Sometimes a Revenue Problem isn’t a Revenue Problem…

Recently a partner of mine and I had the opportunity to do a “Revenue Review” with a new client.  We spent a couple days diving deep into the sales and lead generation processes, and gathering significant data about the company.  There were several areas we believed we could help.  However …

The most telling part of the process happened the next day when I had the opportunity to talk with a partner that generated a significant double-digit percentage of their revenue.  When asked if they would do another deal with the company, the answer was “not until they fix their product management problem”.  It turns out that the business partner had made commitments to some of their clients, and had to apologize for not delivering when this company was substantially late on their delivery.  As I dug further into the issue, I found that a lack of institutional process for developing commercial product kept them from being able to deliver on predictable dates.

Looking back on some of the issues we discussed in the on-site portion of our discovery, it was clear what was behind them.  Could it be that the reason why a salesperson leaves or is not satisfied has nothing to do with compensation, but rather their reputation with their contact list?

Being able to take a “holistic” approach to the business is critical to uncovering the real issues behind revenue generation.

When has there been a time in your business when the problem wasn't what it seemed at first take?