A simple strategy framework for your Revenue function

Sales and Marketing is one of the most dynamic and complex domains you’ll encounter. It’s a fast-moving, ever-evolving battleground where success hinges on navigating a maze of roles, tactics, channels, and technologies. Sales teams range from high-touch enterprise closers to rapid-fire transactional sellers, each operating with distinct playbooks. Marketing is equally multifaceted, spanning everything from data-driven performance campaigns to bold, brand-driven storytelling. The array of channels—social, email, SEO, paid ads, events, partnerships—is vast, each requiring specialized expertise. Meanwhile, an overwhelming flood of tools promises transformation but often adds more noise than clarity. In this high-stakes landscape, organizations need a guiding framework—one that fosters strategic, cohesive decisions across every aspect of sales and marketing, ensuring all efforts work in sync to drive meaningful growth.

Throughout my years as a CRM implementation specialist, I’ve worked with a wide range of Sales and Marketing teams, each with its own unique dynamics and challenges. My role has been to build the technology that powers these teams, which requires a deep understanding of the key drivers behind their success. To navigate this complexity, I’ve developed a simple yet effective framework to categorize different team types, their strategies, and the technologies that can best optimize their performance.

The Two Critical Dimensions

At the heart of my framework lie two essential dimensions:

Deal Size

The first dimension is deal size. This is simply about understanding whether you’re working with high-value deals or lower-value transactions. The size of the deal influences everything—from the sales process to the tools you need to manage it. When I first started thinking about this, it became clear that deal size isn't just about revenue; it's about the complexity and the kind of resources you’re going to invest.

Relationship Type

The second dimension is relationship type. Here, I ask myself: How deep is the customer relationship? On one end, you have transactional teams that tend to be acquisition focused , building a strong pipeline and covering the market broadly. On the other, you have strategic teams that are in it for the long haul, nurturing relationships to extract maximum lifetime value. This distinction is key for me, as it helps determine the kind of approach and tools each team should use.

My Revenue Quadrants framework

With these two dimensions in mind, I’ve defined four distinct segments that capture the essence of various sales and marketing approaches:

As you can see, my belief is that there is a natural alignment between Sales and Marketing tactics. One should really be thinking of them in combination with each other and indeed thinking about a Revenue strategy rather than separate Sales and Marketing strategies. To me a Revenue strategy is about how you plan to make the most of the market opportunity with your current products, services, and customer relationships.

Let’s now deep dive into each quadrant:

1. Mass Market Sales & Marketing ??

(High Volume, Low Relationship Depth, Short Sales Cycle)

What It Means to Me: This quadrant is all about speed and scale. The focus is on closing many deals quickly, with minimal personal interaction. From a marketing perspective, the goal is to cast a wide net—leveraging performance marketing, SEO, social media, and digital ads to drive high-volume lead generation.

Key Characteristics:

• Short sales cycles (days to weeks)
• A high volume of deals, each typically lower in value
• Minimal relationship-building, with an emphasis on transactions
• Heavy reliance on automated digital channels

Metrics I Watch:

• Primary: Sales Volume
• Secondary: Conversion Rate, Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Sales Cycle Time

Sales & Marketing Strategies (Integrated):

• Sales: Focus on automated lead qualification and rapid inside sales outreach that minimizes delays - CRM with integrated telephony and chat. The CRM is streamlined for efficient lead management, with features like automated assignment rules and quick opportunity tracking.
• Marketing: Run broad-based, performance-driven campaigns using PPC, display ads, and social media. Automated drip email campaigns and retargeting strategies nurture these high volumes of leads, while integrated e-commerce tools (like one-click checkout and subscription management) ensure a seamless buying experience.

2. Loyalty Sales & Marketing ??

(Recurring Revenue, Medium Relationship Depth, Mid-Length Sales Cycle)

What It Means to Me: This quadrant is about deepening relationships with existing customers. Here, both sales and marketing focus on retention—nurturing customers over time to boost renewals, upsells, and overall customer lifetime value. Marketing takes on a more personalized, content-driven role, supporting customer success initiatives with tailored messaging and loyalty programs.

Key Characteristics:

• Recurring revenue models (e.g., subscriptions)
• Sales cycles that are longer than mass market but still relatively predictable
• Focus on upselling and cross-selling
• High reliance on ongoing customer engagement and account management

Metrics I Watch:

• Primary: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
• Secondary: Retention Rate, Upsell/Cross-Sell Revenue, Churn Rate

Sales & Marketing Strategies (Integrated):

• Sales: Employ proactive customer success initiatives, using CRM tools to track customer health (integrated survey feedback and AI driven health scoring), renewal dates, and upsell opportunities. Regular account reviews help keep the relationship strong - light touch Account planning functionality.
• Marketing: Use lifecycle marketing to deliver personalized content and automated renewal reminders. Campaigns such as win-back initiatives and targeted loyalty rewards are supported by integrated systems that tie in customer support and subscription management, ensuring a seamless customer experience.

