Maximizing Revenue, Talent and Potential in the Revenue Organization

Ventana Research was the first market research firm to focus on the emerging area of sales performance management (SPM), which we define as a coordinated set of sales-related activities, processes and systems that enable organization Over the past decade, SPM has become more science than art. Properly managing a sales organization requires effective planning, which in turn requires key performance and sales indicators built on a foundation of relevant metrics. But this is changing. As more organizations embrace the subscription business model and engage with additional selling channels over and above direct sales, the concept of the primacy of new sales is transforming to a more holistic view of revenue.

The sales department in many organizations is being superseded by the revenue department, a super-set of traditional sales functions to include not only new business sales, but also includes an increased focus on existing customer retention as well as expansion and cross sell into these existing customer accounts. In addition, as organizations embrace additional sales channels, whether through more typical indirect through partners or via new digital selling channels, true revenue management will require an enhanced degree of alignment and co-ordination across different teams within the organizations. This will impact sales, marketing, partners and customer success.  

This is often referred to as Revenue Management. As a cultural and process change, to achieve these aims, leadership and planning will be key. Any time an organization transitions to a new process, there will be resistance, missteps and potential disruption. One of the keys to this approach is both a change in strategic leadership and in the planning and monitoring via operation teams. It does not really matter as to whether these are separate teams or unified under revenue operations as long as there is a shared common purpose and a standard way to set targets and measure achievement. Supporting this change will be a focus on new people, processes and technology.