Transformative Concepts
Holistic models that align people, processes, and culture across every function across the revenue generation lifecycle
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Download the introduction chapter and see for yourself how Ascending Growth Concepts and methodologies can improve your customer value, drive business growth, and elevate your career.
"The concepts covered in this book are highly relevant given sales and marketing teams are working toward greater alignment and collaboration on revenue-generating activities more than ever. In particular, the Revenue Value Chain provides a holistic model to align people, processes and culture across every function, particularly sales and marketing, to deliver value to the business and to customers."
- Jen Arnold,
Former CMO of SAP
Growth Experience (GX)
Growth Experience (GX) The principle behind GX is that there is a “win-win-win” situation at the intersection of the three circles. Neglect any circle and the possibility of sustainable growth begins to wane or disappear (even though short term results might still be possible). Focusing on the overlaps of circles, and the intersection of all three is a powerful way to generate new growth ideas. GX represents a new paradigm, a new way of seeing. After intense focus on CX (Customer Experience) as a result of the pandemic, firms are asking what next? GX (Growth Experience) represents a more comprehensive vision and framework for customer and market growth drivers. One that is required in order to continue delivering sustainable and ongoing growth over time. GX is a managerial framework that helps C-level executives develop plans and strategies to balance the growth needs of Organization, Customers, & People.
Revenue Generation Value Chain (RVC)
RVC is the concept to view marketing and the organization as a value chain connecting Suppliers/Partners and Customers, and comprising ten major practice areas of organizational capability.
These 10 practice areas each represent an area of skills/maturity that the firm must further develop and enhance in order to support growth. For example, the firm must work on their Growth Strategy (see practice area 1) and Customer Knowledge (see practice area 2) as well as the other areas in an integrated and aligned way to support growth.
The benefits of alignment are high. Forrester research has shown that B2B organizations with well-aligned product, marketing, and sales functions experience 19% faster revenue growth and 15% higher profitability than those that are misaligned.
We call this aligned model of the business the Revenue Generation Value Chain or RVC (see diagram below). As well as connecting internal activities of the firm, the RVC exists in an external context of the organization’s brand and reputation (as perceived by the market), as well as other external environmental factors.
The crux of the value chain in the RVC is represented within the shaded process chevron, by three end-to-end and cross functional processes. These are the same ones we’ve been talking about in GX i.e. Customer Acquisition, Customer Retention and Customer Expansion.
We want to both optimize each of these processes individually, then to make them operate as a continuous cycle i.e. “orbit”.
Although drawn in a linear way in the RVC diagram, understanding of customers/markets (and industries) drives the business activities of the firm. In practice, there is a circular arrow moving from customers, to customer value, to revenue, and to revenue generating processes.
Using the RVC approach we look at everything that the firm does through the lens of how that contributes to driving revenue through those three processes and other connected ones including branding, new product development and innovation. The RVC in its current form also builds on Michael Porter’s value chain concept (e.g. Competitive Advantage), and updates it for the contemporary age.
RVC is a practical roadmap designed by the founder of The Growth Engine and two other global leaders with wealth of experience in consulting, marketing, and business innovation. The model is designed to help organization leaders to develop strategies for all ten elements and align all activities along the value chain.
Ascending Growth Method (AGM)
If you’re not Ascending you’re Descending.
We see organizations either building momentum and creating a virtuous cycle towards growth or losing momentum and getting stuck in reactivity and fire-fighting, resulting in being caught in a vicious cycle.
The same applies to you in your role. Our structured approach to change that you’ll read about in this book is called AGM (Ascending Growth Method), which comprises five stages i.e. Align, Data, Design, Deploy and Sustain.
In brief, using the AGM, you’ll align expectations and scope about what needs to be done, gather data to analyze current issues and opportunities, design the future blueprint for marketing (and touchpoints to other functions) to capture these opportunities, and embed growth in the organization’s DNA.
The final two stages of AGM, i.e. Deploy and Sustain, are about actually rolling out the strategy/improvement changes, and then sustaining the benefits of the change through continuous improvement.
Change is cyclical, and so AGM is a cycle.
Email info@ascendinggrowth.com if you have any inquiries about the above concepts.