IsYourRevenueManagementSystemKillingYourGrowth?

TableofContents

03 Introduction6SignsYourRevenueManagementSystemisKillingYourGrowth

04 IsitTakingtooLongtoLaunchNewProducts/Services?

05 DoYouHavetoRe-CodeYourBillingSystemforEachNewOfferingYouBringtoMarket

06 DoYourFinance&SalesOpsTeamsRelyonComplexSpreadsheetsforManagingProductsandPricingandCustomerInformation?

07 DoYouHaveEasyVisibilityintoFinancialForecasts?

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08 IsYourRevenueManagementSystemActuallyCostingYouMoney

09 Conclusion

10 AboutApttus

Drivingprofitablegrowthintoday’sbusinessenvironmentisanythingbuteasy.Therearemanyexternalforceswhichareoutofourcontrol,likecompetition,regulations,rapidlyevolvingtechnologicalcapabilities,andascarcityofresources.

Asweassessthehostofchallengeswithinourcontrol,namelyinternalprocessesandproceduresnarrowitdowntothemostimpactfularea,whichisRevenue.

Herearethetopquestionstoaskyourself,toseeifyourrevenueprocessesareontrack.

6SignsYourRevenueManagementSystemisKillingYourGrowth

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“By 2022, 70% of mid-to-large enterprise businesses will be using an automated revenue management solution to support complex billing and revenue recognition compliance.”

Gartner,Jan2018

IsitTakingTooLongtoLaunchNewProducts/Services?

Doesittakeyourcompanylongerthanaquartertointroduceanewproductintomarket?Isyournewproduct/servicereadytolaunchbutfinanceisnotreadytobillcustomers?

InarecentsurveyfromMGIResearch,56%ofcompaniessurveyedwanttointroducenewpricingplansinlessthan4weeks,yetonly37%areoperatingatthatlevelofagility.

Time-to-Moneycouldbesubjecttolimitationsofproductresearchanddevelopment,butmanyproductinnovationteamsaresurprisedbylimitationsintheirfinancialsystems.Yourcompanymayhaveaphysicalproductthatyounowwanttoofferasaservice,billingyourcustomerovertime,forasubscription.

TheexistingERPorFinancialAccountingsystemisnotflexibleenoughtobillforsubscriptions,andit’sdetachedfromthefront-officewheresellingandcustomersupporthappen.Theproductteamisready,butthefinanceteamisnot.

Thisgapindicatesthatyouhaveaninflexiblerevenuemanagementsolutiontoeffectivelymonetizeforgrowth. /4

6SignsYourRevenueManagementSystemisKillingYourGrowth:

1. It’stakingtoolongtolaunchnewproducts/services2. Newoffersrequirere-codingthebillingsystems3. FinanceandSales-opsrelyoncomplexspreadsheets4. You’reunabletoofferusage-basedservices5. Youhavelimitedvisibilityintofinancialforecasts6. Yourrevenuemanagementsystemdoesnotpreventrevenueleakage

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DoYouHavetoRe-CodeYourBillingSystemforEachNewOfferingYouBringtoMarket?

Yourfirstsubscription-basedproductmaylaunch,butyouhaveaccomplishedthisbycreatingcustomcodeforyourERPsystem.Nowtheproductisgrowingbutyoucan’trapidlyintroducethesecond-waveofproductwithoutgreateffort.Togetnewproductslaunchedquickly,someproductteamscustomcodethemonetizationmechanismintotheproductitself,sowhenyourcustomersasktopaydifferently,yourdevelopersmustrecodethemonetizationsystem.Thishappensalltooofteninhigh-tech,software,andsometelecomstartups.

Inthe2017MGIResearchsurveyofbusinessrationaleforanincreasedfocusonmonetization,77%ofrespondentsstatedthattheabilitytosupportnewpricingmodelsiscritical,while76%respondedthattheabilitytoconfigureandsellnewproductbundlesiscritical.

Aninflexiblemonetizationsolutionforrevenuemanagementisagrowthkiller.

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DoYourFinance&SalesOpsTeamsRelyonComplexSpreadsheetsforManagingProducts,Pricing,andCustomerInformation?

Youmaygetthefirstfewproductsoutthedoorandstartbillingcustomers,however,isittakingspreadsheetstomanage?Manyorganizationsrelyheavilyonspreadsheets.FinanceandSalesOperationskeepthelistofproductandpricesinaspreadsheetandtheycapturenewcustomersandtrackwhatthey’vepurchasedadifferentspreadsheet.Somehavetheirphysicalproductofferinginonespreadsheet,theservices andsubscriptionsinanother,andprofessionalservicesinyetanotherspreadsheet!Thentogetthepictureofthefinancialhealthofthenewbusinessoffering,someonehastointersectallthespreadsheets.Thisprocessisverymanual,andsubjecttoerror,andnearlyimpossibletoscaleasyourbusinessgrows.

SpreadsheetsarebelovedbyFinanceandthey’regreatforanalysis,butdataonthenewproducts/serviceyouoffer,standardpricinganddiscountguidelines,andcustomerinformationincludingwhatthecustomerordered,thequantity,thetimeframe,andthebillingtermsoftheagreement,allbelonginacentraldatamodel.

Aspreadsheet-focusedmonetizationsolutionforrevenuemanagementisagrowthkiller.

