Revenue performance is not as simple as hitting a certain revenue objective — it’s not about “one and done.” You can only achieve successful revenue performance with a comprehensive strategy and consistent execution.
When you truly implement a revenue performance strategy, you will be able to understand what products and services generate your revenue, plan for who and where you will generate it, and foresee future opportunities and/or challenges that will help you grow. Essentially, you will set your business up for revenue performance predictability. And can’t we all do with a little more predictability in our performance? Don’t rely on hope as a strategy — let’s get strategic!
The following three components of your business intersect to help you build a solid strategy for delivering predictable revenue performance.
Your Portfolio
Understanding what you are good at and intersecting that with what customers want and are willing to buy is just the start of a good strategy. The foundation of predictable revenue performance is understanding the intersection of product/service, industry and geography. Your entire organization needs to understand each to unite the three.
- What is your vertical market approach? What products and services are you currently selling into what industries?
- Have you built a segmented industry approach? (Hint: Not all segments within an industry are the same; high tech electronics is very different than industrial manufacturing.)
- Do you offer a product or service your buyer wants, and is it differentiated from competitive offerings in your industry segments?
- Do your current products or services align with the market segments you can effectively sell to? Are those market segments growing in a way that allows you to grow?
- Are your sales teams aligned and equipped to effectively sell specific products into specific industries? Are they aligned with the differences that geography can create?
- Are your products and services equally valued in all geographies? Do you have effective sales teams in each of those geographies?
- Can you expand and/or diversify your products to meet future customer needs?
- Are your offerings aligned with your buyer’s needs? Within the geographies you have an understanding of and access to? To the geographies and markets you want to break in to?
Be honest with yourself about the market segments your business excels in and be creative with how you can expand and tweak your products and services to meet different market and geographical needs. Be prepared to shape your solutions to meet specific market needs.
Your People
Every employee in your organization needs to be aligned to the big-picture goals for those goals to ever become a reality — because every person plays a part in delivering predictable revenue performance.
- Can sales truly connect with the people in your markets? Can they speak the buyer’s language — and articulate your brand’s value to those buyers? Are they trying to sell everything to everyone?
- Is marketing set up to understand and analyze the markets and industry segments and provide insights and recommendations to what each market needs and how your business can solve those specific needs?
- Are your regional leaders clear on customer, product and industry nuances, and is that information communicated to your product and service teams?
- Are you continuously analyzing what and where you’ve been successful, areas where you could improve and opportunities where you can grow?
Develop a culture that joins your departments in a unified team working toward the same goals. Consider a compensation plan that rewards aligned behavior. When people are aligned with a common strategy and common goals, good things happen.
Your Market
Your leadership team, your marketing and sales teams, and even your service organization need to be well versed on the markets you currently serve — and on markets you want to serve. This is not a once-a-decade exercise; since your markets (and customer needs) are constantly changing, your entire team needs to keep up with those changes to drive predictability and ongoing revenue performance.
- How are you currently positioned in the markets you serve? What are your major differentiators? What are you weaknesses?
- What opportunities exist on the horizon? Threats?
- If you want to sell in a different country/region, are you selling what they want? Does your product/service address their unique needs? Are you selling and marketing in a way that is aligned with how they buy?
- Are there markets you should invest in? Divest from? Double down?
Just because a product was successful in one market or you had success in a given market last year does not mean you will find success again without pushing the limits, analyzing your efforts, and making the necessary changes to be relevant and stay ahead.
Good strategy + team alignment + consistent execution = predictable revenue performance.