The Middle Market Powerhouse — Performance Despite Pandemic
The middle market is vital for the global economy, but how resilient is it? Performance optimization & revenue growth during a pandemic, how does it work?
Middle market performance, sales, and revenue ops
There are nearly 200,000 U.S. middle-market businesses currently in operation across the country, employing approx 48 million people. (1) Private, public, family-owned and sole proprietorships, middle markets span almost all industries. Middle market companies help prop up the global economy, providing job opportunities, supporting industry development, and selling high-quality goods and services. However, the middle market isn’t unique in facing the many challenges brought about by the global pandemic. From travel restrictions and logistical nightmares to significant consumer demand decline during lockdown, the past 12 months haven’t been easy on any business.
Defined as companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $1 billion, middle markets make up a critical yet often overlooked segment of our economy. While representing approx 3 percent of all US businesses, this market is actually responsible for around one-third of the private sector GDP and employment. (2)
While struggling to keep its head above water, so to speak, let’s take a closer look at how middle-market companies are adapting, evolving, and emerging from these uncertain times. What sales strategies are mid-market businesses using to come out on top, and should other markets start to take note?
The Middle Market Is Key To Economic Stability
Mass consumerism allows middle markets to thrive, and during the global pandemic, these businesses were key to propping up the global economy. Securing deals by adapting their product ranges to meet changes in demand, and upgrading their deliveries to protect customers and their employees.
Like most companies, mid-market enterprises were hit hard by the global pandemic. In fact, according to an article by Harvard Business Review, forecasts show that middle-market companies continue to have growing concerns regarding the future impact of the pandemic on sales, growth, and revenue. (2)
But despite the uncertainty, middle markets have been impressively resilient during months of economic uncertainty. Using technology and data to predict changes within the market, take action to secure deals with new manufacturers, and overcome sales issues relating to Covid-19. By taking steps to reimagine how they can connect with their target market through social media, taking their entire offering online, and providing pandemic proof deliveries, mid-market brands have actually given themselves the upper hand.
Let’s face it, if they weren’t able to adapt and power on, unemployment rates across the US would be almost unimaginable. We only need to look back to the Great Recession, to see how resilient middle-market companies are. The National Center for the Middle Market data shows that, while large businesses shed 3.7 million jobs, middle-market companies added over 2.2 million new positions. (1)
Outpacing large companies in terms of employment growth and revenue growth, there is certainly an optimistic outlook for this sector for 2021.
Optimizing Middle Market Sales
Maintaining customer engagement and connectivity are hurdles that the middle market needs to overcome, pandemic or not. Being able to take a top-level overview of a company, via a revenue operations manager has helped these businesses to quickly implement changes to guarantee their survival.
From analyzing the economic playing field to predicting consumer demand, middle-market businesses are leading the way forward for resilient, collaborative, and data-driven decision-making, with revenue and growth experts at the helm. In terms of sales, having a sales op and revenue operations manager working collaboratively within your business, allows mid-market companies to better secure deals and win contracts that can help them thrive even during uncertain economic times. Together these two positions help companies work towards common goals — using each department’s strengthens to overcome challenges and accelerate business growth. Being able to adapt your sales strategy from a traditional approach and networking to social media marketing and eCommerce took a considerable amount of effort for some businesses.
But, with hard work and dedication, many were able to quickly hop online, introduce new digital marketing techniques and boost their sales. Concepts such as; contactless delivery, extended return policies, and discounts for front-line medical staff all helped to secure more sales during the first couple of months of 2020.
PDC Machines Revenue Growth Through Digital Innovation
But how are middle-market companies adapting to the pandemic? Well, PDC Machines provides one clear and striking example. With global travel grounded, this company chose to hire a professional videographer to produce and create a series of demo webinars. Using drones to capture aerial footage of their factories and on-demand virtual demonstrations, PDC Machines decided to think outside the box and take action rather than wait to see how the pandemic would progress. By staying connected to their customers. PDC Machines results are promising, with a 2020 revenue increase of 37% from the previous year and 2021 projections to increase by a further 62%, as the demand for clean energy rises worldwide. (2)
Yet, this is just one example! By hiring a revenue operations manager and a sales op, you can have two distinct members of your team whose roles and responsibilities involve analyzing your business, the global economy, the economic climate, marketing trends, digital development to help optimize your performance overall. By focusing on sales and revenue growth, a revenue operations manager and a sales op will search for innovative ways to scale up, enter new and emerging markets and diversify your business in order to minimize risk. This might involve networking with potential customers, nurturing leads, and making sure customers hear about your response and adaptations to issues such as the global pandemic. Building online communities and trust, companies were able to engage with online customers and close more deals.
By keeping customers in the loop through digital marketing, email campaigns, and PR stunts, you can reassure and build trust which will help you to secure deals and win contracts. Should another global pandemic catch us off guard in the future, a revenue operations manager or sales op will be ready to prepare your middle-market company, have in place a plan of action, and be already developing solutions to help you stay connected to your customers, active both offline and online and generating sales.
References:
2:https://hbr.org/2021/03/the-middle-market-is-stressed-but-resilient
