AMA: Tegus Global Head of Revenue Strategy & Operations, Kayvan Dastgheib on Revenue Strategy Execution

The approach to deploying a new go-to-market strategy depends heavily on the stage of growth the company is in and the sophistication of its revenue engine. It's akin to repairing a ship while it's already out at sea—changes must be made carefully to avoid crippling the vessel, and finding yourself adrift at seat, which will severely impede growth. Typically, a new strategy comprises several components: target market identification, ideal buyer persona definition, product-market fit, pipeline strategy, customer expansion and retention tactics, and product evolution aligned with the go-to-market motion. Assessing these elements against the current state often reveals where the current strategy is most far-off compared to the ideal strategy. * For instance, if there is a strong pipeline engine but declining Gross Retention Rate (GRR), it is wise to prioritize components focused on retaining customers and driving value to ensure customer longevity and growth year over year. * Conversely, if the pipeline is faltering due to competitive pressure, efforts should be directed towards deploying the components of the strategy that redirect the existing engine towards the most promising market segments where the product-market fit is strongest. Understanding the target buyers, their needs, how the product addresses their challenges, and their evaluation process is crucial in today's tech landscape. Focusing on a narrow, well-defined target market increases the likelihood of strategy success. * If customer retention and product-market fit are strong but pipeline growth is lacking, consider deploying the components of the strategy that optimize the pipeline motion. That might mean deploying new partner referral programs, building outbound prospecting teams, or investing more significantly in productive previously tested/theoretically advantageous marketing channels. It is essential to prioritize which element of the revenue engine requires immediate attention and which can be addressed later. Identify tactical pieces in each pillar that are most likely to drive revenue, balancing time-to-value against risk, and aligning with stakeholder appetites. In essence, focus on fixing the struggling parts of the revenue engine then optimizing those that are performing well. This approach maximizes the effectiveness of the strategy and drives revenue growth in the long run, while minimizing the short-term disruption risk.

A data dictionary holds remarkable importance, often overlooked because it's perceived as low-value documentation. However, I've found that neglecting it can lead to critical issues. Definitions, KPIs, and leading indicators may become consolidated in a few minds within the organization, posing significant risk. Alternatively, as organizations scale, maintaining consistency becomes challenging, hindering alignment across functions. There's no one-size-fits-all format for creating a data dictionary; what matters is starting the process. * The best format is one that's accessible, easily digestible by various audiences, and easily updatable. * A data dictionary isn't static; it must evolve alongside changing definitions. New metrics are introduced, old ones deprecated, making it a living document essential for meeting the evolving reporting needs across the organization. The most effective data dictionaries I've encountered were built using simple tools like Google Docs or Sheets. By logging different terminologies, their definitions, calculation methods, usage contexts, and examples, you create a foundational resource. Incorporating version control and regular updates, along with stakeholder collaboration, ensures alignment and consistency in language across the organization.

I believe it would be a misstep to view this as a situation "to handle" rather than an opportunity to collaborate with a new thought partner in crafting a fresh strategy that likely brings advantageous perspectives not previously considered. Welcoming a new sales leader to the organization presents a fantastic opportunity for all teams involved. Each new leader brings their own insights into what works, what doesn't, areas for improvement, and opportunities to capitalize on. Engaging with this new leader to delve into their perspective, understanding their priorities and concerns. It is crucial to recognize that we are all part of the same team. At Tegus, we uphold the motto of "Tegus-Team-Self," emphasizing collective collaboration over possessive ownership. Our culture promotes the understanding that true partnership and productivity stem from collaboration, not individual ownership. Every effective new leader enters an organization with a curiosity to learn. They seek to comprehend the business, its history, and the challenges it faces on the road to growth. In such situations, it is paramount to leverage this healthy curiosity, exploring alongside them to develop their unique perspective. In doing so, we allow their insights to enrich our own understanding, ultimately enhancing the development of a Strategy 2.0.

Determining the right timeline for implementing a new revenue strategy hinge on various factors, including the organization's size, the complexity of the sales process, and the existing infrastructure supporting the go-to-market engine. it is so important to remember that perfection is the enemy of progress, as aiming for perfection can lead to delays and missed deadlines. Stakeholders on your senior leadership typically will convey a targeted go-live date for the new strategy, as they base their commitments and resource allocations on this timeline. As the architect of the strategy, your role is key in understanding their perspective on the end state materializing. Work backward to identify key milestones and hurdles that need to be overcome by the deadline. For instance, if the plan is to launch the strategy at the beginning of the fiscal year, you will need to ensure that critical components such as financial planning, organizational design, compensation structures, systems infrastructure, and enablement programs are in place. These are the "big rocks" that require careful planning and execution. Collaborating with stakeholders and business partners, you can break down these big rocks into actionable tasks and workstreams, taking into account the capacity of each team to deliver on their respective responsibilities. This collaborative approach allows you to create a high-level project plan that outlines the pace and sequence of activities needed to meet the stakeholders' expectations for the go-live date. A good timeline is based on a deeper understanding of the milestones on the way. It allows you to be flexible with that timeline, as you can align with both stakeholders and business partners on the opportunity cost of additional changes, or how velocity can be ramped up by deferring some of the action items or big rocks altogether.

