Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

Three Strategies for Revenue Growth

When companies grow from year to year, they don’t grow in a straight line. They hold onto some revenue from current customers, they lose some revenue and customers, and they grow in other areas. Analyzing the ebb and flow of revenue and profit can help a company understand how it grows, plan for future growth, align sales roles, and motivate the right results in those roles.

The dimensions of buyers (both current customers and prospects) and offers (current and new products or services) describe a range of possible revenue flow opportunities. Among the possibilities are really just three basic strategies.

  1. An organization can retain the revenue from its current customers, which is called retention selling. While it many not actually lose any customer companies from one year to the next, an organization usually loses some of its current revenue from current offer. It’s deceptive. The customer remains, but some of the business is lost. In fact, the average business-to-business sales organization retains only about 84 percent of its prior year’s revenue. So, to grow it has to find new revenue.
  2. A company can grow revenue from its current customers, which is called penetration selling. Penetraton breaks into two different types of selling. Buyer penetration is gaining additional buyers for the same product or service. For example, a shipping company that focuses on ground transportation would try to get more buyers within the same large customer account to use its services instead of another carrier or shipping method. Product penetration is growing with additional products the customer may not be purchasing. So that shipping company might capture more current customer growth by selling its air shipping service to a customer that’ already using its ground service.
  3. A company can create revenue through new customer selling, which also breaks into two types. New competitive wins provide growth through new customers that are already purchasing similar products from competitors. The shipping company may win a new contract for international shipping from a competitor that held that business last year. New Market selling is developing a new opportunity with a new customer that hasn’t purchased that product before. For example, the shipping company may offer logistics services to a new customer to help the customer improve the operations of its warehouse facilities. Of course, this strategy could ultimately result in the company winning the customer’s shipping business, too.

–from “What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation” (www.amacombooks.org) by Mark Donnolo

Read: https://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/strategy/three-strategies-for-achieving-and-sustaining-growth

Read: https://dennissommer.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/100823-sales-growth-strategies/

Read: https://www.hitachiconsulting.com/files/pdfRepository/AR_StrategiesRevProfitGrowth_12611_Final.pdf


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.