Rev·e·nue Ar·che·type 
Noun: revenue archetype; plural noun: revenue archetypes;
Definition of Revenue Archetype
Example of Revenue Archetype in a Sentence
“This lead matches our revenue archetype to a ‘T’ and we will close a large deal with them this quarter.”
A revenue archetype is a model of what your ideal customer looks like, i.e. one you can derive revenue from. It’s where there is a mutual benefit. They need your product/service and will pay a fair price for it. They also will favor you over the competition because your solution will result in the best cost-benefit trade off for the customer.
Imagine you’re at an industry trade show. You start talking with someone and, after just a few minutes, you know this person is the ideal prospect for your company’s product/service. How would you describe this person and their company to your colleagues? What is it about their situation that screams that they have the exact challenges that your product or service solves, and that your solution will solve it better than anyone else?
That description is the start of your revenue archetype. But, it is equally as important to consider those companies that will NOT benefit from your product or service. A revenue archetype excludes organizations that have requirements that you don’t support, or lack the pain, or don’t have the ability to use your solution. It also excludes people within the prospect’s organization that are not part of the decision-making process for acquiring a solution like yours. The people may not be high enough inside their organization, or work in an area of the business that is not impacted by the problem that you solve.
Now imagine that you had a database pre-built with every organization and decision-maker in the world that looks like your revenue archetype, and none who don’t? Imagine how much more effective your sales and marketing campaigns would be at accelerating your company’s revenue growth.
Your whole database would be neatly segmented and organized to facilitate your sales and marketing campaigns. Your sales and marketing teams will be fully aligned on who to target, and what your prospects pain points are.
Your sales teams won’t have to waste time researching and compiling lists of companies and contacts.
Imagine that every lead is pre-qualified and converts into revenue. You’ll spend a lot less time qualifying leads.
For example, if you sell an API security solution, an ideal customer must have an API at the very least. Their API must be important enough (or the information flowing on it must be important enough) to warrant the need for security. So you’d say that an ideal customer has an API.
But if you don’t support a specific HIPAA requirement for healthcare information, you’d say that your revenue archetype excludes organizations in the healthcare industry.
Once you have developed a revenue archetype that your sales and marketing teams agree upon, you can gear your sales and marketing campaigns and strategies to engage and sell to them. You can also build a Revenue Database that comprises all of the organizations and people who fit within your revenue archetype.
