“Americans’ economic ratings have declined steeply since the beginning of the year: Just 13% now describe economic conditions as excellent (1%) or good (12%), down from 28% in January. About four-in-ten (38%) describe economic conditions today as only fair, while 49% describe them as poor, roughly double the share who described the economy as poor six months ago (24%).” – Pew Research Center
Resources on the most effective sales compensation plans typically focus on maximizing revenue. The goal of these efforts is to incentivize salespeople to sell more to drive revenue growth. And while revenue generation is a goal inherently shared by all for-profit companies, a new goal is emerging these days. Today’s tight labor market has companies reconsidering their goals, causing them to prioritize employee retention.
Why is retaining employees emerging as a top business priority? The simple answer is that employee turnover is a growth killer. Churn is expensive and disruptive. High employee turnover costs money and time when new employees must be recruited, hired, and trained. It distracts management, pulling their focus away from other revenue-generating activities. It takes a toll on the loyal employees that choose to stay, making them more likely to burnout. It damages a company’s reputation, making it more difficult for them to attract top talent. For all these reasons, churn stalls growth initiatives.
In that light retaining employees is an intrinsic component of building and sustaining revenue. And yet, structuring your sales compensation plans to combat turnover requires a different approach than a revenue-maximizing approach.
There is plenty of advice available for business owners and CEOs of struggling companies to help them right the ship. But what if your “problem” is simply just that you are doing well and need to figure out how to take the next steps to grow revenue?
Every day I work with organizations that are succeeding, but they are stuck where they are. Their current revenue figures have plateaued, and they are unable to get to that next level. The issue they need to tackle is not staying afloat, it is figuring out how to increase their speed to win the race.
How do companies that have their business model figured out and are on sure footing propel themselves forward to that next leap in revenue growth? This revenue growth guide will give you the tactical advice you need to build a growth strategy to take your company to the next level!
Strategic business planning has always been an organization’s key to finding success. However, when the pandemic hit, strategic plans went out the window. Changing consumption patterns and buyer expectations rendered sales forecasts obsolete and supply chain challenges turned “business as usual” on its head. Businesses pivoted, shifted, and rode the wave eagerly anticipating a “return to normal” that never came.
In the wake of this massive disruption, it has become abundantly clear that the business landscape as we knew it has been permanently changed. How we do business has changed, who we do business with has changed, and the kind of business we do has changed. The long-term planning that companies once relied on to guide their strategic moves was largely put on hold, and continuous re-forecasting served as a tenuous foundation that companies came to rely on for their short-term planning.
A colleague of mine has been living in his basement Airbnb rental for almost four months as he renovates the rest of his home. As is typical these days, every part of the project took longer than expected with the contractor running into delays getting materials and problems finding subcontractors to do the work. Finally in the home stretch, he and his wife gave the contractor an exact shade of Sherwin-Williams paint that they wanted used on the walls. This is not their first home renovation, and as such, they are picky about their paint. Previous experiences, both good and bad, have made them die-hard Sherwin-Williams brand loyalists.
But when the painting was complete, they immediately recognized that the paint they had requested had not been used. They asked if the painters had used Sherwin-Williams paint. They insisted they had.
Over a decade ago, an article in the International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration defined a change agent in the following way:
“A change agent is anyone who has the skill and power to stimulate, facilitate, and coordinate the change effort. Change agents may be either external or internal. The success of any change effort depends heavily on the quality and workability of the relationship between the change agent and the key decision makers within the organization.”
And in the time since, this definition has remained relevant while the use of the term “change agent” has become more widespread.
However, this term has not always been looked upon favorably. Back in 2016 Forbes published an article declaring change agents “a hoax” and setting the internet ablaze with well-articulated counter perspectives arguing the importance of change agents. In the years since, the business world has come to embrace the idea of change agents and understand the value that they can bring to organizations undergoing significant changes.
In more than 20 years as a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) I have seen the difference between effective and ineffective leadership first-hand. And while the names and organizations may vary, the professional attributes and character traits largely do not. There is a core set of characteristics that makes the top CROs the best at what they do.
If you are asking this question, you are already doing something right. Taking the time to analyze whether your Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy needs to be either refreshed or overhauled is a critical component of keeping up with both the market and your industry.
Determining whether you need a new B2B GTM strategy this year will depend largely on how old your existing plan is. If your GTM strategy was developed before COVID and has not been updated since, it definitely needs attention. If it was written or updated over the last two years, it likely still needs work but may not have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
