How Revenue Leaders Can Drive Efficient Growth in Today’s Market
Today's B2B selling climate brings the reality that efficiency while meeting your revenue targets is key. Revenue leaders must balance growth with precision. During a recent webinar (watch the full playback), Dustin Amrhein, CEO and Co-Founder of Revcast, sat down with Dan Demas, Senior Vice President of Revenue and Operations at GRIN, to explore how organizations can scale effectively by focusing on quality pipeline, data-driven decisions, and cross-functional collaboration.
Scaling Efficiently and Productively - While Thinking Strategically
Dan Demas shared his experience transitioning from the "growth at all costs" era to a more strategic, data-informed approach. "We attempt to engineer productivity first, we add headcount later, when the math starts to prove out," he explained. This focus on productivity first, rather than simply adding headcount, is a foundational shift.
Dustin Amrhein emphasized the importance of revenue leaders using data insights to make crucial decisions. "I talk to more and more revenue leaders that are pushing back on aggressive hiring plans. They're like, 'We can't hire there. I can't make those people successful,'" he shared, highlighting the shift from rapid hiring to careful capacity planning.
This efficiency also involve multiple stakeholders across the GTM value chain. Demas emphasized the importance of cross-functional collaboration, particularly with finance, marketing, and product teams. "We have to be in lockstep with our partners, and we all have to be speaking the same language all the time," he said.
A Focus on Quality Revenue
One of the core concepts Demas highlighted was the focus on "quality revenue" – ensuring that new customers are aligned with the company’s Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). "We reverse-engineered from retention, from growth, back into our ICP definition," Demas said, adding that they use data to continuously refine this definition. The company avoids deals with customers unlikely to achieve long-term value, which helps drive sustainable growth.
Dustin Amrhein added that focusing on the right customers upfront is critical, explaining, "We've got to get the right customers in, because the way that we're going to grow is expanding value and capturing more revenue from existing customers."
Optimizing for Pipeline
As Amrhein pointed out, pipeline and people are among the most critical investments for revenue success.
To that point, Demas discussed the importance of efficient pipeline management and aligning sales incentives with ICP. "We have incentives for signing ICP customers that are different than non-ICP customers," he explained, and that it goes further by restricting outbound efforts to target high-value ICP customers only.
Additionally, Demas' organization has shifted to a pipeline-driven planning model "where it's demand first, capacity second." This approach allows for more precise capacity planning and ensures that headcount growth aligns with demand.
Data Transparency and Cross-Functional Alignment
Data transparency is critical, with Demas explaining that everyone in the organization has access to key data points. "We have Slack channels where they can see every turned customer, every expansion, every new customer win," he shared. This open approach not only aligns the team but also fosters a culture of accountability.
Dustin Amrhein emphasized the need for a consistent view of data across the organization, saying, "I always chuckle when I run into a leader on the revenue side that says, 'Well, I don’t own the plan. Finance does.' That mindset is shifting now, and revenue leaders are taking control."
Both also addressed attendee questions around feeling overwhelmed by data or having several versions of data from different stakeholders.
Continuous Optimization and Scenario Planning
Finally, Demas highlighted how GRIN uses scenario planning with support from Revcast to support decision-making and adjustments, particularly in collaboration with Finance. "Rather than this push-pull with Finance about how much more money can I have, we're coming to the table with a number of scenarios," he explained. This collaborative approach ensures that growth is not only ambitious but also sustainable.
While GRIN and Demas use Revcast among a number of solutions to help them achieve results, Amrhein encouraged webinar attendees to be more vigilant and proactive on how often they are reviewing revenue plan performance and emerging risks, so you're not waiting for QBRs before course-correcting. Staying on top of trends, deviations, and changes in real time is crucial with modern GTM management, and Revcast provides the automation and AI power to help revenue teams spend more time on strategic decisions vs. manual data projects.
