For years, revenue operations have been largely determined by immediate customer needs. And typically projects address a problem that's already happened with the goal of ensuring that it never happens again.
The reactive approach is natural and necessary, but as the organisation matures, shifting to a proactive approach promises to deliver a strategic advantage and even more value.
To ensure continued success, teams must deliver ongoing value by anticipating and addressing roadblocks. And sales, marketing teams must work more closely together.
It's not easy to get out of being reactive to becoming proactive
With no clear role dedication, independent teams will work exclusively which will result in common challenges
- Inconsistent process
- Insufficient data
- Disparate systems
The friction and inefficiency of these internal problems will result in a disjointed customer experience. Which leads to an impact on revenues.
This, however, is a double-edged sword as it serves as a perfect catalyst for decision-makers to look into this matter further.
How to make the proactive approach a priority?
1. Develop and deliver an insightful RFP template for customers
There's one thing that all departments can agree on. RFPs tend to be poor. They're time consuming and repetitive. This can be a roadblock to closing a deal, and it can be difficult to scramble, review and revise required collaterals while verifying brand consistencies. But it's important to the customer.
To ensure that the RFP is relevant, all departments should work together to develop and issue a comprehensive RFP template. With this in mind, your team has an opportunity to make a big impact and lead the conversation by proactively providing customers with an RFP template.
2. Bring customer success into the process
A customer journey for most businesses looks like an assembly line. This linear process often creates a disjointed and disappointing experience for customers.
Often prospects have specific questions related to any one particular topic. For example,
- onboarding
- implementation
- customer use cases
- and more
Salespersons usually only provide the surface information and often moves on too quickly. This leads to the inability to develop a stronger connection with the customer. The opportunity to provide them with helpful insight has been missed.
Involve the customer success earlier in the process. This will help you to demonstrate your unique proposition and position your company's competitive advantage right in the minds of the customers. This will help to build rapport, and it will provide an invaluable mix of insights, use cases and deep product knowledge which will boost your organisation's reputation.
3. Conduct regular reviews
Sales direction that drives growth is important. And it's the responsibility of the team to receive input from various members, to interpret the information, understand the impact and make a plan to address it.
Don't make the mistake of operating independently because these processes are interelatted and making decisions without understanding the interdepartmental dependencies can prove to be a very expensive mistake.
Set regular strategy sessions to help you get ahead of any issues and provides a forum for feedback to improve. This platform will give way to potential changes, chances for brainstorming of ideas and a clear way to address concerns early and cohesively.
Conclusion
Shifting from reactive to proactive supports sales growth. Which results in an improved customer experience. This, in turn, reduces churn and increases customer referrals.
Make a positive impact to be the bottom line, because it will ultimately result in a positive sales result.
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