Sales & Marketing Management - September/October 2008 - (Page 40)

THE WAY I SEE IT BY RANDALL K. MURPHY How are we really doing? The answer doesn’t lie in cold, hard figures H ow are we doing? When searching for the answer to that particular question, one area you’d be wise not to focus your attention on revenue. This holds equally true for another, related query: “How will we be doing in the future?” Don’t get me wrong. Revenue, especially profitable revenue, is unquestionably terrific—a wonderful thing for any organization. Just the thought of meeting (and then exceeding) aggressive objectives for profitable revenue is inspiring. Profitable revenue makes shareholders and market analysts happy. It attracts talent, makes room for innovation, funds raises and bonuses, and drives growth. Ultimately, there isn’t a whole you can say to disparage profitable revenue. Nevertheless, it isn’t the best measure of an organization’s current health and vitality. Current revenue, even current profitable revenue, is a strong relationships with clients and customers; and 2) assisting clients and customers to achieve optimal business results using our products and service solutions. You’re already doing that, you say? Maybe so. Maybe not. From my perspective, a disproportionate number of discussions are focused almost solely on revenue. Yes, you do have revenue targets to hit and bills to pay. But relationships and results drive revenue. For every question we ask about revenue, we need to be asking at least From my perspective, a disproportionate number of discussions are focused almost solely on revenue. Yes, you do have revenue targets to hit and bills to pay. But revenue is a lagging— rather than leading—indicator. Relationships and results drive revenue. one about relationships and one about results. We should be having entire discussions focused on the quantity and quality of our relationships. We should be having entire discussions focused on the measurable business results we are achieving with clients and customers. And when we have a company or sales meeting, we should invest as much effort in assessing our relationships and results as we do forecasting our revenue. If we, as leaders of our organizations, don’t constantly remind our people about the criticality of relationships and results, they might get the idea that 1) we don’t care that much about either; or 2) we don’t recognize that they drive revenue. If we focus solely on revenue, some of our people may resort to short-sighted methods of generating short-term revenue—methods that can end up severely damaging relationships, results and, yes, eventually revenue. The ultimate purpose for the relationship between organizations is to create value through results, and it is the responsibility of the individuals representing those organizations—and their leaders—to create the greatest value. If you want to obsess about something, why not obsess about building strong relationships and providing optimal results? Predictable, profitable revenue will be sure to follow. www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com RANDALL K. MURPHY IS THE FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF ACCLIVUS R3 SOLUTIONS (WWW.ACCLIVUS.COM). HE IS THE CREATOR OF THE CONSULTATIVE APPROACH AND IS RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE AS A LEADER IN PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT, COLLABORATION AND COACHING lagging indicator. It doesn’t tell us how we are doing, only how we have done. To measure current performance, we must look to the relationships we are currently initiating, supporting and building, and we must look to the results our clients and customers are achieving with our products and service solutions. These are the best measures of how well we are doing, and they are the most reliable predictors of how we will be doing in the future. We can best affect tomorrow’s revenue by ensuring our organizations are 1) initiating, building and supporting 40 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 http://WWW.ACCLIVUS.COM http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - September/October 2008

Sales &�Marketing Management - September/October 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Smart Sales Sales Strategy Smart Marketing Marketing Strategy Smart Management Management Strategy The Low-Cost Sales Leader Why Sales Process Gets the Shaft Training Q&A Technology Making the Case for Travel (Part II) Travel/Meetings On the Road The Way I See It

Sales & Marketing Management - September/October 2008

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