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Exclusive Q&A
Conversations about Subscription Management are often restricted to the details of billing mechanics. Instead, how should business leaders be thinking about what is needed to conduct business in today’s environment?
Leaders should be thinking of subscription billing not as something new and different, but as the way that their customers want to do business. There are now multiple selling and buying channels and multiple ways of conducting business, so it is important that organizations recognize that managing these channels needs a unified approach to ensure a positive customer experience. Ensuring a consistent experience will require new processes and technology that reflects this multi-channel and multi-business-model reality.
What are the imperatives that organizations need to focus on to support a unified revenue approach?
The unified approach to managing business models, known as “revenue management,” supports all business models including one-time, flat-fee subscription, usage, as well as physical, digital and bundled products, and services from partners. To ensure that all the relevant data is available in one place and can be used to drive automated processes, a single revenue management platform is required. This covers the end-to-end revenue cycle, from standardized product catalogs, configure/quote/price that is integrated with contract management, to provisioning and entitlement, on through billing, payment, collection management and revenue recognition.
Most organizations already have major investments in both back-office ERP systems and customer-facing CRM and commerce solutions. Do they need to replace all these?
No. A future-ready revenue management platform orchestrates the interchange of data and workflow processes so that the customer-facing and back-office systems work well together. Pre-built connectors and intelligent data handling ensure automation of analysis from customer interactions. All systems of records remain, such as ERP and CRM, and the revenue management platform ensures coordination and the correct routing of data.
Beyond the commercial and customer-facing teams, what other parts of the organization should be involved in Revenue Management?
The finance team plays a pivotal role in the revenue management process. It ensures that the financial impact of proposed new sales and adjustments to existing contracts are evaluated for compliance in real time, thus reducing the need for retroactive adjustments and extensive auditing. Visibility into a unified single data model ensures complete understanding and reduces unwanted surprises. As they engage and partner on Revenue Management, the finance team will find additional value from the real-time nature of the revenue management platform with enhanced intelligent automation and error handling that can streamline the revenue recognition process.
What are some aspects of a proposed system that would provide assurances for the future instead of just addressing immediate pain points?
Avoid the stop-gap approach, either by spreadsheet, in-house or point solutions. The keys to sustained success are scale, adaptability and a single, unified data model. Organizations rallying around a true revenue management platform will find their ability to quickly innovate products, services and bundles as a competitive advantage and an integral part of their growth strategy.
Exclusive Q&A
Conversations about Subscription Management are often restricted to the details of billing mechanics. Instead, how should business leaders be thinking about what is needed to conduct business in today’s environment?
Leaders should be thinking of subscription billing not as something new and different, but as the way that their customers want to do business. There are now multiple selling and buying channels and multiple ways of conducting business, so it is important that organizations recognize that managing these channels needs a unified approach to ensure a positive customer experience. Ensuring a consistent experience will require new processes and technology that reflects this multi-channel and multi-business-model reality.
What are the imperatives that organizations need to focus on to support a unified revenue approach?
The unified approach to managing business models, known as “revenue management,” supports all business models including one-time, flat-fee subscription, usage, as well as physical, digital and bundled products, and services from partners. To ensure that all the relevant data is available in one place and can be used to drive automated processes, a single revenue management platform is required. This covers the end-to-end revenue cycle, from standardized product catalogs, configure/quote/price that is integrated with contract management, to provisioning and entitlement, on through billing, payment, collection management and revenue recognition.
Most organizations already have major investments in both back-office ERP systems and customer-facing CRM and commerce solutions. Do they need to replace all these?
No. A future-ready revenue management platform orchestrates the interchange of data and workflow processes so that the customer-facing and back-office systems work well together. Pre-built connectors and intelligent data handling ensure automation of analysis from customer interactions. All systems of records remain, such as ERP and CRM, and the revenue management platform ensures coordination and the correct routing of data.
Beyond the commercial and customer-facing teams, what other parts of the organization should be involved in Revenue Management?
The finance team plays a pivotal role in the revenue management process. It ensures that the financial impact of proposed new sales and adjustments to existing contracts are evaluated for compliance in real time, thus reducing the need for retroactive adjustments and extensive auditing. Visibility into a unified single data model ensures complete understanding and reduces unwanted surprises. As they engage and partner on Revenue Management, the finance team will find additional value from the real-time nature of the revenue management platform with enhanced intelligent automation and error handling that can streamline the revenue recognition process.
What are some aspects of a proposed system that would provide assurances for the future instead of just addressing immediate pain points?
Avoid the stop-gap approach, either by spreadsheet, in-house or point solutions. The keys to sustained success are scale, adaptability and a single, unified data model. Organizations rallying around a true revenue management platform will find their ability to quickly innovate products, services and bundles as a competitive advantage and an integral part of their growth strategy.
Stephen Hurrell
Director of Research, Office of Revenue
Stephen Hurrell leads the Office of Revenue software research and advisory expertise at ISG Software Research and guides leaders in the applications and technology for buying and selling products and services to maximize revenue. His topics of coverage include digital commerce, partner management, revenue management, sales engagement, revenue performance management and subscription management.