Revenue Engine Assessment

Positioning

Positioning & Proposition

Whether the business has decided what it is, or simply accumulated an answer.

If three of your leadership team described what the business does, how similar would the answers be? Not similar at all Same words, different meanings Broadly similar Consistent, because it was agreed Consistent, agreed, and tested with actual customers Not applicable to us

What can you say that a competitor could not say with a straight face? Nothing specific comes to mind Things we believe but could not evidence One or two genuine differences A clear difference we can evidence A difference customers repeat back to us unprompted Not applicable to us

When did the positioning last change? It has never really been set It evolved without anyone deciding When the website was last rebuilt Deliberately, within the last two years Deliberately, and it is revisited on a cadence Not applicable to us

How is your pricing arrived at? It is roughly what we have always charged Roughly what competitors seem to charge Cost plus a margin Based on what the value is to the customer Value-based, tested, and differentiated by segment Not applicable to us

Segments

Segment Focus

Which customers the business is built for, and which it merely accepts.

Which customers does the business actually make its money from? We would have to work that out We know the biggest accounts We know by sector or size We know by segment, including profitability By segment, with profitability and how much effort each takes to serve Not applicable to us

Which customers do you serve that you probably should not? We take what comes There are some, we suspect We know roughly which We know, and we have started declining them We know, and the commercial model actively steers away from them Not applicable to us

How does marketing decide who to talk to? Anyone who might buy Broad sectors A defined target profile A profile derived from where we actually win Derived from where we win, and reviewed as that changes Not applicable to us

What happens when a good opportunity arrives from outside your segments? We pursue it, revenue is revenue We pursue it, and it usually costs more than expected We pursue it with our eyes open We assess it against a rule There is a rule, and we decline things by it Not applicable to us

Pipeline

Pipeline Model & Assumptions

What the forecast is built from, and which of its assumptions has ever been checked.

What is the pipeline forecast actually built from? A feeling about the quarter The deals people happen to mention A CRM pipeline, weighted by stage A model using conversion rates from our own history A model whose assumptions are written down and reviewed Not applicable to us

Which of the forecast's assumptions has been tested against reality? None We compare the total to what happens We look at the big misses Stage conversion rates are checked against actuals Every assumption is checked, and the model gets corrected Not applicable to us

Do you know what a customer costs to acquire? No We know what marketing costs We have a number, and not everyone agrees with it A defined number, including sales effort Defined, by segment, and tracked over time Not applicable to us

How much pipeline do you need to hit the number? More than we have We use a rule of thumb A coverage ratio, roughly A ratio derived from our own conversion Derived, by segment, and adjusted as conversion moves Not applicable to us

Boundary

Sales & Marketing Boundary

The handover, the definitions either side of it, and who owns the number.

Do sales and marketing define a qualified lead the same way? No, and it causes friction On paper, but not in practice Broadly Yes, agreed and written down Agreed, written down, and revisited when it stops working Not applicable to us

What happens to a lead marketing passes to sales? We do not know Sometimes it gets followed up It gets followed up, though timing varies There is an agreed response time, and it is measured Measured, with the outcome fed back to marketing Not applicable to us

Who owns the number? Sales owns revenue, marketing owns activity Sales, and marketing helps Both, informally One person owns the whole funnel One person, with sales and marketing measured on shared outcomes Not applicable to us

When the number is missed, what conversation happens? Each function explains why it was the other one Sales explains We look at the pipeline We look at which stage moved, and why We identify the assumption that was wrong and change it Not applicable to us

Measurement

Measurement & Attribution

Whether anyone can say which spend produced revenue, and where that claim breaks down.

What does marketing report to the board? Activity: campaigns, content, impressions Leads generated Leads and pipeline contribution Pipeline and revenue contribution Contribution, with the attribution assumptions stated alongside it Not applicable to us

Can you tell which marketing spend produced revenue? No We have a guess For some channels For most spend, using a stated model For most spend, and we know where the attribution is unreliable Not applicable to us

How long is your sales cycle? We do not track it We have an impression We know the average We know it by segment By segment, and we know what makes it longer or shorter Not applicable to us

If you had to cut the marketing budget by a third tomorrow, what would go? We would cut across the board We would cut the newest things We have a rough view of what works least We know what we would cut, and why We know, because spend is ranked by contribution Not applicable to us

Spend

Spend, Stack & Agencies

What the budget buys, and whether the arrangements would survive review.

What proportion of the marketing budget goes to agencies and contractors? We would have to add it up We know roughly We know, and review it annually Known, with what each one is accountable for Known, with accountability and a renewal position prepared in advance Not applicable to us

How is an agency's performance judged? Whether we enjoy working with them Activity delivered Leads delivered Against outcomes agreed at the start Against outcomes, and we revisit the brief when results say the brief was wrong Not applicable to us

What does your marketing technology cost, and how much of it is used? We could not say We know the cost Cost known, we suspect usage is low Cost and usage both known Known, reviewed at renewal, and consolidated where it overlaps Not applicable to us

When did you last change agency, and why? Recently, and we are not confident it will be different Recently, because performance was poor Some time ago, for a specific reason We have not needed to We review the arrangement deliberately rather than reacting to it Not applicable to us

Retention

Retention & Expansion

The cheapest revenue available, and whose number it is.

What happens before a customer is due to renew? We find out when they leave Somebody contacts them near the date There is a renewal process Renewals are worked in advance, with risk flagged Worked in advance, with health signals driving where the effort goes Not applicable to us

Where does expansion revenue come from? We do not separate it out When customers ask for more Account managers pursue it There is a defined expansion motion Defined, measured, and a stated share of the plan Not applicable to us

Why do customers actually leave? We do not ask We hear anecdotes We ask, sometimes We capture the reasons consistently Captured, analysed, and it has changed something we do Not applicable to us

About you

A few things that are not scored

None of this affects your result. It tells us how to read it, and it is the part that makes any follow-up conversation useful rather than generic. Skip anything you would rather not answer.

What prompted you to look at this now? Pipeline has been short Acquisition cost keeps rising The board has asked what the budget buys New commercial leadership A transaction: funding, acquisition or exit General review or benchmarking

How does the business mostly sell? A direct sales team Self-serve or low-touch Partners or channel A mix of direct and partner Mostly referral and reputation

Have you used external help for any of these in the last three years? Positioning or messaging Demand generation or campaigns Marketing technology and operations Pricing Fractional or interim marketing leadership None of these

Is the spend buying growth, or covering for a decision?

Which areas do you want to assess?