This question delves into a common challenge in revenue operations. Sales teams primarily focus on prospecting, building customer relationships, and closing opportunities (as they should). Therefore, reporting and forecasting must strike a balance between valuable field input and a consistent methodology for weighted accuracy. Pushing reps to update stages solely for probability figures will yield diminishing returns. While stages are crucial for visualizing the funnel's progress, overemphasizing them can add unnecessary administrative burdens on the field. From my experience, stages are not always the best indicators of a deal's probability to close. I have lost count of the opportunities I have seen skip stages, let alone the opportunities that create and close within 24 hours. Assigning percentage indicators based on stages introduces complexity with inconsistent data which results in a lack of fidelity between forecasted and actual closing outcomes. Instead, I recommend adjusting revenue dashboards to present your sales plan attainment in three buckets: pipeline, forecast, and bookings. * First, start tracking pipeline. This dashboard should be able to tell you: * What is your current open weighted and unweighted pipeline? * What is your pipeline generation week over week, month over month, quarter over quarter? * How healthy is your pipeline? Age, ASP, distribution across your ICP or product mix. * Then introduce a simple forecasting approach: * Simplify the field inputs, provides reps a field to type in their forecast amount. * Then ask them to fill out their confidence level. Use a simple picklist and keep it straightforward with Commit, Best case, and Upside scenarios. * Apply weightings to these confidence intervals (e.g., Commit: 80-95%, Best Case: 40-60%, Upside: 25% or lower) to derive a weighted forecast. * Now you can consistently roll up a weighted forecast by looking at opportunities in closing within the period, their forecasted amount and multiplying it by each opportunity's weighting. * Evaluate on a quarterly basis if your weightings based on the confidence intervals align with what you see in reality. * Layering this forecast with a view of opportunities as they progress through stages allows for sanity checking. For instance, if an AE labels an opportunity as a commit but it remains in an early stage, further investigation is necessary to understand their confidence level. * Finally, include bookings to date to track pacing towards targets and identify any gaps in booking velocity compared to previous periods. By incorporating these elements into your revenue dashboard, you will have a more robust system that does not overly rely on AE stage updates.

When it comes to assessing the health of an organization, there is a mix of short-term and long-term metrics that paint a comprehensive picture. At the heart of every organization's effort lies the goal of driving pipeline, converting prospects into customers, and nurturing those customer relationships for long-term growth. These core metrics serve as guiding lights, shaping decisions not just for the current quarter, but for the trajectory of the entire fiscal year. While metrics like pipeline, CQ and FY forecasts, YoY growth, gross retention, and net retention are vital and often take center stage in leadership discussions, they are not the only ones deserving attention. It is equally important to complement these key metrics with a range of financial indicators that offer deeper insights into the business's sustainability and effectiveness. Metrics such as the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Ratio, CAC Payback, and the Lifetime Value (LTV) to CAC ratio provide valuable insights into how efficiently we are acquiring and retaining customers and whether our strategies are delivering the desired results over the long term. If your organization is not currently tracking CAC Payback, it is absolutely worth investing in the time to start tracking that now. * CAC Payback is like a financial compass guiding us through the wilderness of customer acquisition. Imagine it as a map showing how long it takes for the revenue generated from a customer to cover the cost of acquiring that customer. It is not just about how much it costs to reel in a new client; it is about how quickly we can recoup that investment. * Think of it this way: if we spend $1000 to acquire a customer and they generate $100 in monthly revenue, it will take 10 months to break even (1000 / 100 = 10). Once we hit that 10-month mark, every dollar generated from that customer is pure profit. * Now, why is this important? Well, just like a savvy investor wants quick returns on their investments, we want to ensure that our customer acquisition efforts are paying off promptly. A shorter CAC Payback period means we can reinvest those profits into acquiring even more customers, fueling our growth engine. * But, if our CAC Payback period is too long, it is like trudging through mud; progress is slow, and it's harder to sustain momentum. That is why keeping an eye on CAC Payback helps us fine-tune our strategies, optimize our resources, and stay on course towards sustainable growth.