The year is well underway so you should look at you  numbers and asking “can we hit our revenue goal from here?”  That depends, are you going to leave it to chance or are you going to aggressively manage it? What are you doing to increase revenue?

To aggressively managing it doesn’t mean just more sales!  It means making sure you’ve answered all the right questions to support more sales which in turn will increase revenue!

I often find that small business owners think that sales are the only thing that can increase revenue.  Not the case!  That’s one of the reasons I developed the Tuning Your Revenue Engine model, to help identify where the REAL problems lie.

While sales is part of it.  If the other areas aren’t also addressed then all the sales in the world won’t increase revenue!  You need to make sure you’re working optimally  by answering some key strategic questions.

None of these topics are new.  I’ve written about all of them in the past.  Let me just organize them here so that you can see how to apply them to your planning.

Do You Know Which Revenue Predictive Metrics to Monitor?

Metrics to Increase RevenueThis is the heart of Tuning Your Revenue Engine.  Monitoring those operational metrics that allow you to see what’s happening both across your business and in the market so you can do something about it.  I addressed this topic in my post Become Proactive Instead of Reactive with Your Revenue!

Do You Have Excess Capacity to Sell?

Selling more won’t help if you don’t have any more to sell!  Do you know the maximum capacity of your operation?  When do you hit it?  How much will it cost to add more?

Not knowing the answers to these questions can kill your business.  Not being able to deliver is a death sentence to a small business.  Read the post Maximize Revenue by Selling Your Excess Capacity to address this potential problem to increasing revenue.

Are Non-Sales Functions Affecting Revenue?

dying_plantCapacity is one of those “non-sales” issues that can cause revenue problems.  Others include your price, your marketing, etc.  Not addressing the entire problem will not help you increase revenue either.  The previous post title “Is Something Other Than Sales Affecting Your Revenue?” will explain the non-sales issue that could prevent increased revenue.

Do You Have a Sales Plan to Increase Revenue?

Sale plan to increase revenueA sales plan is a critical resource to increase revenue.  Without one your sales team is just our there doing whatever to hit their numbers.  While this may seem fine, it’s not scalable.  So, it always is dependent on the team you have and doesn’t allow you to expand when necessary.  Read Building Your Sales Plan Doesn’t Have to be Rocket Science to find out how to put together a simple yet effective plan.

Start With the Simple Stuff to Increase Revenue

Woman on PhoneMany people avoid the sales plan because they think they need to be sophisticated with it.  It’s really just the opposite. You want to start with the simple stuff.  But, if you don’t spell it out for the sales team they may make it more complicated than it needs to be.  Here are 4 Tactics to Jumpstart Your Sales that are simple and very easy to apply immediately to increase revenue.

Are You Investing Enough in Your Marketing?

Invest in marketing to increase revenueAt some point you’re going to need more leads than you already have in-house.  Marketing is what finds you more!  But, how many and how much do you need to spend on marketing to generate enough leads?

Again, this goes back to the Tuning Your Revenue Engine model.  If you do the calculations the model will tell you exactly what you need to know.

You see, it’s simpler than you think to increase revenue.  Notice I said simple, not EASY!  Much of what’s addressed here should be part of your regular business planning process.

Do you have a business plan or are you just trhowinhg stuff at the wall weekly hoping something will stick.  Find out more about our High Impact Business Planning process and how it can help you recalibrate so you have a strong revenue finish this year by clicking the button below.