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CanYouOfferYourProducts/ServicesandChargeonaUsage-Basis?Asyouaddsubscriptionofferingtoyourportfolioorprofessionalservices,theabilitytobillandfulfillcustomersovertimeistablestakes.Customersaredrivenbychangingneedsand/orbynewcompetitiveofferingsinthemarket.Initially,customerswillsubscribeandpayyoumonthly,butyourlarger,moreimportantcustomersmayexpecttopaybi-monthly,quarterly,yearly,oronacustomizedscheduleandbecausetheyareyourmostimportantcustomers,you’llwanttomeettheirrequestsinordertokeeptheirbusiness.

Thekeytounlockingvalue,andmaximizingyourrevenuewithcustomers,istoofferusage-basedorconsumption-basedservices.Businessusershavelivesoutsideofwork,andathome,theyareconditionedbyaconsumerexperiencelikeUberridesharing,Comcastinstanton-demandstreaming,andAmazonDashbuttonstoresupplyhouseholditems.Thesebuyerscometoworkandask,“Whycan’tIhaveaservicefromyou,provisionedinstantly,andhavemycompanypayonlyforwhatIuse?”

Arevenuemanagementsystemdisconnectedfromphysical/digitalprovisioningandunabletomonetizeusage-basedservicesisagrowthkiller.

DoYouHaveEasyVisibilityintoFinancialForecasts?

Inmostcompanies,financialinformationisstoredtheERPsystem,andonlythefinanceteamhasaccesstoit.Whenalargeenterprisehasgrownthroughacquisition,therewillbemultipleERPsystems,oneforeachbusinessentity.TheuserexperienceinERPsystemscanbechallenging.Thisisoneofthereasonswhyusersgeneratereportsandthenmanipulateandvisualizethedataintheirfavoritespreadsheettool.Theproblemisthiscreatesdatathatisdisconnectedfromthecustomer-facingsystemswhichproducesapoorcustomerexperience.

Arevenuemanagementsystemthatisseparatefromyourcustomer-facingsystemsmeansthatteamsworkingwiththecustomer,andthecustomerthemselves,havenovisibilityofwhattheyhaveorderedorwheninvoicesaredueforexample.Thiscanalsocausechallengesforthefinanceteam.Generatingaccurateandusablebusinessforecastsofcashflowfrominvoices, andordersandschedulingrevenuerecognitionallbecomecomplex.

Arevenuemanagementsystemwhichisnotasinglesourceoftruthregardingbusinessconductedwithyourcustomers,willlimitgrowth.

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IsYourRevenueManagementSystemActuallyCostingYouMoney?

Unlessyourrevenuemanagementsystemisautomatedandoperatesonasinglerevenuedatamodel,youriskmakingcostlyerrors.Onecommonerrorisprovidingun-orderedproducts/services.Thecustomerdoesnotexpectaninvoicefortheseproducts/services,soyourcompanywillnotbepaid.Yourcompanywillwriteoffproducts/servicesasaloss,whichdirectlyimpactsthebottomline.

Theoppositeerrorisalsocostly.Ifyouprovideproducts/servicestoyourcustomer(s)butdonotinvoicethem,thatistheverydefinitionofrevenueleakage.Ifandwhenyoudiscovertheseerrors,correctingtheminvolvescostlyinventoryreturnorservicede-activationprocesses,uncomfortablenegotiationswiththecustomer,andtypicallyonlypartialrecoveryoftherevenue.

Asidefromthetangiblecosts,thereareintangiblecosts.Correctingtheseerrorscosts takesthetimeofyoursalesandfinanceteams,andcreatesaproblemwithcustomergoodwill,loyalty,andbrand.

Arevenuemanagementsystemwhichdoesnotautomatetransactionsusingasinglerevenuedatamodelwillcostyoumoney.

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ApttusRevenueManagementautomatesOrder-to-Cashtodrivegrowthandreducecosts.Manageorders,invoices,andrevenuerecognition– withouthavingtoaccessyourERPsystem.ApttusRevenueManagementleveragesasinglerevenuedatamodelformanagingaccounts,products,prices,contracts,orders,assets,billingandrevenuerecognitiondata.Itautomatesordermanagement,billing,renewals,andrevenuerecognition.Yourecognizerevenueandreportresultsinaccordancewithaccountingstandardsincluding

ASC605,ASC606,andIFRS15.ApttusRevenueManagementcustomersdrivegrowthbyrapidlylaunchingnewbusinessmodelscombiningsubscriptions,physicalgoods,andprofessionalservices.ApttusRevenueManagementeliminatesthecostsofdatamanagementandmultiplesystemintegrationprojects,andcostlyerrorsfromdisintegratedsystems.

Conclusion

AboutApttusApttusisaSiliconValley-basedglobalprovideroftheIntelligentMiddleOffice™platformallowingenterprisestoautomateandoptimizetheirmostcriticalrevenueandcommercialrelationshipmanagementprocesses.ApttusispoweredbytheApttusIntelligentCloud™,ahybrid-cloudplatformutilizingthemostadvancedtechnologiesfromSalesforce,MicrosoftandIBM.AnalystsrankApttusastheglobalgoldstandardforQuote-to-Cash(QTC)andContractLifecycleManagement(CLM)solutions.Apttus’innovationsincludeMax,thecompany’sAppliedArtificialIntelligencethatenablesenterprisestoachievesuperiorbusinessoutcomes.Apttuspartnerswithaworld-classecosystem.Apttuscustomersincludehundredsoftheworld’smid-sizedorganizationsandthewho’swhooftheGlobal1000.

Formoreinformationvisit: Apttus.com.

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