Companies squander $2,000,000,000,000 in economic value every year, globally according to BCG.
That’s two trillion dollars. With a T. $2T for short.
The source? Revenue leak – revenue your organization loses when your revenue process breaks down. We surveyed 420 B2B sales and revenue leaders, including CROs, frontline sales managers, and RevOps teams, to:
✅ Identify where Revenue Leak happens
✅ Provide actionable strategies to mitigate those issues
Our full findings are in the 2024 Revenue Leak Report, empowering senior executives with the insights they need to understand and combat Revenue Leak effectively. Where are some of these hidden pitfalls in revenue management? We created an infographic to help reveal our key takeaways. (Full infographic plus report download at the bottom.)
What Is Revenue Leak?
Revenue Leak is revenue you’re counting on but haven’t captured due to breakdowns in the revenue process. These breakdowns can be due to various factors including deal slippage, inaccurate billing, bad data, manual processes prone to human error, or unbilled services or products.
Revenue Leak impacts every revenue-critical employee. CROs face Revenue Leak every time their teams miss an opportunity to upsell, cross-sell, or expand with key accounts. RevOps leaders might see decreasing productivity in their team - and inaccurate forecasting across the business units that make up your revenue operations. And within RevOps teams, managers and reps see revenue leaking from their day-to-day activities as deals slip and forecasts go hazy.
And as our survey findings show, Revenue Leak impacts the entire sales funnel from create, to convert, to close. Here’s what we found:
Revenue Expectations for 2024
Benchmarking Revenue Targets & Priorities
Our survey reveals that 61% of companies did not achieve their 2023 revenue targets. For the enterprise - organizations with 1,000+ employees - that number rises to 75%. The data shows companies’ critical need for improved revenue strategies and solutions.
Despite last year’s challenges, 72% of our respondents remain optimistic about improving revenue attainment in 2024. That optimism suggests if businesses implement the right revenue strategies and technologies, they can overcome recent economic headwinds.
So what are the right strategies to achieve revenue growth targets this year?
Two-thirds of respondents plan to increase investment in sales team headcount to meet their goals this year. And two-thirds also plan to invest in revenue technology (RevTech).
RevOps’ leaders have a number of urgent priorities driving those increased tech budgets, with three topping their wishlists:
- Sales forecasting
- Sales enablement
- Sales engagement
The ultimate goal: enhance the accuracy and reliability of revenue predictions.
Benchmarking KPIs
Almost three-quarters of RevOps leaders hope they can meet - or even beat - their revenue goals this year.
But there’s a gap between that optimism and their belief they’ll meet those targets. And it’s a big one.
While many companies are optimistic, only 37% are confident they’ll hit revenue targets.
Why? See intro - Revenue Leak. It’s pervasive. And it’s holding companies back.
Among CROs, Revenue Leak destroys a reported 16% loss of revenue. Meanwhile, RevOps leaders report losing a massive 26% of global revenue to Revenue Leak.
That’s $1 out of every $4 your company could count on collecting - gone.
Why such a wide range of responses on how much annual revenue is lost?
Our findings suggest that many organizations struggle to confidently track Revenue Leak - and its sources. This uncertainty highlights why many businesses need improved systems for mitigating Revenue Leak - before it can cause significant damage across the business. The top three negative consequences our survey found are:
- Slow or declining revenue growth
- Reduced budgets
- Reduced staffing/headcount
Revenue Leak Insights: Where in the Funnel Does It Happen?
Unfortunately, that lost revenue is not limited to one area of the business...
Revenue Leak occurs across the full sales pipeline: Create >> Convert >> Close.
Most RevOps leaders reported the same core challenges when creating pipeline:
- 56% suffer poor and slow upsell/cross-sell pipeline tracking
- 54% lack functional marketing-to-sales lead handoff
- 54% have Ineffective pipeline generation programs
Regardless of company size, or industry, it’s clear from the data:
Companies are leaving money on the table.
The top reasons RevOps leaders can’t convert deals in their pipeline? Their teams lack clear visibility into both individual deals and the overall pipeline:
- 49% of respondents reported an inability to diagnose deal progression
- 49% of respondents reported being unsure where pipeline dropoff happens
- 48% of respondents reported buying teams are not on the same page
And it’s a similar story when it comes to closing those deals. Bad, missing, and stale data is a major issue.
- 71% of respondents reported incorrect or hidden forecast and pipeline details
- 63% of respondents reported missed upsell/cross-sell opportunities
- 60% of respondents reported slipped deals
So what’s the solution? Purpose-built, AI-powered platforms providing pipeline precision and reliable, real-time data.
How to Spot and Stop Revenue Leak
Adding AI technologies into RevOps boosts confidence. In fact, companies integrating AI into their revenue processes are twice as confident about meeting their revenue goals compared to those not using AI.
Nearly all respondents (99%) are leaning into AI to improve the revenue process and stop Revenue Leak.
Why AI? According to respondents, the top three benefits of adopting AI include:
- Faster time to revenue (58%)
- Improved decision-making (56%)
Better assessment of market and competitive dynamics (50%)
AI-powered Revenue Platforms like Clari increase RevOps leaders’ ability to achieve even ambitious revenue goals. These tools provide revenue teams with precise pipeline tracking and enhanced forecasting capabilities so they can achieve optimistic revenue targets.
It’s time
It's time to understand where Revenue Leak might be is happening in your organization.
It's time to stop the unnecessary loss of revenue.
It's time to see the full infographic below and then download The 2024 Revenue Leak Report for full takeaways and actionable strategies.
