{"id":12149,"date":"2021-09-28T21:40:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T21:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/somametrics.com\/clone\/?p=12149"},"modified":"2022-06-22T13:03:44","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T20:03:44","slug":"five-factors-affecting-revenue-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/somametrics.com\/clone\/five-factors-affecting-revenue-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Factors Affecting Revenue Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to research from Gartner, only 6% of chief sales officers (CSOs) report that they are extremely confident in their team\u2019s ability to meet or exceed their revenue goals<\/a>. This means that for the vast majority of sales leaders, reaching revenue growth targets is a high-priority challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the B2B purchasing process has changed entirely in the digital era. To stay competitive, companies must adapt and keep up with their dynamic customer bases. But how can companies do this, as their buyers navigate the digital world on their own terms? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To answer this question, here are five factors affecting revenue growth that will elevate your company to the next level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 1: Choose the Right Market Focus for Revenue Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, choosing the right market focus for your company is the single most important factor impacting your revenue growth. It\u2019s the keystone of your marketing and sales activities; the one crucial element that can make or break your revenue growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, a well-chosen and narrow market focus can result in millions of dollars in the sales pipeline. Not only that, but you will see more high-quality leads each month. Of all of the five factors, this segmentation and focus has the greatest potential to increase or decrease your revenue growth from the previous period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how does this work? A narrow target market empowers you to focus on excelling in a specific area. You can develop in-depth knowledge of your target market that would be impossible to develop otherwise. Consequently, this specialized knowledge increases efficacy and boosts the number of high-quality leads generated by your marketing efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 2: The Sales Process Is the Buyer\u2019s Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next, the old sales process is out of date. The tactics that may have worked in the past\u2014like cold calls and mass email marketing campaigns\u2014are quickly becoming obsolete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, today\u2019s buyers spend only 5% of their time with a given sales representative <\/a>during the purchasing process, on average. They spend more time researching solutions online, preferring to discover for themselves whether or not a vendor is well-suited to fulfill their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the new buyer\u2019s landscape, you must meet buyers on their terms. This involves creating highly individualized content to demonstrate what you have to offer your target market. To capture the attention of this new brand of buyers, sellers must align their sales and marketing processes with their buyer\u2019s expectations and preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 3: Tightly Align Sales and Marketing for High Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To facilitate revenue growth, marketing has to be directly linked to sales outcomes. It\u2019s not enough for marketing to simply generate brand awareness anymore. Marketing strategies must result in high-quality leads that are likely to start a conversation with sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, at least 75% of leads and 50% of sales that close should be a direct result of your marketing strategies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To align sales and marketing, make sure that your sales goals are the motivation behind your marketing efforts. Uniting sales and marketing with a common goal will change the way you approach marketing. Read on to discover how to transform them from a cost center to a revenue generator: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 4: Leverage Intelligent Sales & Marketing Data for Revenue Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How do you ensure that your marketing and sales departments are in alignment with the overwhelming amount of data present? Well, the answer is simple\u2014use intelligent sales data to guide your strategies, rather than historical data and experience-based knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One goal of intelligent sales data is to keep your strategies as up-to-date as possible. You should be responding to industry changes and accommodating new buyer preferences in real-time, not years into the future. This makes intuitive sense\u2014with historical data, you are responding to buyers\u2019 past preferences and not their current needs. Intelligent sales data keeps your strategies cutting-edge. This will keep your company from falling behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the targeted capabilities of intelligent data enables your sales team to more effectively speak to leads and prospects, increasing the likelihood of their conversion into buyers over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 5: Importance of Managing Sales & Marketing Operations by Metrics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, you can\u2019t fix what you can\u2019t see. That\u2019s what the final factor is all about\u2014to successfully increase revenue growth, you must track the right metrics and use them to build effective strategies for sales and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To generate revenue growth at a faster rate than costs, companies should invest in tracking the performance of their marketing campaigns. And from Factor 3, we know that marketing is just as important\u2014if not more important\u2014than sales at generating leads and revenue growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, using metrics to manage your strategies<\/a> will provide you with an objective understanding of how your sales and marketing efforts are performing. The right metrics will expose where you can improve, where you\u2019re already excelling, and everything in between. This is essential to increasing revenue growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenue Growth: Focus on Buyers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To summarize, one key element that all five factors have in common is a focus on the buyer<\/em>. At every stage of the process, successful sales and marketing strategies place the buyer front and center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what B2B buyers expect in the current era. They want to work with vendors who understand their industry and anticipate their needs, preferences, and habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a whole, today\u2019s buyers have higher expectations than ever before. The companies that deliver revenue growth in this environment are prepared to meet and exceed these expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Resources:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To learn how to best leverage these five factors to