative | |
|---|---|
| Vague | "Improve retention" |
| Specific | Account-health scoring, top 200 accounts by ARR, owned by the VP of Customer Success, live by Q2, targeted +4-6pts NRR within 12 months |
Checkpoint
- A value creation plan: converts each return lever into initiatives with a named owner, a timeline, and a quantified expected impact.
- A vague initiative: ("improve retention") isn’t actionable; a specific one ("account-health scoring for top 200 accounts, owned by X, live by Q2, +4-6pts NRR") is.
If anything here still feels unclear, ask before moving to Lesson 27.