There are numerous high-octane business concepts designed to help companies competitively position their products and services through a variety of market-mapping models. Some "business experts" also suggest that once you complete the "market positioning process," you can super-size your sales force, arm them with these new discoveries, and all that remains is to watch the money roll in. Then you wait…wait…wait…wait…and wait. These tactics may have some validity for part of the business, but they do not address the revenue system fundamentals.

If you survive to "gray hair status" as a Chief Revenue Officer (or no hair as the case may be), you eventually realize these maneuvers cannot be confused with sustainable, process-based revenue growth. Here’s why:

The best market positioning and product planning doesn’t hold water when the first new prospect responds with, "Yeah, yeah, yeah…all I want is a better deal."

If you have a product that requires human interaction to sell (as opposed to airline web sites selling their product through seating-capacity software programs), it’s critical to have a process-based revenue system built into your business model to deliver sustainable revenue success—and not be dependent on luck at the revenue roulette wheel.

We want you to realize that we’re not talking strictly about sales, but the system of revenue management. As Chief Revenue Officer, you need to understand how to manage (i.e., synchronize) the four critical revenue processes with such accuracy that you and the company can unhesitatingly rely on your revenue, margin, and growth projections.

We assume there are other models that work too and if you already have one, stay with it. Our efforts here are geared toward those Chief Revenue Officers who are experiencing more challenge than success (what we refer to as Revenue System 1.0 level performance) and who need to remedy their revenue situation today.