The Power of Incremental Growth: Transforming Your Pipeline 1% at a Time

In today's fast-paced go-to-market landscape, each percentage point counts. Every savvy RevOps professional understands the constant battle to incrementally increase conversion rates and the overall performance of the marketing and sales funnel, but how can you actually achieve that?

The focus of being 1% better in any capacity of the funnel that you’re responsible for has a direct impact on revenue. I see it every day. Across 34 clients at any given time, we see the value of having this discipline. We see it accelerate and how it changes the game for the pipeline. I’ll tell you – the clients of ours that have the most collaborative mindsets on content and A/B testing are the ones that are figuring it out fastest.

In a recent podcast with Steve MacDonald from B2B Marketing Perspectives, I dove into a concept that seems so simple but holds a profound impact on driving revenue: improving by just 1%. In this post, I share the most meaningful revenue-driving strategies across marketing and sales that will allow you to achieve results much faster than anyone else — and it all starts with the fundamental understanding that being 1% better significantly generates impact throughout the entire funnel. 

Sales Must Be A Journey of Continuous Improvement

The pursuit of continuous improvement is about fine-tuning every part of the funnel. It’s a methodical approach that’s built on making gradual, incremental adjustments rather than grand sweeping changes. This mindset can significantly boost conversions, leading to increased wins and revenue. 

Instead of chasing big wins through desperate attempts, which often leads to uncertainty, the key is to build a disciplined focus on making 1% improvements. This consistency helps guide your progress throughout the entire funnel, culminating in repeatable successes. 

The takeaway? Don’t just run Hail Mary's, hoping for success. Focus on the process, the 1% improvements at each stage, and you'll find yourself in the class of top performers. That's the beauty of the 1% approach, and that's how you truly transform pipeline development. Keep pushing for that 1%!

Example: Marketing Funnel 

The Click Through Rate (CTR) is a vital metric in marketing – though frequently overlooked as a lever for increasing sales. Even a small improvement in the CTR can lead to significant pipeline gains. Consider different scenarios where email CTR improves incrementally from 2% to a high-performing 5% in a global marketable database of 20,000 contacts. What makes a 1% improvement particularly powerful is that its effect can be scaled up, amplifying its impact on sales and conversions.

By identifying your average sale price (let’s say $20K) and current conversion rates, you can create a framework suited to your unique situation. For example, if 10% of CTRs convert into Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) on your Request a Demo form (below left):

• 40 MQLs with a modest 10% conversion rate books 8 meetings.
• 75% of those 8 meetings convert into 6 Qualified Opportunities. 
• A reasonable 33% win rate gives you an additional $40K in tangible revenue.

Then, consider what happens the next month with the exact same math downstream with a 1% CTR improvement (above right).

The goal here is not to perform complex strategies but to test and refine different elements like language, layout, tone, and the call to action methodically. By A/B testing different elements of the email and landing pages, you can better understand what resonates best with the audience and include a success metric on pipeline generated. 

The principle of 1% improvement isn't limited to emails. Ad conversions are another crucial area where this principle can apply. Whether you’re running paid social or search, increasing a 0.24% CTR up to 0.7% CTR may seem like a minuscule change, but it drives more MQLs and, consequently, more meetings and revenue.

See our ‘1% Better’ Mindset in Practice

In this video that I shared with B2B Marketing Strategies, I demonstrate how a slight improvement in CTR in marketing emails can lead to significant revenue growth. Using real-world numbers, including 20,000 contacts and a 2% CTR, I demonstrate how this small change can boost conversions and revenue. I also delve into identifying strong prospects and converting them into meetings, and emphasize the importance of A/B testing and fine-tuning prospecting strategies. 

Watch the video to discover how you can maximize your CTR and drive your own revenue growth, and access our template spreadsheet here!

Too Lean to Do This Solo?

AK Operations is a fractional sales and marketing team deploying GTM strategies for clients using scalable marketing automation and pipeline generation processes.

We partner with lean sales teams who need top funnel consistency, an internally built revenue engine, and confidence in scaling their GTM operations - ultimately building bigger pipelines with better conversion rates!

Interested? Let’s talk.