With Revenue Lifecycle Management (RLM), Salesforce is launching a solution that automates tasks from product configuration to receipt of payment in CRM. Released on February 13, 2024, the suite uses AI to help you introduce flexible revenue models, manage dynamic customer relationships and boost your business.
In this blog post, we explain what RLM is and what benefits it offers you. We will
- look at the challenges that the solution addresses
- and 3 growth strategies that it supports.
We hope you enjoy reading!
Content
- Challenges that Salesforce Revenue Lifecycle Management resolves
- 3 Growth Strategies that it supports
- Conclusion
Challenges that Salesforce Revenue Lifecycle Management resolves
1. Siloed Systems creating operational inefficiencies
Consider a scenario where the sales team records a new sale in their CRM system, but the finance system isn't updated. The result? The customer receives an incorrect invoice, leading to confusion and a poor customer experience.
The example shows: When sales, customer service, and finance departments use separate systems, it leads to inefficiencies and communication barriers, creating isolated information silos. RLM helps by integrating these disparate systems into a single platform, allowing all departments to access and update the same information, thus enhancing coordination and reducing errors.
2. Lack of Subscriber Journey Tracking results in no conversion optimisation insights
Companies often miss crucial engagement opportunities due to the lack of a system to track the customer's journey effectively. For example, a software company might fail to notice significant user drop-off during the onboarding process, leading to decreased retention and revenue loss.
RLM provides tools to track and analyze each customer interaction, identifying drop-off points and opportunities for improvement.
3. Organizational Redundancy leading to in-efficient communication with your customers
Maybe you are familiar with this or a similar situation: Marketing and sales departments are not coordinated with each other and independently send the same promotional messages to customers. By this, they risk overcommunication and potential customer dissatisfaction.
Duplication of work not only wastes resources, but can also affect customer satisfaction, as in the example. RLM supports you by centralizing and automating processes to eliminate unnecessary duplication of work and streamline operations.
4. Fragmented Customer Views result in inconsistent service & missed sales ops
A retailer might not recognize that a frequent online shopper and a frequent in-store returner are the same person, leading to inconsistent service and missed sales opportunities.
Scattered customer data across various systems complicates creating a complete view of customer behaviours and preferences. RLM consolidates all customer information into one comprehensive view, enabling better understanding and more tailored engagement strategies.
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Revenue Lifecycle Management automates everything from product configuration to payment
3 Growth Strategies that Salesforce Revenue Lifecycle Management Accelerates
1. Sales-Assisted Growth
Definition:
Sales-assisted growth refers to customer interactions that involve direct sales efforts, often requiring personalized assistance or complex negotiations. This includes processes from initial pricing discussions to final revenue recognition.
How RLM Helps:
- Centralized Information: RLM provides a centralized platform where all customer-related data—from initial contact to final sale—is stored. This ensures that sales teams have all the necessary information readily available to assist the customer effectively.
- Streamlined Pricing and Discounts: Sales teams can manage and apply pricing models and discounts directly within the system, ensuring accuracy and consistency in quotes and contracts.
- Automated Approvals and Workflows: RLM automates workflows for approvals and other sales processes, speeding up the sales cycle and reducing the burden on sales teams.
Example:
A software company uses RLM to handle enterprise sales where contracts are often complex and tailored to each customer. The sales team can quickly generate custom quotes based on the centralized pricing and discount rules, track each step of the customer's approval process, and automatically update the finance team once a sale is closed, thereby enhancing efficiency and reducing errors.
2. Self-Service Growth
Definition:
Self-service growth involves processes where customers can manage their transactions independently, such as signing up for a service, changing their subscription level, or managing their account details through an online interface.
How RLM Helps:
- API-First Solutions: RLM systems are built with APIs that allow for seamless integration with other platforms and services, making it easier to incorporate subscription management features into existing websites or applications.
- Easy Configuration of Services: Customers can easily select, customize, or change their services through user-friendly interfaces, supported by the backend processes of RLM.
- Automated Billing and Notifications: All billing and communication related to the subscription are automated, ensuring that customers receive timely invoices and notifications about their subscriptions.
Example:
An online streaming service utilizes RLM to allow users to subscribe, upgrade, or modify their plans through the platform. The API-first nature of the RLM system enables easy integration with their existing user interface, ensuring a smooth user experience that supports customer retention and satisfaction.
3. Partner-Led Growth
Definition:
This growth strategy involves third-party partners who help sell or promote the company’s products. It includes managing partner relationships from onboarding and lead registration to order management.
How RLM Helps:
- Partner Portals: RLM provides platforms where partners can log in to access marketing materials, register leads, and place orders—all from a single interface.
- Lead and Deal Registration: Partners can register deals, which are then tracked through the RLM system to ensure proper attribution and compensation.
- Integrated Order Processing: The order process for partners is integrated with the company’s internal systems, ensuring that orders placed by partners are fulfilled accurately and timely. :
Example:
A technology firm uses RLM to manage its reseller network. Each partner uses a dedicated portal to access promotional materials, register sales opportunities, and track their performance. The RLM system automates compensation and ensures that sales credits are accurately assigned, maintaining trust and transparency in the partner network.
In each of these use cases, the Revenue Lifecycle Management system streamlines and enhances processes to support different types of growth, ensuring that businesses can scale efficiently while maintaining high levels of customer and partner satisfaction.
Conclusion: With Revenue Lifecycle Management to the Next Level CRM
Revenue Lifecycle Management is more than just a tool; it’s a strategic approach that enhances business operations, customer satisfaction, and overall efficiency.
By addressing key pain points such as siloed systems and fragmented customer views, RLM not only solves operational challenges but also significantly boosts business growth and customer retention.
Whether through direct sales, self-service models, or partner-led strategies, RLM streamlines and enhances business processes, ensuring that companies can scale efficiently while maintaining high levels of customer and partner satisfaction.
Want to stay ahead in innovation? We can show you how you can enable that with Revenue Lifecycle Management.
Sources:
Revenue Lifecycle Management Salesforce (2024) SALESFORCE RELEASE NOTES. Available at: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=release-notes.rn_revenue_lifecycle_management.htm&release=248&type=5 (Accessed: 23 April 2024).
