Revenue is an Outcome, Not a Strategy
Years ago, when I began my career, the statement above would have thrown me for a loop. At that time, one might have called me a revenue junkie. Much like a drug addict who doesn’t care how they get their fix, I was solely focused on generating revenue and sales, with little regard for how they were achieved. Whether or not my company excelled at the service or even offered it wasn't relevant to me. If a customer wanted something and I could sell it, they were going to buy it. But the long-term consequences of these sales weren’t always positive, and it took me a while to recognize that. Like an addict, I was oblivious to the impact these sales were having on my ability to scale the business.
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The most challenging lesson for me was understanding that while anyone can achieve short-term success, creating a repeatable, scalable "engine"—as Alan Whitman would call it—is much harder. While every company aims to grow and increase or at least maintain revenue, it’s crucial to realize that revenue is just an outcome, not a strategy. Without a clear plan, revenue generation won’t become repeatable, and as a result, your growth will be limited.
So, how does one build an engine or create repeatable, scalable growth? There are plenty of experts out there, but here are my simple steps to help you along the journey:
1) Know Your Buyer
In my opinion, this is the most important step. Many companies today sell services that don’t align with their buyer's ability to purchase or influence decisions. For example, if your buyer is an IT professional and you’re selling executive coaching as a service, there's a mismatch. Yes, the IT buyer might be able to purchase executive coaching for their team or even themselves, but their ability to buy it for the entire firm is limited. The ideal buyer for this service is usually the CHRO, Head of HR, or L&D, with the CEO as a potential influencer as well. If your buyer is in IT, your offerings should align with their specific pain points and their ability to purchase your service at scale.
2) Align Your Product with Your Buyer
When creating a new service offering to grow your business organically, it's essential to build services that align with your buyer's needs. While the first step involves targeting the right person, this step is about designing the offering itself. What drives your buyer? Is it cost savings and efficiency? Stability? Security? Understanding what your buyer values most in their role and designing a product that addresses those needs is crucial.
3) Build a Go-To-Market (GTM) Plan or Strategy
Depending on the size of your firm, creating an overarching GTM plan might seem daunting. However, at a minimum, you should craft a strategy for growing your new offering rather than just diving into sales. Many firms fail to map out how the buyer will receive this new service or offering. They might hire a person, acquire a small firm, or take some other action and then declare they’re now in this new line of business, instructing their team to sell it. In a small firm, there may be some initial success, as mentioned in the first point. However, this approach is unlikely to scale, and soon enough, the question will arise: why isn’t it growing anymore? The answer lies in the lack of a plan to integrate the new service into the core foundation of what the firm does for its customers. To offer something new and expand your service offerings, you need to take the time to align the offering with your overall GTM plan. This ensures that when the initial excitement fades, the momentum continues—because the new service is not just another offering but an integral part of your foundation.
?4) Track & Adjust
The final step in this process is to track the performance of your GTM plan or strategy and be prepared to pivot or adjust as needed. Creating plans is easy—anyone with PowerPoint and Excel skills can put one together. However, the reality is that you’re making assumptions about what will work and what won’t. The likelihood that you’re 100% correct is low, so in my experience, the ability to quickly adjust or pivot is as important as having the right plan in the first place. Make sure to track all the key attributes or activities identified for this new revenue creation effort to be successful.
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To quote Aaron Ross: "Of course, you want more revenue, but what good is it if it isn't predictable?"