reduce costs and grow your revenue, download our full white paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about revenue growth strategy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule your free value prop analysis here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 1: Choose the Right Market Focus for Revenue Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Successful marketing isn\u2019t about reaching the broadest audience possible\u2014it\u2019s about reaching the right audience for your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s say you have a limited marketing budget, which means that you have to maximize the ROI of each dollar you spend. Without a defined target market, you will waste your resources reaching market segments that aren\u2019t the right fit for your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, the real challenge is to target and reach customers who are most likely to convert into sales. You don\u2019t want to waste your money on anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By targeting a narrow market<\/a>, you can increase your depth of understanding in a specific industry. So when you offer more individualized information that is relevant to potential customers, you stand out from the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, your goal is to get on the shortlist of vendors the buyer will contact. Buyers want to know that you can offer the right solutions for their specific pain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, you\u2019ll need to develop an in-depth understanding of your buyers. And not only do you need to understand their industry, but you also need to understand what motivates your buyers as individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also known as persona development<\/a>, this process involves conducting thorough research to create a profile of the types of customers that are most likely to purchase your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let\u2019s solidify the concept of choosing a market focus with an illustrative case study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case Study: Establishing Market Presence with Digital Content Strategy<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Without a specific industry target, your marketing efforts could draw the attention of companies in any number of industries. Not all of these companies will be the right fit for your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this instance, the client was a digital technology services provider that built digital capabilities for its clients. They provided services to any incoming request and did not target a specific industry. Even though company executives knew they had to focus on a specific industry sector to execute its outbound strategy, which one was the right one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, we helped the client analyze its track record to determine which industries were the ideal targets. Then, we conducted in-depth industry research to narrow down the top industry that was worth targeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With one specific industry in mind, the next steps were to create content for this industry<\/a> and generate targeted demand through email campaigns and phone prospecting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of this digital content strategy, the client generated 16 high-quality leads per month, increased name recognition, and brought 4 million dollars into the sales pipeline. This success story demonstrates the value of focusing your marketing efforts on a specific industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Right Market Focus: Key to Success<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With a narrow target market, you can develop your understanding of your target market to a greater degree. You can devote more of your resources to specializing in this industry, to refining your knowledge of their pain points, current and future challenges, and crucially, how your company and its services can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s a reason that finding the right market focus is Factor 1\u2014it\u2019s the first thing companies should nail when developing a strategy for increasing revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, it will make your company stand out. Next, market focus increases the effectiveness of the following factors\u2014starting with the buyer\u2019s process in Factor 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

5 Ways to Reach Your High Performance Marketing Goals<\/a>
Case Study: Establishing Market Presence with Digital Content Strategy<\/a>
Persona Development & Targeting<\/a> 
The Creative Content River White Paper<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 2: The Sales Process is the Buyer\u2019s Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Does this story sound familiar? A salesperson blindly calls and emails through a list of contacts, hoping that someone will respond so he can convince them to schedule a meeting. On the off chance that he is successful, he will conduct the meeting as follows: First, he will tell the prospect all about himself. Then, he\u2019ll ask the respondent about their company. Regardless of the response, he will then launch into selling his product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This clunky, sales-centered approach is the old sales process<\/a> that prioritizes the salesperson\u2019s preferences. There\u2019s a reason this process is ineffective\u2014despite its name, the sales process is not really about the salesperson. Buyers aren\u2019t interested in working on a salesperson\u2019s schedule\u2014they have their own priorities to fulfill, and they appreciate salespeople who anticipate and respond to their needs and work with their schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, calling it \u201cthe sales process\u201d is a misnomer. Your focus should be on the buyer\u2019s needs, desires, and timeline, making it more accurate to call it the buyer\u2019s process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To fully understand the buyer\u2019s perspective along their journey toward making a purchase, let\u2019s look at the purchasing process from their point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Buyer\u2019s Process<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s buyers start with research. Once they recognize the problem that needs solving, a team member begins looking for answers online. They\u2019ll comb through blogs, articles, industry reports, and other sources, all in search of the best possible solution to the problem at hand. Your job is to stand out amongst this crowded market and make it to the shortlist of vendors they will contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stand out, your content must address exactly what your buyers are looking for. This is where your in-depth knowledge of your target market comes into play (as you already know from Factor 1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the reality is that buyers only spend 5% of their time with a given sales rep<\/a> during the purchasing process, on average. As they spend less time with sales reps and more time researching online, your content is becoming increasingly important<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, buyers make the crucial decision of whether or not to include your company on the shortlist based almost entirely on your content<\/a>. So, you must ensure that your content is highly valuable, relevant to their needs, and surfaces on search results pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personalized Content Fitted to the Buyer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not only is it is an opportunity to demonstrate your comprehensive knowledge<\/a> of the potential buyer\u2019s needs at every stage of their journey, it is the key to standing out in a crowded market. This approach works with the buyer\u2019s preferred process\u2014conducting independent research\u2014and provides them with useful information to substantiate their purchasing decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the key to building a successful marketing and sales strategy is to focus on what the buyer wants. Your focus on a single target market will shine through your content and encourage readers to set up a meeting. Now the question becomes\u2014how do you ensure that the right people are finding your content? Read Factor 3 <\/a>to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Creative Content River White Paper<\/a>
