How To Proactively Cause Your Revenue Growth

Are you causing your future? Or guessing where you will land? 

Though strategic planning for revenue growth is critical to success, it is often overlooked in the day-to-day tactical challenges of running a business.

It’s already more than three months into the year and based on my work with clients and comments made in our Intentional Revenue Growth workshop, it’s obvious that while some of us are well on the way to achieving our clearly articulated intentions, some are going to “wing it,” others are still writing the plan, and a few are relying on bluebirds flying in the window at the appropriate moment. Also, all plans – whether complex or simple – require constant updating during the year because planning is a live and organic process. Creating a plan, putting it on the shelf, then checking on Dec 31st to see if you succeeded, is closer to making predictions than it is to being intentionally proactive.

If you haven’t already done it this year, there’s still time to:

1. Define precise and specific goals, both short- and long-term.
2. Create a clearly articulated measurement plan: Develop measurable parameters and communication signals that ring loudly to advise when you are on-, or off-target to achieving your goals for the year and each month in-between.
3. Create an implementation plan:

• Identify accountability. Who on your team is responsible for what? Do you delegate and communicate with your team? Even if you work all alone, do you plan what you’ll do, when and how you’ll do it, and what resources are required?
• Define your ideal targeted clients. Yes, there are lots of fish in the sea… but are you looking for those you really want to work with – by industry, size, location, and type? In fact, are you even fishing in the right sea?
• Refine what you offer. Decide upon the specific type of work you prefer to focus on for both satisfaction and profitability - creating the opportunities you want by proactive design.
• Identify resources. Name and locate the people and methodologies (internal and external) you will rely on to create and close new-biz opportunities.
• Articulate opportunity qualification criteria. Establish ideal clarity about what new-biz leads you will and won’t “pitch” so you don’t waste resources chasing too many unachievable wins.
• Install and improve pipeline management tools. Make sure that real opportunities don’t slip through the cracks and gather critical data with which you can identify the specifics around where and what you win and lose.
• Establish a pricing policy. Do you value-price? Do you charge by the hour regardless of the value delivered? Are you committed to win-win relationships with your clients and willing to back that committment across the organization?

Wherever you are engaged in the process, you can get in front of your growth instead of being reactive all year long. You can declare precisely what you want to end up with and then, when properly articulated and communicated throughout your organization, you can use that declaration to guide every decision you and your team make about when, what, how, and with whom you choose to grow your revenue.

The steps above are all part of a system that can be developed by anyone independently - all it takes is focus, commitment, and time. You can work with a consultant. You could participate in formal guided exercises provided by others online. You could participate in a workshop where you will be led step-by-step through the process.

You can begin the path to re-vitalizing your revenue growth by adopting the simple definition of Intentional Revenue Growth we use at Virtual Chief Revenue Officer:

Intentional Revenue Growth is:

“The design and implementation of a strategic plan to reach a precise revenue goal within a defined period of time.”

#vcro, #sales, #growth, #business development, #strategy