Your Organization Needs an Updated Revenue Model to Align Under

While you probably won't get your mouth washed out with soap by using a marketing and sales funnel strategy, your revenue generation machine is likely not as effective as it could be. Today's enterprise sales are anything but linear. Using a model like a funnel, where leads progress through successive, linear stages, might be helpful in some scenarios. However, this model is overly simplistic for today's highly complex procurement processes within enterprises. In fact, the funnel's oversimplification can work against success. Here's why the revenue generation paradigm needs to shift and what you can do to accelerate growth—even in lean times. When Does It Make Sense to Centralize Your Marketing Department? The enterprise sale is complicated Antiquated methodology suggests that marketing works on their side of the funnel and sales on theirs, with these distinct efforts culminating in a sale—game over, cha-ching. However, revenue generation in enterprise sales has many moving parts, making success more of an art than a science. Here are some of the components that add to the complexity. The rise of buying committees. Enterprise purchase decisions are now being made by cross-functional committees. The size of these buying committees has roughly doubled in the last decade, averaging six to 10 members, according to Gartner. Naturally, as the buying committee grows, the sales cycles tend to take longer. In fact, Challenger reports that each additional member of a buying committee reduces the odds of making a sale. The odds drop from 80% with a single buyer to 31% or less with a buying committee of five or more. However, marketing can help turn this around by supporting multithreading, a concept that expands relationship-building beyond the key players to include all buying committee members. Understanding the different personas within these committees—CIO, CMO, legal, procurement and more—is critical to do this successfully. Each committee member has unique requirements, timelines and influences in the decision-making process; making a sale is no longer about convincing a single decision-maker. New revenue opportunities after the sale. Sales opportunities exist long after a prospect becomes a customer. One strategy to increase your success in a downturn is by working with existing customers—understanding their challenges and needs and designing solutions that will increase revenue through greater sales volume, upgrades or expansion into new products and services. If marketing's involvement drops off at the funnel's marketing qualified lead (MQL) stage, there are missed opportunities to help your organization grow. The breakdown in the traditional funnel. A funnel means different things to different commercial teams, including marketing, sales, customer success and customer service. This lack of alignment arises from the diverse goals of each team, leading to a siloed organization. Each team uses its interpretation of the funnel to meet its internal needs, and there's often little communication or collaboration. While the funnel metaphor suggests continuity, in practical application for revenue generation, it's anything but. In fact, it's broken. Align under common revenue goals What if all commercial teams in your organization elevated their mission, aligning with each other under unified goals to better serve customers? Aligning on revenue generation is vital for business success. In this model, teams don't just pass the hot potato or the buck, otherwise known as a lead. Instead, they work together, leveraging their expertise in the ways that best serve the prospect or customer: sharing data, communicating, strategizing and collaborating throughout the buyer journey. By setting clear, shared objectives, you can work toward common goals and achieve success together. The traditional funnel is only half the picture, and any organization that wants to succeed needs to expand their vision: Enter the bowtie, a model created by Winning by Design. Your teams can’t just be focused on acquiring customers; in fact, the best way to keep a customer is to grow a customer. Focus your attention equally after a customer has converted to make sure their experience with you turns them into a loyal advocate. When you get off defense and play offense, you pull different teams together to create real impact. With a Recession Likely, CMOs Must Learn to Think Like CFOs This model requires a deep understanding of the unique needs and expectations of different buyer personas within the buying committees, and it involves tailoring strategies and messaging accordingly. By working together, you can optimize effort and resources—making the available budget work harder—while ensuring that every prospect or customer touch point is consistent, relevant and actionable within a cohesive buyer journey. With the support of leadership and cross-organizational accountability, commercial teams can create a seamless and efficient revenue generation process. This drives sustainable growth and long-term customer success. So ditch the MQL. Foist the funnel. Revenue is more than just a number—it's about putting your customers at the center.