What is strategy?
Strategy is a set of choices about where to compete and how to win that sets a company apart, including what it will choose not to do. Michael Porter set out this view in his 1996 Harvard Business Review article "What Is Strategy?" In his view, a company earns a lasting edge by picking a distinct place in its market and running its operations in ways rivals do not, with each part supporting the others. The customers and offers it turns down are what make that position hard to copy.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
A revenue plan is where strategy becomes visible. If the company has chosen its customers and its edge, the CRO can say which bids to pass on and which segments get the best sellers. In a PE-backed services company, the sponsor's investment thesis rests on a few strategic choices, and the sales team either carries them into the field or dilutes them one exception at a time.
Example
A PE-backed fire and life safety company decides to compete for hospitals and data centers, where code complexity rewards expertise. It stops bidding on small retail sites and moves its two most experienced sellers onto hospital systems. Retail revenue falls for a year while the chosen segments grow.
"Which customers or bids did we choose to walk away from this quarter, and does the team know why?"