Revenue Disruption: Game-Changing Sales and Marketing Strategies to Accelerate Growth

Chapter 19

Shining a Bright Light on the Revenue Machine

In business, as in politics and warfare, information is power. The ability to rapidly collect, accurately analyze, and promptly act on information makes the difference between triumph and failure. In fact, according to a study from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, companies that use “data-driven decision making” achieved productivity levels 5 to 6 percent higher than could be explained by other factors. Simply put, decisions based on “data and analysis” result in better revenue growth than those based on the traditional management arts of “experience and intuition.” Analytics offers one of the most powerful levers available to produce more predictable, sustainable revenue performance, along with significantly improved bottom line results.

Analytics also drive continuous improvement. The change required for Revenue Performance Management is a process for which companies must establish key metrics. They must then apply analytics to those metrics as part of a continuous, systematic effort to find ways to improve. And although each individual improvement might only be a fraction of a percent, those changes aggregate into striking progress over time.

The right analytics can help organizations turn raw RPM data into knowledge about optimizing each stage of the revenue process. They can range from tactical analytics that help marketing practitioners make better day-to-day decisions about how to allocate investments across different ...