By Amy T. Wiegand
Start-ups often must move fast, and feeling the pinch to maneuver fast, teams skip planning steps. Yet, skipping the planning process may slow us down in the long term.
The Harvard Business Review and Business School found that B2B teams who clearly understood the organization’s plan or strategy were 67% more prone to outperform their peers regarding revenue growth, yet 48% of leaders spend lower than at some point monthly discussing the strategy.
Like all great coaches, our leaders are chargeable for igniting a fireplace in our teams to win and understand how our past plays may help us rating big on our future goals.
- Understand past wins/losses and deal with what works and who’s out there to purchase.
- Understand the market & your buyer.
- Align the strategy between the sales, marketing, product, and customer success teams.
- Rollout the plan to the whole organization for ownership and accountability of all.
Doing it right from the start means we shouldn’t have to do it again, which saves time. As start-up leaders, we must also plan for pivoting – Plan B and C. The very best advice is to check what works, fail fast, and move on. Listed below are inquiries to help kick-start your team to drive profitability in 2024 and beyond.
Inquiries to Ignite RevGen in 2024
:
- What’s our current market position, and the way has it evolved?
- Are there emerging trends or shifts in buyer behavior?
- How well will we understand our audience and their needs?
- What markets and segments will likely be a goal within the short term? Long run?
- How is our brand perceived out there, and is it consistent with our desired image?
- Are there any negative perceptions to handle?
- What efforts can we take to construct and maintain a positive brand image?
- Who’re the organization’s designated storytellers? Align them.
- Who’re our major competitors, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
- Are there latest entrants or disruptive forces we want to pay attention to?
- How will we differentiate ourselves from competitors out there?
:
- How did our revenue metrics across markets and segments perform? Break it down and analyze it. E.g., Closed-Won & Closed-Lost Rates, Average Customer Lifecycle (ACV), Sales Cycle Length, Churn Rate, Yr-over-Yr, Pipeline Adoption, Pipeline Acquisition, etc.
- Who’re the brand new logo targets? What are their revenue benchmarks?
- What key performance indicators (KPIs) can we measure success in 2024?
- How is the return on investment (ROI) assessed?
:
- How, who, and what drove the fastest deals in 2023?
- Who was involved within the purchasing decision? What were their roles? What are their goals? What questions did they’ve? What influenced their decision? What triggered their buying process?
- Are there areas where we are able to optimize marketing spend for higher results?
- Are there latest channels or platforms we must always consider for reaching our audience or ideal customer profile (ICP)?
- What channels provided non-ICP inquiries, and will we improve upon this?
- Why did we lose opportunities, and the way can we improve upon this?
- Are our core marketing processes optimized and operationalized, or are they reactive to random requests?
- How responsive are we to changing customer preferences?
- How are we retaining existing customers?
- How will we define customer success?
- What’s our customer success rate?
- Are there any notable customer insights that might inform future marketing efforts?
- How responsive are we to changing customer preferences?
- Are there opportunities to upsell or cross-sell to current customers?
- Who’re the brand new logo targets? What are their revenue benchmarks?
- Who’re channel partners?
- Who and what programs can we align with to supply optimal customer acquisition and retention?
:
- How closely aligned is our RevGen team – Are Sales, Marketing, Product, and Customer Success aligned? Do they know what the opposite is working on?
- What are the organization’s priorities, and the way do those affect multi-team priorities?
- What strategies are in place to enhance collaboration between teams?
- What are the friction points and challenges? How can they be resolved?
- Are we hiring the fitting employees and contractors?
- How do we want to rent, upskill, train, and inform our teams that fast performance is required?
:
- What modern approaches or technologies are being explored to leverage our data for higher decision-making?
- Are there opportunities for automation or improved technology?
- How can we use generative AI with integrity to assist our teams move faster?
- What tech is just not optimized to be used? Is it creating obstacles? Will we optimize it or do away with it?
:
- What’s our current financial status, and the way can each worker contribute to organizational efficiency improvements?
- What organizational efficiency improvements can we make today?
- How is our strategy contributing to the corporate’s short-term growth plans? 30/60/90?
- What adjustments should be made for short-term gains while planning for long-term ones?
- Do we want to supply a short-term promotion, loyalty program, trial offer, or freemium model for long-term gains?
- Who’s out there to purchase now? Are we leveraging in-market opportunities? Will we know how one can find in-market opportunities?
The above questions and lots of more can function a start line for comprehensive team discussions and efforts with overall business objectives that drive future revenue. Good luck!