This article continues the conversation around the Annual Planning process. Once you determine what your bets should be, the next step is to evaluate the amount of time and effort needed to achieve them. The key: narrow in on specific strategic initiatives that will have the most positive revenue impact. Then invest in them.
The most important truth in commercial planning? Not everything can be priority. Because when everything is, nothing really is.
That is certainly the case for revenue leaders who are placing bets during their annual revenue planning process.
SBI’s research has found that the CEOs who focus on a select number of commercial initiatives achieve the best results. But it’s not just a case of focusing on specific initiatives; it’s the financial commitment they make to them that gets them across the line.
In our recent report, How Companies Are Achieving and Sustaining Commercial Momentum in 2023, we found that the companies that were experiencing the highest momentum were the ones that were less concerned about expense management, but at the same time were continuing to invest in growth.
The fact is, high-momentum companies are far less likely to have undergone or anticipate a reduction in their workforce – 23% compared with 52% of low-momentum companies. They’re also less likely to have undergone an incremental hiring freeze – 55% compared with 70% of low-momentum companies.
SBI’s recommendation is for the executive team to undertake a collaborative effort to select just three to five bets based on these criteria:
- time to realization
- level of effort
- impact on enterprise value
By applying these criteria, the executive team is then able to objective, considered, and informed decisions about where their resources will be most effective.
Placing bets is the third step in SBI’s 5-step logical sequencing process for revenue leaders. You can learn about this critical step in this simple guide.
