2nd Annual Commercial Roundtable: World-Class Revenue Operations & Capabilities for the Future of Sales

The ups and downs of 2023 have changed the areas of focus and investment for Revenue Operations and Sales Enablement significantly. The topics identified in our April roundtable and Simon-Kucher’s Future of Sales survey played out very clearly in the marketplace. Pressure on operating expenses pushed companies to integrate acquisitions and centralize sales functions more often. Top sales talent became more difficult to attract and retain. Sales channels were rationalized to address changing opportunities and customer buying preferences. Price & discount governance became more stringent with better tools and reporting.

Simon-Kucher hosts an annual roundtable focused on building world-class Sales & Revenue Operations Organizations to deal with these challenges. Maximizing Commercial Effectiveness will be a critical area in preparing for 2024 and beyond, and this roundtable will provide insights into market best practices deployed by select companies as they endeavor to grow more profitably in the current environment.

Key topics to be addressed in this roundtable include:

1. Merging acquired sales forces for revenue and expense synergy
   1. When, how, and why to integrate sales forces (and when not to)
   2. Headcount rationalization and organization integration
   3. Account/territory assignment, cross-selling and lead referral
2. Sales process reengineering for efficiency and effectiveness
   1. Understanding the buyer’s journey and the buying process
   2. Aligning sales process with CRM stages and driving down to Level 3 detail
   3. Optimizing process KPIs like cycle time, attrition, and win rate
3. The role of AI in commercial strategy and effectiveness
   1. Dispelling myths… what AI is and isn’t
   2. Use cases for AI in sales & marketing for the near term and long term
   3. Creating competitive differentiation and ROI with AI
4. Investing in sales talent to create competitive advantage
   1. Sales compensation design to attract and retain top talent without breaking the bank
   2. Sales competencies that align with strategy, process, and available labor
   3. Sales enablement to improve time to full productivity
5. Collecting and analyzing the Voice of the Customer to identify value
   1. Quantifying competitive differentiation and improving margin
   2. Understanding and highlighting churn risk
   3. Customer advisory boards and other engagement methods beyond NPS