New Research: 97% of Executives Feel Pressure to Maximize Revenue in the Next Two Years or They Risk Significant Consequences that Could Impact Bottom Lines

Conga’s “The Revenue Imperative” report reveals executives stand to benefit most from AI and automation, with 79% spending six or more hours weekly on manual tasks, along with data integration for revenue optimization 

BROOMFIELD, COLO. – March 18, 2025 – Conga, the pioneer and market leader in Revenue Lifecycle Management (RLM), today released “The Revenue Imperative: Overcoming Efficiencies to Maximize Growth” report in partnership with Ascend2 Research. The new research explores how businesses in today's economic climate face mounting pressure to do more with less, with 97% of executives expecting the demand to maximize revenue to only grow in the next two years. It also highlights how organizations approach managing revenue and its critical nature – amid budget constraints, rising costs, and shifting market conditions, every dollar of revenue counts. 

According to the survey of more than 600 business decision-makers across the United States and United Kingdom, 100% of respondents agree that understanding the entire revenue lifecycle – from initial proposal or quote to customer sale to ongoing customer expansion and renewal – is important. Yet, nearly half (46%) of professionals surveyed lack confidence in their organization's ability to identify and capture all possible revenue opportunities. Among the biggest consequences of mismanaging revenue processes are major financial setbacks like higher operational costs (50%), missed revenue opportunities (43%), and revenue leakage (35%). Because revenue management directly impacts profitability, sustainability, and long-term growth, effective revenue management is critical to creating a financially sound business that can withstand market fluctuations. 

Data Silos are Stifling Growth, but Integration Leads to More Confidence in Capturing Revenue

When it comes to the top challenges organizations face in identifying and capturing all possible revenue opportunities, time-consuming manual tasks (45%), difficulty integrating data across systems (34%), compliance and security risks (32%), and errors in data or forecasting (28%) are impeding the ability to unlock greater revenue.  

The survey reveals a generalized difficulty accessing information, regardless of department, finding that the majority of organizations do not have deeply integrated sales and finance data across teams. But when data and systems are integrated successfully, organizations report significant gains. Those with fully integrated tools and systems are 2.5X more likely to be confident in their ability to manage and capture revenue. Furthermore, those with high confidence in capturing revenue are 4X more likely to have deeply integrated sales and finance data. 

The Value of AI is Widely Recognized, but Only Starting to be Applied to Revenue-Related Processes

Eighty-seven percent of professionals surveyed are confident in the reliability of AI to improve business performance, but just one in four report already utilizing AI to enhance the effectiveness of business processes like revenue management. Fortunately, a 66% majority of those who have not yet adopted AI report a high likelihood of adoption in the coming year. Top-performing teams (or those with the most confidence in their ability to manage and capture revenue) see AI tooling as a potentially valuable asset in their revenue growth journeys, while Best-in-Class organizations are significantly more likely (48%) to prioritize AI tool adoption (34% of others). 

When comparing the U.S. and the UK, the UK is more likely to have already adopted AI into their business processes, with 33% having already reported the use of AI compared to 21% of those in the U.S. However, in the year ahead, about half (54%) of those in the U.S. are very likely to utilize AI to improve business processes.

“Our latest research highlights the critical challenge facing businesses today around inefficient revenue processes - they’re not only slowing operations, but hindering growth opportunities and impacting the entire organization,” said Noel Goggin, CEO and Culture Leader at Conga. “To stay competitive, especially in tumultuous economic times, organizations must take a proactive approach – identifying inefficiencies, automating workflows, and optimizing revenue operations – to realize their full potential and drive consistent growth.”

The survey also reinforces the importance of finding efficiencies in revenue management, aligning closely with Conga’s Maturity Model framework and survey, which offer a data-driven approach to evaluate and enhance organizations’ revenue operations. “The Revenue Imperative: Overcoming Efficiencies to Maximize Growth” report shows that C-suite leaders identify “time-consuming manual tasks” as their top challenge while, in juxtaposition with findings from Conga’s Maturity Model survey, the majority of product owners prioritize approvals, process management, contract construction, and document management to reduce manual tasks. Improving document management is also the top slated priority across Conga maturity assessments, with respondents ranking it with an importance rating of 88%, underscoring the further potential of AI to streamline routine tasks identified as challenges by both Conga Maturity Model and Ascend2 survey respondents.

To download and read the full report “The Revenue Imperative: Overcoming Efficiencies to Maximize Growth,” visit: https://conga.com/resources/revenue-imperative-overcoming-efficiencies-report.

Methodology
Conga, in partnership with Ascend2 Research, developed a custom online questionnaire to survey 616 professionals in decision-making roles in revenue management including those in executive leadership, operations, sales, legal, IT, customer support, product management, and customer success roles. These individuals self-identified as having knowledge of how their company identifies and captures revenue opportunities throughout sales processes, from quotes and proposals through billing and customer renewals. These individuals represent organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom with an annual recurring revenue of $100M or greater. The survey was fielded in December 2024.

About Conga

Conga, the Revenue Company, is the pioneer and market leader in Revenue Lifecycle Management. Its platform is chosen by the world’s growth champions to accelerate the end-to-end revenue lifecycle and achieve a Revenue Advantage. Conga brings Configure, Price, Quote, Contract Lifecycle Management, and Document Automation capabilities together on a single open platform that works with any ERP, any CRM, and any Cloud. Conga is born for the top line—powered by a unified revenue data model, complete revenue intelligence, and purpose-built AI—to help companies grow, protect, and expand their revenue. 

Conga delivers a Revenue Advantage to over 10,000 customers and 6.4 million users around the world. More than 7 million contracts and 46 million quotes are generated annually with Conga. Founded in 2006, the company is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado and has global operations in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Visit conga.com for more information.