Dominique Levin’s Post

A couple of months ago, we held a roundtable on #ConsumptionBasedForecasting with Meghan Gill as the host. At the top of the session, she made this point: “There isn’t a playbook for running a consumption-based business the way there is for running a subscription based business.” Since then, BoostUp.ai has decided to work on filling that gap, a big part of which includes forecasting consumption revenue accurately. Amit Sasturkar, one of our Co-Founders and CTO, first wrote an article detailing the basics of CBF, then our CEO Justin Shriber drafted a white paper on what it takes to accurately forecast in a consumption-based business. And this Thursday at 11:00 pst, Justin, Santosh Gowda from MongoDB and Chris Klayko from Databricks will demonstrate how to master consumption-based forecasting from their own, successful experiences. This will be as meaty as webinars come I think. They'll tackle: - The expected benefits you should plan for when you shift from a traditional opportunity-based model to a consumption-based model - The operational challenges and considerations associated with that shift - How to accurately track the right data and activities, and it’s impact on forecasting and accountability - Sales compensation planning and how it needs to change in a consumption-based business - The company culture and rep behavioral changes you’ll need to plan on and adopt when you switch This is a can't-miss session! https://lnkd.in/eTq4daib

Want to make sharper decisions? Throw away the nonsense KPIs. For instance, do multiple close date pushes into a later quarter hurt or help the chances of winning a deal? I recently ran a LinkedIn poll on that question. * Two thirds said it hurts. * No one said it improves your chances.  * The other third were unsure. Fortunately, it’s easy to answer questions like this. Just measure it. We did. See my colleague Bryan’s blog for an answer. You may be surprised.  https://lnkd.in/eRxjXqvk We hear “data-driven insights” a lot. But for those of us trying to be data driven, “insight” has a specific meaning: understanding how inputs (like close date pushes in the example above) affect outcomes like sales. Summarizing the attributes of a deal without connecting them to outcomes is not helping. That’s just describing a situation. Worse yet, is calling something a negative or positive—without evidence. That's a distraction at best. A bad decision at worst. If you have a RevTech platform that answers the questions above, congrats. If not, it’s worth asking if your “insights” are actually insightful. Maybe you should ignore them until a connection is proven. #salesmanagement #salesleadership #salesenablement #salesoperations #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #analytics #datascience #forecasting #sales

For 20 years I have been working as an employee in organizations ranging from early stage startups to late stage enterprises. The experience that I gained in those organizations is valuable to many others, so a year ago I decided to start offering my services in a fractional capacity: parttime, interim engagements ranging from 2-3 days per week and 3-9 months duration. Speaking to founders and CEOs, many are challenged with declining growth rates and low target attainment of sellers. Assessing the root cause, the following reasons keep coming up: 1️⃣ Scale too early: Finding Product Market Fit is critical, but don’t scale your sales team before finding Go To Market Fit. → Having repeatable processes in place across all GTM functions creates a foundation for scale. Only once processes have proven to work again and again, you add resources for growth. 2️⃣ Lack of focus: Many companies sell to a broad Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This creates complexity in finding Product Market Fit, results in weak value propositions, and sellers that lack deep customer understanding. Long term, customers are more likely to churn. → Instead, focus on a narrow ICP to create repeatable processes quickly. Win the best accounts with low churn and reach GTM Fit so you can start to scale. 3️⃣ Blended data: Analysing business performance using blended data is risky. It can obscure details and lead to misleading insights and poor decisions. Your average deal size can look great, based on a few outliers in your data set. What incorrect conclusions can you potentially draw? → Instead, measure data at the right degree of granularity. Segment data where necessary. And keep context in mind. Recognizable? Thanks 🐶 Jacco van der Kooij and the team at Winning by Design for the inspiration!

Are you looking for things in the wrong place? It’s a common issue - we sometimes search for things in the wrong places, especially when our judgment is clouded, perhaps by having one too many adult beverages. There is an old story about a drunk man searching for his keys under a streetlamp, when a police officer offers to help him search he asks if the man is sure he lost his keys under the streetlamp. The man says “no, but this is where the light is.” This happens all too often in the corporate world. CEOs will look to cut costs in non-revenue generating departments like customer service/support because it makes the bottom line look good - not thinking about how this will in turn reduce revenue in the long run because existing customers may cancel due to poor customer service. His judgment is clouded by the need to cut costs quickly. Businesses that are successful are able to pull the right levers, at the right time, rather than using knee-jerk reactions to make a temporary impact to the bottom line. For example, at successful organizations: - Leaders are able to use data to drive positive change in the organization, like knowing which reps have the highest probability of closing their deals, and forecasting them accurately. - Leaders know how to remove blockers and help their sales teams move the needle on deals. - Trust exists across departments, making hand-offs between pre and post sales seamless. At Pact we help you collect data in a much richer way that answers these questions and instill trust across teams. We use AI to go beyond just the numbers to reveal how a company works - and help you take action. The big changes in how we make decisions are going to come from collecting new data, not from recutting the same few dozen numbers we've always looked at. Are you ready to actually ACT on your data? Get in touch for a free trial of Pact today.