Content That Converts White Paper<\/a>
Fixing a Broken B2B Sales Model<\/a>
Digital Marketing Mix Infographic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 3: Tightly Align Sales and Marketing for High Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Marketing and sales should work hand in hand to increase growth. Ideally, marketing efforts will deliver about 50% of the leads<\/a> that the sales department will convert into buyers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with your revenue goal<\/a> and work backward from there to determine the targets your sales and marketing efforts should strive to reach. This process will align sales and marketing in pursuit of a common goal: growing revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve this goal, marketing has to deliver the right kinds of leads. It\u2019s not just about branding and spreading the word\u2014it\u2019s about finding highly motivated leads<\/a> interested in purchasing the product you\u2019re selling, capturing their attention, and nurturing them along the funnel toward sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a<\/strong>n infographic that illustrates the process of funneling prospects toward sales.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But for every highly qualified lead that is likely to convert into a sale, there are plenty of less-qualified leads who will find their way into your funnel. Maybe they\u2019re students researching a project, or an HR manager creating a job description. Whatever the reason, they\u2019ve come across your content, shared their contact information to download it, and are not at all interested in purchasing your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So as not to get stuck in the funnel, you should choose targeted keywords to filter out as many of these leads as possible, but you will probably still receive some low-quality leads. After that, it\u2019s the marketing department\u2019s job to sort through these leads and separate the promising ones from the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, automation is key. Your marketing department is busy with strategic high-level tasks, and separating leads manually is time-consuming. If you automate the process, you receive more of the job titles you want while minimizing the number of low-quality leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why the ultimate goal is to streamline the lead generation process<\/a> to deliver the highest quality leads possible to your sales team. To accomplish this, both departments must be on the same page in terms of their goals, progress, and how these indicators will be measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Fixing a Broken B2B Sales Model<\/a>
High Growth Lead Generation Cheat Sheet<\/a>
3 Prospecting Strategies and Why They\u2019re Effective<\/a>
Four Funnels Infographic<\/a>
High Growth Lead Generation Playbook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 4: Leverage Intelligent Sales & Marketing Data for Revenue Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since we have established how important marketing is, how can we quantify our findings? Traditionally, sales planning<\/a> relied on account segmentation<\/a>, driven by historical knowledge of the market rather than up-to-date facts. But things have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in a post-COVID-19 world, historical data may not be relevant at all. More importantly, the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly have long-lasting effects on consumers and companies alike. Using outdated data to develop your sales strategy will leave you struggling to keep up with buyers\u2019 needs in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking towards the future, experts predict that smarter, more responsible, and scalable AI<\/a> will be key to growing revenue from sales in today\u2019s world. Access to constantly updating information about your target markets and their industry trends will be essential to developing effective sales strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we discussed in Factor 3, sales and marketing should work hand in hand<\/a> to deliver sales growth. Intelligent data is the way to ensure that this process is working as it should be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And where exactly does this data come from? Automated sales and marketing tools will provide you with the information you need to develop an effective and dynamic strategy for increasing growth. Automated tools simplify the process of collecting useful sales data, which makes it easier to put this information into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Intelligent Sales Data: Good Things Take Time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In response to a drop in sales, the sales department might be too eager to make adjustments without taking the time to review performance and properly diagnose the issue affecting sales<\/a>. A sales diagnosis<\/a> is key to determine what went wrong and how to fix it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After conducting a sales diagnosis, the data you gather from practices like these should form the basis of your sales and marketing strategy. Rushing into a quick fix without uncovering and addressing the root of the problem will lead to more issues down the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the time to implement intelligent sales data tools, interpret that data, and apply it accurately to your situation is essential to developing the strongest possible sales strategy. This is similar to the process of managing by metrics, the subject of the fifth and final factor<\/a> affecting revenue growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Fixing a Broken B2B Sales Model<\/a> 
SOMAmetrics Sales Strategy<\/a>
The Importance of Performing Regular Sales Diagnoses<\/a>
Sales Diagnosis: A Sales Game-Changer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factor 5: Importance of Managing Sales & Marketing Operations by Metrics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To effectively foster growth, you must know exactly what is and isn\u2019t working and why. This is what managing by metrics<\/a> is all about\u2014to develop growth-minded strategies for sales and marketing, you must track the right metrics in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, you\u2019ll find some examples of critical metrics to track:<\/p>\n\n\n\n