Stop Revenue Leak With the “Elite Eight”

Picture this.

You’re a CRO. It’s Monday morning and you’re in your CRM trying to figure out why your pipeline is down 12% from last night — but you can’t. That’s Revenue Leak.

Or you’re a RevOps leader rolling out sales programs to drive pipeline. But you can’t figure out why it’s not translating into qualified sales opportunities. That’s Revenue Leak.

Or you’re a frontline manager. You just found out that 40% of your committed deals slipped, and you don’t know why. That’s Revenue Leak.

Revenue Leak is a $2 trillion market loss caused by breaks in the revenue process. This leak siphons opportunity from companies both big and small.

At Clari, we deploy a framework called the “Elite Eight” to stop revenue leak today and keep it from returning tomorrow. With this framework, you can capture every drop of revenue at your company — and grow a legendary career in revenue.

Let’s take a look.

1. Revenue Objectives

Revenue Objectives are key strategic initiatives that dictate how the Revenue team should operate, execute, and get measured.

Examples we’ve heard from Clari customers include “We’re going to drive penetration into the global 200” and “We want to increase our NDR from 112 to 115.” These objectives provide a north star for the revenue team to rally around — and a benchmark to measure success against.

Unfortunately, most companies aren’t fully aligned on their Revenue Objectives. They aren’t well defined, or they aren’t shared throughout every revenue-facing team. This results in lost opportunity and, critically, Revenue Leak.

Take this step:

Start by bringing together key stakeholders to answer a simple question: “What are we going to accomplish this quarter to grow our revenue?”

2. Revenue Leaks

Next, it’s time to compare Revenue Objectives against the realities of your organization. This action spotlights breakdowns in the revenue process.

Many revenue teams think they’re missing targets because of low pipeline coverage. But when we analyzed the Clari database — populated by over $4 trillion in revenue under management — the data told a different story.

Low attainment comes from revenue leaks. And revenue leaks come from outdated, disconnected tools to manage our most important business process.

Take this step:

Use the Clari Revenue Leak Assessment to detect which factors are contributing to your revenue leak and how much you stand to lose.

3. Revenue Cadences

With Revenue Leaks in plain sight, you now know the playbook you need to compare against your current cadences.

Assess your end-to-end revenue flow to look for leaks. Revenue leak takes many forms – the key is identifying and tracking the source. Keep an eye out for manual data entry, slipped deals, customer churn, and missed opportunities for cross-sell and upsell.

You may be surprised by how much revenue your team is missing every quarter.

Take this step:

Work with RevOps to map your current revenue cadences. Make sure you know the actions your team is taking and how they roll up to a broader workflow.

4. RevTech Consolidation

A common (and expensive) source of revenue leak? Point solutions.

As RevTech emerged in the market, many companies purchased solutions that solved a single problem. This strategy worked in the early stages of revenue maturation, but it created a lingering case of “tech fatigue” in 2024.

Modern revenue organizations are focused on consolidation. Working with a single revenue platform that provides cutting-edge solutions across every step of their workflow.

Take this step:

Review your RevTech stack and identify the number of point solutions in play. Prior to working with Clari, it’s common for companies to have 15+ solutions clogging up their stack.

5. Revenue AI

AI is the most transformative technology of our time.

Generative, Predictive, and Descriptive AI offer the opportunity to automate and analyze across the entire revenue cycle — no matter how large your organization. It’s no surprise, then, that every revenue leader I talk to is thinking about how to implement AI.

But it’s important to remember that even the most powerful AI tool won’t solve  revenue leak if your cadences are broken and your tech stack is bloated. That’s why we’re encouraging revenue leaders to see AI as an amplifier for strong systems — not a replacement for them.

Take this step:

Establish an AI council. This group of revenue leaders and key stakeholders are tasked with determining the most effective implementation of AI within the organization.

6. Create, Convert, and Close

Stopping revenue leak is not a one-and-done task.

Instead, top revenue teams monitor for leaks every day. To do this, they establish strong governance at critical points throughout the revenue cycle. As the organization creates opportunities, converts them into prospects, and closes the deal — governance is there minimizing risk and providing data.

The most sophisticated teams build governance directly into their revenue platform, automating key revenue cadences and limiting the potential for breakdowns.

Take this step:

Revisit your revenue governance. Define risk areas most likely to disrupt your workflow and how you plan to address them. Consider these risks in the context of your RevTech stack.

7. The Revenue Quadrant

How do you assess revenue maturity?

At Clari, we use a tool called the Revenue Quadrant. This quadrant plots revenue maturity across two key characteristics: collaboration and governance. Collaboration determines what you do. Governance controls how you do it.

Companies with a mature revenue process leverage a single source of truth to promote transparency and accountability. They also integrate controls into key steps of the revenue process, ensuring every team member is driving long-term growth.

Take this step:

Consider your team’s collaboration and governance. Write down process, data, and team factors that contribute to your success, as well as areas where you have opportunity to improve.

8. The Role of the Revenue CIO

Lastly, it’s time to fully integrate the revenue and technology functions within your organization.

With the rapid expansion of AI, and the importance of RevTech tools to drive growth, it’s no longer good enough to have a Chief Information Officer (CIO) who’s apart from the day-to-day revenue operations.

Instead, modern CIOs should move from running IT to running revenue. This transformation enables faster technology adoption, more informed decision making, and a tighter partnership between revenue-critical functions.

Take this step:

Start with a mindset shift. The CIO role is about more than managing data and tools. It’s about creating an AI strategy to capture more revenue across your business.

Are you ready to stop revenue leak?

Deploy the “Elite Eight” to capture every drop of revenue.

1. Outline your revenue objectives.
2. Identify revenue leaks.
3. Review your revenue cadences.
4. Consolidate your RevTech stack.
5. Integrate revenue AI.
6. Leverage governance across your workflow.
7. Track
8. Evolve the role of your CIO.

With this framework, you’ll plug holes in your process and create a revenue process that can win for years to come.

‘Til next time,

Andy Byrne

CEO, Clari