Driving Revenue Growth - TAG Training Day - May 31, 2012

[Paul Terlemezian]

This discussion group has been established to facilitate ongoing interaction amongst those that attended the session. If you know of others that you think would benefit from the content and interaction please encourage them to join this discussion.

 

Attached are the PowerPoint, the handout and the exercise. Please follow through on the exercise and let us know about it by posting a comment in this discussion. I am especially curious to know how your conversation went with the young person.

 

As promised, here are the questions that you asked and my answers. If I misunderstood your question or missed it completely - feel free to ask it again here.

 

What is the fastest way to revenue?

The fastest way is generally from an existing client. Scheduling period account reviews with a client and using that to discover opportunity is beneficial to the client as well.

Another fast way is to learn about previous investments that your client has made with others and discover ways to make those previous investments bring more value to the client.

What is healthy revenue growth? Is there a range of growth to aim for? What systems are needed to support revenue growth?

I do not have a specific "rule of thumb" regarding a rate of growth. Whatever rate of growth you plan for needs to be accompanied by the resources to support the growth. I recommend a planning system to set revenue targets, a budget system to define resource needs/costs, a review system to evaluate progress and a contingency planning system to allow you to recognise and adjust to deviations (positive or negative) from the plan.

How much focus should be on revenue growth from existing accounts vs. new accounts.

It can be easy (and "fatal") to rely only on existing accounts. I recommend a planning process that sets separate goals for revenue from each area and then specific plans focused on each. Insufficient revenue growth from existing accounts may lead to erosion of the installed base and a dearth of reference accounts.

Failure to develop new accounts may be an indication of "stale" products.

Do you promise revenue growth will occur for us?

I wish I could! I do have confidence in the tools and would be very surprised if you applied the tools and the result was not to produce revenue. I've been applying them with my business and for my clients and producing revenue. I am eager to help you in a way that fits your business requirements to make sure that you do experience revenue growth.

Can you create revenue growth by "firing" a big customer?

Perhaps. I have seen companies suffer from having one big customer. In some cases it diminished the focus on developing new business or it has made the provider susceptible to fluctuations in the big customer's buying patterns. Rather than fire the customer I would advise that you not allow your business to have a customer that represents more than 20% of your revenue. Avoid this situation by developing new clients or by being disciplined to not commit to a business plan that relies on a large customer.

How do you connect your role to revenue growth when your role may not be at the top of the organization?

Is your compensation at risk depending on revenue growth? There is usually a risk-reward strategy that is used to associate a role to revenue growth. So, identify the tasks that you perform that either create incremental revenue or that secure committed revenue. I would like to have more conversation with you (privately and without a fee) so that I can be more specific and helpful.

How do you achieve sustainable revenue growth?

I suggest the use of validated account plans (validated by the client.) Secondly I suggest a commitment to new account development and prospecting no matter how well you are doing (keep building your pipeline.)

Third is to implement a product and services strategy that includes a recurring revenue model.

How do you spread yourself broader within a client?

Again, I will recommend validated account plans. I also recommend moving higher and broader in the company by introducing them to people higher and broader in your company - peer to peer. Introduce your VP of Sales to their VP of Sales, your CFO to their CFO. I would also use LinkedIn to see who in your company may have a relative or friend that works in an area of the client company that you wish to approach. Finally, I would ask your client for internal referrals - this can bring positive visibility to your client.