RPM - Revenue Performance Management
Revenue Performance Management (RPM) has bubbled up as an important new acronym in the world of marketing automation.
The software world is rife with acronyms. In the late 90's, when I was in the IT market research and consulting world, we used to see so many new acronyms it would make our heads spin. Most of the new acronyms were a tech startup's attempt to coin a new, catch, three-letter "word" that would help boost its brand. Most of the new acronyms didn't stick.
One of the acronyms that did stick, however, was CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
Will RPM, as a coined acronym, survuve the test of time? Marketing automation leaders like Marketo (who I think coinced the term) and Eloqua (Marketo's top competitor) sure hope so. They're betting that the term will appeal to both sales and marketing. They're both evangelizing the idea that winning new business is a process, and not some sort of black magic rain that salespeople make.
Marketing automation competitors are singing out of the same hymn book. They envision a better world, where sales and marketing buddy up and sing kumbaya by the corporate campfire.
The dated view of sales professionals as lone wolfs (“islands”) and masters of their territories (“kings”) is actually a symptom of a much larger problem in how too many businesses – large and small – still view the revenue process. The real problem is that they don’t see revenue as a “process” at all. Generating review is still frequently viewed as a series of disconnected steps in a straight-line continuum – from the creation of awareness and leads by the marketing department, to the closing of the sale by the sales people. –Phil Fernandez, President & CEO, Marketo (read blog post)
Time Will Tell Whether RPM Will Survive
We're still in the middle of a fierce bake off between the marketing automation players. The atttackers, defenders, and arm merchants are still being defined. Investment dollars and big-name customers make the niche real. But ultimately there will be brutal consolidation and acquisitions. Blood will be shed, and the victorious marketing automation companies will be left battle fatigued... and smiling. Stay tuned.
A Brief History of RPM
- Here's a concise whiteboard session from Jon Miller, co-founder of Marketo, who suggests that RPM could lead to a re-roganization of your company and even a Chief Revenue Officer, in charge of an integrated sales and marketing team.
- And below is an entertaining video from Eloqua that briefly describes the evolution of RPM:
