Approach Mark Barlowe
Before changing the playbook, I would find where revenue is being created, where it is losing momentum, and what the customer already knows that the company may not.
An interactive view of my approach
Choose the symptom you recognize. I’ll show you the first constraint I would investigate and the questions I would use to test it.
Start with an observable symptom
The point is not to force a quick answer. It is to identify the most useful place to begin learning.
Start with the system that exists
Every company already has a revenue system—whether it was deliberately designed or assembled over time. I would not arrive with a prewritten answer. I would begin by understanding what the current system produces, where it breaks, and what is worth protecting.
I would learn which customers produce durable value, what creates urgency, how the offer compares with the alternatives, and where the company already earns unusual trust. The goal is a shared commercial picture, not a collection of assumptions.
I would follow real opportunities from account selection through discovery, proposal, close, delivery, renewal, and expansion. The gaps between teams often explain more than the performance of any single stage.
Recent wins, losses, active conversations, and long-running relationships reveal patterns that dashboards miss. I would listen for the language customers use, the obstacles they share, and the outcomes they are actually willing to fund.
A growth system can be limited by market coverage, messaging, process friction, skills, the offer itself, or weak follow-through. I would resist changing everything at once and isolate the constraint with the greatest commercial leverage.
The measures should match the stage of the work. Early signals can establish adoption and quality; later measures should show meetings, opportunities, pipeline, retention, and revenue. Clear definitions keep optimism from outrunning evidence.
What this should create early
The first contribution should not be a flurry of visible change. It should be enough clarity to direct the team’s effort toward a problem worth solving.
The team can see the market, customer, revenue path, and current assumptions in the same frame.
Effort concentrates on the problem most likely to change the outcome—not the loudest symptom.
Progress starts from measures the team understands and can trust.
The first action is small enough to execute, meaningful enough to learn from, and connected to the larger mandate.