Collaborative Success: Introducing a Revenue Growth Team

Here at CFS, we believe collaboration is the key to success.

We structure our company's process around this philosophy; we meet for daily check-ins as a team, we set aside time for purposeful brainstorm sessions, we encourage an open discourse, and so on. And as a result, we see so many benefits to our collaborative culture. Our ideas are sharper, our processes are speedier, and everyone feels that they are able to pitch in, like they are truly a part of a team.

Of course, this set up works well for our small business. We aren't a firm with hundreds of people so finding time together is doable. But I don't want this to discourage larger organization's from working towards this collaborative culture.

We have a concept for collaboration and revenue growth that works especially well for larger businesses. 

One way to both improve revenue growth and inspire collaboration is by creating a Cross-Functional Revenue Growth Team, or as we sometimes refer to it, a Sales Growth Team. In this resource, we'll cover what a Revenue Growth Team is, how to establish one in your organization, and the opportunities this type of team can provide.

What is a Cross-Functional Revenue Growth Team?

A Cross-Functional Revenue Growth Team is exactly what it sounds like: it's a team whose goal is to improve revenue growth, and it's supported and upheld by different parties performing their cross-functional duties. The key to an RGT is to bring together numerous departments across your organization.

We often suggest bringing together the following 6 departments:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Operations
• Executive Leadership

You're probably wondering, if the goal is revenue growth, why do all these different departments need to be involved? Isn't that the responsibility of the Sales team? And you are partially right–Sales does hold a large responsibility of bringing in business. But maintaining steady business is where the other departments come in.

In an RGT, interdepartmental participation matters.

For example, Operations has insight on what they're able to deliver and the organization's bandwidth. HR has knowledge on whether or not new hires might an option in the near future. Finance can determine the business's spending and see if it's sustainable. And while these are just some general examples, the point is that an RGT can be customized per organization.

How does a company establish an RGT?

The key to establishing an RGT is to get a representative or two from each of the six departments, though we've also seen companies create a team without Executive Leadership. We often see teams of 5 to 10 people, depending on the size of the company.

We recommend picking representatives with both the knowledge and the bandwidth to be part of the team.

Once you have your selected team members, decide on a cadence for meetings. We recommend a monthly get together. For ideas on how to run these meetings or a direction for where to begin, check out our CoAction model. CoAction can help inspire collaboration, accountability, and growth. Here is another great resource on how to employ CoAction with your RGT.

What are the potential benefits of an RGT?

Firstly, it might seem that this team would only be of interest to the Sales team with the goal of improving company profitability. But this isn't true! With the help of an RGT, communication is streamlined across departments, thus being of mutual interest for all teams. If Operations has an issue about supply, they can more easily chat with Finance about their problems. If Marketing wants to do a department training, they now have connects in HR.

An RGT breaks down silos and encourages collaborative success.

Especially in a large organization with many different departments, an RGT can provide a unique opportunity for people to be brought together, dissolving the silos they might normally feel placed in. And by having departments meet and form relationships with people from other teams, there is great potential to yield a stronger sense of companywide alignment.

A Revenue Growth Team might seem like a heavy lift, but it's really an investment for long term success. Once you get to know your team members and establish a meeting flow, you will be able to prioritize challenges and assign tasks.

If you think you want help building an RGT, contact us for a free consultation. Happy selling!

Is your organization intentional about collaboration? How so? Do they have efforts similar to a Revenue Growth Team? Tell us in the comments! We love hearing from others about their unique processes, especially in sales. For more updates from CFS, follow us on Twitter @CFSPlayBook.