Companies squander $2 trillion in economic value every year, globally according to BCG. The source? Revenue leak. AKA revenue your organization loses when your revenue process breaks down. We surveyed 420 B2B sales and revenue leaders, including CROs, frontline sales managers, and RevOps teams, to: ✅ Identify where Revenue Leak happens ✅ Provide actionable strategies to mitigate those issues Our full findings are in the 2024 Revenue Leak Report, empowering senior executives with the insights they need to understand and combat Revenue Leak effectively. Where are some of these hidden pitfalls in revenue management? We created an infographic to help reveal our key takeaways. Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/gBMqx9yQ

Evaluation timeline? Decision timeframe? Sign-off process? Project kick-off date? Go-live date? TIMING is CRUCIAL in sales; now there's data to back it up. Salesloft's data science team analyzed insights from 2,000+ meeting recordings and transcripts linked to 1,200+ deals. The findings are clear: mentioning timing early in the deal cycle significantly impacts the sales timeline. If teams didn’t mention timing at all early in the deal cycle, they averaged roughly 40 days to get to the next stage. If they did talk about timelines, they only spent about 20 days in each stage of the cycle across all deals, won or lost. Sales leaders, here's a key takeaway: Encourage your reps to delve deeper into timing, milestones, and plans during the discovery phase. This approach can streamline deal qualification, leading to more efficient processes. Discover more insights here: https://lnkd.in/eGzUbCxs #Sales #DataScience #SalesStrategy

"How do you 10X revenue from a single client in less than 2 years?" ($1M to $11M) I asked this... ...of a client while discussing recent progress & wins. The #Formula* they outlined isn't rocket science. ✅ SCORECARD FUTHER BELOW ✅ __________________________ 🟦🟦🟦 THE FORMULA 🟦🟦🟦 (1) Increasing #Revenue from an existing client       [dependent upon] (2) Solving increasingly more critical client #problems       [dependent upon] (3) Increased #visibility into client goals & challenges       [dependent upon] (4) Expanding the breadth, depth & quality        of your #relationships across the client org       [dependent upon] (5) Focusing foremost on the #client happiness        (vs revenue, margin, other internal agendas)       [dependent upon] (6) Ensuring multiple teams are #executing well       [dependent upon] (7) Ensuring multiple teams have a cohesive #strategy __________________________ 🟨🟨🟨 THE CAVEAT 🟨🟨🟨 I often hear: "Just hire exceptional talent with great experience" Yes, you need exceptional talent. Yet, it's necessary but not sufficient. You need #Strategy + #Execution 🟡 STRATEGY: A clear, credible plan 🟡 EXECUTION: Accountable follow-through The Strategy + Execution span everything from...   → Metrics   → Resourcing   → Org Structure   → Incentive plans   → Product strategy   → Executive mandate .... to so many other areas __________________________ ✅ SCORECARD ✅ For each of the 7 items in the formula above: ask yourself whether the noted activities are happening effectively, consistently, and scalably? Score as follows: 0: Not happening at all 1: Happening, but neither effectively or consistently 2: Happening effectively, but not consistently     (or vice versa) 3: Effectively & consistently, but not scalably     4: Effectively, consistently AND scalably Take your score and divide by 28. What % are you at? __________________________ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ACTION 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 If you're a #CEO or #CRO of a business with enterprise GTM opportunities but without enterprise GTM motions & results... ▶️ REACH OUT ◀️ and we can discuss how to implement Enterprise Account Management to break through growth plateaus. FOOTNOTE *This is Enterprise Account Management 101   yet it's quite common that I see these basics   not in place, despite seasoned teams & leaders.

New concept stolen from investment portfolio management. It works too. Backtest show at a 20%+ improvement per quarter over managing priorities with a Commit list. DM me for more info. #salesmanagement #salesleadership #salesenablement #salesoperations #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #analytics #datascience #forecasting #sales

Every sales leader needs to forecast and maximize sales. Most forecasts are just summary reports. Rollups. Or an informed analysis of what will likely happen. You didn't see anything in there about maximizing sales did you? Doing that requires looking beyond simple ratios and forecasts to better models—more nuanced and useful. It requires exploring models that reflect different types of pipeline—and your planning horizon. Those models are out there, within reach. This article has details on which roads to take and some to avoid: https://lnkd.in/eCdnq3ia #salesmanagement #salesleadership #salesenablement #salesoperations #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #analytics #datascience #forecasting #sales

🚀 How I Helped My Clients Accurately Forecast Revenue: A Conversation 📊 Revenue forecasting is more than just predicting numbers—it's the foundation of sustainable growth. Over the years, I’ve worked with a variety of clients, and one thing I've learned is that accurate forecasting isn’t just about crunching numbers; it’s about using the right tools and strategies. Here’s what has worked really well: 🔍 Leverage Data Analytics Tools First off, implementing advanced analytics platforms like SEMRush and SimilarWeb has been a game-changer. These tools have given my clients invaluable insights into market trends and customer behaviour. With this data in hand, we’re able to make informed decisions that really improve our forecasting accuracy.  📈 Develop Predictive Models Another thing that’s been crucial is developing predictive models. By analyzing a variety of factors, from market shifts to consumer preferences, we’ve been able to effectively anticipate changes. This has led to more reliable forecasts and, ultimately, smarter business decisions.  🌐 Utilize Scenario Planning With today’s market unpredictability, you can’t skip out on scenario planning. By creating multiple scenarios based on different market conditions, my clients have been able to stay ahead of the curve, mitigate risks, and adapt quickly to changes  🔧 Optimize Sales Pipeline Management Finally, optimizing sales pipeline management makes a huge difference. We’ve implemented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to track leads, opportunities, and deal stages. This structured approach not only enhances our forecasting accuracy but also boosts overall sales performance. In a nutshell, accurate revenue forecasting helps make strategic decisions that drive long-term success. And with these strategies in place, my clients have consistently outperformed expectations and confidently navigated their markets. #RevenueForecasting #DataAnalytics #PredictiveModels #ScenarioPlanning #SalesPipeline #GrowthMarketing