30 Sep 25
Half of CEOs doubt their growth plan. SBI reveals 4 planning moves outperformers use to design strategies that hit 2025–2026 revenue targets.
SBI’s latest CEO Value Creation Pulse: Correcting and Avoiding Future Planning Miscues reveals a sharp divide between companies that are beating their revenue targets and those falling behind. Surprisingly, the difference isn’t how hard teams are working or how well they execute. It comes down to whether they’re planning based on a fact pattern that matches today’s market realities.
With only half of CEOs confident in their plan (even though nearly 60% feel confident in their ability to execute), the takeaway is clear: execution isn’t enough if the blueprint is flawed.
This blog outlines four moves market leaders are making to re-engineer their planning approach and unlock growth in 2025 and beyond.
1. Start with Strategic Bets, Not Last Year's Playbook
Over 80% of outperforming companies started this year by identifying a few high-conviction strategic bets. They didn’t just rehash last year’s model—they asked: “Where can we win next?”
These bets were grounded in data: market shifts, competitor signals, and changes in the buying journey. Once aligned with the big moves, leaders cascaded decisions down into coverage, organization design, and talent strategy. Those sequencing matters. It avoided siloed plans and misaligned execution.
CEOs who win know the cost of starting with tactics and adjusting strategy later. They flipped the order: strategy first, structure second.
2. Prioritize Accounts Using Quantitative Lens
Planning that drives growth starts with knowing where the growth is.
Companies exceeding targets were 42 percentage points more likely to quantify market potential and prioritize accounts based on fit, buying intent, and whitespace—not just legacy segments or relationship history.
This objective view of the account universe led to better resource allocation and higher conversion. And it helped teams avoid the common trap of chasing low-potential accounts while missing out on high-potential whitespace.
With 70% of CEOs reporting shifts in their ideal customer profile (ICP), it’s clear: the only wrong move is to assume your customers haven’t changed.
3. Build Pricing Strategy Around What Customers Value (and Will Pay For)
In volatile markets, pricing power comes from precision.
Nearly 90% of outperformers validated both what customers require and what they’re willing to pay. In contrast, just 58% of underperformers did the same. That 30+ point gap translated to missed revenue, over-servicing, and poor expansion yield.
Market leaders took a structured approach. They mapped service levels, tested pricing models, and adjusted based on willingness-to-pay signals. That allowed them to create value-aligned offers, protect margins, and grow wallet share without breaking customer trust.
4. Build from a Fact Base that can Hold Up to Reality
Three out of four outperformers planned from a complete and rigorous fact base. Just half of the underperformers did the same.
That means winners:
- Had visibility into leading indicators, not just lagging metrics
- Quantified account potential, not just pipeline volume
- Validated growth assumptions with fresh data, not gut feel
Without a complete fact base, planning becomes a guessing game. And in today’s market, guessing wrong is expensive.
Why this Matters Now
Most leadership teams don’t lack drive or discipline. But if your strategy is off—even slightly—the gap between intention and outcome widens fast.
This research makes one thing clear: the companies hitting their numbers in 2025 aren’t doing more. They’re doing it differently. They’ve accepted that volatility is the norm, not the exception—and they’ve adapted their planning accordingly.
They’re not just building plans that “should” work. They’re building plans that are designed to win in this market, with current customer behavior, pricing pressure, and shifting buyer needs in mind.
You might be running the company or executing its growth plan—but in both cases, it’s worth asking:
- Have you made real strategic bets, or just stretched what worked before?
- Are your teams aligned on the plan, or just aligned on a number?
- Can your plan withstand early underperformance, or will it trigger a reset by May?
If the answers aren’t clear, you’re not behind. But it’s time to get serious about the plan you’ll count on in 2026.
What Can You Do About It?
If you’re a CEO or GTM leader still working from an outdated planning cycle or relying on a plan built from instinct and historical assumptions, you’re already behind.
This research shows that outperformers have changed how they plan, not just how they execute. They’re:
- Starting earlier with cross-functional alignment
- Building strategic plans from current market signals, not last year’s performance
- Prioritizing growth bets with measurable ROI and account-level clarity
Here’s what you can do now:
- Pressure test your 2026 plan: Is it grounded in reality or wishful assumptions?
- Revisit your strategic bets: Are they aligned to today’s demand signals?
- Align your commercial engine: Do sales, marketing, and CS share a plan or just a target?
A midyear reset in 2026 is avoidable, but only if planning starts smarter now. The companies outperforming in 2025 aren’t lucky. They’re disciplined.
They got clear on where growth would come from, aligned their teams around strategic bets, and executed a planning process that matched the complexity of the market.
Now, as CEOs and GTM leaders start looking to 2026, the lesson is clear: Don’t wait for the market to calm down. Plan for what it actually is.
Plan Smarter Now or Risk a 2026 Reset
Get the CEO Value Creation Pulse: Correcting and Avoiding Future Planning Miscues to see:
- Benchmarks from 120+ CEOs
- The 12 planning disciplines that separate winners from underperformers
- A proven timeline to avoid a midyear reset in 2026
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