3. Big Bang Sales & Marketing ??

(High Deal Size, Transactional, Long Sales Cycle)

What It Means to Me: Big Bang Sales are focused on securing large, one-off deals. Although these transactions are typically less about ongoing relationships, they involve complex negotiations and require meticulous planning. Marketing for this quadrant plays a supporting role by delivering highly targeted, account-based messages that address the specific needs of high-value prospects.

Key Characteristics:

• Infrequent, high-value deals
• Complex, long sales cycles (months to years)
• Involves multiple stakeholders and detailed contract negotiations
• Requires specialized, targeted engagement rather than broad messaging

Metrics I Watch:

• Primary: Average Deal Size
• Secondary: Win Rate, Sales Cycle Length, Proposal-to-Close Ratio

Sales & Marketing Strategies (Integrated):

• Sales: Leverage customizable CRM pipelines with detailed tracking for each stage of the deal, alongside CPQ tools to handle dynamic pricing and contract negotiations. Collaborative tools ensure that all team members stay aligned during lengthy negotiations.
• Marketing: Focus on account-based marketing (ABM) to deliver personalized, high-touch outreach. Tactics include targeted drip campaigns, executive webinars, and exclusive events that nurture these opportunities over time. The messaging is highly tailored to address the unique challenges of each high-value prospect.

4. Strategic Sales & Marketing ??

(High Deal Size, Deep Relationship Management, Long Sales Cycle)

What It Means to Me: Strategic Sales are my favorite—and for good reason. This quadrant is all about building enduring, trust-based relationships with enterprise clients. The approach is highly consultative and tailored, requiring both a deep understanding of the customer and a long-term vision. Marketing in this segment is equally sophisticated, focused on thought leadership, exclusive events, and continuous engagement to keep relationships warm and growing.

Key Characteristics:

• Large, enterprise-level deals with long-term contracts
• Deep, consultative relationships and multi-stakeholder decision-making
• Highly personalized sales approaches and ongoing customer support
• A strategic focus on long-term account expansion

Metrics I Watch:

• Primary: Account Expansion Revenue (or Net Revenue Retention)
• Secondary: Customer Retention Rate, Contract Renewal Rate, Sales Cycle Length

Sales & Marketing Strategies (Integrated):

• Sales: Emphasize detailed account management and strategic planning. Sales teams use advanced CRM features to map relationships, forecast revenue, and coordinate across departments. The focus is on creating customized, ongoing value for each enterprise client.
• Marketing: Implement hyper-personalized ABM campaigns and thought leadership initiatives that resonate with C-suite decision-makers. Exclusive events, executive briefings, and continuous multi-channel outreach are key to maintaining these high-value relationships. All of these efforts are woven into a seamless narrative that positions your company as a trusted long-term partner.

Playing in Multiple Segments

In my experience, very few companies stick to just one quadrant. Most of us operate across multiple segments. There may also be a shift in focus from one quadrant to another over time as a company’s Revenue strategy changes over time. For instance:

• A SaaS company might initially launch with a self-service, freemium model that relies heavily on Mass Market Sales to quickly build a user base. As the product matures, the company may then invest more in Strategic Sales to target high-value enterprise customers while also enhancing Loyalty Sales through customer success teams to improve retention and drive upsell opportunities. This balanced approach allows them to capture rapid growth early on and then transition into more sustainable, high-margin revenue streams as the market evolves.
• A manufacturing firm that starts by focusing on Big Bang Sales—securing large, one-off equipment deals to establish its presence and build initial revenue. Over time, as their product offerings mature and their market position strengthens, they might shift their strategy to include Loyalty Sales for recurring maintenance and service contracts. This not only stabilizes their income but also provides opportunities to expand customer relationships and secure long-term partnerships.
• Consulting firms often find themselves focusing on Strategic Sales for custom projects but over time may develop assets and productize their approach shifting to a Mass Market Sales approach

Ultimately, adjusting the balance of focus across these quadrants is about aligning your resources and initiatives with your evolving revenue goals. Whether you're in an early growth phase, seeking rapid expansion, or transitioning to a more mature market position, recognizing which segments to prioritize—and when—can be key to driving both short-term results and long-term success. From a technology perspective, you may want to drive your transformation programmes to focus on certain quadrants depending on your strategy.?

Final Thoughts

Thinking from first principles has always been a habit of mine, and over my years working on CRM transformations, I’ve thought about how a Revenue function can cut through the noise and stay focused on what truly drives growth. This Revenue Quadrants framework has helped me map different sales and marketing motions to clear, specific goals rather than getting lost in the latest trends or tools. By understanding which quadrants a business operates in, companies can ensure their teams, tactics, and technology are all aligned to deliver real impact.

Where does your business fit within this framework? Do you find yourself balancing multiple quadrants? I’d love to hear how you think about structuring your revenue function—share your thoughts in the comments!