Winning with Revenue Plays — Whiteboard Walks

This is Part 2 of a series on How Product Marketers W.I.N. If you haven’t read Part 1 click here.

To recap, how we W.I.N. comes down to three things:

1 Who you target, 2 the impact you deliver, and 3 the narrative that holds marketing and execution together

W.I.N’ing in today’s environment is not easy.

It’s a tough time to be in tech and the outlook for the near future doesn’t look any rosier.

We need to do more with less, and win over buyers facing similar cost pressures.

Our limited resources need to go further and faster.

If our W.I.N’ing strategy is an arrow, we need a bow now.

Two people looking at arrow on the ground wondering how it flies

The role of product marketers in the GTM motion

Making resources go further is all about alignment.

If each team involved in the GTM motion is chasing different goals, the already thin budget will feel even smaller.

Unfortunately, this is typical in most organizations. Teams operating with positive intent, follow their own feedback loops and drift apart.

With nobody to connect the dots, waste is created.

Two unconnected circles, one labelled those who build, the other labelled those who sell

The role of product marketing is to create alignment.

As the function that leads the development of how to W.I.N., it must play a role in bringing the teams together to execute.

PMMs connect the GTM motion and coordinate between those who build and those who sell.

The previously unnconnected circles now linked in a figure 8 with product marketing in the middle

How product markers W.I.N with revenue plays

Growth doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through small, coordinated pushes throughout the year. Winning that launch, adding that new logo, cross-selling our customers, or displacing that competitor.

The most successful pushes are the ones where everybody pushes together.

That’s the philosophy behind revenue plays.

They’re coordinated, data-driven, time-bound, playbooks.

Let’s break down the ingredients:

Coordination requires leadership.

A successful revenue play needs everyone at the table working together: product, marketing, sales, customer success, and revenue operations.

Figure 8 model with all the functions identified on it

Product marketing’s unique spot in the organization puts it in the perfect position to quarterback plays across each function.

Having one champion that facilitates a regular alignment process ensures everyone works together toward the same goals.

Nobody is going to follow a revenue play if it isn’t based on strategy and tied to credible data.

Proving how to win, and why, will keep everyone focused on the same objective, and drive results.

Various data sources coming together to form a source of truth

Creating that single source of truth helps everyone stay on the same page.

The most successful revenue plays are 2-quarter pushes.

With measurable objectives set against clear milestones, you can set a fire under the team while still making the goal achievable.

Image saying a 1-quarter push is too short, and at 3 quarters the sales team gets bored

If the revenue play extends too long, you risk the sales team losing interest and shifting focus.

All of this culminates into actionable playbook segmented by team.

While every function contributes to the strategy and success of the play, it impacts the buyer most heavily through marketing and sales / CS.

Illustrative playbook with marketing and sales activities

Why revenue plays?

Revenue plays are a critical tool in the growth toolbox.

Successfully executed they deliver what every revenue leader dreams of:

An aligned team, results, predictability

If the W.I.N. framework is the product marketer’s tool to guide strategy, revenue plays provide the velocity you need for your strategy to hit your target.