In celebration of durhamlane’s 10 years in business, we wanted to mark the occasion by looking forward as well as back. And so, we asked over 50 industry leaders for their top 10 predictions for B2B revenue generation in 2021 and beyond.

Revenue Performance

Prediction 1) The top 3 metrics for revenue performance will become: 

• Revenue growth 

• Lead to deal conversion 

• Customer retention 

Profit was once the ‘be all and end all’ performance metric in business. Interestingly, revenue-centric metrics seemed to be moving up the line; rates of growth, conversion and retention are now all seen as vital contributors to an organisation’s ability to build future profit. 

Remote Talent  

Prediction 2) Access to remote talent will significantly fuel revenue and growth over the next 24 months. 

If there’s one positive that can be prised from the jaws of the pandemic, it’s that it has opened the gates to a wider talent pool. Remote working has broken down geographic barriers and fuelled productivity, giving businesses access to the best-fit people that will drive their company’s success. 

Sales & Marketing Alignment  

Prediction 3) 82% believe this is THE key area for investment and that within 5-10 years, merging sales and marketing functions will be commonplace. 

The alignment of sales & marketing is not a new concept, but it’s usually much easier said than done. With many revenue leaders predicting the two functions will actually become one (Smales? Smarketing?), it leads us to wonder what exactly this is going to look like. Either way, it’s a move we’re already seeing high-growth teams begin to make. 

RevOps  

Prediction 4) 59% plan to enhance their business model with RevOps (aligned sales, marketing and customer success). 

Not quite the same as Smales, Smarketing, or whatever you want to call it, RevOps is a business process that aligns all of your revenue-centric functions under one umbrella to drive predictable revenue. Frankly, it’s never been more obvious that higher visibility and efficiency across sales, marketing and service processes should be developed to fuel revenue growth. 

Account-Based Strategy  

Prediction 5) Account-Based Sales & Marketing will become the go-to B2B strategy for revenue growth. 

We know that personalisation has never been more important in B2B marketing and selling. So, it makes perfect sense that businesses are turning to account-based strategies to generate revenue from higher value net-new deals through to cross-sell, up-sell, referrals and renewals. 

Customer Lifetime Value  

Prediction 6) 47% predict this will be critical to maximising revenue performance by using account-based nurture tactics. 

Tying seamlessly into the previous two predictions, improving customer lifetime value is taking back its rightful place at the forefront of revenue generation. Many companies may have been guilty of placing all their eggs in the net-new basket, when the key to unlocking predictable revenue was already in their hands – and on their books. 

Conversational Marketing & AI  

Prediction 7) 1/3 believe conversational marketing and AI will enslave humanity drive B2B digital marketing. 

But seriously, you have nothing to fear from the robots. In fact, conversational marketing is one of the biggest trends to watch this year due to its real-time, human elements. Companies like Drift reckon you can harness it to power buyers through the marketing and sales funnels, by moving them directly from qualification to conversation to customer in one fell swoop. 

Sales Enablement  

Prediction 8) 2/3 believe sales enablement process will become a key pillar of B2B marketing & selling. 

Sales enablement is already a prevalent B2B trend in North America, so it’s great to see Europe is catching up. Not only do sales teams need to be equipped with the right marketing content to reach buyers at every stage of the customer journey, but marketers should also strive to be more sales literate. You need to speak your customers’ language, so what could be more valuable than knowing what and how they’re talking to sales about your products or services?! 

Leadership  

Prediction 9) Over half of B2B organisations will have revenue-centric leadership roles within 2-3 years. 

And by this we mean; Chief Revenue Officer, VP/Head of Revenue and Growth, Revenue Director, etc. According to LinkedIn, there are already 45,000+ users in revenue leadership roles worldwide. With the growing understanding of and investment into RevOps, this figure is undoubtably set to skyrocket over the coming years. 

Goals  

Prediction 10) 47% feel very or extremely confident they will achieve their revenue goals by 2023. 

We thought we’d end on a high, because this is a prediction we’re really happy to see. Let’s face it, times are tough and many sales, marketing and revenue leaders have seen their targets multiply whilst their budgets stay idle, or even decrease in some cases. Whatever the post-COVID landscape may bring, we’re looking forward to hitting the ground running this financial year, and we wish you all the best in achieving your revenue goals! 

Curious to understand how we can help your organisation achieve its growth objectives?

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